Help me enjoy X-Com

Anyone thinking about picking up any of the X-COM games, they're $1.24 each on Steam today only.

Is the Steam version compatible with XComUtils (I think that's the name, it's a utility that lets you alter default base layout, remember squad equipment loads, etc)?

Tamren wrote:

- MoonDragon - Assault (Who has a bravery of 10)

I see this as a sign of great things to come.

Tamren wrote:

Moondragon breaches and... ALIEN! Its a standoff!

*BLAM*. The alien blinks first and Moondragon takes that as his cue and blasts the alien in the eye!

Hmm... not quite what I had in mind! Hehehe...

MoonDragon wrote:
Tamren wrote:

- MoonDragon - Assault (Who has a bravery of 10)

I see this as a sign of great things to come. :)

Me too! I look forward to a story of personal growth and triumph over adversity!

Yonder wrote:
edosan wrote:

Reporting for duty! Sign me up as whatever -- the guy in the recruiting office said if I survive, they'll pay for me to go to college.

Yeah, about that. XCOM has yet to pay a single nickel towards any college tuition, just saying. I'm sure you'll turn that trend around though!

Rats! Those recruiters will tell you anything!

in other news, Steam's daily sale today is the complete X-Com pack for $3.74. Nobody has any excuse any more. Well, today, anyway.

MoonDragon wrote:
Tamren wrote:

- MoonDragon - Assault (Who has a bravery of 10)

I see this as a sign of great things to come.

Tamren wrote:

Moondragon breaches and... ALIEN! Its a standoff!

*BLAM*. The alien blinks first and Moondragon takes that as his cue and blasts the alien in the eye!

Hmm... not quite what I had in mind! Hehehe... :D

You trigger happy bastard! You shot first and started a war! Couldn't we have negotiated? You've doomed us all!

The_Judge wrote:

You trigger happy bastard! You shot first and started a war! Couldn't we have negotiated? You've doomed us all!

Hey, he startled me! What was I supposed to do?

MoonDragon wrote:
The_Judge wrote:

You trigger happy bastard! You shot first and started a war! Couldn't we have negotiated? You've doomed us all!

Hey, he startled me! What was I supposed to do?

You will be played by Michael York in a future episode of Babylon 5, the guilt will be too much for you.

Ah crap they were individually on sale? I bought the package thinking that was the big sale. Could have saved $3 by only buying X-Com 1-3.

Just got 1 and 2. Will when I get back home tonight.

thejustinbot wrote:

Just got 1 and 2. Will when I get back home tonight.

Apocalypse is also worthwhile as a change of pace from 1 & 2. Two is basically just a more difficult, underwater version of UFO Defense.

If you need any more soldiers, Tamren, throw me into the fray. I'll be whatever is needed.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
MoonDragon wrote:
The_Judge wrote:

You trigger happy bastard! You shot first and started a war! Couldn't we have negotiated? You've doomed us all!

Hey, he startled me! What was I supposed to do?

You will be played by Michael York in a future episode of Babylon 5, the guilt will be too much for you.

Chainmail armour - that'll surprise them aliens.

- Squad Leader Prozac - Sniper
- Grubber - Assault
- MoonDragon - Assault (Who has a bravery of 10)
- Khoram - Heavy

I know how to bolster MoonDragon's bravery! let him fire up his still before each mission!

Prozac wrote:

- Squad Leader Prozac - Sniper Asshole who hides as close as possible to the Skyranger while everyone else dies
- Grubber - Assault
- MoonDragon - Assault (Who has a bravery of 10)
- Khoram - Heavy

I know how to bolster MoonDragon's bravery! let him fire up his still before each mission!

There, that's better.

Hey, I'm a survivor, what can I say?

Also, if I die I'll do mean things to Tamren in Dwarf fortress, and he's only a child.

Rat Boy wrote:
Prozac wrote:

- Squad Leader Prozac - Sniper Asshole who hides as close as possible to the Skyranger while everyone else dies
- Grubber - Assault
- MoonDragon - Assault (Who has a bravery of 10)
- Khoram - Heavy

I know how to bolster MoonDragon's bravery! let him fire up his still before each mission!

