r/Xcom

Well I'm extremely disappointed. I was really hoping to finally try this game out and after almost wrapping up the tutorial, I saved, but didn't actually save. I'm shocked that this game breaking bug is not discussed more. I verified the game files, I ran the game as administrator, I turned off cloud sync, I even tried adding the launcher through steam. My patience is kind of at the end of it's rope with this game and that sucks really hard because I was really liking it.

EDIT: I thought I got it working. I reinstalled the game to a directory not within the program files x86 ( I have no idea if the directory location is crucial but it ain't broke now) then I opened properties on the game launcher. There I checked the box to always run as administrator, as well as enabling compatibility mode with windows 8. This let me save but about another hour in I tried making a second save and this is where I hit a brick wall all over again.

On our channel we use games to explain management and leadership ideas, and XCOM 2 ended up being a really good way to talk about what happens when everything starts feeling urgent at once. The thing XCOM does really well is make you feel like whatever is directly in front of you HAS to be the most important thing. Mission timer is ticking down, somebody is wounded, you just activated another pod,

there’s some horrible alien standing there doing alien bullshit,

and meanwhile the campaign is still moving in the background. Avatar Project is progressing. Soldiers are getting hurt. Research is taking time. You still need resources. You still need a roster after this mission. So you can absolutely make the “right” decision for this turn and still make your overall situation worse. Threat prioritization is probably the easiest example. A Sectoid can look like the obvious problem because it’s weird and scary and has all the psychic stuff, but somebody who has played enough XCOM might be much more worried about the boring Officer or Trooper who can actually ruin the next turn.

That was the part I found really interesting from a management angle. When everything at work is urgent, people get very good at reacting to whatever is loudest. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re reacting to the thing with the biggest consequence. Grid Commander helped me with this episode because I wanted somebody who actually knows XCOM at a high level to explain what experienced players are seeing that newer players aren’t. Then I tied that into decision-making under pressure, expert intuition, and how people keep track of the wider situation without freezing up.

If that sounds interesting: Youtube Link

After living in my pile of shame for a year, I finally finished painting my printed ADVENT MEC. This was kind of challenging and probably not my favorite thing to paint so far, but in the end it turned out fine. On to the next one!

I’m a huge fan of the original Xcom(s) and  have played most of the subsequent renditions over the years.  I’ve had a lot of ideas on how I would go about reworking the original formula and I’ve put a bunch of them into this prototype to judge how they play.  I would love to hear anyones input and what they think. 

https://youtu.be/DArMWCMRW2s

Some of the systems I’ve designed this prototype to explore are

Voxels

Line of Sight

Cover

First Person View

Reaction Fire and Suppression 

Voxels:

Voxels are used for destructive environments, an expanded physics system (not seen here) and honest Line of Sight calculations.

LOS:

Honest Line of Sight system. You shoot at an exact point, always.  You can target anything.

Cover:

The concept of ‘Cover’  gets changed because of voxels and the honest LOS.  ‘Cover’ is simply the parts of a soldiers body that cannot be targeted by the enemy.  Your exposure differs dependant on what is exposed and to whom.  You’ve can’t be 50% or 100% within cover, as this means something different to each enemy.

First Person View:

I like this system enough it may become the primary way you fire at enemies and perhaps interact with your soldiers.   From within First Person View, you can peek and look around or over obsticles, thus exposing your soldier to return fire.

Reaction fire and Suppression:

These systems will work off each other, such that Suppression is somewhat of a counter for Reaction Fire, and Reaction Fire is a counter to Suppression. Soldiers will always fire in reaction as long as they have time units remaining at the end of thier turn.  Reactions are activiated simply by not using all of your allocated time units.

A unit is suppressed when being fired upon and depends on how close the shot came to the unit in question. Suppression is a forced reaction, and will cost the affected soldier time Units in the next turn.   Suppression works to change the stance of the enemy fired upon. The closer a bullet travels to a unit, the greater chance they will react.

-B