Let's Play X-COM: UFO Defense

[Torben]

Sign me and my many, many, many clones up for grenadier or rocketeer! Explosive removal of all obstacles is my goal

[CaiusWickersham]

Director's Log -- Amaya Toyotomi
Timecode: 01.02.1999 0800 GMT

The last two weeks have been a nightmare for me. The aliens have shown themselves willing to expose themselves, and consequently us, to the general public.
The alien containment unit was completed on January 19th. Of all the scientists we have on staff, we received a volunteer request from one calling himself The Yosemite Bear. His initial psych profile suggests someone who takes too much enjoyment in this sort of work. I have ordered internal security to watch him closely during interrogations. I have also set out orders to all troops to attempt capture of aliens as can safely be done. The gray aliens that we have engaged thus far have been named "Sectoids" by the science team for future references.

January 23rd -- The aliens attacked Washington. After some hesitation, I ordered troops to engage and stop them.
ADDENDUM -- MISSION TRANSCRIPT
Hawkwings: Tanks first! Oooh, there's a Sectoid right outside. ::rocket launch:: ::Sectoid moans::Got it!

Weemadando: Everyone move out. I see one over there in the park.
Carl: I got it. ::gun shots:: Shoot, that one took 2, but it's down!

Gaston: Let's check over here ::alien gun fires:: AAAH!

Yoko: Gaston! What's over there? What's that thing?! Looks like a small saucer!

Hawkwings: Engaging! Fire one! ::rocket launch:: ::explosion:: Missed!
Yoko: You hit a lamppost! Lovely.

Hawkwings: Shut up! Fire two! ::rocket launch:: ::explosion:: Got it!

Yoko:: On that third one! ::gunshot:: It's gone!

Bluewolf: Dropping a fourth! Done!

Carl: And another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust!

Hawkwings: Got another one of those saucers! ::rocket launches:: Missed! ::rocket launches:: Missed again, but it looks like it took enough beating from the explosions.

Kryten: There's another one by that house. ::gunshot:: Got it! First kill! Whoop! Whoop!

Bluewolf: Another saucer with a Sectoid near it! ::gunshot:: Hit it but it didn't drop. SHIT! It shot at me! Hit the Skyranger, though.
Jason L. Miles: You're buffing that out for me.

Omega Chief: ::gunshots:: Missed it completely.
Carl: ::gunshots:: Got it!

Cpl Kendall: Okay, now it's my turn to have some fun with this thing! ::autocannon shot::
Bluewolf: AAAH!
Weemadando: Brilliant, Kendall! You just shot your own squadmate!
Cpl Kendall: oops.

Yoko: We'll kick his ass for it later. I got another one. ::gunshot:: Hit it, but I didn't hear the moan. Must have stunned it.

Hawkwings: Gotta take that saucer out myself then. ::rocket launches:: ::explosion:: OH MY GOD! SHEP! CHIEF! TALK TO ME!
OmegaChief: Ow!
weemadando: There's summary executions all around once this is over!

Hawkwings: I got one more shot! ::rocket launches:: ::explosions:: ::Sectoid moan:: Got it! Whoa! Those things can explode if you hit them right. Sounds like I got a Sectoid in the bargain. Not bad ::static::
Command: All clear. Head back to base. Kendall, I'll deal with you then.
TRANSCRIPT END
Hawkwings went on suspension pending an investigation of his actions. We kept the tank in stores until then. We'd have locked up Kendall but we lost 4 people in the mission and couldn't spare more.

January 25th -- Our third UFO of the month. Starglider shot it down, but took some minor damage to the Interceptor. The Skyranger was launched with the five soldiers we had.
ADDENDUM -- MISSION TRANSCRIPT
Weemadando: No screw-ups here Kendall or I WILL have you walking out the Skyranger in mid-flight.

Yoko: Found a Sectoid! ::gunshots:: Hit it once, but it didn't drop.
Cpl Kendall: Got a close round on it, but that's it.

Yoko: ::gunshot::Got it.
VX-145: There's another! ::gunshot:: Virgin no more!

Kryten: ::Gunshots:: Third one down! Saw it in the shadows.

Yoko: Entering the craft. One on the left. Ack! It shot at me! Missed me, though.

Kendall: I see it. ::auto cannon shot:: Nailed it

Yoko: One more over here by the bridge. The craft seems rather undamaged, are you sure Starglider hit this thing?

Cpl Kendall: Coming around the other side. There's two of them! ::autocannon shots:: Got them!

