Which is exactly why i didn’t buy the new one. I wanted more not less X-com.
Which is why the old X-com is still getting played in my household, YOU choose how you play the game for much of it.
meeper
4342
That almost sounds like a challenge. :)
The other side of the coin: So lean I was a bit bored in the last 1/5 of the game and don’t have intention of playing it again.
Of course it’s something very in the eye of the beholder.
Vitirr
4344
Really? I think that was the safe thing to do nowadays, nothing bold. Bold would be to get a classic and add levels of complexity to it… never seen that yet.
Ha! I’d love to see someone bring assault rifles all the way to the Temple Ship. But based on my experience (120 hours, finished Classic Ironman), I just don’t think it’s possible.
One reason I liked UFO Defense’s flexibility was the kind of variants this group of really dedicated X-Com players would come up with. I used to follow people on the StrategyCore forums (which is still the best place to get info, tips, and find updates and mods for all the X-Com games) who’d do things like NKF’s single-soldier-with-a-laser-pistol-base-assault and chronicle everything in a Let’s Play (text and pictures). Another interesting one is the single-Battleship-assault game (because, if you play the mission near-perfectly, you can get all the alien artifacts you need to research everything to finish the game in that one assault). The XcomUtil mod site has a bunch of interesting variants listed – some viable, some not (like Technophobe since you’re agreeing not to research the tech necessary to fly to Mars).
I don’t know if these kinds of things are really possible with the new XCOM.
After reading all this, I decided to try another run, at classic. I tried this a few months ago, after finishing on normal, but found it too hard. After trying it again now, I don’t think it’s too hard as much as unfair, or so it feels. I get through the levels allright, but I find I just can’t stand my guys being one-shotted from the other side of the map, whilst being in full cover. That’s something that keeps happening, while I simply can’t do nothing against it, and I hate that! I don’t mind my soldiers dieing on me (or actually: I do!), but the point is that they should die because I make a mistake, am too careless or unprepaired, whatever, and not because some alien gets a lucky shot in. I know that last bit is part of the deal, but when that happens too often, I just can’t stand it. I’m just not hardcore enough for that I suppose.
So now I started a new game on normal Ironman, with allmost all the second-wave options on. We’ll see how long it takes before the repetitive campaign and those damn accents force me to stop again!
The most basic difference on Classic is the small boost to accuracy the aliens get. It’s just enough that Full Cover goes from being very reliable in protecting you, to somewhat reliable. That means you can’t get in extended shootouts with aliens in cover without losing troops. It forces you to flank them, or use some other tactic quickly to kill them off or risk your troops.
In my classic runs my tactics usually shifted from getting behind cover and shooting in out, to getting into an ambush position and having one guy sneak forward to pull the enemy into my ambushes. It’s still got it’s risks, but it’s generally better than the alternatives.
garin
4349
I think the much more significant change in Classic is that enemies can join the fight without you “discovering” them. Normal allows you to stage-manage the battles a lot more predictably.
In my most recent game (Classic Ironman Marathon) I had a terror mission where by turn three I was facing four Cyberdiscs, without leaving the immediate deployment area. You won’t get anything like that on Normal without it being the product of insane recklessness.
That’s certainly a factor, but I still think the accuracy boost requires a far more fundamental change to tactics. The patrolling units are sometimes a factor and need to be watched for, but the accuracy boost effects every single fight significantly.
sclpls
4351
Bold is not the word I would use to adding layers of complexity to the original. :p
garin
4352
I feel like people tend to overstate it, but come to think of it I’ve only played one Normal campaign and a ton of Classic. I might be calibrated wrong.
Well the trick with the accuracy boost is that it’s a flat bonus. So a +10% to hit if the alien already has an 80% shot isn’t important, but a +10% boost when your troops are behind full cover is a much more significant problem. It’s the fact that it makes improbable shots much more likely to hit that makes it such a big factor IMHO.
The change to HP is significant as well. On Normal you can screw around because you’ll one-shot Sectoids and Thin Men with basic weapons, and they won’t one-shot your guys when they hit. The change to HP reverses that.
geggis
4355
I agree with what TurinTur’s said here as well. It took me a while to warm to the game in Classic during and shortly after the tutorial. For a while I enjoyed it, brushing off dodgy chance to hit percentages (including high percentages through vehicles and huge outcrops of rock), useless full height cover, teleporting enemies right next to you in ‘clear’ areas, no picking up items or free aiming, aliens moving during my turn, soldiers not being able to hit the broad side of a barn at point blank range. Then as I got beyond the 20 hour mark it all started to aggravate me. Not to mention, my modus operandi to try and thwart the ridiculous alien dispersal manoeuvre (no getting the jump on them in XCOM!) was to put several soldiers in overwatch before pushing one person forward to trigger the animation. This obviously made traversing the map a pain in the ass because it really dragged down the pace. Moving forward without the creep-crawl overwatch technique I found was a recipe for disaster most of the time as it potentially left your troops open (see useless cover above) for the enemy’s turn. That chance to hit them before they got behind cover, even with the -10 aim penalty, was crucial. Anyway, overall I didn’t think there was as much tactical variety as the original from the time I spent with it. I gave it close to 30 hours in the end and I’ve no real desire to return. OpenXcom on the other hand…
Libra
4356
Don’t know if this was posted, but the PS3 version is currently free to PlayStation Plus subscribers during E3 if anyone is interested. Just check out the PlayStation store in the E3 2013 section.
LeeAbe
4357
Steamplay was enabled today, so Mac users can now play if they they already had the PC version.
In the middle of a Classic Ironman. Was going great until I hit the base invasion last night. Woke up 2 packs of chrysalids (whatever they’re called) at the same time and lost my 2 best assaults, a support, and a heavy (he was a major…sigh)
I loved the original. And while different, I loved this version too - I finished a Classic/Ironman run a few days ago. My major grumblings are the reduction of the geoscape into a series of quick time events, and the teleporting aliens (which never teleported on top of me, but did teleport in locations that were empty only moments before, nearly costing me a sniper more than once). The lack of maps also sucks.
But I liked the streamlining of the rules, even if I found the ‘spawn’ mechanics annoying. And the basic gameplay - shoot down alien ships, steal and research their tech, promote rookies, expand your base - if as addictive as it ever was.
It’s interesting that almost all the good points are original features, while all the bad points are new ones.
lokiju
4360
So I finally just started playing this (thanks to a very needy 11 month old!), and have a question about the continent bonuses: Do you get the bonus for the starting continent without having full satellite coverage? I know future bonuses require full coverage. If that is true, are you better off starting in a 4 country continent?
Yes, you get your starting continent bonus without requiring full coverage. In theory, this means you get the most bang for your buck from starting in a 4 country continent.
In practice, the important bonuses, assuming you’re playing on a difficulty you find challenging, are South America (We Have Ways), Africa (All In), and Asia (Future Combat), and for the early game, it’s really about South America and Africa. Neither Air and Space (North America) or Europe (Expert Knowledge) are terribly important, though the US is significant anyway because it has the highest income in the game, nearly twice the typical income of $100.
South America is meaningless if you don’t get it early, but the time you gain in research is significant if you get it before you’ve finished your alien containment chamber, and if you make a point of capturing aliens for research bonuses. One common starting strategy on harder difficulties is to start in South America, let Africa go to hell in month 2, and launch 3 satellites at the very end of month 2 which claim all of Africa and calm the countries back down from panic level 5.
