XCom: Enemy Unknown (2012)

Paperboat

Edit history:

Paperboat: 2014-07-14 03:03:44 am

2014-07-14 02:37:54 am

XCOM Timesheet: http://goo.gl/BWDqbC

You do want to complete the game sometime during June, so before the 4th council report. Normally phase 1 is March and April, the Overseer comes down in May and you do Temple Ship in June.

Your route looks pretty solid save for I think that the optimal research order after Base Assault is New Fighter Craft, Hyperwave Relay, EMP Cannon, Sectoid Commander Autopsie. It will save you a few days if you are having trouble getting in before June. After Overseer the research order is Ethereal Device, Psi Armor, then Beam Weapons and the other stuff to get laser SHIVs if you dont already have them. It's been a while since I've done a full run, so im working off of my segmented routing notes, but I think its also reasonable to start psy labs before the Overseer mission if you need that to get in before the end of June. Really I think you shouldn't have too much trouble with hitting before the 4th council report.

A trick from KHAN about base layout is that you can remove alien containment and possibly other non-essential structures to use their build slots. Should allow you to skip the second lift.

One last thing about the route you posted is I notice there are only 2 UFOs in March and April. Normally you should get 1 in March and 2 in April which makes the route a lot more consistent. I'm not sure but I think KHAN's sub-2 run does that. If you get the 3rd UFO in May, then that could make it harder to hit the June deadline. If you get really good luck with nav computer drops, you can also skip the third UFO (though I'd still shoot it down so it doesn't mess with your satellites).

edit: If you're interested in the segmented run, you should get in while the segments are still fun! aka. before Overseer map rolling begins -_-

You do want to complete the game sometime during June, so before the 4th council report. Normally phase 1 is March and April, the Overseer comes down in May and you do Temple Ship in June.

Your route looks pretty solid save for I think that the optimal research order after Base Assault is New Fighter Craft, Hyperwave Relay, EMP Cannon, Sectoid Commander Autopsie. It will save you a few days if you are having trouble getting in before June. After Overseer the research order is Ethereal Device, Psi Armor, then Beam Weapons and the other stuff to get laser SHIVs if you dont already have them. It's been a while since I've done a full run, so im working off of my segmented routing notes, but I think its also reasonable to start psy labs before the Overseer mission if you need that to get in before the end of June. Really I think you shouldn't have too much trouble with hitting before the 4th council report.

A trick from KHAN about base layout is that you can remove alien containment and possibly other non-essential structures to use their build slots. Should allow you to skip the second lift.

One last thing about the route you posted is I notice there are only 2 UFOs in March and April. Normally you should get 1 in March and 2 in April which makes the route a lot more consistent. I'm not sure but I think KHAN's sub-2 run does that. If you get the 3rd UFO in May, then that could make it harder to hit the June deadline. If you get really good luck with nav computer drops, you can also skip the third UFO (though I'd still shoot it down so it doesn't mess with your satellites).

edit: If you're interested in the segmented run, you should get in while the segments are still fun! aka. before Overseer map rolling begins -_-

Twyn

2014-07-14 02:23:57 pm

Thanks, that helps a great deal ! I think I definitely reset for only 2UFO missions.

I can get to the first council in about 20minutes, I'll try to complete a run with your tips.

I also want to try out another route, that skips non hovering shivs, and going fast on beam laser, doing the base assault with 5men with laser rifles. I wonder if laser weapons can happen before the 2nd council...

The alien interrogated should be a thin man for the research credits ? or it doesnt matter ?
For the overseer mission, you have to kill all aliens, right? not just the etheral ?

Do you have a video of enemy despawn ? I'd love to see it.

For the segmented run, I dont mind reseting and looking for the best layout ^_^. First I have to get up to speed on the game, and I wont have time before end of july I think.

