13 replies to this topic

[Gustarx]

;- )

Probably unusual Habit of me, is to compose different crew for divers tasks when a trooptransporter is refuelling at base. Iv 2 Sky's at base. First (not so unusual probably, I guess) I compose the crew for next mission. Several times I go back from Soldier-tab to the Equip-tab. Crew-tab to be precise cuz the equip of both sky's are the same. When Im satisfied about the team for next mission, I compose for the other Sky, an 'Inspect'- and 'Cleaning'-team. Mostly 2 ranked officers and 1 expierenced squadie get the 'I' on their IdentityDiscs, so they have full access to all the compartiments of the ship. For the 'Cleaning'-crew I change their 'B'-status (BaseDefence or BestBreadBedBreak-Rest) to the obvious 'C' for their temporarily task, ...

When the trooptransporter is Ready for use, the 'Cleaning'-crew are relieved of their duty, they can quit the service and will get the 'B'-Status again, so they have some spare time too to relax. From that point I compose the Reserve-crew, about 2-3 officers and 4-5 squaddies. With modern technics I change instantly their 'B' on the Identity Disc into 'R'.

At times some of my troops get a 'T', means, first I 'T'-ransfer some crewmembers to the base at 'Hawai'. When arrived their status will change into 'H' (Hidden.is.at.Holiday). After some time, mostly within hours, they want their 'T'-status back, cuz I know where they are, ;- ). However this time they have found out how they can change their own IdentityDisc 'T' means to them 'Travelling', ..... Sometimes some Rookies show up at a certain moment in Alaska, ehm probably time to leave them there, ...


Iv now 35 men and women in service for Missions, if I will get the opportunity to make it to 250 soldiers, I probably really need to sack some of these flamboyants, , ...




I guess this is probably an usual habit of me, .... ;- ).






Was wondering of other X-Com commanders also have some probably at first sight unusual habits, ....








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This habit of me, is certainly one of the reasons, why Im still in the 4-th month after some time playing X-com. Oh, maybe interesting for others, Iv composed lately this uploaded document mostly for own use, ... Its an overview of new entry's for the UFOpeadia, certainly not finished and probably would have been more of use to others when it was made in a spreadsheet or database-program so it could be sorted at the different headings, .... but I dont feel myself comfortable using such programs, way to many choice's. For me the document is enough for own use, ... its free to use and improve by others ofc

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•  UfoNotes1.txt   13.5K   184 downloads

Edited by Gustarx, 21 August 2011 - 04:17 AM.

[Gustarx]

Unusual playstyle, I guess:

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[Fomka]

Your Captain of the 2nd Skyranger is named "Lou 75.75.56 21/13 2", what do that numbers mean? You've explained only the last number, 2, which stands for "2nd Skyranger". I guess 75.75.56 are soldier's attributes like firing accuracy and 21/13 mean 21 missions with 13 kills?
Naming soldiers according to their abilities is not so unusual. At least I did that

So, you have succeeded in dealing with 4 UFOs (Battleship, 2 Supply Ships, Medium Scout) over South Pole with 3 skyrangers and 1 interceptor from Europe in May of the 1st year? Nice I think that deed is about maximum efficiency, it will be hard to deal with more UFOs without more X-COM bases.

Edited by Fomka, 10 October 2011 - 12:11 PM.

[Gustarx]

Yup,

'Name TimeUnits.EnergyUnits.Weight Missions/Kills (Skyranger*)'
*= one letter or number to describe ...


... as described in the first post, I like to play a bit with their Badges, ; -)
However I think in tactical mode I prefer to see their missionstartstatus of these 3 skills Tu.St.Weight. Iv figured out that I use the Energy-Skill as how its used in Air-Cmbt, I mean airfight is about energy-control. So I prefer to have almost near max energy of soldiers before they enter the alienvessel. Xp-men can sprint to take fieldpositions, then do other things, moving much slower or not at all. For the Supplyship Iv seen 2 excellent positions to rest and use mindprobe/motionscanner outside the vessel, inbetween the 2 doors South and North

...


