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I also bought JA2 and haven't played much of it. I have no clue why. I just finished school and am currently bored. I haven't even started on my backlog for crying out loud.
You know, I've never actually played Jagged Alliance 1 or 2. I've had JA2 in hand for a couple of months now. Maybe I should actually start up a game.
Likewise, though I did play the first fight, but got confused on where to go next.
Seems every time I get a new game these days I'm asking here for "beginner's tips"...
I think the start of JA2 is much much easier if you specialize in night fighting. Otherwise, you get stuck in firefights without any way to end them quickly. Eventually you will start getting hit and it takes a long time to recover.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
You know, I've never actually played Jagged Alliance 1 or 2. I've had JA2 in hand for a couple of months now. Maybe I should actually start up a game.
Likewise, though I did play the first fight, but got confused on where to go next.
Seems every time I get a new game these days I'm asking here for "beginner's tips"...
I think the start of JA2 is much much easier if you specialize in night fighting. Otherwise, you get stuck in firefights without any way to end them quickly. Eventually you will start getting hit and it takes a long time to recover.
How much of a problem will I have if I am a save whore?
You know, I've never actually played Jagged Alliance 1 or 2. I've had JA2 in hand for a couple of months now. Maybe I should actually start up a game.
Likewise, though I did play the first fight, but got confused on where to go next.
Seems every time I get a new game these days I'm asking here for "beginner's tips"...
I think the start of JA2 is much much easier if you specialize in night fighting. Otherwise, you get stuck in firefights without any way to end them quickly. Eventually you will start getting hit and it takes a long time to recover.
How much of a problem will I have if I am a save whore?
Dunno, let's just say that I had a friend that lost a lot of sleep trying to synchronize the sleep patterns of his mercs.
Another way to put it is that this game is a bit like X-COM but you can't replace your troops if they die
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Well JA is a lot less cheap than XCOM. No crazy ship exits or blaster bombs or Etherials. I'd say if you reloaded for every dead meatshield in XCOM you'd have to reload less in JA2.
lowlylowlycook on
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Well JA is a lot less cheap than XCOM. No crazy ship exits or blaster bombs or Chryssalids. I'd say if you reloaded for every dead meatshield in XCOM you'd have to reload less in JA2.
Fixed that for you. Etherials aren't that bad.
MechMantis on
0
Olivawgood name, isn't it?the foot of mt fujiRegistered Userregular
edited April 2009
I've never played Jagged Alliance but I've heard good things
If it came to the DS I'd probably end up buying it because it's for the DS and I enjoy playing games portably
Night fighting is a must skill for early JA2. There comes a part in the early game after you take Drassen where most enemy groups you encounter will have rifles, and you will still be using pistols, shotguns and submachine guns. Because rifles have much longer ranges than pistols, shotguns and SMGs, you're at a significant disadvantage if you can't close the range between yourself and your targets. The easiest way to do this in JA2 is to fight at night, where the detection range is smaller. Since night-fighting improves your own detection radius, you are much more likely to get interrupts or start with turn initiative in night-fighting, as well.
I hate how hard they made it to be competitive against rifles. You can wait and fight defensively and hope to loot rifle drops from enemies, but the game doesn't particularly approve of using that particular sort of timetable.
I got JA2 a while ago on GOG and just got swamped by the swath of options available and having about half of my posse wiped out by a few minions trying to play it like Fallout Tactics.
On the DS however... Ehhh I'd have to get some impressions first before I laid down any cash.
JA2: Tactical RPG, skirmish-level modern infantry combat, strategically non-linear within an open-world design subdivided into discreet sectors, which you can move between in real-time. When an enemy force meets one of your groups of mercenaries, combat is resolved in a turn-based battle.
It's kind of amazing how the game has aged with the voice acting and the transition from TalonSoft to Strategy First's publishing arms. The game was kind of trying to be overtly shocking in parts--you used to be able to have sex with prostitutes in the town of San Mona in the original game. Characters would occassionally say things that were either misogynistic or racist ("I never could stand those Oriental types. You never can tell what they're thinking.") Everything that ever came out of Fox's mouth was just a little too sexual to be comfortable -- "I'm in position and available! ...as always.... :winky:"
A few years later, and it was suddenly too campy to take seriously. Fox's inuendo is so bad she sounds like a reject from VH1's reality show "the Cougar." Grizzly's racism is about as offensive as saying that Chinese kids seem to be good at math.
