Have you? I haven't! Should I?
I'm familiar with the name "XCOM," but other than that, I really don't know anything about them.
(First post in this forum! Well, besides LizLiz, you're working too late again, making this forum!)
Have you? I haven't! Should I?
I'm familiar with the name "XCOM," but other than that, I really don't know anything about them.
(First post in this forum! Well, besides Liz
I haven't played them, am going to though. They are like $5.00 on steam or something, so not to expensive.
You definitely should. Stick with the original though, and if you really like it, the second one.
Originally Posted by Relight
Have you? I haven't! Should I?
I'm familiar with the name "XCOM," but other than that, I really don't know anything about them.
(First post in this forum! Well, besides Liz
First issue: Hell yes! Go buy them on Steam you crazy person - what are you still doing here?!
Second issue: We clearly needed this forum! It's silly I didn't make it before midnight.
i'm planning to get the pack off Steam so i can play the lot while waiting for this, and keeping an eye on infinivac.
nice and cheap..and that amount of games will last you a long time, so go for it!
I haven't played them, but I'm definitely going to try them out!
I could try out some of the old XCOM games, but there's not point considering I might not even get to play it on a current gen console. Oh well 2k.
It'll be a completely different game anyway... that's no reason to avoid playing one of the greatest video games of all time.
I bought Fallout 2 when Fallout 3 was looking good, and Fallout 2 is good
I think I might part-take an earlier installment in the XCOM series just to learn what it is about.
Hello everyone,
To all the new players please keep in mind that this game maybe far different than what you might be used to. Furthermore the learning curve is a bit steep and trying to "fly" through the game will probably cost you.
Keep in mind this game was made in 1993 and published in 1994 so graphics are old don't come back saying the graphics suck, because at the time they were awesome!!!!!
Whether you play UFO: Enemy unknown (aka XCOM:UFO) or XCOM:Terror from the Deep (TFTD) they both have essentially same game play just different weapons, terrains and art in general, although people say TFTD was made far too difficult i actually like it the best.
Advice to start a game.
First get your research started, the GUI is somewhat intuitive but what to do can be overwhelming at first. (i would say go for the medikit and then laser weapons)
Second sell the worse gear and buy a little better gear (i say better because is still bad gear
Third start patrolling the areas adjacent to your base hopefully you will find an scout an you will get your first mission.
Fourth after the new weapons arrive rearm and restock your ship keep in mind that the system will auto-equip your units with whatever weapons you put in the ship so make sure you load the best that you have on your ship so your units can have the best weapons available.
Fifth manufacturing is not available yet since there is nothing researched but do not forget about it!!!!!
Now getting to the actual combat and here is where everyone i know goes their own way, is a turn-based system that requires you to plan ahead an in most cases reserve units so that if one of your soldiers see and enemy unit it will have enough time units to react fire and hopefully kill it (don't hope for that though :P)
From there is up to you which way you take the game. Personalize your units with names see how they progress.
This is a open game you can chose to do a lot or do nothing also keep in mind that the survival of Xcom in the early part of the game depends on the support of the countries of the world if you do not do mission they will cut the funding or even eventually canceling it completely. no cash no soldiers/ scientist/engineers no way to fight the alien hordes thus game over.
Good luck to all you rookies or squadies depending on which version you decide to play.
Bear in mind that the X-COM games are hard. Unless you read some online guides, your first playthrough will likely end in a defeat, even on Beginner.
Your first stop should be the manual on Steam. Read through the tutorials, but bear in mind that there's a lot more to the game than that.
With that said, X-COM is regarded as one of the best games of all time and for good reason. Once you learn your way around, you'll be hooked.
I remember playing it on Amiga back in 1995, we used to talk about how we need additional ram for it to run smoother. For that time, graphics were top notch.
The first and third are the most important ones, the second is more of a filler and the fourth is for when you like something different. People keep talking about an Xcom 5, presumably called Enforcer. Word is that it is an arcade shoot-em up. I find these rumors funny and refuse to acknowledge them, what a preposterous idea...a shoot-em up Xcom, blasphemy.
