2 questions, how much AP do you need to reaction shots? As much as a snap shot?
Also, I bought 2 tank/cannons and a bunch of the ammo below it, but it won't let me load the ship with them, says that there's not enough ammo? Basically, how do you get tanks?
Somewhere on the tactical interface there should be buttons that let you specify the type of reaction shot you want. It's the four-button square to the left of the rank insignia. Once you click, the game engine should take care of the rest. However it will not reserve TUs (yeah, supposed to be Time Units, not Action Points) for crouching, so keep that in mind.
Tank/cannons take a lot of ammo, around 200 rounds I think? Try buying 500 and try again.
I did everything, the AIM dude (and according to what you said, I only did the marksmanship thing right. Damn), recruited two soldiers and two medics, talked to the rebels and their insultingly bad english (ME TARZAN YOU JANE WE BE REBELS), and went to the next town for supplies!
Except not.
Forest road with about seven or eight enemies. Decided to branch in two teams, pincer them. Didn't work. Apparently, I have to be close enough to see the pimples on their faces to get a decent shot. Reminds me of X-com, with the difference that my units are not to be discarded by the minute. And I panic and shoot for about fifteen minutes. They are mostly dead, the rest run, and my medics, of all people, have holes all over their bodies. Seriously low on ammo and I don't know if they'll be bringing reinforcements.
I guess what I'm saying is: Awesome game, but how do I make these chumps shoot better?
Short answer: You don't.
Long Answer: The best mercs for shooting long term are high dex/agi/wis. Wisdom makes people increase their stats faster, dexterity decreases AP's for shooting and increases accuracy, agility increases APs. Having a high marksman isn't a big deal if you have high everything else, as you progress that character will start to shoot better and in the end will be competent to the level of some of the main guys.
The biggest thing holding you back is weapons and ammo. A gun without ammo is useless, a weapon that isn't maintained well[yes you have to maintain your guns, no its not terribly painful] is less useful to useless. In the beginning of the game there is a trick which can get you some good weapons that i will cover at the end of this post.
I think I may actually play some vanilla JA2 next time I reinstall it. I haven't played just the base game in so long.
I can't do it, 1.13 introduces window mode which is key.
If it's your first time playing, or if you haven't played for a while, make sure you uncheck the "Drassen Counterattack" thing 1.13 included. Seriously.
I recommend against this actually. Just know that its coming. The game hints that its coming, so don't ignore the warning. Hunker down, set up, and train as many vets as you can and pray they don't bring morters. They will all die, but whatever. The counterattack is good because it does two very important things. 1. It provides you with STUFF. In the early game the hardest thing is getting weapons and money. Without Drassen its tough to buy stuff(the airport is where you can order supplies from online) and without stuff to sell its tough to keep up on ammo. 2. It lets you get a taste of what you're going to be expecting later in the game. The AI is no slouch and when enemies start actually getting tough to kill a lot of people run into walls because the old tactics stop working as well when a few rounds won't kill a man(some exceptions apply)
i left it on sci fi mode because that was the default, i figured i might get lasers or something.
Sci-Fi mode is something that deserves being spoiled. It adds a few guns[OICW and a few others i believe] adds a cyborg adds a super-bug treatment that makes armor super effective[compared to normal treatment/plates etc] and adds bugs.
They will invade a mine at some point and you have to go down and kill their queen to stop them from coming. Its generally a pain since by the time they arrive you will be well on your way to conquering the map and it will delay your final assault plans rather than being an interesting diversion.
What determines the amount of APs a character has? Both by default and inbetween turns. The last thing is more related to AP regeneration I suppose.
Also, is stealth calculated by distance from the enemy, lighting, what? I had Ivan try to sneak behind a dude who was about 80 meters away and all of a sudden he turned around and started shooting. In plain daylight, yes, but I was behind him, far away, and in stealth mode!
Stealth can be finicky but in general its time of day[in general enemy troops are both more alert and can see better in the day. If they are not commandos then they are likely used to a standard day schedule and so are not well rested], how well rested your merc is[tired mercs make more noise], how well the enemy can see, whether or not your merc is using stealth mode, whether or not he is crouched. How much weight/stuff he is carrying etc.
Some people can, with stealthy night ops mercs make knife takedowns, but frankly i think a pistol is much more realistic and silent. Unless you're showboating, CBQ involves shooting them in the face, not punching or anything like that. Martial Arts has similar problems[but is great for boxing]
Re: AP. In between turns your merc has AP equal to however many he had at the end of his turn. AP regen happens at the start of their turn and not in the middle[iirc].
