F-ZeroOne

Several Sectoids now given 40,000 volts straight up the... er... "probing area" thanks to Mr. March!

Thanks, everyone, especially Mr. March, for the tips! Some of them I've seen before elsewhere, but Mr. Marchs is perhaps the most unique approach I've seen yet - cover everything in smoke and then cattle-prod the bad guys! You can "acquire" the game on the web, although by many accounts its a bit of a sod to get working on modern machines. I use a free program called D-Fend, which with a little bit of set-up and tweaking to make the game speed right works very well. Note that some versions of X-Com will have the original bugs, such as the "One blaster bomb waypoint prevents reloads" bug... Right. Someone pass me that autocannon. Time to eat hot firey death, alien scum!

And. He. Needs. Help. Inspired by this thread, I've started playing again. This was a game I played the hell out of back in the day, so I figured I'd know what I was doing. On my first mission, the aliens had shot two of my troopers before they'd even stepped away from the Skyranger transport. I got one shot in - with an incendiary round - which was close, but not quite close enough, which meant that the now-on-fire Sectoids return volley plasma-fried my auto-cannon gunners lungs. This, you understand, is on "Beginner". Goodbye, humanity. It was nice knowing you. And, er, care to share a few tips for the current X-Com playing equivalent of the Godzilla-era Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force, Mr. March?

Theres something odd about that gunpod grip, it looks like it rotates seperately from the trigger...?

I believe some versions of the Avenger also had 20mm cannon.

Personally, I think it should be the "Rolls-Royce Mustang"...

This line made me smile: "Joan Boyd was born in Labor." Weren't we all?

Ha! Gun Bunny!

Those looking to recreate the X-Com experience but unable to get hold of the original games for whatever reason may be interested to know that Rebelstar: Tactical Command is available for the Gameboy Advance and features similar gameplay, although without, AFAIK, the resource management. In addition, X-Com was the ultimate development of an earlier series of similar games beginning with the 8-bit Rebelstar, Rebelstar II and Laser Squad, all of which can be emulated. Laser Squad introduced many elements that made it into X-Com, including limited resource management and collateral damage, and is still very playable today. Versions are available for Amstrad, Atari ST and Amiga, but true Raiders will opt for the ZX Spectrum version.

Re-sult, my son! [1] I need my Cats Eye. [1] Traditional battle cry of the English.

What, you've never heard of Luftwaffe ace Baron von Warmaker, "The Nightmare of Big Week"...?

It does tend to depend who you ask - some B-24 pilots point out that the type had a lower loss rate than the B-17 overall, but that might just reflect usage of the types in theatre. It is true that the B-24 could not gain as high an altitude as a B-17, and was therefore more likely to be attacked. It was also by many accounts a real handful to control at the best of times, which might have led to more losses, and some reports say that it had a tendency to burn easily.

So what did they use in place of the rudder? Engine thrust? The crew running from one side of the aircraft to the the other?! Or did they just all bail out?

Wow. Er, oops: http://www.flightsim.no/ubbthreads/ubbthre...ge=1#Post328564 Though according to some posts about this incident, it seems that a fix was made and the aircraft has been salvaged...

I loved X-Com (UFO: Enemy Unknown originally until a certain Mr. Anderson got a touch miffed... ). I doubt I was ever much good at it - I never really grapsed that you couldn't win the game by just doing the same things over and over - but I just loved blowing holes in barns and seeing how many hay bales I could set alight. I used the autocannon long after it was obselete in game terms just 'cos I liked setting things on fire.

And her cup size is somewhat off the scale if her laundry line is anything to go by...

I keep trying to say say this: British pilots are the only ones in the World who think that having sky underneath them is somehow unnatural.

Bandai reply: you'd sell more if you split the YF-19 and the YF-21 between two shirts.

Oh, you lucky, lucky people. Why? Because you're probably going to be hearing a lot about "Life on Mars" shortly, and you're going to get to discover it for the first time, providing something doesn't go terribly wrong when it crosses the Atlantic. (final episode broadcast of the UK original on BBC One this evening, and boy, are we going to miss DCI Gene Hunt. Why? Because of lines like this: "Don't move, you're surrounded by armed b*****ds!")...

Does the Global Hawk swallowing the Predator remind anyone of a Mass Production Eva?

This is what worries me. Presumably someone has to do the giving.

I dread to think who would get to pick the callsigns though...!

I notice The Lady owns all. Which is As It Should Be.

Ha, remember when unpainted aeroplanes were shiny metal?

Ah, please ignore.