Ranger33

Try restarting Steam, if that doesn't work, close Steam then go into the Steam folder and delete ClientRegistry.blob (this will kind of refresh Steam completely) which is the magic bullet for a lot of things. Also try launching the .exe directly from the XCOM folder and verifying the cache (right click game in Steam -> properties -> then it's under one of the tabs). If none of that works then I don't know, I have not heard of this being a widespread issue with XCOM, so it might be something on your end.

What is your issue with getting it to run? All Steam does is download the game and launch it.

Nice find. It's such an interesting juxtaposition how those tanks rolling down the street would seem like massive invulnerable beasts, but could be blown away in an instant (for the most part) if in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Got in a few hours this afternoon, it's quite excellent. My original plan was to stick to the Classic Ironman difficulty, which is the "real" game, but it was just way too hard. There's almost no margin for error, but completing a mission and coming home with all of your troops is an awesome feeling every time. However, that was pretty rare Decided to give my self a break and switched to Normal (with Ironman) for the first playthrough. It is way easier but good for learning the ropes I think. Once I play all the way through and see all the techs and gear and what not, then I'll be ready for real deal. On Classic (between 4-5 restarts ) I lost 20+ soldiers in a just a couple hours, on Normal I've only lost 4 after a dozen missions, plus I have tons of money and there is no fear of countries cutting off my funding or anything yet. On Classic you are up against the wall right off the bat in the strategic layer as well as the tactical.

Anyone else geared up to play the new XCOM game? I know from the CMBN Steam group that several people have pre-ordered it so I figured I would make a thread for discussion. A lot of the changes for the new version have been controversial, and as a fan of the original I was concerned. However, everything I've seen and heard about the game these last few months has been stellar, and I'm really looking forward to playing. For the absolute purists there is always Xenonauts, which is much more an upgrade of the original instead of a reboot. I look forward to it as well. Anyway, game comes out in a few hours so I'll pop back in later with impressions.

Has the platoon leader been moving around? That can cause the radio to go in and out some. Even if stationary, it will go on and off sometimes. The whole C2 system is rather enigmatic.

I hope I too can one day be a cranky old man who berates other old men on the internet.

Thanks for sharing. I second all of Erwin's comments. It's rather hauntingly similar to both Vietnam and the current conflict. "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it" and all that.

Popped in here randomly and I'm glad I did! CMA needs all the love it can get, thanks for creating some new content! I look forward to leading terrible troops into terrible situations. Interesting parallels to the current real world situation as well.

The long pack up times wouldn't be so bad if you could move the crew away when arty is coming, then move them back to re-man the gun (still, of course, with the possibility of the gun itself being damaged). I know we've been over this before, but I still don't get why the AT guns were programmed in such an inflexible manner in the first place. Maybe in CMx2 Version 3.0, maybe.

Files got mixed up maybe? You have three different names for the files there, if no one messed around with it they would just go Richard001, Richard002, etc.

Exact same here. I've played up to the fourth mission, but then I forgot to save and got the red button crash for the 5th or so time (not just on that campaign) and shelved the game out of frustration. Plus, after seeing the Version 2.0 stuff I feel it would be a waste to play anymore CMBN without those nice graphics and features. It's a campaign that one could certainly play through more than once, every mission is totally unique and you get so many fun toys to play with. There has been a distinct silence around here lately, usually the sign of impending updates. I just hate how I get teased on Facebook every couple weeks with a new Strategic Command patch, review, AAR, expansion, etc. while all is quite on the CMx2 front.

What I loved about this scenario was that it showed off just how extremely useful the Armor Only arc can be. Give the .50 cal an armor arc covering the whole map, then forget about it. No micromanaging arcs or hoping the armor is exposed just as the turn ends so you can target it.

The low user score is just one of those internet phenomena. People who have something bad to say about a product/business are much more likely to actively share their opinion than those who are content with the product, or even those who really like the product.

I tried turning them all on, turning them all off, and I never noticed a difference in the actual sound. Of course, I'm using $30 headphones, so the nitty gritty details of sound quality don't concern me.

I noticed it was unstable as well when the game first came out. I was getting every sort of random crash that people have mentioned. Then I tried what I posted here and I've never had another crash since then. Might give it a try, won't hurt anything.

