The XCOM Thread: HOW DOES SNEK KICK DOOR?!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > The XCOM Thread: HOW DOES SNEK KICK DOOR?!

DarkAvenger211: Jun 29, 2011; Damnit Steve, you know I'm a sucker for Back to the Future references.

Does the DODGE stat for soldiers make them harder to hit?, or just give them the ability to dodge attacks and get grazed. Like if I have 20 DODGE, and I sit behind light cover (20), is it effectively like I'm behind full cover (40)? I haven't seen any grazing shots vs my guys yet so I'm not really sure.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:15

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 18, 2024 01:11

Rookersh: Aug 19, 2010

Fangz posted:

Game design tip - the more random elements there are, the less it matters. The point is that while an individual roll is dicey, it all averages out overall. Don't get that +20 hacking? Maybe you'll get lucky elsewhere with dragon rounds or a serial ranger. Miss out on engineers? Maybe you'll get the continent bonus that makes this trivial.

The game gives you lots of mechanics to deal with this variance. For example, you can respec into out of haywire protocol depending on whether you get the +20 hack or not. If proving ground doesn't give you what you want, you can directly buy stuff from the black market or the build item screen. This is all different ways of redirecting being lucky in one area to cover being screwed in another. You'd have to be REALLY UNLUCKY to be screwed in every single area.

If you get ten laser sights, sell that stuff for money.

Yeah this is basically the thing.

XCOM1 was about pure control. You knew exactly what you'd get when, and how to use it properly. If you hosed up, it's because you didn't get x in time.

XCOM2 is about adaptability. You got xyz? Cool, roll with it. You got zyx? Cool, roll with it. They just drop in so many tools/items/poo poo that even if one thing isn't -great-. you have 3-4 things in your game that are going to be buffed to hell. I'd actually argue XCOM2 gets easier as you go/get your tools, because you can easily hit a point where the aliens can't really counter all the tools you are bringing anymore, especially the ones you have that are buffed/really good.

It makes me wonder how they balance an XCOM2 Long War. Do they remove/guarantee certain events so you have all the buffs? How does that work.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:17

CapnAndy: Feb 27, 2004; Some teeth long for ripping, gleaming wet from black dog gums. So you keep your eyes closed at the end. You don't want to see such a mouth up close. before the bite, before its oblivion in the goring of your soft parts, the speckled lips will curl back in a whinny of excitement. You just know it.

Oh, I forgot to ask, quick question: Is there a way to force AWC skill unlocks? I built mine relatively late and I've only had one soldier actually unlock a hidden skill when being promoted, and I even have a max-rank soldier now who never got an unlock.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:17

Brainamp: Sep 4, 2011; More Zen than Zenyatta

DarkAvenger211 posted:

Does the DODGE stat for soldiers make them harder to hit?, or just give them the ability to dodge attacks and get grazed. Like if I have 20 DODGE, and I sit behind light cover (20), is it effectively like I'm behind full cover (40)? I haven't seen any grazing shots vs my guys yet so I'm not really sure.

Dodge is a chance to reduce Damage. Avoiding damage would be Defense.

Always take Mobility or Aim PCS over Dodge.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:18

poptart_fairy: Apr 8, 2009; by R. Guyovich

"There's something under us, Commander!"

What are you on about? Wait, that skittering sounds famili :stonk:

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:18

Harrow: Jun 30, 2012

CapnAndy posted:

Oh, I forgot to ask, quick question: Is there a way to force AWC skill unlocks? I built mine relatively late and I've only had one soldier actually unlock a hidden skill when being promoted, and I even have a max-rank soldier now who never got an unlock.

The way it apparently works is that the AWC first decides if a soldier gets a hidden skill, and if they do, it then decides at what level they get it. The thing is, it isn't retroactive. You can, however, retrain your skills at the AWC, and if you do, you'll get the hidden skill (if that soldier was going to get one in the first place).

Which is a long way of saying: retrain a soldier at the AWC, and if they don't get a hidden skill they either don't have one or will get it at a later rank.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:23

Lexorin: Jul 5, 2000

CapnAndy posted:

Oh, I forgot to ask, quick question: Is there a way to force AWC skill unlocks? I built mine relatively late and I've only had one soldier actually unlock a hidden skill when being promoted, and I even have a max-rank soldier now who never got an unlock.

