Alien Dimension, X-COM Apocalypse

Posted for self-reference and citation purposes. cf. X-COM Apocalypse walkthrough.

Our engineers have now developed a Biotrans craft capable of entering the Dimensional Gates into the Alien Dimension.

That means we can take the War to the Alien Dimension, instead of just defending Mega-Primus from alien assaults. We are going to take a squad of agents into the dimension by means of the Biotrans. They will be entering various alien buildings, sabotaging key targets within them, and gaining information, artifacts and so on. Mostly, the agents will be armed with Toxiguns loaded with a toxin especially designed to slay aliens, which we developed from alien autopsies. They will also be armed with Vortex Mines and Devastator Cannons for demolition purposes. Defense-wise, they have shields and cloaks. All of the agents have maxed out Accuracy and Bravery. Most have high Reaction. All are sergeants. My top agent has over 300 kills, 78 missions and five decorations to her name (Jane Sharpe).

Sleep Chamber, Alien Dimension

• Explosions. Total decimation:

• The squad's first trip into the Alien Dimension. The object is to enter a Sleeping Chamber and destroy four sleeping pods within. The pods can be destroyed in a few ways, but Vortex Mines seem to be the cheapest and easiest. Note the debriefing score at the end; killed a crapload of aliens and looted a crapload of weapons.

Food Chamber, Alien Dimension

• Second trip into the Alien Dimension. The object is to enter the Food Chamber and destroy the seven food sources within. Lost count of how many aliens I had to take out before dropping the Vortex Mines. If you think you have enough ammo, you don't. Stock up like there's no tomorrow.

Alien Farm Alien Dimension

• Third trip into the Alien Dimension. The object is to enter the Alien Farm and destroy the white blocks within. This was the hardest battlescape so far. The battle went on for over three hours. We lost two of our best agents, and one other was forced to flee. We needed about one dozen Vortex Mines to destroy the white blocks, pictured above.

Note how the corpses turn the ground into a minefield. This is because dead aliens drop their weapons and mines, which explode when hit by projectiles. The enemies killed in the vid constitute only 10% of all enemies killed in the Alien Farm. This was a marathon, exhausting as hell...

Maintenance Factory Alien Dimension

• Fourth trip into the Alien Dimension. The object is to enter the Maintenance Factory and destroy the heart units of the fuel structures. This mission was much easier than the last one.

The Biotrans only JUST made it out under a heavy assault from the aliencraft. Whew.

Overspawn X-COM Apocalypse

When we got back, an Overspawn went on a rampage in Mega-Primus. Since we've been neglecting to upgrade X-COM aircraft, the Overspawn trashed a Nanotech factory before we could destroy it. The Overspawn was actually destroyed by a Nanotech-owned Hawk Air Warrior (not us).

Incubator Chamber Alien Dimension

• Fifth trip into the Alien Dimension. Since we didn't shoot down and explore most UFOs on the Cityscape, we missed out on Small Shield technology. And that means our Biotrans can't be turned into a tank. So in order to avoid being shot down by alien swarms in the Alien Dimension, we brought in decoy Biotrans for soaking purposes. Not exactly efficient, but what can we do? The UFO that we need doesn't spawn anymore.

Anyway, the object of this mission is to destroy incubators. Again, with Vortex Mines. The twist is that, when they explode, they also release noxious gas with a radius greater than the explosion.

Control Chamber Alien Dimension

(WiP)

X-COM Apocalypse Gameplay

• By "projectiles" is meant bullets and beamweapons
• By "explosives" is meant explosive and incendiary rockets

The movement and positioning AI in Apocalypse is quite refined. Like Jagged Alliance 2, X-COM puts "pure" cRPGs to shame.

Marsec Heavy Launcher

Marsec Heavy Launcher Dualwield (High Explosive HE rocket). Demo of Apocalypse's explosives destructibility. 

Destructibility X-COM Apocalypse

Destructibility over time (dmg to environment over time). Marsec Heavy Launcher (Incendiary IN rocket). What can't be seen is that there were THREE Multiworms camping in the chamber that ends up incinerated. Note how the floor burns away over time, causing the enemies to drop to the level below, where they are finished off by Plasma.

Brainsucker X-COM Apocalypse

Sergeant solo (Novice difficulty setting): A Brainsucker jumps onto his head but he somehow shrugs it off. Usually, he would be dominated / zombified unless someone was there to help (shoot it from his head).

Brainsucker terror. Rookies dual-wielding Megapol Lawpistols on their first mission (Superhuman difficulty). In the second segment, the Rookies are dual-wielding Marsec M4000 Machine Guns (inaccurate).

Hyperworms, X-COM: Apocalypse

This segment shows the "horror" aspect of Apocalypse. It's not just the Multiworm that's dangerous, but also the piranha-like Hyperworms that emerge from its corpse. Multiworms are not easy to stun or capture alive.

Multiworms, X-COM: Apocalypse

Multiworm madness:

Skeletoids X-COM: Apocalypse

Shows enemies trying to crawl, air-battles vs. skeletoids and downward fire on anthropods (firing down at enemies from a height, under cover):

Megapol Laser X-COM: Apocalypse

Long-range sniping with Megapol Laser. Then, anthropods surprise us by coming up anti-grav lifts. One of their Disruptor Beams falls down the lift shaft and explodes when it hits the bottom, causing a cloud of fire to rise back out, just below the levitated squad.

Toxiguns X-COM: Apocalypse

Toxiguns loaded with B-clips versus Devastator Cannons. The Toxigun is rapid-fire, slices through disruptor shields and sports far greater killspeed due to its alien-bane toxin, but the Disruptor Cannon is more accurate at long range and is good at blasting through obstructions and tearing down walls; it can even be used for tunneling. Many aliens are now buffing themselves with shields and cloaks.

Disruptor Shields X-COM: Apocalypse

Newly-acquired Disruptor Shields facilitate tanking, survivability and staying power for X-COM agents. The battles are incredibly difficult if we don't have them and the aliens do. We have to keep pace with technological advancements as the weeks wear on (research and manufacture), or the aliens are going to rip us new assholes. Adapt or perish, survival of the fittest...

[video playback velocity set to 300% during Disruptor Shield regen]

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