DLC

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

For those of you who have completed the game or haven't I figured now is a good time to consider future DLC for XCOM Enemy Unknown.

I figure if Firaxis were to say include a new alien in XCOM, would it not be fitting that they also include a new armor or weapon type to combat this new extraterrestrial threat? Probably have to alter the tech tree in order to accomplish this feat, but I suspect most of the DLC will be maps.

And for all those of you who might think this topic might may be too early, think again. The newly released Borderlands 2 already has new DLC and more coming this month.

[Pete]

I think I would just vote for more maps and soldier customisation (ie. voices of different nationalities etc).

 

The voices though - I wonder if it would be possible to have user-contributed voice packs? I know not everyone is an amazing voice actor, but this is a pretty popular game so I'm wondering how feasible it is to actually drop your own packs in.

 

Sorry, getting off topic already

 

I think new weapons would be nice and not totally break things, but I suspect that new aliens would be a bit convoluted to implement as everything has a real relationship in this tech tree.

 

More variety of basic starting weapons seems to be a popular mod in other games - take the UFO series mods for example.

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

Now that's a good idea Pete. I see that more of a Modders feat than the developers (they have BUGS to fix). But I find it kinda a silly when I have a black male from Nigera, that sounds like a white surfer dude from California.

[Pete]

I just want an English bloke to stereotypically shout "tally-ho!" whilst jumping off the back of the Skyranger

 

With a cup of tea in one hand of course, but that might be a bigger mod

 

In fact, in all seriousness if this is possible you could have some real fun with the voices!

[The Veteran]

I agree voices are a must but for the vote I put other. Reasons follow, as do end-of-game spoilers...

 

 

In my opinion, this game is not finished... I'm not one of the people who is going to be bitching at 2K because this isn't the same as the original (I'm saving that for the FPS in 2014!) but as many people have already said all over the web, the ending was somewhat anticlimactic...

 

So why not have the next thing they do be a PROPER end to the story? As far as I can tell from what the ethereal was on about at the end of this game, they were introduced to the gift by another powerful alien race (Ascidians anyone?!) but found to be unsuitable or something. Unworthy perhaps due to their aggressive and dominant nature? So they've travelled the universe searching for other alien races they can subjugate and have at some point run into the Sectoids (original inhabitants of Mars maybe... Who perhaps happened to mention that they seeded earth with their DNA millions of years ago?) The Ethereals seek to add mankind to their army seeing they have great potential and hence the game begins...

 

But lets be honest... The battleship was WAAAAY bigger than that temple ship, despite it being half the size of Brazil on the Geoscape (fine so we just invaded the command centre but that's a piss weak agrument as it was only defended by about 20 baddies!) So where was the aliens REAL base of operations? I say Mars and I say this game isn't really finished till we get our Avengers and blow up some ancient alien pyramids!

 

 

So now you know what to ask for this Christmas

[Pete]

I updated your post to mention the spoilers are about the end of the game. As soon as I got to those words I closed the spoiler box instantly so didn't spoil it for myself

 

I'll be able to read it later in the week when I have time to play again though

[The Veteran]

Thanks Pete, glad I didn't mess it up for you!!!

[Pete]

I tip-toe around XCOM threads lately just in case

[FullAuto]

Challenge maps would be good, and/or a horde mode. Defend objective z for x turns against an increasing number of aliens.

[silencer_pl]

Co-op mode - for example survival - how many rounds can you survive. 2vs2 on multi-player, more maps on multi - more colours - you can forget about voices.

[Pete]

Co-op version of the main game, or better yet human players for both sides on the main game - one player takes the aliens and the other is in charge of XCOM. I could only see it working in the missions though.

[silencer_pl]

I didn't mean co-op campaign - only multi stuff.

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

I added FLAME-THROWERS to the poll. Why? (A.) I'm a pyromanic and enjoy setting things on fire. (B.) I would like to see more close combat weaponry.

