Adynod

Is anyone here playing this multiplayer? I've played a couple of ranked matches now and enjoying the tactical battles and wondered if any Thumbs fancied some matches. The 10,000 point limit on Ranked forces some interesting decisions in choosing your squad and I've seen a few interesting combinations already. Ghosting assault dudes at the expense of anything else seem popular. This is kind of bad timing as I'm off on Holiday at the weekend and hectic with work so I can actually go, but when I get back I'll be around for some matches. Maybe we can do a tournament type thing if enough are interested?

Just got my t-shirt and postcard today, love them!

I also switched to 360 controller after the TMA podcast and also think it improved the experience for me. Most notably in the downed Chrysalid carrying UFO levels were causing me a heap of issues with the camera and the roof of the ship once inside. Selecting one of the upper walkways without being impaired by the roof was almost impossible at times but with a controller the roof stays hidden and selecting those areas is a breeze. You can also always hit Y for overwatch regardless of ability arrangement on the skill bar which is nice. The numerical hot keys switching use depending on abilities was a bit of an issue for me. I wanted shoot, overwatch and hunker down as dependable keys. @TychoCelchuuu, I quite liked the control and options the inventory management gave in the old one but boy was it a UI nightmare. You had to set up every single soldier every single mission for starters which was a ball-ache. I feel that while the new one does sacrifice a lot of the control and simulation aspects associated with the original (how I wish I could pick up the med kit from my downed medic!) there is still a damn fine tactical/strategy game here that is it's own thing.

That would be a really good option actually Gwardinen. I would kind of like to start again but with the tactical options available with a more experienced squad, although I wouldn't want to lose that important raising the troops factor so that would be tricky to balance. Losing my experienced vet's was what really killed that run for me. After that I just couldn't tactically hold any advantage over the tougher enemies. I had a great combo of a heavy with holo targeting and suppression with a shotgun assault with the flush ('Sheriff'! I miss you!) which really allowed me to take on the hard knocks. I don't even have suppression any more, and boy do I miss that Medic with extra movement and multiple heals. :sadface:

You said it Sno, fuck those Mutons! I had a similar situation in my Normal/Ironman game the other day. Everything was going great (or so I thought) until I hit the "now you face hundreds of Mutons/Chrysalids every mission" stage and had barely just got hold of a laser pistol (may have had one rifle at this point). It makes me feel like I really messed up the research side of things because I don't seem to have an advantage in any other area to make up for my lack of equipment. By the time I had caught up a bit with that (laser stuff for heavy/sniper, plasma's for assault/support + medium armour all round) my vet's had been decimated and I now have 12 rookies to stand up to all these new, tougher variants of alien that are popping up. Every mission is a mass panic/horrific massacre of some kind and I'm running out of funds to replace troops and equipment. On top of that panic is pretty much at boiling point the world over and I have no foreseeable means to launch satellites to secure slight relief and funding (only now see I how important they are). The World is doomed! Sorry World. Despite feeling like I messed up the campaign, I'm really enjoying the game and looking forward to starting afresh and getting onto that equipment asap. It's funny how I only started playing the old XCOM properly a couple of weeks before the launch of this one and found myself in a similar situation of badly equipped troops and loss of funding. They really did get the feel of fighting a losing battle pretty darn well. And now that I've typed all this it occurs to me that the whole experience reminds me of playing Arkham Horror. You've even got the doom track. I wonder if they took some inspiration from it and it's ilk as it's a very boargame-y experience all round. Before I go, one other small tip for relative newbs to XCOM like me; I made the mistake of selling off all corpses I'd autopsied & UFO parts I'd researched to get a bit of cash and realised too late that you need a certain amount of these to create some types of weapons and armours alter on. So don't do that.

Go ahead Jake. On a similar note, I almost started an XCOM thread over in Video Gaming because I couldn't see one but then thought I'd check the Strategy section... duh. I feel like things could get confusing if we have threads in both sections for a game, personally I'm more likely to go to VG rather than here. Maybe that's just me though. Nappi, I find it hard to be angry when it's a bit of a blessing in disguise. I have a lot of work to get through before Friday!

