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Speedball posted:OKAY. Sorry for creating a page full of nothing but "Speedball Is In Physical And Mental Anguish" I swear I'll have a new update for you tomorrow. Thank you all for your support. Looking forwards to it! This is my favourite LP on the forums right now, it's even inspired me to give the game another playthrough. Anyways, I hope you feel better man. I've been in major surgery twice in the last few years and the first couple of days after the op are by far the worst, every day from now on will be better than the one before!
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# ? Jun 26, 2015 08:34 |
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# ? Jun 10, 2024 18:17 |
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Yeesh, well, that's more curiosity sated, man, I am so sorry that you mad to go through all that pain, sounds awful. Looking forward to the update, and morbidly curious to see if what they say about artists in pain making better work is true. I think even if it is/was, we would all much rather have you in good health. The main thing is, we're here for you man, and we won't be bothered by you complaining about unfortunate things like suffering immense pain. Yeah, I'll stop running my mouth now.
I can have moments of... eccentricity and sometimes be quite curious about things. Please forgive me if I do something foolish or rude.
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# ? Jun 27, 2015 09:23 |
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Stephen9001 posted:if what they say about artists in pain making better work is true. I sincerely doubt they meant physical pain, else artists' colonies would look a lot more like boot camp. Mind you, I've never liked the idea. Always seemed a bit sadistic to me - "It's all right if you suffer, that just means your art will be better!"
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# ? Jun 27, 2015 11:27 |
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Suffering doesn't make your art better, but if you leverage it right the experience can give you a new perspective. Okay, so yet another broken promise. I worked on it and was like 90% done, then my body took over and said "nap time" and suddenly it was the next day. Breakfast first, then the rest.
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# ? Jun 27, 2015 15:36 |
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Take your time, man. This thread isn't going to go stale on you. At this point, it is really really important to listen to what your body is telling you, even if it's saying "sleep NOW".
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# ? Jun 27, 2015 17:40 |
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Part 42: Chopper Joe Strikes! Monique wants something, but she’s not telling me what. It’s annoying me, but I don’t want to confront her over it. Relationships need a lot of manual maintenance, sometimes. Just like our new bodies. Sonofa BITCH! I was positive I’d test positive. Dammit. Sorry. If it’s any consolation, you’re a hell of a soldier and totally irreplaceable. Especially thanks to your invisibility superpowers. Hah. Yeah. I was thinking… we have meld to spare, and Cam needs all the support we can give. If we both had invisibility we could go on spying missions together. Whoah. Yeah, but invisible skin requires a lot of meld. Are you sure? What the hell. Why not? Should be good for setting up flanking shots. Now… let’s check out the new guys. Someone called the three rescued psychics “the Furies.” I forget who actually is in charge of naming missions but it stuck. The first one, here, is Matt Hawkins. This place is huge! I didn’t know the US had any base this big. By treaty, XCOM is international territory, not a US base. How’d the aliens know you were psychic? Pfft, they hadda know! I’m the only success the US Government had to create a psychic soldier! Though, admittedly, the combat applications were not what we expected. Elaborate. I can make people fart with my mind. Which was more useful than you’d think on one stealth mission… Ugh. Well, until we unlock your brain powers in our chamber we’d better just stick to bullets. The next two are brother and sister? Yeah, though we haven’t determined if the psychic latency is a coincidence, or genetic or environmental. So, what are your psychic powers, or lack thereof? We can see what the other sees. It made us an unbeatable duo in the casinos, let me tell you! Wait, you’re con artists? Of course we are! The only thing better than a phony psychic is a phony psychic that has some actual psychic powers. Hee hee. And you’re okay with telling me? Our criminal records are public, no point in hiding it. Oh, yeah. That’s a standard con artist trick. Once they’re blown, they pretend to tell you everything, then start working on the next scheme. HEY! I smell a cop… Ladies and Gentlemen, our new first FLYING SHIV! Woo! Yeah! Any limitations? Its profile will make it harder to hit, but also harder to take cover against. And its antigravity fuel is expended significantly if it flies more than a few inches off the ground, but a minute or two of tactical superiority may be all you need. Well, I’ll