108 replies to this topic

[Anyone]

@marcinsk

Glad you like it. =) If you find any issues, please tell me. I'd love to hear feedback from you.

[Groogo]

I added this mod along with ToolBoks today and I started a new game on "classic" to try both mods out. Wow, what a difference Terror from Space has already made, I could see the upgrade in the aliens AI routines in the opening action which fixes one of the disappointments I have had with the game. Both mods so far are working very well together and have transformed my tactical battles into a much more fun and interesting experience. A cheerful thanks to the mod author here, Terror from Space made an instant improvement and I am really looking forward to a play through on Classic. This mod has already begun to bring back some of the fun and tension that the original game was so good at providing. I have just scratched the surface and it is looking like it will make a heck of an difference in how the game is played. Endorsed and voted for file of the month, thanks again Mod author.

Edited by Groogo, 02 December 2012 - 12:01 AM.

[Anyone]

@Groogo

Thank you! I'm happy to know you enjoy the mod. Let me know how it goes in latey game and the end game. I've calculated estimated threshhold values for it, but it depends so much on how much you're researched and can differ from person to person. I hope it will remain as challenging as it was in the beginning. (Which is a lot easier, since I'm dealing with fixed values there)
Take care though, from my playthrough and testing, middle game and end game aliens kill you a lot quicker than normally, and as it was on easy (based on rank&equip) one shot may or may not kill you, based on how well you place yourself & what kind of defence (nano-fiber-vest, chrassalid thingy) you use. If you find yourself in trouble due to lack of soldiers, try the SHIVs. They remain powerful until the end of the midgame, when they start to lose their punch and become substandard below your elite soldiers.

[Groogo]

@Anyone I have a few days off work coming up so I will be able to make some pretty good progress. I will stop in and post my experiences and thoughts as my game continues. Thanks for waking the aliens up, I haven't seen them standing around waiting for a bus since I installed Terror from Space.

Edited by Groogo, 02 December 2012 - 12:29 AM.

[Anyone]

@Groogo
Looking foward to it! =) As always, despite me sounding like a broken record, especially the mid and late game experiences are important for me, because the early stage is relatively easy to balance.

Haha, you're welcome. Those tiny sleepyheads always have a hangover from the celebration for the upcoming "Earth Invasion Event", but a bit of cold water and lots and lots of caffeine make them quite lively again.

[Groogo]

I started my game in "Classic" and kept getting beat (tactically and financially) so I restarted in "normal" mode. I am doing fine in "normal" mode tactically and I am doing very well financially. I have satellites up in every country and have not lost one nation yet. My interceptor research is lagging a bit behind and a couple of UFOs have escaped causing me to receive a "D" rating one month but that hasn't hurt me any. I have the capability of researching the next Gen interceptors, I had better get to it! I am now to the point where I have carapace armor and laser weapons for my troops and lasers for my interceptors. I have lost a few of each but I can afford to replace my losses and the fight goes on. One big surprise so far...at my first terror site I ran into 4 disks and their attending drones. I lost a good trooper in that fight but I was able to save 11/18 civilians and received a decent outcome. It was a viscous fight that mostly took place inside of a large two story building. The aliens have become more aggressive and that has added a lot of tense moments and good fun to the game.

Edited by Groogo, 03 December 2012 - 09:42 PM.

[Groogo]

I wanted my games to last longer so I purposefully did not follow the recommended research priorities. If the item said "priority research" I researched everything else first and put up with the screaming mad women down in the labs. I have had complete satellite coverage without losing a country so I am now stuck in a loop of a few ship battles here and there plus now and then rescue a hostage rescue or shut down a bomb task with no terror missions coming up at all. The Alien base has been available for attacking for sometime now but I have ignored it. At this point in time all of my troops have heavy armor and plasma weapons and each continent has two upgraded interceptors, the North American continent has 3 and one open bay for manufacturing. I have lost about a dozen troops and one SHIV getting the game to this point and it has become quite repetitive so I am going to go ahead and delete my save game and start a new game on Classic mode and see how that goes. Thanks again for this fun Mod I have certainly enjoyed it.

Edited by Groogo, 05 December 2012 - 07:04 PM.

[Anyone]

@Groogo

Thanks for the feedback! Normal mode is somewhat easier, because funding and research are easier to come by and you get more scientists and engineers, so classic should challenge you somewhat more.

It's true that you can forcefully prevent the game from advancing (I do that all the time for testing purposes) but naturally, researching everything before advancing is bound to make the game somewhat simpler. Sadly that's exactly the point where you realize that XCOM EU pretty much runs on a rail, and I'm somewhat at a loss as how to force people to actually go and invade the aliens. I have quite a few ideas what I could do with modding tools, but with just the barebones, the best I could do is to make panic severer again, which would force people to quickly get to the alien base, for the panic reset. But that's artifical once again.
And while, even fully research, classic and impossible should still challenge you after the alien base, this is something I currently can't change. The progression and advancement of the alien invasion is, after all, a very simple and basic progress with few complex or interlinking factors. If I had modding tools...

I hope you'll feel more challenged on classic. Maybe don't try to use the developers oversights too much and plateau the game. (I'd implement research ristrictions, that very advanced tech can only be obtained after getting weapon data from the alien base, but oh well, same problem as above)

I'm glad that you enjoyed it, and I really wish I could make the game less "artifical" and simulate a real invasion more. The more I research the game's functions and mod around, the more I'm met with flaws, oversights or oversimplified mechanics that break the game's illusion.

Please keep me up to date how your classic run goes, it *should* be more challenging, especially on 1.1. =)

[SgtFallout]

I'm still playing my 1.0 game on classic, and am also choosing to do the main plot slowly. However, in my case, it's far from easy!

My troops all range from Sargent to Captain at this point (those last two ranks take forever!) and I have carapace and lasers. The last mission was the sort where you have to save as many civilians as possible.

Ship sets down in area with little cover in front of what looks like a big library; half my guys make it to cover and my 2 snipers and heavy are still near the ship. My final unit move triggers 3 Chrissalids: no huge biggie. Because they are pretty close, I toss a grenade at them, which also takes out part of the front of the building, killing all but 1.

The building front being gone triggers: 1 Cyberdisk, 7 (yes 7!) Chrissalids, and what must have been about 5 Drones. I have exactly 3 half covers and 1 small car with 3 more half covers in movement range, but all quite close to the aliens.

Maybe not super tough (I made it out with only one sniper dying from a crit from the Cyberdisk), but everyone else was close to dead. Pretty thrilling!

In any case, I now have to capture the outsider and the plot continues. I guess that one aspect of the pacing has to be self-enforced, so if things seems a bit easy, advance the plot ASAP...

[Anyone]

@SgtFallout

The ranks allow quicker progress on 1.1 without allowing fast, vanilla advancement. You should try it out.

Haha, yes, I had such situations too, until I got really careful with uncovering terrain with grenades and rockets. But it's nice to search for a way to get out of those situations.

And yeah, plot advancement is self-enforced, and enemy appearance is based on campaign progress. It's one of those things that makes the game feel pretty much on rails. Maybe one day we'll be able to get rid of that.