For this 'A-Base1'-(Find)mission Iv given only the officers a number. The squaddies have an intended 'm'=mission or a 'k'=kill. Officers and those with a 'k' have a prioirity in the field. One kill/action for each of the crew. The rest is training Throwing as a team, keeping their max weight. To get at max weight from start I unload first all the weapons, that can be unloaded. Basicweapon is Laserpistol, but that is not the mainweapon for each. Of all the different possible weapons I can use, I bring in: 2 Heavy-; 2 AutoCannons; 2 R-Launcher; 2 HeavyLaser; 1 Rifle; 5 LaserRifle. Since the start of this day, (7 May 1999) I can bring in also PlasmaPistol, SmallLauncher, Mindprobe, aliengrenade. However I do the kills with preferable 1 Laserpistolshot, long range, shortrange. The first 5 men have the L-Rifle. But I try to shoot with the pre-made-priority-thoughts beforehand, the 'k' or 'm'.


...


I guess the equipment of the Captain is unusual. Atm he's carrying no weapon, even not a pistol, ... he is currently in the frontlinie ... The rest of the crew is, coming but most of them haven't maxed yet their TA, (some almost maxed) so each turn they have to throw 2 times and walk with their remaining TU's. Captain has maxed in previous missions TA, like the other 2 at the other side of the Supplyship too, a sergeant and an experienced squaddie. There's one other maxed Ta-sergeant on this mission, He has done his kill, and is now 'helping' the 2 rookies. with helping I mean, changing part of his equipment to them. They can have now his Laserweapons. He can use from now on the dropped and allready unloaded PlasmaPistol.


...
ehm, in this stage of all the missions I avoid 'reaction'-training. I cant oversee 'reaction'-training in aliens-turn. I prefer more the one longdistantshot from a Laserpistol and using timeunits to max TA first. The TA-skill is for me the basic-skill, I learn from it, how I can max soldiers weight, how to change weapon; how to stay at max, or close to max, energy. Its possible to throw each weapon, with the right ammo to the right place at the right moment. TimeUnits for kneeling can be used for training TA.



Also unusual I guess:
This is still the same game, which I started February/March this year. In other topic/posts Iv given some more/ other info about the status of this game. To get this situation of the 4 ufo's I went 7 days back, till 1st May. did even one tactical mission, (Ufo50) over.
Mostly the time I spent to micro-manage-play the game is, quite unusual.


...


In summary Iv now 8 bases, Icpt3 located at AustralAsia; Sky1,2,3 & Icpt1 at Europe; Icpt2 at CentralAsia. Base 2-7 have same layout as described in topic BaseDefence.





And thanks for replying Fomka, ; -)





(To me, even posting, expressing my thoughts about the game is a bit unusual)

[Gustarx]

The first Supplyship is now almost done, .

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[Gustarx]

Its now, ingame, 8 May 1999. At Antartica there is still the crashsite of the downed Large Scout. The grounded Battleship and 2 Supply Ships are finished. Just before one of the 'striking' teams should leave base a new signal has been detected by the old humanoid radars. (no fund yet to invest in the just by research available HyperWaveDecoder). A small scout and a new, second, team has been formed. With 'Dan ... ' as leading officer. ...

A new specie is detected, inside the vessel. How to approach? From the stories of other commanders Iv read a tough one, the Muton. So extremely careful, testing and using all the new tools, plasmapistol, mindprobe, the aliengrenade, smalllauncher, we (Commander 'Clu', and his team of course, not me, hahaha) are engaging with the usual tactic 'Throw first walk or run later', ... One big question to me is how on Earth is it possible for other Commanders to play several games of the X-com. It seems one game is more then enough for me. In my playstyle probably I will never see the surface of Mars, engaging the Brain in Cydonia, destroying 'it', after what 'it' has to say to the player, ... something like "we dont differ much", Iv read in a file related to Cydonia.


So, to continue, ...


In his spare time, on the battlefield, (u can see the guy in the upper left corner), one of my sergeants ('Dan the Serge) used that time to write a letter to his wife. Background of this sergeant is a bit sad and tragic. However he seems now happily married for some years. Finally he is probably finding his own right way on this strange planet, ... (or could that be a signal too, he's also coming coming from Mars, like they say, all men do, ...)

k, for those who like to read its been approved no tactical or even strategical info is leaving headquarters, here is the letter, with some pictures ...



Bye

:-)

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Edited by Gustarx, 22 October 2011 - 12:47 PM.

[Fomka]

One big question to me is how on Earth is it possible for other Commanders to play several games of the X-com. It seems one game is more then enough for me.

I do not know about other players, but I finished the game only two times myself and the time span in-between was about several years.

The letter is complicated for me, but one place in it made me smile

Humankind does live for some ages on this planet. We are able to destroy not only ourselves, but also other species...

