Very difficult time with this game...

[eqsmallcakes]

Hi everybody. I'm a new player, using a Mac, and an early stable version (2.2 I think?) I am having a very difficult time figuring this game out.

First, do IR goggles do anything? I have them equipped in the head slot, and there is a button I can press to "use" them, but nothing seems to happen, especially on night maps.

Second, are my soldiers really so unaware that if I have them crouched, have multiple reactive fire allocated, and they are not looking PRECISELY at an alien walking towards them, they will simply sit there and get mowed down?

Third, do most people really play with a squad of 8 soldiers at once? Or do some of you prefer smaller squads (say 4 at once?)

It's frustrating having my CQC person kneeling inside a doorway (again with multiple shot reaction fire selected) and an alien strolls through the doorway, walks in front of her face, and slices her open without so much as a peep from her shotgun. She's facing the doorway, I just don't understand how the RF mechanic works.

Thanks very much!

[geisthund]

IR goggles let you see through walls. I think (dont quote me on this) you may take a hit to accuracy. My soldiers don't seem to notice, they're such bad shots anyway.

Having said that, for some reason my soldiers with rocket launchers are marksmen though. They also improved much faster than my snipers.

to get reaction fire to work (took me a while) I found I had to click the button next to the middle bar, that says reserve x units for (action) -- and choose an action. AND I had to click the reaction fire icon immediately under that and get rid of the X. Of course that only leaves my soldiers enough time units left to blink. But then there's a bit of a chance they'll actually do something when shot at. Personally I prefer to just overwhelm the aliens in 1 or 2 turns and heal myself up in between, than to use reaction fire. It's much less unpredictable.

I use a squad of 8 soldiers. Two carry rocket launchers, two carry sniper-type weapons, two carry assault weapons, and the last two carry some assortment of either a grenade launcher or a heavy rapid fire weapon. I think it's pretty much up to you, and what works for you.

[H-Hour]

Edit - I did not notice you were playing an early version. Disregard my previous comments on reaction fire.

[geever]

2.2 is a 4 years old version. It is possible that IR goggles not working in that yet or you have to use it from hand.

-geever

[eqsmallcakes]

Ok, thanks for the feedback. I also noticed in the 2.2.1 version I'm using that all of the text (intro, information on items and objects and other text descriptions) are also all absent... I'm DLing the 2.3 version right now and will try that out, too.

Thanks to the developers and contributors for making this game available! The 2.4 version isn't working on my Mac at the moment, which is why I've been trying out these older versions, and they're still a ton of fun! I appreciate what you're doing!

[geisthund]

they just put out 2.4 final (instead of dev) -- that might work for you?

[eqsmallcakes]

Oh cool, I had not noticed the change from dev to final. I'll try that one, too. Thanks!

[geever]

Actually 2.3.x is a 2 years old version.

Mac builds are tricky we need experts to investigate some problems. I you know Mac programmers ask them to help us!

-geever

[Jon_dArc]

Actually 2.3.x is a 2 years old version.

Mac builds are tricky we need experts to investigate some problems. I you know Mac programmers ask them to help us!

Non-packaged builds aren't bad—I've been playing from HEAD for nearly a year now. Admittedly, the last time I tried to package it it all went pear-shaped for reasons I can't remember.

~J

[Battlescared]

I always use a squad of 8.  It makes sweeping the maps much easier as you can spread your guys around and it's harder for the enemy to go back into areas you've already searched.  There are some maps that start with 4 or 5 aliens in view as well, and for those times it's great to have a full 8 members ready to engage.

[kamor]

Always go in with a squad of 8. You will seldom lose more than a single soldier if you stick to the book, but accidents DO happen.

And when half of your team gets wiped out, you want to have the another half to complete the mission