Let's Sperg Let's Play XCOM UFO Defense (Completed) - Heavy casualties expected.

To anyone considering trying the game out for themselves, if you think it looks daunting with all of the hit percentages and calculations and this-unit-gets-this-bonus, I'd like to share with the thread a quote I stumbled on when someone asked me to elaborate on The XCOM Files mod. Its from the mod author himself, context is somebody asked why they missed a shot that had a 122% chance to hit:

Solarius_Scorch said:
Why is this so important?

I've been playing this game for 23 years now, and I never cared about the mechanics in the slightest. I pull the trigger, the alien dies (or not). After enough attempts, I could predict fairly well how likely the alien is to die. So instead of analysing numbers like a savant, I focused on developing actual tactics, which I believe made me a better player.
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Now, personally I think people should use caution when being proud of ignorance, but on the flipside I'm bad at math. Additionally I'm of the rather strong opinion that knowing the odds doesn't neccesarily constitute an advantage in and of itself. Its nice to see this point of view from one of the old timers because frankly, I hate it when a game's community is filled with nothing but Munchkins that boil the game down to numbers and nothing else. See Also: World of Warcraft. You definitely don't need to be that way to get good at this game.

For the record the discussion does actually get into the numbers and shit in great detail further along in that thread, so if you are a person that wants to know those details the information is still freely available to you.
 
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ChucklesTheJester said:
It would be the highest ranking Xcom soldier you would panic throw it at. Thats how Xcom rng rolls.
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th.jpg


Reminder.
 
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Corn Flakes said:
I was going to complain about my stats, but holy fuck some people were ridiculously unlucky with theirs.

If that's the best humanity can offer, we're screwed.
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Don't worry. While stats are important, really what's more important is tactics. I very rarely do any sort of "hire and fire" in my games - because that shit's expensive yo - and the only actual make or break stat in the game is psionic defense which is hidden in the early game. Having low bravery and accuracy sucks, but you'll basically get used to that soldier being "that guy". Very high stats are useful for things like sniping, but even that degree of specialization isn't strictly necessary in vanilla XCOM.

Really the mechanics are pretty forgiving. You can and will get fucked by them, but on the average early mission you shouldn't really have any problems if you know what you're doing.
 
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If anyone hasn't heard about it there's a game called Xenonauts, which is basically a modernized version of this. There's also a sequel to it which coming out sometime soon, but I have no clue how soon.
 
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HumanHive said:
Don't worry. While stats are important, really what's more important is tactics. I very rarely do any sort of "hire and fire" in my games - because that shit's expensive yo - and the only actual make or break stat in the game is psionic defense which is hidden in the early game. Having low bravery and accuracy sucks, but you'll basically get used to that soldier being "that guy". Very high stats are useful for things like sniping, but even that degree of specialization isn't strictly necessary in vanilla XCOM.

Really the mechanics are pretty forgiving. You can and will get fucked by them, but on the average early mission you shouldn't really have any problems if you know what you're doing.
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Maybe I'm just paranoid. I played a lot more Terror From The Deep than UFO Defense and that game took no prisoners. I got it as a Christmas present when I was a kid and let me tell you, TFTD can and will scar a kid for life.
 
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Corn Flakes said:
Maybe I'm just paranoid. I played a lot more Terror From The Deep than UFO Defense and that game took no prisoners. I got it as a Christmas present when I was a kid and let me tell you, TFTD can and will scar a kid for life.
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To be fair, TFTD had some very renown game breaking bugs and difficulty iirc. I know it was known for being the hardest one and everyone hated it the most of the original handful of XCom games, until Firaxis took over.
 
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L50LasPak said:
I’ve since moved Overcast up to fill in for his two fallen comrades, so I give him a chance to redeem himself b having him open up on the alien before Lemmingwise. I figure if he triggers reaction fire and dies its better him than Lemmingwise.
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And in another mission:
L50LasPak said:
Lemmingwise storms the UFO. He is none too pleased to have Overcast as his backup. But Overcast is a Squaddie with something to prove. He bravely leads the charge into the depths of the UFO while Lemmingwise holds his position to prevent the aliens from escaping.
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It's nice to have a meatshield to hide behind. Thanks @Overcast
 
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White Devil said:
To be fair, TFTD had some very renown game breaking bugs and difficulty iirc. I know it was known for being the hardest one and everyone hated it the most of the original handful of XCom games, until Firaxis took over.
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Yes, I know that now. But no one had told young little Corn Flakes about it. And he actually got this close to beating the goddamn game.
(I had nightmares about tencaculats for weeks.)
 
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HumanHive said:
Don't worry. While stats are important, really what's more important is tactics. I very rarely do any sort of "hire and fire" in my games - because that shit's expensive yo - and the only actual make or break stat in the game is psionic defense which is hidden in the early game. Having low bravery and accuracy sucks, but you'll basically get used to that soldier being "that guy". Very high stats are useful for things like sniping, but even that degree of specialization isn't strictly necessary in vanilla XCOM.

Really the mechanics are pretty forgiving. You can and will get fucked by them, but on the average early mission you shouldn't really have any problems if you know what you're doing.
Click to expand...

It's a lifetime ago, but I remember the best early game strat is having one or two spotter / sacrifical lamb with some flares and once you see an enemy, firing at him with as many of your soldiers from out of range by just aiming in the air in his direction until someone hits by sheer chance.

And of course hiring as many engineers as you can afford and producing and selling laser guns at a profit.
 
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mr.moon1488 said:
If anyone hasn't heard about it there's a game called Xenonauts, which is basically a modernized version of this. There's also a sequel to it which coming out sometime soon, but I have no clue how soon.
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While similar, Xenonauts have a different curve. The devs have actively tried to "fix" some of UFO Defense's quirks, but its debatable if the changes are for the better or worse.
- No psionics for humans
- No manufacturing for profits
- No blowing up UFO walls to force an alternative entrance (my personal top one disliked change)
- 80s/Cold War theme
 
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Kane Lives said:
- No blowing up UFO walls to force an alternative entrance (my personal top one disliked change)
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That is by far my biggest beef with Xenonauts. Not being able to perform a dynamic breaching entry from an unexpected direction when you know every alien inside the craft is overwatching the door is fucking stupid. Sure, you can use ballistic shields so the pointman can soak up some fire without being turned to ash the moment the door opens, but it still feels like a downgrade to me.

Ideally, I'd let players do both. Let them pick between boring a hole through the side of the UFO and go in that way, or knock on the front door with a big-ass shield.
 
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Not going to lie, the wall thing is the single biggest reason I noped out of Xenonauts. To this day I still only have a handful of played hours in it.
 
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