New Record - 1:41:08 X-Com Ufo Defense Ironman Veteran

[Inmemorium]

Twitch link for better quality(watch on SOURCE)
https://www.twitch.tv/inmemorium/v/107993420

So many clench moments, but I don't want to spoil the run for you guys. 

Same rules as before:
-custom initial base
-force craft launch
-control to force fire
-0 turn grenades
-technically, psi ops at any time was on, but never used much less a psi ops facility built

Time for more TFTD speedruns!  twitch.tv/inmemorium.  Currently hold a 5:40 speedrun time in TFTD with the same rules and difficulty.

[Starving Poet]

Very nice man!  I love watching these - For video quality purposes, might I recommend Cooper's Smoke?https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4603.msg65381.html#msg65381 which is a less-dense vanilla smoke.  It'll help with the artifacting when the screen is full of it.

[Inmemorium]

Very nice man!  I love watching these - For video quality purposes, might I recommend Cooper's Smoke?https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4603.msg65381.html#msg65381 which is a less-dense vanilla smoke.  It'll help with the artifacting when the screen is full of it.

Thanks for the suggestion, however, I intentionally play vanilla sprites except the OpenXCOM built-in enhanced soldier sprites.  I get asked every few days if I play any mods as well - I do not.  Not my thing.

The encoding takes a hit because I can only upload at a 1500 bitrate.  So, I downscale my 720p by half to keep everything "readable" or else it would be even worse.  New internet should be forthcoming in the next few weeks which will allow higher bitrates.

[Dioxine]

Quite poor, if lucky, attempt, wasted much time on pointless missions and relied on instant smoke grenade cheat.

[Inmemorium]

Quite poor, if lucky, attempt, wasted much time on pointless missions and relied on instant smoke grenade cheat.

Thank you for the constructive criticism! 

I'm sorry I wasted too much time in a sub 2 hour run.
I am sorry I use smoke grenades.(Aliens get 0 turn grenades as well which they use quite often in most of my run attempts, so are the aliens cheating as well?)
So, using your logic - is it cheating to fire a Blaster at ground level to explode through the ground(no, volume explosions are not on) to destroy the Brain?  Because I could save even more time by cheesing the final mission that way.

I hope you understand that aliens actually get buffed in smoke.  They see 3 tiles deeper into smoke than any human controlled unit.  The only thing 0 turn smokes prevent are reaction shots, and not many at that as any one of my viewers on stream will tell you I have lose 10+ tanks a day just trying to leave the craft WHILE IN THE COVER OF SMOKE.  Sure, I got lucky at the end but it was also good tactics.  I know how to bait aliens in X-Com quite well.  Just give them vision of other units on the otherside of the map without revealing your flankers.

If you have a better run, I am always down to watch faster runs to learn!  Honestly, still new to the forums but you come off as a "hater" with a one sentence critique.  Sure, I was lucky as hell - that is the point of speedrunning X-Com/TFTD:  get good RNG and take advantage of it.  That was literally 1 run of 100.  Trust me, the runs don't go at all that well 99% of the time.

Most runs in X-Com can now reach Final Mission.  TFTD, I am lucky to see the final mission in 3 hours(those darn Lobstermen Commanders).  If you didn't actually like my custom rules, then why watch the run?  That is why I have the rules listed before you even watch.

[ohartenstein23]

Aliens can't spam smoke with instant grenades, and being able to control line of sight so easily is a substantial buff to XCOM over the aliens.  That and it makes high explosive packs way too good (rocket launcher that doesn't need a launcher, yes please!).

[Inmemorium]

Aliens can't spam smoke with instant grenades, and being able to control line of sight so easily is a substantial buff to XCOM over the aliens.  That and it makes high explosive packs way too good (rocket launcher that doesn't need a launcher, yes please!).

I don't use high explosives in any veteran run.  You just get mind controlled and your gentlemen become walking apocolypses.

Am I missing something?  Aren't speedrunners allowed to set their own rules - more so since X-Com doesn't even have categories yet except TASBot?  If you do not like my custom rules then don't watch.  Don't know what else to tell you. 

[ohartenstein23]

OpenXcom doesn't really have much in the way of a speedrunning community as far as I know, save maybe the 1-mission challenge.  Most challenges here are done by handicapping the player in ways other than time constraints.  Things like instant grenades is very much a cheat compared to not having it, so the speedrun category you're creating here is considered not very impressive compared to the standards of doing Superhuman/Ironman runs, or Hawaii challenge, or human weapons only, etc.  The reactions you're reading are along the lines of "Of course you can play the game quickly with instant smoke, try not making the game easier before posting record speedruns."

[Starving Poet]

It's just that smoke grenades that explode on the turn they are thrown completely negate alien AI and reaction fire.   Aliens also only throw grenades if your troops are clumped - they will never throw a grenade against a single soldier, even if it would guarantee a kill - so it's apples and oranges when you complain about their grenade use.   You won't find too much love for instant grenades around here because they turn the most effective weapon into an 'i win button'. 

[The Reaver of Darkness]

Pretty cool run, I like your style. I have a few tips for you though:

4.) I have been taking advantage of smoke in my games, but I haven't been using smoke grenades or weapons. I find that HE weapons are a great way to spread smoke without compromising your damage.

3.) You can aim better with explosives if you shoot at the ground sometimes. This is especially good for aiming at a target that's standing in an open area. Just shoot the ground near them and a miss is more likely to be a hit.

2.) Minor nitpick but it's been bugging me that you often throw smoke grenades at the edge of your existing smoke cloud. You can get more smoke spread if you throw them a few squares past the edge. Also, as far as I am aware there is no benefit to layering extra smoke, so it bugs me when you throw smoke grenades down in heavily-smoked areas.

1.) My most important pointer for you: Aliens can see perfectly in the dark. I am pretty sure they do not see any further in smoke than you do. The reason they can see you through the smoke on Mars surface is because it is partially darkened. If you threw electro-flares out past the edge of your smoke cloud, you should see the sectoids at the same time as they see you, triggering mutual surprise and protecting your tanks.



I am interested in seeing you play my mod. In it the game is pretty similar to vanilla in many ways, but a lot of things are added to fill holes. Interceptions are more difficult but there's more types of aircraft, there's more weapons and also reasons to use snap shots (re-balanced accuracy values), more smoke options and tank options, and the aliens' psionics are less cheaty. Overall the game is extended a lot so you'll probably not be able to finish it nearly as fast, but your vanilla experience should be enough that you can jump in and start winning without much of a learning curve.