And it's great! It's like the game started its life-cycle trying to be GTA-III and is ending its life-cycle as SeaLab 2021.
I kind of feel that JA2 improves on the first game in every possible way, but if buying this means we could get a DS version of 2 down the line, I'm all for it. The first one is still a good game, though I sincerely hope they didn't cut out the voice acting.
Cherrn on
All creature will die and all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai.
Yeah Rueben makes JA1 more than worth it. I recall my first time playing and Rueben got pissed off with another merc. The next morning that Merc was gone, completely dissapeared.
I have never heard of Jagged Alliance. Summerize it in a paragraph of why it is awesome.
Did you play Xcom? Well, picture that, with "real" weapons (ok, only if you pick the "realistic weapons" option at the start), NPCs that not only have unique names and traits, but unique personalities (ie, some Mercs won't work with one another... or at least not well. On the otherhand, some mercs like working other specific mercs), numerous sidequests, an interesting story (albeit slightly silly at times), and large game world.
Seems every time I get a new game these days I'm asking here for "beginner's tips"...
For JA2, I assume you take... the starting point (Omerta? Shit I forget) then take Drassen (the airport). From there its fairly open, but some spots are easier to take than others. It's worth looking for the Heli Pilot in the
swamps to the east of Drassen
but not critical. Your best bet is to head west, towards San Mona. San Mona is a friendly city (ie no redshirts) but has some subquests, money and guns. After that, head up to Chitz-whatever. Fairly easy zone with a easy (if annoying) escort quest back.
After that its up to you, but it's generally easiest to goto Grumm and then fight east to Alma, then south to Belize, and then Meduna.
For general tips,
Save all the fucking time.
Duck. Always duck. Never walk around standing or shooting if possible. If you must get somewhere quickly, run then duck at the end of the turn.
Use stealth mode! Ctrl-Z. Mercs move slower, but its a lot safer and you'll get a lot more interrupts in your favor.
Hide behind shit. While ducking. In stealth mode.
Don't think you need to get a ton of Mercs at the beginning. A lot of the starter mercs are pure shit. Personally, I find it best to get a higher level merc, even if it is for a shorter time. Shadow, for example is a fantastic first hire.
Make sure to create your personal merc. You should have the version where it allows you to just select which traits you have. If this is the case, Night Fighting and Stealth are general the most useful. Plenty of other Mercs have lockpicking, teaching, and whatnot. No matter how cool you think it sounds, do not pick any of the close quarter combat perks or ambidextrous.
Go slow. A lot of the time, its actually easiest to sneak into town, get your guys on a roof, and then let off a couple shots into the air. The bad guys will come to you.
I kind of feel that JA2 improves on the first game in every possible way, but if buying this means we could get a DS version of 2 down the line, I'm all for it. The first one is still a good game, though I sincerely hope they didn't cut out the voice acting.
I will buy a DS for this game and this game alone. Shit, I'll buy two in case one runs out of batteries.
Finally, you should mod the game. I forget the mods, but they add tons more weapons and armor (and backpacks! although those can be slightly confusing at the start)
[*]Don't think you need to get a ton of Mercs at the beginning. A lot of the starter mercs are pure shit. Personally, I find it best to get a higher level merc, even if it is for a shorter time. Shadow, for example is a fantastic first hire.
There are a few exceptions though. I love Igor Dolvich and Barry Unger, in my experience, is one of the best investments in the game. In fact, I think I've done pretty well with just about all the "bottom tier" mercs. I believe the only ones I haven't used at all were Bull and Meltdown. Sometimes cheaper can be better.
I even like to take a couple mercs from M.E.R.C. (usually Flo and Biff) and use them as trainers/mechanics. I've gotten Flo and Biff up to the point where, between them and some militia, they can pretty handily defend any town sectors with few to no losses.
Most of the "freebie" NPCs suck, though. Ira and Maddog can be astounding if you put some effort into them, but most everyone else is generally below average at best. Dimitri's "forgetfulness" is crippling, since it's pretty much a Murphy's Law machine.
