Am I behind the tech curve and should I have researched more ways to prevent this? Or is it just inevitable that one or two nations are going to get subverted? Should I consider this campaign lost or might I be able to salvage a win from this? Currently the in-game date is 3/7/1999. Honestly I wouldn't mind starting over as my first playthrough was pretty unfocused, not really targeting/focusing techs that might be important or could have saved me.If you have ever played vanilla x-com you are probably aware that infiltrations can not be prevented - only delayed. As it stands right now this is also the case in XCF, as infiltration mission are set up to be not interruptable (though it is quite easy to change this). This is compounded by the recent removal of alien embassy missions, meaning you can not get countries to rejoin the project. What - if any - impact this has on your playthrough depends largely on your overall budget. If you have enough funding from other nations/production/etc. to support operations this should not be a problem.
If you have ever played vanilla x-com you are probably aware that infiltrations can not be prevented - only delayed.
As it stands right now this is also the case in XCF, as infiltration mission are set up to be not interruptable (though it is quite easy to change this). This is compounded by the recent removal of alien embassy missions, meaning you can not get countries to rejoin the project.
As far as I recall, it has been distinctly possible to prevent the infiltration from succeeding in the original game by managing to destroy the alien base in the country being infiltrated in a timely manner.You can not prevent infiltration in the original game, only delay it. Infiltration suceeds the moment the second battleship of the wave is spawned (which also spawns the alien base). Destroying the alien base does not prevent infiltration.
I have seen that the alien embassies are getting constructed at the time the infiltration battleships arrive. Even if the battleships are shot down, and the embassy is destroyed the same day, the infiltration appears to succeed.Again, this is the same as in vanilla.
Yeah I ended up just resetting after I lost two of my bases. I think the biggest problem in the first play through was diddling around with all the weapon requisition techs that I wasn't even going to end up using. I did have the kitsune and the interceptor and I believe my best weapon was the black-ops magnum/regular magnum depending on money I want to spend. They carried my past the humanish enemies and some of the weaker enemies after that, but fighting the underground aliens was hard with just magnums and grenades as the mainstay weapon.
Also research captured enemies and creatures asap as they can give better research topics and info on weapons and things.That can be hit and miss. A lot of alien creatures and lower ranks never give anything that substantially advances your tech base, they mostly give flavour text. And all aliens are pretty costly to research. Blindly researching any new alien creature you lay your hands on is a pretty good way to lose the game.
The same thing happened to me, the US retired from XCOM funding first. RNG really screwed my over (I presume it doesn't HAVE to play out this way), as 95% of all UFOs I'm seeing are staffed by Mutons.Well, yeah. Once you roll a bunch of Muton missions, they can fly these for a while. You should be getting a chance (or several) at a new race every month, though.
It sucks, because the mod has several bottlenecks that require specific captures, most importantly I was struggling with capturing a Navigator...You mean Alien Codes? It doesn't specifically need a Navigator, but the alternatives are worse. You should have gotten a Sectoid Navigator early on, though.
But larger UFOs are packed with Annihilators or what these tank thingies are called, it feels beyond unfair and has soured me on the mod a bit.Well, at least it's aliens who are supposed to be unfair. I felt the same about MiB, who are meant to be a mirror org of sorts, but can jump you with endgame armour even before the invasion proper starts.
Btw., what is required to be allowed to field 'em tanks? I've built a dozen laser tanks, but none of my craft are allowed to carry them...Sentient alien crystals to 'wear' them.
Well, yeah. Once you roll a bunch of Muton missions, they can fly these for a while. You should be getting a chance (or several) at a new race every month, though.
OTOH, count your blessings while Japan and Germany are still in. :)
You mean Alien Codes? It doesn't specifically need a Navigator, but the alternatives are worse. You should have gotten a Sectoid Navigator early on, though.
Well, at least it's aliens who are supposed to be unfair. I felt the same about MiB, who are meant to be a mirror org of sorts, but can jump you with endgame armour even before the invasion proper starts.
Sentient alien crystals to 'wear' them.
