XCOM Files Timeline

[Vahn9995]

So I've been playing through the XCOM files, and I'm still in 1997; August to be exact.

I've been reading more about the mod, and the tech tree, and I was wondering, am I progressing too slowly? I only have one cult network researched, and all the chief officers but the military envoy. Should I restart, or is it okay for Promotion II to come in late? When is the usual time I should get Promotion II? I'm also having trouble getting the other network researches to unlock, so far I only have the Cult of Dagon Network researched. I'm just worried of being woefully underprepared for the alien invasion.

[Stone Lake]

You're a bit slow, but that's probably fine. The rough average timing for promo II is mid-late 97, promo III mid-late 98. It can be done much faster - reasonably hard promo III by early 98 (or even mid-late 97), but that won't necessarily make your invasion easier. Most aliens are beatable with marginal losses in promo II gear (if you have a knack for tactics). Getting to tanks will make it much easier, though.

[Amoebka]

Also worth mentioning that you can simply ignore aliens after the invasion starts. They don't cost you a lot of score, and you will easily be in the positives as long as you are progressing some other plotlines. Terrors are quite rare, and unprovoked retaliations basically don't exist.

[psavola]

Terrors are quite rare, and unprovoked retaliations basically don't exist.

Not quite. There is 20 % monthly chance (starting month 22) of alien retaliation even if you have researched or done nothing; see missionScripts entry "recurringRetaliation". However, it starts with sentry/sabouteur ships, so it's not huge fleets at first.

This happens sometimes. I actually a recall someone posting some time ago (a year+) where Gazers had done a retaliation, and they were impossible to beat on the poster's low-level weapons. After that, the retaliation races was shifted down a bit in this commit: https://github.com/SolariusScorch/XComFiles/commit/51a23b86bc080b56fcad39470a9d7f9c475caaf5 and more tiers for retaliating ships was added: https://github.com/SolariusScorch/XComFiles/commit/31f1bc48b4a66027a4c92e4449163d33e81a2b6f

[Amoebka]

Yes, they do indeed happen. However, 20% per month is quite low, they still need to actually find the base (no instant retaliations in files), and since radar base spamming is meta, the chance of them targeting a base that's important is even lower.
It is, of course, possible to get very unlucky, but usually they aren't an issue.

Gazers had done a retaliation, and they were impossible to beat on the poster's low-level weapons

Were gazers themselves changed at some point? They die like chumps to any explosives, even regular earth grenades.

[Solarius Scorch]

Were gazers themselves changed at some point?

No, I don't recall changing them.

[Empiro]

I would say you're at average progression. You can do faster, but it's not necessary. The biggest killer in XCF is getting blocked in research -- meaning that you're missing a pre-req that you can't easily get.

You should be trying as hard as possible to get the prerequisites for Promo II. The Military Envoy can be extremely hit-or-miss. I've had cases where I simply did not get a mission that would spawn a Black Lotus Footman mission until September, for example.