Author Topic: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!  (Read 118865 times)

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Offline General Battuta

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
We need live aliens in order to research critical technologies. At some point we'll be unable to continue until we've captured alien navigators and leaders.

 

Offline Scotty

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
So, with the addition of a new Interceptor, does this mean I get an appearance soon?

 

Offline Spoon

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Cool
I don't think my tank will help much with this though  :p
Urutorahappī!!

[02:42] <@Axem> spoon somethings wrong
[02:42] <@Axem> critically wrong
[02:42] <@Axem> im happy with these missions now
[02:44] <@Axem> well
[02:44] <@Axem> with 2 of them

 
Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
This new tank is beast, I'm loving it.
Spoonzer Elite, I like this title  ;7

They are the Spoonzer elite, born to compete, never retreat (Hard-Light X-COM!!!)
Sig nuked! New one coming soon!

 

Offline Spoon

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
They are the Spoonzer elite, born to compete, never retreat (Hard-Light X-COM!!!)
Excellent  :yes:
Urutorahappī!!

[02:42] <@Axem> spoon somethings wrong
[02:42] <@Axem> critically wrong
[02:42] <@Axem> im happy with these missions now
[02:44] <@Axem> well
[02:44] <@Axem> with 2 of them

 

Offline NGTM-1R

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
* headdie hangs my head in shame at nearly killing TrashMan

Can I at least take a heavy laser into battle? I dont mind carrying spare rockets for the others!

It's not anything we haven't all thought about before. Actually, as of right now, I just switched it out for an autocannon. We've only got so many people who can haul a heavy weapon and reloads.

Yeah, I think there's a score bonus for live aliens.

There actually isn't. Killing an alien and recovering its corpse give you twice the score of capturing one alive. You do, though, need live aliens for research topics that will let you do various things. We're not at the necessary point yet and probably won't be for a bit, but I was honestly hoping for a Navigator; being able to nuke all those damn radars and trade them in for a Hyperwave Decoder per base would have been nice.
"Load sabot. Target Zaku, direct front!"

A Feddie Story

 
Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
They are the Spoonzer elite, born to compete, never retreat (Hard-Light X-COM!!!)
Excellent  :yes:

Might have to write out an entire parody this weekend if I can't power my laptop :p
Sig nuked! New one coming soon!

 

Offline Scotty

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
I, for one, support Spoon getting a custom title out of it.  Spoonzer Elite ftw.

 

Offline NGTM-1R

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
So, with the addition of a new Interceptor, does this mean I get an appearance soon?

Actually, before the new interceptor has come in, people died. You are this currently slated to be a redshirt. If you live long enough, we'll give you the Interceptor and let somebody else be redshirt-you.
"Load sabot. Target Zaku, direct front!"

A Feddie Story

 

Offline Scotty

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Oh goodie.

 

Offline NGTM-1R

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Reflections on the Alien War So Far

No matter how many times you play it, and even regardless of difficulty, X-COM is always ready to teach harsh lessons. TFTD, where I actually learned to play the game (yeah, chew on that), is a merciless teacher of tactical spacing when it comes to avoiding getting all your guys killed by a Sonic Pulser on Turn 2. Previous playthroughs of Enemy Unknown have left me with a profound contempt for the Alien Grenade, though, of which there always seemed to be few and the aliens didn't seem to use them.

This will obviously be changing. A full third of our causalities so far have been to grenades. (4 of 12, counting the first tank as a casualty; the game certainly does.) Of the people who were indisputably inside the blast radius of a grenade, our only survivors have been SpardaSon and Titan. And considering Titan wasn't even wearing armor, he was damn lucky.

The maps have generally been small, resulting in intense firefights at the base of the ramp and then a "hunt the last Sectoid" endgame. This has had serious effects on the survivability of troopers. The further you are from being first to disembark, the more likely you are to survive. It's not an accident that our three survivors from Mission 1, Mjn.Maxel, The E, and Axem, are also relatively far back in the debarkation order. It's also materially affected their chances of getting kills, except for The E. Axem is still at 53 TUs and his kill in Nairobi was his first in several missions.