1) Always, ALWAYS, engage in broad daylight. Going out at night is suicide. Aliens have much better eyesight than you do at night. Use the aircraft-over-landing-site trick if you want to keep sites around till daytime.
7) One early-game strategy: have a designated redshirt nub. Load him up with (maybe) a rifle and a stun prod, a primed grenade (set to 0-turns) in leg, and stuff his backpack with as many sources of Big Boom as you can. If he gets close enough to kill/stun the alien, good. If he gets killed, chances are he'll be close enough that the primed grenade will explode and detonate all the other explosives on him, hopefully killing anything around him. AFAIK, grenades won't explode until they're thrown, so you can keep that primed grenade on the redshirt for as long as necessary. I might be wrong though...
Some notes on X-Com then i will talk about JA-2.
1. Going out at night is suicide only if its a raid site(because that is when you're likely to encounter secondary forces). The solution in X-com is the same as it is in JA-2. Bring an assload of breaklights and throw them everywhere. Aliens only see better than you when its dark for both of you. Smoke is similarly useful
7. No, everyone in X-com is a redshirt at the beginning but you still want them to survive. The best early game strat for X-Com is to buy a rocket tank or cannon tank and use that as your lead. Its more durable than your guys and can easily be replaced. When you can get a laser tank, upgrade to that[iirc] or keep the rocket tank
Also, never shoot anything down.
________________________________________
Alright now for some JA2 protips:
General non-combat tips
1. Don't play on novice. Its actually harder in the beginning of the game and by the end will be too easy. You get more money the harder it is[unless it was changed recently] AND enemies are not as well equipped or numerous. You might think "oh, enemies aren't as well equipped, that makes the game easier!" You will think that until you can't find a decent rifle and you don't have any ammo, junk to sell for ammo, or as much money for mercs.
2. Protip Extraordinaire: At the start of the game, hire a good merc that has a nice rifle or sub-machine gun for one day only. Ideally one that shoots a common ammo type[9mm, 7.62 are more common early iirc but if you're conservative you should have enough 5.56 to use something like that]. Use him for one day and then strip him of his equipment before you send him back home. Looking at the roster, good candidates include, in rough order of cost: Raven, Len, Lynx, Scope, Shadow, Reaper, Sully, Magic, and Gus. Not including 9mm sub-gun folks
3. All the mercs perform better/worse with particular people. Pay attention to who they work well with and try not to even hire teams that don't go together. Good/Bad duos also have the best dialogue[until one of the bad duos kills the other or quits]
4. Only use one created merc. Really only when you have to. Created mercs don't have much dialogue and have limited personality. Much more fun to use people with personality, even if you have to pay them
5. Igor Dolvich is one of the best deals in the game. He is Ivan's son and follows on the tradition. Get him on a long term contract ASAP
6. When mercs level up, they increase their rates. Cheaper mercs will get expensive but never more so than the ones that start that way. If you have a cheap merc and have the money, consider extending their contract out really far. They love the job security and you're only out if they die. Which of course they won't because you won't let that happen, right?
7. When hiring at the start, always consider what optional gear they have. 38's are all but useless, automatics are much more accurate and reliable. JP is the first merc with a sub-gun, and its a good one at that[9mm rounds] and next is Iceman, who is an outstanding all around merc.
8. You have infinite "clips" and can, via loading/unloading/reloading turn any type of 9mm clip into any other type of 9mm clip. Storing big clips for space is handy, but remember it takes longer to reload if its not the same clip type
9. Pay attention to the small things. Sun goggles might not look like much, but they are great in the middle of the day.[make sure you take em off at night iirc]. Everyone also needs to stay stocked with smoke, breaklights, grenades, and a proper selection of the proper ammo, etc.
10. Consider buying Victoria Waters later in the game just for the guns. 5.7 pistols are rare, fast, and powerful(they have innate armor piercing!) and accurate. The ammo is hard to come by, so order as much as you can from the store whenever you can.
Combat Protips:
1. First thing is first, preparing for engaging the enemy. Designate "teams".
Typically this means for me a "fire team" a "support team" and a "scout team". The fire team is going to be your sniper and his spotter/close defense. One guy should have a sniper rifle, the other a longer range assault rifle. Their job is to find a nice stop with a clear view and get there so that the rest of the scout can direct fire.
The scout goes and finds enemies, this is a dangerous role and he/she/they should be running with sub-guns or short carbines and plenty of nades/smoke/breaklights.
Support is your medic and heavy weapons. Medic should have a longer assault rifle and your heavy weapon the biggest thing he can get his hands on.. like a 60mm mortar... and a heavy machine gun... and lots of ammo
2. Night Ops are your friend in the beginning. You have the initiative and likely are more rested than the enemy. This is a big deal. Stay stealthy, avoid light, toss breaklights where you think enemies are...
