🚀 go-pugleaf

> I got creamed.

I just went back to ufo & got creamed.  I think there's a slightly
different style of play.
 
> It seems to me like the game moves much too fast, and the more dangerous
> aliens start arriving much earlier in the game

I'm not sure, but I think the better you do, the harder they hit you. 
No way to prove it tho.

> I don't seem to have enough
> time to research anything, and pretty much I bite the big one 


I research sonic rifles asap, then sonic pulsers. this combo will take
out just about anything & isn't as heavy as the cannon.
gauss sucks except the sub weapon, which is a profit item.

Then go for the armor.  

> ... or if i just suck 

depends on what you mean...;D

Eran Galon <ega...@mail.netvision.net.il> wrote in article
<3613683E...@mail.netvision.net.il>...
> Hello people,
> 
.... I found a copy of TFTD.  I installed
> it on my system and started playing.
> 
> I got creamed.
> 
> It seems to me like the game moves much too fast, and the more dangerous
> aliens start arriving much earlier in the game, effectively wiping out
> several platoons of unprepared soldiers.

Yes TFTD is just a nightmarish partial conversion of UFO. Its the same as UFO
but bad things happen sooner. And to make matters worse the research tree is
buggy so often you can't even finish the game, or even get the equipment you
need. I have played to my satisfaction many times and only seen T'leth once.
The strange thing is- I enjoy TFTD much more than UFO and play it more often. 

 > I don't seem to have enough
> time to research anything, and pretty much I bite the big one every
> time.  Seeing that I didn't find UFO too difficult, can anyone please
> tell me if I'm doing something wrong here?  I'm playing in the same
> style I used in UFO (which is irrelevant, but seeing that it worked for
> UFO, I would assume it would work in TFTD) but it seems as though I'm
> doing something wrong...  Can anyone please tell me if they encountered
> the same problems and if they can help me out a bit or if i just suck at
> this despite all the good will :).

The basic truth is that:

1. You don't suck

2. You must learn to play a 'tighter' more conservative game of UFO. Never take
a risk, never let a lab or shop go idle, never assume an area is clear, never
let more than 2 'nauts stand in the vicinity of the Triton's door. That being
said, you will break the rules once in a while just out of necessity.

3. Learn to say no to TFTD. This can mean learning to run from a bad situation,
or it can mean running an Xcomutil win flag on a boring first stage mission. It
never means not playing TFTD ; )

Here are some painful ways that your well-laid plans can go awry:

Lobstermen in open terrain can eat up whole squads in the early game. Consider
a 'bodysnatch raid' if you need a research topic. Kill or stun one, pick him up
and take him to the Triton then leave the mission. Massed gunfire and bombs
along a wide front are your best bet for taking them without stun. When you
have stun, make a Alien containment in another base to transfer them to. On the
battlefield just drop a ticking grenade on a unconcious lobsterman soldier to
kill him.

Alien base raids witout a skilled and well equipped squad are a nice way to
feed the Tenticulats your brain. Use a tank on the jellyfish but above all stay
off alien turf 'till you have MCreader, good armour, stun and guns.

A reprisal raid on your nearly unguarded base is another showstopper. Always
operate two bases with Triton and crew. Always have more soldiers than you use
on the sub. Always have enough guys holding the fort.

Make money and harden your squads by doing a ground mission on every downed
alien sub. This jacks up your score and rep with your sponsors too. Remember,
even if you land at a mission and leave next turn you get points and money for
it. Just be careful and avoid attrition on your core squaddies.

"Don't get hurt"

Morgane  

Robert Bohnenberger DMD (rtb...@erols.com) wrote:
: 
: I just went back to ufo & got creamed.  I think there's a slightly
: different style of play.
:  
: > It seems to me like the game moves much too fast, and the more dangerous
: > aliens start arriving much earlier in the game
: 
: I'm not sure, but I think the better you do, the harder they hit you. 
: No way to prove it tho.

Hmm, just started two concurrent games of UFO to test this:

Game One: using the saved/reload method to get through ocmbat missions
I successfully cleared out 2 Terror Sites & 6 UFOs with minimal
casualties. End of January: excellent score, big boost in funding.
In February, though, the shit hits the fan as Mutons dominate the
UFO missions (built those Lasers just in time!), and psionic
Sectoids with Cyberdiscs carry out Terror Missions. It's tough
already.

Game Two: minimal saves. Similar number of missions, but high
casualties, including backing out of a Terror Site that had
turned nasty (Floater snipers everywhere!). End of January:
average score, small increase in funding. In February, less
Terror Sites than in Game One, & they are still Floaters plus
Reavers. No sign of Mutons or psi-aliens yet.

Research may also play an important part: if your guys are
running around in Power Suits armed with Laser Rifles or
better, you don't encounter Floaters armed only with
Plasma pistols! The enemy aliens get tougher (Mutons),
better armed (Heavy Plasma, Blasters), & better supported
(choose any from: Cyberdiscs, Sectopods, Crysalids &
psi-leasres!).

