16 replies to this topic

[muxec]

I'd name difficulty levels of this game "Hard", "Very Hard", "Super hard", "Extremely hard" and "Imposibe". Have you tried playing it without saves in combat (geoscape only saves)? Alien sub tech is very hard to get early so you can not effectively intercept alien subs with your slow subs. They infiltrate funding nations at huge speed. And also the ship missions... Ship missions are extremely tough. They take hundreds of game turns and days of real life gameplay. Suppose it's April 2040 and the ship is attacked by multiracial crew of Tasoth, Triscene, Aquatoid, Bio-Drone, Calcinite races. (that actually happened to me, good that no lobstermen this time). Triscenes easily penetrate basic aqua plastic armor. Also they have great acuracy. Without saving and loading it takes 3 aquanauts to kill one triscene. Tasoth are also cool, they require 2 sonic canon frontal shots to kill. Aquatoids are not that dangerous but they M.C. your men. Bio-Drones love small rooms so you need Tazers to disable them without harming yourself by explosion. Tazering them is also extremely hard if you do not save before each attempt. Also the AI is cheating, AI tracks your unit movement after your units become unseen.
When you deal with the core of enemy forces you need to spend hours of real life time to locate the last ****ing Calcinide hiding in smallest restroom that takes only two square tiles.

Who knows how can I see the location of the last allien? It's not a real cheat, I'd find him anyway, but I do not want to waste my real life time. I tried different editors but nothing really helps.

Edited by muxec, 21 April 2005 - 02:36 PM.

[NKF]

Xcomutil - use the VIS command to make all units in the map visible.

---

TFTD is ridicilously hard - until you get some good tech, then everything evens off.

Mainly you need Ion armour, the sonic oscillator and something strong enough to incapacitate squads of lobstermen (a ranged weapon I mean - I know the tazer works fine, but it looses its usefulness in large open spaces, and the gas cannon with HE shells (amazing weapon!) hasn't got enough shells to take out a small lobsterman platoon)

I have tried playing in superhuman with a no-save-reload-during-tactical game (with the exception for multi-parters - I saved just before exiting to the next area), and it is possible to win missions if you are very careful (or go all-out and use a scorched earth policy). That is to say, it's not impossible - you just have to get really good at playing. (Mastering UFO helps too - as your game skills are transferable)

As for the terror units - yeah, they're unbelievably dangerous in superhuman. Lots of them with 100+% accurate snapshots, and tough armour to boot! (Not as bad as UFO's sectopods, but certainly enough to soften the effects of your better weapons). Even the hallucinoid can nullify some of your better weapons (with the exception of area effect weapons or really hard hitting weapons (100+ damage)).

It just requires a LOT of persistence and a determination that can bend a crowbar.

- NKF

[muxec]

I'd really like to re-balance the difficulty levels. Sadly all editors only allow you to edit unit and sub parameters, but not directly edit difficulty levels. In X-Com Apocalypce difficulty levels match their names better. My re-balancing plan.

1. Easy. Alien stats are 40% lower than on official lowest level. Triscenes do not appear before mid-summer. All arriving recruits have 10 more reactions. Ion armor does not require live deep one. On Geoscape alien subs have 30% less speed. Less infiltration inthe first 6 monthes. You start with 30 scientists and they require only 15000 salary each. You get +300 bonus rating points per month.
2. Not so easy. Alien stats are 20% lower than on easiest official difficulty, you start with 30 scientists. You get +200 bonus rating points per month
3. Normal. Like easiest official level, but you start with 20 scientists and get bonus +100 rating per month.
4. Hard. Like second easiest difficulty level (advanced) in official game
5. Superhuman, like in the original game.


Also balancing issue, sniper gauss instead of heavy gauss, it's possible to do with editors. Sniper gauss does 60 dmg with 140% aimed accuracy.

How do I properly use xcomutils under dosbox?

[NKF]

Actually, I wouldn't have minded a more powerful heavy gauss cannon. The fact is, the way it is in the game, the only advantage the heavy gauss has over the sonic pistol is that it's cheap to produce and has a more accurate aimed shot. In every other respect, the sonic pistol triumphs.