[NKF]

It depends from player to player and how involved they want to be with the game, and what their goals are.

I usually play up to a point that I have a very strong team, can launch the final mission, and have an Avenger built. Then I start over again.

I guess I find the early stages of the game to be the most exciting, where your soldiers are still improving and the battles are uncertain.

- NKF

[Gustarx]

Thanks for the responses, .



Today, some hours ago, (it did take some time to make the attachement too) I discovered something on the tactical mission Im currently doing, I like to share here. I hope u like reading it, ...


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hmmm, ... I had to 'manage' my attachments. I needed to delete some old ones, ... ;-) , ...
and to split it in 2, ...


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The prt-scrn in the long attachment shows some difference in the Alienstats of a Snakemen-Leader I encoutered ingame, compared to the Wiki-data, the reason why I wanted to make this post, to share with the reader what I found out. The other attachment of Captain Yik is more some detail about one of the crewmembers and my thoughts about her, ...


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On an other sidenote:
Iv read just the recent topic(s), thoughts about the ResearchLine of the AI of 'Enemy Unknown'. I think the consequency's of a certain researchpath is influencing the game more then probably is expected.

Ehm, ... as example? Im playing at Beginnerslvl, its May 1999, but at the missions I do, I still get lot of PlasmaRifles and some PlasmaPistols too. On the current mission I wil get, Iv played and finished the mission allready in rawscoutmodus: 2 BlasterLauncher; 5 HeavyPlasma; 4 RiflePlasma; 2 PistolPlasma. Iv finished the PlasmaPistol-project, (7 May 1999, with other projects, I thought about 20 projects total note *1), but I still get those items, even its beyond the date what can be found in the Wiki.I don't use Xcomutils to influence what I get or to make the game more harder or easier. From what I get I make my own challenge's.

I follow the raw research-method to research first all the unknown projects. Then the projects with the shortest researchtime just above the Alien-Projects, so I can dismantle the Aliencontainment sooner, with the method to finish as much as researchprojects possible on a certain day, see also Note *1. I divide the researchteam in several small groups working on different projects. Those researchteams could differ from day to day, with the statuschange from 'Unknown' to 'poor'. I mean allocated researchers differ from 2-50 researchers a project. Iv 150 researchers total.

So it dont surprise me to read that finishing researchprojects like 'AlienOrigins' seemingly increases A-Activity.



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Note *1:

00-07 Advanced EarthTech (Laser; MotionScanner; MediKit)
08-28 Aliensequence1: ALF mostly (ALF= Alien Life Forms)
29-49 Aliensequence2: Basic AlienTech; rest ALF (Ufo-Components, Plasmapistol; A-Grenade; Small Launcher such things)




Happy playing all. I need some food now, ;-) .

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Edited by Gustarx, 26 November 2011 - 01:41 PM.

[NKF]

About your screenshots, they are quite big, which is probably why the board is complaining about them. A few suggestions that might help:

- Split your screenshots into several smaller ones, and perhaps post your commentary in-line rather than in the images.

- Use dosbox's screengrab function ctrl+F5 to get your screenshots rather than printscrn. They'll be stored as PNG files under the Dosbox extra's screen capture & recordings folder. This format is quite efficient for storing the limited palette images used by the game.

As for your finding, my only comment is that the armour levels are not the same as the wiki's alien stats page because you are playing on beginner. On Beginner, enemy armour is always half the normal levels.

I wonder if accuracy is also subject to being half the normal value on beginner? That may answer why accuracy for your snakeman is different than what is mentioned on the wiki. Should be easy to confirm if you have a look and compare the stats for some of the other aliens.

As for getting your blaster launchers early, did you get them from an X-COM base attack, an alien base or a battleship?

- NKF

[Gustarx]

K, NKF, tnxs for the tip, I'll try ctrl+F5 in future for prt-scrns. Why I use(d) alt-prt scrn is that its in short-mem. So I make the prt-scrn with Paint open, then I do copy;paste;editing/painting; then save.

The Aliens on this mission r now dead, ... except of the stunned/captured soldier now revived to keep the base. I noticed it on the flow and thought it was a post worth. I think now, I overlooked the phrase at Wiki, where is stated that the value's for FA & Armour at beginnerslvl r one-half of the core.

