UFO: Alien Invasion: Difference between revisions

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* [[Alien Invasion]] - [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|You read the title, right?]]
* [[Alien Invasion]] - [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|You read the title, right?]]
* [[Antimatter]] - Played with: Humans can barely make a few molecules at a time with the comtempory tech, while the aliens seem to be able to fill particle accelerator weapon magazines and spacecraft fuel cans with ''grams'' of it.
* [[Antimatter]] - Played with: Humans can barely make a few molecules at a time with the comtempory tech, while the aliens seem to be able to fill particle accelerator weapon magazines and spacecraft fuel cans with ''grams'' of it.
* [[Area 51]] - The icon for UFO Yard sites is stylised "'''51'''"
* [[Area 51]] - In the external installations list, the icon for building UFO Yard is stylised "'''51'''"
* [[Artificial Stupidity]] - Some aliens allow themselves to hide in places where grenades [[Death From Above|can be dropped on them]].
* [[Artificial Stupidity]] - Some aliens allow themselves to hide in places where grenades [[Death From Above|can be dropped on them]]. Also, while they consider a weapon's spread and avoid friendly fire, cooking oneself or a teammate with a bounced plasma grenade is still common.
** And while they are at it, they often bunch up together allowing a single soldier to kill a number of them in a single turn, especially if you have explosive weapons or flamethrowers. Aliens also doesn't know how to pick up items from the ground, and if they run out of reloads, they will just stupidly walk around like an idiot unless they have a melee weapon.
** And while they are at it, they often bunch up together allowing a single soldier to kill a number of them in a single turn, especially if you have explosive weapons or flamethrowers. Aliens also doesn't know how to pick up items from the ground, and if they run out of reloads, they will just stupidly walk around like an idiot unless they have a melee weapon.
** Civilians still oddly behave like those in ''X-Com''. They don't try to take cover or run from aliens that are attacking them, even get in your way during the crossfire. They do try to make them smarter recently though.
** Civilians still oddly behave like those in ''X-Com''. They don't try to take cover or run from aliens that are attacking them, even get in your way during the crossfire. They do try to make them smarter recently though.
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* [[Break Out the Museum Piece]]: Played with. All of the base designs, battle tactics, strategy, and organization are copied right out of the old PHALANX manuals and documents. However all the old equipment is replaced with the latest in 2084 technology.
* [[Break Out the Museum Piece]]: Played with. All of the base designs, battle tactics, strategy, and organization are copied right out of the old PHALANX manuals and documents. However all the old equipment is replaced with the latest in 2084 technology.
* [[Combat Exclusive Healing]] - Medikits can only be used in battle, but are capable of healing wounds in a single turn which would require days of hospital time to recover from.
* [[Combat Exclusive Healing]] - Medikits can only be used in battle, but are capable of healing wounds in a single turn which would require days of hospital time to recover from.
* [[Construct Additional Pylons]] - Not strictly unavoidable, but... there's no need to cover the whole planet in highly developed bases just to have radars and aircraft at hand, then chase down every UFO with interceptors that, after all, have limited range and high costs to risk. There are separate radar towers and missile batteries. Aliens eventually will notice radar signatures and launches and attack such places, but when it's not a base, it's trivial to replace. And the more decoys you got, the less likely they'd to choose a base as the target. However, [[Cap]] on external installations is rather low, and you still need to build more bases in order to build more of those.
* [[Construct Additional Pylons]] - Not strictly unavoidable, but... there's no need to cover the whole planet in highly developed bases just to have radars and aircraft at hand, then chase down every UFO with interceptors that, after all, have limited range and high costs to risk. There are separate radar towers and missile batteries. Aliens eventually will notice radar signatures and launches and attack such places, but when it's not a base, it's trivial to replace. And the more decoys you got, the less likely they'd to choose a base as the target.
** However, [[Cap]] of 3 external installations per base you still need to build more bases. Specifically, per working Command Center, which requires Power Plant - and at this point you can just throw in a Radar (it's better than on towers). Then you may want to add a Hangar with interceptor. Cost of Living Quarters + Storage for the pilot and ammo is negligible... but if you have these, could as well add a few mediocre soldiers with equipment, for some security in case of a raid.
* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: In story the first few attempts to battle the aliens resulted in this... And we were the ones getting stomped. The first battle the soldiers didn't even know what they were fighting before they got wiped out.
* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: In story the first few attempts to battle the aliens resulted in this... And we were the ones getting stomped. The first battle the soldiers didn't even know what they were fighting before they got wiped out.
* [[Death of a Thousand Cuts]] - If you're not careful, your combat teams will suffer this during periods of heavy alien activity - during particularly hectic periods there can be five or six missions every ''day'', and with no time for your troops to rest and recuperate between missions, all the little wounds add up surprisingly quickly.
* [[Death of a Thousand Cuts]] - If you're not careful, your combat teams will suffer this during periods of heavy alien activity - during particularly hectic periods there can be five or six missions every ''day'', and with no time for your troops to rest and recuperate between missions, all the little wounds add up surprisingly quickly.
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*** Ditto for Particle Beam, except it is substantially more powerful, but slightly less accurate and subject to same penalty to fire and smoke.
*** Ditto for Particle Beam, except it is substantially more powerful, but slightly less accurate and subject to same penalty to fire and smoke.
* [[Fixed Damage Attack]] - The Needler guns.
* [[Fixed Damage Attack]] - The Needler guns.
* [[Flechette Storm]] - Riot shotgun on full auto sends downrange 7 loads of flechettes. Can be very messy.
* [[Flechette Storm]] - Riot shotgun on full auto sends downrange 7 loads of flechettes. Can be very messy. Also, when you finally meet an alien in armor and it survives 3 round burst of these, not only it's time for slugs to become default ammo, but you can see their armor is worth researching.
* [[Grenade Launcher]] - You really need at least one in the team, it's more practical indirect attack than hand grenades. Also, often it's the only way to finish an enemy before their turn: grenades fly over a building now, but soldiers take time to run around it. With flechette ammo it doubles as a shotgun - not good, but better than nothing when storming a cramped place and grenades are useless, while flechettes allow reaction fire. Incendiary sucks, but still isn't useless.
* [[Grid Inventory]] - Another carryover from the X-COM series, complete with the accompanying [[Inventory Management Puzzle]].
* [[Grid Inventory]] - Another carryover from the X-COM series, complete with the accompanying [[Inventory Management Puzzle]].
* [[Guns Akimbo]], [[Dual-Wielding]], or [[Sword and Gun]] - Can be done with some accuracy penalty. You can also dual wield a 2 handed weapon with a handgun, but you cannot fire the 2 handed weapon without the other hand free. Even if you only use pistols though, you still only able to fire the weapons one at a time. The only advantage of wielding 2 weapons is that you don't have to pull out the other weapon from your holster when you need it, which cost some TU (just think of the advantage of having a handgun in 1 hand and a kerrblade or stun rod on the other).
* [[Guns Akimbo]], [[Dual-Wielding]], or [[Sword and Gun]] - Can be done with some accuracy penalty. You can also dual wield a 2 handed weapon with a handgun, but you cannot fire the 2 handed weapon without the other hand free. Even if you only use pistols though, you still only able to fire the weapons one at a time. The only advantage of wielding 2 weapons is that you don't have to pull out the other weapon from your holster when you need it, which cost some TU (just think of the advantage of having a handgun in 1 hand and a kerrblade or stun rod on the other). Many aliens with plasma pistols do the same.
* [[Hollywood Tactics]] - There's nothing stopping you from playing this way in theory, but [[Subverted Trope|it's a good way to get a lot of your troops needlessly killed.]]
* [[Hollywood Tactics]] - There's nothing stopping you from playing this way in theory, but [[Subverted Trope|it's a good way to get a lot of your troops needlessly killed.]]
* [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy]] - Fortunately, it isn't quite at [[X-COM]] levels, and even the worst recruits can at least hit what they're aiming at occasionally. That said, both your troops and the aliens can be wildly inaccurate at times, even at point-blank ranges. Crouching before firing largely negates this issue, though.
* [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy]] - Fortunately, it isn't quite at [[X-COM]] levels, and even the worst recruits can at least hit what they're aiming at occasionally. That said, both your troops and the aliens can be wildly inaccurate at times, even at point-blank ranges. Crouching before firing largely negates this issue, though.
