Clip size

[sgt caedes]

Do you think the heavy plasma clip is too large? I cant remember i ever had to reload a heavy plasma.

[Solitaire]

I don't think so, I rarely have to reload any wepaon in the course of a normal battle. 32 rounds isn't a massive amount, and if you get caught up in a protracted firefight you'll soon be running on empty and having to scrounge from the corpses of your friends...

[sgt caedes]

When using the weaker weapons you need to have several hits before an alien dies(well, at least against a muton :wink: ). With the heavy plasma

1 hit = 1 death , so you dont need 32 shots.

It would also be more fun if you run out of ammo sooner, because

 

1. you'd be forced to be economical with your ammo

2. you would have to think more about what you take and dont take on a mission

3. that would make the laser rifle more interesting

[Solitaire]

Just don't use heavy plasma, limit yourself to plasma pistols and maybe rifles, then you give yourself a bit more of a challenge.

[NKF]

Did I hear you say challenge?

 

You can completely ignore bringing any of the plasma weapons along, use lasers and just scrounge for the plasma weapons in the field when you need just a bit more firepower (i.e. shooting through UFO walls) - that's how useful the laser weapons already are. Especially to grenade nuts like me who want to squeeze a few more high explosive packs in. This is made possible because almost every sectoid and their grandmother's dog's cousin has a heavy plasma during the later stages of the game.

 

Now, if you solod the game, or used very small squads ( 2 - 4 soldiers), or if you use the spray and pray startegy exclusively, then those 32 shots may not be enough.

 

TFTD offered magazine capacities in the reverse, with the largest clip fitting the pistol class weapon and the cannons having the smallest. If all you used were the sonic cannons, you'd spend a bit of time scrounging for ammo clips - especially on lobsterman missions where lobstermen take on average two to three hits to kill. Rather fun actually, and it made the sonic pistol very appealing not only for its speed, but for its huge clip size as well.

 

- NKF

[sgt caedes]

Great idea! (why didnt i think of that )

 

But it would be better if i didnt pick up the alien plasmas either, that would spoil the challenge.

 

Btw, how do you finish the early terror and base defense missions (wich i dont get ) with only two soldiers?!?

[Zombie]

Actually, the Heavy Plasma has a clip containing 35 shots, not 32.

 

Doesn't matter really, since I hardly ever run out. However, when you are testing the resistance of certain tiles to heavy plasma fire 35 isn't a whole lot, especially if you have terrible FA and constantly use the Auto-Shot option. If my calculations are correct, you can fire off a maximum of 7 "bullets" per round (2 Auto-Shots plus one Snap Shot). That would mean that one Heavy Plasma clip lasts a minimum of 5 rounds. Not too shabby!

 

Btw, how do you finish the early terror and base defense missions (wich i dont get ) with only two soldiers?!?

Oh, it's possible. I've done it before with just one rookie. Can you say "NKF challenge"? :mad:

[sgt caedes]

If my calculations are correct, you can fire off a maximum of 7 "bullets" per round (2 Auto-Shots plus one Snap Shot).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Sometimes you can fire 3 auto-shots per round.

[Jman4117]

Not with a Heavy Plasma....It uses like 35% TUs per autoshot.

[sgt caedes]

It really is possible to fire 3 auto-shots. I think it depends on how many TU your soldier has.

I checked it in an old savegame. The only units who could do it were those with 57 TU.

[NKF]

Absolutely correct - as the game ignores the decimal point - otherwise it would've cost you 59 TUs for all three.

 

---

 

Speaking of small squads, that challenge of mine, if you're interested:

 

https://www.geocities.com/nkfarma/xchal/challenge.html

 

It's not a proper campaign - it's more of a continuous training session, which can sometimes be a heck of a lot of fun even though you keep losing. Try it, you'll either get a lot out of it, or you'll pull all your hair out in frustration.

 

Me, I had a lot of fun with it and it has reinforced my odd fixation on the pistols even more (don't know why, but even in games like Halo, Deus Ex I and II and System Shock II (not the standard pistol - the argon laser pistol), I'm fixated on them - it's odd)

 

- NKF

[Quantifier]

That is because game drops fractions.

