I've recently decided to start up this old gem again.
Thought it might be an idea to share it with the community here, if there's interest for that.
First of all, a quick introduction to the game, for those that aren't familiar with it.
In the late 90's UFO's started appearing all over the world, with abductions, cow mutilations and all else that are associated with our grey friends.
The various nations initiated their own anti-UFO organizations to combat the aliens, and all failed miserably. At an emergency meeting in Geneva, Switzerland it was decided to create an international organization backed by the nations of the world. Thus they created the X-COM - Extraterrestrial Combat Unit. That's us!
The game is generally divided into two parts:
1: The tactical overhead map, showing the earth, where we build and manage our bases, research, manufacturing, as well as intercepting incoming UFOs and bases.
The overhead map and base management looks like this:
2: The turn-based combat part, where we land with our selected troops and switch turns with the aliens to horribly mutilate each other. The interface looks like this:
- Move up one level. Only works when you are a floater, hovertank, flying suit, or on a transporter pad.
- View up one level. Good for seeing what's on top of buildings.
- View radar.
- See equipment screen
- Next squaddie/unit.
- I dunno. Seems to have something to do with level viewing.
- End turn.
- Move down one level. See 1.
- View down one level. See 2.
- Kneel/stand.
- Center on controlled unit.
- Next character, do not select character again this turn.
- Options.
- Abort mission.
- Right hand weapon/item.
- Left hand weapon/item.
- TU reservations for opportunity shots. I almost never use these.
- Rank. You can also click this to see stats and check for fatal wounds.
- Quick statistics. The green is TUs left, the orange, stamina, the red, health, and the purple, morale.
- The battlescape itself. Each unit, saving HWPs, Reapers, and I think some other aliens occupy one square. Currently, a tank is controlled.
Finally, we have our trusty soldiers. They all come with various randomized stats.
Soldiers are obviously the heart and soul of X-COM. These brave soldiers fly around the world to combat the alien threat. Now, being an X-COM soldier is no easy job. If you manage to get off the Skyranger (First basic transport plane) without getting shot into pieces, you're doing good! If you manage to actually survive a mission, that's an amazing feat and if you even manage to take down an alien, you're a hero! The average life expectancy for an X-COM soldier is.. not very long.
Time Units are basically how much an soldier can move each turn. Every action, from moving, kneeling, shooting and so fort take up Time Units. When the soldier is out of TU's he can move no more this turn.
Stamina is how fit the soldier is. If he's expending all his TU's every turn, he'll get tired and lose Stamina. He'll then have to rest for a while to move again. This is rarely an issue though.
Health is quite self-explaining. Take damage and lose health. Lose all health, and the soldier dies. If a soldier gets hit and survives, he might take a severe wound, causing him to lose health every turn unless healed by a med-kit or the mission is over.
Bravery determines how brave the soldier is (DUH!). When your comrades start dropping like flies, and an alien tries to mind-control you, will you keep it cool, or drop your weapon and start running around in panic? Or even go frenzy and start shooting everything around you, friend or foe.
Reactions allows you to fire off shots of opportunity if an alien walks into sight during their turn, providing you have enough TU's left to take the shot.
Accuracy determines if you hit the enemy between the eyes, or the barn door behind it. (Or your friends ass)
Throwing is the soldiers skill with grenades, range and accuracy.
Strength determines how much stuff a soldier can carry before he starts to lose TU's due to overweight.
Finally there are also two other hidden skills, Psi Strength and Psi Skill, which won't be revealed until the proper research later into the game.
Now, to the real deal! Getting started!
The generally idea is that you sign up with your soldiers, and I'll play the game and report on the missions and general happenings. I'll throw major decisions, like what to research, if we want to attempt that night-terror mission and so forth into the forum, letting you get your say.
First thing first, in order for this to get off the ground, we need troops for the meat-grinder! This is where you come into the picture! Sign up here with your preferred name and if you wish skill-set. Generally I categorize the soldiers into Scouts (high TU and reactions), Snipers (High Accuracy) and Heavy Weapons (High Strength).
I'll then name the soldiers after you, and have you participate in the action.
Secondly, we need to decide where to place our first base (obviously named TWcenter!)
I'd say there's 3 choices.
1: North America, covering USA and Canada. Now USA provides the largest income for any single country, but it also leaves a lot of nations un-covered.
2: Europe. Individually the nations here doesn't provide as much income as USA, but the coverage of far more nations makes up for that, rivaling and probably raising above North America.
3: Asia, covering Japan, China, Russia, and partly India and Australia. Japan is the second largest contributor to the X-COM fundings, so this is another choice to consider.
If we do well in protection a nation, they might increase their funding every month, while nations that are unhappy with our actions will reduce their fundings, and perhaps even drop out entirely of the X-COM support.
So how about it? Any interest in this?
Don't be shy, there's always room for another poor rookie into the meat grinder!
Before getting started, I'm thinking I'll need at least 8 people to sign up, to name the first troopers available.
Interactive UFO X-COM AAR/Let's Play!
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Originally Posted by Space Voyager
