silencer_pl Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 No it was a reference to zombie stating that he didn't find anything special in random encounters. Well, I ran about 5 or 6 more random encounters in various maps yesterday to see what goodies I could get. Really did not acquire that much, but it was a learning experience for my team (and me too)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted September 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 What do you mean, scripted mission?Scripted Missions are missions which must be completed to advance the game. Random Encounter are just fluff really. They are only in the game so you have an option to train your squad up to a point. Otherwise they would hardly ever improve. Here, I took a screenshot showing what each type looks like in the world view. https://s4.postimage.org/gbyv5dic/Scrn_Shot_220911_111404.jpg You can visit random encounters as many times as you like, there isn't a limit. Some people use them for training their squad, others (like me) use them as loot runs too. Zone in, ransack whatever lockers and chests you find for goodies, then zone out. Rinse, lather and repeat (much like my alien base "smash 'n grab" I use for X-COM EU). Normally though, random encounters are really easy and don't take many resources to finish so it's not hard to kill the enemies for the experience. Scripted missions can only be visited once. AFAIK, you can never revisit one after you completed it. If you complete one, it unlocks another one until the final mission. These missions are harder than random encounters mostly because there are more enemies present or there are other "special" objectives you need to complete too. Sometimes there is good loot in these missions. To get something special you need to find a special encounters In England for example you can find Katana for your scout. But I guess you should know that Yup, though I don't know which areas support a chance at a rare random encounter. For all I know it could just be a couple areas which have a chance while the others don't. -------------------- So last night I completed my first Axis scripted mission. Went a lot easier than I thought it would, which was probably because I had some allied friends on the map helping me out. I'll try to get that up (or part of it at least) later today. - Zombie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorondor Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 In TB, I can coordinate the troops more and set them up for sniper shots or bursts from my machine gunners. Oh, and apologies, I didn't realize you posted (...)No worries, Zombie. I was being ironic, actually, in that their running/homing in serves mostly to hasten their own deaths. If they otherwise stood their ground and went prone instead of getting out in the open you'd have a far more difficult time dislodging them. Think of those guys outside the building on the roof. Not going prone after being shot at is really asking for it. Of course, you could always solve that with grenades, but a little more self-preservation wouldn't hurt. :: Do you think the difficulty chosen or even further progression into the game has any behind-the-scenes effect on enemy attitude/cleverness ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted September 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 No worries, Zombie. I was being ironic, actually, in that their running/homing in serves mostly to hasten their own deaths. If they otherwise stood their ground and went prone instead of getting out in the open you'd have a far more difficult time dislodging them. Think of those guys outside the building on the roof. Not going prone after being shot at is really asking for it. Of course, you could always solve that with grenades, but a little more self-preservation wouldn't hurt.Well, in defense of the enemy AI, there was a metal railing around the roof. Granted, it's not much protection, but something is better than nothing. Enemies seem to be crouching all the time, but going prone? I don't think I've seen that behavior much. Maybe it's my playstyle? If an enemy is in "patrol" mode, I send a silenced shot in their direction with my scout to hopefully get their attention. Once they know something is up, they investigate where it came from. But I don't stop there, I continue to harass the enemy with silenced shots taunting it to follow. I of course lead it back to my main group where they finish him off. Like I said before though, enemies crouch all the time, so maybe that's enough for them. Do you think the difficulty chosen or even further progression into the game has any behind-the-scenes effect on enemy attitude/cleverness?It's possible. I mean, there are encounters where you will be fighting higher level enemies and I assume they not only get a bump to their stats and skills, but also to their AI. Difficulty level does indeed change enemy AI, check out this link to the old S2HQ site. The Game AI page also has an interesting discussion with the Devs. - Zombie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencer_pl Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 IGN sometimes can be usefull or GameFaqs There aren\'t so many - 4 special random encouter + 1 in game that you will have no matter the randomnes of mission generation. Prototype 8m1 is a overkill weapon. Edit: hidden in spoiler. ----------RARE ITEMS---------- Tremendous thanks to the Silent Storm Board at GameFaqs, without whom I wouldnot have found any of these. PROTOTYPE 8M1Easily the most powerful (most over-powered) weapon in the game. It has greatrange, great accuracy (even with burst fire), a large 50-round clip (which takes up very little room) and does tremendous damage. The 8M1 is found in a random encounter in Switzerland. Please note: randomencounters in Switzerland are VERY RARE. It may take 5 or more minutes to pop. The encounter you are looking for is near the giant \'5\' on the left-hand sideof the map. If you enter it, and see a broken bridge, you know you have theright one. On your side is a broken bridge over a ditch. On the opposite sideis a UFO. Between you and the UFO are 6 or so enemy Panzerkleins armed withAGS cannons or Gatling cannons. On the other side of the UFO, a bit to the right of it, is the Prototype 8M1,lying on the ground, alone. To get ammunition for the 8M1, simply place it in the base armory storage andhit the \'arrange\' button. You will find the 8M1 at the bottom of the \'HeavyWeapons\' section, and a whole bunch of clips should be spawned next to it.Note: these clips work for any beam weapon, including beam PKs. SEA DEVILA powerful rifle that is overrated in my