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VDay posted:I think the difficulty scales much better (or at least more evenly) than in Vanilla EW. The beginning is easy(er) because you get 6 guys right off the bat and you're still mostly fighting 6-9 aliens per mission who, while buffed, aren't too ridiculous compared to Vanilla. But even 2-3 months in you start seeing medium-sized UFOs, and those have two outsiders in them, who both have 10 HP and regenerate health every turn. As the game goes on you start running into tougher and tougher enemies, and have to make actual choices on who to take thanks to fatigue. You run into situations where you're forced to take underleveled guys because the alternative means that you don't have a single decent soldier left if you get another mission in 2-3 days, so there's some added difficulty in that. And let's put it this way: they decided that having 8 soldiers instead of 6 would be necessary in order to balance things, so that gives you an idea of how much harder later encounters are. Good. I look forward to it. With the 2 slots from the beginning and the additional options to put things in it, at least the rookies/squaddies won't be a total dead weight. I think the strategic level is going to kill me anyway. I have no idea if I'm using my money correctly and I have only one steam vent.
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Mar 9, 2014 20:25
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Any word on how far out a full release of EW LW is? I want to wait until the developers consider it complete before taking the plunge. Personally the only thing I have reservations about it the sheer number of missions that are being crammed in but I'll probably just use their shorter game option.
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Mar 9, 2014 22:20
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I imagine there's no set date since it just kinda depends on when they'll hit a balance that they're happy with. Speaking of which, Beta 3 just got released  Still 'synching' with the Nexus servers so looks like it literally just got put up.Major changes: -Grenadier now applies +1 greande to direct-damage grenades only -Smoke and Mirrors now applies +1 grenade for all support grenades - Lightning Reflexes now applies a severe aim penalty to all reaction/overwatch fire directed at the unit, rather than affording perfect defense against the first shot. This mean units activating LR can always be hit, but it should be pretty rare. - When a unit is suppressed and breaks cover to run, the reaction shot now takes effect *after* the unit has left cover, making doing so more dangerous - Rush-building any item costs a minimum of 1 meld - Rush-building facilities costs 10 meld - AP Grenade now ignores cover-based DR (and will do more damage) There are like a dozen other changes, gameplay tweaks, and a couple dozen fixes on top of that stuff. http://www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/...3D1464650&pUp=1
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Mar 9, 2014 22:34
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VDay posted:This mean units activating LR can always be hit, but it should be pretty rare. Translation - you will get hit and you will die the one time you NEED it to not fail.
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Mar 9, 2014 22:42
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Yeah I'm really not seeing the point of that change. LR is definitely a super OP ability, but that change doesn't, well, change anything. You're never going to not use LR, so all it does is randomly punish you once every 50 attempts or whatever the chances are. The only time I see it actually having a meaningful effect is if your high level scout is down to like 2 health and you need him to trigger overwatch, but that seems like such a specific edge case. We'll see how it goes I guess. Beta!
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Mar 9, 2014 22:47
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VDay posted:Yeah I'm really not seeing the point of that change. LR is definitely a super OP ability, but that change doesn't, well, change anything. You're never going to not use LR, so all it does is randomly punish you once every 50 attempts or whatever the chances are. The only time I see it actually having a meaningful effect is if your high level scout is down to like 2 health and you need him to trigger overwatch, but that seems like such a specific edge case. We'll see how it goes I guess. Beta!
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Mar 9, 2014 22:58
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With the higher numbers of enemies that LW adds, I think that the change to lightning reflexes is a pretty big buff. At least until the enemies start using it on you.
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Mar 9, 2014 23:14
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Yeah, its a pretty extreme buff. If it had that and the guaranteed first shot miss, i'd be OP as hell.
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Mar 9, 2014 23:31
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I somehow completely missed the part where it now applies to all shots. Yeah nevermind, that's absolutely huge and makes a lot more sense than simply making the first shot a 90% chance to miss rather than 100%.