get practicing with the controls! We’ve expanded our research on plasma weaponry. It will be extremely expensive to reproduce weapons of this magnitude on our own, but we’ve yet to recover such a weapon from the enemy. I should be able to use more of these weapon fragments to retrofit our SHIVs to shoot plasma too. Do it! I want our tanks to be as lethal as possible. The ultimate weapon for our giant cyborgs is also ready for production. Even a muton will likely be destroyed in a single hit with this. poo poo. I don’t know if I can afford to actually buy this thing. Uh… let me look up some alternative payment options… Another EXALT cell located. Let’s send out Queen. The actual GOOD operative, as the one who can turn invisible. Stay safe, okay? Sure! Nothing can hit me. You know that. So, my buddy, you can now turn invisible too! What’s it like? Clumsy. I don’t know how Hilda does it. You can see everything except your own hands and feet, and I’m not as good at flatting myself into the tiny surface of a cardboard box, so I can’t hide as many places as Hilda. But whatever. As long as I can sneak past enemies long enough to blow them the gently caress away, it’s all good. Uh… Yoko, why are you staring at your locker? With my enhanced eyes I can see the individual cracks in the paint on each locker. It’s… kind of amazing, really. We’ve finally finished research on the “telepathic” beacon. If we can install it in our base, we should eventually get telemetry on every single UFO out there. The engineers will be busy as hell this month. Good thing we’ve got so many of them now. Getting tight down there… but we have mostly everything we need now. Abductions in Germany and France! I think we’ve let France get hosed more than enough. Time to end this. Commander, I’m ready. My brain is on fire. You know what you must let me do! I wouldn’t dream of holding you back now. Zinchenko, what are— you know what, gently caress it. You’ve earned a spot on the team, finally. Cam and Annette need to flex their mental muscles some more, and we want the unstoppable duo of Leroy and Bar-Lev. This new “heavy plasma” weapon is so… big. I’m sure to destroy almost anything I hit. Didn’t have quite enough leftover cash to help finish the giant cyborg gun, sadly. I’ll make do. And I’ve got some new poison grenades! Might be good for weakening enemies we want to capture later. We’ll try ‘em out if we get the chance. With luck, this will be the very last abduction the world has to suffer. If we can keep the skies clear, everything will work out in the end. We have tolerated this invasive filth long enough! We’ve got reports of aircraft in the area… UFOs?! And there they go, folks! The multicolored soldiers of XCOM diving out of their mysterious craft to deal with the alien menace! Bradford, what the hell? There’s a swarm of journalist choppers breaking the no-fly-zone order. Goddamn it, that’s stupid! Get them the hell out of there! Am I photogenic enough? Do I look good? Monique… What? If I’m gonna be world-famous I want my first footage to be good! First impressions are important! Focus on the mission, please! … why am I the one saying that? Heh. You’ve really grown up. Cable company? Aliens aren’t just stealing our people, they’re stealing cable! BASTARDS! Let me try this invisibility thing and scout ahead… Whoah! Yeah, okay, I see a disc and drone guarding some Meld. It doesn’t see me. Maybe its guard will be down… doubleshot! Wounded it, but now it’s in overwatch, be careful! I can take a hit. Breaking cover! Got it! Ha! Didn’t even have time to react. Thanks, Mimi. You’ve always got our backs. And that’s a classic one-two combo from Green Lightning and the Blue Rocket! …what did they call us? Woo! I love the grapple. And meanwhile, White Knight is grappling to the tops of the roofs, presumably to cut off alien reinforcements from the other side. …I’m a knight? Deadeye Jack takes the shot… Aaaaand it’s a classic Deadeye Miss! Even with a clear shot, he just can’t seem to hit those targets. Ha ha. Oh my loving GOD, is there an underground circuit that watches us? How long have these people been spying on us? Fortunately, Ice Hot just made the save by breaking cover. “Ice Hot!?” That’s so loving cool! Commander, change my code name to Ice Hot! No! At least, not NOW! Do we have a security leak? Someone in the Council of Nations may have been leaking footage to the press. For publicity? It’s working! We seem to have lost sight of Green Lightning… Guys, I can see a Mectoid and two Sectoids backing it up around the corner. Take up positions! Got it! Looks like the heroes of the earth have tipped their hands. The little guys are scattering for the hills while the Death Lobster scans the horizon. Annette, make it feel pain! It won’t be able to shoot back as well! R-right! RRRRGH! RRGGGHHH! SSSSUFFFER! Whoah! That’s something we’ve never seen before. Looks like the rookie just earned a promotion! And the White Knight lays down some suppressing fire with a new gun. That Death Lobster doesn’t know what the hell to aim at, now! There, guys! I’m popping smoke so the Mechtoid can’t shoot you. I’m invisible, it’s not gonna shoot me anyway! Oh. Well now you REALLY don’t have to worry about being caught on