Yeah feel free to ask questions if your new and just bought the game. X-Com does a terrible job of any sort of "modern" in game tutorial or anything else. The essential things are that:
1) You need scientists early and you should not just skip laser weapons for alien tech (however tempting this is after seeing your men melted by plasma early). Laser weapons are a good initial investment and you can make major money making laser cannons and selling them.
2) Place your first base in North America or in central Europe, this is where much of the initial UFO activity will be centered around. I personally prefer Europe, but the USA (of course) is one of your biggest financiers so do not ignore them. The USA is also pretty easy to defend if your base is in the middle of it.
3) You need an alien containment facility and you need LIVE aliens to win the game. This is critical! Fetch some living aliens when possible!
4) Different players have different opinions, but I like to use tanks as much as possible in X-Com. They are good for getting down the skyranger initially instead of more fragile (but ultimately in the long run more precious) soldiers. You can manufacture/buy tons of tanks anyway, while running out of men is a really bad idea.
5) Do not, I repeat, do NOT start with Terror from the Deep. X-Com is a brutal game but Terror from the Deep is an exercise in pure sadism. Many fans will argue it's really not as good as the first game as well (though TFTD does have its fans).
Nothing wrong with being a little sadistic!!!! heh :P
Personally that is the game i love the mostbut it was an incredible feeling looking for revenge!!!!!!!!
You may want to look at the demo for the Cenega's "UFO ..." games. Thee may be a demo around.
well, i've been playing the origional game for a couple of days now after finding out all the conrtols, and i have to admit, even begginner is really hard. in the beggining your men drop like flies. though once you get the hang of it, it's easier to keep them alive
i've got a freakishly accurate woman captain at the moment with a lazer rifle, hits nearly all the time and kills. that's what i love about this game, you really get attached to your best soldiers
except that one soldier who always panic and runs into the enemy..stupid yuri.. i have no idea how he is still alive.. aliens must be so busy laughing they cant bring themselves to kill him
After you finish on Beginner, I suggest you find one of the mods (XComUtil or maybe UFOExtender) that fix the difficulty bug and then move up to Veteran. That should cause you to lose the game. Hopefully, instead of giving up at this point, you'll start thinking about what you did wrong and trying to think of tactics. This will cause you to improve. It happened to me as well, except I went for Superhuman. :P
Or you can ask here, and I'll give you some tips.
One thing worth noting. Don't reload much to fix your mistakes. This is a game that allows for mistakes even on the hardest difficulties so it's really no problem if you're losing soldiers as long as your monthly score is consistently good. It's hard to play this way, but it pays off a lot.
It's even possible to lose every soldier on the mission (you lose the Skyranger too!) and still not lose the game despite this costing you over $1 000 000 usually.
In any case, do finish the game on Beginner first as it will give you valuable insight into its basics.
I always keep my worst soldier in the skyranger so that I can rescue it if required in a pinch.
hey guys, it's going great just to let you know. i'm only on the first game and i'm hooked, i've still got all the others to play
if only i could see further..damn aliens sniping me from across the map..
Avoid night missions at all costs. LOL. (Too bad most terror missions occur at night!)
You don't have to respond immediately. The thing I do is send my skyranger near and then advance time. The instant it hits morning I then attack the terror mission.Avoid night missions at all costs. LOL. (Too bad most terror missions occur at night!)
By late in the game you should never allow terror ships to reach their target.
Let me describe each game, so you know what they are:
X-Com 1 (aka X-Com: UFO Defense aka UFO: Enemy Unknown) is a strategy game where you take control of an anti-alien organization called X-Com. You wage war against a coalition of vile aliens across the entire planet, shooting down UFOs, building bases, performing research on alien technology, and putting what you learn into practice.
And then you actually fight the aliens on the ground with a squad of troops in a turn based/isometric combat system. If you've ever played Jagged Alliance, Fallout: Tactics (or just plain Fallout 1/2), or even games like Civilization II, you should be able to grasp it fairly quickly. One of the highlights of the tactical mode (battlescape) is the ability to blow up buildings and make your own entrances in them. Alien hiding in a store and sniping your guys? Shoot through the wall and surprise him!
Basically, X-Com 1 got everything right, which is why many people consider it one of the best games in any category of all time. It's got flaws, but they're mostly minor.