3. Use the right ammo and check your targets. The nuances of shooting in JA2 are pretty amazing. First of all there are many different kinds of ammo
Regular: Its standard, shoot people
AP: Red band, less damage, more armor penetration
HP: Blue band, more damage, less armor penetration
Glazer: Green band, amazing damage, no armor penetration
AET: Purple band, Amazing Damage, Amazing Armor penetration. Super ammo
Match: White band, more damage, MORE RANGE.
Cold Loaded: * symbol, less damage, less sound, great for silenced weapons
Secondly there are of four hit locations(not counting arms/legs). Arms, Legs, head, torso. And each one has unique properties. For instance if you shoot a guy in the face, you may NOT hit his helmet and might hit his face. If you shoot a guy in the back of the head, you're going to hit his helmet. Unless you have AP or AET ammo almost always shoot a guy where he is not armored.
How do you tell? scroll over a guy, hold ALT and it should[iirc] tell you what he is wearing in general. If a guy has a helmet and vest on and you have HP ammo loaded then its better to blow off his legs then try and blast through his armor.
Some vests don't have arm protection, that is your best bet for a helmet/armor/leggings guy and you can also get them to drop their weapons that way.
If you do happen to need to make a center mass shot at an enemy with not very great ammo for the job, remember that armor fails, so keep hitting the same area instead of changing because now he is close enough to shoot at his head.
4. You CAN hit what you can't see. Especially if its spotted for you.
5. That being said its better if you can see them. Smoke makes you harder to see and makes them harder to see too. This can be good and bad. Use it to MOVE and then get out so your enemy can't also use it to move.
Enemies avoid light at night as they should. This gives breaklights a few interesting uses. Lets say you don't want someone sneaking up on you... throw a breaklight behind you[not directly behind you] and the enemy is likely to avoid the area[and if he doesn't he'll get lit up]
Break lights to where you think enemies are and then move up[ideally not near the break lights]
6. Movement in all teams is always one at a time... unless the shit has hit the fan. Yes, its slower, no that doesn't matter, do it anyway
Most of the time, I actually prefer autoshot. The percentage per shot may be lower than a snap shot, but considering you fire three rounds, you actually end up with a higher chance of hitting. Plus most guns seem to have large clips anyway, and by the time you're using plasma, ammo isn't really a concern anymore.
Auto shot fires three rounds, but is the least accurate of
the three shots. On the other hand, when you use the laws
of probability, you actually come out ahead using an
auto-shot, since each shot is calculated independently.
For example, let's say chance of hitting in auto shot is
25%, and snap shot is 30% (average). The chance of
getting at least one hit out of three is 1-(chance of no
hits). So 25% hit prob AND no hit in three tries is
0.75 * 0.75 * 0.75 = 0.42
Chance of getting at least one hit is then
1 - 0.42 = 0.56, or 56%
Which is much better than 30% (but no higher than the
aimed percentage). When your accuracy improves, you
increase your chances of hitting the target multiple
times, which ensures a kill, and you use less TUs than ONE
aimmed shot.
So has anyone else here played Jagged Alliance on the DS? I´m having a lot of fun with it, hadn´t played it in a long, long time. There are a few interface issues and doing some things with the touch screen are harder than they should, but besides that its Jagged Alliance on your DS, what more can you ask? I just wish I had some numbers on the sales of the game to see how probable it is to seeing a JA2 port coming out...
So has anyone else here played Jagged Alliance on the DS? I´m having a lot of fun with it, hadn´t played it in a long, long time. There are a few interface issues and doing some things with the touch screen are harder than they should, but besides that its Jagged Alliance on your DS, what more can you ask? I just wish I had some numbers on the sales of the game to see how probable it is to seeing a JA2 port coming out...
I have it but I've been saving it for my plane trip to Ethiopia.
I'm pretty sure that neither of us want to know how many copies were sold. Ignorance is bliss.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
So has anyone else here played Jagged Alliance on the DS? I´m having a lot of fun with it, hadn´t played it in a long, long time. There are a few interface issues and doing some things with the touch screen are harder than they should, but besides that its Jagged Alliance on your DS, what more can you ask? I just wish I had some numbers on the sales of the game to see how probable it is to seeing a JA2 port coming out...
I have it but I've been saving it for my plane trip to Ethiopia.
I'm pretty sure that neither of us want to know how many copies were sold. Ignorance is bliss.
Well considering that it is a straight port from the PC to the DS I imagine that the costs to make the game weren´t all that high. So it doesn´t need to sell a million copies in order to make a profit and justify JA2 DS, right? :?
