How long does it take you?

[The Sultan]

Hey all. I havnt played UFO for about four years, but then i was just browsing the net and found this site and it got me playing again. So having said that i was just curious, how long do you guys rekon it takes to pass UFO. Please dont get me wrong i REALLY dont want to start a 'bragging' post, but i remember being able to pass UFO on superhuman in less than one game year. Is this about right? or do i remember wrong? (quite possible)

[Jman4117]

6 months or less if you get right to the tech needed to to get to cydonia.

A year or so to get all the usefull gagets that keep the game from being insanely difficult towards the end.

[FullAuto]

I can do it in less than a year on superhuman, but I actually prefer taking my time, building up an elite army and a fleet of Avengers. Just for my own amusement. I wonder how long you could hold out, with a good enough force? Indefinitely? Hmm.

[Jman4117]

I have done over 4 years.

[Fox]

Well, theororetically the game can be beaten with one UFO assault. If it's a battleship (or in some cases a supply ship), and you stun all the aliens. You just need to research up to the Avenger, and Cydonia or Bust.

 

So, in theory, the game could be beaten within the first couple of months. I have beaten it on Experienced by May of 1999. It just involved devoting all resources into research and manufacturing, and training one elite squad, not my style though. But it's the fastest way to beat it.

 

I have never beaten the game on Superhuman actually, I have a saved game that is three months in and I am getting mauled. I could pull out of it I suppose, but I get too frustrated when my guys die in situations I could never have prevented and that they never had a chance in. I stopped playing when I landed at a mission and did ALL the proper LZ clearing procedures, 2 smoke grenades, and 6 guys kneeled outside the LZ after the turn. I get blaster bombed right into the 'Ranger. 2 main snipers killed, tons of trained guys killed. I beat the mission with 4 people out of 14 left alive. And this is a semi-seasoned squad. I haven't played since beating the mission.

 

I sort of got side-tracked here sorry.

[NKF]

You needn't wait for a battleship. Just incite a base attack, as the crews are identical. You can often find a commander and a couple of leaders in the mess. Then all you need is a successful assault on any UFO that gives you all the necessary components to build the avenger.

 

One random alien. One leader and one commander will cover the 'Cydonia or Bust' side of research. Some power sources, navigation units, elerium, and a bunch of alloys for the Avenger. Oh, and enough cash to invest in a huge force of scientists and laboratories.

 

With research aside, the scientist can be sacked to make space for the engineers who'll then spit out an Avenger (you can make space and save money by bumping off interceptor-2). Given you've got some elerium, you're on your way.

 

As for having unskilled soldiers - this is not a barrier. It's harder, true, but it wont' stop you from winning the game. Going to cydonia early has one possible benefit. You probably won't need to worry about blaster bombs or heavy plasmas (not very likely on superhuman, but probable on easier levels). Hey, large rockets and high explosives can kill anything with enough hits.

 

Killing the brain under 2 turns, now that's a feat I've managed only once, and entirely by accident. It helped a lot that my soldiers spawned within sight of the brain's theatere and that a chryssalid was standing right next to a dead alien who'd been carrying a blaster launcher. It doesn't really count as I used psionics and the inventory trick.

 

But it did give me an idea. If you start right next to the theater's passageway and you've got a rocket launcher (or a heavy/auto cannon with HE shells), the mission would be over in one turn. This relies on luck more than anything else.

 

---

 

As for how fast I can win the game, I can't really say. Depends on how lucky I am during the course of the campaign. Most of the time, when I get the option to go to cydonia, I just restart the game from the very beginning. I start many campaigns, but I rarely finish them.

 

- NKF

 

P. S: I'm not sure that you can find commanders in very early missions 100% of the time, so it might take several tries.

[Fox]

I don't like trying to get to the end of the game so fast, I take my time and build a massive war machine, 2 main squads at every base, an interceptor fleet that can take out anything, and a research/production team that can churn war materiel out like twinkies on the production line. Once I get all base slots filled up, and everything researched, all my bases stocked up, clear the planet of alien bases, I go for the assault. Later in the game I just shoot down the UFOs and don't even assault them. I can make enough money by making Laser Cannons and selling them to keep me going. There's the occasional landed battleship and supply ship that I'm forced to take care of, but that's it.

 

Maybe if you ask nicely I can ramble some more.

[Zombie]

I have finished the game on Superhuman by June 1999. It was not too difficult to accomplish either - surprising since I went from playing Beginner to Superhuman skipping the levels in-between! Probably the luck of the draw - the next game I was getting slaughtered.

 

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NKF - How could rookie soldiers be able complete the 2nd Cydonia mission in under 2 turns? This is impossible! First they have to move from their positions to get to the command module. Easy if they are underneath the green area, harder if they are above. Then you have to move them inside the the command module, down the long hallway, and up one of the lifts (assuming no Ethereals get in your way). I seriously doubt a rookie, squaddie or even a veteran with full time units will have enough TU leftover to shoot their guns after all this movement!

 

Assuming you can get a veteran to the door of the command center and be able to shoot his gun after opening it, will a HE blast (or a few) fired at the ceiling right below the "brain" be enough to destroy it? I could see 2 rounds to accomplish this feat if it is possible. Soldiers only spawn right below the green area, never into adjoining modules. The way the command center is built, there are two access points to the door. They are equally spaced on either side and down the hall from the door - not one access point directly across from this door. Your soldiers will never be able to spawn close enough to accomplish the objective without running out of TU!

 

Personally, I have completed the 2nd mission in 1 round! One of my soldiers spotted the command center from below. I had a 2nd soldier fire a blaster bomb at the door to poke a hole in it. The 3rd soldier fired a blaster bomb through this hole and at the ceiling below where the brain sits. Brain gets destroyed from the resulting explosion and the game was over. I did not even have to resort to psionics to make this happen. Of course, this was all luck because the game happened to have my soldiers close enough to the command center to do something!

 

NKF - please take no offense in my post. It could read a little insulting but this is not intended!

[NKF]

As I said, it relies on a lot of luck in getting all the right conditions. The insertion point for the soldier with the rocket launcher must be placed directly to the west of the brain theatre. A soldier with a rocket launcher or heavy/auto cannon will then just need to get a round directly underneath the brain and poof, mission over.

 

With a blaster launcher, yes, if you know where the brain theatre is right away, why wait? One turn's enough - you needn't even leave the insertion chamber.

 

If you don't find it right away, or your insertion points aren't well place, you'd still need a turn to locate the brain theatre and then position your rocket soldier(s).

 

As for using rookies - why not? They can all fire as fast as your maxed veteran. Sure, they don't have as high reactions, can't walk as far and might not hit as accurately, but that never stopped you at the start of the game now did it?

 

- NKF

[Bomb Bloke]

If you have a couple of claster bombs, one turn is all that is required. You can cheat a bit, you see, by moving the cursor around the blacked areas of the map - You'll soon find the room with the brain in it. With a bit of memory, and a bit of cursor scouting, you can make a route for your blaster bomb to follow, right to the brain. Foreknowledge of base tile layouts help.

 

You'll need more then one bomb, though, as you have to punch through a door at some point.

 

The higher the difficulty, the faster you should be able to finish the game. Why? You get access to the good stuff earlier, and the added inflow of aliens ups your back balance, too - the one catch is, if you don't have the skill to win the missions same as any other difficulty, you're stuffed.

[darkvenom]

best i've done so far is about 7 months in game... there are a few days in there giv or take... the thing is I have got to cydonia in under 6 months but not enough resources to deploy an attack...