opinion. Great range, great accuracy,decent damage (though not particularly to PKs), but a small clip size (3 rounds) with large cartridge size (2 squares). The Sea Devil is found in a random encounter in Switzerland. Please note: random encounters in Switzerland are VERY RARE. It may take 5 or more minutes to pop. The encounter you are looking for is near the giant \'6\' on the right-hand sideof the map. It is in a large mansion, stocked with about 20 or more Germans (orBritish). The Sea Devil is found on the second floor, in the corner room withthe fireplace. It is on the mantlepiece. Please note that it can be displacedwith explosions and gunfire, like any other item in the game. To get ammunition for the Sea Devil, simply place it in the base armory storage and hit the \'arrange\' button. You will find the 8M1 at the bottom of the \'Rifles\' section, and a whole bunch of clips should be spawned next to it. KATANAThe best melee weapon in the game (although it is a little big in inventory).It has a great critical rate. You can, with good melee skill, kill 3 enemiesin a turn with it. The Katana is found in a random encounter in North Britain. It has a (tentative) level requirement of 5, simply because the enemies in it are sodifficult. The encounter you are looking for is near the giant \'6\' on the right-hand sideof the map. You should find yourself on a curving road, fences on either side,with a single (Japanese) enemy on the road at the opposite end. While he isn\'ttoo much of a threat (assuming he doesn\'t get close), he has 6-10 friends hiding in the bushes with grenades and shuriken, and -very- high throwing skill. They will rip apart a low-level party. CARBINE 98K SILENCEDThough not technically \'rare\', it is nevertheless a one-of-a-kind weapon, foundin the GERMAN MANOR level (where you usually capture Koch). One of the renegadesoldiers has it. If you\'re the Allies, it\'s usually a guy in the tower on theleft side. If you\'re the Axis, the guy with it shoots you before combat begins,so you can see where he is--on the roof of the center building. The damage and range on this weapon are not fantastic, but it is made specialby the fact that it makes very little noise. So who cares? Hidden characterscare. If they fire it, they have a very good chance to not be revealed, asthey would normally be when firing while hidden. In fact, I\'ve conquered entirelevels solo as a Scout or Sniper, just using the Beretta SMG Silenced and thissilenced rifle. If you are the Axis, ammo for this is unlimited--it is the 7.92x57 Mauser. Ifyou are the Allies, you will have to scrounge. Look for MG34 Boxed CartridgeBelt(s) and/or ZB 26/30 Magazines. While you can use regular Mauser Rifle clips, they take up lots of room for very few rounds and seem to run out fast. BIG JOEI am still looking for info on where to get this pistol. I have found the \'Little Joe\' arrows, but no Big Joe yet. Big Joe is a dart gun - because \'Littile Joe\' are darts Having both X8M1 and Silenced Carbine 98K makes other party members obsolite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencer_pl Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 Do you think the difficulty chosen or even further progression into the game has any behind-the-scenes effect on enemy attitude/cleverness ? Yes and no. Why yes: All enemies in scripted mission have scripted level, and the difficulty settings on start alter that. I don't know exact numbers but on Normal game soldiers have -3 lvl of set level and on impossible they have + 3 of set level. For example if playing on impossible at more than 50% of campaign your soldiers will mostly state that enemies are rookies, while on normal they will more likely say that the enemy is stronger. Making custom game you can moddify even more. You can make that enemies are up to +5 lvls stronger, have more APs, VPs Why no: From my gaming experience - there are soldiers who are scripted to be patrolers, snipers, stealthed scouts, etc..Every soldier reactes on how he was scripted for. His task is only altered by the above yes statements. Patrol guys will always try run to you and kill you. Snipers will mostly stay in same position no matter what and will snipe you if they have a chance. They might change position if they lose sight of you but will mostly stay in near vicinity of original position. Stealthed scouts, will always stay in same place hidden ready to strike if they spot you first (in case you are hidden) - but there is a small lag sometimes that you can quickly engage combat and try to run and spot him yourself. In case you are not hidden they either attack on sight, or when they have fixed ammount of % to hit. There are also guards who will react only when you are spotted in their guarded area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted September 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 IGN sometimes can be usefull or GameFaqs There aren\'t so many - 4 special random encouter + 1 in game that you will have no matter the randomnes of mission generation. Prototype 8m1 is a overkill weapon. Too bad this forum dosen't support spoiler tag, because this hints can be spoiler for people who didn't play the game but want to. Fortunetly Zombie did finished it (at least I hope so), because he knows what he is doing in AAR.Sure, the forum supports spoiler tags. It's in the Quick Access section to the left of the post box when you use the full editor. BIG JOEI am still looking for info on where to get this pistol. I have found the\'Little Joe\' arrows, but no Big Joe yet. Big Joe is a dart gun - because \'Littile Joe\' are darts Having both X8M1 and Silenced Carbine 98K makes other party members obsoliteI actually found the Big Joe pistol (and darts) on a rare Allies encounter a while back. https://s3.postimage.org/8d0blwb2c/Scrn_Shot_180409_215309.jpg Kind of a cruddy weapon though, it's not silenced and you have to reload it after every shot which chews through APs like there's no tomorrow. Same deal with the Sea Devil: not silenced and has a tiny 3-round mag. I've never found a Sea Devil or the prototype X-COM laser rifle though. I don't consider the Scoped & Silenced Mauser 98K overpowered or game-breaking. You'll only ever recover one of them so you can never take full advantage of it's potential (a multiple sniper team with these would be deadly). It suffers from the small 5-round mag like the other Mauser rifles do which means a lot of reloading. And even popping off silenced shots isn't OP, because when the enemy comes to investigate, there is a chance your sniper will still be discovered. Having both the prototype and 98K on a team doesn't make everyone else obsolete either. That distinction