My Let's Play UFO: Alien Invasion 2.5 Series

[IMBACORE]

[UPDATED: January 3, 2015: Added Part 8.]

[UPDATED: Aug 27, 2014: Added the link to Part 5; added Part 7.]

[UPDATED: Aug 20, 2014: Added the link to Part 5; added Part 6.]

Hello Ildamos here. I tried logging in but found that due to inactivity the past two years, my account has been deactivated.

I was that dude who made a UFO: Alien Invasion review that Mattn featured on the front page years ago.

Anyway, I finally made a Let's Play on my YouTube channel as I'm pretty excited about the new game mechanics and the awesome new character models (they look a bit like ODSTs but hey, in this world parallelisms are inevitable so it's no really a major issue). Here's what I made so far:

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Part 1 - Prepping the Dropship - Where we equip our soldiers, assign tags, buy equipment, and task our scientists to research Continuous Wave Laser Operation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc0Hnd2INes

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Part 2 - FIRST BLOOD!! - Where we finish equipping our warbirds, shoot down a UFO, land in an area separate from the crash site, and take down three aliens who are killing civilians. More than two of our troops sustained serious wounds in the exchange.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVC6ljvf4AE

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Part 3 - More Meat for the Grinder -  Where we swap out wounded soldiers for fresh ones and land on the crash site where we shot down that UFO in Part 2. Killed four aliens in this round but not without a sniper taking a shot. One PHALANX operative --- an assault soldier got wounded gravely. He exchanged several shots with an alien though, taking it down but nearly dying --- 3 hit points left!! --- in the process.

SKIP TO 12:40 IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE ME FIDDLING WITH MY TROOPS' INVENTORIES.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00CnV8FDhn4

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Part 4 - Where we foil the plans of a trio of aliens, explain the new reaction fire (overwatch) system in v2.5 (skip to 12:41 for the explanation), confirm the reaction fire by showering a Taman with a hail of lead from SMG-toting troops, and make it back to base without incurring a casualty. 

SKIP TO 11:21 IF YOU WANT TO SEE INSTANT ACTION.

Skip to 12:41 for the in-depth explanation about how reaction fire works in version 2.5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjvQs-7YpGQ&feature=youtu.be

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Part 5 - Where we down several UFOs with our good ol' trusty stiletto interceptor and take down a UFO landing party with 0 casualties---and 0 civilians rescued. In this video we start using smoke grenades to great effect.


SKIP TO 23:58 IF YOU WANT TO SEE INSTANT ACTION.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB4Fw21yLSE

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Part 6 - Where a horrible accident leads to the demise of assault trooper Flip Parson. In this clip we also build a new base, research the Aerial Laser Cannon, and take out four Tamans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtDJ1JXcRQ4

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Part 7 - Where we make the necessary arrangements needed to make our Oceania base operable. (This video deals with logistics; might be a bit boring for some.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBPq7szcMTs

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Part 8 - Tunnel Rats! - Where we install a missile battery to our main base, find out that we need more time---and 100,000 credits---to make our Oceania base fully operational, and embark on a seek-and-destroy op to kill the survivors of a downed UFO. Here we spend a LOT of time hunting down Tamans who've taken refuge inside a massive underground complex.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crKs8zS1YA8

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Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8z5KevvdJP1cN5ePFe_HMgXQGsH8Nc5G

I will be adding more in the days ahead.

Even after all these years, this game is still awesome.

[IMBACORE]

Added a 3rd video.

[IMBACORE]

Added a 4th video.

Thanks to ShipIt, I've managed to insert an in-depth discussion about the new reaction fire system in the video. It should be helpful to those new to the game and for returning vets like ol' ol' me.

[IMBACORE]

Whoa! Stickied! Thanks guys! Very much appreciated!

Added a 5th video in the original post above.

Part 5 - Where we down several UFOs with our good ol' trusty stiletto interceptor and take down a UFO landing party with 0 casualties---and 0 civilians rescued. In this video we start using smoke grenades to great effect.

[Wolls]

Hey, great!  Welcome back good sir.  I just started watching your videos and this maybe presumptuous but I wonder about making use of some of the less used and overlooked items from the game.. if you can highlight them?  Either incorporated into your gameplay or maybe a separate 'Lets Try..' series.  I see that you get around to smoke nades but there are more options.