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* [[Instant Home Delivery]] - You can sell equipment at one base and immediately buy it back at another for the same price. What makes this especially egregious is the fact that there's also a "Transfer" option that allows you to send equipment between bases, but this generally takes a few days, whereas selling-and-rebuying happens instantly.<ref>This has since been mitigated by introducing a slight price discrepancy between buying and selling, but the problem of instant delivery remains.</ref> New recruits (Scientists, Workers, and in recent build Pilots too, not just soldiers) are delivered instantly as well.
* [[Instant Home Delivery]] - You can sell equipment at one base and immediately buy it back at another for the same price. What makes this especially egregious is the fact that there's also a "Transfer" option that allows you to send equipment between bases, but this generally takes a few days, whereas selling-and-rebuying happens instantly.<ref>This has since been mitigated by introducing a slight price discrepancy between buying and selling, but the problem of instant delivery remains.</ref> New recruits (Scientists, Workers, and in recent build Pilots too, not just soldiers) are delivered instantly as well.
* [[Karl Marx Hates Your Guts]] - As of v.2.4 you can produce anything available on market, but making an item costs exactly as much as buying the same. It would make some sense if making an item ''and'' paying the workers was comparable, but it's not the case, so you either fire workers, suffer losses while they do nothing, or find something non-trivial to do. After some time, other parties begin producing th stuff you can build, too.
* [[Karl Marx Hates Your Guts]] - As of v.2.4 you can produce anything available on market, but making an item costs exactly as much as buying the same. It would make some sense if making an item ''and'' paying the workers was comparable, but it's not the case, so you either fire workers, suffer losses while they do nothing, or find something non-trivial to do. After some time, other parties begin producing th stuff you can build, too.
** Speaking of Marxism, the reserve of most items on market is ridiculously low (the whole Earth's supply are below ''X-Com Apocalypse'' levels!), and only thing production of non-exclusive items does is... eliminating deficites. So if you burn some ammunition faster than it can be supplied, or want to keep the stock as off-site reserves, an idling workshop suddenly becomes useful.
** Speaking of Marxism, the reserve of most items on market is ridiculously low (the whole Earth's supplies of some items are below ''X-Com Apocalypse'' levels!), and only thing production of non-exclusive items does is... ''eliminating deficites''. Thus, if you burn some ammunition faster than it can be supplied, or want to keep the stock as reserves, an idling workshop suddenly becomes useful. Equipping everyone with Flashbang and Smoke grenades (which despite their weakness often is the only way to save civilians) takes most of the supply, so it's an obvious choice.
* [[Kill It with Fire]] - Flamethrowers are deadly against most aliens since their armors, while good against bullets can barely protect them from the flames. It is also one of the two starting weapons, the other being Grenade Launcher, that continue to be useful until the end. The only weaknesses are limited range, heavy weight (which precludes weaker soldiers from using it without a heavy speed penalty), and its rather bulky ammunition.
* [[Kill It with Fire]] - Flamethrowers are deadly against most aliens since their armors, while good against bullets can barely protect them from the flames. It is also one of the two starting weapons, the other being Grenade Launcher, that continue to be useful until the end. The only weaknesses are limited range, heavy weight (which precludes weaker soldiers from using it without a heavy speed penalty), and its rather bulky ammunition.
* [[Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better]] - Played with. Although bullets are quite good against unprotected alien flesh, and flechettes are even better, alien armor does a disturbingly good job protecting its wearer against gunpowder-accelerated projectiles, and as such by the mid-game the vast majority of the standard human arsenal will be obsolete. The grenade launcher and the flamethrower remain useful for the entire game, as the former can be adapted to fire a cartridge version of the alien plasma grenades and the latter is a cheap way to light things on fire, but they aren't technically firearms.
* [[Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better]] - Played with. Although bullets are quite good against unprotected alien flesh, and flechettes are even better, alien armor does a disturbingly good job protecting its wearer against gunpowder-accelerated projectiles, and as such by the mid-game the vast majority of the standard human arsenal will be obsolete. The grenade launcher and the flamethrower remain useful for the entire game, as the former can be adapted to fire a cartridge version of the alien plasma grenades and the latter is a cheap way to light things on fire, but they aren't technically firearms.
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