There, that's better.

Fear not. Once the mind control panic starts, people near the Skyranger will probably be in more danger than those away from it. *wink, wink*

Are there any recommended tweak guides in making the presentation more palpable on modern systems? I can play in a teeny tiny window on my high res monitor, but when I blow it up to full screen, the screen is pixelated and stretched to 16:9 and the geoscape & tactical views are quite sluggish.

running Win 7 64bit

Khoram wrote:

Just out of curiosity, Tamren, what are your equipment templates for your different roles?

At this moment we are using 95% earth equipment. Our Medics finally got laser pistols. But apart from one laser rifle that I think is on Prozac, Assaults and Snipers all carry rifles. Our two heavies have a heavy cannon (which I tend to think of as a grenade launcher) and an autocannon. A terror mission just popped up so I might swap out the rifle on Prozac for a rocket launcher.

Khoram wrote:

Is the Steam version compatible with XComUtils (I think that's the name, it's a utility that lets you alter default base layout, remember squad equipment loads, etc)?

Pretty sure it does. The Steam version is the original DOS version. When you fire up XCOMUtil it will detect what kind of install you have and react accordingly. I'm not using it at the moment. The last time I modded my game was when I was playing the windows version of XCOM. Its a bit different, everything runs a bit faster. The menus don't take as long to open and close for instance. And the music is different, remixed to be less DOS-ie.

mrtomaytohead wrote:

Anyone thinking about picking up any of the X-COM games, they're $1.24 each on Steam today only.

Its practically free! I would just buy them individually and skip Interceptor and Enforcer.

I got three kills as a medic? Man, I must be awesome. I take life, I give life.

Tamren wrote:

We have a new mission! Seoul has been attacked by unknown forces. Our Tank has arrived and Mr Devil will be on hand to lend heavy rocket support.

- Squad Leader Tamren - Assault
- Redwing - Assault
- Pignoli - Heavy
- Davet - Sniper
- Judge - Medic

- Squad Leader Prozac - Sniper
- Grubber - Assault
- MoonDragon - Assault
- Khoram - Heavy
- Milkman - Medic

- Mr Devil - Tanker

Oh man, did I already die? Am I in the Valhalla of X-COM?

Tamren wrote:

Davet can't hit the alien but manages to remove the tree. Khoram takes a shot and the Sectoid is gibbed by a massive explosion. It must have set off something, that was too big for a cannon shot.

Sounds like he was holding a primed alien grenade. You really, really dodged a bullet with that one, an alien grenade while your guys are still on the chopper will easily kill 2/3rds of your guys.

mrtomaytohead wrote:
Tamren wrote:

We have a new mission! Seoul has been attacked by unknown forces. Our Tank has arrived and Mr Devil will be on hand to lend heavy rocket support.

- Squad Leader Tamren - Assault
- Redwing - Assault
- Pignoli - Heavy
- Davet - Sniper
- Judge - Medic

- Squad Leader Prozac - Sniper
- Grubber - Assault
- MoonDragon - Assault
- Khoram - Heavy
- Milkman - Medic

- Mr Devil - Tanker

Oh man, did I already die? Am I in the Valhalla of X-COM?

Or you could be in the unemployment line.

Tamren wrote:

Whups I got the order mixed up a bit. It was Davet who got stunned, not Moondragon. Mrtomayto is in the queue as the next assault to get drawn up.

Ah. One of you maggots hurry up and get your face blown off so I can run around a corner blindly only to come face to face with a chryssalid.

Man, I'm straight into the action. With a bit of practice my shooting should improve though.

Whups I got the order mixed up a bit. It was Davet who got stunned, not Moondragon. Mrtomayto is in the queue as the next assault to get drawn up.

EDIT: Bunch of other discrepancies left. Prozac had 2 rockets left, not 1 when I mention that the first time. Will fix em later.