---

XComutil doesn't need to be run under Dosbox to use the vis command. VIS is just one of its command line functions. You just open up a command prompt console, go to your TFTD directory, and then run xcomutil on your savegame slot.

Let's say I've got TFTD stored under c:\games\XCom\Terror From The Deep\ , and the game I want to edit is stored in savegame slot 6

The commands I'd punch in once I open up the command console would be:

cd\ (I put this in as not everyone has a command prompt shortcut that defaults to the root directory - don't type this bit)

cd games
cd xcom
cd "terror from the deep"
xcomutil game_6 vis wrt
exit

Then back to the game.

But if you want to install XComutil and use it to run the game and access its various features with Dosbox (like the random floorpans, etc), just install XComutil and set it up as per the instructions. Now start up the game as you normally would with Dosbox - but this time instead of using terror.com to run the game, you'll be using runxcom.bat.

- NKF

[muxec]

BTW it looks like with random floorplans I get more loot from some submarines. Is it really true?

[j'ordos]

I seem to remember that the random floorplans have just as much power sources and navigation&stuff as normal ones, but the random floorplans have much more aqua plastics (many walls)

xcomutil has an option to improve the heavy gauss, more powerful and with auto shot, can't remember the exact stats, but it's probably not what you were looking for

Oh yeah, I remember there was a topic somewhat like this, and there even were people saying xcom2 was easier than xcom1 :o
Couldn't find it anymore though.

edit : one gauss weapon that really needs improvement is the craft gauss cannon, it's even worse than the craft laser in xcom IMO

Edited by j'ordos, 23 April 2005 - 05:28 AM.

[muxec]

Now with the development of the Internet games with so high difficulty are rare, independent reviews are very important.


At the end battles become easy. For example first level of alien colony.

Step A. Secure the deployment corner.
1. Throw chem-lights and return.
2. Kill halucinoids.
3. If your starting location is upper corner (North-East in isometric) secure second floor of near part of the colony. Use tank to scout and than M.C. alien with pulse launcher. Without M.C. just use your pulse torpedo launcher twice.
4. Scout the region with sonic tank pay special attention to the area behind the tower in corner. Fire when necessuary.
5. Tentaculats love first floor of base part so use tank to deal with them.

Step B. Secure ground.
1. Use Magnetic Ion Armor to lift your snipers to the upper level.
2. Use tank for scouting (only tank is immune to tentaculat zombiefication). When you see aliens use M.C. for faster scoting or to avoid P.W.T fire (the only thing that can destroy tank fast). Kill aliens with snipers at the map corner.
3. Make sure that ground level of entire map is secured.

Step C. Secure the alien colony building.
1. Send tank to the base. You can use P.W.T. to create entrance at better spot.
2. Spot aliens and use "M.C.->Spot next->M.C. next->Spot next" chain to move them alltogether. Kill them all with one P.W.T.

[Chris StarShade]

About the Gauss...

I modified my TFTD game to give the gauss weapons stats comparable to the plasma weapons of the original UFO Defense. As they are now, they are like laser weapons with clips.

Laser weapons with clips = SUX!

Don't get me wrong, I am not giving the gauss weapons as many rounds as the plasma weapons had, I am just making their stats consistent with their descriptive text (which says they are an adaptation of eleriumless plasma technology).

If memory serves, I just adjusted the damage levels. One of them (I think the Gauss rifle) was one unit less powerful than the plasma equivalent, but it worked out for some 'compare to alien tech' equation I had going and can't remember now.

Let me see if I can dig out the file I used to "patch" it...

There, extract to the geodata directory in wherever you have terror from the deep, and that will give you the 'consistent' gauss weapons.

...or I am fairly certain it will anyway. >.> Anyone want to test the file and verify that it does indeed improve gauss performance?

Attached Files

•  obdata.zip   1.57K   96 downloads

[Negator]

I'd name difficulty levels of this game "Hard", "Very Hard", "Super hard", "Extremely hard" and "Imposibe".

Its quite possible to complete the game in Superhuman while playing Ironman (ie, no save/reload).