belongs to panzerkleins. - Zombie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencer_pl Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 Sure, the forum supports spoiler tags. It's in the Quick Access section to the left of the post box when you use the full editor. smile.gif Bah your right - I am blind as bat. I will disagree - sniper with silenced rifle is a god (don't forget the allmighty ALWAYS CRITICAL perk) - when you have it you have so much stealth and spot skill - not to mention shooting skill that you mostly one shot kill enemies from far beyond. XM8 destryos PKs almost as fast as Etherals take control of your soldiers. On whole round you could destroy 2-3 PK's, with it finall Boss battle was a breeze. When I had Silenced 98K (my main was a sniper) I didn't even bother with others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted September 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 I will disagree - sniper with silenced rifle is a god (don't forget the allmighty ALWAYS CRITICAL perk) - when you have it you have so much stealth and spot skill - not to mention shooting skill that you mostly one shot kill enemies from far beyond. XM8 destryos PKs almost as fast as Etherals take control of your soldiers. On whole round you could destroy 2-3 PK's, with it finall Boss battle was a breeze. When I had Silenced 98K (my main was a sniper) I didn't even bother with others.I assume that any old scoped rifle will deal just as much damage as the S&S 98k if you had the same perks? *shrugs* The only thing OP about the 98k is the Silenced bit then. BIG JOEI am still looking for info on where to get this pistol. I have found the\'Little Joe\' arrows, but no Big Joe yet. Big Joe is a dart gun - because \'Littile Joe\' are darts Little Joe is actually a gun (and arrow ammo too). Name getitem # "Little Joe" Silenced Pistol 352 Colt M 1911 Big Joe Arrow 376 Little Joe Arrow 377 Colt M 1911 "Big Joe" Pistol 378Oh and I just found out I can batch convert .bmp screenshots from Silent Storm to .jpeg via IrfanView. What a time saver! - Zombie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencer_pl Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 Oh and I just found out I can batch convert .bmp screenshots from Silent Storm to .jpeg via InfanView. What a time saver! - Zombie That is one big WTF - this option was there ages ago Also with registered FRAPS you can already make JPG screenshots. And BTW it is IRFAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted September 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 That is one big WTF - this option was there ages ago Also with registered FRAPS you can already make JPG screenshots. And BTW it is IRFAN I don't really use image software much probably because I have no need to and don't know what each has to offer. Usually I stick with the photo editing software that came with my scanner. It has most of the features I need except for quickly adding text to images, that's why I have IrfanView (s.o.r.r.y. about the misspelling, but I always spell it Infan for some dumb reason). As for FRAPS, it's generally not free, and I can't use it on my computer (not enough memory, not enough processing power, not enough hard drive space etc). Well, back to the AAR. Javier received a medal from a random encounter: https://s4.postimage.org/11wukfcmc/Scrn_Shot_210911_173122.jpg https://s4.postimage.org/11x16kqlg/Scrn_Shot_210911_173353.jpg The next random encounter, Carm got one too: https://s4.postimage.org/11x7sq4kk/Scrn_Shot_210911_200636.jpg https://s4.postimage.org/11xeevijo/Scrn_Shot_210911_200710.jpg I wasn't expecting Javier to get another medal after the final random encounter before the scripted mission though: https://s4.postimage.org/11xhpy7j8/Scrn_Shot_210911_210548.jpg https://s4.postimage.org/11xoc3lic/Scrn_Shot_210911_210631.jpg Medal presentation must be pseudo random because there were other members on my squad which had more kills. Unless it has something to do with being wounded? Dunno, but there are other squadmates who deserved a medal before Javier got two of 'em. So after the initial cut scene was finished playing from the scripted mission, everyone moved to the building since there were no enemies visible there. Tori, Reggie, Carm and Javier took defensive positions by the door while Eagle and Mike stood back by the gate in case there were stragglers outside the compound (the cut scene made it look like there were). https://s4.postimage.org/11xwlsbz8/Scrn_Shot_210911_215726.jpg There were armed allies on this map (meaning, they were allied with me, aka they were Axis) so they had a chance to do some shooting of their own. What's also nice is that other Axis soldiers relay the position of enemies to your squad so you know what they do. I was granted a peek at one enemy in the building. https://s4.postimage.org/11y1kedgk/Scrn_Shot_210911_220106.jpg Eagle and Mike tried some long range rifle shots but both missed. Carm was in a little better position so she tried a sniper shot. https://s4.postimage.org/11y9u33xg/Scrn_Shot_210911_220209.jpg Hit! Even though scouts are absolutely terrible at sniper shots, it doesn't hurt to at least train a weak skill a little bit. The enemy wasn't dead, so Tori took a sniper shot as well. https://s4.postimage.org/11yesp5es/Scrn_Shot_210911_220243.jpg Another hit and a dead enemy. With that threat removed, the squad split up into 3 smaller groups. The first group was Tori and Carm who would spearhead the advance into the building. Reggie and Mike would cover the West side while Eagle and Javier would cover the East. Everyone would then regroup inside when all the enemies were killed outside. During the allies turn a soldier at the East doorway got a really nice kill: https://s4.postimage.org/11yleujdw/Scrn_Shot_210911_220502.jpg Then a soldier covering the West doorway got one too: https://s4.postimage.org/11yvc2mck/Scrn_Shot_210911_221136.jpg And then another! https://s4.postimage.org/11z0aontw/Scrn_Shot_210911_221217.jpg You can see the dark outline of Carm and Tori inside the center atrium, and also Reggie who is standing along the West side of the building. The enemies spotted him but seemed a heck of a lot more more interested in the soldier inside the building then him. It was their downfall. The two by the door received a special gift of a tater masher airmailed direct to them via RDS (Reggie Delivery Service). "Special delivery, a bomb. Did somebody order one? A bomb!?! Ahhh!!!" (Peter Sellers quote). https://s4.postimage.org/11z6wu1t0/Scrn_Shot_210911_221543.jpg Needless to say they were pretty dead. On the East side of the building, Eagle got a shot