So even tho I have several hundred hours of both X-Com and TFTD, I never got into Apocalypse. While I played the first two games at release, I missed apoc until Steam became a thing and the game just sat on my library ever since. I heard it was an unfinished game, but got better with mods or whatever. Questions:
- Should I run it with OpenApoc?
- Any "vanilla+" mod recommendations?
- Are there any unofficial patches/other third party stuff I need or am I good to go right after Steam is done downloading the game?
- Is the game playable in full TB mode? Because the other game I did play that featured both TB and RTwP (Fo Tatics) had completely different metas, depending on what combat mode you decided to use.
- Any good tutorials/first steps guide around? Because at least the "geoscape" portion of the game is completely different.
Ty in advance
First off, it is a finished game. It is OpenApoc that is unfinished.
1. No to OpenApoc. It is not ready yet.
2. Play vanilla first. You can mod it yourself using an editor later. The game is good enough that I have played it for over a decade without modding it.
3. Not required. See point 2.
4. It is the same. TB and RTwP are two different beasts and any game that offers both will require different metas. TB is pretty much exactly the same as the first two XComs, so is the recommended route for XCom veterans.
5. Playing the original XCom is a good tutorial :D Seriously, though, you shouldn't need it. There are, however, a few things you need to be aware of:
a. The Cult will always be hostile to you. Don't bother trying to be friends with them. The only reason why you shouldn't blow them away ad raid them mercilessly is that they, like you, have friends/enemies status with other organisations and hurting them too badly can turn their friends against you. It is not very quick, but it has been known to happen.
b. Every organisation starts off with a set friend/enemy status. The police and the gangs would never start as friends, for example. Knowing which is which can make your life easier.
c. There are rumours that being friendly with an organisation can give you certain bonuses (better/more troops, more equipment sold, heal faster, etc.), but I have never noticed a difference. However, making an enemy of them WILL make them cut you off and even attack you. Be sure you can handle that organisation cutting you off if you ever find yourself going down that route. The government, the police and the transport guys are particularly bad people to antagonise for very obvious reasons.
d. Speaking of selling equipment, all equipment that you can buy off the market are finite. That's right. If you can run out of bullets for your guns if you go absolutely crazy with the ammo expenditure. The stock refreshes every Monday. The same with vehicles, troopers, scientists and engineers. You don't have an infinite number of them, so becareful how you use them.
e. Explosives are very dangerous in this game, especially the alien ones. A popper or a vortex mine can really ruin your day, and that is before fun stuff like overhead gantries falling down on you or the walkway you are on falling down 8 stories and you with it. Everything on the combat map is held up by something else. You blow or destroy the wrong thing and everything tied to it will come tumbling down, and the organisation who owns the building is going to get really PO'd at you.
f. Similarly, roads and most buildings on the city map are made of futuristic glass. It looks like sturdy concrete but just about anything will blow it up. If your vehicle is under or near the base of a collapsing building, bridge, whatever, expect to kiss it goodbye. However, staying high and shooting down is not a good idea either, because it is now YOU who are damaging the buildings owned by other organisations and they hate that.
g. Rebuilding buildings on the city map is VERY expensive. It is a good way to bankrupt an organisation you hate, but, conversely, it can bankrupt you if your buildings get hit. This only kicks in if there is actually visible damage, so if the shot doesn't blow things up, you are relatively safe.
h. Walk, don't run. Walking doesn't take up stamina. Running does. You don't regenerate stamina in any significant manner while on the battlemap in TB. Once you run out, that's it. You are stuck with walking for the rest of the battle. Flying mitigates this, obviously, but the game is bugged in that if you are out of stamina, you take up walking AP even when flying, so don't run out. Only run when you absolutely have to.
There are more advanced tricks that you can use, but that would take a novel, so I will leave it here. Play a few games then come back once you have the basics down pat.