I'm on the way to doing it myself, in fact its getting kind of boring or I would have finished by now.

Of course it helps that I'm a complete MC whore.....

[Tiruas]

I'd name difficulty levels of this game "Hard", "Very Hard", "Super hard", "Extremely hard" and "Imposibe".

Its quite possible to complete the game in Superhuman while playing Ironman (ie, no save/reload).

I'm on the way to doing it myself, in fact its getting kind of boring or I would have finished by now.

Of course it helps that I'm a complete MC whore.....

*note*

it only helps to be a MC whore if you live long enough to be a MC whore

if you live that long you've really already beat the game & you're just piddling in the mean time IMHO...

as is, i SHOULD go ahead & send my super squad to T'Leth & be done with Xcom 2 (my 1st run anyway)

but, honestly i think i am definitely dreading the planning "Ironman" SH follow-up... so I've been piddling myself

[NKF]

Superhuman in TFTD is ... well it's an experience. I highly recommend it. They'll eat you alive the first few months, but if you can weather that and grab yourself some Ion Armor and maybe the Sonic Oscillator (for your Barracudas) then you'll make it to the end just fine. Sonic Pulsers will also be your best friends though they do lack finesse.

The MC gets ridiculous as every primary alien race bar the Lobsterman have this ability. Luckily, due to the importance of the Deep One and how it can bottleneck your research if you miss it early on, you generally get MC Lab's very quickly. You can screen your aquanauts for low MC Strength levels quick smart. It's much easier in that respect.

If you manage to make it through TFTD on superhuman, you may just find UFO on Superhuman to be a bit of a vacation later on.

- NKF

Edited by NKF, 22 June 2009 - 01:00 AM.

[dan2]

As a timetable to obtain the MC Disruptor, you first get Alien Containment facility and first mission with an MC Reader and live Deep One is around 23-27 January for my version of TFTD. Studying them takes just a few days and building MC Labs can be finished -if anything works perfect- before 1st March.
Enrolling your aquanauts on 1st March ensures you have them trained with minimal MC abilities by 1st April.
Then you need a Tasoth Squad Leader, which can be frozen on first level in alien bases, you land, you freeze, you move back to the ship and off you go.
By May you have the chance of having the ability to control in combat

[LouisdeFuines]

I played the X-com-games in former times ONLY with the save/load abuse in tactical combat.

Then, I just tryed it out once with only saving in the beginning of a mission, right in the first move (for getting secure because of the game crashing).

I must say:
The game becomes A LOT more interesting without the abuse! You concentrate more on strategies, lerna more about how to come through, linke in real life

[yarrow]

yes it is possible to finish on impossible level
and yes i've done it in both ufo and terror ( xcom1 & xcom2 )
its just much more chalanging

you can see one on youtube
search for: terror from the deep no reload

the key to no load ( some calls it Ironman run ) is that YOU must let you men go

as for shipping lane missions, YOU DONT have to complete it
you MUST go for it ( if you dont impact is devastating -> -2000 points )
and you can emmediately abort mission
you still get negative score, but 'only' -200 or -300
and this can be 'earned back' with 1 or 2 good missions
on escort/cruisers type ships

I usually grab calcinite corpse/tasoth leader if there are any nearby, and abort

as for gauss weapons
it was never designed as 'terror laser rifles' ... its sonic weaponry that rules in terror

to me, gauss is only temporary step to get rid of starting weaponry
exception of course is Gas Cannon with HE ammo
which can kill your starting opponents quite easy ( aquatoids/calcinites and gillmens/deep ones )

and yes, I know it is written in ufopedia => 'learned from previous war'
but as is MC disruptor working underwater only, isn't it?

just learn from game play experience
and this will show you, that sonic weaponry rules ( sooner than later )

as for ammo usage, if you can find ammo on dead aliens
you dont need to bring so many clips with you
just pick other weapon/ammo clip, from dead alien killed with your first clip

and compare SONIC pulsers, to ALL other grenades
now you see ... sonic weaponry rules

and ... if you are still unconvinced to sonic weaponry
its SONIC oscillator that is the BEST ship weapon
which turns almost all alien ships
to just ... targets to shoot for your barracudas

yes, yes ... deadnought still are dangerous, but ... ONLY them
just get some mantas with ... SONIC oscillators

yes ... give yourself to the dark side
it is pointless to resist my son

SONIC weaponry rules, period

Edited by yarrow, 26 December 2010 - 09:54 AM.

