Xcom 2 Reset Campaign Number
Click to expand.Mini-omake. Take it or ignore it, but my thoughts on how NuCom 1 and 2 fit together since it's canon that we win in every game prior to XCOM2.In the summer of the year 2015 earth was invaded by an alien empire. They sought not our resources nor extinction nor subjugation as hollywood had so often predicted, but instead had descended upon us for the purposes of a science experiment. They had studied our culture and determines that war was the only language we truly understood and were pleased.
Oct 12, 2018 Because I reset the time line in the Second campaign:P My twitch stream: (Stream Time is somewhat consistent now, I try my best to.
They offered us the tools to uplift ourselves and a reason to take advantage of them, and like the other races before us we eagerly did. But there was a difference.
Where the other races failed their test, fell before the invaders and failed to adapt on one level or another we succeeded. Technology, adaptability, prowess in battle, and most importantly to the invaders, the gift. We succeed beyond their wildest dreams and in the year 2023 we defeated them on their temple ship.It was the worse mistake we could have made. In winning, we'd proven ourselves valuable. We'd show we were exactly what they wanted.The aliens, the Ethereals returned not even two years later as the earth was licking it's wounds and exulting in its newly acquired technology. But this time.
They didn't send the scientists. This time, we faced true war beneath the gaze of the Ethereal Ones. They didn't wast time with abduction missions or planting small technology cashe's for our governments to jump upon, there were no wasteful terror missions. They went straight for our leaders and military facilities.Where earth had held out for 8 years previously, we now fell in a matter of weeks.Again, however, the aliens defied expectations. No mass mind control, extinction events or treating the civilian population as cattle. Instead they set up a one world government with a somewhat benevolent tyranny. Aliens roamed the streets, technology was released to the world through a series of clinics and depots set up by the aliens and a campaign of cultural domination was implemented.
Afterall, they'd already won, hadn't they?But in this occupation as in the uplift before it there is XCOM. We are Vigilant. We are Reliable. And we will strike down the enemy of humanity.Not sure what to say about the snake chicks though. In the summer of the year 2015 earth was invaded by an alien empire.
They sought not our resources nor extinction nor subjugation as hollywood had so often predicted, but instead had descended upon us for the purposes of a science experiment. They had studied our culture and determines that war was the only language we truly understood and were pleased. They offered us the tools to uplift ourselves and a reason to take advantage of them, and like the other races before us we eagerly did. But there was a difference.
Where the other races failed their test, fell before the invaders and failed to adapt on one level or another we succeeded. Technology, adaptability, prowess in battle, and most importantly to the invaders, the gift. We succeed beyond their wildest dreams and in the year 2023 we defeated them on their temple ship.It was the worse mistake we could have made. In winning, we'd proven ourselves valuable.
We'd show we were exactly what they wanted.The aliens, the Ethereals returned not even two years later as the earth was licking it's wounds and exulting in its newly acquired technology. But this time. They didn't send the scientists. This time, we faced true war beneath the gaze of the Ethereal Ones.
They didn't wast time with abduction missions or planting small technology cashe's for our governments to jump upon, there were no wasteful terror missions. They went straight for our leaders and military facilities.Where earth had held out for 8 years previously, we now fell in a matter of weeks.Again, however, the aliens defied expectations. No mass mind control, extinction events or treating the civilian population as cattle. Instead they set up a one world government with a somewhat benevolent tyranny. Aliens roamed the streets, technology was released to the world through a series of clinics and depots set up by the aliens and a campaign of cultural domination was implemented. Afterall, they'd already won, hadn't they?But in this occupation as in the uplift before it there is XCOM.
Xcom 2 Reset Campaign Numbers
We are Vigilant. We are Reliable. And we will strike down the enemy of humanity. Click to expand.True, it isn't. The timeline used here is of LW, and has little to do with oldCom (although Cap'n has stated that he may continue to be influenced by it).