RoboSparkle

2014-07-14 04:34:32 pm

Magical. Flying. Bathtub

Quick question - do any of you stream attempts of this game at all? As this is something I'd really like to follow Smiley

Paperboat

2014-07-14 04:49:03 pm

XCOM Timesheet: http://goo.gl/BWDqbC

Looking at your laser rifle base assault idea, i realized there is a stupid mistake in my old routing notes. The weapon fragments research and alien materials research are identical in every way for the purpose of the speedrun save that weapon fragments progress you towards lasers while alien materials do not. What that means is your route would only cost 5 additional fragments and could very well be viable. It would cost more alloy which would probably make skipping the third UFO not an option, and there is the problem that heavies cant use laser rifles so you'd have to leave probably 1 or 2 of your higher ranked soldiers behind. Also, though losing a SHIV to chryssalids is a relatively small deal, losing a soldier can turn into a gigantic pain. This on top of the movement bonus SHIVs have make me a bit skeptical of the route but thats not a reason not to try it!

It doesn't matter too much what you interrogate. I think sectoids are the best because the thin men research are usually done while waiting for SHIVs to build. However, maybe it would make sense in your new route idea. In general, it is possible to lose a lot more time micromanaging fights to try to stun the right thing than you would just stunning whatever. Also, yes, you do have to kill everything on Overseer sadly.

My recording/streaming computer is having a few issues, but as soon as I get it back I'll make a video of the despawns and hopefully stream some full game runs. warning that im still pretty bad/rusty at full game. Apparently nobody wants to see segments, so ill probably do those offline.

Looking at your laser rifle base assault idea, i realized there is a stupid mistake in my old routing notes. The weapon fragments research and alien materials research are identical in every way for the purpose of the speedrun save that weapon fragments progress you towards lasers while alien materials do not. What that means is your route would only cost 5 additional fragments and could very well be viable. It would cost more alloy which would probably make skipping the third UFO not an option, and there is the problem that heavies cant use laser rifles so you'd have to leave probably 1 or 2 of your higher ranked soldiers behind. Also, though losing a SHIV to chryssalids is a relatively small deal, losing a soldier can turn into a gigantic pain. This on top of the movement bonus SHIVs have make me a bit skeptical of the route but thats not a reason not to try it!

It doesn't matter too much what you interrogate. I think sectoids are the best because the thin men research are usually done while waiting for SHIVs to build. However, maybe it would make sense in your new route idea. In general, it is possible to lose a lot more time micromanaging fights to try to stun the right thing than you would just stunning whatever. Also, yes, you do have to kill everything on Overseer sadly.

My recording/streaming computer is having a few issues, but as soon as I get it back I'll make a video of the despawns and hopefully stream some full game runs. warning that im still pretty bad/rusty at full game. Apparently nobody wants to see segments, so ill probably do those offline.

RoboSparkle

2014-07-14 04:57:32 pm

Magical. Flying. Bathtub

I personally prefer full runs to segmented in general, although there are a significant number of games (and this is one of them) where segmenting can really change the route and allow for a much speedier route. I'd definitely watch a completed segmented run, but tbh I'd also be more likely to watch SS attempts than segment attempts. Either way I look forward to seeing what happens with this one Cheesy

Twyn

2014-07-15 11:06:45 am

Yeah, as soon I'm done moving I'll stream everyday. twitch.tv/twyn_o

Thanks for you answers Paperboat. I'll try to complete a run today with 3ufos and lot of shivs, then I'll see what I can come up with Cheesy

Paperboat

2014-07-16 05:43:38 am

XCOM Timesheet: http://goo.gl/BWDqbC

I was doing a practice run today and saw my SHIVs were gonna be a day late to the base assault so I changed up my research and went for the laser rifle strat. I attacked with 2 assaults, 2 supports, and a heavy. The heavy had his machine gun and everyone else had the rilfes.

First impressions are that your squad is a lot more brittle but also notably more powerful because of the range of explosives you can deploy against chrysallids and the tactical power of run-and-gun. The movement disadvantage is unfortunately very noticable. The amount of research time Beam Weapons takes is also of concern, and I would agree that with this route interrogating a thin man would be extremely beneficial. The third UFO also seems to be non-optional as I conjectured. The damage difference between laser rifles and non-laser SHIVs seems to be unsubstantial. I think that this is a good backup strat if something goes wrong with your foundry timing and if you happen to have interrogated a thin man.