Edit: Oh, and:
Finally, you should mod the game. I forget the mods, but they add tons more weapons and armor (and backpacks! although those can be slightly confusing at the start)
If anyone here has never played JA2 and wants to try a mod (namely 1.13, since it's probably the most popular and what I assume he's talking about) for their first go-around: don't. Just don't. Don't bother, don't try. It is almost guaranteed to turn you off from the game. Play the base game first, at least for a while. If I'd loaded 1.13 for my very first attempt I would have given up in frustration. The difficulty is much higher, the enemies are tougher and smarter, and the sheer size of the weapon selection tends to leave the uninitiated staring at Bobby Ray's for hours trying to figure out what to kit their mercs with instead of, you know, playing the game.
korodullin on
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
Barry Unger, in my experience, is one of the best investments in the game.
Barry is a bit of a special case. He's the only explosives expert with an Agility above 70 or 75 so he can actually keep up with an assault team in combat. Doesn't have as much personality as Red or some of the others though.
Most of the "freebie" NPCs suck, though. Ira and Maddog can be astounding if you put some effort into them, but most everyone else is generally below average at best. Dimitri's "forgetfulness" is crippling, since it's pretty much a Murphy's Law machine.
Hey, someone needs to camp Tony's gun shop and repair stuff you buy.
If anyone here has never played JA2 and wants to try a mod (namely 1.13, since it's probably the most popular and what I assume he's talking about) for their first go-around: don't. Just don't. Don't bother, don't try. It is almost guaranteed to turn you off from the game. Play the base game first, at least for a while. If I'd loaded 1.13 for my very first attempt I would have given up in frustration. The difficulty is much higher, the enemies are tougher and smarter, and the sheer size of the weapon selection tends to leave the uninitiated staring at Bobby Ray's for hours trying to figure out what to kit their mercs with instead of, you know, playing the game.
Definitely spend some time getting used to the core mechanics first. You pretty much need to look online to find the effects of a lot of the new gear in 1.13.
Night fighting is a must skill for early JA2. There comes a part in the early game after you take Drassen where most enemy groups you encounter will have rifles, and you will still be using pistols, shotguns and submachine guns. Because rifles have much longer ranges than pistols, shotguns and SMGs, you're at a significant disadvantage if you can't close the range between yourself and your targets. The easiest way to do this in JA2 is to fight at night, where the detection range is smaller. Since night-fighting improves your own detection radius, you are much more likely to get interrupts or start with turn initiative in night-fighting, as well.
I hate how hard they made it to be competitive against rifles. You can wait and fight defensively and hope to loot rifle drops from enemies, but the game doesn't particularly approve of using that particular sort of timetable.
Gotta disagree there. I played through without Night fighting most of the time. To be honest I far prefer daytime fighting. Early on you won't have access to nightvision goggles so you won't have that big an advantage. As soon as I was discovered they'd start throwing breaklights like they were going out of style and then I'm forced to retreat and try to get another angle.
I'm talking about the Gold edition though, and I know they heavily tweaked the night fighting AI for it, I don't know whether you're referring to the same version. For me it's not as viable as it used to be.
I actually prefer putting one or both points into automatics, maybe one in stealth, but that's personal preference.
What the hell is this game and why is everyone shitting their pants over it?
The Jagged Alliance games are squad level, turn based strategy games. You take control of a squad of mercs as you attempt to take control of a country. You have control over hiring and firing of Mercs, purchasing equipment, training, stuff like that.
The games are pretty in-depth and very awesome. Aside from the basic combat control, you also need to train local militias (your squads can't be everywhere), capture resources such as mines, disable AA in areas so you can have chopper drops, weapons maintenance, even make sure that your squads are well rested and their morale doesn't sink too low.
The actual combat is along the lines of X-Com, but closer to modern day, very tactical . Positioning and cover are very important, you also need to make good use of things like flanking and smoke grenades. Night and daytime approaches are vastly different tactically, and you need to be aware of lighting at night in particular.
You can pick up Jagged Alliance 2 off of GOG.com for $9.99 off of GOG.com these days.
I actually prefer putting one or both points into automatics, maybe one in stealth, but that's personal preference.
Automatics is one of my favorite perks, especially in 1.13. Get a nice short/mid-range assault rifle like an HK 416 10" or the M4 Commando, mod the shit out of it, and you are an absolute beast indoors or outdoors at sight range.
The close quarters perks like Martial Arts aren't too bad, actually, provided you can get some sneaky kills. Two kicks and an enemy's endurance bar is flattened. Knife fighting happens often enough that I some times have a point man with the perk for it.
korodullin on
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
I actually prefer putting one or both points into automatics, maybe one in stealth, but that's personal preference.
