Charl, I think this is a good idea, i.e. running without mods to start. I wouldn’t worry about the DLC too much, though. You can delay running the mission that adds the new difficulty indefinitely, as far as I can tell.
Don’t wait to use mods.
The long war mods fit in to the game seamlessly and most of the rest I use are cosmetic.
After playing a while you will know whether you want to use gameplay changing mods like making it so the countdown doesn’t go down before concealment drops. I think there might also be one to fix near impossible device defense missions too.
I wouldn’t use any gameplay mods before a first playthrough. There wasn’t anything that really needed to be “fixed”. There may be some quality of life mods that are worthwhile, like shutting up the guy who likes to pop up after missions.
The early LWS mods came out on release and didn’t change the game much. The recent ones change the game radically. It’s up to you, Charl, if you want to use them – I love them – but it won’t be vanilla by a long shot.
I really enjoy the Long War one on release that adds the SMG option as a minor thing that adds some flavor. I think it is very fairly balanced and I just personally like when my units can have more individual flair w/o introducing things that fundamentally alter the game.
In the original games I used to have soldiers run around with pistols and grenades as my own kind of fast response troops. The SMG option feels kind of the same to me.
I wouldn’t change up any of the gameplay systems in your first go round, but the UI mods are a must.
What UI only mods (i.e. mods that in no way affect game rules, systems, results) would you recommend?
If you get only one, get Gotcha (Flank Preview Evolved):
Gotcha expands on XCOM 2’s Line Of Sight indicator, adding the ability to anticipate if a move will flank an enemy, if they are visible through squadsight, and when mission objectives will be in view to either hack or shoot at.
I also like LOS Preview Ability, which allows you to put the cursor on any tiles and see (using the pulsing circles) what other tiles are visible from that space. Helps figure out where you need to go if you want to reveal an area without getting too close. Also shows what an enemy can see from its current position.
Grabbed them, thanks.
There are plenty of others in the Workshop that appeal to different tastes, so I also recommend just sorting by “UI” and see what tickles your fancy.
I wish there was a mod to automatically create the perfect base. I hate how location of exposed power coils can make a huge difference in the mid to late game.
Yeah - that was the same problem with the original game - I should look for a mod that takes the randomness out of the starting base as I agree it’s really just frustrating and not thematic (would the aliens really design their ship 50 different ways?). I found that the base placement was much more forgiving in this game than the original though. You really don’t need “perfect power”. I beat C/I without upgrading most of my buildings fully.
This is coming to the Bone next week. I haven’t played it yet, looking forward to it. Can you rename your troops still? Wish I had time to do an AAR with forum member names again. Perhaps I can rename everyone forum names and do a Twitch stream? Would be fun.
I’ve been playing this as much as I can, digging into another 3 hour long session tonight. I have so many thoughts.
One: This team has really nailed having the cinematics and animations part of the narrative and enchance gameplay. I love that when your troops get back now you promote them right on the command deck the instant the step off the Skyranger. And when they are injured they hobble back to stand in front of you. The ones that are severely injured collapse on the deck but are still alive. I love these cinematic touches.
Two. The randomly generated maps and destruction physics/interaction have been superb so far. I got an an achievement for making an alien fall to his death! Every object has damage states, and the bodies flop over fences and consoles and fly though the air.
Three. The “Take back the world, Risk-style” overgame seems way more intriguing now. They are throwing events at me left and right though.
Ordered this from Amazon for the PS4 months ago but I’m still waiting for it to ship cause well Alaska apparently. Really tempted to just pick this up locally instead of waiting another week or so for it to be shipped and delivered.
I put way too much hours into the first one/reboot so I really hope I’m not setting myself up for disappointment.
It seems better so far. The enemies patrol and wander around! You can also see their LOS in the beginning of some missons, while you are in “stealth mode”. Perfect for over watch ambushes.
By the way, can you ever get back into that mode once you’ve been discovered?
Fired this up for the 1st time on my new system. It sure looks nice at 1440p with the gtx 1070. Didn’t help my poor soldiers on the last mission though. Only 1 made it back, but they accomplished the mission.
The ranger has the conceal ability. It allows them to return to stealth once per mission. Unless you use a mod they’re the only ones who can do this.
Hey, did they ever fix that Steam Controller bug that I mentioned above, which made it impossible to expand the event queue while in the base management view?
Cool, thanks! That must be a tree unlock, I’ll check it out.
This game is pretty much what Julian Gollop was going for back in the late 90s when he started working on https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dreamland_Chronicles:_Freedom_Ridge.
I’m loving it so far! Loving it!