Re: The X-Com Files - 3.5: Whispers In The Dark

[tarkalak]

Hi, i want to talk about undercover missions. Is it just me or are they not worth pursuing at all? I noticed the following.

1) Not being able to retreat from them adds a huge risk, especially early in the game when you only have space for 2 agents in the transport vehicle.

1a) This risk is even bigger when it's the first time you go on a specific type of undercover mission, since you don't know what to expect.

2) The penalty for not going on those missions is very low, and i don't recall the rewards being anything impressive (early game at least, dunno about later on)

So with these things combined, undercover missions just seem like too big a hassle to bother with. Has anyone else noticed this, or am i missing something?

1) Research Logistics. It takes 10 days, no chance you will get undercover missions before having 4 agents to send.

1a) Applies to a lot of missions in game. Actually there are a few missions that might surprise you with a total teamkill early on.

2) They are easy and give you money. I got a few million from one once. Also one of the types is needed for one of the factions at least.

It is your preference. I find them fun and a needed break from the large missions you get near to defeating the early cults. You can ignore them or send a bunch of expendables to roll the die.

[Bananas_Akimbo]

Beach missions are worth the danger, most of the time.
They are the earliest opportunity to capture a member of the Osiron faction and unlock further missions against them.
Enemies have some nice weapons for the early game.
And most importantly the 3 crates you find in every mission usually contain some alien tech. Most of the stuff in there is either useful or valuable.

Industrial and ski resort missions on the other hand indeed give you nothing of great value.

But there are also other, more rare, undercover missions, which you don't unlock through research topics. There's a 'concerned citizens' mission for example, that will give you quite a bit more negative points, if ignored, but is also significantly easier.

[the nomad]

Indeed, most profitable undercover mission is Osiron beach missions. You can make huge leaps in research and equipment with the loots.

The worst mission is ski resort in my opinion, the one where you stand in a house with windows like every two squares. One move, don't move, or fire, and you are dead. No safe place, wherever you hide there is at least one shot from one of the windows. Never been able to do that one without at least 4 losses, so I just skip them.

[Jimboman]

The worst mission is ski resort in my opinion, the one where you stand in a house with windows like every two squares. One move, don't move, or fire, and you are dead. No safe place, wherever you hide there is at least one shot from one of the windows. Never been able to do that one without at least 4 losses, so I just skip them.

Before the Hobbes debacle meant Solaris had to remove Hobbes' terrains the ski-resort mission took place in a village and was just like any other town mission, except for only using sport rifles.  I guess he hasn't had time to redo it properly yet.

[Bananas_Akimbo]

I gotta say though, the ski resort mission has become significantly easier, ever since the map has been replaced. Now it's not a resort town anymore but just a a single house (where you spawn) in the middle of a snowy desert. As long as the house spawns at the edge of the map (every single time for me so far) your agents can just take cover behind the house and snipe away at the enemies with sports rifles. All the enemies have zero cover.


Another subject:
Is anyone else having trouble finding Zombie Infectors? If I'm not mistaken, those are the gateway to receiving MAGMA lab missions, which I am very antsy to get into. I want those zombie trooper implants!
In the first campaign, that I started quite a while ago, I encountered many infectors in a variety of missions and I was fighting zombie troopers already in mid '98. But in my second campaign and now in my third I'm having no luck. Now in December '98 I haven't found a single one, yet. I haven't skipped any zombie missions, but all I encounter are normal zombies, fat zombies and boomers and a Vampire Knight once. I'm not receiving any catacomb missions either, which always used to contain a couple of infectors.
Did something change or am I just unlucky?

[Solarius Scorch]

Actually, I didn't change this mission in any way, besides adding the starting house at some point.

[tarkalak]

Actually, I didn't change this mission in any way, besides adding the starting house at some point.

I had the same experience with it too. Before, with the van, I had to fight in a map with several buildings, fences, etc. After the house was introduced, I get a tundra map, where my house is the only building. I think that I made only one Sport mission after the house was introduced so it might have just been bad RNG in the map creation.

[the nomad]

Is anyone else having trouble finding Zombie Infectors? If I'm not mistaken, those are the gateway to receiving MAGMA lab missions, which I am very antsy to get into. I want those zombie trooper implants!
In the first campaign, that I started quite a while ago, I encountered many infectors in a variety of missions and I was fighting zombie troopers already in mid '98. But in my second campaign and now in my third I'm having no luck. Now in December '98 I haven't found a single one, yet. I haven't skipped any zombie missions, but all I encounter are normal zombies, fat zombies and boomers and a Vampire Knight once. I'm not receiving any catacomb missions either, which always used to contain a couple of infectors.
Did something change or am I just unlucky?

It is probably just bad luck. While I never had any trouble particulary about zombie infectors, in one replay the dagon outpost did not spawn for a year and a half (only safehouses). Thanks to that I couldn't take any Chosen or Priest alive and research Dagon Operations, which means I had a plane that sucked even when the invasion started (you can only go so far with Dragonfly). Same stuff.

I gotta say though, the ski resort mission has become significantly easier, ever since the map has been replaced. Now it's not a resort town anymore but just a a single house (where you spawn) in the middle of a snowy desert. As long as the house spawns at the edge of the map (every single time for me so far) your agents can just take cover behind the house and snipe away at the enemies with sports rifles. All the enemies have zero cover.

Hmm, maybe I was really unlucky because that house always seemed to spawn in the middle of the map for me.

[Solarius Scorch]

Darn, I think I was wrong - I did change some stuff.

Will have a look at this.

[Foxhound634]

the Hobbes debacle

What happened?

[Thunderwing280]

What happened?

I believe one day Hobbes demanded that all of his tilesets be removed from all mods that used it, since many mods used his tilesets it was quite a setback for some mods. AFAIK

[Thunderwing280]

Because I never felt like making the crew...

How about retexturing the cyberweb space suits with the council salvagers colours, purple and white? Give them a few of the salvager's weapons?

[Solarius Scorch]

How about retexturing the cyberweb space suits with the council salvagers colours, purple and white? Give them a few of the salvager's weapons?

You mean a new salvager unit for Dimension X?

If yes, then sure, can be done.

[thePaleone]

I believe one day Hobbes demanded that all of his tilesets be removed from all mods that used it, since many mods used his tilesets it was quite a setback for some mods. AFAIK

Why would Hobbes do that? I thought he's like a big modder/founder in this forum or something.

[Solarius Scorch]

Can we drop the subject now, please? I'm not joking.