(C.) I'm a pyromanic and enjoy setting things on fire. Seriously though, I think it would be a cool short/medium weapon to have. A critical hit could cause instant death or something. Maybe make it, the Anti-Zombie weapon of choice.

 

[FireWarrior]

You're missing an option - All of them

 

A co-op game mode, even if it's just single skirmish battles would be epic - two squads (or dividing one squad) against a varying number of aliens. I'll be taking a look at the game files this weekend myself, to see how feasible sound packs might be, I know there is a mod out that lets you shoot down UFOs in order to prevent Terror attacks (reduce the number of cities you have to choose from)

[pizzapielover]

how about a variety of tournament game modes 1v1 or 2v2 etc i mean who wouldent like the feeling of being number one outa a bunch of others

[Mickey B]

Lots of great ideas, but how about an increase in squad size.

[The Veteran]

I think an increase in squad size would make the player too overpowerd to be honest. They've done a good job at balancing the tactical part of the game so that a team of six with good skills and equipment always stand a good chance in any given mission.

 

What WOULD be nice is to allow more than one team but it would require such a huge amount of reprogramming and rebalancing I very much doubt it will ever happen!

[Mickey B]

I don’t know about OP. I had 9 mutons of all three kinds and 3 heavy floaters on a mission. That’s a lot of power coming at you. It would have been nice to have a couple of expendable rookies to throw at that horde. Instead I had all my best wiped out and It's hard to rebuild later in the game. A couple more guys would be useful.

 

I agree more than one team would be great, as well as more equipment slots on the troops. I favor the support class because they can take on a couple of roles from grenade guy to medic with a slot left for more armor.

[silencer_pl]

Although in original X-Com you could bring 12 then 24 soldiers I hardly had patience to operate more than 6 - many other gamers also didn't use that much of soldiers and battles in original were more easier.

 

(Take also for exmaple Jman's latest X-COM AAR) - how many soldiers per battle he is using ?

[The Veteran]

Agreed, but I think the huge number of troops you were allowed in the original was meant to reflect just how easily they died. Have you noticed that fire in the new game is simply a hit/miss calculation? I've seen enemy shots miss their target and do no damage to anyone despite hitting my other squad members square in the face. Similarly the shot sometimes hits the target but is still a 'miss'. Oddly enough though, shots DO damage the environment that they hit (destroying walls and setting cars on fire) they just do no damage to any units other than the intended target.

 

The reason I mention this is to backup the above point that you died a lot more in the original! Shots could miss the intended Commie but still wipe out some poor sap stood behind him as could friendly fire. And lets be honest, even with power/flying armour in the original you were never going to survive more than 1 or 2 hits from an enemy weapon. In this remake you can suffer hits of only 2 or damage despite having over 20 health available to you so again harder to die.

 

That's why the original had so many soldiers and was unquestionably more of a cannon foddery undertaking. It's also the reason why (in my opinion) adding more soldiers to the squad size in this game would unbalance it somewhat. Sure sometimes you make an unlucky move and find yourself outnumbered but unless you're either really unlucky or really careless you should be able to fight your way out of it with the right tactics!

 

I know it's not always the case as I got a bitch of a mission one time where all of the enemies spawned right by each other so every move I made after discovering the first 3 mutons uncovered 3 more... I'm guessing that's kind of what happened to you Mickey is it? And I'm also assuming you mean 9 mutons altogether right??? Otherwise it's an insane battle if it's nine of each Again though, I'd say 12 aliens is a pretty standard battle on any difficulty, the trick is how many you have to fight at once though, so if you're saying they all popped up together (like they did for me one time) then I agree entirely with what you're saying. But at the end of the day that's not normal gameplay, just REALLY bad luck!

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

Ok how about same amount of squad size (4-5-6) except you get a bonus spot for a S.H.I.V.? You know when the enemy throws 2 Sectopods, 6 Elite Mutons, and about 9 mother f*%*!ing Chryssalids at you on a damned Terror Mission....ugh...Consider it an officers Upgrade.

 

*Edit*

I just realized that wouldn't work because technically you could have an entire squad of H.W.P.s. Which I think is pretty ghey.

