If it's the bridge or gas station areas where pretty much all the cover is explosive objects, I usually blow up one of the cars with a grenade myself and then use it for cover.

Curt - We had such a great time with you, Magnus! This picture is beituaful and we can't wait to see the others after you've done your magic. Great work as always!

Could be worse, like missing a 100% hit chance shot.

Engine block is the only cover.

[url=#user_comment_197191]@sigterm[/url] Of course, in real life they also do not explode like red barrels...

The funny thing is that in real life cars are not a cover, especially car doors - bullet will fly right through it.

I had loads of fun playing on classic and Impossible, I named the soldiers after my friends and then went on to see who would survive the longest!

[url=#user_comment_197047]@Malygon[/url] Aliens don't get their free move when you see them, they get it when THEY see YOU. This is most easily observable if you use a battle scanner to find the aliens (and this can even be used to get the drop on them without a free move if you have a sniper with Squadsight).

[url=#user_comment_196939]@Shadow12000[/url]: Not true, I played the original, and love it to death. I'm not talking "oh my gosh my rookie panicked and dropped a grenade", I'm talking stuff like 4 mutons and 2 berzerkers spawning in that one fow space in the middle of your squad and immediately getting three moves and an attack.

Classic is so much more fun. I almost went into a losing spiral 2 months in, just barely getting satellites into the air before a CONTINENT left the council. The Squaddie Body Count is rising, and I'm still behind the curve of technology the Aliens are sending at me. It is so much fun!!!

By the way... what bugs? The only bugs I noticed while playing was 1 chryssalid AI that broke, moving between 2 points and the fact that aliens can patrol at the edge of the camera where you can see them but they aren't getting triggered like they should.

[url=#user_comment_197036]@Adahn[/url]: The free move the aliens get is for putting them in cover. It'd be unfair for the aliens if that didn't happen since outside of cover they are too easy to kill. When you dash with your last guy and trigger some chryssalids that move in front of you... well thats your own fault.

@The Forehead: Thing is... Classic is fair. It's a gamemode where when you make a mistake people die. I sometimes spent 10 minutes on one turn, going through it in my head to map out every possible move and to do what's best. And it payed off! But on impossible... the game becomes a lot less fair.

Everything on the field draws from the same RNG pool. If your shot misses, reload and trigger an alien overwatch by running another unit through its field of fire, it will miss.
It may be cheating, but the system is already rigged. The aliens always gets a free move, save scumming is the equalizer.

Actually small cars only provide half-cover at all sides, the middle part doesn't provide full-cover.

Also, curse that hit chance. High ranking soldiers seems to hit their target even if like 35% chance to hit while those rookies can STILL MISS at point-blank range.

@Hey Jo: The game uses seeding RNG. It's a pseudo RNG(random number generator) system, that is specifically designed to prevent you from loading a game and retrying until you succeed. In their eyes you're cheating by loading and retrying to get a different result.

The only downside to your reloading is that shots aren't exactly random when fired. I loaded a 95% shot over and over about fifteen times and every single shot missed along with the next shot that I fired when moving to a certain spot. The third shot would always hit as well. Dunno the math though..

and fighting panzerkliens is an absolute BITCH without extreme hardware (grenadiers)

or an absolute SPONGE when done at extreme ranges with silenced weaponry, the damn thing cant spot you for shit, but you cant get close to it without them spitting out automatic rocket launcher fire

Im playing Silent Storm right now, not as bullshity for deaths even on the highest difficulty, but its more then possible for you to open a door and the game to literally rob you of your turn via the games interrupt chance, and it only takes ONE dude with an automatic (sometimes not even that)

[url=#user_comment_196748]@EXPLOSION[/url]: You never played the original if you think the deaths in this are unfair.

I'm fairly sure that the rule is "If it has fuel, it can explode". I mean, we are talking about plasma rifles that annihilate concrete walls. I think for bullets, I've only seen the heavy gun break things, the rest just missed with nothing else.

Avoid Ironman till you get used to the difficulty. There's a huge jump in difficulty between Normal and Classic.

Finished a campaign now. OK, I guess but not so special. Consolized yes, but it could have been worse. Had some fun, but I don't think this will stay on my hard drive for years like the original did. I think I actually enjoyed UFO: Afterlight more.

The cars don't blow up instantly. They get set on fire and you get warned that they're going to blow up, at which point you should move.

I still remember the old days, when your squad could be slaughtered just after the landing, and you would have to drag the survivors back on the skyranger for extraction...
Good times.

So far, I'm enjoying the new one.

Those cars always give Partial Cover all around them.

Now, compadres, let's raise our tequilas for Engie-tan...maybe she wasn't the smartest soldier, but I'll be damned if she wasn't the hottest gal I ever saw!

@O-(-'.'Q): I guess that black haired cutie and our luscious Argonian maid are taking a looong vacation. It's been quite a while since either of them appeared in the strip. That's shame, indeed.

@/k/: 1) They give cover in the sense that they obscure you. Bushes and curtains give cover too, as does smoke or intervening combatants, friend or foe. I guess you could just spray bullets at the car but it seems like a generally bad idea.