For the amount of hours I get out of them, there is no other game or series that comes even close to CM in terms of value. The disc for CMBB didn't leave my computer for well over a year. Maybe BF need to include a feature like to count hours played like Steam and MMOs have. Then you can see just how much time one can sink into these games. Compared to other hobbies, it's even more bang for the buck. I own a few guns, which are fun to look at and have (and imagine surviving a zombie apocalypse/Communist invasion with ). However, one day at the range can cost more than a CMx2 module or even base game. For the price of one new rifle I could pick up every CMx2 available plus modules and probably everything coming out in the next few years.

Err..the Soviets tried that tactic, and it didn't go all that well for them. They at least had the good sense to give up after just shy of a decade. One could certainly argue that our tech is leaps ahead of what theirs was, while the Afghan resistance is still at pretty much the same level. However, I don't see how blowing up more stuff and killing more people is going to improve the situation. The Soviets took out tens of thousands of insurgents, and made exactly as much progress as we have now. It's really interesting to read this article and note the similarities in strategy and obstacles faced.

Believe me, trying to point out this irony is great way to get blank (or angry) stares from a lot of people. For most Americans, the history of Afghanistan begins on 9-11 and they have no clue that is called "the place where empires go to die" or how it earned that reputation.

Apparently you can buy that image on a T-shirt... As a Christian, I'm not really offended by the image, but I think you would have to be out of your mind to wear that out in public. Not only for shocking little kids, but it just screams "I desperately crave attention!"

I always thought that the most glaring plot hole in SPR is that they don't just radio his unit, or whatever direct HQ was available and assign the mission to someone nearby. Instead, we have a squad literally set out from Omaha Beach itself, and walk blindly across war-torn France looking for one guy who could be almost anywhere, finding him almost entirely by word of mouth. They didn't even know what company he was in until some guy told them, if I remember correctly.

^^I found The Thin Red Line to be mesmerizing. The images of the tall grass swaying gently on that hill, so calm yet hiding instant death. The film was just bursting with incredible imagery like that. It's also fun to watch and spot all the future big time actors playing bit roles, just like in SPR and Black Hawk Down. I can see why some people might not like it though, especially if they went in looking for an action war movie and not something more akin to poetry. My biggest annoyance was that George Clooney gets his name plastered all over the movie, but his role consists of talking in the background during a single scene. Don't know if it's been mentioned already, but I would suggest "Tae Guk Gi" for anyone interested in the Korean War from the view of Koreans. I watched it a few years ago and thought it was great.

A few months back I played a newer player in a PBEM of CMSF. It was a pretty big mechanized scenario and he was playing NATO, with his forces starting behind a big ridge. Anyway, on the second turn one of my ATGM teams spots a Wiesel (small German AFV equipped with a TOW launcher) peeking over the ridge and pops it. There were a couple of explosions but I couldn't see anything else, then a few more explosions 10-15 seconds later. The next day I got an email ranting about how I was a cheater and hacking the game, yadda yadda. Turns out he had parked about 3 platoons worth of AFVs within 100m of each other, including several carrying TOW missiles. He lost something like 7-8 vehicles with the rest damaged and panicked from a chain reaction started by that one ATGM! Moral of the story, things can and will go BOOM, so spread your units out.

If you look around on Youtube there is a longer video of the M26 vs Panther part with some freeze frames and the aftermath (a bit NSFW). The Panther took out a Sherman before it was taken out by the Pershing. Would link it but I'm on my phone. On the topic of U-boats, their casualties increased exponentially as the war went on and they fell behind in the technology/tactics race. Every mission was borderline suicidal after a certain point, and then was literally suicidal at times (orders to ram warships). "Iron Coffins" by Herbert Werner is a great read that highlights their desperation and frustration. You will think he must have been the luckiest man alive by the end. That said, early on in the war they were very much the predators instead of the prey, and had lower casualty rates. It would be interesting to see some kind of timeline showing the changes in technology compared to U-boat losses.

Battle for Wesnoth is kind of a Advance Wars with fantasy RPG elements type of game. Has a bazillion campaigns and scenarios available. It's free on PC if you want to try it out. Proper wargames are rare to non-existent, but there are some other turn-based strategy games available, I just can't remember the names.