Automatics is one of my favorite perks, especially in 1.13. Get a nice short/mid-range assault rifle like an HK 416 10" or the M4 Commando, mod the shit out of it, and you are an absolute beast indoors or outdoors at sight range.
The close quarters perks like Martial Arts aren't too bad, actually, provided you can get some sneaky kills. Two kicks and an enemy's endurance bar is flattened. Knife fighting happens often enough that I some times have a point man with the perk for it.
Yeah you really need a stealthy character if you're going martial arts, but even then it's quite risky most of the time unless you know it's the last dude there.
Posts
Images for those interested.
I mean, JA1 is great and all, but I find JA2 much more enjoyable.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
Likewise, though I did play the first fight, but got confused on where to go next.
Seems every time I get a new game these days I'm asking here for "beginner's tips"...
The world can only hold so much awesome.
Actually I've never played JA1 so I'm fine with this.
Also it's good to know that JA hasn't been forgotten 100%.
Maybe we can get a JA2 DSi game.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
I'd give you some, but I haven't played the unmodded JA2 in so long that I don't even really remember where to start.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
I kind of burned myself out on JA2. I'd get halfway through and then get a sudden new idea for a squad that I have to try out, and then I restart.
And do it again.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
I think the start of JA2 is much much easier if you specialize in night fighting. Otherwise, you get stuck in firefights without any way to end them quickly. Eventually you will start getting hit and it takes a long time to recover.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
How much of a problem will I have if I am a save whore?
Dunno, let's just say that I had a friend that lost a lot of sleep trying to synchronize the sleep patterns of his mercs.
Another way to put it is that this game is a bit like X-COM but you can't replace your troops if they die
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Fixed that for you. Etherials aren't that bad.
If it came to the DS I'd probably end up buying it because it's for the DS and I enjoy playing games portably
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
May 5.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
I hate how hard they made it to be competitive against rifles. You can wait and fight defensively and hope to loot rifle drops from enemies, but the game doesn't particularly approve of using that particular sort of timetable.
On the DS however... Ehhh I'd have to get some impressions first before I laid down any cash.
PS2
FF X replay
PS3
God of War 1&2 HD
Rachet and Clank Future
MGS 4
Prince of Persia
360
Bayonetta
Fable 3
DS
FF: 4 heroes of light
Well maybe we'll have to on the DS.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
PS2
FF X replay
PS3
God of War 1&2 HD
Rachet and Clank Future
MGS 4
Prince of Persia
360
Bayonetta
Fable 3
DS
FF: 4 heroes of light
It's kind of amazing how the game has aged with the voice acting and the transition from TalonSoft to Strategy First's publishing arms. The game was kind of trying to be overtly shocking in parts--you used to be able to have sex with prostitutes in the town of San Mona in the original game. Characters would occassionally say things that were either misogynistic or racist ("I never could stand those Oriental types. You never can tell what they're thinking.") Everything that ever came out of Fox's mouth was just a little too sexual to be comfortable -- "I'm in position and available! ...as always.... :winky:"
A few years later, and it was suddenly too campy to take seriously. Fox's inuendo is so bad she sounds like a reject from VH1's reality show "the Cougar." Grizzly's racism is about as offensive as saying that Chinese kids seem to be good at math.
And it's great! It's like the game started its life-cycle trying to be GTA-III and is ending its life-cycle as SeaLab 2021.
Besides, I don't remember JA2 having Unusually Ruthless Rueben.
Did you play Xcom? Well, picture that, with "real" weapons (ok, only if you pick the "realistic weapons" option at the start), NPCs that not only have unique names and traits, but unique personalities (ie, some Mercs won't work with one another... or at least not well. On the otherhand, some mercs like working other specific mercs), numerous sidequests, an interesting story (albeit slightly silly at times), and large game world.
For JA2, I assume you take... the starting point (Omerta? Shit I forget) then take Drassen (the airport). From there its fairly open, but some spots are easier to take than others. It's worth looking for the Heli Pilot in the
After that its up to you, but it's generally easiest to goto Grumm and then fight east to Alma, then south to Belize, and then Meduna.
For general tips,
I will buy a DS for this game and this game alone. Shit, I'll buy two in case one runs out of batteries.