Yoko: Last one in the engine room. ::gunshots:: It's dead. Send the recovery boys


END TRANSCRIPT
Sgt. Weemadando was promoted to Captain as we brought in more soldiers, requiring a greater chain of command. Yoko was promoted to Sergeant to replace Ando. Kendall was also promoted since we have no one else with experience thanks to his blunder. He is still under investigation, though.
January ended well for us. The council was pleased and increased our funding. Also, the research into the laser rifle is completed. The engineers have been given the order to start building some to replace our regular rifles. Currently, it will be 16 days before they finish. All of our needed base modifications have been completed. More quarters and stores will be added in the month.



With the dust settled from our initial move-in, I've decided to re-establish the Kiryu-Kai tradition of combat crud at X-COM. Which gives me an idea . . .

EMAIL
FROM: Director Toyotomi
TO: Hawkwings, Cpl Kendall
SUBJ: Disciplinary measures
CC: Weemadando

You are to participate in a game of combat crud with me in the mess hall at 1200. Your attendance is mandatory if you want a glimmer of hope of staying here.

[OmegaChief]

I seem to be in a long corridor of light... either I'm dead or this is the medical bay...

[Emperor Lol]

Personal Log Entry:

My blatant genius has been recognised at last! The time of being set to work upon poorly financed and under-staffed research bunkers is over! Over I tell you! Now begins a new age, an age of discovery! They laughed at me, they told me I'd never make it anywhere with my "crazy" theories and "unorthodox" methods. Narrow minded fools! Well this'll show them, I've received an invitation from the new XCOM organisation, Extraterrestrial Combat Unit. They want me to join their research groups as Head of Research!

Just think, I'll be able to get my hands on some of the most advanced technology in the entire galaxy! Imagine the wonders they must have, the materials they bring with them, the weaponry they hold, the ability to travel the stars without a second thought! Such mysteries to be unravelled, coaxed from their advanced shells like technological pearls from the shell of an alien clam! And I, Yes I! Shall be the one at the helm, forever to go down in the history books of the future. The pioneer of humanity!

...There are... downsides to this little venture however. I won't be able to work on my own projects, I'll be commissioned to research certain findings as they choose. But free reign of research is a small price to pay for the chance to head the finest laboratory known to mankind is it not? Of course, the pay check is... less than desirable... and that I'll have to live in an underground base somewhere in Europe with a bunch of smelly, bumbling soldiers whose job it is to capture these delights of discovery. But no matter! I shall persevere! For mankind, for the planet and most of all, FOR SCIENCE!

--Entry closed; User Empy

((Head Scientist Empy will do just fine for a name! Emperor Lol seems hardly fitting >.>))

[The Yosemite Bear]

The Hospital staff looks around.
Security: their releasing him to where?
Administrator: no a new secure facility called X-Com
Securuty: can I call in sick the day of the transfer, this guy scares me like Micheal Meyers, I mean he was charged with war crimes, and over 200 counts of Mayhem for what he did in Gitmo.

[CaiusWickersham]

Medical log: House, Gregory, MD
Timecode: 02.02.1999 1400 GMT

Patient update:

Karin: Still recovering from intense burns to back and buttocks from unknown weapon. Patient is progressing well under treatment and should be able to return to active service by the middle of the month.
Omega Chief: Patient was brought in suffering from shrapnel wounds and burns from an explosive device. Background implies it was a friendly fire issue. Patient recovery much easier as the damage is more recognizable and treatable. Recovery by middle of the month likely.
Hawkwings & Cpl Kendall: These two were brought in at 1500 yesterday in intense pain in the groin region. Patients were shouting about their "nuts" and "what Thai prison did that bitch learn crud in?" They have been unable to elaborate further. Examination reveals intense trauma to the genitals along with various bruises all over the body. Nothing ice won't cure. Patients were released two hours later to their quarters.

[VX-145]

An excerpt from VX-145's journal, continued:

I killed an alien today. It didn't feel any different to killing a human, except for the feeling of doing somthing new.

The urgent briefing I got called to was some sergeant "WeeMadAndo" - that's gotta be a codename or something - going over a tape of the last mission. Apparently these "Sectoids" have armor support, although they all died before firing - either the armor on them is as weak as the suits we're given (incidentally, those uniforms don't stop spitballs) or we just got lucky. The biggest problem I saw on the tape was friendly fire. All but one of our losses seemed to be from trigger-happy lunatics firing rockets into each others' backs, and that's not counting the damage done the the Skyranger. Strangely enough, one of the guys survived a rocket strike - next time, I'm staying behind him.

