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Quick q's


thecyke

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Just replaying TFTD (actually you can read my review of it at my site here. Need an assist tho!

 

1. I just got done in a terror mission, and in the score it listed one of my operatives as missing in action ! I dont recall seeing this b4, anyone know what happened?

 

2. Just built an MC LAB. Do I need to do something to get it working on the boys, i need to see whos a psychic vegetable

 

3. Research tree bug. Am I right in thinking that if i can see a craft navigation module in my store i should be able to research it?

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MIA also tends to happen when a soldier is still under the infulence of mind control, and you kill the last alien before it's worn off. Happens in UFO too.

 

Regarding #3, if you're playing an old dos edition of the game, consider getting the tftdv2 patch. Prior to the patch, you needed a lobsterman navigator to get the magnetic navigation.

 

You should also start a brand new game after installing the patch, as any errors encountered in the research tree up to the point you saved tend to get carried over.

 

If you're playing the collectors edition, or you've already patched the game, then something is definitely wrong.

 

- NKF

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Greetings cyke, so you darken my doors again eh?

 

Just kiddin' mate... Should hopefully be around to help out with yer site sometime either tonight or tomorrow.

 

(On a side note, and I'm whispering so nobody else could possibly hear.. .:P, there's a bit of a site redesign in the works for this 'ere site, and I should finally get around to putting in all the stuff you amassed running AllianceX all those many months ago...).

 

Yup, restarting TFTD is NOT generally an option. I can complete UFO in a fairly long day, but TFTD would take WEEKS putting in the same kind of hours.

 

It's not just a rehash by any means, as your article says :)

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It was a dull Saturday. I played it on easy :P I skipped cetain technology and went straight for the stuff to get the Avenger, and then I toddled off to Mars, where my casualty rating was unsurprisingly high using laser weapons.

 

I think I had about four guys left, and two of those sacraficed themselves for the greater good in the Alien command center room. Still, the bad guys died and I won :)

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Programming wise, TFTD is a rehash.

 

New points!

 

-Better Alien AI (though I'm sure my copy must be missing it - hey... WHERE'S THE ANGRY SMILY?!) :hmmm:

 

-New graphics. Sorta. Try superimposing the troops, you'll see what I mean :)

 

-You can open doors by right clicking on them (best update! :P)

 

-Missions in two parts

 

-Tech tree is botched (yes, botched) up so it takes longer to travel through, hence making you play the same game a lot LONGER.

 

-All your troops die in the end :(

 

Now Apocalypse: THAT's not a rehash! :) :inlove:

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Actually, they already had 2-parter missions in UFO. Cydonia for example (Well, okay, so it's the only example). The sea bed section of the artefact sites is disturbingly like the Cydonia pyramids. They just botched the implementation of item recovery.

 

And they also added a rather crummy 3-parter in the end (which is a meager 6 levels tall in total, as opposed to the 8 levels of most two-parters. Following tradition with Cydonia's 6 levels I guess.)

 

Oh, and fixed maps. They had a lot of these in TFTD, whereas, in UFO, almost every map, excluding the X-Com base, was pseudo-random.

 

Then there's the underwater/land aspect with the palette shifted to blue plus animated bubble effects to simulate 'water'. They didn't implement the underwater-only weapons properly, seeing as you can still fire them with reaction fire.

 

Should of implemented schools of fish 'civilians' for underwater missions. Save the fish! Or maybe a shark...

 

Oh, don't forget virboblades. Having played TFTD first, then UFO, I sorely missed these. Kind of makes you wish they had a knife or bayonets in UFO eh?

 

Most terrain in TFTD is extremely tiring on your soldiers.

 

The new AI is...yes, it's different. Although I've noticed that the AI tends to get the aliens to stay in one place a lot more than wander about (I HATE that, makes me wait endlessly for no reason). UFO has one or two aliens that do this (Large scout command room anyone?), but they seem to do it a lot more in TFTD.

 

Oh, and try comparing the ends of the shoulder pads for Ion armour in the inventory screen with the shoulder pads of UFO's good old Personal Armour. They seem oddly similiar.

 

Notice how the line of sight is a lot worse in TFTD? Yes? Like standing next to some stairs, with an alien standing at the base of the stairway, but not being able to see it even though it's 1-tile away, but miraculously being able to see it when you're standing BEHIND the stairs. Argh! And don't get me started about standing next to an 'invisible' alien in knee-deep coral!

 

Lots of improvements, with plenty of headaches at the same time.

 

- NKF

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Yes, you should get it.

 

In my last few attempts at starting a TFTD campaign, Mag. Navigation was among the first few alien artefacts to appear on the research list.

 

This mainly happens in versions of TFTD that have been patched with the v2 update, or presumably the collectors edition (which I assume already has the v2 patch fixes applied to it).

 

If you are playing an old unpatched version of TFTD, then you need to capture and interrogate a Lobsterman Navigator before you can research Magnetic Navigation [1].

 

- NKF

 

[1] I need to update my notes on TFTD, but I don't have access to an old unpatched copy of the game. Could someone with an unpatched copy please confirm this for me? I distinctly remember that that was how you went about it. [2]

 

[2] I also remember that prior to the patch, you could get Magnetic Ion Armour without the Ion Armour by just researching Magnetic Navigation and Ion Beam Accelerators.

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I would say XCOMUTIL would be your best bet. Even if you can't get all teh research you want (can't remember what's in the latest version) I'm sure you can place some stuff that you don't have into your stores to research them again.

 

Or (and here's a good plan for if you don't want to go too far back if you cock something up) copy your savegames to another directory and have a few dozen backups. I'm sure your hard disk can handle that :)

 

I dunno.... you lot monaing that unpatched TFTD is "broken". Pussy's the lot of ya! It's just... erm... challenging.... and if you get it wrong you can't somplete the game, but that's all part of the challenge. It makes you try harder to capture everything and everyone!!

 

Ph33r my :(:):P:(

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Well, I don't think the unpatched game is broken per-se. I did finish the game in it after all (miracle!)... only Psionics never ever became an option the first time through (I really don't know why, I had researched everything), and my second run through the game was actually quite a rewarding one.

 

Not minding a couple of other bugs, yeah, it's harder, is all. Heck, just trying to capture a lobsterman navigator was uber-hard. (Back then. I hadn't realised how useful the shok launcher was vs. lobstermen. Me being a thermal tazer junkie...)

 

- NKF

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I'm working on an interview with Andy Williams at the moment. He was head mapper on TFTD and has some great stories about TFTD to share. Needless to say, I`m gonna get info from him on Alliance too, as he was the designer/producer.

 

Should be up hopefully within the week at The Last Outpost

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  • 2 weeks later...

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