Oh dear. This is why you don't litter, kids. Otherwise a sentient race slumbering in the deepest trenches will rise and terrorize the surface folk. Always recycle.
Thankfully, X-Com
just so happened to be testing out its new underwater base. Lucky us, huh? Definitely a coincidence.
Those conspiracy groups
were right. It wasn't an iceberg; it was aliens that sunk the Titanic. X-Com came in and cleaned up the evidence.
[/end Intro Video]
I select genius difficulty. This is blind, and I don't want to get completely annihilated.
Hm. 70% of Earth is covered in water, rather to the measly 30% land of TTS. Base Location choosing is like shooting blind. I choose the middle of the Pacific, since I'll be able to cover a lot of ocean. I name it Destiny.
A quick glance reveals 40 years have passed since UFO Defense. You'd think they would have been more prepared for this.
Ok.....exactly same base buildings, with some having different names. Except underwater and stuff. I build a LR
Radar Sonar, Alien Containment, a storage area, and a living quarters.
Oh. Apparently my Subs actually can fly. Dur. Also, same exact ships with different names.
Same weapons with different names. Some probably have tweaks (I immediately notice smaller clip sizes).
EVEN THE SAME RESEARCH!? Bah. Maybe this won't be so blind after all. Hopefully it will diverge later on.
I grab
Motion Sensors Particle Dist. Sensor. It's always useful.
I sell a lot of the junk I never use and grab some scientists. I also get some
Avalanche Missiles DUP Heads, so I can switch my
Interceptor Barracuda load out. Also grab a
cannon tank Coelacanth/G. Cannon (Otherwise known as tank for the rest of the LP).
TTS has spoiled me a bit. Load-outs are saved and you can view the stats before a mission. In UFO Defense and TFTD, neither happen. Load-outs are actually automatically made. While I'm sure this makes people happy at a lower level of play, this just infuriates me, since I have to spend 3-5 minutes before every battle sorting equipment. It got so bad I just started ignoring UFOs in UFO Defense. The controls are smoother in TFTD, so it's not as rage worthy.
I chose these characters for my 'specials', based on their stats. Everyone else gets a rifle and a spare clip.
Anyway, if you specify equipment for your claim, I'll have to tag it on to the end of your name.
With the base set up, I start forwarding time. No enemy subs are detected, and the equipment I bought trickles in.
Well now I know why. They're everywhere else.
I try to get a Barracuda to the Indian Ocean. This is it's range. That is pathetic. I guess when February rolls around I'll have to get secondary bases with Barracudas. For now we're stuck in the Pacific Ocean.
Sub Detected! Unfortunately, I had dispatched a Barracuda a second time to see if that really was its range, and now it's out of fuel.
I send out the 2nd Barricuda. Engage!
I take a quick glance at what the Sub looks like.
Er. It ran out of ammo. Bah. These torpedoes suck.
I track the sub and find it landed over here. However, I had also tested the
Skyranger's Triton's range, and it was refueling, so I had to wait.
In the mean time, I looked over other weapon options and decided to go with
Stingrays AJAX.
The enemy sub escapes the Triton in the nick of time.
With the influx of scientists I purchased, research is completed.
Next tech on the line is
Laser Weapons Gauss Technology. I honestly find Med Packs useless until armor, since everyone dies in one hit anyway.
I start producing some Motion Sensors. They'll be equipped on the Scouts.
Four days later another Alien Sub is detected. This time, I'm prepared.
Using our new AJAX torpedoes, the Alien Sub is downed.
Yah yah, be careful, whatever. If you wanted to be careful you would send in trained professionals, not idiots that can't hit at point blank range.
Scout equipment. Pistol with some grenades and smoke. I add on motion sensors once I have them. Skill emphasis in on throwing skill.
Torpedo Launcher. Skill emphasis is on strength and firing accuracy.
Alright, MOVE OUT! I was a little confused why the back door wouldn't open, until I realized it was a side door. Also, enemy detected off the bat.
I'll be using this wonderful overview a lot in this LP. If it's in TTS I never noticed it. Orange dot is the tank, yellow are aquanauts, blue is enemies, and white are corpses. The rest is usually self explanatory (Terrain Details). As you can see, my tank spotted an enemy to the NE. That would be impossible to show in one screenshot.
What strange monster could have come out of the minds of the creators of X-com, perhaps underwater tentacle horrors?
Nope. A blue Sectoid. Bah.
I get the disgusting thing out of my sight with a solid harpoon from the tank.
I start spreading out with some aquanauts. Unfortunately, you can't go on top of the Triton using the wings, which made me very sad. Anyway, another blue thing on the horizon.
It's taken out with some auto fire javelins from a team mate.
Generally I'll take one of these pictures at the end of each turn, unless the action is centered at one point.
My tank bumps into something. Er.
A quick elevation rise reveals it to be a sunken ship! I guess there is some interesting terrain in the deep sea.
Torpedo Launcher gets into a sniping position (Yes. I use Torpedo Launchers as snipers. Deal with it)
With all this random cover though, I'm not sure how much use he'll be until he gets to a higher elevation.
I explore the ship. Seems the second level has a nice open area. I make a mental note to put a sniper or two up there.
I finely find the crashed Sub to the north, along with a Blue Sectoid guarding the front (?).
I take a few pot shots, but otherwise most of my guys are out of range. The Blue Sectoid escapes for now. I back up the tank behind some cover.
Next turn I peek around with the tank again, and to my amazement, it's gone. Where could it have gone? Did it float away onto the top of the Sub, where I can't see it? Is it fast like the Chrysalid? In the end, I decide it probably has the same stats as a Sectoid, and I'll be getting 'Floaters' later on. That differently colored wall on the Sub is probably a door.
I find another Blue Sectoid off to the East.
Sounds like a job for Mr. Sniper.
It survives the blast. How does one survive a harpoon to the gut. Bah. No one else is in range, so I retreat my scout a bit.
A little while later, a blue alien pops out of the Sub and tries annihilating my tank. It hides back inside (This is certainly an improvement in AI from TTS and UFO Defense).
Tank survives, since the alien couldn't hit it.
I set up the following reaction fire squad, in case the Blue Sectoid decides to take another peek at its new neighbors.
I finish off the Blue Sectoid that was pestering my east flank earlier. It tried taking out my scout, who was behind cover, and therefore couldn't run far.
I get Torpedo Launcher on to the high ground. Though repeated failures of falling through that black tile, he never actually sees use.
I finely get some good scouting info on the enemy sub. Looks like there might be a hole in the back.
It comes out again. It is peppered with reaction fire, but our squad's aim sucks. It takes a few pot shots at our aquanauts.
The tank takes a bad hit, so I send it off on a rather safe scouting mission.
Well lookee here. Looks like there may indeed be a back entrance. Could hit that annoying Blue Sectoid from behind.
A 2nd Blue Sectoid is spotted off to the east. It takes a javelin from our sniper, and survives like the other Blue Sectoid. I'm starting to wonder if damage drop off is simulated in this. I know it is in TTS, but since it could be toggled, I figured it wasn't in the original.
This time, our guys get him.
The wandering Sectoid is picked off also. We are ready to move into the Sub.
Any aliens remaining will get sandwiched.
Almost disappointingly, the mission was already over. I never got to use that back door or explore the sub.
And our rating was ok!? No losses, and you call that ok? Do you know how much
luck skill that required? Bah.
MicKey gets promoted for getting the closest to the Sub
Author
Topic: X-Com: Terror From The Deep - An Orb Let's Play (Read 21661 times)