The day after the briefing, the alarms started going off in the base, which is the most annoying alarm I've ever heard. The sergeant picked me out as a replacement for the one of the wounded, and luckily for my back we weren't bringing the tank with us. As I approached the alien craft, which was some blocky thing, I saw somthing gray and shot it. When we returned, "WeeMadAndo" was promoted to Captain for some reason and the backstabber was promoted, as well as some other veterans.

With any luck - and no more teamkilling tanks - I'll be an officer soon, and then I don't have to put myself out in the line of fire that much.

[Hawkwings]

Considering that I actually hit most of my targets and killed a bunch of saucers and sectoids, plus I gave shep a far better death than those wimpy aliens could have given him, I have no problems with my performance.

*swigs whiskey*

[MKSheppard]

I demand Shep-2 be decanted.

[JonB]

Personal Journal - 23 January '99

There was something going down in Washington today. The Brass was tight lipped about it, but I was being given these strange looks over it. Not sure why. I've been hearing things ranging from Terrorists, to Giant Robots to Aliens attacking the US capital.

That's ridiculous. Who'd be dumb enough to attack the United States?

Still waiting on the go-ahead to transfer to Europe.

-JonB, CAF

[RecklessPrudence]

I volunteer for a) Entry-man on saucers 'til I die, b) Grenadier, c) 'Eavy Veapons Guy, d) Minitank driver, or e) Supply Officer

I'm happy to wait until the establishment of a second base/team. Well, more than happy, really, considering I didn't so much "volunteer" as "was Volunteered". Apparently updating Skippy's List and using it as a checklist wasn't a good idea...

[CaiusWickersham]

Director's Log: Toyotomi, Amaya
Timecode: 20.02.1999 0800 GMT

So far, this month has passed with little incident. This would normally be a relief, but I am having pause reviewing the latest monthly data.

North America had a large spike in UFO activity, mostly because of the attack on the 23rd. In the meantime, I will set up patrols and speak to the UN about leasing a base in the area, likely in the United States for optimal coverage.
We had our first UFO of the month on the 5th. With some damage to the 1st Interceptor, it was shot down over the Black Sea. With no aquatic recovery equipment available, it was deemed lost.
Our initial production of laser rifles was completed February 9th. We still need to get these out to the field for proper testing. We detected a 2nd UFO in Africa during routine Interceptor maintenance. It flew out of coverage in southern Africa. An Interceptor on patrol detected it on the ground in South Africa. The Skyranger was dispatched, but the UFO took off before the Skyranger arrived. The Interceptor set to tail it shot it down over the Indian Ocean.
Our third came on the 11th. It was shot down over the Sahara and a recovery mission was sent out.
ADDENDUM -- MISSION TRANSCRIPT BEGIN

Hawkwings: Another day, another mission.
Weemadando: Just don't shoot any of us in the back again.
Hawkwings: Like the Director's going to let me forget it. My nuts still hurt!
Weemadando: Wah wah wah. Get out there.
Hawkwings: Found a Sectoid! ::rocket launch:: Killed a Sectoid!

Dave: Quiet so far. Craft's right over there. ::alien gunshot:: OUCH! I got shot. Sectoid over by the craft, it hit the Skyranger too!

Dave: I'm taking one down if it's the last thing I do! ::laser rifle fires:: Missed! ::alien gunshot::

Kryten: Getting him for you, Dave! ::laser rifle fires:: Got it! This works a lot better than the regular rifles!
Maria: I shot it twice and it didn't drop. These things suck!

Karin: All right, at the hatchway. There's two in here and not a scratch on it! I'm going to try and get these ones live. ::stun rod contact:: One down!

::stun rod contact:: And the other!

Command: All clear. Salvage team inbound. While you were out, we finished work on a portable medkit for you. It's going into production
Weemadando: That's nice if we survive a shot, but right now our luck doesn't run that way.

TRANSCRIPT END
((Author Note: To keep these from getting repetitive, I'm not going to transcript every mission. If I deal with a new craft or new enemy shows up, I'll do a full transcript. If anything funny happens on mission, I will put it as a highlight.))
Things got quiet after that. In the meantime, I had several games of crud in the commons room. All of these soldiers are of low stuff as they constantly bitch about the physical nature of the game.
((Author's note: Everyone playing crud with the director suffers various minor injuries -- bloody noses, bruises on the body and crushed pills from the Director's . . . aggressive play style)
The medkits were completed on the morning of the 19th. That evening, we shot down our fourth UFO of the month. The only notable things worth mentioning are the deaths of Kryten and Yoko.