Honestly though, having good backup strats in this game is pretty damn important for full game runs and I'm glad I know about this. Another backup strat which seems to be reliable if you have under 54 fragments by base assault is to simply wait until the council report and then go. Doing the Base Assault in May seems to dramatically decreaes the average chrysallid count and therefore increase the average weapon fragment count. There may however be mutons. You might lose someone from the council but its better than resetting to insufficient fragments after youve done all of base assault. (For reference, April Base Assaults produce something between 21 and 29 fragments, usually closer to 21 than 29. May Base Assaults seem to produce about 29 fragments consistently in my limited testing)

I was doing a practice run today and saw my SHIVs were gonna be a day late to the base assault so I changed up my research and went for the laser rifle strat. I attacked with 2 assaults, 2 supports, and a heavy. The heavy had his machine gun and everyone else had the rilfes.

First impressions are that your squad is a lot more brittle but also notably more powerful because of the range of explosives you can deploy against chrysallids and the tactical power of run-and-gun. The movement disadvantage is unfortunately very noticable. The amount of research time Beam Weapons takes is also of concern, and I would agree that with this route interrogating a thin man would be extremely beneficial. The third UFO also seems to be non-optional as I conjectured. The damage difference between laser rifles and non-laser SHIVs seems to be unsubstantial. I think that this is a good backup strat if something goes wrong with your foundry timing and if you happen to have interrogated a thin man.

Honestly though, having good backup strats in this game is pretty damn important for full game runs and I'm glad I know about this. Another backup strat which seems to be reliable if you have under 54 fragments by base assault is to simply wait until the council report and then go. Doing the Base Assault in May seems to dramatically decreaes the average chrysallid count and therefore increase the average weapon fragment count. There may however be mutons. You might lose someone from the council but its better than resetting to insufficient fragments after youve done all of base assault. (For reference, April Base Assaults produce something between 21 and 29 fragments, usually closer to 21 than 29. May Base Assaults seem to produce about 29 fragments consistently in my limited testing)

Twyn

2014-07-16 06:24:18 am

Oh, nice ! I must admit, the more I try to complete a run, the more I like shivs. Had a pretty good run yesterday, finished the overseer mission at 1h40 with 4UFO mission because I had the BEST luck with computers.
Thanks for the testing, I'll add the alternate beam route as a back up strat, and hopefully I'll get a run done in less than 2hours one day.

I'm looking forward to be able to stream my attempts. Anyway I'm glad you made this thread, this game is a lot of fun to run. And the best RNG fest.

Paperboat

2014-07-16 03:09:08 pm

XCOM Timesheet: http://goo.gl/BWDqbC

I didn't make the thread haha, but I'm glad someone else is finally looking into running the game!

ikk

2014-07-17 06:47:39 am

PSN: MassDamageLT

Quote from KHANanaphone:

Finally got one that made it through to the end:

http://www.twitch.tv/khananaphone/c/1925443

SHIVs don't turn into zombies and do about twice the damage so they're waaay better in the base assault. Then hover SHIVs are just amazing and require no additional research, so that's not really even close.

anyone has working video speedrun of this game?
im very inteested in watching it. KHAN's recording is dead.

Twyn

2014-07-17 05:13:45 pm

"you" made the thread, as all of you ^_^

Finally got to the temple, mission started at ~1h35, but lost because I hadnt had the best luck and couldnt research beam weapon (not enough fragments ...). I'll get a video of a complete run soon, hopefully sub2h. I'm sure I'm making a lot of mistakes during missions, I'd love people to point em out a me. I can see a 1h40 run happen in SS, I'm excited to see what kind of time you'll get in segmented.

Paperboat

Edit history:

Paperboat: 2014-08-12 04:22:11 am

Paperboat: 2014-07-17 07:18:14 pm

Paperboat: 2014-07-17 07:17:04 pm

Paperboat: 2014-07-17 07:16:19 pm

Paperboat: 2014-07-17 07:15:56 pm

Paperboat: 2014-07-17 07:15:48 pm

Paperboat: 2014-07-17 07:15:43 pm

Paperboat: 2014-07-17 07:15:28 pm

Paperboat: 2014-07-17 07:15:08 pm

2014-07-17 07:12:30 pm

XCOM Timesheet: http://goo.gl/BWDqbC

There are always 34 weapon fragments up for grabs on Overseer (you need 30 for beam weapons, heavy laser and shiv laser) so you can gaurantee you will have enough by using explosives early in a fight and landing killing blows only with non-explosive weapons. The final mission is actually a breeze if you use the deloads and have laser shivs going in.

edit: very useful resource for fragment drops and XCOM in general: http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Weapon_Fragments_(EU2012)#

Paperboat

Edit history:

Paperboat: 2014-07-18 06:40:08 pm

2014-07-18 06:38:51 pm

XCOM Timesheet: http://goo.gl/BWDqbC

Made an LQ video for the despawns since twyn asked for it. I'm using a bind to make the quicksave so It's hard to see my timing, but I've found that its not a particularly tight timing window. Just make it as soon as possible when the game takes control of your camera to look at the spawning enemies or asap after the cutscene in the final room.