It is one thing for developers to select a particular ending from the end of a game and make that canon (Bioware, for instance, with Mass Effect tried to make ME2 work regardless of what ending you chose in ME1. With predictable results); quite another for them to act as if. Second Wave never happened, psionic troopers never happened, MELD never happened, Annette Durand never happened, Temple Ship never happened, Uber Ethereal never happened. Basically, nothing that Psi Effect takes for granted ever happened. It's not that you lost 'at some point', it's that you lost at the beginning of the first campaign.The point is, XCOM 2 is not a sequel in the sense of following the original's storyline (about the only thing they have in common, after all, is that a bunch of the same aliens invaded Earth and were opposed by an organisation of the same name); it's an AU (most people call it a reset, but I think that's a bit on the harsh side). Just like Psi Effect; only that Psi Effect takes as canon the basic storyline of LW (which in turn takes as canon the basic storyline of XCOM EU/EW).I think the Cap'n can safely jettison the entire XCOM2 storyline and just add the races, weapons, equipment and abilities as he chooses.
Unless, you know, someone comes out with an omake like this:'Arcturus Station, this is Amerigo Vespucci preparing for FTL relay transfer to Earth.' ' Amerigo Vespucci, be advised that solar flares are causing some disruptions. Recommend you reduce speed to sublight before transiting the relay.' 'Hell, no way, Ray. First time we're allowed to relay back to Earth in FTL?
I'm goin' in fast and furious!' 'Your funeral, Steve. Now get out of here before I decide I have to officially report your recklessness.'
'Shoot, you want to see what happens as much as I do.' 'Of course I do. But protocol is protocol, and it really is disrupting things back home.' 'Right, right, and we're going to be sent back in time due to a malfunctioning Stargate.
Look, if the relay can survive its dunk in a gas giant, I don't think a piddly solar flare or two is going to do anything.' Well, I tried.
You're clear for transit through the relay. By the way, just so you know, Shepard's little cheerleading squad is down on Mars.' 'Better not let her catch you saying that.' 'What she gonna do, write me up? I'm not in her chain of command. I'm not in Hackett's chain of command. One of those little things when they decided traffic control had to be manned by civilians.
Now are you going or not?' 'Yeah, I'm off.'
Captain Stephen Ballard looked around the CIC of the Amerigo Vespucci. The experimental craft had the latest FTL engine and power generator designs and a prototype active stealth system which the Arcturus scientists had assured him should render it all but untraceable even in FTL. If it worked as expected. Ballard was not entirely sanguine about having so many new systems on board - an engineer by training, he preferred a more conservative approach - but XCOM needed an unsurpassed technological edge, given what was coming. And while he did not have much faith in the new tech, he had immense confidence in his crew.
Apparently, XCOM high command did too; the Arcturus-Charon relay was not activated for any random ship with any random crew.His XO came to his side. 'Approaching relay threshold, sir.' Ballard nodded. 'All hands, this is Six,' he announced. 'Prepare for FTL relay transit.' He nodded in satisfaction as various ship stations reported the readiness of their systems.
While this was not a routine operation, it was, nonetheless, fairly familiar. The only completely new console was that for operating the stealth system, and even that was not totally foreign.
He looked towards his pilot. 'Take us in, Fool,' he ordered.' His pilot's hands flew across the controls. Foo 'Fool' Ling Ling was as pure-blooded Chinese as they came, able to recite her genealogies on both sides back to imperial times. She was also born in Texas, had absolutely no fluency in any of the Chinese dialects, and had the severe look of a strict librarian.
Her nickname must have been a natural consequence of her name, Ballard often mused. It certainly did not reflect on her flying skills, which were the best that he had ever seen; an opinion shared by many of her previous COs.
'Relay is hot, bringing us in. A timeless moment passed, and then the Amerigo Vespucci was at Charon. 'FTL relay transit complete, drift is. Shutting down FTL drive.
All systems are in the green, Captain,' Foo reported.' Outstanding, Fool!' Ballard turned to his stealth and comms specialist.
'Bailey, how's the stealth holding out?' 'All readings are nominal, sir. It looks like it retained full stealth in FTL, and even when crossing the relay.' Armand Bailey frowned. 'Hmm, that's strange. I'm not picking up any of our standard buoy or transponder signals, sir.'
