So I'm playing TFTD...

[TNO]

.. but I'm not sure it's worth it.

It is harder than X-COM, but it seems to me most of its difficulty just comes from having bloody annoying maps and enemies that can take dozens of shots before they die. Is my first impression fair? Is it better than enemy unknown, or just a re-skin with amped up annoyance?

Discuss!

 

[Destroid]

I find TFTD really lacks in character compared to UFO.

 

[Tails]

The main problem for me is horrible weapons & aliens balance it look like TFTD devs did "hey, let's dump down human technology so most of it will be almost useless and we will increase half of aliens gauss resistance up to 90%" but surprisingly, TFTD Auto-Cannon is the only Human weapon that get boost instead of nerfing. Good thing they did (and I also like to see in EU) is removing Auto shot from Heavy Plasma/Sonic Cannon.

Also the atmosphere is moar like in Lovecraftian Sci-Fi then UFO game, but it has some pros too I guess.

 

[Darth Roxor]

TFTD's greatest advantage over EU are thermic lances. Best. Weapons. Ever.

 

[spectre]

And let's not forget being able to open doors with a right click.

I agree with most what was said. Especially with TFTD confusing tedium for difficulty. Just one thing: Ship Terror missions with lobstermen.

Yeah, regular ufo was challenging, but was also much better balanced.
With the extending mod it is also loads more fun. Only gripe: the mod works with the windows version which habitually crashes or glitches on me.

 

[MetalCraze]

It is harder than X-COM, but it seems to me most of its difficulty just comes from having bloody annoying maps and enemies that can take dozens of shots before they die.

Exactly.
While I find the whole Lovecraftian-inspired theme to be very good the game really lacks a proper balance, it just tries to overwhelm you with superior enemies whereas XCOM1 progressed more smoothly. The game was made by different devs and it shows.
It's still good and you can spend time with it if you are up to that difficulty, but XCOM1 is better.

 

[kyrub]

bloody annoying maps and enemies that can take dozens of shots before they die.

I actually find the EU maps boring, making AI predictable. Surely, some of the TFTD map features are intentionally evil. But having to fight the aliens in a coral cliff labyrinth is a gaming experience I never forgot.

And I still remember the first time I entered the huge TFTD base... And felt totally alone, exposed, being looked at, waiting for the slaughter anytime I pushed the Next turn button. And my first lobsterman fight... Ahhh. As unbalanced as TFTD is, it has this horror feeling that (otherwise superior) EU lacks.


(There was a lot written about TFTD having better alien combat AI than EU. I suspect there's no truth to it, it is just the well-thought maps + bad light conditions in ocean depths.)

 

[Tails]

Stop the lies start the truth.

 

[Overweight Manatee]

I like the aliens and weapon balance in TFTD better. Unlike in UFO, Gauss weapons are actually semi-useful for the whole game because they have auto fire, whereas in UFO the best strategy is to never touch laser and go straight to plasma. The standard weapons are bad, but the heavy cannon is pretty badass, and it makes sense that we wouldn't have great underwater personnel weapons other then simple blow-shit-up launchers.

More varied enemy abilities is good, in UFO the differences in enemy health/armor/weapons were sectopods, mind controllers, and everything else. TFTD is much more varied.

The random outdoors maps are MUCH better IMO. UFO was too normal and square, which made it fairly easy to sweep through areas with no losses. TFTD has so much more random debris that aliens can hide behind, so you have to be much more cautious. The motion scanner can actually start to be useful. The UFO's themselves in TFTD are better designed so that there aren't easily exploitable killzones for invading forces like all of the ones in UFO.

The double length terror mission/base assaults are really obnoxious though, and the land/sea equipment limitation just pisses me off. If the double length terror missions were much rarer, the base assaults weren't 4 god damn levels of pain every time, and the equipment limitations were removed it would be much more enjoyable.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Yeah, as a whole, UFO is a better game than TFTD. But since you've already played it, the next will be the various clones to try out, if you are bored with the originals.

 

[ever]

Here's to GarfunkeL's awesome LPs of TFTD

Salut!