in. https://s4.postimage.org/11zgu24ro/Scrn_Shot_210911_221705.jpg Again, the enemies outside seemed to be more interested in the allies than my squad. One enemy made it into the East room. Unfortunately Tori misclicked on the floor instead of the enemy and missed him. Carm hit though. https://s4.postimage.org/11zlso690/Scrn_Shot_210911_221741.jpg During the enemies turn, every one of them bum rushed the door and almost all of them made it into the East room. One of them killed the allied soldier in the room which basically hid the group from me. A straggler by the door was promptly shot by Tori. https://s4.postimage.org/11zqra7qc/Scrn_Shot_210911_222102.jpg Carm missed her shot, but what's this? Eagle emerges from the shadows and snipes the enemy dead. https://s4.postimage.org/11zvpw97o/Scrn_Shot_210911_222234.jpg You can see two enemy figures are left, one by the window and one inside the small room to the Northeast. Javier rapidly advances to the window and catches the enemy off guard. https://s4.postimage.org/1200oiap0/Scrn_Shot_210911_222525.jpg You can see that Tori had actually shot the door closed a few turns ago and now it looked like swiss cheese. Javier once again advances. He first tried looking into the window in the room where the last enemy was, but a piece of furniture blocked him from spotting his location. He could try to shoot out the furniture, but if he destroyed it and the enemy was looking his way, he'd be a dead man. He decided to bum rush the door and hope for the best. Tori went along just in case he needed medical attention or backup. He didn't. https://s4.postimage.org/1205n4c6c/Scrn_Shot_210911_223404.jpg The game goes to RT and my team sweeps the house looking for game clues (these are in the first few missions and give some xp) and also loot. The basement has a bunch of locked rooms with locked lockers or chests inside, so my team got busy opening them up with their guns (Javier was ineffective with lockpicks so he gave up). Didn't really find much except for a Chatellerault machine gun. But that's what I wanted anyway so it's all good. - Zombie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted September 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 So my squad gets back to base and there were some surprises waiting for them in the armory. I didn't realize this, but even after the first scripted mission, some new items are introduced into the armory. There in the Heavy Weapons tab was another Chatellerault. Well, I have 2 now. This means a few changes to loadouts. Carm found a Silenced K96 1912 pistol in the armory, so she grabbed that along with another throwing dagger and a SSA Knife for melee. https://s1.postimage.org/1sc900b2c/Scrn_Shot_250911_163440.jpg Mike took the Chatellerault and got rid of his MP 40 II. It's sad to drop down to only 25 rounds instead of 64, bit it's a better gun. https://s1.postimage.org/1scm8b30k/Scrn_Shot_250911_163449.jpg Eagle inherited the Silenced Nagant pistol. This will help her to draw enemies closer to get better sniper shots whithout revealing her position. https://s1.postimage.org/1sd1457gk/Scrn_Shot_250911_163455.jpg I'm not sure who is closer to getting the Machine Gun perk, but if Javier or Reggie is I might give one of them the other Chatellerault. We'll see. My squad went out and tried a couple more random encounters. The second one in Hannover was a "rare" random encounter. Instead of the usual map setup, it had a truck. https://s1.postimage.org/1sd9dtxxg/Scrn_Shot_250911_204730.jpg There wasn't any new or exciting loot on this map, and to be sure I even demolished the whole building. Just the usual medical items and the occasional mine. I'm keeping the mines as those are hard to come by. As for the medical items, I've been leaving everything except bandages and powder. Right now we enough tablets and cardiac stimulants to last a lifetime. On one random encounter we picked up a Scoped Lee Enfield Mk1 rifle. It's a lot better than the Scoped 33-40 rifle Eagle is using right now. The only issue is finding enough ammo. Lee Enfield clips are few and far between so that means a lot of unloading and reloading enemy guns at the end of an encounter to consolidate clips. The nice thing about the Scoped Lee Enfield is that is does more damage, has a better range and has twice the clip size of the 33-40. Maybe I'll farm a few more random encounters to stockpile some ammo for it. - Zombie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencer_pl Posted September 26, 2011 Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 Actually FRAPS is free - only the good stuff comes with price Also do you know what triggers the medal achivement ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted September 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 Actually FRAPS is free - only the good stuff comes with price While technically true that FRAPS is free, realistically it is not. There's a big difference between freeware and crippleware. The unregistered version of FRAPS is the latter. 30 seconds max recording time with a FRAPS watermark is not enough time to record much of anything. And nobody in their right mind would try to splice together 30-40 clips for a full Let's Play video for example. Also do you know what triggers the medal achivement?Sort of. I had a look at the data on medals in the editor. First off, medals are determined primarily through kills - for each kill a character gets he/she is awarded some medal points (the quantity you receive depends on the enemy killed and the difficulty level, the exact number can be seen in the console). The type of medal you can get goes through a progression, a medal sometimes requires a prerequisite medal. For example, on the Axis side there are 2 separate lines: War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords (no prereq) -> War Merit Cross 1st Class with Swords -> GermanCross_SilverIronCross_2cl (no prereq) -> IronCross_1cl -> GermanCross_GoldYou also need a minimum level of medal points to even hope to get a certain medal. Once that level is reached, it "unlocks" the medal making it available to the character. But unlocking the medal doesn't guarantee you will get it right away. There is also a starting percent. Most medals are 10% which means you start with a 10% chance of getting the medal once unlocked. After that, there is another function used to aid you in increasing the odds that the medal will drop. A certain number of points are needed to increase the probability of getting a medal by 5%. So instead of 10% it is now 15%. Keep earning points and you keep increasing the probability of a medal dropping. Earn enough points and theoretically you can increase the drop rate to 