Had a dream I was playing this so I played it again

[Minor Annoyance]

I had a flight stick before but it had a problem where you couldn't turn right and use thrusters at the same time. Same with other games turning right and the POV hat conflicted somehow. This time I had an X-Box 360 controller but it's still hard to have fine control. I had like a 15% accuracy before Tracking Tracers. . I mistakenly set it to beginner so there was no real challenge. Only one or two missions in the middle where I'd lose a fighter to missiles.

Something went weird where I got UFO 2 captured before UFO 1 so I skipped the mid level technology and went straight to 3rd level. Then I didn't see the third UFO for a long time so I had to go to a base to capture one and finish the required research. Because I missed UFO 1 for a long time I didn't have thrusters which are less sensitive then regular steering and therefor useful for long range shooting when you're flying towards each other. The control pad is on the same side as steering so I can't use them together.

I'm mot sure I'd ever use heavy lasers or non tracking-tracers due to the sensitivity of the controls. High energy use weapons are useless if I have to hose down the whole of space to get a hit. I wonder if the AI uses them better? It's hard to tell what they're doing. Also I just read that they don't use thrusters or cloak. Do they use ECM? Seems like there isn't a lot I can give them.

Is it possible to capture a UFO without tacheon pulsars? I heard that it is but I've never seen it happen so I go for them as soon as possible.

I actually read the gamesettings file and made a tech chart in a spreadsheet, but it seems like a lot of the prerequisites are unnecessary. It seems that if you find the finished item you don't need to research the supposed requirements, which is usually a captured UFO.

These games always require you to win by playing the story because you're supposed to be outgunned but especially in this you are barely able to hit them back when it seems like you should be able to. Seems like you have to build bases in a straight line towards their bases to get them within range. Also I don't even know how much of a difference thinning out their facilities actually does.

I thought I might play this one more time but after reading that you can win most battles easily by flying backwards that's put me off a little. Reminds me of the landspeeder level in the Star Wars game for SNES. You go in reverse and shoot and somehow you get closer to the city.

[silencer_pl]

1. Mouse was enough for me to target anything.

2. AI wingman don't use active items. Only tractor beam if you disable UFO and tell them

3. Yes you can disable ufo without tachyon but it requires more efort. Damaging ufo hull has a chance to wound the pilot. Damage hull wait for it to repair and fire again. Repeat until pilot is dead. You can see the pilots health in the scaner window

 

4. Yes you can win by shooting flying backwards. But you don't have to use it. This is the only option on superhuman level where you will have a mission to kill 5+ phantasms. Wingman AI is too stupid for this threat and doing it without loses you must solo it

[Tsathoggua]

Not played interceptor in ages, will have to download it some time, once I get a mouse working rather than the MC-ed mousepad of this damn laptop.

 

But coincidentally I just woke up from the weirdest dream, centered around UFO defense. Of all things to dream about, woke up from an opiate nod, and had been playing UFO all night and most of the day, and a lot recently, but had been dreaming about things from the aliens POV, mutons and sectoids arguing about where to deploy, both races on the same terror ship, and then setting down somewhere, I forget where, and a lot of shooting, whenever a civilian was killed, I'd see that kind of polaroid snapshot type picture as in the intro video, of a muton's claw squeezing the grip of a plasma pistol or rifle, civilians lying bleeding or killed, often fried or blasted to smithereens by plasma fire and grenades. Mutons tearing up civilians, before X-com showed up, legging it out of their skyranger, lots of shooting, and the muton force then teleporting up to their terror ship, taking off, leaving a few unfortunate and slow sectoids behind, that were promptly ripped to pieces by that kinda squat guy in the personal armor who wields an autocannon.

 

Weirdest dream I've had in a long time! Entertaining though, at least when it didn't feature the fear felt by the doomed sectoids, and their rage at being left behind on the battlefield as their terror ship took off without them.