So has anyone else here played Jagged Alliance on the DS? I´m having a lot of fun with it, hadn´t played it in a long, long time. There are a few interface issues and doing some things with the touch screen are harder than they should, but besides that its Jagged Alliance on your DS, what more can you ask? I just wish I had some numbers on the sales of the game to see how probable it is to seeing a JA2 port coming out...
I have it but I've been saving it for my plane trip to Ethiopia.
I'm pretty sure that neither of us want to know how many copies were sold. Ignorance is bliss.
Well considering that it is a straight port from the PC to the DS I imagine that the costs to make the game weren´t all that high. So it doesn´t need to sell a million copies in order to make a profit and justify JA2 DS, right? :?
Well, add one to what ever numbers you find, I just ordered it on Amazon. I forgot that it was out, so thanks for the reminder. I figured I was getting MAG anyway, so why not.
Nexus: The Jupiter incident is what I consider the spaceship equivalent of a tactical squad game. Evenhas the same traits of JA and SS glottal fans and good mods, and everyone wants a sequel.
UFO:AI is a freeware remake that incomplete in some aspects (IR glasses, night combat) but is still a blast. I advocate a sniper spotter combo for later missions.
BTW, if I wanted to turn all opponents in SWAT4 to XCOM aliens, how would go about doing this?
On average I spend 3 hours or so on each mission on Rainbow 6 3: Raven shield, planning and testing said plans with the AI. The missions can be done in 5 mins usually but it's very addictive at the moment to tweak my plans to hell and watch then play out with the AI. Up to the airport level at the moment.
Man, I think my JA2 game is bugged, I can't find Father John in Drassen, he's not in the church or the bar where the strategy guides say he is. And Fred the head miner doesn't seem to care that the city is liberated, he won't seem to start the mines no matter what I say or who I use to talk to him
Update: Got the head miner to accept finally, I just needed more loyalty in Drassen. I still can't find Father Walker for the life of me though, it's starting to piss me off.
I would just like to point out real quick that unlike most games in this genre, Fallout: Tactics is multiplayer. Get your friends in on it and play it over LAN or Hamachi. If they are gamers at all, they will thank you later. Its one of the most fun experiences you can have. Out of every multiplayer game I've ever played, I'd say Fallout: Tactics is the second most fun, to this day (played it a few months back with 4 people), after Carmageddon 2. I think the single player blows, though, the AI is too passive.
For single player, check out Silent Storm, as many others have said. I wish there was a "turn off sci-fi bullshit" option, though, like Jagged Alliance 2 has.
Fallout Tactics I had a love/hate relationship with. IMHO it was too fast paced to do the real-time mode, but you could tell it was designed with it in mind and the turn-based mode was worse because of it. I wanted to like it but never could quite get into it.
But some new flavours wouldn't hurt. What games in that vein could you wise folk recommend me? Excluding all those UFO: AfterX, which I've heard are buggy and not-too-good. Of course, if you have experience with them, it'd be nice to know. Nothing current gen, I don't have that kind of moneys
MechCommander 1 and 2 - very tactical, real time
Myth 1 and 2 - Has a lot of RTS elements but no mining/farming/other resource management.
Just go to GoG and buy Jagged Alliance 2. Don't stop to think or read these other posts.
This. Or Strategy First's website. This is the only game I'd suggest not getting on steam as there are some issues with the steam version, and it is not as easy to mod as other services. And if you get JA2, you're missing a lot by not modding it.
I've definitely done a solo run, but it was more of assassin esque run since I couldnt be bother to sit around training militia by myself. So I just took Alma, raided the armory, and then launched a one man attack on Drasden.
I tried to do a LP along the lines of what you're talking about, but lacked the good story telling so bombed out.
Was that the LP where someone asked other forumers to create interesting characters for would be mercenaries, and my proposed character of a sociopathic male who thinks he's a ninja despite having low agility/no stealth/low martial arts skills and also is the whitest guy you'd ever know was one of the central characters?
Because if so, fuck, Kris, even mediocre story telling could have made that one interesting. Forget a Let's Play, we should write a screenplay.
That was the one. I actually finished that game even tho I didn't finish the LP. Only you and Arrath survived to the end, which was amazing considering I'd put your char in all sorts of retarded situations in the desperate hope that you'd be able to kick someone.
Fuck maybe I should try again.
haha, oh man I totally forgot I'd volunteered for the JA2 LP. I survived huh? Go me!
Thanks to this thread, I now have X-com, JA2, UFO:AI, and Fallout:Tactics installed. Might as well install nexus while I am at it and pop in a stargate mod.
http://ufo2000.sourceforge.net/ is the multiplayer port of Xcom for playing against someone. It is absolutely a blast once you get through learning how it works and finding some balanced weapon rules (blaster bombs are BAD Mmmkay). I've played it with my brother some and we had a total blast with 7k-10k point armies using the basic xcom weapons minus explosives (except smoke, smoke is golden!)