We have a new mission! Seoul has been attacked by unknown forces. Our Tank has arrived and Mr Devil will be on hand to lend heavy rocket support.

- Squad Leader Tamren - Assault
- Redwing - Assault
- Pignoli - Heavy
- Davet - Sniper
- Judge - Medic

- Squad Leader Prozac - Sniper
- Grubber - Assault
- MoonDragon - Assault
- Khoram - Heavy
- Milkman - Medic

- Mr Devil - Tanker

Missions begins. Oh god, Cyberdisk sighted and were not off the ramp yet! *Kshoooooooo - BOOM* Direct hit from Devil's rocket! But its still up. Redwing hops off the ramp and misses the disk 3 times. Davet hops off the other side and shows him how its done. After a double tap of rifle fire the disk self destructs and collapses half of a nearby house. After moving up Tamren and Khoram to watch the ramp we end turn.

Crap were taking heavy fire from the east. Multiple sectoids in an open park. Khoram is hit!, just a flesh wound. Our turn. The nearest sectoid is behind a tree. Devil overshoots twice but his rockets don't hit any civvies, so I'll give that a pass. Davet can't hit the alien but manages to remove the tree. Khoram takes a shot and the Sectoid is gibbed by a massive explosion. It must have set off something, that was too big for a cannon shot.

New turn. Davet takes a stun bomb to the face and goes down. I can now see a bit more of the local terrain. We landed in a corner, the park to the east marking the map edge. To the right is a large 3 story apartment which is where the sectoid with the stun weapon fled. Between us is a large wooden fence that I suspect has multiple sectoids behind it. I'm putting everyone in a firing line facing the fence, pending its removal by kaboomination. Devil takes a shot and the fence is gone. Sectoid! Tamren shoots him twice in the head and he goes down. LZ secure. Squad 1 led by Tamren is going to clear the building. Prozac and the rest are going south across a road to search some warehouses using smoke from all these rocket impacts for cover.

New turn. Lots of plasma fire, the tank takes a hit but it bounces off the turret armour. A sectoid appears in the doorway of a building. Pignoli lights up the doorway with his autocannon and the alien goes down! Squad 1 moves up to the building and deploys around the door. Squad 2 advances and... Cyberdisk sighted!. Its on the road. Prozac takes aim with his rocket launcher and... hits a fence. Devils turn, he shoots. Direct hit! But its still up. The rest of squad 2 opens fire. Grubber shoots. Crap, he just hit Moondragon in the bacl, second shot hits the Cyberdisk. Its down!

New turn. Moondragon is down and bleeding. We had better finish this quickly. No new sightings. Pignoli is acting a bit strange... Squad 1 advances. Davet is down, so I'm sending Tamren up top to provide cover. Everyone else pushes the first floor with Redwing on point. Empty. Squad 2 moves up to a fence. Dead civilian sighted in the warehouse. Devil and Prozac remove more walls, but can't reveal the enemy.

New turn. Redwing moves up to a window. *BLAM!* Redwing is down! Didn't even see it coming, poor guy. Judge peeks out and spots Redwings killer. Its a Cyberdisk floating in the sky, crap. All he has is a pistol and shooting it from 10 feet away seems less than wise. Judge throws a grenade out the window and retreats back around a corner. Squad 2 continues to advance. Sectoid sighted. Devil shoot rockets but they fly over his shoulder, out a window and off a map. Nice going. Since the tank is now blocking everyone elses view of the sectoid the rest of squad 2 turns and attacks the cyberdisk. Milkman sprays laser bolts all over the place but does hit twice. Khoram takes aim with his cannon and the second shot brings the disk down.

New turn. Pignoli wet his pants and is now running up and down the stairs. Devil shoots his last 2 rockets and brings that other sectoid down. Prozac only has two rockets left and I forgot to give him a pistol. On his way over to get Moondragon's gun he spots a sectoid in an alley!. The angle is wrong for the rest of the squad, so Khoram throws a grenade. Squad 1 is a bit scattered, judge is moving up to join Tamren on the top floor. A door is open...

