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Let's Play [XCOM Enemy Uknown] : Overview / Walkthrough /LP intended for series vets
The Ender
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
...This game.
I was following the development of this title in this forum, on the SA forums and on Firaxis's dev blog since it's announcement. I was very, very cynical / skeptical regarding the changes Firaxis intended to make to the formula, the streamlining of some of the game's components and some of the aesthetic choices. I didn't think I'd buy it.
Then it came out and, well, fuck all that shit. The XCOM project has been greenlit, and somebody has to run this show. Who's it going to be? You? Hahahaha. No.
I've been looking for LPs on YouTube that discussed optimal strategies since the game came out (and I kept getting destroyed on Classic difficulty), but I couldn't find any, so I just worked-out the fundamentals of the game through trial & error and, after deciding that this is probably going to be my favorite game since my discovery of League of Legends, thought about putting together such an LP myself. So, here it is.
This is going to be a very spoiler rich LP; it's certainly not a blind play through, and it's not really a conventional LP (probably to it's detriment): I'm going spend a lot of time discussing strategy and optimal build choices, as well as critiquing some of the game's design decisions that I don't agree with.
This game is fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJKh_y63JS8&feature=youtu.be
I was following the development of this title in this forum, on the SA forums and on Firaxis's dev blog since it's announcement. I was very, very cynical / skeptical regarding the changes Firaxis intended to make to the formula, the streamlining of some of the game's components and some of the aesthetic choices. I didn't think I'd buy it.
Then it came out and, well, fuck all that shit. The XCOM project has been greenlit, and somebody has to run this show. Who's it going to be? You? Hahahaha. No.
I've been looking for LPs on YouTube that discussed optimal strategies since the game came out (and I kept getting destroyed on Classic difficulty), but I couldn't find any, so I just worked-out the fundamentals of the game through trial & error and, after deciding that this is probably going to be my favorite game since my discovery of League of Legends, thought about putting together such an LP myself. So, here it is.
This is going to be a very spoiler rich LP; it's certainly not a blind play through, and it's not really a conventional LP (probably to it's detriment): I'm going spend a lot of time discussing strategy and optimal build choices, as well as critiquing some of the game's design decisions that I don't agree with.
This game is fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJKh_y63JS8&feature=youtu.beWith Love and Courage
The Ender on
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And Tycho it's BEEN something for Penny Arcadians to do, since Fishman's still not done with his now four year old Let's Play in SE++.
But I'm not sure that deserves its own thread, I might just do it in the general XCOM thread.
Madness!
And I'm baffled that you think Bullet Sworm is useless. You really can't see any situation where being able to shoot twice in one turn might be kind of useful? Even if all you care about is maximizing your odds of landing at least one shot on the enemy, Bullet Storm is still usually better. Three 45% shots are less likely to all miss than one 45% and one 55%. Same for four 45% shots versus one 45% and two 55%. You need three additional soldiers shooting the holo-targeted enemy before the +10 aim boost is even marginally than the whole extra shot at guaranteeing a minimum of one hit (and the average number of total hits might still be worse). Four soldier actions just to hit one guy once is pretty bad, in general. So not only is Bullet Swarm usually better at increasing the total number of shots you land, but it also increases your odds of being able to score a kill in fewer soldier actions, freeing up people to shoot other targets or overwatch or whatever. Not to mention the tactical flexibility gained from being able to, say, shoot and throw a grenade in the same turn, or shoot and reload, or shoot and overwatch (or shoot and suppress, but not taking the extra rocket isn't a mistake that I plan on making twice). Besides, nothing's more satisfying than taking HEAT ammo and having one soldier single-handedly shred a Cyberdisk to death from full in one round.
I'm also surprised you consider Europe to be the best starting location. I started there in my game and I regretted it. Labs and workshops (especially labs; research speed is probably the single least important thing you have to worry about) are just too low a priority. In practice you're spending everything you can on satellites, and what few scraps are left over in the first couple of months need to go to the officer training school and decent weapons and armor. You can't really start taking advantage of Europe's ability until you have disposable income, and if the income is disposable then you probably aren't in desperate need of the discount anymore. North America's discounts, small as they are, are in effect from the very first month, giving you money when you need it the most (and I think they get more initial cash from starting with coverage of the US, too). Unless you have some special build order where fast workshops give you an early discount on manufacturing such that they more than pay for themselves without delaying your satellite network, I just don't see the benefit.
Honestly, I'll probably go for Asia in my next game. There's so much stuff in the officer training school and the foundry that I wish I had, but which is always just a little bit more than I can afford. And they're expensive enough that the savings aren't at all insignificant...usually $100 at least for most of the OTS upgrades, which is a bunch more than Air & Space is likely to give you in a month. I'm not sure if it would actually beat a NA start in raw mathematical terms, but at the very least it's the most fun bonus, and it probably gives you the most midgame power on the tactical side of things. (Of course, it's also possible that I just feel guilty about being forced to throw the entire continent under the bus in my current game.) Africa's bonus is by far the best, but there's no reason not to put it off until later in the game.
Normally I wouldn't be so nitpicky, but you're framing this Let's Play as a guide of sorts, so hammering this stuff out is more important than it would otherwise be.
Will check this out. Just started playing this a few days ago, would be neat to see how other people play it.
No, I won't. It would break the "3 month rule".
I see. I did not know there were rules governing Let's Plays. Huh.
Well then, I guess I will be subscribing to your youtube channel then.
Well it's less of a "rule" and more of a "gentlemen's agreement".
I didn't say anything about him not being able to post it. I just believe that LPs shouldn't be done the second a game comes out. Granted, he's putting a hell of a lot more work into it than 99% of most LPs that come out this quick *cough*. However, it might not seem like that given its time frame.
I think this forum doesn't have any standards when it comes to LPs. The posts in this thread are proof of that. So, what's the point of taking the high ground sarcastically?
That's the beauty of the Internet.
Incidentally, I have always thought things like the "3 months" rule or whatever is complete and absolute nonsense. The only rule that makes sense to me is, if you don't want to watch it - then don't. Doesn't seem complicated to me in the least. I am currently watching this, Klyka (his is on YouTube actually, not posted here) and northernlion. You learn many interesting things about a game like this watching other people play, especially I have already finished a classic ironman game anyway. It's not like this is a particularly plot and story driven game - its the individual moments that happen like northernlion, who has not been playing the original over the past 18 years like me, discovering what chryssalids are for the first time that make it worth watching.
We have a big LP thread that does throw down some ground rules and I respect that.
Nothing sarcastic about it.
They aren't binding though. It's just SA's rules that are used more like guidelines around here. If they were really rules, then we'd have mods and such. I don't see the point of bringing that thread up when it's more of an archive for this place than an actual way to cut the wheat from the chaff. Hell, we still get dumps here from people. They obviously don't care about having an intercourse about the game with our community.
That would work (though I never liked that doctrine since it ignores criticism) if I had some problem with the videos themselves. My pet peeve is the timing for the thread. It has nothing to do with the actual content itself. It's just a suggestion and not an actual point against the content itself. If you wish to look it that way, so be it. The Ender doesn't seem to have taken it as such.
You know, it must be great living in that glass house.
Here is a challenge: Find a single LP on this forum I have ever commented on where I have acted in any way like you have or even made a comment around "This game is so boring, why would I watch it". Have fun with that btw.
Currently playing: GW2 and TSW
I think it's bad form to basically thread hijack any topic. It's too bad The Ender hasn't posted here since he made the thread. It kind of makes the dialogue become scattered shot like this.