XCOM (Firaxis)

[Dog Pants]

Maybe try easy mode on Ironman. Still a bit of risk, no boredom from repetition of save-scumming, small likelihood of repetition of the whole game due to extreme fuckuppery, many alien gibbage. No shame in easy mode if you can't be fucked with the combat.

[buzzmong]

I'm like Joose in that I prefer Ironman style games, which is incidently how I feel the xcom style games should do by default.

That said Xcom 2012 got Ironman a bit wonky on Classic and Impossible. Due to how the Geoscape worked with panic and satellites, failing a mission was pretty much a death blow in the first six months. You could perhaps fail one mission if you managed to save two or three soldiers, but a full squad wipe was impossible to come back from. One of the reasons I'm really looking forward to the sequel is because of the changes to the Geoscape which should mean it's not an instant fail anymore.

Normal Ironman was pretty good though, just the right balance. I'd recommend that.

[FatherJack]

Well, I had another go and I think one of us has changed and it's probably not the game because I don't really remember it being as enjoyable.

Went for Easy Ironman, but I did discover that you can just quit the game and do the mission you were failing on over again, so it's not actually any different than not ironman. I only used it when I bought a load of medkits and forgot to equip them before starting the mission.

I played it on the Steam link with a 360 controller which made it feel a bit different as well. Mostly though, I think I just had a better idea of what I was doing this time. I actually knew what overwatch was, used grenades to destroy alien's cover, but not the actual aliens, and basically didn't play it like the similar-ish game Valkyrie Chronicles that I was playing at the same sort of time before. The object in that game (if you wanted an A-grade) being to pull off ludicrous shots from miles away and rush to the objective. So actually quite the reverse of XCOM. I think there was an optional objective in one of the XCOM maps I played that first time, where you had to collect resources within a strict time limit which led to you overexposing yourself, and that kind of reinforced the incorrect way to play it.

I still wouldn't say I'm completely over the dread of getting dumped with a mission with no cover or everyone dying because of something I couldn't know about, and I didn't much like the way two of the classes arbitrary "upgrades" made them less effective.

[Joose]

I didn't much like the way two of the classes arbitrary "upgrades" made them less effective.

Which ones?

[buzzmong]

I'm also confused. There were some choices which were utter no brainers and clearly much better than the opposing choice (eg, squadsight), but I don't recall any upgrades that made anyone worse.

The only possible class which forced a big change in tactics was the MEC suit level 1 or 2, where you choose to punch or use the flamethrower.

[FatherJack]

I think it was the initial sniper and assault upgrades - getting a sniper rifle meant they couldn't move and shoot/overwatch in the same turn and the assault's assault rifle is replaced by a shotgun. I know now that both of those can be changed/mitigated, but they felt like downgrades when they were forced on me.

I played it into late last night and learned a few other things too, chiefly that even easy is a difficult challenge when you don't know the game or are not a professional championship gamer like you lot obviously are.

I'm down to a dwinling set of soldiers with no money to buy any more and half the world in panic. With no real explaination as to why those things have happened when I've done everything the game has asked of me I can only conclude that the game is being a dick.

I recall that satellites had something to with money generation, so launched one, but never really tried to do more. After a few missions I got a decent chunk of money, so I assumed that would continue, but it did not. I spaffed $600 or so on workshops, labs and raqndom equipment, but now I have literally no money to buy a replacement soldier or to make the key thing to get into the base.

I understand that when you choose to do a mission in one place that the panic goes up in the ones you don't choose, but it seems to go up a hell of a lot at once - 2 or 3 levels when there are only 5 levels in total.

The aliens seem to go for your favourite soldiers - the highest ranked ones, even where easier targets are available. When I was tasked with capturing aliens alive I sent two experienced soldiers along with two red-shirt (actually red-haired in my colour-coded system) rookies whose sole job it was to walk directly up to the aliens I hadn't yet added to my collection and zap them with the stun gun. The two rookies were the only ones who made it out alive

It feels like the game is always moving at a faster pace than it's possible to catch up with - I never really had the funds to use anything beyond the equipment you get at the start, only met four types of aliens, but they were still using tricks for which I had nothing to counteract like poison and panic.

And the Enemy Within DLC, is that built into the game or a separate thing and do I need to finish the main game first before being allowed to run it? I get a choice when I first run the game, but if I click Enemy Within the game just doesn't run.
Edit: solved - there was a firewall popup that prevented it loading in big picture

[Dog Pants]

I think it was the initial sniper and assault upgrades - getting a sniper rifle meant they couldn't move and shoot/overwatch in the same turn and the assault's assault rifle is replaced by a shotgun. I know now that both of those can be changed/mitigated, but they felt like downgrades when they were forced on me.

I agree on the shotgun. I always switched the shotgun out with an assault rifle. One less thing to build too.

I recall that satellites had something to with money generation, so launched one, but never really tried to do more. After a few missions I got a decent chunk of money, so I assumed that would continue, but it did not. I spaffed $600 or so on workshops, labs and raqndom equipment, but now I have literally no money to buy a replacement soldier or to make the key thing to get into the base.

It's worth rushing satellites early on while there's power available, because they reduce panic and bring in cash. You can also sell shit on the black market - some of it is purely there for that (and is marked as such).

I understand that when you choose to do a mission in one place that the panic goes up in the ones you don't choose, but it seems to go up a hell of a lot at once - 2 or 3 levels when there are only 5 levels in total.

It should only go up one level, but UFOs landing and doing terror missions will also cause panic levels to rise. Failing missions might too.

The aliens seem to go for your favourite soldiers - the highest ranked ones, even where easier targets are available. When I was tasked with capturing aliens alive I sent two experienced soldiers along with two red-shirt (actually red-haired in my colour-coded system) rookies whose sole job it was to walk directly up to the aliens I hadn't yet added to my collection and zap them with the stun gun. The two rookies were the only ones who made it out alive

Never noticed that, but it's possible. Exploit it by putting them in heavy cover.

It feels like the game is always moving at a faster pace than it's possible to catch up with - I never really had the funds to use anything beyond the equipment you get at the start, only met four types of aliens, but they were still using tricks for which I had nothing to counteract like poison and panic.

Sounds like you're suffering from the strategic game hampering the tactical game. Without money coming in you're probably behind on technology. You should be looking at having laser weapons not long after you meet Thin Men.

And the Enemy Within DLC, is that built into the game or a separate thing and do I need to finish the main game first before being allowed to run it? I get a choice when I first run the game, but if I click Enemy Within the game just doesn't run.

Should run from the launcher. Sounds like there might be a problem with your install.