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Mar 10, 2014 01:05
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Alright, beat the game on Classic difficulty. No Second Wave stuff. Six soldiers dying overall, one of them my support in the Temple Ship so it couldn't really be avoided. Apparently slightly better than the world average overall, but I fall behind in some stuff (apparently my game was a lot less bloodthirsty than the average). I lost three countries from the project by the end, but everyone else was pretty chill. This was the first time I opted for Africa as a starting continent, and that seemed to work really well; I used to go Europe because the continent bonus seemed pretty decent and the HQ felt like it was in a really convenient position for getting to most countries, but then I realized I don't really use Workshops and Laboratories often, I instead prefer to get my scientists and engineers from abduction missions. All-In really felt a ton more useful to me. Ashamed to admit I did a little bit of savescumming. It was almost entirely due to Chryssalids in around the second quarter of the game; if you get more than two at once, and you don't deal with them in very short order, your squad's basically hosed. They're bearable in terror missions because they spend most of their time going after civilians, but they're easily the most terrifying part of the alien base assault. I'm thinking next game I go for a bit of a 'fun run', and just turn on all the random-based Second Wave options. Possibly with Marathon, too.
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Mar 10, 2014 14:13
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If you're ashamed about save scumming, try Ironman on your next game. The best thing about it is that it actually teaches you that taking serious losses isn't a big deal. As long as you're aggressive with satellites, there's very little that can happen and really screw you over (at least on Classic).
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Mar 10, 2014 16:04
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Steam just downloaded a 32MB update. I can't find any changelags though.
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Mar 10, 2014 16:57
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Jack Trades posted:Steam just downloaded a 32MB update. I can't find any changelags though. I tweeted Ga1Friday, the 2K Community Manager. Patch notes usually get posted to 2K forums and Steam forums first. My guess is a fix for the Keybinding bug that the last patch introduced. Doubt there will be much more though.
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Mar 10, 2014 17:14
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SlightlyMadman posted:If you're ashamed about save scumming, try Ironman on your next game. The best thing about it is that it actually teaches you that taking serious losses isn't a big deal. As long as you're aggressive with satellites, there's very little that can happen and really screw you over (at least on Classic). Oddly I save scummed more on ironman than not. Ironman saves the game at the start of every turn, and doesn't resave when I press alt+f4. So if anything went badly I could quit and reload from the start of my previous turn. I was actually quite disappointed when I discovered that.
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Mar 10, 2014 17:43
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Dongsturm posted:Oddly I save scummed more on ironman than not. Ironman saves the game at the start of every turn, and doesn't resave when I press alt+f4. So if anything went badly I could quit and reload from the start of my previous turn. Um, just don't do that (unless it's to get past a bug)?
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Mar 10, 2014 18:00
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Yeah dude, just don't do it, its up to you if you alt f4 or not.
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Mar 10, 2014 18:17
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SlightlyMadman posted:If you're ashamed about save scumming, try Ironman on your next game. The best thing about it is that it actually teaches you that taking serious losses isn't a big deal. As long as you're aggressive with satellites, there's very little that can happen and really screw you over (at least on Classic). I think this is right...after (1) you get the first rounds of satellites up and (2) you can produce SHIVs. Before that point, a total squad kill can kick you into a panic death spiral. After that, it's kind of meh.
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Mar 10, 2014 18:48
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Sometimes people trouble resisting the urge to do something when they know they can. Even if you want to play in the spirit of Ironman, you can't deny there's a strong urge to kill the process when something really dumb happens, like your Heavy misfiring a rocket and blowing up your entire squad. I'm glad it exists though, since this game can be buggy at time. I only use it now if I a glitch causes something really dumb to happen. Like a grenade not blowing up something the game said it would during a critical turn.
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Mar 10, 2014 18:52
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Dongsturm posted:Oddly I save scummed more on ironman than not. Ironman saves the game at the start of every turn, and doesn't resave when I press alt+f4. So if anything went badly I could quit and reload from the start of my previous turn. I've done that a few times if I either hit a game bug, or if I mis-click catastrophically, but it doesn't take too much discipline to avoid it. I'm far more likely to "scum" a C/I game by just quitting and starting a fresh new game if months 1 & 2 don't go perfectly. Again, if you've survived into month 3, there's little the game can do to you that you can't recover from quickly.