57 TU * 35% = 19.95 TU

19 TU * 3 = 57 TU

 

I remember it was quite nice in TFTD when my troops were equipped with sonic cannons. Soldiers with even number of max TU had to be facing alien directly to be able to shoot at it twice, those with odd number could use one point to make a 1/8 of a turn and still get two shots.

 

edit: bit too late

[FullAuto]

I'm a great fan of the auto shot, so the HP mag size is just right. I don't usually run short, but in long missions a reload or two can be called for. Especially on the harder difficulty levels, when a hit with the HP doesn't guarantee a kill.

[sgt caedes]

Your challange sounds fun NKF!

 

Im going to begin trying right now...

 

(you have some weird bases in that savegame )

[NKF]

Weird? Nah, those're mostly my bog standard radar/intercept outposts. I just put the modules down any old place just to make the base defence a bit more interesting. The unique bases on the other hand were very badly designed - this is an old game and I've learned a lot since then.

 

By the way, what I didn't mention on my page was that you can do it against a battleship too if you preferred, which my savegame has.

 

- NKF

[sgt caedes]

My first attempt went like this:

 

I covered my back with proxy grenades and slowly moved to the command centre killing 10 aliens (mostly with grenades) to get there. When i entered the lower room of the command centre some alien fired a blaster launcher and blew up the whole room, killing my soldier instantly. :dead:

[Zombie]

Absolutely correct - as the game ignores the decimal point - otherwise it would've cost you 59 TUs for all three.

Well, I'll be damned! INT rounding rears its ugly head once again!

 

Actually, 57 TU isn't the only level in which 3 Auto shots are possible. There are also a couple of additional levels which allow this: 51, 54, and 57. Since TU max out at 81, that means there is a 9.375% chance that an X-COM soldier will get a third auto shot. None of the TU above 57 allow this, so this leads me to believe that the odds of getting that third shot increase as the TU go down below 50.

 

Indeed, this is true. I compiled a table which shows which TU levels can have a 3rd auto shot with a Heavy Plasma in a round. In a nutshell, here are my results:

1 to 19 TU: Yes

21 to 22 TU: Yes

24 to 25 TU: Yes

27 to 28 TU: Yes

30 to 31 TU: Yes

33 to 34 TU: Yes

36 to 37 TU: Yes

39, 42, 45, 48 TU: Yes

 

Since soldiers can never have "natural" Time Units below 50, this INT rounding plays a role mainly when a soldier loses TU due to encumberance. Out of all the possible TU levels possible, a soldier can get that 3rd shot 47% of the time.

 

Interesting stuff guys, thanks for the heads-up!

[Bomb Bloke]

But surely encumbarence wouldn't work?!

[sgt caedes]

1 to 19 TU: Yes

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You can fire 3 autoshots with 1 TU ?!?

[NKF]

Oh, I imagine you'd get a semi-infinite number of autoshots with 1 TU.

 

1 * 0.35 is 0.35, drop the fraction and we get 0 TUs.

 

- NKF

[FullAuto]

But surely encumbarence wouldn't work?!

 

Not for getting 3 autoshots a turn, no, since I imagine the game uses the soldier's maximum TUs to work out the percentage, without taking encumberance into effect.

[sgt caedes]

I've finished your challange NKF

 

Pistol only / no armor / superhuman :devil:

[JellyfishGreen]

Btw, how do you finish the early terror and base defense missions with only two soldiers?!?

 

Start with ten... :dead:

[NKF]

Finished? Good, now go find something more interesting to do - or do it again!

 

You could try variations of this little challenge. Pick a different mission with different aliens/conditions and repeat that same mission until you've attained some form of mastery. Vary your equipment, try something different for a change (go 'grenades-only', or try to use the heavy cannon). Or try to start using two-soldier teams and work up from there - it gets easier, but working with an individual is less involving as working with a team.

 

But I think now that you confidently wipe out floaters with just a dinky pistol, just imagine what you can do with the rifles! The main thing is that you may have unconsciously picked up a trick or two that you'll start using in your normal games, improving the quality of your gameplay ever-so slightly.

 

- NKF

[sgt caedes]

Now i'm going to take down a muton base with only a pistol.

I'm going to need a lot of clips