If you have xcom and xcom:tftd installed, you can point it at those directories and it will use the sprites and weapons and maps from them which can make things interesting.
Shadow Watch seemed very tedious to me due to the small rooms and all the design decisions that requires, but I'm giving it another shot.
There's a forum post that lists a lot of tactical combat games. Maybe at rpgcodex.net?
Knights of the Chalice is probably my favorite "tactical" game of the year, but it's D20 fantasy combat. And admittedly didn't use enough positioning and things, just straight-up turn based D&D type stuff.
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DrakeEdgelord TrashBelow the ecliptic plane.Registered Userregular
Shadow Watch seemed very tedious to me due to the small rooms and all the design decisions that requires, but I'm giving it another shot.
The interface is pretty clunky. That's my major gripe with the game. If they just had point and click movement like Jagged Alliance 2 it would have been at least one hundred times better.
That said, the characters haves some pretty fun abilities, and turn into complete bad asses in their respective roles once you level them up a few times.
And the art style is a lot of fun and has really helped keep the game from aging poorly where the graphics are concerned.
Anybody try that "King Arthur: The Roleplaying War game"? Looks halfway decent, and if I get to recreate Cornwell's "Enemy of God" series while playing its a win win.
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DrakeEdgelord TrashBelow the ecliptic plane.Registered Userregular
Anybody try that "King Arthur: The Roleplaying War game"? Looks halfway decent, and if I get to recreate Cornwell's "Enemy of God" series while playing its a win win.
I found my CD EA Classics version of Syndicate Plus not long ago. Thank god for DOSbox. It's so much fun turning civilians into hordes of zombie followers, or finishing an assassination mission by running over your target with a waiting car once you have another Agent flush your target out.
Anybody try that "King Arthur: The Roleplaying War game"? Looks halfway decent, and if I get to recreate Cornwell's "Enemy of God" series while playing its a win win.
I haven't tried it yet, but there's a Steam demo available.
You know, I tried liking Syndicate. I really did. Even the name just oozes coolnes. But something about it just didn't click right. I never really knew how to control everything, I just went around shooting dudes. And if one of my dudes went below a building or a bridge, I couldn't see what they were doing. What if they were picking their noses? I must know
I have never played an X-Com game in my life. Where do I start? Where should I finish?
Start with #1. Then play #2. Then #3. There are no other X-COM games. Anyone mentioning Enforcer/Interceptor/etc is to be locked in one of the thousand closets on a cruise ship with a Lobsterman.
It has a massive learning curve, but im really enjoying Rainbow 6 3: Gold. I spend most of my time in the mission planner and just observe/give radio commands while observing.
This is acutally a really addicting way to play it. I mean I can solo almost every single mission, but it's much more fun to really plan out a careful sweep of the map and letting the AI do it.
Okay, I know this was on like page 3, but could you elaborate on this concept? I'd so much love to play a game that I command on a strategic level and then runs itself tactically. Sort of like testing something completely empirically, where the only thing that matters is your abilities as a commander (and maybe knowing the game engine a little). Everything else is up to your mans.
VeritasVR on
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
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DrakeEdgelord TrashBelow the ecliptic plane.Registered Userregular
It has a massive learning curve, but im really enjoying Rainbow 6 3: Gold. I spend most of my time in the mission planner and just observe/give radio commands while observing.
This is acutally a really addicting way to play it. I mean I can solo almost every single mission, but it's much more fun to really plan out a careful sweep of the map and letting the AI do it.
Okay, I know this was on like page 3, but could you elaborate on this concept? I'd so much love to play a game that I command on a strategic level and then runs itself tactically. Sort of like testing something completely empirically, where the only thing that matters is your abilities as a commander (and maybe knowing the game engine a little). Everything else is up to your mans.
I don't know about R6 3 but in Rogue Spear it was called Overwatch mode.
That's called moonwalking. Used to be the big thing, back when nickels had pictures of bees on them and the fashion was to hang an onion off of your belt.
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Somewhere on the tactical interface there should be buttons that let you specify the type of reaction shot you want. It's the four-button square to the left of the rank insignia. Once you click, the game engine should take care of the rest. However it will not reserve TUs (yeah, supposed to be Time Units, not Action Points) for crouching, so keep that in mind.
Tank/cannons take a lot of ammo, around 200 rounds I think? Try buying 500 and try again.
Short answer: You don't.
