Or rather Sir [Insert mindbogglingly rich person here]

However, one cannot simply run away. They would have to develop space craft and launch facilities. To do so they would need to cooperate with other factions or the Aliens, whilst hiding their true objective. Tricky.

There was a game in the 90's called Alien Legacy, which basically dealt with the aftermath of this scenario -- where you basically controlled the colony ship sent to a new star. All in all, it's an understandable backup plan in case humanity does lose (and in Alien Legacy the aliens do indeed win).

A loftier, more flattering version: “Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot live in a cradle forever.” - Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky

@@Empiro3 I love that game. It has a lot in common with Terra Invicta, you're trying to build up a solar-system spanning network while defending humanity from the threat from the dark

"Help step-alien, I am stuck! ... What are you doing step-alien?"

I noticed some interesting visual devices where the insignia differ or align that make it easier to map them on the political axis of the game. Humanity First and Resistance focus on very human symbols. A bloody hand. The eagle. The Initiative has an eye, but that's more a visual nod to the all seeing eye beloved in Masonic imagery. The Protectorate has earth in the shadow of Jupiter, which is extrapolated from the human experience, but not a core human symbol. The Servants have an icon that is abstract and unidentifiable as a human symbol. Shape matters too. The Protectorate icon has an upward pointing triangular shape, focusing on space. The Resistance eagle is vaguely a downward pointing triangular shape, focusing on Earth. The Academy, Exodus, and Initiative in the middle of the alignment chart are all very symmetrical in their designs. It's really interesting just comparing the images themselves and trying to extrapolate ideology from them alone.

@@addisonmartin3200 I think the Servants logo is supposed to be a 'cleansing flame' - alien in shape and color, but a flame nonetheless.

Yes, love the Stargate reference

the New World Order conspiracy theory one written as satire and promptly adopted at face-value naturally, not the original bavarian libertarian skeptics.

Fellow Stargate enjoyer😊

@@hubertino855 ;) Looks like we have a foothold situation!!!

On point!

Aliens out! They're stealing our jobs!

Immigration Alien faction - we are here to live with you and prosper Human- THEY’RE TAKIN OUR JOBS!!!!!

A DLC with these would be awesome! Just imagine: Extermination: "Remembrance" "We shall remember the day we learned how brittle our life is, how negligent we were until it was almost too late, how brutal and unforgiving our invaders acted upon us. If we will have to do same evil unto others to live, so be it - remembrance is our eternal duty and guide to everlasting prosperity." Expulsion: "Expansion" "The day we almost faced our demise was a cruel call to awaken - we are not alone, we are not in control of our destiny, we are the weakest. If we are to live, we must grow out of our crib. Our neighbours will be our first experiment towards future expansion. Agressive methods are always an option, but will they always be the solution? No, we must devise a way to effectively colonise other habitats with minimal investment and collateral damage. Encouraging voluntary migration is an extremely demanding endeavor, but its realisation will be the first step towards our true maturity." Enslavement: "The Hierarchy" "A master commands - a servant obeys. We wrestled our right to command out of the jaws of defeat - we were rewarded with the force we never imagined could exist. And so, we shall enact our right as accomplished masters to decide the fate of those lesser. The primitive society we face is a self-harming mockery of life, we shall reshape them into servants fitting to share our greatness, fitting to stand with us against dangers of the unknown. The Hierarchy commands so." Invasion: "Supremacy" "Never delude yourselves - what happened to us was a miracle. Only through the extreme set of coincidences were we able to win, and what we won was not a war, but a single battle. We cannot allow this to repeat. Consolidate the force, outnumber our opponent, crush their resistance and dominate their minds. Perpetuating this string of actions is the only way to ensure that the second chance we were given would not be wasted. So make your choice - supremacy or death!" Integration: "The Unity of Sorrow" "We mourn all those that were lost, we mourn all those that will be lost, we mourn all those that wish to throw away their lives to sate the everlasting hate. Enough. Our pain belongs to us and us alone, we shall not share it with the innocent. They are terrified, they are enraged, they are discordant, but we are not. We learned too much of the despair that almost claimed us, so we shall teach them of our common plight. We are not shackled by our terror and we will teach them how to conquer it as well. We will create the Unity of Sorrow to lighten up our common pain. We will endure, so they may all endure as well."

Time to de-activate the X-COM project, soldiers with the worse RNG aim.

you wont want to. This game is utterly crucifying even with the tutorial.

So you're gonna be a dedicated unitologist, huh?