Classes is not exactly random, if you want a certain class you can get it.
If you use Medikit and dont kill anything, you get Support.
Kill from long distance and you get sniper.
Kill close and you get Assault
Kill with a Grenade and you get heavy.

Normal seemed too easy but classic is just absolutely ridiculous. You WILL get one-shot in full cover by sectoids, the weakest and most basic aliens in the game. I don't understand how that's even supposed to be playable.

It's faithtful to the original in many ways, yet it's also tainted by console game bullshit. Randomly assigned "classes" are stupid as hell. Panic is handled weirdly and much of the game feels awkward. Still, it's entertaining in both story and gameplay.

Exploding engine?
Gas tanks maybe at the rear?

Michael Schumacher should beat you up...

Actually cars serve no cover at all. I've seen some rednecks test this by shooting rounds fired from an AK-47 (and other rifles I forget) from a decent range into a car, the bullets went straight through.

Takes longer to move 6 agents than the old game's 14?! Danm, and I thought that one had it hard. 10 points to move one square. 2 points to crouch, 2 ponts to turn to the left... ach, ran out of movement points, can't fully look to the left...

"Every Car Is A Pinto" (TV Tropes)

[url=#user_comment_196748]@EXPLOSION[/url]: I think that energy weapon has to do with the explosion.

Dead Engie, huh? Time to roll a new mascot?

Hey, whatever happened to the black-haired newbie? She still washing your floors in maid attire?

[url=#user_comment_196711]@Malygon[/url]: Beat it on Impossible Ironman, of course.

I was disappointed by the number of bugs and "unfair" deaths in the game. It's like Dungeons of Dredmor was at the start, iron man usually just leaves you frustrated and unsatisfied.

I once described the cars in this game (and most of Hollywood) as "kevlar wrapped dynamite".

[url=#user_comment_196696]@Jeff[/url]: The harder modes in the game just mean the computer cheats and the abilities of your guys get stealth nerfed. It's the standard lazy mode of difficulty level balancing.

So many tequila-shots to honor the memory of Engie-tan!!!

all cars give the same cover all around.

I kinda... played it through the day it was released here in Germany on ironman mode in classic difficulty while only losing 1 soldier. It also was my first real game outside of playing the demo and playing on a friends XBOX for a little while. What am I supposed to do with the game now?

[url=#user_comment_196562]@McJoeman[/url]: Muahahahaha *twirling evil mustache*

Classic mode is brutal if only for the sake of for some reason 80% chance to hit for you pretty much means 20%.

For the enemy 45% chance is pretty much an 80% for them.

Worst is that map where your start near a Gas station. All your enemies are covered inside the building, and you're left with gas pump and cars as cover. Mmmmmmmmmmmmkay?

I only got the game a few days ago and I've already had to restart several times after losing all of my soldiers/running out of money at a bad time/losing a ton of council support. This game is horrible if you're a perfectionist.

Still fun as hell though.

I have managed to be 4 tiles away from a car and have the flaming hood from the explosion come down and one hit kill a guy behind cover.
My first Classic Ironman attempt ended with a nonburning van exploding (if it was burning I would have moved!)
I freaking hate vehicles in this game.

[url=#user_comment_196626]@Thatoneguy[/url]: [url=#user_comment_196649] @mihipu[/url]: Sounds like the original X-Com to me! :D

Sometimes they miss 90%+ shot at point-blank range.
They deserved to be zombies rather than a soldier.

Oh god! The missclick is still there? The number of times I sent a sergeant into no-mans land with no TU's while trying to click on the next guy to move...

Real cars have gas tanks generally by the back wheel well, under the back seat. Why do you think the gas-cap is right there?

personally i hate the little greys that can mind-control your units. they will always take your shotgun soldier and proceed to wreck your squad. all my hate.

Xcom is like dwarf fortress or NASCAR, you're only there to see something horrible happen.

The memorial thing for Engie makes me very sad.

...

Got a few stories about my playthrough, I don't think I bounded with any of the character.
The first guy I customized died on his first mission.

First move: Cover. Triggers half of the enemies
Second move: Grapple hook for better shot. Triggers the rest of them.
On Terror Mission, on Ironman. Thank goodness it was normal, almost didn't survive.

[url=#user_comment_196610]@Aradraugfea[/url] My god, they fight like US now. Well, OK, so the AI is a wee bit exploitable, but yeah. I totally blow up their cover all the time.

You generally have a turn to get away from a burning car before it explodes. Far more troubling to me is the tendency of any alien that has them to just grenade your cover away so his friends can blow you to hell.

If you can save scum, then the difficulty doesn't hold the same weight. =P Though I will agree it's annoying when you have 5 of your guys miss a 50% plus shot in a row only for the Thin Man to crit you whilst you're in high cover.

I tried classic first and had to drop to normal after about my 10th failure. Xcom is a fickle b*tch.

That is especially great when you are playing on that bridge map where all cover is cars. Meanwhile the last alien encounter has plenty of non-car cover, but only for the aliens.

[url=#user_comment_196560]@Lolzzzzz[/url] Damn youuuuu!!!!

ye love those car explosions on the face. Puts my men in a hospital every single time.

First.