The tank has been invaluable. I confess I write that in confusion and trepidation, as I'm not normally one to love the tank much and usually just run disposable rookies for its scouting role. After you adjust for its base stats, the tank usually comes out looking pretty crappy in comparison to a good soldier. This game, however, has had the tank go above and beyond. With a reaction stat of 20, it's usually pretty common for the tank to never take a single reaction shot; this has happened repeatedly and it's been very accurate as it does so. Also, the tank has absorbed a lot of fire that could otherwise have been directed at much more vulnerable troopers. At this stage in the game, every Heavy Plasma shot fired at the tank is a soldier's life saved. In Nairobi alone, no less than six shots were taken at the tank with heavy plasmas, most of which could have been directed at soldiers instead.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2012, 10:23:37 pm by NGTM-1R »
"Load sabot. Target Zaku, direct front!"

A Feddie Story

 

Offline Rodo

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
well damn.
I ARE DEAD AGAIN.

and **** karma  :mad:
el hombre vicio...

 

Offline TrashMan

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Mission complete. Now if only I'd remembered to grab the screen! We won by a decent but not very impressive amount, about 260 points, and for the first time managed not to kill civilians ourselves.

A new milestone for the mighty X-Com!  :lol:

I figure it was stray shots or grenades that caused civilian kills. But better pack heavy rodinance than loose capable personell.

Seems the rocket launcher works well in my hands. I'd still prefer an auto-cannon. :blah:
But as long as I get to kill aliens I'm not complaining.
Nobody dies as a virgin - the life ****s us all!

You're a wrongularity from which no right can escape!

 
Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Yeah, I think there's a score bonus for live aliens.  You also get to interrogate them using methods most likely banned by the Geneva Convention, but since they're aliens intent on conquering Earth nobody gives a damn.

Don't think the Genava conventions apply to animals.

 

Offline jr2

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
We can has Geneva conventions tactics when we are invading their planet(s).  ;7

 

Offline Alex Heartnet

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
New redshirt signing up for shooting aliens and blowing stuff up.

Or maybe a captured test subject.
« Last Edit: April 25, 2012, 03:01:38 pm by Alex Heartnet »

 

Offline NGTM-1R

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Snakeman Terror Mission coming up!
"Load sabot. Target Zaku, direct front!"

A Feddie Story

 

Offline redsniper

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
Omg, no.  :shaking: :(
"Think about nice things not unhappy things.
The future makes happy, if you make it yourself.
No war; think about happy things."   -WouterSmitssm

Hard Light Productions:
"...this conversation is pointlessly confrontational."

 

Offline NGTM-1R

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Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
We went through most of the month with nothing happening. A medium-scale UFO was detected almost on top of Dekker's Pad, but it headed out over Europe and disappeared over Russia before either of the Interceptors could reach it. Dekker's Pad is still five days from completing its hanger and having an independent interception capablity. Once that's done a couple of laser tanks will be built and stationed there as interim defense; eventually it will also get its own Skyranger (or possibly better!) and soldiers as well. Those of you who requested a transfer will get it then.


Then, on the 21st of the month, aliens have attacked Canberra. I'm not sure why anybody would want to go to Canberra anyways when it could have been Sydney or something, but they are aliens. Maybe their directions were bad.


The Skyranger goes feet-dry ten minutes out from the battle area. Night combat is expected and the order to load incendiaries is given. Each soldier is issued a single flare. (Pertinent question: we've had “Starlight” night vision scopes since Vietnam, why don't I have any?)

The tank disembarks without drawing any fire and spots a hostile. It is, again, something we have not seen before.

Unfortunately for it, being new is not the same thing as being able to take it when the Laser Tank hits you.


Those of you who have played X-COM before and think you know what comes next: Stop giggling. ()

The aliens do a lot of shooting on their turn, but nobody screams, so apparently they are once again incompetent. Spoon spots another one across the street, which takes a shot at the tank and hits. Before Spoon can return fire, though, Scotty steps out of the transport and blows the alien away with rapid fire.


SpardaSon throws a flare, bringing HLPX-COM Light to the darkness. This highlights a hostile, so it's up to KyadCK to bring both heat and light to them. He gets a hit, but Titan has to finish the job.


Unfortunately they didn't spot one that's out that way. Titan takes a hit in the chest from the same direction and goes down with a scream, dead. Scotty throws another flare to light the alien up and KyadCK takes the alien down.


One alien tosses a grenade, apparently at the Skyranger's front landing gear. Ever since the incident where Jeff Vader hit the Skyranger with one of our missiles, though, it's been heavily reinforced with alien alloys, so the grenade accomplishes nothing besides bugging Darius about the paint job. Another fires a plasma round between Scotty and SpardaSon.

