#xcom2

Would this fit under bondage? Hum. I looked at other coiling pics and none of them were listed under bondage, so I'll just leave it for now. x3

Anyway yeah! In whatever situation led up to this, squirrel is an XCOM recruit. And….well, things aren't going well for him out in the field. x3 Hopefully that power armor is durable enough to withstand however much squeezing he's about to get..

Or else this is a training exercise and he's learning very quickly that you can't let a Viper get too close. The artist who did this has a fair amount of "friendly alien" type pictures, people interacting normally with 'em, so y'know, could be friendly or unfriendly! Either way, squirrel's not going anywhere. And hopefully snakes don't like eating rodents or anything…

Can we get a tactical turn based zelda game? Please 🙏

Sketch:

Random ramble about stuff I've been thinking about while jumping between playing UFO Defense and Xcom 2. Quick note: I haven't played much Enemy Unknown, although I imagine the same general idea applies.

While playing Xcom 2, I noticed that I was getting way more frustrated than I was when playing UFO Defense. Which is odd, because Xcom 2 is a game I'm much more familiar with, and much better at. Most UFO Defense missions ended with at least 2 soldiers dead, oftentimes more, while in Xcom 2 I was ending most missions with less than 2 soldiers **wounded**. And I think that frustration, at least in large part, is a result of how many decisions you can make in each game.

In UFO Defense, TP is your most important resource to manage in combat. TP can be used for a few different actions, primarily moving, firing weapons, and using items. Within these broad categories, however, there's a wide range of more granular options.

Each tile you move consumes TP. So you have to decide exactly how much TP you're willing to spend to get to a specific position. Then you also have firing modes. You have low TP cost, low accuracy snap shots, or high TP cost, high accuracy aimed shots. Or for some weapons, low accuracy, high TP cost burst shots, which have the potential to deal huge damage if all the projectiles connect.

And, since TP is used for all of these actions, you have to decide what to prioritize, and to what degree. Do you move to a moderately defensive position, spending less TP on movement, then fire off an aimed shot? Or move to a better position, but only have enough TP left over for a snap shot? Or maybe spend a bit on movement, but fire a burst shot in the hopes of huge damage? The number of individual choices you have is massive, thanks in large part to the granular control you have over TP expenditure.

In Xcom 2, the TP system was streamlined and replaced with a more standard action system. Essentially, each soldier can move and then take an action. So you can move and then shoot, or move and use a medkit, etc. Most, but not all actions end your turn. So you can't shoot and then move, for instance. Importantly, you can use your action to sprint, essentially allowing you to double your movement in exchange for not being able to fire your weapon or use an item.

On the surface this might seem to be a well executed, simplified version of UFO Defense's TP system. You can still trade your action for mobility, you can still prioritize a better defensive position over offense and vice versa. What this system loses, however, is that granular decision making.

For instance, any tile within your soldiers base movement range is equally costly from a resource perspective. Moving one tile costs you just as much as moving to their maximum movement range. Its an all or nothing trade off. You either move and take an action, or you move 2x their movement range and don't get to do anything else. That's it. And that's in addition to the complete loss of fire modes (barring some specific skills that kinda emulate them).

And I think this lack of choice really fuels that sense of frustration. In UFO Defense, if I miss a shot and the alien returns fire, killing my soldier, I can immediately think of things I could have done different. I could have spent more TU moving to a good position, either defensively or offensively. Or I could have spent less on movement and went for an aimed shot. Even if these things wouldn't have actually changed the outcome, it **feels** like they would. Meanwhile in Xcom 2 when I miss a shot I usually just feel like I got fucked over by RNG. That was the best option I had, because the game doesn't give me many options in the grand scheme of things, and the digital dice failed me.

Started this on June 11 2022, five minutes before midnight, inspired by Little Mix's "Salute" and its message of girl power of all creeds ("Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps, or lace up your boots") Worked, and worked, abandoned, and now... March 5th, 2024 I have finished it. I feel accomplished, finally free and excited to share.

"... Unless the Commander is an Ethereal."

Well, the Commander is a human. BUT A benevolent Ethereal had bonded with them.

. . .