Of course, X-Com 1 was released in 1994, so graphics are sprite based and primitive... But that's part of the game's charm and style.
X-Com 2, aka Terror from the Deep, is essentially X-Com 1, except taking place primarily under the sea. Oh, and it was made monstrously harder, since there was a bug in X-Com 1 that nobody knew about for years that caused the hardest difficulty to revert to the easiest, prompting people to say the game was too easy.
X-Com 3, Apocalypse shrunk the game's scale from the planet to one enormous mega-city. It also introduced real time tactical combat alongside turnbased, and several really neat new features, like actual gravity when it comes to building demolition. Unfortunately, fans don't like this one as much. Probably because the art direction, particularly with the aliens, veered into crazyland. It also had a ton of features that were cut to get the game out the door.
However, Apocalypse was undeniably fun. It had a corporate warfare system that ended up being way more fun playing with than the actual alien invasion.
X-Com 4, Interceptor, is a space flight sim with all the strategic elements of X-Com. Like Apoc, Interceptor gets a lot of (IMO undeserved) hate. It's really not that bad... Assuming you like flight sims. If you don't, then perhaps it is that bad. But as far as casual flight sims go, it's pretty good. And it's still got the trademark X-Com strategic metagame.
X-Com 5, Enforcer... Is the game fans do not speak of. It's a third person shooter that took everything from past games and made a mockery of it. When many hardcore fans look at this new X-Com game with skepticism, we're seeing the parallels with Enforcer. That being said, it's relatively enjoyable if you're into arcade shooters. It's basically Tyrian or some other SHUMP except in third person form.
Edit: In my opinion, the ones to get are 1 and 3. 2 is only if you like 1, and 4 can be skipped unless you're a huge X-Com fan like me or you like flight sims. Skip 5 unless you're getting it as part of the complete pack on Steam. Which is a pretty good deal, actually.
Last edited by Cpl_Facehugger; 04-19-2010 at 09:07 AM.
I'm well aware. I used that tactic all the time. But terror missions often depart before morning (as do some landed/downed craft). I spent many a day with a hovering Skyranger and/or Incerceptor (in the case of a landed UFO where I preferred prisoners), watching that dawn line creep across the globe.
I actually remember playing XCom 1 and 2 when I was a kid, and I also remember getting frustrated and angry with the game's difficulty ;D
BUT somehow I beat them both XD
I guess I'll just stick to a walkthrough, because I remember most of it but I don't want to play them again, nor do I have time to play them anyways.
Great games, make you think.
its probabyl a bad idea playing the original games now, because this new one will then only disapoint you.
actually playing these games has got me even more excited for the upcoming game, someone mentioned about an article, where we will manage our own base, research and 'possibly' squad.
I do something look at my soldiers and think "if i pulled off that shot, i would be nothing less than god" and so i dont really mind a FPS perspective as we are going to have more control over what missions we do and what tech we research so it wont be like Bioshock where you just follow the single (awesome) storyline, we will have more free will than our big daddy friend.
plus, despite the age, these games are fantastic, if i want a turn-based XCOM i will just return to them time and time again. and who knows, maybe a new turn-based XCOM will appear in the future
EAT GRENADE YOU STUPID ALIEN/ZOMBIE THINGS!!!
Yay this thread is popular?
LOL I started this thread mostly just to be the first post in this forum
Now I have to read it?!
Seriously, though, thanks for all the recommendations and descriptions and stuff, going to read this through now, and decide if I want to try out any of the older games, and get a taste of the originals before possibly playing the new game if it looks good / interesting.
just baught xcom ufo defence off steam and now im adicted to it all over again. Giving it a play through on the harder difficulties and so far keeping all the troops alive in a mission is practically impossible. I can see fund toubles hitting me abit further into the game.
Even though the graphics are bad the gameplay is still amazing.
you bought it!!!!