100%. Let's take the first line on the Axis side. A character needs 200 medal points to unlock the War Merit Cross 2nd Class which starts at a 10% probability. For every 75 points above that you increase the odds by 5%. Thus to guarantee getting the medal, you need to increase the odds by 90% which means 90/5 = 18 steps. Each step requires 75 points so 18*75 = 1350 additional medal points on top of the starting 200. So that's 1550 medal points total. Assuming each kill is approximately 15 medal points (that's what I saw in the console on Easy at least) it will require 1550/15=104 kills. This is for the easiest medal to get. The other medals require more initial points and more additional probability points to drop. At least, this is how I think it works. The nice thing about getting the second medal in the line is that you don't have to start from scratch with medal points - you keep what you have and continue to add as long as you have kills. So before you even get the first medal in the line you might have enough points stockpiled to unlock the 2nd or even 3rd medals. It all depends on getting a good initial roll. Still, the 10% starting probability for a medal is quite low so the odds of getting it the first time you are eligible are slim. - Zombie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted September 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 I've been running some random encounters the last couple days to try and level up my team. Everyone is up to L5 right now and have 2 Ability Points to spend, so let's get that done before heading out to the next scripted mission. For Tori, I picked Body Carrier first. It's a throwaway point basically, it doesn't really do much unless you need to abort a mission fast. But that opened up Know Enemy Health which does what it says - let's you see the VPs of an enemy. https://s1.postimage.org/2yrs2p3b8/Scrn_Shot_280911_170422.jpg https://s1.postimage.org/2yrx1b4sk/Scrn_Shot_280911_170443.jpg Oh so handy as it lets you know how many resources you need to pour into an enemy to kill it. Not much help for Tori herself, but it's a major contribution to the team effort. On to Reggie. Seems like Grenadiers don't get a machine gun spec, only SMG, so that's what he needs to stick to. He likes his MP 40 II though. To get that I picked Force of Habit (I still don't know what it does, the description is confusing but has something to do with weapon familiarization). Then came SMG Specialization. 10% more accurate doesn't seem like much, but that path is perk rich for a grenadier so it's not going to waste. https://s1.postimage.org/2ys3ngiro/Scrn_Shot_280911_170645.jpg https://s1.postimage.org/2ys6yj7r8/Scrn_Shot_280911_170654.jpg Carm got a couple nice perks. Better Hearing gives her a 50% greater hearing range which is really helpful. She was having some trouble keeping track of enemies, so this should give her a boost. Also she took Night Vision which helps her to see in the dark better. https://s1.postimage.org/2ysa9lwqs/Scrn_Shot_280911_171101.jpg https://s1.postimage.org/2ysdkolqc/Scrn_Shot_280911_171205.jpg You may notice that she has a new knife. She picked up a M3 Combat Knife off a random encounter recently. It's nearly identical to the SSA Dagger which she was carrying before, but has swapped Attack bonus and Critical hit bonuses. Right now she has a tendency to fail her melee attacks a bit so a higher attack bonus should turn that around a little. Because of her role, she is now carrying an extra pistol clip too. Oh, and another roll of bandages in case Tori runs out. Just like I planned, Mike took both SMG and then Machine Gun Specialization. It leads to other good perks which should be great for his stopping power. https://s1.postimage.org/2ysgvrapw/Scrn_Shot_280911_173205.jpg https://s1.postimage.org/2ysk6tzpg/Scrn_Shot_280911_173223.jpg With this in mind he picked up 3 more clips of bullets for his Chatellerault. Now he can be as wasteful as he wants with ammo. But he has been rocking the 3 round burst to good effect the last few missions. When each bullet is doing 30-40 damage each it's hard to justify wasting a full burst on an enemy unless it's far away. Speaking of far away, that brings up Eagle. She took both Pistol and Rifle Specialization. That might be it for her on that line though, she needs to start concentrating on another important line very soon. Right now though, accuracy is an issue. https://s1.postimage.org/2ysp5g16s/Scrn_Shot_280911_173321.jpg https://s1.postimage.org/2yssgiq6c/Scrn_Shot_280911_173327.jpg She now has a Scoped Lee Enfield Mk1 rifle as her primary weapon and 9 clips. Twice the clip size means more shots before reloading. The only unfortunate aspect is the need to constantly farm random encounters for ammo. But we have about 20 clips back in the armory so that should last for a while. If I could find a Lewis Mk1 Machine Gun I would be able to consolidate those clips into more space. Hopefully we'll get one soon. Lastly was Javier. He picked Faster Reload (30% faster reloads) which led to Machine Gun Specialization. https://s1.postimage.org/2ysvrlf5w/Scrn_Shot_280911_173629.jpg https://s1.postimage.org/2ysz2o45g/Scrn_Shot_280911_173646.jpg Now that we have another Chatellerault, Javier got it and has been putting it to good use. The 3 round burst from this gun is lethal at close range, and when I need an enemy dead NOW, the full burst is a guarantee kill. With him being a crappy engineer, it seems almost wasteful to head down the burglar line, but he has to if he wants to use panzerkleins effectively sometime. Not sure how he will work out yet. So almost everyone has specialized in a weapon of some sort except for Tori and Carm. Those two got some pretty decent perks (at least I think so) and will certainly make life a little easier. - Zombie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Voyager Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 While technically true that FRAPS is free, realistically it is not. There's a big difference between freeware and crippleware. The unregistered version of FRAPS is the latter. 