camera. Just Mimi and me. Heh heh. Aah! It’s nothing. A sectoid takes a shot, and the Death Lobster tries its hardest, but the White Knight just shrugs it off without flinching. What a trooper, ladies and gentlemen. There! I’ve wounded it! Eva, finish it off! Can’t, it’s past my angle! I’ll do it. PEW! Another Blue Rocket Double-Blast to the head and the Death Lobster is down! Now for the soldiers to mop up the greys while they collect the Power Gel. loving sectoids. I’ll make your heads explode with my MIND! HAHAHAHAHA! Ahhh, I love being magic. OWWWW! What? loving car exploded and nobody was watching me! Well, maybe you should have been paying more attention. Come on! poo poo. I made a fool of myself on international television. In a new OVERKILL SCORE record, White Knight completely obliterates the remaining sectoid, the wall it was hiding behind, the wall behind it, and much of the surrounding building. That’s one big cannon she’s got, folks! *canned applause* Nothing here. They must all be in the bookstore across the alley. Yaigh. Yup, there they are, all right! I can take out one of them , but the rest… stack up around the building! The team seems to be converging on the last known location of the invaders. And the rookie gives herself another bonus to her score by securing the second canister of Power Gel! Bar-lev, breach the bookstore. I’ll shoot ‘em in the back! Ahh, poo poo! They’re swarming me! Help! poo poo! Coming! I got a muton! Rushing the Mechtoid! Ha ha, not even close! That must be why they call you “Green Lightning,” my friend. Damaged it. It’s not dead! My turn! Ahahahahaha! A berserker and Mechtoid both destroyed at once. TASTE MY HATE, FILTH! drat, she’s getting good at that. A missed plasma shot blows open more of the wall, letting us see Blue Rocket surrounded by the corpses of her fallen enemies. Clearly she punched them both to death. Hey! I killed them! Auto-targeting engaged. Retaliation shot! She can auto-target anything that shoots at her? Her latest upgrade. She’s basically Robocop now. I’m marrying Robocop? Sweet! Aaah, poo poo, the Sectoid is trying to get more allies! Fight it, Annette! I… can’t! Help! I have you! I don’t have you! Another Deadeye Miss. Why do they even keep him around? drat it. Mimi, just punch that thing! Got it. HRRAAAAH! Enemy down! Another amazing Blue Rocket save. She must be mighty pleased with herself. Mission complete sir! And… did I hear you say marry? EEEEE! Yeah. Well. I was gonna ask her later, after the mission, anyway… if she would, uh… We’re shutting down, folks, but as we pull away, we can see Ice Hot and Blue Rocket sharing a passionate after-battle kiss! Wow! Let’s give the couple a little privacy for the time being… I feel…stronger. Like my mind is getting used to zapping people’s nervous systems. I think I just added another page to my spellbook. Excellent, my friend! Keep exercising those gray cells! I’m going to catch up. That’s twice now those aliens have humiliated me. But who were those people watching us? Why is there an “XCOM Show” or whatever? It’s the 21st Century, Eva. There’s a camera in every phone and a phone in every pocket, and a profit to be made. The only question is… where’s the money going? (Where, indeed? Heh heh heh heh… Well. I had to afford the Particle Cannon somehow.)
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# ? Jun 27, 2015 18:40 |
That was a hell of an update, the commentators in the chopper are a nice touch. Too bad you didn't fully unlock the particle cannon this round, that is My Favorite Gun in XCOM, it's just so viscerally satisfying.
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# ? Jun 27, 2015 18:53 |
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...Huh, I've never seen an abduction happen in the same continent before. How often does that happen?
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# ? Jun 27, 2015 19:23 |
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Jalak posted:...Huh, I've never seen an abduction happen in the same continent before. How often does that happen?
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# ? Jun 27, 2015 19:41 |
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Jalak posted:...Huh, I've never seen an abduction happen in the same continent before. How often does that happen? Groetgaffel posted:When it's the only continent without full sat coverage. Yeah, aliens can't do abductions in countries with satellite coverage, so if you go methodically, eventually their only options are on the same continent. I only learned about this due to Jade Star's LP, it's really handy to know.
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# ? Jun 27, 2015 20:18 |
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Chard posted:the commentators in the chopper are a nice touch Personally I was hoping they'd get shot down and die in a fire so we'd never have to hear from them again.
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# ? Jun 28, 2015 01:43 |
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Death Lobster I'm sure the reason the news crew didn't announce enemy locations is because they didn't want to activate every enemy at once Seriously though, take care of yourself Speedball.