 

[ever]

I like the aliens and weapon balance in TFTD better. Unlike in UFO, Gauss weapons are actually semi-useful for the whole game because they have auto fire, whereas in UFO the best strategy is to never touch laser and go straight to plasma.

The rest of what you said makes sense but the laser rifle is ten times better than gauss anything. Not to mention lobstermen and those reptile things are practially immune to gauss, while quite a few aliens have a weakness to laser in X-com1.

That being said I like X-Com 2 vanilla balance the most.

 

[Overweight Manatee]

I like the aliens and weapon balance in TFTD better. Unlike in UFO, Gauss weapons are actually semi-useful for the whole game because they have auto fire, whereas in UFO the best strategy is to never touch laser and go straight to plasma.

The rest of what you said makes sense but the laser rifle is ten times better than gauss anything. Not to mention lobstermen and those reptile things are practially immune to gauss, while quite a few aliens have a weakness to laser in X-com1.

That being said I like X-Com 2 vanilla balance the most.

Wasn't saying that Guass was better the Laser, just that it actually has a place in the end game. The Plasma weapons are always better then the laser weapons in UFO and there is no reason to ever research them except for laser cannon factories, but in TFTD Sonic weapons are often worse then Gauss in close combat because of the lack of autofire. It could certainly be better, but I like how the best loadouts aren't 20 soldiers all equipped with identical heavy plasma's like was the case in UFO.

 

[MetalCraze]

whereas in UFO the best strategy is to never touch laser and go straight to plasma.

Depends.
Laser is pretty good even long into the game (considering that it doesn't require any ammo) and I felt the need for plasma only when encountering more advanced aliens.

The motion scanner can actually start to be useful.

I can't imagine anyone opening the door in UFO without checking what's behind it with motion scanner.

The double length terror mission/base assaults are really obnoxious though, and the land/sea equipment limitation just pisses me off. If the double length terror missions were much rarer, the base assaults weren't 4 god damn levels of pain every time, and the equipment limitations were removed it would be much more enjoyable.

And in the latter half of the game you do what? Correct - next to nothing but terrors and bases.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Those who are complaining about lobstermen - seriously, I can already see that you never tried thermic lances. I was sceptical to them at first, too, but then I thought 'ah, what the hell' and made a vanguard of 3 very mobile soldiers with heavy lances + sonic pistols and it was HEAVAN, especially in terror missions/bases where there are lots of corridors through which you can ambush stuff without provoking reaction fire or getting exposed without cover. The fact that they require like 1/4th of your action points, iirc, is also great because you can run in, stab (and these are most often instakills), and run away behind cover again.

 

[TNO]

Jesus fucking Christ.

Landed on a ship with Tsaloths MCing the fuck out of me and biodrones. Fought my way through to have only five guys remaining, killed all the guys...

Then found out there was a whole other level to do in the hold.... FUUUUUUUU

Seriously, that's not fair! It's piss annoying too that the autopsy/live specimen data doesn't tell youwhat guns are effective like in eU. Might restart and game the research tree.

Out of interest, I found taht in EU you could rapidly get a screen of interceptors and plasma cannons whichc could shoot down the terror ships before they hit their target. Is that possible in TFTD, or can I anticipate lots and lots of terror missions rape?

And please tell me colonys are not 4 levels. I've already got one colony. I hope they're gillmen/aquas.


Aside: EU does have a few more enemies. Blaster bombers and Cryssalids and (early game) cyberdiscs demand some different strats - laser does have the advantage taht it only takes one slot.. But heavy plas>all (and you could easily get it by feb.) Both series do suffer from random rape syndrome: When I'm getting MCed by the entire alien team because one of them spotted me 4 turns ago, that is a little bit lame.

 

[Pliskin]

Most annoying thing about TFTD: Heavy weapons (hydrojet amd torpedo launcher) don't work on dry land!!!!!

Same with magnetic ion armor: Can't fly out of the water.

 

[Overweight Manatee]

Out of interest, I found taht in EU you could rapidly get a screen of interceptors and plasma cannons whichc could shoot down the terror ships before they hit their target. Is that possible in TFTD, or can I anticipate lots and lots of terror missions rape?