30 seconds max recording time with a FRAPS watermark is not enough time to record much of anything.Very true, this is why I use X-Fire, also free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencer_pl Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 Force of habit speeds up your familiarization when using certain weapon, but if switched to next weapon you will lose that familiarization even faster. Familiariztaion is actualy useless in this game. It is a good concept but you won't get a chance to use it to full effect. What it does is by increasing it, you have increased RoF, Dmg, and minimilized failure rolls. I think you need to perform 100 shots to get +1 in familarization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted October 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2011 Force of habit speeds up your familiarization when using certain weapon, but if switched to next weapon you will lose that familiarization even faster. Familiariztaion is actualy useless in this game. It is a good concept but you won't get a chance to use it to full effect. What it does is by increasing it, you have increased RoF, Dmg, and minimilized failure rolls. I think you need to perform 100 shots to get +1 in familarization.Thanks, the game's description wasn't worded very good (IMHO). Yeah, it does seem to be a worthless perk, especially early on when your team is constantly changing weapons as the "next best thing" is found or unlocked. Might be more useful later in the game when you have the best weapon for the class? Or maybe not. Well I decided to do a quick random encounter to remember how to play (every game seems to have it's own set of controls these days). So the team zones in, sets themselves to sneak and then runs for cover. It's a tiny map though so there's only one viable option: the building. https://s4.postimage.org/29xul0q90/Scrn_Shot_051011_152957.jpg Now, there are a couple options for strategy on this map. First, I could split my team up into two (or more) smaller squads and spread out. The map isn't very big though, and see that smaller building on the right with 2 big fuel tanks? Not a good place to be. The other option is to stay put and try to set up an ambush or crossfire situation. I decided on this, using the garage as cover for my less than stellar sneak soldiers (Reggie, Javier and Mike) while keeping Carm and Tori in the corner with Eagle as a long range spotter. https://s4.postimage.org/29xxw3f8k/Scrn_Shot_051011_153213.jpg What happens if an enemy comes around the NW corner and heads to Eagle? Well, I just had to trust that she would stay hidden in the bushes long enough to make a dash for the safety of the building. Luckily, that never happened, probably because the enemies "heard" my low-sneak team in the garage. Wasn't long before Eagle gets a nibble. https://s4.postimage.org/29y2upgpw/Scrn_Shot_051011_153231.jpg She gets a little eager and takes a sniper shot. It misses (I didn't make her take more APs to aim). The enemy (obviously confused and on some kind of mind-altering drug), decides it's in his best interest to run into the garage to take cover instead of back around the corner where he came from. https://s4.postimage.org/29y4i8t7o/Scrn_Shot_051011_153330.jpg Not smart. Reggie raises his MP 40 II and takes aim. https://s4.postimage.org/29y65s5pg/Scrn_Shot_051011_153345.jpg One dead enemy. Javier quickly closes the door to the garage, everyone hides again and reloads. We know another enemy is on his way so it's best to be prepared. Wrong. It's not one, it's a bunch. One enemy is spotted by Eagle as he rounds the corner on an interrupt. https://s4.postimage.org/29y9guup0/Scrn_Shot_051011_153611.jpg What in hell is he carrying though? It looks like a damn rocket launcher! Ok, calm down. Eagle hasn't been spotted yet so let's not get too hasty. Everyone sits tight and waits for the end of the enemies round. Holy smokes, this is bad! https://s4.postimage.org/29ycrxjok/Scrn_Shot_051011_153702.jpg So beyond the guy with the rocket launcher, there are no less than 3 more enemies around the corner. This is when I wished I would have burnt a Smiz land mine, but we have to deal with this as best as we can. Carm peeks around the corner and takes a few silenced shots with her pistol. At a 15% chance to hit, I wasn't expecting much, but she hit on her 4th shot. https://s4.postimage.org/29yhqjl5w/Scrn_Shot_051011_153737.jpg It didn't do much, but made everyone feel a little bit better. Hopefully we can draw the rocket launcher dude in close without being spotted. Carm runs back around the corner and we wait. https://s4.postimage.org/29yl1ma5g/Scrn_Shot_051011_153846.jpg That's a lot of enemies! Ok Eagle, you're up on deck. She takes one sniper shot and hits the RL dude, takes a second shot at the guy in back of him and he gets hit too. https://s4.postimage.org/29ymp5mn8/Scrn_Shot_051011_153905.jpg https://s4.postimage.org/29yq08bms/Scrn_Shot_051011_153923.jpg Carm peeks out from behind the corner and gets spotted, but luckily no interrupt from the enemies. She plinks at the group hoping for a hit. Bingo! She takes out the guy with the rocket launcher. https://s4.postimage.org/29ytbb0mc/Scrn_Shot_051011_153950.jpg (Sorry, took the screenshot kinda late in the animation sequence so you can just barely make out the damage number). Just found this stupid... all the enemies seem to be carrying potato masher grenades, yet when killed they don't drop them. Anyhow, let's stop playing around with these guys. Reggie opens fire with his MP 40 II on full auto. https://s4.postimage.org/29yuyud44/Scrn_Shot_051011_154017.jpg The burst blew the door open and with the enemies not behind cover, the bullets caused a lot of blood. https://s4.postimage.org/29ywmdplw/Scrn_Shot_051011_154021.jpg What a mess. Cleanup on isle 3! With the door open, it actually blocked the last enemy from seeing my team, so I moved Tori out for hopefully an interrupt. https://s4.postimage.org/29yy9x23o/Scrn_Shot_051011_154106.jpg Good! She takes a shot, but misses horribly. Time to take cover again. During the enemies turn, he shoots with his smg but misses Eagle. https://s4.postimage.org/29z1kzr38/Scrn_Shot_051011_154143.jpg With the enemy spotted, Javier let's loose with his Chatellerault on full burst. It tears through the wooden door and shreds the enemy to ribbons. https://s4.postimage.org/29z38j3l0/Scrn_Shot_051011_154202.jpg All the enemies are dead so the game turns to RT. Javier rushes forward to see what that rocket launcher was. https://s4.postimage.org/29z4w2g2s/Scrn_Shot_051011_154403.jpg A PIAT. It's a nice RL, but the biggest issue is that I only have two shots for it: one in the weapon and another from a PIAT I had in inventory (must've picked it up somewhere, don't remember). Basically it's a curiosity item because with only two shots it will end up being a throwaway weapon. Mike got rid of his trusty Mauser M98 in favor of a MAS 1936 rifle. It has less damage and range than the M98, but on the plus side it uses the same MAS ammo as the Chatellerault he's carrying. Will try to get around to the next scripted mission asap. - Zombie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencer_pl Posted October 6, 2011 Report Share Posted October 6, 2011 When you get top tier weapons