--
IY.

Ian York wrote:

> Research may also play an important part: if your guys are
> running around in Power Suits armed with Laser Rifles or
> better, you don't encounter Floaters armed only with
> Plasma pistols! The enemy aliens get tougher (Mutons),
> better armed (Heavy Plasma, Blasters), & better supported
> (choose any from: Cyberdiscs, Sectopods, Crysalids &
> psi-leasres!).

Makes a lot of sense.  As an aside, I just couldn't believe how many
heavy plasma hits a sectopod can absorb.  I nailed that sucker at least
8 times with no apparent effect.  Had to resort to a blaster bomb to
squash that bug.

On another tangent, I think the early game is a bit more fun - my
tactics here involve lots of grenades, large rockets, auto-cannon loaded
w/he ammo and demo charges. BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!  Civilians?  We don't need
no stinking civilians!

Ian's observations match with my own regarding the way TFTD plays.

I tried a different approach recently to my game and the results were fairly
good.  Instead of researching Sonic weapons, I left these as along as
possible before researching them.  Only when large USO's started waxing my
'Cuda's did I consider research, just to get the Sonic Oscillator.

The first priority, I feel, is getting a live Deep One.  This means your
base should have at least 12 nauts from the start of the game, ready for the
Terror Mission.  Thermal Tazers are standard kit for the whole squad, as
well as at least 4 PD sensors.  Ideally, kill off any other aliens found on
the mission - they will hamper your progress.  Use grenades sparingly, as
you may end up killing any Deep Ones in the area.  You should have a large
majority of nauts running around with PD sensors and Tazers, covered by the
rest of the squad with guns, just incase a Gillman should pop into view to
take a shot at your scouts.  Since on terror missions large buildings always
have aliens inside them, consider these structures as the target, with Deep
One retrieval as the objective.  It's up to you how many casualties you are
willing to take, but after 50%, I'd say cut your losses.
    The 'bodysnatching' approach is the best way to deal with the terror
mission mentioned above. Get in, grab alien, get out.  Try throwing the
unconscious alien around instead of carrying it, since they tend to wake up
and wax the naut holding it.  A couple of nauts in a leap frog motion is
useful, but be sure they are covered from reprisals.

The reasoning for getting the Deep One is simple - it leads to Ion Armour,
as a partial component, as also gives the MC Lab early in the game.  These
two items are priorities since you survive longer with Ion armour, as well
as the MC Lab training and finding out nauts who are susceptible to MC
attacks - your so say performers you come to rely on may in fact be fish
food for the aliens when they continually panic, or worse, get controlled
and drop a Sonic Pulser in the Triton...

Overall, the effect this had on the game meant that since I was using Gauss
and Hvy Wpns, the aliens I met were mostly Gillmen and Aquatoids.  Gauss may
be inferior to sonic weapons, but it does double damage of Harpoon rifles,
so should you meet any Lobstermen, it could save your troops.  This forced
the game to stick with low end aliens, using sonic pistols, maybe rifles on
occasion, and limited grenade usage.  The benefits for me were, my troops
had decent armour and I had weeded out MC attack prone nauts and ditched
them, irrespective if they were excellent in all other area's.  Once this
was in place, I researched furiously into Thermal Shock Launcher, then
sonics lastly.  By the time I had the TSL, I could practically walk most
missions, until the advent of DPL's and MC disruptors, which then made the
game a cake walk.


Ian York & Robert Bohnenberger wrote...


>: I just went back to ufo & got creamed.  I think there's a slightly
>: different style of play...


snip

>Hmm, just started two concurrent games of UFO to test this:
>
>Game One: using the saved/reload method to get through ocmbat missions
>I successfully cleared out 2 Terror Sites & 6 UFOs with minimal
>casualties. End of January: excellent score, big boost in funding.
>In February, though, the shit hits the fan as Mutons dominate the
>UFO missions (built those Lasers just in time!), and psionic
>Sectoids with Cyberdiscs carry out Terror Missions. It's tough
>already.
>
>Game Two: minimal saves. Similar number of missions, but high
>casualties, including backing out of a Terror Site that had
>turned nasty (Floater snipers everywhere!). End of January:
>average score, small increase in funding. In February, less
>Terror Sites than in Game One, & they are still Floaters plus
>Reavers. No sign of Mutons or psi-aliens yet.
>
>Research may also play an important part: if your guys are
>running around in Power Suits armed with Laser Rifles or
>better, you don't encounter Floaters armed only with
>Plasma pistols! The enemy aliens get tougher (Mutons),
>better armed (Heavy Plasma, Blasters), & better supported
>(choose any from: Cyberdiscs, Sectopods, Crysalids &
>psi-leasres!).
>
>--
>IY.