User:Amitakartok

In case anyone's wondering, amitakartok translates roughly into whateveryouwant in Hungarian. It's origin: when I registered at a site several years ago, the appropriate answer for the question "What should be your nickname?" seemed to be "whatever you want" and I started to like it. I use that as a universal nick on every registering and even in Garry's Mod (though it's a pity gmod doesn't have a Chryssalid NPC downloadable, that would be awesome XD).

My philosophy regarding soldiers: keep losses at minimum. One or two rookie is OK, three sergeants isn't. In that case, reload ASAP (why the hell they didn't put loading into battlescape?!). For this reason, my armor distribution is this: rookies have to become squaddies to earn armor. Officers get the latest equipment, e.g. Power/Flying suits. Also, in Cydonia every soldier is armed with Flying suits.

Regarding game series: if I have more than one title of a series, I play them sequentially to keep with the feeling and storyline. For example, I won't play TFTD until right after finishing the first X-COM. After TFTD, I'd like to go to Interceptor (it's X-COM4, but third in the timeline) (though I have to get it first; maybe Steam can help?), then at Apoc... you name it.

UFO

'99 July:

• Have two bases: starting one in Europe, expansion base in US under construction (no defenses yet, because without interceptions there is no retaliation).
• Team composition: 6 troopers with laser rifle, 2 with heavy laser (heavy plasma when I get there), one with super-heavy weapon (blaster when I get one, currently unarmed), one tech trooper (medkits, later psi-amp) and a Hovertank/Plasma (I don't plan on switching to Hovertank/Launcher because they're too weak: surely they have some serious damage, but very limited ammo).
• Lost one of the Interceptors to a Supply Ship (it was armed with a plasma and a laser), replacement in the exp. base.
• Repelled one base attack. Races sighted: sectoids, floaters and mutons (latter attacked me).
• Haven't lost any sponsors yet.

• Currently I have embarked to a terror mission in Chicago. I hope it isn't snakemen... Update: what the hell?! the mission ended just as it started! oh well, that's +48 points for me and 1500 less for the aliens.
• That hyperwave decoder was finally completed. Heh, the floaters are pretty pissed: they keep sending scouts to find my base and keep geting shot down by Interceptor-2. Not to mention those Sectoid scouts who are trying to build a base right on my doorstep. Fools...
• I have lost two sponsors so far: Brazil and Australia. One of the South American bases is already destroyed (it was floater, easy as pie), I have the other to tackle, plus the Australian one (which I don't know where it is, the Interceptors keep running out of fuel while patrolling and they can't keep up with Supply Ships either).
• Completely intact Sectoid Abductor: motherload! 100 ELERIUM!!! :D Really, I have about 500 units of E-115 in stores so this batch is welcome. On the other hand, my stores are overflowing but from what? Maybe from that >1100 units of alien alloys? (I hear you ask: why do I have so much? The answer is, with the mortality rate of ~0.9 soldier/mission, I need a constant stream of personal armors as well as rookies. Recently I got some extra, because officers are privileged to use new equipment; in this case, Power Suits.)
• HELP!!! I got stuck. I've got a terror site in Southeast Asia. As soon as the transport reaches Chinese airspace, I detect a retaliation Battleship heading for my base defended by two injured soldiers (Battleship parameters: max altitude, max speed, retaliation mission while making a beeline towards the base)! What should I do: press on attacking the terror site or bear the -1500 score penalty and defend the base? Battle plans:
  • Plan A: attack the terror site while defending against the retaliators (the base is undefended and the attackers are floaters; still, 2 against over a dozen, that's too much). If the base falls, the transport will be lost because I have 13 days until the secondary hangar in Phoenix come online.
  • Plan B: abandon the site and defend the base. In this case, the defense combined with two base assaults should yield enough points to negate that -1500, no?

The source is probably this: after I killed an Abductor (yet again...), I had a Small Scout snooping around the base. It overflew the base several times while I waited for the Interceptor to rearm those Plasma Cannons. Solution: always leave one Interceptor at home to defend against incoming retaliator scouts.

UPDATE: Dilemma solved. Tried to load a month earlier save, didn't help. So I ignored the terror site, but the base defense mission and two base assaults yielded several thousands of points, so I'm in Nov and had three consecutive months of Excellent rating. Hangar in secondary base got online, so I have swapped some squaddies with rookies to train them and increase my battle strength.

'99 Nov:

• Two bases, one full and one interception base.
• Currently researching Heavy Plasma. Next will be Psi-Amp or UFO Nav.
• One colonel, six sergeants, rest is mainly squaddies with a few rookies (they drop like flies). So far lost over a dozen soldiers and four tanks.
• Encountered over 160 UFOs, three base defenses and seven base assaults.
• Saw one thing I never saw before: three aliens killed by friendly fire!

'00 March:

• A third base in India is under construction.
• Nearly all researches completed.
• Started using psychics. I have a single soldier with 95 PStrength, but he never panicked or controlled any aliens. And then his first accomplishment was panicking three aliens in a row.
• Something isn't right. I haven't saw any UFO larger than a scout since December! And according to the graphs, I haven't missed any. Plus, there aren't any bases around which means I rarely get to plunder some Elerium (small scouts doesn't have any, medium scouts keep blowing up and even if they survive, same as with large scouts: the reactor already blew). Even more mysterious, I haven't saw terror sites for about half a year. About the scouts: they are retaliators from all species. Good thing I put up that mind shield...
• First Firestorm is comissioned, a Lightning is under construction. Without any serious enemy, I don't need them.
• UFOPaedia is full. The only remaining entries are Sectopod autopsy, Chryssalid, Cyberdisk and Blaster. I haven't met with the latter yet.
• As soon as I have all techs, I will start to gear up for Cydonia.
• A retaliator battleship got through. It was sectoid, but for some reason I only encountered one Cyberdisk.
• Favorite tactic: mind control sectoid, use the glitch to get to his inventory, drop his stuff and unload the pistol, then use him/her/it/whatever as a living shield. Or release control, then shoot him with a laser pistol to knock him unconscious. Then grenade him. Then watch in frustration as he/she/it/whatever stands up and run. Weeeee!