I was able to find my original cd since i bought the CE version
Now if i could only find my xcom Apoc cd...
i had original on ps1 along with terror from deep, i had apoc on pc though but the disc is scratched to hell. So i just baught it again on steam.
well, i've been doing veteran difficulty for a while, and realised how horrific terror missions at night can be.. a lost a lot of funding at the start but now only australia are unhappy with me. but you cant please everyone
so, of those here recently returned/started their XCOM adventures, hows it going? have any good moments?
i had one guy go beserk on a night mission and fire into the distance, he killed four aliens.. now that's some crazy shooting
Well, there was one time on superhuman with the fix for the difficulty reversion bug. It was a landed terror ship at night. A snakeman one. I had a laser tank, ten guys (eight of them rookies, having lost most of my team in that area to a sectoid terror site a few weeks before; I got a sectoid leader out of it so I consider this a net win), and nothing but laser rifles and plasma pistols. I was intentionally holding off on researching heavy plasma rifles as part of a personal challenge, forcing me to rely on lesser plasma weapons until I had them all researched.
Anyway, first turn, I see two Chryssalids right at the bottom of the ramp. I have the laser tank exit and fire. It misses, twice. I have my front guys exit the craft and fire, all missing. I have the next two guys do it. They missed too. At this point I'm starting to get nervous. The next two guys couldn't get a good angle on the shot without leaving the ship, which would leave them without enough time units to fire.
So I grit my teeth and hit end turn.
Bam, Chryssalid number 1 runs up the ramp and rapes two guys. Meanwhile, Chryssalid number 2 dashes forward, takes out the laser tank and two more guys. At this point I've got six Chryssalids in deadly close proximity. It's my turn (I guess the zombies didn't want to move this turn possibly due to an AI bug.)
I have my guys open up with lasers, but all they can do is clear away the zombies, causing mature Chryssalids to burst from their bloated fleshy bodies.
I hit end turn again, figuring that my team is dead.
It goes pretty much as I expected. The Chryssalids in the skyranger kill the final rookies leading to my two seasoned veterans. At this point, I'm doing the mental math for replacing a team, a skyranger, plus a tank along with laser rifles for everyone.
Then, reaction fire happens. Maybe to make up for my past terrible luck in that mission, every one hits and four of the six Chryssalids in the skyranger fall dead. The other two apparently already ended their "turn", since they don't rush me.
Then it's my turn. My vets gun down the two in the skyranger and I wait for the Chryssalids outside the transport to run in.
They do, and they're killed by reaction fire as well. Total casualties at this point: eight guys, one tank. So far I've killed all ten Chryssalids.
Now it probably would've been smarter to cut my losses and run, but damnit, we're X-Com and we do the impossible. So I had my two troops leave the skyranger and literally sweep the map, racking up six Snakeman kills plus another two Chryssalids.
Then I ran into the alien ship and killed a bunch more aliens before finally meeting the snakeman leader in the ship's command center and lasing him, ending the mission.
that's awesome!
i've got the bug fixed too, and i only did begginer for a while to get the basics before doing veteran. i have yet to even know how to get tanks. unless im just missing something obvious lol
at the moment i have two teams, one in america and one in britain. my america team is fully kitted out in the latest gear..my british team was only just newly formed
i decided begudgingly to take them to a terror mission as it was too far away from my better soldiers, plus it was in the night, with snakemen and Chryssalids. only 5 of my guys had plasma weapons at that moment, the rest had lousy conventional weps, and a rocket launcher. i lost 3 guys just taking one step out of the skyranger, but eventually the assailants were killed.
i took up position in a garden type bit with fields and hedges, expecting the worst. but somehow my rookie soldiers managed to headshot everything in sight with reactionary fire. however, i actually found myself at the point where i had to loot my dead to have any amunition.
stuck in the garden.. 5 guys left. 3 with ammo. only one had a plasma weapon. literally sorrounded by alien corpses. all guys with ammunition went beserk, but there was one Chryssalid left, and it was close. i hit end turn..knowing it would eat my first guy and the others would panic again.
however..it stopped right in front of my guy..and did..nothing. i resorted to a stun rod and zapped it like mad. it went down. that game was the longest i've ever played.
that same rookie who zapped him is now a colonel. leading the fight. but he goes nowhere without his trusty stun rod. and has taken many leaders alive to this day
also note: are Chryssalids possibly the scariest aliens when you turn a guy round and it's just standing there next to him? i mean i nearly had a heart attack
Last edited by Supercharge; 04-23-2010 at 09:14 AM.