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# ? Jun 28, 2015 01:48 |
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That was excellent and hilarious. Good to see your sense of humour is still perfectly healthy. Anyway, hope you make a swift recovery! Do you feel like that you could really do with that regenerative bone marrow stuff right about now?
I can have moments of... eccentricity and sometimes be quite curious about things. Please forgive me if I do something foolish or rude.
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# ? Jun 28, 2015 10:56 |
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Awesome stuff, Speedball. I can't quite imagine any real-world news crew deciding to give anyone privacy *grin*, but I guess knowing that the person you're filming could annihilate you with a half-second of effort is a powerful motivator
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# ? Jun 28, 2015 11:35 |
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Ghostwoods posted:Awesome stuff, Speedball. I can't quite imagine any real-world news crew deciding to give anyone privacy *grin*, but I guess knowing that the person you're filming could annihilate you with a half-second of effort is a powerful motivator Is it assaulting the press if you use your mind powers to make them hit themselves? "If I were using psychic powers to make the paparazzi punch his own balls, I would have been saying 'stop hitting yourself!' Clearly I did not, no jury would ever convict me!"
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# ? Jun 28, 2015 11:52 |
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Glad to see you're feeling at least a little better! Great update.
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# ? Jun 28, 2015 15:57 |
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It's an idea that actually makes sense to me- how do you reduce panic? Propaganda programming. "Hey, yeah, sure, these aliens are scary, NOW LOOK AT OUR PEOPLE ON THE GROUND KICKING THEIR ASSES! WOO! Go X-COM!" I've been enjoying this LP the whole way through, even if I haven't exactly been visiting the thread as actively as some- I have a habit of leaving tabs untouched for weeks at a time. The character work seems solid, there's a good sense of humor to it which actually HELPS when it suddenly contrasts and everything gets deadly serious, this is one of the finest LPs on the site right now in my opinion. Hope you're feeling better soon, Speedball.
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# ? Jun 28, 2015 20:30 |
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KaosMachina posted:I've been enjoying this LP the whole way through, even if I haven't exactly been visiting the thread as actively as some- I have a habit of leaving tabs untouched for weeks at a time. If from this statement I take it you're tracking threads you're interested in by leaving them open in your browser, you know you can click on the star in the corner of the thread to favorite it, right? It's next to the 1-5 thread rating buttons. And then go to your user control panel to get a list of your favorited threads to easily jump to where you last left off.
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# ? Jun 28, 2015 21:48 |
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:If from this statement I take it you're tracking threads you're interested in by leaving them open in your browser, you know you can click on the star in the corner of the thread to favorite it, right? It's next to the 1-5 thread rating buttons. And then go to your user control panel to get a list of your favorited threads to easily jump to where you last left off. I do both, since I like refreshing threads in their tabs instead of closing them, and the User Control Panel lets me know when new posts have been made.
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# ? Jun 28, 2015 22:32 |
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Yeah, that commentary was a beautiful touch. Does that 200 spacebucks actually bring you to plasma cannon money?
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# ? Jun 29, 2015 05:07 |
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Glazius posted:Yeah, that commentary was a beautiful touch. Does that 200 spacebucks actually bring you to plasma cannon money? The particle cannon was like 270-something spacebucks, plus elerium and alloys, so yeah. I've been resource-plentiful until now but they get a lot more scarce near the endgame. Particularly weapon fragments, the currency you need for all basic weapon research or foundry upgrades. KaosMachina posted:It's an idea that actually makes sense to me- how do you reduce panic? Propaganda programming. "Hey, yeah, sure, these aliens are scary, NOW LOOK AT OUR PEOPLE ON THE GROUND KICKING THEIR ASSES! WOO! Go X-COM!" Awww, thank you! This made my day. Heh heh. Next update is half finished, but we're still on the same page. It's the gimmick run I told you about; should be fun. Hee hee. Speedball fucked around with this message at 06:01 on Jun 29, 2015 |
# ? Jun 29, 2015 05:29 |
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Trying to get plasma weapons in Long War... now I see why some people stop playing it at this point.
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# ? Jun 29, 2015 06:32 |
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Fantastic update Speedball, glad to hear you're doing well too. Ah Zinchenko, never change
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# ? Jun 29, 2015 09:49 |
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Speedball posted:DISCUSSION TIME:
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# ? Jun 29, 2015 15:23 |
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Ephemeron posted:Meld Canister Mimic. Major Dick Move...i would Love that. "send the Rookie collect that canister" Yeah, Really great Update, i loved the idea of the News Chopper. And good to see you getting better, best wishes!