Respec them in the AWC for 5 days. I'm pretty sure every soldier gets a hidden skill, I've yet to see one that doesn't. But maybe I've just been really lucky?

Edit: apparently I've just been really lucky

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:23

Wizard Styles: Aug 6, 2014; level 15 disillusionist

CapnAndy posted:

Oh, I forgot to ask, quick question: Is there a way to force AWC skill unlocks? I built mine relatively late and I've only had one soldier actually unlock a hidden skill when being promoted, and I even have a max-rank soldier now who never got an unlock.

Retrain them. This isn't guaranteed to get them a skill because not everybody gets one, but it allows soldiers to retroactively pick up hidden abilities they were supposed to get but couldn't because they were at too high a rank when the AWC was built.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:24

redreader: Nov 2, 2009; I am the coolest person ever with my pirate chalice. Seriously.; Dinosaur Gum

a couple of things for people who've finished the game (is there a 'lore' thread somewhere on the internet?)

1: was any of the xcom: EU stuff definitely real, or not real? It seems Bradford is the only person left who knows anything about the bad guy units from #1: "bradford swears up and down that it used to be like X not like it is now, Y", so it seems like it was real if bradford is remembering correctly (yeah I know the canon is 'they shot down a couple of ships then failed in a base defense')
2: on the mission equip/squad select screen, sometimes the entire screen sort of glitches in and out. As if it's a video game or something?
3: TERROR FROM THE DEEP????

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:25

Segmentation Fault: Jun 7, 2012

DarkAvenger211 posted:

Does the DODGE stat for soldiers make them harder to hit?, or just give them the ability to dodge attacks and get grazed. Like if I have 20 DODGE, and I sit behind light cover (20), is it effectively like I'm behind full cover (40)? I haven't seen any grazing shots vs my guys yet so I'm not really sure.

You ever shoot at an archon and you just get DODGE: GRAZED! and he only takes like 4 health and you get pissed off? That's the dodge stat at work. If a target lands you have dodge% chance to take half damage.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:27

wyoak: Feb 14, 2005; a glass case of emotion; Fallen Rib

Kitchner posted:

Good response.

Maybe you're not being deliverately obtuse, maybe you're actually too stupid to see that there's a direct comparison between two classes that can be maxed out to let them take control of an enemy unit, but one maxes out at like 80-100% on everything and the other maxes out at like 50%.

Or maybe you're one of the game designers, that's the only other reason I could see for you to so doggedly see there's no parallel between the two skills which is why you designed it that way.

There's a parallel but that doesn't mean the two skills should be the same. Sectopods are the most OP enemy to control (especially when they first show up) so from a balance perspective it makes sense to make it harder to do.

Hacking overall could use some work though, since doing it in the early game is virtually always the wrong play.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:28

Chonchon: Dec 16, 2013

Obviously the barbie mini game is the only reason anyone should play XCOM.

My current xcom is a spooky scary death cult. Black signifies status as a permanent A-team member.

Van Doorn survived the first war and is now resident wizard.

Also the council spokesman is the true protagonist of XCOM. RIP

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:34

Rookersh: Aug 19, 2010

redreader posted:

a couple of things for people who've finished the game (is there a 'lore' thread somewhere on the internet?)

1: was any of the xcom: EU stuff definitely real, or not real? It seems Bradford is the only person left who knows anything about the bad guy units from #1: "bradford swears up and down that it used to be like X not like it is now, Y", so it seems like it was real if bradford is remembering correctly (yeah I know the canon is 'they shot down a couple of ships then failed in a base defense')
2: on the mission equip/squad select screen, sometimes the entire screen sort of glitches in and out. As if it's a video game or something?
3: TERROR FROM THE DEEP????

#1 No.

In the "real" world, XCOM was hit by everything in Feb. IE in Feb with nothing but rookies, they had to deal with Sectoid Commanders, Mutons, Ethereals, Sectopods, etc etc. The Commander put up a great fight ( partially because he's possessed by the protag of The Bureau ), but in the end, the Council betrayed him. XCOM HQ was sieged/fell in March ( or May, I forget, an M month ), and XCOM fell. By June, Earth totally capitulated.