you will be one step to the Panzerkleins (if not having them already). FG-42 and STG-44 comes far too late in the game - and will you believe it - mother of all Assault Rifles is SMG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted October 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 Onward to our second scripted mission. https://s4.postimage.org/12eg0g4ys/Scrn_Shot_061011_173223.jpg Ok, so it looks like the team is needed to protect some VIP touring a city and there is a possibility of an ambush. What else is new? Ambushes are a constant part of S2. Next thing that happens is a cut-scene. I unfortunately cannot take screenshots during these videos so I'll just provide pics of the aftermath. The first shows the window where an enemy with a bazooka shot at the truck on the street below. https://s4.postimage.org/12ekz26g4/Scrn_Shot_091011_102324.jpg Bad news already if bazookas are involved. If that wasn't bad enough, there was an enemy on a balcony with a laser weapon who shot out the car to the right of the truck in the pic above. https://s4.postimage.org/12eoa4vfo/Scrn_Shot_091011_102356.jpg Great, now we have to deal with laser weapons too. Getting better all the time. After the cut-scene ends this note pops up: https://s4.postimage.org/12ehnzhgk/Scrn_Shot_061011_173336.jpg Hmm, I guess the VIP was a guy named General Bauer and he was killed in the ambush. Idiot. Well, first things first, let's look at our objectives: https://s4.postimage.org/12ejbityc/Scrn_Shot_091011_102243.jpg Now wait just a bloody stinking minute... why the heck is it my fault that General Bauer wasn't protected? The game didn't even give me a chance to protect him. [rant] First of all, if I were given the chance, I would have told him not to travel in the first place, and if he must, he should travel in a nondescript lone vehicle instead of in a motorcade. Assuming he didn't take my advice and decided to travel in a motorcade anyway, he should have at least given me fair warning for when the trip was going to take place and down what streets he was to use. The president of the United States doesn't go anywhere without the secret service first scouring the streets for hazards or doing background checks of people along the route to determine the threat level, same here, no different. All that aside, the game enforcing an auto-fail objective out of the player's control shouldn't be in the objectives list at all. If you didn't read the mission brief or the top secret note, you would be left wondering what you did wrong.[/rant] Ignoring the failed objective, it now seems we have to capture that laser weapon the second guy was using. Fine. Everyone goes in stealth mode and run, and we spread out. Since we spawned nearest to the building with the bazooka guy, we decide to secure it. No sense to let the guy fire off his bazooka at the team when our backs are turned. Half the team runs along the back side of the building while the other half keeps an eye on the exit at the front from a distance. When the first part of the team reaches the opposite end of the building, they notice an enemy running to them from across the street. We take a knee and wait in ambush. During the enemies turn, the guy that was running to us kept running to the side of the map and then just vanished. Poof. Gone. We wait another round and the same thing happens again. An enemy exits the building from across the street, runs to the edge of the map past our squad and disappears. Nice, I don't have to fight them. So we stay put for a little while. After a few rounds, part of the team bum rushes the guy with the bazooka and takes him out, while the other squad goes across the street to clean out that building. That takes a few rounds since there was still a baddie inside. Once that was completed, we slowly head over to the building where the laser guy was supposed to be. Nothing. The building is empty. I post a couple sentries (Javier and Reggie) at the door to make sure he isn't still in there but hiding really well. Mike goes over to investigate the building to the east of where we zoned in. He finds (and kills) a soldier inside and the game goes into RT mode. The rest of the team scour the map for the guy with the laser with no luck. He's nowhere to be seen. When I check the objectives, I now failed the objectives to capture and locate the weapon. So after this, I reload and try again. Same deal. We never find the guy with the laser. Reload again, and try a different strategy. Instead of clearing out the buildings, everyone bum rushed the building where the guy with the laser was supposed to be. He was there. We took up some defensive positions as the whole squad was under heavy fire from machine gunners (looked to be about 3 or 4 guys with Lewis MK1's). We held fast as Eagle, Tori, Carm and Mike took rifle shots at the guys with the Lewis MGs. All of a sudden the guy with the laser appears at the doorway and runs to the east side of the map. Needless to say, in all the confusion and shooting, we let him go. A few rounds later after all the machine gunners were killed, everyone advanced to the east of the map to kill the guy with the laser. Nowhere, he's gone. We scour the buildings again but it becomes apparent the guy just disappeared. The objectives showed we failed again too. Apparently, I cannot play this mission the way I want to (defensively and slowly taking my time to clear each building to prevent sneak attacks). The game is encouraging (heck, enforcing) me to play recklessly in order to complete the objectives. IE, I must bum rush the building with the guy with the laser and kill him at all costs ignoring all the other enemies, lest he runs off and disappears off the edge of the map. I don't like this one little bit. Game enforced strategy is not strategy anymore. To make a long story short, I need to do this quest yet again. This time I at least know what to expect. No guarantees when though. I'm still PO'd at the game. - Zombie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Voyager Posted October 19, 2011 Report Share Posted October 19, 2011 Have you managed to kill the laser guy? I definitely do not like it when missions require reloading until find just the correct (usually the only) answer to a unique situation. This was very often in games like Commandos, which made me get tired of them very quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted October 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 Have you managed to kill the laser guy?Yup, I was able to kill him. (I'll be putting up the AAR of it soonish... maybe this weekend). He starts out with the laser but after the movie he's using a Lewis MK1 machine