Long Answer: The best mercs for shooting long term are high dex/agi/wis. Wisdom makes people increase their stats faster, dexterity decreases AP's for shooting and increases accuracy, agility increases APs. Having a high marksman isn't a big deal if you have high everything else, as you progress that character will start to shoot better and in the end will be competent to the level of some of the main guys.
The biggest thing holding you back is weapons and ammo. A gun without ammo is useless, a weapon that isn't maintained well[yes you have to maintain your guns, no its not terribly painful] is less useful to useless. In the beginning of the game there is a trick which can get you some good weapons that i will cover at the end of this post.
I recommend against this actually. Just know that its coming. The game hints that its coming, so don't ignore the warning. Hunker down, set up, and train as many vets as you can and pray they don't bring morters. They will all die, but whatever. The counterattack is good because it does two very important things. 1. It provides you with STUFF. In the early game the hardest thing is getting weapons and money. Without Drassen its tough to buy stuff(the airport is where you can order supplies from online) and without stuff to sell its tough to keep up on ammo. 2. It lets you get a taste of what you're going to be expecting later in the game. The AI is no slouch and when enemies start actually getting tough to kill a lot of people run into walls because the old tactics stop working as well when a few rounds won't kill a man(some exceptions apply)
Speed Run Archive: 6:44 flat, expert difficulty
If you have not finished the game i do not recommend watching it.
Sci-Fi mode is something that deserves being spoiled. It adds a few guns[OICW and a few others i believe] adds a cyborg adds a super-bug treatment that makes armor super effective[compared to normal treatment/plates etc] and adds bugs.
They will invade a mine at some point and you have to go down and kill their queen to stop them from coming. Its generally a pain since by the time they arrive you will be well on your way to conquering the map and it will delay your final assault plans rather than being an interesting diversion.
Yes, only one mine can close. Once a mine closes the rest are golden.
Stealth can be finicky but in general its time of day[in general enemy troops are both more alert and can see better in the day. If they are not commandos then they are likely used to a standard day schedule and so are not well rested], how well rested your merc is[tired mercs make more noise], how well the enemy can see, whether or not your merc is using stealth mode, whether or not he is crouched. How much weight/stuff he is carrying etc.
Some people can, with stealthy night ops mercs make knife takedowns, but frankly i think a pistol is much more realistic and silent. Unless you're showboating, CBQ involves shooting them in the face, not punching or anything like that. Martial Arts has similar problems[but is great for boxing]
Re: AP. In between turns your merc has AP equal to however many he had at the end of his turn. AP regen happens at the start of their turn and not in the middle[iirc].
Some notes on X-Com then i will talk about JA-2.
1. Going out at night is suicide only if its a raid site(because that is when you're likely to encounter secondary forces). The solution in X-com is the same as it is in JA-2. Bring an assload of breaklights and throw them everywhere. Aliens only see better than you when its dark for both of you. Smoke is similarly useful
7. No, everyone in X-com is a redshirt at the beginning but you still want them to survive. The best early game strat for X-Com is to buy a rocket tank or cannon tank and use that as your lead. Its more durable than your guys and can easily be replaced. When you can get a laser tank, upgrade to that[iirc] or keep the rocket tank
Also, never shoot anything down.
________________________________________
Alright now for some JA2 protips:
General non-combat tips
1. Don't play on novice. Its actually harder in the beginning of the game and by the end will be too easy. You get more money the harder it is[unless it was changed recently] AND enemies are not as well equipped or numerous. You might think "oh, enemies aren't as well equipped, that makes the game easier!" You will think that until you can't find a decent rifle and you don't have any ammo, junk to sell for ammo, or as much money for mercs.
2. Protip Extraordinaire: At the start of the game, hire a good merc that has a nice rifle or sub-machine gun for one day only. Ideally one that shoots a common ammo type[9mm, 7.62 are more common early iirc but if you're conservative you should have enough 5.56 to use something like that]. Use him for one day and then strip him of his equipment before you send him back home. Looking at the roster, good candidates include, in rough order of cost: Raven, Len, Lynx, Scope, Shadow, Reaper, Sully, Magic, and Gus. Not including 9mm sub-gun folks
3. All the mercs perform better/worse with particular people. Pay attention to who they work well with and try not to even hire teams that don't go together. Good/Bad duos also have the best dialogue[until one of the bad duos kills the other or quits]
4. Only use one created merc. Really only when you have to. Created mercs don't have much dialogue and have limited personality. Much more fun to use people with personality, even if you have to pay them
5. Igor Dolvich is one of the best deals in the game. He is Ivan's son and follows on the tradition. Get him on a long term contract ASAP
6. When mercs level up, they increase their rates. Cheaper mercs will get expensive but never more so than the ones that start that way. If you have a cheap merc and have the money, consider extending their contract out really far. They love the job security and you're only out if they die. Which of course they won't because you won't let that happen, right?