The aliens wanted to get at the Ethereal inside the Commander/use his expertise in their war, so they hooked him up to the sim, and set it to February. That's what we played in XCOM EU. It contained memories/ideas from the real war, but it was all fake.

When Bradford started his resistance, the aliens went back and modified the simulation, adding in a resistance movement to see how you'd deal with them. They also wanted to see how "human" troops would use MECs/gene modification, so they coded that in as well to teach the ADVENT.

From beginning to end, XCOM EU is the Commander training ADVENT troops on how humans fight.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:34

Molrok: May 30, 2011

Managed to hack the planet and broke the matrix, send help!

Had this happen by hacking too fast. Opened a door on a VIP van and immediately afterwards tried to hack a security pylon. Gremlin flies to one corner of the map, teleports to the opposite corner once out of bounds and then loads up a empty hack interface.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:34

ZenVulgarity: Oct 9, 2012; I made the hat by transforming my zen

Rookersh posted:

#1 No.

In the "real" world, XCOM was hit by everything in Feb. IE in Feb with nothing but rookies, they had to deal with Sectoid Commanders, Mutons, Ethereals, Sectopods, etc etc. The Commander put up a great fight ( partially because he's possessed by the protag of The Bureau ), but in the end, the Council betrayed him. XCOM HQ was sieged/fell in March ( or May, I forget, an M month ), and XCOM fell. By June, Earth totally capitulated.

The aliens wanted to get at the Ethereal inside the Commander/use his expertise in their war, so they hooked him up to the sim, and set it to February. That's what we played in XCOM EU. It contained memories/ideas from the real war, but it was all fake.

When Bradford started his resistance, the aliens went back and modified the simulation, adding in a resistance movement to see how you'd deal with them. They also wanted to see how "human" troops would use MECs/gene modification, so they coded that in as well to teach the ADVENT.

From beginning to end, XCOM EU is the Commander training ADVENT troops on how humans fight.

wait what

When did the protagonist of the bureau posses you and when are you an ethereal

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:38

Deuce: Jun 18, 2004; Mile High Club

Kitchner posted:

Good response.

Maybe you're not being deliverately obtuse, maybe you're actually too stupid to see that there's a direct comparison between two classes that can be maxed out to let them take control of an enemy unit, but one maxes out at like 80-100% on everything and the other maxes out at like 50%.

Or maybe you're one of the game designers, that's the only other reason I could see for you to so doggedly see there's no parallel between the two skills which is why you designed it that way.

You seem to be comparing control chances on end-game enemies vs. poo poo like mutons.

I just had a sergeant have a 94% chance to control a turret, so clearly strength of the target makes a large difference. Max out that specialist and hack low-level stuff and I bet you see better chances.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:41

Sykic: Feb 9, 2004; Resist! Humanity demands it! Resist!

Well, if you insist.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:48

Z the IVth: Jan 28, 2009; The trouble with your "expendable machines"; Fun Shoe

I have been getting problems with loading saves when a map has burrowed Chrysallids - the game loads to a black screen and a few seconds of audio before hard-locking my system. This is apparently a known issue? Are there any solutions?

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:48

oswald ownenstein: Jan 30, 2011; KING FAGGOT OF THE SHITPOST KINGDOM

Stop slap fighting you loving nerds.

Anyhow, they took some weird steps backwards with this game - they gutted bleed outs to be literally impossible on lower ranked soldiers (???????) and took a big step back with regards to injury timers.

The good news is someone already has a mod to modify your bleedouts

tldr; base chance of 25% to bleed out and 33% with 'stay with me' and increases as your will increases. so far the modder(s) have not been able to figure out how to tie it to overkill

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=621423047&searchtext=

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:55

Fishstick: Jul 9, 2005; Does not require preheating

Do the 'stock' (missed hits deal 1dmg) and repeater (chance to execute when you hit) work together? That is to say, will a 'miss' that still does the 1 damage still have a chance to proc execution?

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:56

Segmentation Fault: Jun 7, 2012

Rookersh posted:

#1 No.

In the "real" world, XCOM was hit by everything in Feb. IE in Feb with nothing but rookies, they had to deal with Sectoid Commanders, Mutons, Ethereals, Sectopods, etc etc. The Commander put up a great fight ( partially because he's possessed by the protag of The Bureau ), but in the end, the Council betrayed him. XCOM HQ was sieged/fell in March ( or May, I forget, an M month ), and XCOM fell. By June, Earth totally capitulated.

