XCOM: Enemy Unknown aka the one where Haphazard dies repeatedly

[dazedroyalty]

So, with the release of XCOM: Enemy Unknown last month, it's time that we continue our Realms Beyond XCOM SG tradition. The new game is very much in spirit with the original game with some significant changes as well. I you haven't heard of XCOM or if you've been waiting to decide if its worth it, we'll be showcasing it for your viewing pleasure!

Our Roster is still open to newcomers. An average game lasts 30-40 missions so we can easily have six players and still all play a good number of missions. We have yet to discuss the details as well. I'd suggest each player plays one mission and save immediately after then pass it along (the same as we did with the OG). The plan is to play on Classic difficulty. We'll be playing ironman style but not actually using the in game ironman setting because there are a couple of game ruining bugs still to be fixed.

More to come once I'm not posting via mobile!

[dazedroyalty]

Current Roster (in no particular order):

Ug the Barbarian
Uberfish
Dazedroyalty
Sareln*
Xenin*

[Tasunke]

Tasunke* (if I can figure out where the files are ... frikken steam version of games )

also, if I start to hold up things just skip over me.

alternatively I can be someone's teammate aka body double on a particular timeslot. (might be preferred, if someone else in a similar situation)

[Ug the Barbarian]

OK first things we need to decide on :

1. Classic Ironman - no additional rules ? I suggest the Ironman is on an honour basis due to the number of bugs which can end a run still and also Ironman means passing the profile.bin file as well which is likely to have consequences to your local config.

2. Do we wait for the next patch ? Arrival date is still TBD but might help with above point

3. What point do we pass the save over ? Immediately after a mission/promotion or after a set period of time ?

4. Initial base location and direction - e.g. rush sats and associated base facilties at expense of other building/manufacture or more balanced. When do we push for OTS for example ?

[haphazard1]

Signing up! (Hopefully there is still room, especially with my name in the thread title and all. )

1) I think Classic difficulty, with Ironman off due to possible bug issues but all deaths are permadeaths.
2) I have not seen a formal date for the upcoming patch, so I would prefer not to wait.
3) I think passing the save after a mission would be the simplest option. Strategy layer decisions should probably get some general discussions, at least for the large ones: how hard to push sats, how aggressively to sell things, etc. But on-the-spot decisions such as which abduction mission to take would be up to the turn player.
4) I think you pretty much have to rush sats and associated facilities. I will usually try to get the OGS built sometime in the second month, Foundry by maybe month 4, but otherwise all sats all the time.

Starting location is an interesting choice. I have had good success with Asia -- it is one of the toughest to get otherwise (4 countries, with 2 being low cash contributors) and is quite useful once the OTS and especially the Foundry are up. But I am happy to go with any start.

And of course we need to rename all our soldiers for team and forum members. With weird physical appearances strongly enouraged.

[uberfish]

technical suggestions

Classic difficulty

No need to bother with the actual ironman setting or wait for patch as we have backups of saves anyway due to the format

1 mission per turn

Players get to pick the skills of their character if they have one. Lurkers don't. I suggest leaving the promotions unused after the mission for the next person to use them on a mission


regarding starts:

NA - This start gets extra cash from starting with USA + cheap interceptors and weapons which makes it quite flexible. Also the best satellite rusher because of this, C20+10/month off each interceptor + discount weapons adds up fast
SA - Saves you about a week or so early game on interrogating Floater and Sectoid. The downside is it's 2 countries though, so easy for any other start to pick up this bonus if they want it. To be honest I'd rather take the scientists from mission 2 than start here.
Africa - This start wants to rush satellites. It doesn't have as much starting cash as NA so is less flexible, but gets return on its satellite investment faster.
EU - This start is suited for a speed run style approach - build few sats, put the resources into R&D instead and hit alien base ASAP.
Asia - You get a 4-country continent bonus. This is a good option in the long term if you want to buy all the upgrades as Asia can be a bit of a pain to acquire otherwise. On the other hand it doesn't do much to help the early game.

[xenin]

Confirming sign up.

Agreed on classic ironman-style. For the start I'd suggest Africa or NA. Asia might be OK, but I thought there were only a couple of critical foundry projects, and the payoff certainly comes well into the midgame.

Passing the save after each mission with some discussion about strategic decisions in-thread sounds good. I also don't see much point in waiting an unknown time for the next patch.

[uberfish]

I don't really want to hardcore rush satellites, you end up just spending all your money on more satellites and workshops until month 4, when you have a huge pile of cash without any end-game weapons or armour to spend it on. I did satellite rush on Impossible, but it was more because panic gets out of control quickly on that difficulty level, and then I found I had to build two labs in month 4 to catch up on research (No, they aren't useless buildings.) I'd go 1 then 3, or 3 then 1 in the first two months.

[dazedroyalty]

My opinion is that he first two months at least you have to rush satellites because it isn't really a question of Rush Satellites vs Balances approaches. Without lots of satellites at the beginning, panic is harder to control but ALSO you have less money to deal advance in later months. We don't need to play the crazy sell everything strategies to get satellites super fast (as long as we are okay with losing a couple of countries) but we do need to focus on them big time in months 1 and 2.

The easiest start is probably North America because the US provides big bucks an it allows us to ignore panic in Mexico and Canada which are two relatively useless countries if we are already getting the continent bonus. I do think we need to pick what continent we want to put the base on and what our next goal would be (I suggest NA then Africa) because that influences how we handle panic and abduction choices.

[haphazard1]

Asia does not pay off immediately, this is true. But saving half off all OTS projects is worth a certain amount, and half off Foundry projects is also nice (although the payoff is even further into the game). But unless you start in Asia you are unlikely to get the continent bonus; other continents are easier to get due to fewer countries or higher contributing countries.

NA is a bit of extra cash early, but only a bit -- second sat goes over USA wherever you start, pretty much. After that grabbing Canada (a solid 100 C/month contributor) and Mexico (low contributor but completes the bonus) is pretty straightforward.

SA is too easy to grab with a pair of sats. Africa does not help you much until you have a decent number of sats up, and can be grabbed easily enough. Europe maybe if you plan to actually build labs (the game can easily be won without them) and workshops (useful and usually need at least a couple).

Anyway, I am happy starting anywhere, even SA. Think of it as variant play. Whichever we pick, I agree with dazedroyalty that we need to decide our continent coverage plan from the start so we can choose abduction missions intelligently.