Why is that an angry face? I'm sad not angry.

I've been playing the original a little over the past few days and I'm pretty excited about the remake. I'm not really an XCOM veteran (it's only since going back to it in the past few years I understand the full game, my younger self could not be arsed with much of the high level strategy. I just wanted to shoot those UFO's down and go in blasting! As such I never witnessed the later game) so my views on the new one might be a bit more lenient than others but I think it's looking really good. I don't mean the slick graphics either, I think the tactical part looks as if they struck a nice balance between what the original offered and updating it to a modern standard of game design. Can't wait to get stuck in. Unfortunately it unlocks on Friday for me.

One minor thing... it feels weird that I'm a Federation ship fleeing a huge Rebel fleet. I would much prefer being one Rebel ship fleeing a Federation fleet even though I know that's more clichéd. Still, I think of it that way anyway because, well Firefly.

Bought FTL last night after watching some of Northernlion's play through's (and of course Remo's stream a while back). I was worried I'd watched too much and wouldn't enjoy it as much as if I'd just took the plunge earlier but... I love it! My first run was my best ending in Sector 5 in normal mode. I got a lot of luck with extra crew members, finding weapons etc but wasn't well enough equipped defensively for one rebel cruiser I bumped into. It all ended surprisingly quickly but I did unlock the Engi ship at least. Not bad for a first run! I haven't managed to get as far as that again after a few more goes, my last one ending in Sector 3 after I ran out of fuel. I had been hopping from point to point hoping to hell I got a fuel drop from an event or engagement (or a damned store, grrr) which worked for about 3 hops before the inevitable happened and I was stranded. I was surprised to find I still had one last ditch effort to send out a distress signal and after doing so the rebels came to "help". I feel a little too reliant on missiles at the moment. I struggle against the tougher shields when I'm low on them but figure I just haven't found the right weapon drop. I also haven't found enough scrap to buy the decent stuff in a store yet. I keep spending on upgrading my ship then regretting it when a store does pop up. All in all, brilliant. Looking forward to more epic space sagas.

I picked this up cheap yesterday but haven't had a chance to check it out yet. I watched am interesting lets play of it not long ago and couldn't resist the sale. I don't know if I'll take to it or not but I really like the idea of it. I can see it taking me a while to adjust from my Total War mindset!

Hey fellow Thumbs, I'm heading down to Rezzed this Friday and was wondering if anyone here is going? I'll be all on my lonesome as I was going to be meeting a friend but due to bad organisation and a bit of misfortune I have a weekend ticket and will now only be there on the Friday (I have to leave too early on Saturday to see anything as something has come up now, dammit) while he only booked a Saturday ticket. Fail! It would be nice to meet up if anyone here is going so give me a shout.

Hey, been snowed under with work since I got back and it feels like ages ago now but it was a cool event! It was lovely to meet you, Empika and everyone else I bumped into on Friday evening. Wish I could have hung around on the Saturday too, there were still a few things I would have liked to checked out.

Nachimir, excellent. The Leftfield Collection is high on my list of things to see so hopefully I'll see you around. Empika, I'll be in touch. I should be there by 1 so I'll let you know where I am. I would have loved to have been around for the Saturday but the way things have worked out I'm going to miss everything that day. Otherwise I would be joining in for the game jam!

Having just watched Indie Game: The Movie, I thought this thread was going to be about that and how Phil Fish looks like he's slowly transforming into Teen Wolf throughout. I thought the climax of the film was going to be Phil tearing apart his former partner in the toilets at PAX. Anyway, on topic: the game gives me an Orcs Must Die! vibe which is a very good thing. You can definitely see the rough edges in terms of polish but it looks like it could be interesting enough to overcome them.