[NKF]

Sonic weapons are actually necessary to fight lobstermen on an even level. Gauss weapons don't even hurt them on superhuman difficulty. You can use thermal shok bombs - and they are better. However the ammo is limited.

Superhuman difficulty also yields much more ammo for you to capture and use. However if you are still having ammo problems (which could be the case if you are like me and like to use the awesome sonic pistol - which the aliens stop using after a few months), then you have the drills. They are TFTD's answer to UFO's lasers. Sure they're melee range only, and cannot attack walls, but they are fast (Vibroblade) or extremely powerful (Heavy Thermic Lance).

- NKF

[yarrow]

NKF said 'awesome sonic pistol'
well, I prefer word effective

and in case of sonic pistols
they are effective especially against gillman

I usually after researching gauss pistol and its ammo
go straight to sonic pistols and its ammo

research can be finished at the end of the first month
just in time to equip your squad with them, for the first terror mission
with sonic pistols able to one shot -> one kill, ( for gillman/deep one and aquatoids/calcinite of course )
its much easier to finish

I use sonic pistols, for the first few months
and replace them with sonic-blasta rifles gradually
some stay on board for scouts
one hand pistol bonus increases aquanaut shoting effectiveness
( actually it does not DECREASE shoting accuracy if both hand are busy )
in the other hand grenade, or tazer

in the later stages, Sonic Cannons for all of my aquanauts
switch back to rifles sometimes ( if gillman/aquatoid )

remember:
your main enemy is lobsterman, so anything lower than sonic cannon
kills it with much less efficiency
of course stun weapons ( even tazer ) are effective too

and drills ... hmmm
I dont think they are 'terror laser rifles'
I think they are XCOM answer for lobstermen


and for just sake, I have just tested gauss weaponry on superhuman lobsterman soldier
in unmodified game ( collectors edition ), result is shown below

test setup:
100% health lobster man soldier was MC controlled
standing in front of aquanaut ( front armor hit )
save was made, and reloaded each time new wapon was tested
and whole magazine shot ( or less, if lobster dead/stunned )
shoot test repeated 3 times for each weapon

gauss pistol => no effect
gauss rifle => very small stun damage ( about 3, perhaps got lucky )
heavy gauss => about 10 live less, small stun damage too

so, at least heavy gauss, does something to lobster
but ... compare this with sonic weaponry used in the same setup

sonic pistol => 8 shots to kill, sometimes with less shots lobster is stunned
sonic rifle => 4 shots but lobster is stunned most of the time, after revive with medikit he had about 3 health
sonic cannon => 2 shots to kill, sometimes one is enough, sometimes first shot stunned lobsterman

now you see which weapon is more efficient in killing lobsters

as NKF said
to fight on more or less equal level with lobsters
you must use sonic weaponry

yarrow

Edited by yarrow, 27 December 2010 - 07:10 AM.

[NKF]

I meant that the drills are the answer to the laser in as much as it's the game's line of 'no-ammo' weapons that can hurt aliens. The main difference of course are that they are melee range only and cannot attack walls. Lobstermen are just like Sectopods in that they are weak to this type of weapon.

I called the sonic pistol awesome because it has a lot of very desirable features, which the Sonic Cannon lacks. One handed grip, fastest of the sonic weapons, 20 rounds of ammo. And though it's the weakest sonic weapon it still has a lot of power in each shot. It's an excellent weapon for Aquanauts that need to be mobile.

Actually, that reminds me about one other point that is in favour of the Sonic weapons (the Sonic Pulser doesn't count - that goes under HE damage). Aliens are more resistant to Gauss damage than Sonic Damage. Lobstermen are much more extreme in how much gauss damage is reduced. They resist 70% of Gauss damage while Sonic is dropped by 50%.

It's like the game is very heavily biased towards the sonic weapons.

- NKF