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# ? Jun 29, 2015 22:28 |
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Ephemeron posted:Meld Canister Mimic. Chest-High Wall Mimic.
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# ? Jun 29, 2015 22:57 |
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Skyranger mimic. "Guys, are you sure we parked here?"
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# ? Jun 29, 2015 23:11 |
AJ_Impy posted:Skyranger mimic. Considering we have to call in our evac in XCOM 2, I could see "accidental enemy reinforcements" being a thing.
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# ? Jun 29, 2015 23:21 |
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'Achievement Unlocked' Popup mimic.
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# ? Jun 30, 2015 02:07 |
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"100% Chance To Hit" overlay mimic.
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# ? Jun 30, 2015 05:38 |
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Reintroduce the celatid. Give it an acid version of thin men poison.
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# ? Jun 30, 2015 06:18 |
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Section Z posted:Reintroduce the celatid. Flying acid kidneys! I loved the Bureau's Silicoids, possibly the only remainder of the original version of that game's aliens, which were to be weird black geometric folding shapes invading America.
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# ? Jun 30, 2015 07:10 |
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Speedball posted:Working on next update, would like it to happen on a different page so we don't get flooded with images. So: Non-humanoid quadraped+ large aliens. We're talking sizes ranging from Elephant to City Block.
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# ? Jun 30, 2015 07:32 |
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akkristor posted:Non-humanoid quadraped+ large aliens. We're talking sizes ranging from Elephant to City Block. That's when you call the EDF instead of X-Com. ... Hmm Zinchenko is probably responsible for some of those "hand grenades" in EDF.
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# ? Jun 30, 2015 07:50 |
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Hmm, a class in XCOM that has an emergency top-tier "Mark area for artillery strike" ability? Hahhah. I'm getting to the point where I have to decide if I want Plasma Pistols, Alloy Cannons or Plasma Sniper rifles and will have to grind up more fragments to get the rest in later months. Plasma Pistol would be a good idea for all the covert operations we need to finish off EXALT, that even unlocks an additional Foundry project that makes all pistol damage go up by 1 for everyone, so fully-upgraded a Plasma Pistol in the hands of a Gunslinger Sniper is like a high-crit version of a Light Plasma Rifle that never runs out of ammo. But Alloy Cannons are soooo coooool. Speedball fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Jun 30, 2015 |
# ? Jun 30, 2015 21:25 |
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Speedball posted:Hmm, a class in XCOM that has an emergency top-tier "Mark area for artillery strike" ability? Hahhah. Alloy Cannons, IMO, or if not that then the sniper rifles. Having your Assaults be able to run&gun and then double-shot big targets is a great panic button; similarly for the sniper's double-tap ability. Meanwhile, it's not like EXALT is exactly threatening even with laser pistols.
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# ? Jun 30, 2015 21:37 |
I always go for snipers because I'm a cowardly bitchboy that hates having my army mans even take fire, let alone get shot. That said I vote for Alloy Cannons becauseSpeedball posted:Alloy Cannons are soooo coooool.
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# ? Jun 30, 2015 22:35 |
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Section Z posted:That's when you call the EDF instead of X-Com. Always bet on Duke for all your giant monster murdering needs.
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# ? Jul 1, 2015 01:11 |
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I love Plasma Pistols and all, but unlike Alloy Cannons and Plasma snipers, you at least have a more chances to loot pistols in the mid to late game in EW compared EU.... From Sectoid Commanders escorting Mectoids I'd go with Alloy Cannon Because your hotshot Assaults are more frequently used or needing poo poo to die so THEY don't die, compared to your soldiers that actually use a sniper rifle. EDIT: Speedball, If/When Zinch hits high enough rank. Are you going to spit in the face of the RNG and give him In The Zone? Klaus88 posted:Always bet on Duke for all your giant monster murdering needs. This is highly acceptable. EDF does show up in Duke Nukem as well so I'm sure the only reason he didn't help out with all the giant Ants is because there were no babes at risk.
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# ? Jul 1, 2015 01:24 |
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# ? Jun 10, 2024 18:17 |
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Speedball posted:I can make people fart with my mind. Which was more useful than you’d think on one stealth mission… Someone get this over to KojiPro, quick! Speedball posted:(Where, indeed? Heh heh heh heh Well. I had to afford the Particle Cannon somehow.) Well played, Speedball. Well played. By the way, is it the commander who comes up with the names? That would make it even better.
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# ? Jul 1, 2015 04:55 |