gun for some reason. Not too hard to kill, it's just that he has about 5-6 buddies with Lewis MK1's also. You have to concentrate all your firepower on him and ignore everyone else (unless those enemies get too close). I definitely do not like it when missions require reloading until find just the correct (usually the only) answer to a unique situation. This was very often in games like Commandos, which made me get tired of them very quickly.I'm not really sure how many scripted missions in the game require specific tactics/strategies to finish. It's a disappointment though, as the rest of the game is awesome. - Zombie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silencer_pl Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 (I'll be putting up the AAR of it soonish... maybe this weekend). Is one year weekend soon enough Since you are lurking around zombie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted November 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 I'll get to it... eventually. Currently have a few things on my plate I absolutely need to finish first, then it's back to the grind here. I even found my old save so it shouldn't be hard. - Zombie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted March 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 *blows cobwebs and dust off AAR* So let's continue with this fiasco, shall we? Just to note, I didn't take very good notes while running this mission, as I just wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. Excuse any inaccuracies. As before, the team zones in and immediately goes into stealth and running modes, and rushes over to the building with primary objective. There was a little resistance in getting there, but we all made it without getting injured. Everyone gathers around the door (which is closed) and waits. It doesn't take long before the first enemy peeks his head out. https://img41.imagevenue.com/loc116/th_195567864_ScrnShot_220213_223014_122_116lo.jpg [img]https://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss235/Zombie1972a/S2%20AAR%20Scripted%201/ScrnShot_220213_223014.jpg[/img] It's an interrupt for Tori, Reggie and Carm. Tori goes first, and takes a snap shot with her 33-40(?) rifle which hits for 33 damage. https://img9.imagevenue.com/loc27/th_195568730_ScrnShot_220213_223044_122_27lo.jpg How she misses on her second shot is beyond understanding. Carm goes next and fires a snap shot which does 40 damage, and kills the enemy. https://img245.imagevenue.com/loc338/th_195572401_ScrnShot_220213_223118_122_338lo.jpg Lots of enemy activity during their round, and another baddie pokes his head out of the door. Seems like a lemmings syndrome, doesn't it? Carm does a snap shot and hits for 30 damage. https://img148.imagevenue.com/loc52/th_195574228_ScrnShot_220213_223415_122_52lo.jpg Better than nothing. Her second shot misses though. No worries, Tori takes a snap shot which does a blistering 72 damage. Add another bloody corpse to the pile. https://img34.imagevenue.com/loc182/th_219557650_ScrnShot_220213_223452_122_182lo.jpg Another very active enemy turn, and more of the same: single enemy pokes his head out of the door. (I close the door after each turn which forces the enemies to waste TU opening it and giving me an opportunity for an interrupt). Tori takes one of two shots which did damage. https://img23.imagevenue.com/loc29/th_195581365_ScrnShot_220213_223722_122_29lo.jpg Carm misses by a mile. https://img159.imagevenue.com/loc255/th_195586502_ScrnShot_220213_223747_122_255lo.jpg Then hits, and finally kills. https://img28.imagevenue.com/loc368/th_195592137_ScrnShot_220213_223750_122_368lo.jpg This is beginning to sound stupid, but more of the same. Blah, blah, blah. Carm shoots twice and hits twice. This is the second shot. https://img111.imagevenue.com/loc523/th_195596730_ScrnShot_220213_224005_122_523lo.jpg Tori shoots and kills, shattering the glass in the door as well. https://img222.imagevenue.com/loc697/th_195598264_ScrnShot_220213_224018_122_697lo.jpg Up till now, Tori & Carm were getting most of the action. That's mainly because these two both needed kills for xp and also because they had rifles. Yes, Eagle also had a rifle, but never got a chance to fire as the enemy was already dead. This round, things went a little different. Our "objective" came to the door for a visit, and Javier went a step closer to the door to get a better angle and minimize misses. Unfortunately, the "objective" ran out of the door and looked to be heading for the edge of the map. "Oh no you don't!", yelled Javier as he ran after the guy and let loose with a barrage of bullets from his Chatellerault MG. https://img161.imagevenue.com/loc515/th_195599830_ScrnShot_220213_224338_122_515lo.jpg It was a quick and painful death to watch, but we salvaged the mission. It wasn't over yet though. While searching the map, Eagle spotted a baddie on the second floor of a building by a window. (That's her in the center of the next screenie standing in the middle of the road). https://img178.imagevenue.com/loc8/th_195608833_ScrnShot_220213_224937_122_8lo.jpg Eagle was keeping a, urm, "eagle eye" on Mr. Baddie while Mike ran into the building. The enemy made no effort to bolt, which gave Mike an idea: "the old shoot from below trick". With spectacular results of course. https://img145.imagevenue.com/loc52/th_195609138_ScrnShot_220213_225003_122_52lo.jpg Tori found some medicinal supplies in a chest downstairs. https://img40.imagevenue.com/loc232/th_195613500_ScrnShot_220213_230906_122_232lo.jpg And the obligatory 4-5 Lewis MK1 machine guns. I salvaged a few, but stripped the others for ammo as Eagle needs it for her Lee-Enfield rifle After that, it was time to get out of Boston and head home. Wait, this is an Axis campaign, so make that Berlin. Anyway, Tori gets a medal. https://img159.imagevenue.com/loc463/th_195614689_ScrnShot_220213_234659_122_463lo.jpg Sorry, no screenie of the gun while in inventory. This is on purpose so as to not spoil anything. K? Next up, is a random encounter. (I'm not going to be including every random encounter I run in this AAR as most of them are quick, boring completions, meant only for a little training to increase stats. Some of the scriped missions are very difficult unless your squad is buffed up, see)? I'll toss a few of them in for flavor every once and a while to spice things up a bit though. If someone levels up and the rest of the squad is behind, I'll train them all up behind the scenes so that I can pick enhancements at one time, instead of whenever it happens. - Zombie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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