Unfortunately, it's been more than a year at this point. I have seen a single sectoid ship early on, a few (say three) Chaser ones and just recently one with Gazers (not much better than Mutons honestly).Well, them Gazers are your new pals for the month, then. :P
...fancy Plasma weaponry the mod doesn't allow me to research due to bad tech tree pacing and I have >500 elerium and alien alloys stashed away.Eh, this is one change I quite like. The OG tech tree where you research plasmas in a few months was really silly.
At least it's been better than with all the Plasma stuff I can only use as door stoppers still.Well, at least they're really fancy door stoppers. Maybe there ought to be an event about that. Hey, Solarius, take note!
I'd have never expected it to work like that, what a ... weird mechanic.Yeah. But it's either that or tanks that don't advance in stats.
Well, them Gazers are your new pals for the month, then. :P
This excessive variance is both something a mod can't do a terrible lot about (without insane scripting, that is), and is also intentional to boot. If you get really fed up with it, go look for 'alienMissions:' in your save and change the race back to Sectoids, or Floaters, or something. Actually, Sectoids are kinda badass, too, so maybe not them.
Eh, this is one change I quite like. The OG tech tree where you research plasmas in a few months was really silly.
500 is rookie numbers. ;D I have over 3000 Elerium (and several thousand alloys, but these come and go) at the moment, and I'm not even a year into the invasion.
Yeah. But it's either that or tanks that don't advance in stats.
They aren't. Just faced some Waspites. Yay. At least they were reasonably easy to kill for a change.Well, then you have two sets of new pals. ;D Make sure you take some back home for
If a game (mod) forces me to edit the savegame that's a bit of a failure in my book.It doesn't force you. You can continue running the game and hoping for an alien race that's easier to capture. Waspites seem to be fitting the bill anyway?
I agree in a way, but also. The OG was aware of the fact that the player was in danger of facing Mutons and needed a way to deal with them, and also the idea that I'm sitting on hundreds of plasma weapons and none of my scientists is able to figure out ANYTHING about them is beyond silly as well.Solarius's stance is that not all battles need to be winnable. The Mutons will relent eventually, you will get some captures even if they don't, etc.
In my opinion, I'm in a spot a player shouldn't get into. I have only some minor crap left to research (after completely running out previously), I have tons of loot I can neither use nor research, and I have nothing I can do to press forward except playing the waiting game for the RNG.I think your biggest problem is that the mod is predicated on the player getting regular captures, and you failed to do that because Mutons. It's a somewhat rare and mildly interesting scenario.
I'd take the non-stat-advancing tanks.You would, but this has been the biggest criticism levied against HWPs for nearly three decades.
I thought first the awakened AI stuff was some take at androids or somesuch, seperate from the tanks, which is also why I didn't even think of having the scout AI thing I had "wear" a tank.The AIs can also wear Terminator suits, which isn't too far from androids. Quite late-game, though.
Well, then you have two sets of new pals. ;D Make sure you take some back home forpartyinginterrogation.
But it's a way to alleviate the tedium, the mod being what it is. If you don't want to make life easier for yourself in an attempt to play 'as the creator intended' or whatever your line of reasoning is, that's fine. But I find such an attitude kinda weird when applied to mods and especially mods in the middle of development. Mods are all about altering the game to suit your tastes, and so is changing tedious stuff via various means (save editing, submods, memory manipulation, building your own fork, etc).
Solarius's stance is that not all battles need to be winnable. The Mutons will relent eventually, you will get some captures even if they don't, etc.
There are actually two tiers of plasma research. Right now, your scientists are at the phase of "these be weapons, but damn if we know how to activate them". Kinda makes sense for an interstellar polity to make their weapons not easily accessible. Then you get to use captured weapons, and finally you get to build your own.
(...)
I think your biggest problem is that the mod is predicated on the player getting regular captures, and you failed to do that because Mutons. It's a somewhat rare and mildly interesting scenario.
RNG can be skipped by save editing. When I first played XCF back in 2017 or so, I meticulously made lists of random missions for the month by reloading several times, and then edited in a big combined list to make sure I get a variety of missions every month. Made for more interesting mission sets, but yeah, not something a sane person would do. :D
You would, but this has been the biggest criticism levied against HWPs for nearly three decades.
How's your research ?
You can always post a save game file. This will help us see what's going on.
You mean my progress? 82%.
I'll see about uploading a save when I get back home.