For example I am personally astounded at the lack of flashbang love.  Consider how many players have difficulty when facing the Reaction Fire of the aliens versus this one item that completely disables it..  Its not clear, I will grant you that.  You have to get the flashbang to land and explode in the aliens field of view and there will be absolutly no indication of whether you have succeeded or not.  Which is not so good.  But if it works you drain the Time Units for that turn PLUS one full turn cycle.  So you flashbang and end your turn --> the alien takes its turn but has no TUs and does nothing --> its now your turn again and the alien still has no TUs and does nothing while you kill it.  So if you have advance units [ light units] you flashbang everything and let your assualt troops [ who are behind/backing up] come in and mop up.  All of that without any threat of alien RF.  At least I'm pretty sure thats how flashbangs work.
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Friendly Challenge: You could even go full ninja mode on a base defense.  BOOM One unit.  Light --> MoK knife --> Support nades ( Incendiary, Smoke and Flash).  If it came down to it toss a flash [ remember the aliens position] toss a smoke and kill that bad bad alien even if its in full view of any comrades and by the time they figure out what just happened your already gone.  You probably thinking you wouldn't need that flash but I ask you do you think the alien is just going to let you walk up to it?  [ Okay, so smoke nades done right you shouldn't need the flash at the beginning of your turn but near the end when your low on TU...]  Also you're in trouble? Don't like what you're looking at? Toss a smoke and toss a IC then go find a better position.  The aliens will walk through a smoke nade but they really don't like walking through an IC.  Thats what you call a firewall.
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Also Incendiary grenades and rounds plus the Rocket Launcher.  Why no love?  You have a scout / light unit taking advantage of the extra Time Units? Try equipping a Rocket Launcher with your choice of round [ please please be IC] and in your first turn you get a 1 incredible fire and 'forget abbbout' it weapon.  Drop it after that and you're up to light status on your second turn.  You do lose the movement on the first turn though so maybe it works for you or not.  [ 24 TU to fire +1 to drop add 3 if you wanna crouch and you will not have a lot of TU for movement.. but really who needs to crouch; just use shift while aiming and deliberately put that round in the ground if there is no barn to hit]  IC rounds and nades are a great way of persuading the alien that 'you know what?' they really don't want to go that way.  Often in the beginning of a level you are put in a very vulnerable spot and there are way too many openings where aliens can come from.  An IC round from a RL will plug that hole.  Its a seriously massive fire field [ no really, IT IS huge] that will alter the aliens pathfinding.  Is it better than a smoke grenade?  I think it keeps aliens from being in position to take shots at you in the first place.

Note that if you toss a IC nade at an alien they can walk out of it but when they meet a fire effect field by itself they really don't seem to want to cross.  I'm pretty sure I've seen them walk through 2 grids so is 3 grids enough to deter them? Also if you want you can use Grenade Launchers ( IC round) and its timed bouncy bouncy goodness for a more permanent support option if you are worried about arm throw range. [ With the GL you can use shift to aim up plus use objects in line of sight to raise your effective base level ie just aiming up gives you some range whereas bouncing off of an object gives you sooo much more]

Thoughts (First Blood) :
-I think in 2.5 if you set the RF mode first then it will set aside the TU's for it.  You shouldn't really need to use the reservation option at all as its been incorporated into the Reaction Fire system.
-Night missions are just neon circles.  Maybe try not to do them??  I'm sorry but I couldn't see anything.  Although the light effects are truly awesome.
-Sniper Weapons have through wall capabilities, you could have taken that shot. Sniper Rifle = 1 wall  EM Bolter Rifle = 2 wall and such
-If you hit ESC from the Battlescape you should be able to change the options.  Most of them don't require a restart.  [ Crouch/Walk]
-Loving the series so far but low weight units [ those with a bright green colour] get extra TU is there a reason you haven't explored or even mentioned this yet?

[IMBACORE]

UPDATED: Aug 20, 2014: Added the link to Part 5; added Part 6.

[IMBACORE]

Hey, great!  Welcome back good sir.  I just started watching your videos and this maybe presumptuous but I wonder about making use of some of the less used and overlooked items from the game.. if you can highlight them?  Either incorporated into your gameplay or maybe a separate 'Lets Try..' series.  I see that you get around to smoke nades but there are more options.

First off, THANK YOU SO MUCH for viewing the vids and leaving this constructive reply. About highlight features, I’m pretty much a newbie too since the last time I played was about a year back and I stopped when I found out that the reverse-engineered aircraft didn’t have so much as a content placeholder. I just PMd Mattn if he can allow me to take a shot at providing descriptions for two of the aircraft.

