1601

I should clarify. For a pc strategy title, it’s in rare company. Which yeah, you’re quick (and probably correct) to point out, is due in large part to this being console-focused. That’s the rare part; the controls just came along with it. I always think of XCOM as PC, but I suppose that’s an old way to think about it.

1602

Hi everyone.

Long time lurker here. But I saw some questions go unanswered on the last page and thought I could help. I’ve been playing the preview build for about a week now (you can read my previews on GamesBeat).

Answers.

[spoiler]BleedTheFreak is right that for those multi-choice alien abduction missions, you have to choose one. Upon success (or failure), the other missions are forfeited. You’re forced to make a choice about which nations in The Council that you’ll help (by reducing panic) and which you ignore (thus increasing panic). You can also significantly reduce panic through means other than just sending a team on these missions, though.

As far as DeepT’s question, “Can you have multiple teams to do multiple missions at once?” No. From what I can see in the preview, you have one Skyranger, and you cannot build more. You’ll only ever be sending out a single team at any given time. You also can’t lose the Skyranger. Losing a mission (all soldiers dead) will still result in the Skyranger returning with all of your equipment. In fact, I haven’t found a way to actually lose equipment in the preview build at all, under any circumstances.

Further, only the alien abductions ever give you the option of forced mission choice. In 30 hours of play, I’ve not once experienced an instance of multiple missions spawning on the Geoscape. If a UFO is spotted, it’s just the one. If a landed UFO is spotted, again, it’s just the one. You can choose to go on that single mission or not, but that’s it. Same deal with terror missions. I’ve never had one pop up at the same time as something else.

The preview ends before alien base raids open up, so I can’t speak toward those.[/spoiler]

Hope this is helpful.

1603

Gah! Slap a spoiler tag around that text!

1604

Sorry! Added the tag.

1605

BleedTheFreak is right that for those multi-choice alien abduction missions; you have to choose one. Upon success (or failure), the other missions are forfeited. You’re forced to make a choice about which nations in The Council that you’ll help (by reducing panic) and which you ignore (thus increasing panic). You can also significantly reduce panic through means other than just sending a team on these missions, though.

As far as DeepT’s question, “Can you have multiple teams to do multiple missions at once?” No. From what I can see in the preview, you have one Skyranger, and you cannot build more. You’ll only ever be sending out a single team at any given time. You also can’t lose the Skyranger. Losing a mission (all soldiers dead) will still result in the Skyranger returning with all of your equipment. In fact, I haven’t found a way to actually lose equipment in the preview build at all, under any circumstances.

Well, it coincides with the idea I had of the game in my mind: in a way it’s a more limited or light “gamey” version of the original Xcom.

1606

Argh! Don’t quote the spoiler!

Wendelius

1607

What spoiler.

Terror missions aren’t spoiler. Game mechanics (like Skyranger use or having to choose a mission from a list) also aren’t. If game mechanics are a spoiler, leave this thread, we have been discussing the new mechanics of the game for months.

1608

Yeah, what spoiler?

1609

Many of us don’t want information from someone who has played the damn preview. We avoided the RPS mega-article for that same reason. There are a few readers here who haven’t even downloaded the demo for that reason.

1610

I don’t know, because once I noticed it started like the now spoilered text I stopped reading. I don’t want to spoil the game for myself. And so, if something is worth spoilering, it’s bad form to quote it in clear, IMO.

That being said, if the spoiler tag was indeed unneded this time, then the issue is moot. Forget I posted. :)

Wendelius

1611

Sorry, all. Didn’t mean to cause a ruckus and get things bogged down with spoiler tags. Anyway, if people are interested in more info, I’m happy to share.

1612

If you’re using mouse and keyboard, I’m interested to know what changes in the full build compared to the demo (if you’ve played it).

1613

No worries :) I’ve just been trying to insulate myself from most preview-y stuff so it’s all new to me when I play the game. Until recently, everything in this thread had been either speculation or officially-released drip-feeding and wasn’t something I had to worry about.

Regardless, welcome!

1614

I haven’t played the demo. I’ve read some of the control complaints floating around – they’re not entirely off the mark, and the descriptions seem identical to what I’ve experienced.

Spoilers.

[spoiler]You can rebind anything you want, though, from within the in-game options menu.

The PC controls are serviceable but not ideal. Edge-scrolling camera movement is floaty (I don’t really like using WASD for camera movement), and using free aim (for grenades and rockets since you cannot free aim any weapon any longer) is always a battle with the camera. (I’ve experienced other camera issues, too.)

I do miss “click on enemy, click again to fire” aspect of the original. I’ve just gotten used to hitting “1, 1” or “1, space” or clicking the alien-sighted icon in the corner and then space.

If you have a multi-button mouse, buttons 3 and 4 (usually forward, backward) are prebound to unit cycling, too.

And I’ve found it irritating that abilities change their numerical hotkeys all the time. It’s why I use the dedicated hotkey for overwatch with regularity now.

The biggest issue I have with the UI is three-dimensional movement. I mentioned this in my multiplayer preview – two aliens, Floaters and Cyberdics, can fly. You enter “flying mode” with an ability button. But then discerning where you want to move the unit is really confusing. It’s not clear at all exactly where the cursor is. I hope Firaxis fixes this.[/spoiler]

1615

Well, I repeat again, we have been discussing all the game info from all the previews since this thread was crated, forty something pages ago. The very same reason of the thread is to discuss that shit, apart for posting our expectations.

edit:

You can rebind anything you want, though, from within the in-game options menu.

rebind stuff in the options menu?

Dude, total spoiler! I don’t think a spoiler tag is enough. Maybe a double one? One spoiler inside another?

1616

Heh. It’s cool. I don’t mind using tags for people who want them. I’m not trying to stir things up – I just want to talk about XCOM.

Thanks for the welcome!

1617

No worries, we appreciate your willingness and eagerness to talk about what you were able to play.

I played the demo a few times, and I found using WASD was just fine for moving the camera. I don’t get why they decided to use A and D to cycle between abilities in the tactical UI, such as when you have a rocket or grenade selected and want to use WASD to move the targeting reticule. That’s an odd choice, but I was already used to it after just a few maps so that’s not a big deal, seems like.

1618

I’m not sure why WASD was used on those menus either.

1619

Yeah, WASD does work all right for camera movement. I’m just so used to edge-scrolling from the original that I never use WASD for that.

But unless I’m scanning the battlefield, I hardly move the camera at all, and even then, the F and C keys zoom in and out, which is usually enough. A minimap would be ideal. I find the radar in the top-left corner useless. I never look at it. Most movement distances for single- (and sometimes double-) action are already within the viewing field. If I need to look at an enemy, I click the alien-sighting icon.

My big issues with the camera:

  1. Rotating doesn’t always provide a good view of what I need to see. Sometimes, the position of the camera makes walls invisible that I don’t want to be invisible (such as the outside of a building wall that I want to place a soldier against for cover. A full wall is full cover and a windowed wall is half cover. With the whole wall invisible, that difference becomes unnecessarily difficult to see at times).

  2. Some UFOs will also revert to a top-level view (i.e., seeing the roof of the craft) when switching soldiers. It’s a little odd. I hope it’s just a bug in the preview build.

  3. The camera gets very jerky when using free aim near the edge of the screen.

1620

Did you like the original XCOM?
Are you enjoying this new version?