Paperboat

Edit history:

Paperboat: 2014-08-04 04:28:48 am

Paperboat: 2014-08-04 04:28:07 am

2014-08-04 04:27:23 am

XCOM Timesheet: http://goo.gl/BWDqbC

Because I'm bored and I still don't have a computer which I can stream or record with, I made a wiki page for speedrunning the game:
https://kb.speeddemosarchive.com/XCOM:_Enemy_Unknown_(2012)#

Hopefully its an easier resource than trying to dig through all the posts in this thread.

KHANanaphone

2014-08-04 10:39:26 am

Fiiive

Yeah, sorry about the dead video. I contacted twitch, but there's nothing they can do. It's just gone forever. Updated the first post with the kb link in it.

Twyn

2014-08-05 10:17:33 am

I had a 2:28 run a couple of days ago : http://www.twitch.tv/twyn_o/c/4826130
Obviously the run is not good enough, but thanks to paper, the temple part is pretty detailed.

Twyn

2014-08-07 09:36:43 am

New PB ! 2h11, with a terrible temple mission, which started at 1h32 !
The elite mutons despawn softlocked my game, I have to practice this mission more. Anyway, sub2 soon <3

Paperboat

Edit history:

Paperboat: 2014-08-07 04:51:34 pm

Paperboat: 2014-08-07 04:41:55 pm

Paperboat: 2014-08-07 04:41:19 pm

2014-08-07 04:40:34 pm

XCOM Timesheet: http://goo.gl/BWDqbC

Grats on PB!

It seems that on a lot of the despawns you are making the save a little too early. That is why the cyberdisks kept trying to spawn in the first room and why the game softlocked on the mutons. I usually make the muton despawn save as late as possible just to remove any possibility of softlock. It's why I call that the hardest of the three despawns.

Speaking of temple ship, I borrowed someone's computer so I could stream a runthrough last night. It's not particularly fast and I keep on missing rifts but it has the full route. I wish I could have commentated it since there were a few subtle things which are easy to miss. You can find that video here: http://www.twitch.tv/papers7/c/4844642

Things to note:
*In the first room the commander can go right or left. If it goes right it can get caught in the rift along with the others. If it goes left, you can take shots at it from the high ground with your shivs.
*Entering the second room with a shiv exactly like I did gaurantees that the two floaters on the bridge will stay on the bridge. It is fairly common otherwise for one floater to hide underneath the bridge and be annoying.
*The rift in room 2.5 with the thinmen prevents them from moving around and blocking off areas with poison. its more important than it looks.
*I focus down the mutons in the third room before the berserker because grenades are the worst thing in that spot. I'd rather get one shiv hit for 10 than have every SHIV in a really bad spot against a rift in the final boss room.
*There is actually a spot at the start of the third room which is three squares up from the door and one to the left where you can rift the two left mutons without them ever seeing you (and therefore playing their animation and wasting time). I didn't do it because I forgot where it was in this run.
*Having your soldier a square back from the railing in the boss room will make it so that he/she is not usually caught in a rift.

Grats on PB!

It seems that on a lot of the despawns you are making the save a little too early. That is why the cyberdisks kept trying to spawn in the first room and why the game softlocked on the mutons. I usually make the muton despawn save as late as possible just to remove any possibility of softlock. It's why I call that the hardest of the three despawns.