For example I am personally astounded at the lack of flashbang love.  Consider how many players have difficulty when facing the Reaction Fire of the aliens versus this one item that completely disables it..  Its not clear, I will grant you that.  You have to get the flashbang to land and explode in the aliens field of view and there will be absolutly no indication of whether you have succeeded or not.  Which is not so good.  But if it works you drain the Time Units for that turn PLUS one full turn cycle.  So you flashbang and end your turn --> the alien takes its turn but has no TUs and does nothing --> its now your turn again and the alien still has no TUs and does nothing while you kill it.  So if you have advance units [ light units] you flashbang everything and let your assualt troops [ who are behind/backing up] come in and mop up.  All of that without any threat of alien RF.  At least I'm pretty sure thats how flashbangs work.

At the time you made this reply I think (not sure) that Part 5 was already up. In it, I threw several flashbangs at the aliens. The first flashbang thrown was a failure though as the taman it “hit” opened fired when I made my move.

Friendly Challenge: You could even go full ninja mode on a base defense.  BOOM One unit.  Light --> MoK knife --> Support nades ( Incendiary, Smoke and Flash).  If it came down to it toss a flash [ remember the aliens position] toss a smoke and kill that bad bad alien even if its in full view of any comrades and by the time they figure out what just happened your already gone.  You probably thinking you wouldn't need that flash but I ask you do you think the alien is just going to let you walk up to it?  [ Okay, so smoke nades done right you shouldn't need the flash at the beginning of your turn but near the end when your low on TU...]  Also you're in trouble? Don't like what you're looking at? Toss a smoke and toss a IC then go find a better position.  The aliens will walk through a smoke nade but they really don't like walking through an IC.  Thats what you call a firewall.

I need help on the “fire at the ground” option. The Options menu has Shift bound as the default button. Well, I pressed shift once and let my rocket launcher guy fire, but the HE round didn’t hit the spot where I wanted it to hit. Instead, it flew past the target and the alien near the spot where I wanted it to detonate.

Also Incendiary grenades and rounds plus the Rocket Launcher.  Why no love?  You have a scout / light unit taking advantage of the extra Time Units? Try equipping a Rocket Launcher with your choice of round [ please please be IC] and in your first turn you get a 1 incredible fire and 'forget abbbout' it weapon.  Drop it after that and you're up to light status on your second turn.  You do lose the movement on the first turn though so maybe it works for you or not.  [ 24 TU to fire +1 to drop add 3 if you wanna crouch and you will not have a lot of TU for movement.. but really who needs to crouch; just use shift while aiming and deliberately put that round in the ground if there is no barn to hit]  IC rounds and nades are a great way of persuading the alien that 'you know what?' they really don't want to go that way.  Often in the beginning of a level you are put in a very vulnerable spot and there are way too many openings where aliens can come from.  An IC round from a RL will plug that hole.  Its a seriously massive fire field [ no really, IT IS huge] that will alter the aliens pathfinding.  Is it better than a smoke grenade?  I think it keeps aliens from being in position to take shots at you in the first place.

With light status you mean to say, I let my rocket launcher guy just fire one round just to put up a firewall and the rest of the turn as a recon, SMG-toting operative? Hmm it’s not my cup of tea. I’m more comfortable with one soldier always carrying the heavy tank-busting stuff.

Note that if you toss a IC nade at an alien they can walk out of it but when they meet a fire effect field by itself they really don't seem to want to cross.  I'm pretty sure I've seen them walk through 2 grids so is 3 grids enough to deter them? Also if you want you can use Grenade Launchers ( IC round) and its timed bouncy bouncy goodness for a more permanent support option if you are worried about arm throw range. [ With the GL you can use shift to aim up plus use objects in line of sight to raise your effective base level ie just aiming up gives you some range whereas bouncing off of an object gives you sooo much more]

Thanks! I’ll keep that in mind!

Thoughts (First Blood) :
-I think in 2.5 if you set the RF mode first then it will set aside the TU's for it.  You shouldn't really need to use the reservation option at all as its been incorporated into the Reaction Fire system.
-Night missions are just neon circles.  Maybe try not to do them??  I'm sorry but I couldn't see anything.  Although the light effects are truly awesome.

It was okay with me. Setting up the gamma level way too high results in washed out colors. 

-Sniper Weapons have through wall capabilities, you could have taken that shot. Sniper Rifle = 1 wall  EM Bolter Rifle = 2 wall and such

I keep forgetting this. Thanks!

