Cazbol

Waste not, want not. Check your inventory levels of e-115 before deciding to build a large number of items requiring large amounts elerium. Make sure you have plenty for fuel, then decide what to do with the surplus. Cazbol

Has noone noticed that the soldiers actually have names? That's good enough for me and I try to take good care of them. Cazbol

Some of the ideas I've seen suggested are bit..... ambitious. There is however one basic thing I'd like to see in a revised version. The ability for trooper A to enter a door/wall that trooper B blasts in the same round. A bit like the barrels/powerups. You can enter their tiles in the same round that you blast them. Being able to do the same with doors would make for interesting tactics when storming a room. Can it be done? Cazbol

I always take 5 medikits for my 10 man teams. A lot of excellent troops have been saved that way, often with single digit hit points and multiple fatal wounds. Those who don't use them should at least try them out. As a bonus, it adds a realistic feel to have medics running around reviving the wounded and patching them up. I think the medikits are an extremely clever feature in the game. Never seen anything like it in other games. Cazbol

I never thought I'd see Napoleonic tactics used seriously in UFO. Now that was original. I salute you. Cazbol

I admit to being a little intoxicated (an office party), so either it's that or my inate stupidity that's blurring the question of the poll. Are we expressing what on the list is most useless, what on the list best fits the description "stuff" or something else? Assuming we're talking about the most useless things, I'd vote for the last item "other", referring to this poll, but I guess I'll go for the plasma pistol, although it was a close call. Cazbol

I voted for UFO because I've only played UFO and Email X-COM (which I really like and play quite a bit). Amazingly enough I've had TFTD, Apoc and Interceptor for over 2 years and I haven't even tried them once! Never started them up. That's because I intend to complete them in the right order and I'm only just about to finish UFO. Understandably I'm not eagerly awaiting an X-COM sequel since I already have 3 in line. Cazbol

Performing psi attacks not only improves TUs and psi skill, but also stamina, health and strength. Cazbol

Quite right. My mistake. It's the fusion ball launcher that is the most profitable product, but only if you produce one at a time. The second item in a batch and all thereafter require 1 unit of alien alloys. Cazbol

As I'm approaching the end of my game, I do it the dull way..... with psi. The first alien I see gets mind controlled and subsequently goes out scouting for his comrades who in turn are also mind controlled. It's non-heroic, it's not a lot of fun, but it keeps my troopers alive until I send them to Cydonia. Once every alien is mind controlled, I disarm them and pack them into some enclosed room in the UFO. Once they recover from mind control, they'll usually leave the room and be greeted my by firing squad which is practicing reaction fire. A soldier in the early phase of psi training is often sent into the room with the aliens to panic them and drive them out a bit quicker. (I really should get myself to finish this game soon.) Cazbol

The motion scanner gives the highest profit per engineers' working hour early in the game, higher than laser pistols and laser rifles. Once you develop the laser cannon it becomes the most profitable product. (The exception is plasma cannons produced in 1 unit batches but I won't get into that again.) Cazbol

My rookies ride point and scout the area ahead, but this also means they get a good chance of gaining experience through fighting. They can take comfort in knowing that there are veterans behind them that can bring heavy firepower on any opponents that are to big or numerous for the rookies. And if the rookies do well, they move up in the ranks and back in the squad. Cazbol

I've heard you can do it with X-COM-util, but don't have it myself.

One of the very few features that I think UFO is missing is the agony of units on fire. Units on fire should be in a constant state of panic, and hence pose no threat. Cazbol

The first I heard of X-COM was about 2 years ago, when I was reading a game reivew for a totally different game in a magazine. The game was said to be good but that it was no X-COM. I had no idea what they were talking about. A couple of months later, it's my 30th birthday and among the 30 presents I got from my girlfriend was the X-COM Collection (not the Collector's edition). I've been addicted ever since. Cazbol

Warblade is quite right, reaper skin is is highly flammable. Unfortunately rocktes are heavy and bulky, so I suggest the auto-cannon with incendiary ammo. Stun bombs also seem very effective indeed. I've never understood why these things are considered dangerous. In all my X-COM missions I have NEVER been harmed by them. They haven't even come close to threatening my troops. The same goes for celatids and silicoids; never scored against me. Cazbol