The BlasterLaunchers Iv got are from:
- the battleship that landed when the first A-Base was under construction, 7 May 1999 at about, ehm ... 13.00, time not sure;
- and 3 A-base-missions since then, each day at 00.30 / 00.31

However it did/do surprise me a bit, that, when its allready May 1999, I still get a lot Plasma-Rifles and -Pistols. The PlasmaPistolResearchProject was finished 7 May 1999. The PlasmaRifle with the HeavyPlasma is a researchproject, however the priority is low cuz of some other project's Únknown'-status:

- PsiAmp:
'unknown'; 43 researchers
Prior/comment: high cuz its unknown + with 500 R-hrs slightly inbetween Projects BL and U-Construct
- HP:
'poor'; 4 researchers
Prior/comment: low cuz there r 'unknown projects'
- HP-Clip:
'poor'; 2 researchers
Prior/comment: low/medium cuz there r 'unknown projects', the researchtime is half of the HP, 800 hours & 400, so 4 for HP & 2 for the clip + medium if researched the item can be partial used in tactical > it can be throwed
- PR:
'poor'; 4 researchers
Prior/comment: low/medium: low cuz there r 'unknown projects' + medium: to start the PlasmaCannon- ResearchProject sooner, with more researchprojects finsihed in the long term, then when only HP + HP-Clip researched, also in the meantime I'll get still 'Tactical Combat-/Mission'-points
- PR-Clip:
'poor'; 2 researchers
Prior/comment: low/medium: low cuz there r 'unknown projects', the researchtime is about half of the PR, 700 hours & 400, so 4 for HP & 2 for the clip + medium: the project PR-Clip is required to start the PCannon-project (and to use it in Tactical)
- BL:
'unknown'; 50 researchers
Prior/comment: high cuz its unknown + with 900 R-hrs slightly rounded up to highest allocated researchers
- BL-Bomb:
'poor'; 0 researchers
Prior/comment: low, with 300 R-hrs will it be finished with the next 'researchfinishwave' anyway. The ratio with BL is 3:1 900 R-hrs:300 R-hrs, so, with new 'unknown' projects, I would allocate 3:1 researchers to BL.
However with any project that could be finished above this project it will be taken, finished too.
- Ufo Construction:
'unknown'; 40 researchers
Prior/comment: high cuz its unknown + with 450 R-hrs slightly rounded up to lowest allocated researchers for 'unknown' projects
- Alien Food & ASurgery:
'poor'; none
Prior/comment: low, will be finished with the next 'researchfinishwave' anyway.
- MindShield
'poor'; 5 researchers
Prior/comment: medium/high: medium cuz there r 'unknown projects' + high cuz I want this project to be finished asap after the status 'unknown' has changed into 'poor' for the mentioned 3 'unknown projects'. Reason: the MindShield Facility is the best defence for Base1, with all that personell, 150 Researchers; 47 soldiers; 52 Engineers, building this facility has even a higher prior then the HypWaveDec. I guess, even rebuilding of Base1 at higher difficulties, will be not that necessary, when this facility is in use.
- Muton Corpse
'poor'; none
Prior/comment: low, will be finished with the next 'researchfinishwave' anyway.
- Personal Armour
'poor'; none
Prior/comment: low/medium, will be finished with the next 'researchfinishwave' anyway + allocating Engineers to make those items will be an issue first at the end of May/Start Juny 1999, when a new workshop under construction at Base3 will be finsihed and Iv more data/info to consider how many more Engineers could be/need to be hired.

- ALF:
all are:
'poor'; none
including SnakeCommander (Cydonia or Dust)
Prior/comment: low, All ALF (A-LifeForm) will be finished with the next 'researchfinishwave' anyway + Cydonia or Dust-project is useless when I dont have the ship (Avenger) to travel to Mars. However finishing ALL ALF-projects in the upcoming month Juny has prior: HIGH. Reason, when there r no aliens in the ACompartiment this facility could be dismantled asap, making space to built more needed facilities, (like MindShield; HWD; 3th Workshop; new 4th Hangar; 4th PsiLab). I consider to keep as much humans as possible at Base1.

For any tst-environment I think/guess Base1 should be a stealthbase for the 'EnemyUnknowns', ;-), ... This comment is certainly beyond my Prior/comment, as decribed after the other researchprojects, so a different line.