The aliens wanted to get at the Ethereal inside the Commander/use his expertise in their war, so they hooked him up to the sim, and set it to February. That's what we played in XCOM EU. It contained memories/ideas from the real war, but it was all fake.

When Bradford started his resistance, the aliens went back and modified the simulation, adding in a resistance movement to see how you'd deal with them. They also wanted to see how "human" troops would use MECs/gene modification, so they coded that in as well to teach the ADVENT.

From beginning to end, XCOM EU is the Commander training ADVENT troops on how humans fight.

Big stupid wall of speculation coming.

I believe there's two different types of Ethereals: The ones seen in The Bureau that are made up of almost entirely energy, and the ones with frail physical bodies we see in EU.

It's my belief that the Bureau Ethereals and EU Ethereals once co-existed (and even had the same form). The Uber Ethereal during the final fight in EU states "Behold the greatest failure� of the Ethereal Ones� We who failed to ascend as they thought we would. We who were cast out..." The Ethereals we fight in EU and XCOM 2 were part of a race that failed to ascend to a higher form, while the Bureau Ethereals managed to ascend. The EU Ethereals probably believe the Bureau Ethereals to be the greatest threat in the universe and all of their efforts are focused on stopping them. They recognize that the commander is being controlled by a Bureau Ethereal and wish to tap into that power, just like how Origin tapped into his own Bureau Ethereal in The Bureau. However, the EU Ethereals are handling the commander with kid gloves compared to Origin since they know firsthand the power of the Bureau Ethereals and do not wish to "let the genie out of the bottle."

XCOM 3 is going to be about the Bureau Ethereals, possibly using some sort of underwater race to fight the humans from below.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:56

Gamesguy: Sep 7, 2010

Magnetic weapons takes 66 days to research on legendary...

Guess I found a use for the laboratory!

# ? Feb 11, 2016 19:57

Pakled: Aug 6, 2011; WE ARE SMART

Gamesguy posted:

Magnetic weapons takes 66 days to research on legendary...

Guess I found a use for the laboratory!

Also consider buying the research rush from the black market. Unless they don't have those on Legendary. :v:

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:00

Pump it up! Do it!: Oct 3, 2012

Christ, I'm playing on commander with some losses bust mostly recruits and squaddies and tactically it's going fine but I feel like I'm being screwed on the strategic level, I just don't have enough intel or contacts to expand to the facilites cropping up three or four regions away from me.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:04

Tae: Oct 24, 2010; Hello? Can you hear me? ...Perhaps if I shout? AAAAAAAAAH!

For fuckssake, rng. Stop giving me hunker down.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:06

gimme the GOD DAMN candy: Jul 1, 2007

Zephro posted:

Has anyone run into a bug where you load a savegame in the battlescape, get about half a second of sound, and then it freezes with a black screen? When you force-quit Xcom you get "Error 41: The Steam servers are too busy to handle your request". I've tried loading earlier saves from the same mission but nothing seems to fix it, so I don't think it can be a single corrupt save.

That is what happened to me, yes. Now I get the error message saying that all of my mods are missing so it can't load any save file.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:13

Zomborgon: Feb 19, 2014; I don't even want to see what happens if you gain CHIM outside of a pre-coded system.

Seems as if Run n' Gun just gives you an action point every few turns, no other real requirements. For example, a sniper (given it through the AWC) can RnG, not move at all, reload, and then take a two-action sniper shot, all in one turn. haha

I've got a lot of mileage out of my RnG sniper and grenadier, especially to neuter the Codex weapon disable.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:13

peak debt: Mar 11, 2001; b& :(; Nap Ghost

Lord Tywin posted:

Christ, I'm playing on commander with some losses bust mostly recruits and squaddies and tactically it's going fine but I feel like I'm being screwed on the strategic level, I just don't have enough intel or contacts to expand to the facilites cropping up three or four regions away from me.

I think it's pretty normal on Commander mode if you're always within 1-3 points of the Avatar project completing. Note that even if the Avatar meter fills up you don't immediately lose but are given a few weeks of grace period to fix things.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:15

Tenzarin: Jul 24, 2007; .; Taco Defender

Gamesguy posted:

Magnetic weapons takes 66 days to research on legendary...