7. When hiring at the start, always consider what optional gear they have. 38's are all but useless, automatics are much more accurate and reliable. JP is the first merc with a sub-gun, and its a good one at that[9mm rounds] and next is Iceman, who is an outstanding all around merc.
8. You have infinite "clips" and can, via loading/unloading/reloading turn any type of 9mm clip into any other type of 9mm clip. Storing big clips for space is handy, but remember it takes longer to reload if its not the same clip type
9. Pay attention to the small things. Sun goggles might not look like much, but they are great in the middle of the day.[make sure you take em off at night iirc]. Everyone also needs to stay stocked with smoke, breaklights, grenades, and a proper selection of the proper ammo, etc.
10. Consider buying Victoria Waters later in the game just for the guns. 5.7 pistols are rare, fast, and powerful(they have innate armor piercing!) and accurate. The ammo is hard to come by, so order as much as you can from the store whenever you can.
Combat Protips:
1. First thing is first, preparing for engaging the enemy. Designate "teams".
Typically this means for me a "fire team" a "support team" and a "scout team". The fire team is going to be your sniper and his spotter/close defense. One guy should have a sniper rifle, the other a longer range assault rifle. Their job is to find a nice stop with a clear view and get there so that the rest of the scout can direct fire.
The scout goes and finds enemies, this is a dangerous role and he/she/they should be running with sub-guns or short carbines and plenty of nades/smoke/breaklights.
Support is your medic and heavy weapons. Medic should have a longer assault rifle and your heavy weapon the biggest thing he can get his hands on.. like a 60mm mortar... and a heavy machine gun... and lots of ammo
2. Night Ops are your friend in the beginning. You have the initiative and likely are more rested than the enemy. This is a big deal. Stay stealthy, avoid light, toss breaklights where you think enemies are...
3. Use the right ammo and check your targets. The nuances of shooting in JA2 are pretty amazing. First of all there are many different kinds of ammo
Regular: Its standard, shoot people
AP: Red band, less damage, more armor penetration
HP: Blue band, more damage, less armor penetration
Glazer: Green band, amazing damage, no armor penetration
AET: Purple band, Amazing Damage, Amazing Armor penetration. Super ammo
Match: White band, more damage, MORE RANGE.
Cold Loaded: * symbol, less damage, less sound, great for silenced weapons
Secondly there are of four hit locations(not counting arms/legs). Arms, Legs, head, torso. And each one has unique properties. For instance if you shoot a guy in the face, you may NOT hit his helmet and might hit his face. If you shoot a guy in the back of the head, you're going to hit his helmet. Unless you have AP or AET ammo almost always shoot a guy where he is not armored.
How do you tell? scroll over a guy, hold ALT and it should[iirc] tell you what he is wearing in general. If a guy has a helmet and vest on and you have HP ammo loaded then its better to blow off his legs then try and blast through his armor.
Some vests don't have arm protection, that is your best bet for a helmet/armor/leggings guy and you can also get them to drop their weapons that way.
If you do happen to need to make a center mass shot at an enemy with not very great ammo for the job, remember that armor fails, so keep hitting the same area instead of changing because now he is close enough to shoot at his head.
4. You CAN hit what you can't see. Especially if its spotted for you.
5. That being said its better if you can see them. Smoke makes you harder to see and makes them harder to see too. This can be good and bad. Use it to MOVE and then get out so your enemy can't also use it to move.
Enemies avoid light at night as they should. This gives breaklights a few interesting uses. Lets say you don't want someone sneaking up on you... throw a breaklight behind you[not directly behind you] and the enemy is likely to avoid the area[and if he doesn't he'll get lit up]
Break lights to where you think enemies are and then move up[ideally not near the break lights]
6. Movement in all teams is always one at a time... unless the shit has hit the fan. Yes, its slower, no that doesn't matter, do it anyway
7. Cover fire works
Most of the time, I actually prefer autoshot. The percentage per shot may be lower than a snap shot, but considering you fire three rounds, you actually end up with a higher chance of hitting. Plus most guns seem to have large clips anyway, and by the time you're using plasma, ammo isn't really a concern anymore.
From the unofficial strategy guide (http://www.xcomufo.com/usg.html)
Auto shot fires three rounds, but is the least accurate of
the three shots. On the other hand, when you use the laws
of probability, you actually come out ahead using an
auto-shot, since each shot is calculated independently.
