Where Do The Soldiers Come From

[johnb10000]

Where do they get the soldiers for XCOM? The can't shoot, panic easily and shoot each other in the back. I have never been in the military but I could probably shoot better than the new recruits.

 

Was there a program where prisoners would be let out of jail early if they join XCOM?

[Andy]

There's no history on that.

 

I do recall something about the world gathering all the best scientists/engineers/soldiers gather together to form xcom. You might wanna check the wiki.

[[NKF]]

The best educated guess you can make though is that they're obtained from all around the world. In a way it's good that this is left a mystery.

 

As for their abilities - well you must admit that they are much better than the civilians if you ever Mind Probed them for kicks! From a gameplay point of view, if they were too good from the start, there wouldn't be any room for improvement. Improvement, in a way, is an incentive.

 

Come to think of it, most of the firing accuracy modes aren't terribly high in accuracy and most of your shots will be done by way of rapid attacks through snaps or autoshots. Even in real life these would just involve quickly pointing the gun in the right directing and pulling the trigger. There are many precautions that you can take to avoid mishaps like shooting other soldiers in the back.

 

As for their level of fear - this is usually inversely proportional with how well you are doing, not counting psi panic attacks. Fear attempts to mimic the various psychological states that your soldier could be in during combat. Fear, anxiety, stress, pain (from a grazing shot), paranoia, phobias, shock, etc. There's lots of creeping around; not knowing what to expect; shots coming unexpectedly out of the dark; sudden death of comrades; mind games, etc. This game relies on a lot on tension.

 

Don't know if that's an answer, but just my take on it.

 

- NKF

[Steelion]

Well, see, when a mommy soldier and a daddy soldier love each other very much...

[Sgt Jones]

I love these "far beyond the game/movie" questions. You have to think of the question as it was incorporated into a real x-com orgnisation. If there really was an x-com company where do you think they would get the soldiers from? I seriously doubt you would be able to sign up at your local careers office. They would expect the soldiers already to be trained and currently serving soldiers with experience, so i would say the top of the line soldiers from the marines, seals, delta force and SAS. I assume they would then go through a selection process and even more further training in alien warfare and alien containment. Kind of like saying "you are trained soldiers but forget everything you know, you are now privates and have to learn a whole new ball game."

[3llense'g]

My oppinion is that Xcom doesn't need good soldiers. They don't even need soldiers. They need lucky bastards that can survive the craziest stuff!