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Mar 10, 2014 18:55
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Internet Kraken posted:Sometimes people trouble resisting the urge to do something when they know they can. Even if you want to play in the spirit of Ironman, you can't deny there's a strong urge to kill the process when something really dumb happens, like your Heavy misfiring a rocket and blowing up your entire squad. It's part this, and part me feeling bad about doing something dumb that gets my team members killed. I end up replaying an important turn for 30 minutes, trying to get my squad out of a bad situation alive, or at worst lightly maimed. My first "ironman" game was Mines of Moria, which deleted my save as it loaded, and only wrote it back when I exited correctly. Quit any other way and all progress vanished. It added a bit of interest to encounters as the game went on. I guess I was expecting something similar here. In still having a great time though, it's a really good remake.
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Mar 10, 2014 20:02
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Dongsturm posted:It's part this, and part me feeling bad about doing something dumb that gets my team members killed. I end up replaying an important turn for 30 minutes, trying to get my squad out of a bad situation alive, or at worst lightly maimed. I can certainly understand that feeling, but helping you get past this is precisely why Ironman is so much more fun. Dongsturm posted:My first "ironman" game was Mines of Moria, which deleted my save as it loaded, and only wrote it back when I exited correctly. Quit any other way and all progress vanished. It added a bit of interest to encounters as the game went on. I guess I was expecting something similar here. This sounds good in theory, but in practice games have bugs & crash, and houses even lose power.
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Mar 10, 2014 20:10
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Dongsturm posted:It's part this, and part me feeling bad about doing something dumb that gets my team members killed. I end up replaying an important turn for 30 minutes, trying to get my squad out of a bad situation alive, or at worst lightly maimed. This is really fun and you shouldn't be ashamed of it.
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Mar 10, 2014 20:11
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Yeah playing X-Com on I/I is what turned me from a compulsive savescummer in most games to being able to handle things when poo poo hits the fan. It really is a better experience if you just roll with your mistakes and learn from them.
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Mar 10, 2014 20:18
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dogstile posted:This is really fun and you shouldn't be ashamed of it. Hey whatever you think is fun is how you should play the game and I'm certainly not saying everybody should play the way I do, but personally I find rolling with a game after a botched mission and trying to get things back on track way more fun than replaying the same mission over and over until I get a perfect score. The only reason I started this conversation was a poster specifically saying he was ashamed of playing a certain way, so I suggested a way to get past that shame. You're correct too though, that another way is to just say "gently caress it, it's a game and I'll play the way I think is fun" and not be ashamed.
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Mar 10, 2014 20:30
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There's a reason ironman is an option and not forced on you. Even if its the way the game is meant to be played, for some people it just isn't fun to lose all that progress from one simple mistake. I think if you're reloading after every little mistake you aren't playing the game properly, but there's nothing wrong with loading a turn again or restarting the entire mission if things really go to hell. Personally I don't do that much but I've played roguelikes a lot so I'm used to losing hours of progress due to one stupid error. The only time I feel tempted to do that is when the game blatantly cheats me via a glitch.
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Mar 10, 2014 20:42
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Another point of Ironman is not having to restart halfway through loving Deluge after wrapping it up with a few extra plasma weapons for the stash because X-Com crashed on the skyranger ride back. 
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Mar 10, 2014 20:43
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SlightlyMadman posted:Hey whatever you think is fun is how you should play the game and I'm certainly not saying everybody should play the way I do, but personally I find rolling with a game after a botched mission and trying to get things back on track way more fun than replaying the same mission over and over until I get a perfect score. The only reason I started this conversation was a poster specifically saying he was ashamed of playing a certain way, so I suggested a way to get past that shame. You're correct too though, that another way is to just say "gently caress it, it's a game and I'll play the way I think is fun" and not be ashamed. Oh I wasn't aiming that at you, that was more of a "that's actually really fun to do on occasion so go for it". I've done that, i've also rolled with the punches. Either is awesome.
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Mar 10, 2014 20:48
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dogstile posted:Oh I wasn't aiming that at you, that was more of a "that's actually really fun to do on occasion so go for it". I've done that, i've also rolled with the punches. Either is awesome. Yeah, there is something appealing about constantly replaying a specific, pivotal turn trying to get it to work out. I had that in the base defense mission, when circumstnces led me to handle a Mechtoid, Muton, Chryssalid and Sectoid Commander in one turn, with a Cyberdisc waiting in the wings somewhere. Managing that without losing people really felt like an accomplishment. Coincidentally, that was also the turn I learned that Disarming Shot is loving amazing.
