This game is testing my patience

[Jonaleth Irenicus]

OK, I am an X-Com fan, I played TFTD and APOC over and over (I never got to like UFO that much), and right now, that is the only thing that keeps me playing this game.

 

It's not the stupid "power shift" points where reticulans suddenly have superior weapons compared to yours and can wipe your squad in a matter of seconds.

 

It's not the fact that having a fast/healthy soldier run around like a chicken with his head cut off drawing fire from the aliens while your other squad members shoot from out of sight looks like to be the best strategy for now (although tactically, this is just a shame).

 

It's not the fact that you have this geoscape monster, the biomass, that you can only fight with research, and if you don't get the research in time, game over for you.

 

It's also not that they have kinda lied about certain aspects of the game (you can't specialise your squad members because in the long run they all end up having the same stats, the maps are not unique, they are just random generated "same old crap" every time, I have already pinpointed enemy locations in some of them).

 

 

 

Last night, I was recovering a planter UFO (large one, I think). I defeated the reticulans outside with a squad full of G3 rifles (and they were of course using their plasma grenade launchers and stuff). I entered the UFO, set everyone on burst fire, and like the coward I am (the game forces me to), I waited for the aliens to pass by. A reticulan appeared with a grenade launcher at the end of one corridor, I shot him down quickly (didn't have a chance to reaction fire), another appeared in the corridor adjacent to my entering point, I shot him down before he could react as well.

 

At this point I check the mission objectives to see how many more I need to kill. It says 3 in total, so I am happy as I only need to kill 1 more alien.

 

But the superb thing is: I CAN'T GET TO THE STUPID LAST ALIEN!!! Why??? Because I have entered at the point that has no exit to the other parts of the UFO (I can only get to the adjacent room and that doesn't open up to anywhere too). I think the corridors should be blocked (forgive my ignorance, I had never tried moving from my start location in UFO recoveries, I sit on my ass and wait for the reticulans to pass by) so I throw grenades all around. No use. I'm just stuck there with no aliens to kill (I waited for 10 minutes, nobody came to say hello).

 

 

 

That is not the only thing that bothers me. It is a bug, and games are supposed to have bugs (good or bad). This one should have been fixed (I have 1.3, I guess the bug was introduced in this version?), but I can just take it. The thing is, I had another UFO mission where I started in the center, and right when I hit unpause, I have 4 reticulans get into the room, two carrying grenade launchers, two with rifles. I downed 3 of them and quickly hit end mission before the 4th remaining alien (which had a grenade launcher by the way) could take another shot (if he had, he would kill three of my soldiers, because they were knocked out cold).

 

This game has turned into more of a psychological strain than a tactical battle.

[BlackAlmaz]

as far as i know some alians can stay in an area for the rest of the game

 

and there has been a bug with ufo mobuilaty in heavy armour

[Slaughter]

That is not the only thing that bothers me. It is a bug, and games are supposed to have bugs (good or bad). This one should have been fixed (I have 1.3, I guess the bug was introduced in this version?), but I can just take it.

Yes, this bug came with the 1.3 version of the game. It will surely be fixed in the 1.4 version patch, since ALTAR are well aware of it, but we have no ETA on it yet.

 

As for being rushed by several aliens on entering a UFO, that is kind of a balance problem. It doesn't happen often, but is very annoying when it happens.

 

Anyway, best you can do is to try to dig up some more patience somewhere and wait for the next patch, or reload a point prior to the UFO mission, and play again. Oh, and welcome to the boards!

[Jonaleth Irenicus]

Thx

 

I completed the mission by going back to my save before entering the UFO (I have two tactical save slots, thanks to my long experience in Daggerfall, the most bugged game of all history) and entered the UFO again. This time, I had to kill only two to finish the mission (BAH!)

 

For now I try not to test my patience too much, so I play very slow (mostly a game is finished after a week of playing (or two), but I'm taking it VERY slow with aftermath). I try to avoid alien base missions (actually found a tactic -for delegate- that allows you to capture them without doing the base mission).

 

BTW: I never wear heavy armour, so the problem is a pathfinding (or pathexisting) one, I did a search in the forums, looks like the bug is widely known. Heavy armour sux IMHO, I prefer killing my enemy faster (so I don't get so many shots) to standing there taking the damage.

[Kret]

Heavy armour sux IMHO, I prefer killing my enemy faster (so I don't get so many shots) to standing there taking the damage

 

Ironically, you get access to the most devastating and fast weapons in the game with heavy armor.

The 4-Cannon turret can mow down rets in very little time and at quite long distances.

The double barrel and machinegun are also very good options vs reticulans at most distances.

The ret Plasma turret is very usefull vs most transgenants and it can reload.

 

However, to take the most advantage of these weapons, your guys need at least excellent capacity and the same with speed (deployment of the turrets and mobility)

[Jonaleth Irenicus]

Hmmm. I haven't had access to those weapons you have mentioned (I have just completed soviet base story mission) so heavy armour is pretty much "slow useless piece of crap" for me right now

[Kret]

That's the major inconvenience of the heavy armor. Anyway, I forgot to mention that this armor is the best one suited for absorbing damage from MSA and alien explosive and incendiary rockets, but fails to give a decent protection vs laser, plasma and warp.

[Raion]

>>I could not log in on the main page, so that had me going, but here I am - after logging in in the forum, which I could not do before, I think, I am guessing. But anyway, no problem:

 

 

Squadies, after looking again at the manual do not have to go through training.

 

The player does not have to train them, but you can if you want to, and it will add some points in areas that the player decides.

 

So, that is making me play different.

 

In UFO's there are doors, and opening them can be done, but do not ask me why the squadie is where he is at when he opens them, all I can say, that the UFO's are different and not like other places. They have strange downgrades, and strange corridors, and are strange, and it is a UFO. The rest I do not know, but I know they can open what appears to be doors there, in the UFO.

 

I guess the last game, I thought was medium, must have been easy, or else when starting a newer game on medium it is harder with less squaddies -- 10 total.

 

But, 3 were Malcolms, with different names, and 2 are Brians, with a different name.

 

Gees! Getting mixed up, since they look the same but talk a little differently.

 

Anyway I thought I had a female Malcolm, but again she is just a little different, but hey, I am all for the love affair should it happen.

 

Other than that, I am now running at 72Hz refresh rate for my GeForece 5200, which seems to make the game run better for me, and works fine.

 

It is still early in the game, but I think dust is and dirt may be playing a factor here where I am.

 

The game is different this time since I do not have Sky Armor yet, like the other previous game. That seems to help!