Yes, and this is key to having a TFTD experience that doesn't end up with a 2 hour long mission every week. It is harder though, the research tree is harder to get up quickly and the area you have to cover is both larger and more distributed.

And please tell me colonys are not 4 levels. I've already got one colony. I hope they're gillmen/aquas.

They are all 4 levels. However, there are a lot of paths between the levels and its generally pretty easy to find the control center which is always on the bottom level. Better yet, you can shoot down into the control center and kill the alien commanders, Vs. UFO where the alien commanders were always shooting down the elevator shaft with blaster bombs on your hapless squad. In TFTD you can easily get the drop on them and use a stun launcher. Boom, 2 Lobstermen Leaders and 1 Commander are yours for the taking.

However, ALL colonies have Tentaculats and lobstermen. And the Tentaculats are handplaced in the absolute worst possible spots to camp in. But as I said, the good news is you won't be facing the blaster bombs which frankly piss me off more. The Tentaculats are semi predictable in the same way that the enemy spawns in Doom 3 were predictable: Always in the corners that you didn't bother to check.

Aside: EU does have a few more enemies. Blaster bombers and Cryssalids and (early game) cyberdiscs demand some different strats - laser does have the advantage taht it only takes one slot.. But heavy plas>all (and you could easily get it by feb.) Both series do suffer from random rape syndrome: When I'm getting MCed by the entire alien team because one of them spotted me 4 turns ago, that is a little bit lame.

Yeah. If it wasn't for the convenient fact that they ALL focus on the statistically weakest member, the Psi-capable aliens would be so much more rape.

Those who are complaining about lobstermen - seriously, I can already see that you never tried thermic lances. I was sceptical to them at first, too, but then I thought 'ah, what the hell' and made a vanguard of 3 very mobile soldiers with heavy lances + sonic pistols and it was HEAVAN, especially in terror missions/bases where there are lots of corridors through which you can ambush stuff without provoking reaction fire or getting exposed without cover. The fact that they require like 1/4th of your action points, iirc, is also great because you can run in, stab (and these are most often instakills), and run away behind cover again.

Most important by far is that seemingly tiny fact that even if you fail to kill it with one hit, it NEVER draws reaction fire. Its like the TFTD version of god mode in the close quarters terror missions. Also, the stun launchers are golden against them later.

 

[eklektyk]

I just love TFTD
ship terror mission and lobsters are awsome :D
unfortunately later on with missle launcher You just go blow stuff in mechanical memory of most probable alien placement and they take big hit on morale
and first mission with lobsters is always full of win

edit: thermic lance comando is pure awsomnes :twisted:

 

[dragonfk]

I just love TFTD
ship terror mission and lobsters are awsome :D
unfortunately later on with missle launcher You just go blow stuff in mechanical memory of most probable alien placement and they take big hit on morale
and first mission with lobsters is always full of win

edit: thermic lance comando is pure awsomnes :twisted:

Fucking Pole!

 

[eklektyk]

mandatory FUCK OFF goes up

new dont mean tame

 

[spectre]

Oooh, so edgy.

 

[Coldcall]

I found the key to TFTD was getting your squad so they get lots of shots off during the opportunity fire round. So always leaving enough for a snap shot, and once your sqaud was quite accurate with fast reactions, it was like fireworks going off as soon as those Lobby men put their heads above cover.

I am currently playing Silent Strom and while its pretty good, i miss not having my squad be able to autoshoot on the enemies turn if they have enough APs. Unfortunately an interrupt mechanism occurs where you get to order the squad member with the free AP to take a shot, but its just not the same as having a squad whcih automatically fires if their reaction stat is high enough.

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

Unfortunately an interrupt mechanism occurs where you get to order the squad member with the free AP to take a shot, but its just not the same as having a squad whcih automatically fires if their reaction stat is high enough.

Trolling alt ? Weird conception of turn-based strategy ? Sincerely stupid ?

 

[Coldcall]

Unfortunately an interrupt mechanism occurs where you get to order the squad member with the free AP to take a shot, but its just not the same as having a squad whcih automatically fires if their reaction stat is high enough.

Trolling alt ? Weird conception of turn-based strategy ? Sincerely stupid ?

What???