My starting tactic is much like what has been described above. Location for first base is crucial. In my current game I opted for a place just south of Novo Sibirsk, which has the advantage of land mass all around. As a result you can shoot down all UFOs without risking losing them into the ocean. A good score in the first few months should be your main focus so down a UFO and clear the site. The site south of Moscow may be even better, due to the proximity to all the European countries. I suggest you build a large radar in your first base and then immediately build a new base in the USA with 1 long range radar, 1 store room and 1 hangar where you house an Interceptor. Having done that I go for the gradual build-up. Living quarters and alien containment in the first base, where you also increase the number of scientists as quickly as your finances allow. Aim for 50 scientist and don't spread their effort on many simultaneous projekts. Start building facilities for troops at base 2 and a new hangar for a Skyrangar. Build up an assault team there and make sure you have reserve soldiers at both bases. Add a short range radar and alien containment to base 2. Research priorities: 1) Once you find stun bombs and small launcher at the crash sites, research those and try to capture alien leaders to interrogate. 2) Heavy plasma and heavy plasma clips as soon as you find them. You may want to skip the plasma rifle and plasma pistol. 3) Laser weapons -> Laser pistols -> Laser rifles. Althouth this is nr. 3 on my list, you'll probably research it first, since it's available for research from the start. Finally the golden rule: Don't rush the tactical missions unless you're facing ethereals. Cazbol

An extra advice on Ethereals: Save enough TUs to disarm your soldiers at the end of every round (2 TUs to drop the gun). You'll need to use TUs to pick them up the next round, but then again you won't need to save TUs for reaction fire. The reduced risk of being killed by mind controlled soldiers outweighs the benefit of reaction fire in my opinion. Make a note of which soldiers are being targettet by psi (should range from about 1 to 5). Continue to disarm these guys at the end of each round but let the rest keep their weapons in their hands. The aliens always target the same psi weaklings. Kill the ethereals first if faced with a choice. Be much more agressive than on normal mission. Bring 2-4 rocket launchers and as many large rockets as your crew can comfortably carry. Leaving extra stock in the Skyranger is also a viable option. A rocket tank goes without saying. If you think an ethereal is hiding in a building, blow a hole in the building. If no scream is heard, send them another rocket. Throw grenades and high explosives all around. Scr*w the civilians. They're dead anyway. The idea here is not to use your rockets efficiently but QUICKLY. A good rule of thumb is that if you haven't used all your rockets at the end of the mission, then you haven't been agressive enough. Cazbol

Deppa (my better half) also has the same problem even though she's using a different computer and a different email address (hotmail). Has anyone here tried to send me or Deppa turns since we started Fight Club? Neither of us has received anything. Cazbol

I've run into 2 problems with the Fight Club: 1. It claims to send an email about the new match, but it doesn't seem to do it. At least I didn't get one. 2. When you start a game, you only get the name of your opponent but not his email address. Go figure. Fortunately, I know Stuntmutts address, but someone seems to have started a game against me and I don't know who that might be. In case that someone sees this, my address is removethispart.kjartan@stofanet.dk.removethispart Remove the "removethispart"s at the beginning and end. Cazbol

There's one thing you've got to ask your selv: Do you reload? If you haven't lost a man in 250 missions without reloading, then I will worship you like the god you are. I shall build you a huge pyramid in the jungle. :o If you reloaded to aid you in this "feat", then I f*rt in your general d.... strike that, I'll just yawn. Cazbol :angel:

Check out the topic called "how do you make it early in the game". It has some recent discussion on just what you're asking for. Cazbol

I vote for the REALLY old backup. It's just too sad to see Unity with no games running. I prefer a snapshot from the past. Then we go over to the new tournament when it's ready. Cazbol

Take NKF's advice: ALWAYS respond to terror sites. They're actually the most fun missions, but also quite hard compared to crash sites. If you're afraid to lose your best soldiers, then send your worst soldiers (seriously). They'll probably do enough damage to give a vastly better score than you'd get for not showing up. Find a building close to the landing craft and clear it as quickly as possible. It's best if it has more than one floors, since the upper floors give excellent cover. Put 1 or 2 guards by the stairs and the enemies will never make it up. The rest of the team the starts sniping at enemies through the windows until you stop seeing enemies. It doesn't matter if the soldiers you brought are all lousy shots. Just keep shooting at the aliens until you hit them. Once alien activity in the streets disappears, you the team moves out to clear the rest of the city. If you tend to lose all you men in these mission and therefore also the landing craft, then you may want to establish you perimeter around the Skyranger rather than in a building as I suggested. Keep one guy kneeling in the back of the Skyranger, so if everyone on the outside gets killed the last man in the Skyranger can take off and save the craft. Cazbol

My better half :inlove: is trying to register with Unity, but isn't getting a reply. Is there something wrong with the email account or is Pete just in hiding? Cazbol