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[Girlinhat]

So this thing happened.  And now I'm on a DOSBOX.  Staring at the "Select Difficulty" screen...

Superhuman looks terrifying.  Then again, fear is the mind killer.  I must have no fear...

I am also "blind" - do I fear the unknown, or am I too ignorant to know better?

What do I do, Bay 12?  Tell me!  Also I can post videos of this.

[lazygun]

There was a bug in the game where you got beginner difficulty level no matter what you chose. So don't worry there. There was a program called xcomutil that got around that. It also let you customize your game in other ways and fixed other bugs. You may want to take a closer look at xcomutil for its other bugfixes, but I say for your first game go with beginner difficulty anyway.

[JacenHanLovesLegos]

Try OpenXcom. It's a ground up remake of X-com, and it fixes the annoying bugs and limits of the original, while adding some new optional features such as customizable first base layout. A complete list of changes is here. It requires some files from the original though, so you need to purchase it to be able to run the game, which I assume you already have, considering this thread is here in the first place.

I suggest a veteran ironman game, hard enough to be entertaining, but easy enough that we don't lose the game in the first month.

[Girlinhat]

I actually just started faffing about in Beginner.  Getting ahold of basic ideas like "you can fire to interrupt the enemy's turn" results in weird tactics...

[Girlinhat]

Alright, I've faffed about a few beginner campaigns and been failing...  But I got the controls under, um, under control...  Ready to open up for serious play.

You can claim soldiers, and their preferred roles, as well as their outfit/weapons to some small extent.

Bay12 is the Council of Funders... or however it's called.  This means you control my funding (not really) and dictate how I handle units, battle tactics, base expansion, etc.  So, first off decide where to place the starting base, what expansions and research to do, what to buy, and whatever else.  I'll record a video for a month, and let the Council judge my progress.

Begin bossing me around!

[Timeless Bob]

Stick the first base in the middle of the Rocky Mountains and name it NORAD.  You'll want to get an extra lab and hanger built right away.  Be sure to order ten suits of body armour and at least two flares, two smoke grenades and two HE grenades for every soldier.  Those ET's are space adapted, so while you may not be able to see them in the dark, they sure as plasma will probably be able to see you.

[lazygun]

You can't get body armour until later, when you've recovered the alien materials that allow you to research it.

Buying a load of electro flares is sound advice. Each soldier should have a selection of grenades. At least smoke + HE + proximity. Use smoke to cover your exit from the skyranger.

Your first base is thoroughly indefensible, and it WILL get attacked sooner or later. So start a second base during month 1. You need extra bases for the radar coverage anyway. Aliens can enter through the elevator or the hangars so try to give them only one way into the rest of the base.

As for research. I can't remember if you start with medikits. I think not, so research them and start manufacturing them. Then go for laser weaponry and laser rifles.

[MonkeyHead]

If you want a modern take on X-Com, try UFO:AI. Open source, unfinished, but dark and gritty with some decent military semi-realism in there.

[CognitiveDissonance]

Hurray for original X-Com! I was just reading the wiki on it, and thinking about how I miss it. I am so in

Please give me a heavy gunner. I'd like one of the heavy cannons, and as many support grenades I can carry. It's like sniping, except the bullets are WAY bigger!

As to bases, I suggest starting in Europe or Middle East. North America is important, but it's a relatively smaller landmass. It's really hard to get elsewhere from there.

Second base is good to have, but only once income feels stable. I don't usually start a second base this early, and rarely ever get attacked. Besides.... attack = free loot for all!

[Flying Dice]

Base layout: Only have a single point of contact between the hangers and the rest of the base: the elevator. This makes the lategame much easier, as alien base attackers can only enter through the elevator and hangers, and that sort of layout forces them into a natural choke-point. Certain base buildings (Storerooms and the dorm/barracks rooms are the ones that come to mind) can't be destroyed as collateral damage during base fights; most can. Build with this in mind. If you're intent on playing without any fixes, start building a pair of hangers next to the "north" one and delete the two south ones when they finish, because the default starting layout is massively idiotic.

Ditch the heavy cannons, order a second autocannon. With a mix of AC-HE and AC-I they can stay useful until the lategame. Also, smoke grenades. Lots of smoke grenades. Every time you land, smoke grenade the bottom of the ramp. Set financial independence as a goal; some items (in vanilla, most notable are laser cannons [the ship weapons] and motion scanners) can be made and sold for a good profit.

PTW, incidentally.

[MaximumZero]

I'd like a six-pack of soldier clones, please. The MaxClones will defeat the allium scum via explosives!

[Mephansteras]

I always enjoy X-Com LPs.

I'll take a soldier:
Name: Badger
Role: Scout
Equipment: Pistol, flares/grenades. Motion Scanner once we get one.
Stats: High Reaction is most important, followed by decent/high brave. Everything else is gravy.


As far as strategy goes, I'm happy with a base in the rockies. Getting enough electro flares and whatnot is also good.

First priority for research should be motion scanners. Partially so that Badger can have one and partially because they give us something to build for trade until we get more interesting things to research/build.

[JacenHanLovesLegos]

I will also take a soldier.

Name: Jacen
Role: Door breacher
Equipment: Stun rod! And whatever standard weapon you happen to be using.

Again, I highly recommend OpenXcom. It is feature complete and fixes just about all of the bugs in the original.

[ragnarok97071]

I'll take someone too.

Name: Shiela
Role: Tank (not tank driver. Tank.)
Equipment: Is a Tank.

[Darkmere]

Specialist Darkmere reporting for duty!

Role: Sniper.
Gear: The most accurate weapon available. Proximity mines when available. Light body armor, spare heavier armor as available. When plasma is available, I still want a laser rifle in my backpack for, uh.... luck.
Stats: Meh. Reaction is nice but using mostly aimed shots will train up what I need soon enough.

Every mission Darkmere should kneel at the highest vantage point to cover all the redshirts his valued comrades-in-arms.

- - -

There's 2 general base placement strategies: Cover a few wealthy nations (North America) or many smaller contributors (Europe, Asia). Either works, but the few wealthy strategy is vulnerable to infiltration and one massive funding cut can put us in a bad spot.

Other than that, my advice is to build a long range radar as soon as feasible and get SOMEthing besides those pitiful starter cannons on our Interceptors. A Tank (cannon is cheaper, rocket is more fun) also helps in the early game, but they can't be fielded unless fully armed (IIRC) so extra ammo is a must.

Also, how blind/FUN!! do you want this to be?