-If you hit ESC from the Battlescape you should be able to change the options.  Most of them don't require a restart.  [ Crouch/Walk]

I’m quite positive I have it checked (the autostand option). Is it broken in 2.5?

-Loving the series so far but low weight units [ those with a bright green colour] get extra TU is there a reason you haven't explored or even mentioned this yet?

Learned my lesson and none of my soldiers now have yellow encumberance.

Thank you for this Wolls! Very much appreciated! I gave you a shoutout in one of my videos (Part 6).

[IMBACORE]

UPDATED: Aug 27, 2014: Added the link to Part 5; added Part 7.

[Wolls]

Heh.  I hope my formating just not completely abbandon me.  I tried to throw up some ideas to bounce against.  ( You are verbally espressive and showy.. like blah,, beyond what I could effortly mount.)  Umm H-Hour.. threw up a link [  https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=UFO:AI ] and I believe you have more success contributing to its whole. I would hope that you express yourself on this site.

I love the videos and again ty.

flashbangs are still op.. just well here. 

I was even able to pin in place a taman and a shevaar for 14 turns

And yes I do light status should start heavy.. or Rocket Launchers are not worth the effort.. you spend all day just to get into position to FIRE.. so when your light, you starts with a RL it is forced and they have to fire.  2nd turn they are back to light/bonus.. its the best that RF offers without any of those carrying weight penalties.

Shamefacedly I am some video behind.  Sorry for the delay.. I look forward to this.

[IMBACORE]

Heh.  I hope my formating just not completely abbandon me.  I tried to throw up some ideas to bounce against.  ( You are verbally espressive and showy.. like blah,, beyond what I could effortly mount.)  Umm H-Hour.. threw up a link [  https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=UFO:AI ] and I believe you have more success contributing to its whole. I would hope that you express yourself on this site.

I love the videos and again ty.

flashbangs are still op.. just well here. 
And yes I do light status should start heavy.. or Rocket Launchers are not worth the effort.. you spend all day just to get into position to FIRE.. so when your light, you starts with a RL it is forced and they have to fire.  2nd turn they are back to light/bonus.. its the best that RF offers without any of those carrying weight penalties.

Shamefacedly I am some video behind.  Sorry for the delay.. I look forward to this.

I don't get this bit:

"so when your light, you starts with a RL it is forced and they have to fire.  2nd turn they are back to light/bonus.. its the best that RF offers without any of those carrying weight penalties."

RL? And what do you mean by "2nd turn they are back to light"?

Sorry I got waylaid by RL priorities and other games. I'm back and should be uploading 1-2 videos every 1-2 weeks. I'll be uploading Part 8 in a bit. (You will also notice that in the video I keep forgetting to walk rather than crouch-walking and that I mix up TU reservations for reaction fire.

I'm getting rusty. 

Editing at the moment:

[IMBACORE]

Uploading done! Added Part 7 to the original post. 

[IMBACORE]

Ehm, my videos are getting flagged for "Copyrighted content." Why is this happening? Should I just turn off my music when I do "Let's Play UFO: AI" videos?



Please advise.

[TBeholder]

Apparently. So, use some CC music, e.g. from Jamendo (and attribute as needed), that's it.
Oh, and put it on Vimeo next time. 

[DarkRain]

Wait are they claiming copyright on UFO:AI music?

The song in the image, (file base/music/van_geoscape.ogg in ufoai) was composed and produced  by Manuel Marino (aka Vanethian) it was released (along with the other van_*.ogg songs — which BTW include UFO:AI's theme song...) under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, they have been part of the game since time immemorial, he recently (as in 2012) released them as part of his album 'Science Fiction Story' (Which I'm guessing is being distributed by Awal?), so yeah the song is free even if the version he released for his album has a different license... that said... well I don't know what to advise...

[TBeholder]

Wait are they claiming copyright on UFO:AI music?

Alas, it's a known problem...

The song in the image, (file base/music/van_geoscape.ogg in ufoai) was composed and produced  by Manuel Marino (aka Vanethian) it was released (along with the other van_*.ogg songs — which BTW include UFO:AI's theme song...) under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, they have been part of the game since time immemorial, he recently (as in 2012) released them as part of his album 'Science Fiction Story' (Which I'm guessing is being distributed by Awal?), so yeah the song is free even if the version he released for his album has a different license... that said... well I don't know what to advise...

See above.
Jumping through hoops of CIAggle is an option, and if he values his YouTube channel he needs to (due to "3 strikes"), but it's not known for being particularly quick or pretty process. And was "until the next time" even for NASA, so what do you expect?..