Finally, you should mod the game. I forget the mods, but they add tons more weapons and armor (and backpacks! although those can be slightly confusing at the start)
Fuck, now I gotta play this again.
"Why were you on your break for 2 hours?"
"Look the fuckin' aliens were attacking London and I had to save them. Fucking chrysalids were all over the place."
I hope they can manage to make all the speech fit in the game, because it's really not the same without it.
There are a few exceptions though. I love Igor Dolvich and Barry Unger, in my experience, is one of the best investments in the game. In fact, I think I've done pretty well with just about all the "bottom tier" mercs. I believe the only ones I haven't used at all were Bull and Meltdown. Sometimes cheaper can be better.
I even like to take a couple mercs from M.E.R.C. (usually Flo and Biff) and use them as trainers/mechanics. I've gotten Flo and Biff up to the point where, between them and some militia, they can pretty handily defend any town sectors with few to no losses.
Most of the "freebie" NPCs suck, though. Ira and Maddog can be astounding if you put some effort into them, but most everyone else is generally below average at best. Dimitri's "forgetfulness" is crippling, since it's pretty much a Murphy's Law machine.
Edit: Oh, and:
If anyone here has never played JA2 and wants to try a mod (namely 1.13, since it's probably the most popular and what I assume he's talking about) for their first go-around: don't. Just don't. Don't bother, don't try. It is almost guaranteed to turn you off from the game. Play the base game first, at least for a while. If I'd loaded 1.13 for my very first attempt I would have given up in frustration. The difficulty is much higher, the enemies are tougher and smarter, and the sheer size of the weapon selection tends to leave the uninitiated staring at Bobby Ray's for hours trying to figure out what to kit their mercs with instead of, you know, playing the game.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
Barry is a bit of a special case. He's the only explosives expert with an Agility above 70 or 75 so he can actually keep up with an assault team in combat. Doesn't have as much personality as Red or some of the others though.
Hey, someone needs to camp Tony's gun shop and repair stuff you buy.
Definitely spend some time getting used to the core mechanics first. You pretty much need to look online to find the effects of a lot of the new gear in 1.13.
Steam Profile
3DS: 3454-0268-5595 Battle.net: SteelAngel#1772
Wiki says this got announced in '05, so I'm thinking they just never even bothered to announce its cancellation.
Strategy First likely has nothing to do with this outside of maybe licensing it as it's being ported by a different company and published by Atari.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
Gotta disagree there. I played through without Night fighting most of the time. To be honest I far prefer daytime fighting. Early on you won't have access to nightvision goggles so you won't have that big an advantage. As soon as I was discovered they'd start throwing breaklights like they were going out of style and then I'm forced to retreat and try to get another angle.
I'm talking about the Gold edition though, and I know they heavily tweaked the night fighting AI for it, I don't know whether you're referring to the same version. For me it's not as viable as it used to be.
I actually prefer putting one or both points into automatics, maybe one in stealth, but that's personal preference.
The Jagged Alliance games are squad level, turn based strategy games. You take control of a squad of mercs as you attempt to take control of a country. You have control over hiring and firing of Mercs, purchasing equipment, training, stuff like that.
The games are pretty in-depth and very awesome. Aside from the basic combat control, you also need to train local militias (your squads can't be everywhere), capture resources such as mines, disable AA in areas so you can have chopper drops, weapons maintenance, even make sure that your squads are well rested and their morale doesn't sink too low.
The actual combat is along the lines of X-Com, but closer to modern day, very tactical . Positioning and cover are very important, you also need to make good use of things like flanking and smoke grenades. Night and daytime approaches are vastly different tactically, and you need to be aware of lighting at night in particular.
You can pick up Jagged Alliance 2 off of GOG.com for $9.99 off of GOG.com these days.
Automatics is one of my favorite perks, especially in 1.13. Get a nice short/mid-range assault rifle like an HK 416 10" or the M4 Commando, mod the shit out of it, and you are an absolute beast indoors or outdoors at sight range.
The close quarters perks like Martial Arts aren't too bad, actually, provided you can get some sneaky kills. Two kicks and an enemy's endurance bar is flattened. Knife fighting happens often enough that I some times have a point man with the perk for it.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
Yeah you really need a stealthy character if you're going martial arts, but even then it's quite risky most of the time unless you know it's the last dude there.