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Mar 11, 2014 01:06
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Yeah X-Com does a really good job of making you feel great whenever you "solve" the puzzle of 'how do I kill all these things and/or don't die'. It helps that you're shooting things and there are explosions, but the gameplay design really is excellent in making most encounters feel like they're actually life or death.
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Mar 11, 2014 01:30
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Jack Trades posted:Steam just downloaded a 32MB update. I can't find any changelags though. http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/1491448-ew-patch3-changelist-402256/
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Mar 11, 2014 01:52
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Nothing like having a good game going and then floaters kill all 4 of your squad members. With one hit crits. In full cover. From across the loving map 
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Mar 11, 2014 04:28
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"Hah, I got plasma. Game is practically over. Time for a victory lap. What's that, terror mission? Sure, I can do that. Really once you get Plasma, nothing is scary anymo--" "...Well. Uh. It's been an honor, gentlemen." 
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Mar 11, 2014 05:56
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And then they spent the next five turns stomping about in the fog beating up civilians.
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Mar 11, 2014 06:03
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What do you go do to change the mission names again? I did it once then somehow managed to forget which file it was in and can't find it  Hopeford posted:"Hah, I got plasma. Game is practically over. Time for a victory lap. What's that, terror mission? Sure, I can do that. Really once you get Plasma, nothing is scary anymo--" Wow and I thought the 4 cyberdisk mission I got once was ridiculous. How late has your game been going for that to happen?
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Mar 11, 2014 06:18
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Internet Kraken posted:What do you go do to change the mission names again? I did it once then somehow managed to forget which file it was in and can't find it Not that late, I think. I can't check during the middle of a mission, but I'm pretty sure I'm on month
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Mar 11, 2014 17:52
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So I'm running into some sort of major bug/freeze with the PS3 version of Enemy Within. After the Alien Base, when the XCOM Base Defense mission triggers, I can get through the cutscene but once the mission starts the screen goes black some time during Bradford's call to your team. It's usually at the beginning but sometimes I can get through the entire speech before it happens. None of my guys spawn in before the screen goes black and the only thing I can do is shut the PS3 down or try to quit using the PS button. It's happened on two different accounts, as well, and I can't seem to find anything more about it other than "Fix your ps3's file system" (which I did) and that it's relatively common on the PS3. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Mar 11, 2014 19:38
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I love XCOM, it's a rare case when a remake is better than the original. I just wish it was a higher priority for Firaxis. XCOM gets much less patches and DLCs than Civilization. 
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Mar 11, 2014 20:20
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I think I broke something by doing a scientist/capture rush, because the base defense was almost entirely Chryssalids, no Berserkers, and only 3 Mechtoids and 4 Mutons scattered throughout the thing. One of the Mutons even killed himself by jumping into the hole in the middle of the Mec Bay, it was hilarious. I'm going to lose a few countries because of a lack of satellites, but getting a very easy base defense was well worth it. I should have Psi dudes by the end of the 4th month, which is going to be so much fun.
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Mar 11, 2014 21:02
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Why do I keep getting my rear end handed to me in my base defense missions? Late, early... good tech, bad tech, it doesn't seem to matter. I can't deal with the number of enemies rolling through the doors. An example of a mission: Pohl posted:My June base assault had 4 disks, 2 muttons, 2 mutton berserkers and 3 Chryssalids and a floater. I may have exaggerated something in there, I'm not sure.  All I know is that I was comfortable going in and I was completely mowed down. Pohl fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Mar 11, 2014 |
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Mar 11, 2014 23:26
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Pohl posted:Why do I keep getting my rear end handed to me in my base defense missions? Late, early... good tech, bad tech, it doesn't seem to matter. I can't deal with the number of enemies rolling through the doors. The base defense is easy (assuming you remembered to keep your guys equipped) if you just stick all your guys on the catwalk in the first room.
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Mar 11, 2014 23:35
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