Just want to chime in with some love for this. I played a heap of it last week during some down time and just got totally sucked in. Sno, you pretty much nailed most of my thoughts there to be honest. I think the aesthetics are in a strange place. At times it gives you inspiring sights over the landscape and I think the day night lighting is really nicely done. Some mornings are subdued cloudy affairs while others bring that feel of a beautiful summer day ahead. I agree there is a lack of grand architecture in the towns but I'm warming to it as a more subtle, realistic style. It does work as a great contrast to this slightly mundane world that the beasts and combat are so epic. I have never experienced a more thrilling fight than when a huge griffin descended out of the previously serene and sunny skies. 20 minutes later, after grabbing a wing, clambering onto its back and being taken into the skies as I hacked at its neck, it burst into flames, barrel rolled towards the ground unconscious whereby I managed to jump off and roll away at the last minute before rejoining the group to give the finishing blow to its feathered face. Awesome. A note on the vocations: I started to lose a bit enjoyment when I tried a couple of the hybrid ones so I've gone back to my pure fighter (who is fashioned on !). I like the burst strike to charge in, the hindsight sweep to dodge an attack and counter and then whatever extra one I need for a certain area, the compass slash for groups for example. I also love being able to attack from behind my shield. I tried Mystic Knight because I was at the mercy of the Pawns to give me magic damage which is essential with certain enemies later on (that is the only area I feel my Pawns let me down. I had two mages, one of whom was only there to heal and provide buffs to our weapons and she failed) but I felt too clumsy with that class. I was no longer able to attack from a block with my shield which really messed my play style up. Instead it kept on activating the magic defence skills of that class which lock you into a preparation animation for a while which isn't ideal when surrounded and after more than a few hours I still couldn't adapt. I also tried Assassin but it too didn't feel as much fun as my fighter did. I may go back to that one though as it could be a case of building up the right skills again there and I can still use most of my fighter skills as Assassin.Anyway, great game. Having a bit of a break from it as I really did lose myself to it for a while but I can see myself dipping in and out of it for a long while. Also, I laughed at the J-rock theme! It seemed so out of place at first but it stuck in my head so much I enjoyed hearing it just to rest my brain from humming it over and over. Thankfully my brain seems to be over that one now.

I've just had a peek at the previous succession fort after Dibs mentioned it (here). Memories of a previous life! That was fun, we should definitely do it again and take it further this time. I remember being quite pleased with the one-upmanship of my feline tomb. I think that may have been the last time I played DF though apart from a cursory look at a new build some months ago.

Hey guys, I finally got internet at my new place and ended up almost instantly buying Arma II: CO for this Day Z mod that's sprung up in my absence. It's been well worth the purchase so far despite the teething problems. I also dabbled in the vanilla multiplayer and had a great time so I would be very much up for joining you guys on Arma night too.

I love Warband and it's bizarre melee system but I think the Napoleanic Wars dlc captures a much more fun multiplayer experience. Personally I quite like the battle modes in these games. Despite the waiting involved if you suffer an early death, I think it gives a bit more tension and purpose to fighting. It forces people to use tactics and stick together a bit more to survive which is what the whole system is really trying to replicate. I hadn't played vanilla for a while until last night and despite still being crap in a 1 on 1, you can't beat the satisfaction of delivering an arrow to someone's face from afar. It was a lot of fun and hopefully you guys will be up for it again sometime. I think the Napoleon dlc is the way to go. Let's see if we can get the 1st Thumbs of the Line regiment on display.

Oh and I don't have Fire and Sword and don't particularly want to shell out for it. Can we do Warband or Napoleonic please?

I don't have a mic to talk on skype but I will be around for this. Can I join Skype to just listen in case we want to organise tactics? I've been playing the Napoleonic DLC and it's really good fun in the battle mode (last man standing).

Chris, I've set up this account now... would changing the name on my old account be a better solution? Subbes, Patters: Sorry, F4T C4T is gone now. Unless you have me on xbox live that is! Paying to change my tag is not something I can easily justify right now, especially since I don't use the Xbox much these days. Thanks Nachimir! And hello/welcome back Jazhara7!

Congrats Chris! The Chris Remo Action News post was hilarious. I hope you're not going underground for six years though...

I just had a quick recap in Warband. Boy am I bad at this! It was fun though. I only have Warband btw.

I can't really do any night this week, between work and moving I'm afraid. I'll be around at the weekend though.