[silencer_pl]

Yes the shooting mechanics are questionable sometimes because you chould have in original 10% chance in point blank but you would hit it always. I think they should fix this - a point blank shot should be 100% accurate always - no matter the skills no matter the weapon.

Or any shot within 2-3 tiles away from enemy - except when in cover. In original if you had luck you could survive heavy plasma shot without any armour here you can't - each hit is a damage and at start your soldiers can survive up to 2-3 hits (if you are lucky).

The survival of your troops is now more depednant on your skill - in X-Com it was more of a luck - but basicaly using those laser rifles gave you enough advantage to spam autoshots that hit more often than miss it.

 

Also regarding cannon fodder. Then soldiers meant nothing - it was like hey you - shoot there and kill him if not well there are million of you other. Now you must care for your soldiers.

 

I know it's not always the case as I got a bitch of a mission one time where all of the enemies spawned right by each other so every move

 

Then why you press forward. Agro them and make them come to you. They are in numbers and they are stupid. Outsmart them. Use TACTICS.

 

 

Try also thinking about strategy games where you had fixed number of units and enemy had twice or more than you and you either had to survive or push forward. Why nobody complains there.

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

I remember having a soldier in the original who was on like (lemme think here) I'll say 8 missions and he was promoted to sargeant without killing ANYTHING! I believe it was because he was always on the end of the skyranger, I remember him well because the first damn time he stepped off the ship and onto the ground a floater reaction fired shot his ass dead. Moral is if you have to save the world against aliens, take a desk job.

[The Veteran]

Then why you press forward. Agro them and make them come to you. They are in numbers and they are stupid. Outsmart them. Use TACTICS.

 

You're missing the point mate, what we're saying is sometimes your luck will make it impossible to use tactical sense to escape the situation. We've all got a bit unlucky (or careless) and revealed a group of hostiles with our last move of the turn haven't we? It sucks because you can't counter until AFTER they have a movement phase during which anything could go wrong for you. BUT at the same time it'll only be 2 or 3 new contacts and hopefully your troops are all in cover anyway. THAT is still normal gameplay and the fact you get jumped in situations like that just reflects your strategy working/not!

 

What we're talking about is a group of 9 mutons (was even more for me!) all spawning in the same turn in a very similar location. Basically another group turned up in my game each time I tried to fall back with my scout. So I found 3 and then fell back so they could be dealt with. While falling back, somehow another group was revealed FURTHER AWAY than the first... Makes no sense as it is but also is ridiculous that two groups of Mutons are stood about 3 spaces apart. Then another one turned up similarly nearby and a last one on the roof when my turn ended. Situations like that cannot be escaped with just strategic planning, they need a lot of luck too! The chances of 10-12 muton soldiers missing all their shots is slim at best and then of course there are the grenades... One of them was a berserker on my game as well which made things even worse.

 

I'm curious as to why you think pressing forward would be a good tactic in this situation seeing as it would simply result in all of your squad being surrounded by enemies and flanked to death next turn. THIS is the kind of situation I'm talking about, not normal fights when you're facing a small group of enemies at a time. I've only had one battle that was as messed up as the one I'm describing and I replayed it because after trying it from the start half a dozen times it was just impossible to win, literally...

 

Even on normal battles I would probably disagree with pushing forward to fight but that's just because it's not the way I play personally... We've had the discussion about assault troops who may be able to operate very well in this way BUT pushing forward still presents the very real risk of uncovering new groups of enemies and being in MORE toruble than you were before. Much better to engage one group at a time and pick them off at maximum range if you ask me!

[silencer_pl]

And how many times in original you sent a scout and there was unexpected aliens and your TU's run dry ?

 

While falling back, somehow

 

Not somehow - you probably used different path while the first one didn't have FoV to spot them.

 

Where did I say that ?

 

In tight spots you never push forward. You push forward if you are certain that your flank is protected and you have a very high chance to kill. Agro enemies - make them come to you - then when you see opportunity of open flank you rush in.