'00 August:

• More than 300 UFOs shot down.
• Heavy Alien Base activity in Siberia. A base is probably under construction.
• I didn't see a Blaster, so I made one.
• The Avenger is locked and loaded. Equipment is secured. The team is ready. There can be no retreat now.
• HOT NEWS: The Aliens got their asses kicked! The Brain died a quick and painful death from a Blaster! No losses suffered by the X-COM strike team! In the midst of the battle, the aliens suddenly started to shoot each other! A Cyberdisk exploded and took out it's Sectoid attackers! A young X-COM recruit have achieved the impossible: he mindcontrolled an ETHEREAL COMMANDER and aquired vital military intelligence! UN Security Council announced this day as a global red-letter day from now on!

TFTD

• I HATE SONIC PULSERS!!! Every time I see one, none of my men gets back alive.
• Somehow I captured a Gillman with a harpoon!
• All hail XcomUtil! Unlimited Gauss ammo is nice. The aliens are cheating anyway, so why shouldn't they taste their own medicine?

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X-Force

I don't know if you know about this, but I found yet another X-COM remake. It has been around for a while, but I forgot to mention it. The name of the project is X-Force: Fight for Destiny. It is completely DirectX-based and has some nice graphics, but the current version is V0.912. It is composed of "gamesets" which contain everything about a gamemode. The included gameset/script editor is German, but the game itself is multilingual (a total of 13 languages are available right at the start).

Differences from X-COM

General

• Option to change starting parameters: gameset, difficulty, composition of starting personnel, etc. Changes are reflected in starting funds: more personnel means less money. The default starting funds are ten million.
• Online updater for downloading new versions and addons.

Geoscape

• Engineers and scientists has differing "ability points". Basically, the higher this number, the faster the work is finished. For this reason, engineers and scientists also have individual names and can be sacked automatically whenever someone better is available for hire.
• Radar ranges are graphically represented in the map.
• No terror missions. UFOs that attack cities increase their infiltration level. They can be shot down normally. If a city's infiltration level reaches 100%, nothing happens yet.
• Previous versions contain the ability to dogfight with UFOs, arcade-style. This has been removed. Now you have to wait until they duke it out offscreen with only some info visible (stats of the combatants, who fires currently, etc.).
• Manufacturing items requires a resource called Alphatron. Alphatron can be gained by establishing specialised mining bases (assigning engineers increase mining efficiency) or by dismantling existing equipment. Also, certain Earth-based stuff (assault rifle, gas rifle, sniper rifle, rocket launcher) requires construction plans to build which can be purchased for a hefty price.
• Buying/selling equipment is also changed: countries make bids for the equipment and you decide which one you accept and when.
• No base defense missions. If a UFO attacks a base, the shield will be damaged. If it fails, all buildings within start to take damage. Damage can be repaired with engineers. UFOs fairly close to the base can be shot down by base defenses.
• UFOs prioritize crafts. If a craft enters radar range, the UFO will ignore it's current mission and attacks the craft instead.
• Bases are multi-level; some building can only be built on a certain level. Additional levels can be constructed for a fee.
• All pieces of equipment can be upgraded five times, but only if you have the construction plans.
• Soldiers, engineers and scientists can be trained to improve their skills. However, a soldier in training improves slower than in battle and training costs 25 credits per day.
• Five types of craft are available. The craft type only defines armor, as you can choose the weapons (projectile, missile or energy), engine(with or without maneuvering nozzles which enable strafing), sensor extensions and shields to install. These crafts are: Kronos fighter (very weak, one hardpoint), Ambassador transporter (can carry 6 soldiers and 31 units of stuff), Miranda cruiser (tough, two hardpoints), Intrepid destroyer (VERY tough, three hardpoints) and XF transport (needs to be researched, 12 soldiers and 40 units of stuff). Both transports are unarmed.

Battlescape

• Soldiers always look the same, clad in white full-body armor with yellow visor.
• Two armors available at the beginning, but additional armors become available over time or after researched.
• Aliens are suprisingly tough: the rocket launcher can barely scratch enemies that aren't of the starting type (Tombari Scientist). Also, their fusion weapons are VERY strong: the basic fusion pistol can kill an armored soldier with two hits.
• Automatic shots are a horribly inaccurate single shot. Aimed shots are possible to be fired to legs, torso and head.
• No HWPs, but soldiers can set up stationary sensors to watch an area or mines to cover their backs.
• No transports or UFOs, soldiers and aliens are just dumped onto the battlefield. Soldiers start in groups of five. Earlier versions had the ability to "beam up" soldiers from the battlefield.
• Soldiers don't have energy or morale. However, they can still be weighted down so much that their TUs decrease.
• Laser weapons has limited ammo and cannot be reloaded, only recharged after battle.
• I recently found a 2007 update log which says "introduction of range effect", "new damage calculations (introducing armor equipment for aliens)" and "many improvements at production and research (resource materials, upgrades as research trees, etc,)". I have yet to try that version.
• Data suggests that two of the aliens are psychic and soldiers too have two skills, PSI-Attack and PSI-Defense. However, the default gameset contains no research about using them.