Speaking of temple ship, I borrowed someone's computer so I could stream a runthrough last night. It's not particularly fast and I keep on missing rifts but it has the full route. I wish I could have commentated it since there were a few subtle things which are easy to miss. You can find that video here: [url]http://www.twitch.tv/papers7/c/4844642[/url]

Things to note:
*In the first room the commander can go right or left. If it goes right it can get caught in the rift along with the others. If it goes left, you can take shots at it from the high ground with your shivs.
*Entering the second room with a shiv exactly like I did gaurantees that the two floaters on the bridge will stay on the bridge. It is fairly common otherwise for one floater to hide underneath the bridge and be annoying.
*The rift in room 2.5 with the thinmen prevents them from moving around and blocking off areas with poison. its more important than it looks.
*I focus down the mutons in the third room before the berserker because grenades are the worst thing in that spot. I'd rather get one shiv hit for 10 than have every SHIV in a really bad spot against a rift in the final boss room.
*There is actually a spot at the start of the third room which is three squares up from the door and one to the left where you can rift the two left mutons without them ever seeing you (and therefore playing their animation and wasting time). I didn't do it because I forgot where it was in this run.
*Having your soldier a square back from the railing in the boss room will make it so that he/she is not usually caught in a rift.

Paperboat

Edit history:

Paperboat: 2014-08-09 11:45:34 pm

Paperboat: 2014-08-09 03:38:49 am

Paperboat: 2014-08-09 03:21:39 am

Paperboat: 2014-08-09 03:21:31 am

Paperboat: 2014-08-09 03:21:14 am

Paperboat: 2014-08-09 03:05:36 am

Paperboat: 2014-08-09 03:03:44 am

Paperboat: 2014-08-08 10:06:46 pm

2014-08-08 09:48:20 pm

XCOM Timesheet: http://goo.gl/BWDqbC

After a year and a half of stagnation, this game finally has a new WR at 1:43:28!

I found that the crappy laptop Im using encodes much better when not streaming, so this was recorded offline.
The resolution is still bad but the framerate isnt any worse than XCOM's running framerate on this laptop (so still pretty bad but w/e).

Bad first month, ok second month, good Base Assault, and fantastic Overseer. Seeing as I was 5 minutes behind my target going into base assault, lost 4 minutes to bad hit trees on Temple Ship, and that I'm still losing multiple minutes to menus, the next goal looks to be sub 1:40. Huge shoutouts to Twyn for making Overseer 4x more consistent with flying strats.

Twyn

2014-08-09 07:01:55 am

Starting the base assault at 45 is quite slow, but I'm really excited to see your overall run. GZ, even if I think we'll beat that time soon. Cheesy

Paperboat

2014-08-10 12:22:47 am

XCOM Timesheet: http://goo.gl/BWDqbC

Finally got a video up. Yeah, the first 2 months dont go so hot but base assault was good and the beginning of Overseer had segmented-tier RNG. Also had a pretty unlucky temple ship.

Twyn

2014-08-11 09:47:54 am

New wr ! 1:32:40 ! Had an incredible luck, incredible start, everything was pretty good, 1st council at 12:50, base assault started at 39:29. I'll upload that on youtube when I figure out how twitch works nowadays Cheesy

Twyn

2014-08-11 10:09:38 am

Here is the video on youtube

And here is the highlight twitch :

http://www.twitch.tv/twyn_o/c/4882794

For safety I now build extra satellites and satellite uplinks, for panic control. It works well, no game over at 122days.
I did an extra mission after getting 4nav computers for weapon fragments, that explain the huge gap between my 27min 4computers split, and the start of the assault at 39:29.
To beat that time we need better overall execution, which is far from perfect, but also a very good luck, get enough nav computers and weap fragments at the start. And 5shivs for the temple. And maybe laser shivs for the overseer mission could be usefull. Quite happy with that run. Cheesy

Paperboat

2014-08-11 04:49:28 pm

XCOM Timesheet: http://goo.gl/BWDqbC

This is madness. There are 2~ minutes you could pick up on Temple Ship if you had the full squad of 6, and probably Base Assault could start 3 mins~ faster but this is XCOM so that's usually true. The Overseer was unbelievable and I've never done base assault that fast.

This is still beatable and I'll probably get back to it one day but for now I'm turning my focus to the segmented run. Twyn, you should come help! Wink

Twyn

2014-08-11 05:10:25 pm

You should add me on skype (etienne.laplane). I totally want to help on SS, I have what's necessary to capture the game in 1080/1440p, I just need you to tell me how you proceed. Then I'd help you grind Cheesy