For example, let's say chance of hitting in auto shot is
25%, and snap shot is 30% (average). The chance of
getting at least one hit out of three is 1-(chance of no
hits). So 25% hit prob AND no hit in three tries is
0.75 * 0.75 * 0.75 = 0.42
Chance of getting at least one hit is then
1 - 0.42 = 0.56, or 56%
Which is much better than 30% (but no higher than the
aimed percentage). When your accuracy improves, you
increase your chances of hitting the target multiple
times, which ensures a kill, and you use less TUs than ONE
aimmed shot.
I have it but I've been saving it for my plane trip to Ethiopia.
I'm pretty sure that neither of us want to know how many copies were sold. Ignorance is bliss.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Well considering that it is a straight port from the PC to the DS I imagine that the costs to make the game weren´t all that high. So it doesn´t need to sell a million copies in order to make a profit and justify JA2 DS, right? :?
Well, add one to what ever numbers you find, I just ordered it on Amazon. I forgot that it was out, so thanks for the reminder. I figured I was getting MAG anyway, so why not.
UFO:AI is a freeware remake that incomplete in some aspects (IR glasses, night combat) but is still a blast. I advocate a sniper spotter combo for later missions.
BTW, if I wanted to turn all opponents in SWAT4 to XCOM aliens, how would go about doing this?
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16534
Drop acid.
Update: Got the head miner to accept finally, I just needed more loyalty in Drassen. I still can't find Father Walker for the life of me though, it's starting to piss me off.
For single player, check out Silent Storm, as many others have said. I wish there was a "turn off sci-fi bullshit" option, though, like Jagged Alliance 2 has.
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16534
MechCommander 1 and 2 - very tactical, real time
Myth 1 and 2 - Has a lot of RTS elements but no mining/farming/other resource management.
This. Or Strategy First's website. This is the only game I'd suggest not getting on steam as there are some issues with the steam version, and it is not as easy to mod as other services. And if you get JA2, you're missing a lot by not modding it.
haha, oh man I totally forgot I'd volunteered for the JA2 LP. I survived huh? Go me!
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16534
If you have xcom and xcom:tftd installed, you can point it at those directories and it will use the sprites and weapons and maps from them which can make things interesting.
Sig'd for hilarity
So here is a short list of squad level iso tacticals:
X-Com, TFTD (oviously, no explaination needed)
Rebelstar I+II (really old)
Lasersquad (old)
Sabre Team (old)
Jagged Alliance and sequels/addons (no explaination needed)
Front Mission (SNES, mecha, really good)
Payback Time 2 (Freeware)
...and my top recommendation: Shadow Watch
I'll have to check it out, hopefully its on steam or GOG.
Neither. Amazon or eBay is your best bet.
There's a forum post that lists a lot of tactical combat games. Maybe at rpgcodex.net?
Knights of the Chalice is probably my favorite "tactical" game of the year, but it's D20 fantasy combat. And admittedly didn't use enough positioning and things, just straight-up turn based D&D type stuff.
The interface is pretty clunky. That's my major gripe with the game. If they just had point and click movement like Jagged Alliance 2 it would have been at least one hundred times better.
That said, the characters haves some pretty fun abilities, and turn into complete bad asses in their respective roles once you level them up a few times.
And the art style is a lot of fun and has really helped keep the game from aging poorly where the graphics are concerned.
Anybody try that "King Arthur: The Roleplaying War game"? Looks halfway decent, and if I get to recreate Cornwell's "Enemy of God" series while playing its a win win.
I found my CD EA Classics version of Syndicate Plus not long ago. Thank god for DOSbox. It's so much fun turning civilians into hordes of zombie followers, or finishing an assassination mission by running over your target with a waiting car once you have another Agent flush your target out.
I haven't tried it yet, but there's a Steam demo available.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Terror from the Deep!
Isn't TFTD balls to the wall hard? Never played it, but that seems like the general consensus.
Besides, logic says "Start with the first one"
Apparently a bug of some kind make it play at the highest difficulty no matter what you actually pick.
Start with #1. Then play #2. Then #3. There are no other X-COM games. Anyone mentioning Enforcer/Interceptor/etc is to be locked in one of the thousand closets on a cruise ship with a Lobsterman.
Okay, I know this was on like page 3, but could you elaborate on this concept? I'd so much love to play a game that I command on a strategic level and then runs itself tactically. Sort of like testing something completely empirically, where the only thing that matters is your abilities as a commander (and maybe knowing the game engine a little). Everything else is up to your mans.
Let 'em eat fucking pineapples!
I don't know about R6 3 but in Rogue Spear it was called Overwatch mode.
That's called moonwalking. Used to be the big thing, back when nickels had pictures of bees on them and the fashion was to hang an onion off of your belt.