Guess I found a use for the laboratory!

Usually takes me about 30-40 days on legendary. Everything has a huge research time when you have 1 scientist.

I still haven't made a lab on legend, its kinda not needed.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:16

Pipski: Apr 18, 2004

Does anyone else get the Steam 'first time setup' thing every time they launch this, or is something wrong with my install? It goes ahead and loads the launcher, but not until its twiddled its thumbs over Microsoft VC whatever thing for a while.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:18

Magni: Apr 29, 2009

So, I'm taking this slow and not reading spoilers and all. Just did the Blacksite, relatively late (went with full Predator amror and magnetic weapons) and at the end of the mission got my first opportunit to try the Skulljack on an ADVENT officer.

1. What the gently caress was that?
2. What was it supposed to do? I did the jack as the first action on my turn, so when that thing appeared in the middle of my squad I just kinda flashbanged and executed it before the turn was over. :v:

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:19

StashAugustine: Mar 24, 2013; Do not trust in hope- it will betray you! Only faith and hatred sustain.

What's people's strategies for placing radios? One a continent seems too much, just grab the good bonuses? How far apart should you space them?

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:20

Kenshin: Jan 10, 2007

Magni posted:

So, I'm taking this slow and not reading spoilers and all. Just did the Blacksite, relatively late (went with full Predator amror and magnetic weapons) and at the end of the mission got my first opportunit to try the Skulljack on an ADVENT officer.

1. What the gently caress was that?
2. What was it supposed to do? I did the jack as the first action on my turn, so when that thing appeared in the middle of my squad I just kinda flashbanged and executed it before the turn was over.

You handled it about as well as you possibly could have!

Just wait until you skulljack one of those things.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:21

poptart_fairy: Apr 8, 2009; by R. Guyovich

Resources and creation time aside, what reason is there to use a Warden suit over an EXO variation?

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:21

Pakled: Aug 6, 2011; WE ARE SMART

Magni posted:

So, I'm taking this slow and not reading spoilers and all. Just did the Blacksite, relatively late (went with full Predator amror and magnetic weapons) and at the end of the mission got my first opportunit to try the Skulljack on an ADVENT officer.

1. What the gently caress was that?
2. What was it supposed to do? I did the jack as the first action on my turn, so when that thing appeared in the middle of my squad I just kinda flashbanged and executed it before the turn was over.

It's called a Codex, and you'll encounter more of them in the future. Your questions will be answered. *finger curls up in the monkey's paw*

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:22

Kenshin: Jan 10, 2007

poptart_fairy posted:

Resources and creation time aside, what reason is there to use a Warden suit over an EXO variation?

More utility item slots

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:23

Tae: Oct 24, 2010; Hello? Can you hear me? ...Perhaps if I shout? AAAAAAAAAH!

poptart_fairy posted:

Resources and creation time aside, what reason is there to use a Warden suit over an EXO variation?

You're basically trading a mimic beacon or experimental round for a rocket launcher, etc.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:24

aegof: Mar 2, 2011

StashAugustine posted:

What's people's strategies for placing radios? One a continent seems too much, just grab the good bonuses? How far apart should you space them?

I've been going for about every other contact, in the direction of ADVENT facilities. If I've the time/supplies, I might go for a good bonus.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:24

poptart_fairy: Apr 8, 2009; by R. Guyovich

Tae posted:

You're basically trading a mimic beacon or experimental round for a rocket launcher, etc.

Acceptable. :colbert:

But fair point. I figured the tier 3 EXOs would have all the utility slots unlocked.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:25

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 18, 2024 01:11

ulmont: Sep 15, 2010; IF I EVER MISS VOTING IN AN ELECTION (EVEN AMERICAN IDOL) ,OR HAVE UNPAID PARKING TICKETS, PLEASE TAKE AWAY MY FRANCHISE

Broken Cog posted:

Edit: You will probably get Psi troopers with dominate before you start getting Colonel specialists.

...I apparently completely messed up my build order and I had colonels of every class before I even put a rookie in the psi tank.

# ? Feb 11, 2016 20:29

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > The XCOM Thread: HOW DOES SNEK KICK DOOR?!

«‹›1358 »