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Just something that came to mind after my first few hours of playing. I remember in the old XCOM how when you shot down a saucer it would be in various stages of destruction when your grunts showed up. Also the number of survivors was variable and seemed to relate to how bad the ship was. Every time I've shot down a scout or destroyer it is in pristing condition with a full complement of aliens scattered about. This makes the early missions MUCH harder since they always have a full number of bad guys...also makes finding alien tech less interesting since everything survived the crash. I remember the thrill of capturing an intact ship after a long fight and getting a load of goodies from the intact craft. Also loved not knowing how many bad guys there were going to be. Anyone else notice this?

Sounds like a good question. I would answer it but I have not bought the game.[;)]


Anyone going to answer him...............Hello, helloooooooooo[:D]

ORIGINAL: satisfaction

Just something that came to mind after my first few hours of playing. I remember in the old XCOM how when you shot down a saucer it would be in various stages of destruction when your grunts showed up. Also the number of survivors was variable and seemed to relate to how bad the ship was. Every time I've shot down a scout or destroyer it is in pristing condition with a full complement of aliens scattered about. This makes the early missions MUCH harder since they always have a full number of bad guys...also makes finding alien tech less interesting since everything survived the crash. I remember the thrill of capturing an intact ship after a long fight and getting a load of goodies from the intact craft. Also loved not knowing how many bad guys there were going to be. Anyone else notice this?

Yep, exactly correct. I have wondered the same thing since playing the first time.

Yeah...its pretty much the same fair for each craft that you shoot down, at least as far as fighters and scouts are concerned.  I havent had anything bigger show up yet.  One of the modders should be able to answer whether randomizing crash results is possible or not.

I agree completly with you satisfaction.  I really think this was a rather important detail to leave out as the damaged ship created a more dynamic mission.  Although I am really enjoying the game I am getting a little tired of walking up to the same totally intact ship every mission.  I mean those weren't airsoft missles I was shooting at it.  A couple of civilians here and there wouldn't have hurt either.  I would love for the devs and/or modders to make the maps feel more alive.  Keeping it spicey is the key to any lasting relationship.  This is a good game with the potential to be a great game.
 
Like a nice bottle of scotch, I hope this game only gets better with age.

I think the hindering issue is that UFOs seem to be immune from environmental damage. I've yet to be able to make a new entrance in a more convenient location when I get impatient doing a lap around the craft. Without the ability to be, er, feng shuied by repeated laser, plasma, and explosive blasts, making the walls and other structure of the craft take damage from events outside of tactical combat is probably impossible.

Good to see I'm not the only one hoping this gets fixed. You are right that the UFO's are immune to damage, except i can blow things up on the inside. Blowing a hole in the back then lobbing in a few grenades was always fun, but you had to consider the effect of destroying any equipment you might have got inside. Hope this gets addressed by patch/mod. I have high hopes for this one...always wished they would just make an updated XCOM and this is getting really close.

Yes, the damaged/intact/captured aliens (did I get a CO this time?) from the original is not here.

However -
The later mission ships have a different assortment of badies. In the original, a ship had almost the same type of crew. Not so here. Even scouts get 'nasty'. There are many different enemies in UFO:ET, and it takes entirely different tactics depending on what enemies are at the crash site. Trust me, there are serious differences. (I long for the monsters with claws and mind attack, they are a nice break from the metal monsters).

So, although there are differences in the play compared to the original X-Com, this a a great game in its own right. There are also from 2-3 times more enemies to fight per mission, and some missions I am on have 20+ badies. (And I am barely through tech 2!). In the original, scouts were eventually not worth the time since there were so few targets and less xp. Now, scouts are not worth the time since they might actually be DANGEROUS and I would not like to have 3-4 soldiers in sickbay due to a scout. Larger vessels are worth the risk.