But there is bad news. SpardaSon fires incendiaries at alien to the south.

They're heerrrreeeeee...

The new alien is exceptionally fast, he closed nearly twenty squares in a turn. Between SpardaSon's incendiaries and and an exceptionally accurate burst from Scotty, the alien is brought down.

Jr2 locates another one to the North, literally just on the other side of a door from a pair civilians. (Or maybe he was trying to save that huge stack of beer cans from the aliens.) He immediately takes it under fire, blazing away on full auto. One hit drops it, but it's still twitching about; it's probably not dead.


More shots are taken at various things during the next alien turn. Another grenade lands near the Skyranger, only a few squares from SpardaSon. It goes off, but he survives.
Scotty renders first aid while Jr2 finds the alien behind us that has been causing trouble and blows its goddamn head off.

Spoon, meanwhile, has eyes on two civilians. But they're acting strangely and advance on his tank despite a warning shot. He fires at one to discourage the other. An alien emerges from the corpse. Another of the new aliens is spotted in the same area.


The order is passed to dump incendiaries and load HE. The situation has grown too serious, heavy firepower will be required. No sooner is it passed, than one of the new aliens runs up to Spoon's tank and tears it apart barehanded! Parts are scattered far and wide, without even a badly damaged chassis to recover.


Both Trashman and Mjn.Maxel fire on full auto in response. While Trash's autocannon rounds spray one of the aliens with shrapnel repeatedly, it takes Mjn.Maxel's laser rifle to bring both of them down with surprisingly accurate bursts. He put out nine shots this turn, and most of them struck home.


SpardaSon takes a plasma rifle round in the chest, but his armor once again saves his life; this time it holds without a breach. The E, attempting to kill that alien who just shot SpardaSon, hits a fence instead and sprays Scotty with shrapnel from the blast. Scotty pulls back for first aid and yelling at The E while SpardaSon fires a burst that brings down the alien who shot him.


Meanwhile, Axem blasts away the wall of a house so we can get at the last civilian infectee. The shot kills the civilian and the alien emerges from the corpses. TrashMan fires full auto, but despite two direct hits and a near miss the alien appears to be unfazed.

Laser fire from Headdie and Mjn.Maxel (one hit each) is required to bring it down for good.

KyadCK, waiting for Jr2 to arrive and back him up in a search of a warehouse, spots an alien that ducks behind some boxes. The alien did not reckon with the power of HLPX-COM laser weaponry: Kyad simply killed the boxes and then the alien with full auto.


A single alien appears, wielding a pistol, firing once at Scotty or the Skyranger's landing gear (it's hard to say, but it hit the landing gear). TrashMan finds its lack of self-preservation instinct disturbing. He fires one HE round, for a miss, and with an empty clip loads AP. One round, for a hit. The alien still stands. Axem launches a missile, but it misses by about a meter and flies off into the night. Bottom of the ninth, two outs, Headdie at bat...home run. Three hits, kill.


Mission complete. Canberra has been quarantined by the Australian army as a precaution while the search the town for additional civilian infectees or new aliens that might have escaped.


The standard Autocannon, like the Heavy Cannon before it, is slowly becoming ineffective. It may be time to switch to missile launchers for all heavy weapons troops.

"Load sabot. Target Zaku, direct front!"

A Feddie Story

 
Re: HLPX-COM: You're All Dying For Your Planet, Right Here!
I am a badass plasma-surviving machine.
17:37:02   Quanto: I want to have sexual intercourse with every space elf in existence
17:37:11   SpardaSon21: even the males?
17:37:22   Quanto: its not gay if its an elf

[21:51] <@Droid803> I now realize
[21:51] <@Droid803> this will be SLIIIIIGHTLY awkward
[21:51] <@Droid803> as this rich psychic girl will now be tsundere for a loli.
[21:51] <@Droid803> OH WELLL.

See what you're missing in #WoD and #Fsquest?

[07:57:32] <Caiaphas> inspired by HerraTohtori i built a supermaneuverable plane in ksp
[07:57:43] <Caiaphas> i just killed my pilots with a high-g maneuver
[07:58:19] <Caiaphas> apparently people can't take 20 gees for 5 continuous seconds
[08:00:11] <Caiaphas> the plane however performed admirably, and only crashed because it no longer had any guidance systems