[Dave]

In related news, Steam is selling the X-COM collectors pack for $2 this weekend.

Weekend Deals: $2 Freedom Force Pack, $2 X-COM Complete, and Tropico 3 66% off!
January 29, 2010, 10:00 am - Valve - General Announcement
This weekend we aren't featuring one, not two, but THREE deals!

The Freedom Force Pack and X-COM Complete Pack from 2K Games are available for $2/€2/£2 until Monday!

Tropico 3 from Kalypso Media Digital is available for 66% off until Monday!

Needless to say, I bought it, just to try it out for myself.

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread.

[Hawkwings]

I was actually looking up X-com on Steam and debating whether to buy it or not. I'm very glad I waited!

[JonB]

Caius, can you at least give us a current rundown on X-Com personell? It would help to know who is active and who just isn't getting any screen time.

[Edward Yee]

$17.60 for eight full games? To quote Seanbaby's Fujita Fighting System:

Thanks for posting about the Steam weekend deals; I just hope that the X-COM game look... decent on today's higher-res displays?

[Hawkwings]

It doesn't look decent, it looks horribly outdated and retro. But who cares?

I must ask a silly question, because I really can't figure it out. How the hell do you breach a ufo?

Also, how do you quit from the battlespace?

[RecklessPrudence]

Oh, in an addendum to my previous post, I'm also willing to be one of the lunatics who run into melee with gribbly alien monsters from beyond the stars and tries to knock it out with a glorified cattle prod - those should still work on aliens, right? As in, knock them out. Won't just piss 'em off and cause them to rend my very being, right?

[Vendetta]

I must ask a silly question, because I really can't figure it out. How the hell do you breach a ufo?

Also, how do you quit from the battlespace?

You can't breach UFOs until you get the Blaster Launcher, up until then, it's suicidal assault on the door or nothing.

XComUtil allows you to mod the otherwise useless demolition charges to be able to breach UFO walls.

You can quit from battlespace by closing the application. Otherwise you have to retreat and then quit from the geoscape.

[Eleas]

You can't breach UFOs until you get the Blaster Launcher, up until then, it's suicidal assault on the door or nothing.

XComUtil allows you to mod the otherwise useless demolition charges to be able to breach UFO walls.

You can quit from battlespace by closing the application. Otherwise you have to retreat and then quit from the geoscape.

Weird - I seem to recall being able to blast through with heavy plasma, but that it was just too slow going.

[The Yosemite Bear]

yes, heavy plasma has a "chance" to breach a ufo wall, just as a demo charge can destroy a UFO door, and what ever is behind it, but do nothing for the walls.

I've seen this most often as a result of enemies trying to shoot at the squad, and hitting interior walls, or the exterior walls on a damaged ship.

[Eleas]

Oh yes, doing it reliably wasn't an option by any means.

Still, I do like the occasional "extreme prejudice" option for farmsteads: putting up a firing line of laser rifles and removing every wall in sight. A bit slow for the most part, but it was eminently useful for denying the enemy the benefit of cover without surrounding them with smoke.

Edit: embarrassing typo.

[CaiusWickersham]

Caius, can you at least give us a current rundown on X-Com personell? It would help to know who is active and who just isn't getting any screen time.

Current rundown of personnel:

weemadando
Cpl Kendall
Omega Chief
VX-145
Dave
Karrick
Eleas
Hawkwings (tank)

KIA:
MkSheppard
Bluewolf
Kryten

There are also some fodder personnel in the mix. I'm not counting them.

[Hawkwings]

wait wait, the UFO has a door? Are you sure? How do you open it?

[Vendetta]

You can't breach UFOs until you get the Blaster Launcher, up until then, it's suicidal assault on the door or nothing.

XComUtil allows you to mod the otherwise useless demolition charges to be able to breach UFO walls.

You can quit from battlespace by closing the application. Otherwise you have to retreat and then quit from the geoscape.

Weird - I seem to recall being able to blast through with heavy plasma, but that it was just too slow going.

Heavy Plasma can destroy interior walls, but not interior security walls (the ones with extra bands of stuff along the top). The only things that can destroy exterior walls/doors by default are Blaster Bombs and Celatid acid spit.

Additionally, the chances of actually destroying the interior wall with a heavy plasma are low, because it has to score right near the top of it's damage range to do so, and damage to terrain features is noncumulative, so you have to deal all of the damage at once.