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[drkpaladin]

Xcom soldiers never give off the vibe that they are hard boiled elite soldiers unless they have survived long enough under your command that you know that they are.  I always got the impression that xcom soldiers were all expendable desk jockies who were briefly instructed in basic firearms use by a ruthless corporation who took the stance that instead of taking the time and money to train elite troops, that they would instead just kinda throw any old bum against the wall and maybe they have what it takes to stick.

At least I like to imagine that I'm a ruthless CEO with a motivational poster in my office with a cat hanging from a tree that says something along the lines of "new recruits $40,000, alien corpses $20,000, Elerium... Priceless" 

[Stargrasper]

XCOM soldiers kind of have to fall of the face of the Earth when they get drafted.  Just so they aren't missed, I almost have to think they're the rejects from every major national military.  Rarely, you strike gold and get a demonically powerful supersoldier.  Usually you get cannon fodder.

[Vherid]

Xcom troops = Starship troopers

[Microcline]

I assumed that X-COM was the cream of the crop recruited from all of the world's armies, and that it was a case of segregation of gameplay and story that they had the combat prowess of the Springfield police.

The main advantage of hexes is that the increased number of contacting spots allows for more advanced formations and melee engagements (movement can be disregarded, as most square grid games have a 150% cost for diagonal movement, which is close enough to the actual factor of sqrt(2) while leaving it easy to calculate, as well as offering a total of eight squares to move to instead of six hexes).

If you want to maximize melee attacks, why no just let people attack over the diagonal (for 8 points of attack instead of just 6)?

I misspoke there.  The increased number of contacting spots is one of the advantages that hexes has for melee, not the only one.  There is also the fact that it makes melee flanking a non-trivial task, allowing the player to establish defensive fronts.  Wesnoth is a game that showcases most of the advantages that hexes have over squares for one-to-two block apart combat.

Square grid combat plays into X-COM's strengths: use of line-of-sight and dynamic cover.  The ready availability of a Cartesian grid makes it eas[ier] for the player to visualize their line of fire and how it might intersect with intermediary objects.

You're going to have to explain this one to me, because I seem to have contracted the stupids. (in case it's contagious, the question is "What makes it easier for you to estimate line of fire on a square grid, then it would be on a hex lattice?")

Line of fire is a matter of visualizing vectors.  It's far more intuitive in a cubic lattice because you have an already available system of orthogonal component vectors (the x, y, and z of the grid).  On the other hand visualizing vectors in a hexagonal lattice is much less intuitive.

[BishopX]

I assumed that X-COM was the cream of the crop recruited from all of the world's armies, and that it was a case of segregation of gameplay and story that they had the combat prowess of the Springfield police.

The thing is, xcom recruits actually have pretty good aim by realistic standards. Police officers in similar situations have lower accuracy against human opponents.

[Itnetlolor]

I assumed that X-COM was the cream of the crop recruited from all of the world's armies, and that it was a case of segregation of gameplay and story that they had the combat prowess of the Springfield police.

The thing is, xcom recruits actually have pretty good aim by realistic standards. Police officers in similar situations have lower accuracy against human opponents.

It's not the accuracy of the troops that suck, it's the guns themselves that do.

[Flare]

I assumed that X-COM was the cream of the crop recruited from all of the world's armies, and that it was a case of segregation of gameplay and story that they had the combat prowess of the Springfield police.

The thing is, xcom recruits actually have pretty good aim by realistic standards. Police officers in similar situations have lower accuracy against human opponents.

If those recruits are the cream of the crop of all the world's militaries, should they have seem some sort of live action and be in a mind set where they aren't affected by panic or pressure as much? Perhaps the world's militaries in reality sent their second best to the group and kept the really good guys for themselves.

Xcom troops = Starship troopers

The ones from the movies right? Because the ones in the books kicked so much ass in their nuclear flinging powersuits its a wonder how Heinlein kept the bugs a potential threat throughout the series.

[LoSboccacc]

Same apply when you get the flying suite and the guided missile in xcom. Rainin death without even disembarking is plenty of fun

[Tellemurius]

I assumed that X-COM was the cream of the crop recruited from all of the world's armies, and that it was a case of segregation of gameplay and story that they had the combat prowess of the Springfield police.

The thing is, xcom recruits actually have pretty good aim by realistic standards. Police officers in similar situations have lower accuracy against human opponents.

I dunno, police snipers actually have better accuracy due to their job like ie. hit a kidnapper without killing the victim in a struggle. SWAT is awesome in close combat and door knocking.

[Cthulhu]

I was under the impression X-COM just hired whoever.  It wouldn't be the same game without screaming rookies running around with primed C4 and flak coveralls.

[MrWiggles]

I never got the impression that X-Com ground pounders were elite. I figure they were hired, like mercenaries. They needed to have a military background, or military training, pass a physical test, and pass a background check. That covers why they were all in good shape, and why they can use the weapons from the get go. You can assume, that the ones whom you give the heavy weapons to, also happen to have training for them, before hand.

The 20k, is a sign on bonus. Its also why you hire them through the Black Market folks.

[Tellemurius]

I was under the impression X-COM just hired whoever.  It wouldn't be the same game without screaming rookies running around with primed C4 and flak coveralls.

theres always this too

[Neonivek]

I was under the impression X-COM just hired whoever.  It wouldn't be the same game without screaming rookies running around with primed C4 and flak coveralls.

Didn't it cost a lot of money to even hire them? and didn't they come with Airforce military uniforms?

[Kilroy the Grand]

I was under the impression X-COM just hired whoever.  It wouldn't be the same game without screaming rookies running around with primed C4 and flak coveralls.

Didn't it cost a lot of money to even hire them? and didn't they come with Airforce military uniforms?

$40,000 is almost an average years salary, and I thought the uniforms were NASA

[Delta Foxtrot]

40,000$ (with 20,000$ monthly upkeep cost). The costs can be justified as screening and training costs (I imagine your soldiers don't just sit on their asses while on base). They had some sort of kevlar uniform that looked a bit like what could be airforce coveralls.

I always figured they were pretty much the best Earth had to offer, being forwarded from the funding nations' (para)military organizations (with the same applying for X-COM as a whole).