New turn. Uh o, Pignoli went bezerk. Maybe leaving him in a room with 2 civvies was a bad idea. Over the sounds of Pignoli making shark chum the grenade goes off with a *WHUMP*. Sectoid down, and Khoram adds another notch to his belt. Moondragon finally bleeds out :(. There is an enemy taking potshots at us from the far southwest corner so I'm moving everyone in that direction. The Devil rolls his tank down the street. Sectoid sighted! He is standing in the open. Judge, this time from the second floor window opens fire. With near perfect accuracy he shoots the same spot 3 times in a row. Unfortunately this is one space to the right of the target. Tamren fires 6 shots from the third floor, more misses. Khoram now movign west to join the fight spots a sectoid down an alley. His shot misses. Grubber tries next, a hit! Not enough, the sectoid returns fire and hits a wall. Milkman tries his luck, on his 5th shot he hits the sectoid in the chest and it goes down.

New turn. The sectoid in the field blasts away at Devil. But he only has a pistol and just sparks up the paint a bit. Judge and Pignoli are panicking and running all over the apartment. Tamren fires a single shot from the third floor window and finally brings the sectoid down. The remains of squad 2 press on southward. It seems the row of warehouses and stores have a gas station beyond them. Walking down an ally Grubber bumps his head on a cyberdisk and flees, dodging plasma fire. Khoram prepares a det pack....

New turn. Judge is still out of it. But Pignoli finally gets himself together. Devil rolls the tank around a corner to reveal the cyberdisk and a sectoid in the middle of the gas station. But this is a second sectoid with a heavy plasma. Devil retreats. Grubber is farther east than anyone else at this point, taking a route through a warehouse to get to the gas station instead of going down the alley beside it. He spots a sectoid, but its behind a crate, so he throws a grenade. Milkman moves down the alley just far enough to make sure the disk is still there, and Khoram chucks the det pack up and over the intervening building, placing it right beside. Everyone else advances.

New turn. KABOOM! Sectoid down, Disk Obliterated. Grubber, now moving to join everyone else spots a cyberdisk through a window in the far east alleyway. The only other spot we haven't searched yet is a lone warehouse sitting in the southwest corner. Ominously its full of holes and bodies... What remains of squad 1 moves to the warehouse, squad 2 moves into the warehouse and takes cover behind boxes. The only other detpack remaining is on Tamren who is on his way.

New turn. Prozac aims through the window. Direct hit! But damn. That also reveals a SECOND cyberdisk. Milkman who is done searching the warehouse opens fire from the far end of the map. Direct hit! Mission ends.

Mission Tally:
Killed 10 aliens. Lost Moondragon and Redwing. Saved 8 civilians and lost 6. Total score 225. I really hope we have medkits next time.

BTW the way I write this works as follows. I have XCOM windowed. So when I choose a course of action I write it here. Then depending on how it works out I write the result after it.

MrDeVil909 wrote:

Man, I'm straight into the action. With a bit of practice my shooting should improve though.

The jump from Rifles to Laser Rifles is the big thing that will end most of the missed shots.

I'm not sure about that Devil. If I remember correctly, the tanks are actually automated and thus won't improve over time.

mrtomaytohead wrote:
Tamren wrote:

Whups I got the order mixed up a bit. It was Davet who got stunned, not Moondragon. Mrtomayto is in the queue as the next assault to get drawn up.

Ah. One of you maggots hurry up and get your face blown off so I can run around a corner blindly only to come face to face with a chryssalid.

He's trying! I'm a doctor, damn it! Don't give me grenades and a pistol. Give me medkits and body armour... or at least a helmet.

Tamren wrote:

... Judge, this time from the second floor window opens fire. With near perfect accuracy he shoots the same spot 3 times in a row. Unfortunately this is one space to the right of the target. ...

I'm like the TF2 Demoman. I only have one GOOD eye. Just wait until I do field surgery for you guys.