By all means, play the original X-COM:UFO Defense (or Enemy Unknown). You can get if for $5 on Steam, or the complete pack of 5 games for $15. A few months ago they had the complete pack for $2.99.
There have been many good tips already offered on getting started. I just wanted to encourage every new player to hang in there until they reach the following cool milestones. If you do, you will understand what the fuss is all about.
Play till you get Armour.
Play till you get Heavy Plasma Rifles. (Some prefer the lasers, though.)
Play till you see your first Chryssalid (quickly followed by several more.
Play till you find a huge silver alien gun with large oval ammo on a dead alien, take it back to base, research it, then it's payback time.
The only recommendation I have is to set the alien's shot speed pretty slow. It increases the tension watching a slow moving shot track toward your veteran, and it helps the survivors know 'where did that come from?'
One thing I haven't seen anyone here mention. There is one item in your starting inventory that will save a lot of your soldiers' lives....smoke grenades. When outfitting your troops, make sure they all have one in their hand, especially the two in the back of the Skyranger, back being where the ramp is. Before making even one move, prime and throw a grenade out the back unless you're up against the edge of the screen. If you have a tank on board, you'll have to move that out first. If you're in the middle or covered on three sides, you'll probably only be able to cover that back in the first turn, so make sure your first soldiers have smoke grenades and are concealed by smoke so they can create a smoke screen for the rest on the second turn. That will obscure the vision of any aliens waiting to ambush you. With the soldier that didn't use his/her grenade, throw that a little distance from the front of the Skyranger. that blocks the alien's vision that direction. You don't want to actually be in the smoke without special armor which you get later, I personally only have 5 units out of the Skyranger at any time, keeping the others for replacements or Psi attacks later on. Once you have an effective smoke screen, you can start moving your squad towards cover.
You especially want to use these tactics in terror missions.
Squads should consist of one sniper, (high accuracy with best rifle available), one scout, (high tu's and reaction), pistol or laser pistol for fast response, a couple of smoke grenades and at least one grenade and he pack. 2 regular commandos with either auto-cannons or heavy laser/plasma rifles and a Heavy weapons expert with a rocket launcher with 2 HE and one incendiary rocket (strength at least 35). The scout should be a rookie or squaddie you consider expendable because he's probably going to get hit early on. Also, if he spots an alien, don't use him to shoot except in opportunity fire. If he spots an alien, try to move him to cover. Then try to move your sniper in position, or if necessary, one of the others. The game knows when your soldiers have used up all their tu's so always reserve enough for at least a snapshot, otherwise they'll draw enemy fire, unless they are in a very safe position at the end of their move. If you have to move into the open to fire, try to save tu's so you can move back to cover before ending your turn to avoid alien reaction fire.
By the way, a tank, launcher or cannon, is an excellent recon vehicle. You can uncover the fog of war with a lot of area with it.
They don't take a lot of damage and are pretty expensive early on, but I think they are really worth it, especially the launcher, You can ruin a lot of alien hiding places with it.
I'm lucky. I got mine all as abandonware. My advice. Stockpile, any alien tech you think you'd want to use (I keep my hints as unbiased as possible
Also, you may find that you can use your engineers to make stuff to sell to bolster your finance. Stick to stuff that doesn't need material to make.
Never sell Elerium-115. Never. You'll be sorry.
Short answer is YES PLAY THEM!
Don't let the graphics put you off. The originals are old as has been explained by the other above but if you give it an hour you will be hooked. The controls are a little clunky now compared to what we are used to these days but the games are still playable. Start with the original and work your way forwards to TFTD and Apoc. I have talked a few friends into playing the originals before the release of the new xcom. One of them couldn't get into the original 2 because the controls and graphics. He started Apoc and hasn’t put it down since. The graphics and controls are only slightly better but that was enough of a difference for him. Find the one you like and play it so you know why we are all such fans of the original almost 20 year old game!
Try to get a PDF of the manual. It'll help. Google should do.
YOU SHOULD! you're missing out on a great gameNever played any XCOM games - should I?
Have you? I haven't! Should I?
Why the hell would you post on a two year old topic?
I was so confused with the first few posts >.>
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