Approximately I guess the next ResearchFinishWave for my XCom situation will be near end of this month, May 1999. Thats what I try to achieve. Then I could consider to fire 50 of the 150 researchers, for more Engineers/Recruits, without dismantling facilities. Dismantling facilities is a last resort for me, it cost (a lot) and is not eh 'humanlogic' in my opinion. It took me some days to decide to dismantle the 4th hangar at Base1, as can seen in the new delivered attachements (with ctrl+F5, ;-) ). The decision was made when I played forward in raw mode and noticed that, when PsyLab was built at 7 May 1999, the facility would be delivered at 31 May 1999 and in use for next month Juny 1999. But End May 1999 is at this moment for me far to way in future, even while its 11 May 1999. I certainly would do some things a bit different, when started newly, however Ivn't used before the PsyLab, the reason why to continue with this game. Many years ago (10-12) I started direct over when I thought: "This could be better".


ehm, ... it seems to me this post is long enough, ...
and I need food, : -) .




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hm, ....

now I dont need to forget to upload the new attachments:

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Edited by Gustarx, 28 November 2011 - 12:09 PM.

[Gustarx]

1. Attachment with ctrlF5 succeed?
2. Pictures do say more then 1000 words, ... but how to explain?
3. When will the SnakeMenLeader gives his orders to serve tea with cake at the negotiating table?

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(Laser)Pistol to train (a bit more) ReactionFire
Heavylaser to train (a bit more) FiringAccurracy + its the only convential weapon that can be used to obtain Elerium out of Powersources, when milking ABases, PlasmaPistol wont work, and if heavier A-weapons aren't researched. But I guess Researching and Using weapons/ projects out of line, (HeavyPlasma before PlasmaPistol, Cydonia or Bust way beyond Avenger) will have their impact on how the AI of the game functions, making it more harder (with a potential of more personell loss). But thats my guess.

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Im not a frequent forummer, but maybe these pictures can be used by others.

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With Throw First and Run Later I train my brain to think for/ train the whole team, not only individuals.


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hm, and of course best wishes for 2012, :-)

Gustarx

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[Gustarx]

1. K. see below
2. hm,
a. I cant find/see how Iv named the prtscrn's, its a bit the summary of the prtscn
b. Im not satisfied by the sequence, ...
-- it starts with the Overview, from deck 0 to 2 of the Supplyship
-- with some Deckview of keyfigures, like Colonel, Captain and FrontLinie (Pistol and LaserPistol)
-- with some Personellview of the frontlinie, how I use/train throw to get all (main)items to the frontLinie
-- and how 1 Tu makes a difference, with other words, how I face the squaddies, ...

I hope this above explains a bit more, ...


---

oh and 3. to answer all my own questions, ...
3. no, the SnakeMenleader hasn't yet prepared the table, ;-) , but he has to wait it isn't yet his turn, ...


and one other detail, Im now busy with this ship for about several days, if not weeks. Not fast maybe. But then I remind myself that ehm, ... Im reading a Dutch Book of Geert Mak, its about an overview of the 20th century in Europe, with the development of human(minds) and their 'tools', the weapons, the slaughtering of men and how we used our brains, ... an AlienInvasion, the 'If-scenario's', take a lot of time to think over.

Using games will help us to train our brains, ... I think, and for a lot who play ('war')games, its much better then being a soldier in the field, where the Brains aren't connect to the Heart at their desks, far away of the field. So, while making this post, I still hear the sound. Itsn't that hard to imagine other details, ...

Edited by Gustarx, 05 January 2012 - 11:48 AM.

[Gustarx]

Still turn23, midfase, this is for me the funpart: throwing the killed Aliens to their commandcentre, ;-).

Its a tst-turn. Im now inspecting, relocating, moving the temp HeadQuarters elevator to the save room opposite. I know 2 Aliens are allready in line of sight, the Leader has left HQ. So I can take their HQ, before ending this tactical mission.


A bit different:

A snakemen weights 40. The challenge is also "How could I change the equipment so I can throw killed Aliens?". I cant use/throw yet HeavyPlasma, PlasmaRifle, BlasterLauncher (not on this mission) but I can use the weapons and clips to (re-)change the outfit/equip of my crew.
40 =
1 HeavyLaser
2 HPlasma
1 (Alien)grenade
1 Stunbomb

"But need the guy that equipment?"
"How could I optimise my positions"
"With mindprobe I see how much energy/TU the alien has used. Can I do better? Moving with best "energy-usage", without to much energy-loss?"

...


Throwing Aliens back into space is part of the fun, ... ;-) .

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