'Does the stealth render us blind as well?' Ballard was concerned; if this was the case, it was too dangerous to use in FTL or even in combat.' No, sir, I'm getting readings off everything else, solar flares and all, and I've even got visuals on Earth- Holy Shit! What the hell?!' Without prompting, Bailey echoed his display on the main screen. Ballard was bemused at the usually unflappable Bailey's action, but abruptly understood his reactions a moment later.The visuals depicted Earth alright, but not the Earth that Ballard or his crew was familiar with. Strange buildings and other constructions that matched little of recent human architecture filled the landscape.
'I'm picking up transmissions, sir. And they don't make sense. They're calling XCOM terrorists! And the Sectoids. They don't look like any Sectoids I've ever seen. They've got some serious mouths!
And dentition! And the cobra bitches. This is all messed up!' Ballard's frozen mind suddenly began to race at breakneck speeds. No, this is a different universe.
Xcom 2 Reset Campaign Number Ps4
Some kind of parallel dimension or something.' 'Bailey, you're sure the stealth is working?' Bailey nodded.
'God Himself could probably pick us up if He was looking in our direction. But nobody else. Not even us.' Ballard shook his head.
No wonder the brass was willing to open the relay; they had to know that this dimension-jumping or whatever was a possibility. Was it the stealth system interacting with the FTL? Or the solar flares?
'We have been truly set up. Alright, here's what we're going to do. We're going to coast down near to Earth, scan and pick up as much as we can in 4 hours, and then we're going to FTL it back to Arcturus. We should have enough energy reserves for that. I'm willing to bet the Charon relay isn't operational here. And then, we're going to repeat the FTL relay transit, so I want you to make sure that everything is in working order, Fool.' Foo's eyes never departed from her console as she replotted a route towards Earth.'
And what happens if we can't make it back, sir?' His XO asked quietly. 'I mean, we don't know how we got here.' Ballard's eyes hardened. 'I don't think the brass is quite that ruthless, XO,' he said quietly.
'They must think our chances of getting back based on next-to-no info are pretty damned high - after all, they want the mission report, don't they?' As his XO slowly nodded, Ballard continued. 'But it doesn't matter. This ship is filled with the best tech and weapons we've got. We have the means to put together a manufacturing facility on board. If we're stranded here with no way to get back, we'll just have to see how XCOM from two universes stick it to the Ethereals. Vigilo Confido!'
'VIGILO CONFIDO!' Or something like that. But oh boy, won't that open up a whole new can of worms.
Back in the summer, I that ‘I will play XCOM 2: War Of The Chosen’s daily challenge mode every day.’ Er. I’ve only played a handful since then, and I’m not alone there.
Though the mode still pumps out a new challenge every day, it hasn’t blossomed into a new religion in the same way The Binding of Isaac and Spelunky’s daily random-o-map scoreboard challenges have for those communities.So, what happened?Reddit’s clearly not the be-all and end-all of gaming community sentiment, but it is a least a bellwether for popularity. A search for ‘challenge’ in post titles on r/XCOM turned up only four threads over the past month, none of which have more than a handful of replies. The difference is breathtaking – he takes down enemies in the first turn, I don’t even find enemies in the first turn. He makes it until the time-out at the end of the match without casualties, I lose everyone.
He finds his way out of all the mind control and stasis lock tricks the psychic-heavy enemy force inflicts upon him, I miss an entire turn because everyone’s been brain-fiddled.Rummage through the limited in-game menus that allow watching replays of earlier challenges, and there are some truly spectacular runs to behold. Runs I learn from, runs I gasp at, runs I frown at with real anger. Did they have advance warning from a video or a second Steam account, were extremely lucky, or are they just shit-hot? A bit of everything, I’d say.Somewhere in that mix, there’s still scope for a superb daily challenge mode that requires skill rather than too much chance or a sneak peek, and that is the first thing on every XCOM player’s mind every day.
Let’s hope the next expansion, or sequel, or whatever, makes it happen.