@@BoydofZINJ Soldier with a 98% chance of hitting the target... you give the order to shoot... and it misses... wtf????? fffffffuck xcom!

@@JeanPiFresita yes 2% chance still means 1 time in 50 u will miss. A 98% chance is still a ton of misses after 10,000 shots... on average that's 200 miss shots

Playable aliens has always been the plan, they already "play" against you governed by the same rules that govern you.

having lesser factions whose goals won't nessesarily end the game, like some of those, would be really interesting.

What I would really love as a DLC faction/scenario is a kind of reverse-Terra Invicta: It picks up a few hundred years after Project Exodus successfully left the solar system and their colony ships are now arriving to a new system but find it is already inhabited by different aliens (not the Hydra or their associates). Maybe they don't know how things turned out with the Hydra invasion so they might be the last humans in the galaxy. And now you have once again different factions emerging, each with their own way of dealing with the situation: Extremist factions who want to comepletely wipe out the native species to ensure the best future for humanity, or to submit to them and come as sort of refugees, hoping for the mercy of the native species. As well as factions in between similar to the base game factions. Would give us an "play as Aliens" type scenario where we start at the outer edges of the star system and slowly study and creep closer to the inhabited world(s), while still using humans to make the players feel more connected than if they played as an already advanced species of alien conquerers.

Anarchist faction! Their goal is to balkanise all of the suoer powers, make sure the other factions don't control any nations, and foment a rebellion of the Hydra's slave races and welcome free aliens to earth.

@@apathymanthemundane4165 project exodus is already one, if it wins, it dosent make others lose.

The God Emperor approves!

Suffer not the xenos to live

Glad to see loyal servants of the emperor spreading the word about our god emperor and his ideologies Remember, flay the servants of the foul alien alive in the name of mankind

The academy seems really interesting, especially since it's marked as difficult. Their objective certainly is one of the more novel ways of ending a war I've seen.

@@carljohan9265 it's marked hard because once you get a certain research a event triggers in which everyone sees that the aliens have military infrastructure and half of all cp owned by the academy gets put on crackdown

First hours are definitely confusing. I'm about 12-15 hours in and I think I'm starting to understand what's going on

This game will definently take you some trial and error to figure out. I am about 8 hours in, and am just starting to learn how to balance the different strategic layers.

Played a few hours, definitely would like to see a revamp of the tutorial, perhaps break it down into separate, smaller tutorials focusing on certain aspects of the game.

I have had several mini restarts. You'll learn new stuff all the time and realize what you could do better or about an entire mechanic that you failed to notice. But it's super fun just learning everything.

This game DESPERATELY needs tool tips telling you SPECIFICALLY why you can't do that right now

Also the academy: “Ok, we have given you enough of a beating to knock the idea of us as ur pets out of your heads. We’re sending an envoy equipped with an antimatter explosive briefcase that will explode and destroy the wormhole and maybe release bio weapons as well to wipe you out in case you refuse. Ok, now can we talk?”

Umm... hate to tell you, but HF is also literally nuking everyone that doesn't agree with you. HF are involuntary servants to the aliens' cause, because they attack anyone they perceive to be "weak on aliens". Which includes Resistance and Academy who are both taking the fight to the aliens while HF is busy killing other humans.

I'm told that Exodus doesn't actually hurt anyone if they win. In fact, their victory doesn't prevent anyone else from winning.

@@danielbob2628 For Exodus, I meant the nuking part as just a fond farewell to the bickering factions rather than an actual end game requirement. Just because it'd be funny.

I'm wondering what the most positive spin of the Protectorate could be. Maybe they could be like the U.K. under Chamberlain, they're appeasing to secure peace in their time but also so humanity can militarize and tool up in order to confront the aliens later on when they're prepared.

@@HonestObserver Ha, nope. It's straight-up Vichy. Spoiler: A Protectorate victory unironically ends with humanity worse off than even a Servants victory.

@@magni5648 They really are the worst.

Humanity first on their way to make the great crusade a reality

@@felop1187 we got to remember to get ALL the aliens before turning on our selves. Otherwise we get screwed over

lol milktoast neoliberals is so true

FOR THE EMPEROR!!!

Prj.Exodus more like "Fuck this shit, I'm outta here"

Yup. I could definitely see the aliens either not noticing or not caring that a number of the humans want to help them and just treat them the same as every other human anyway. It could take a lot of considerable work on the part of the servants to get themselves even noticed by the aliens and then even more work to get them to stop murdering you along with every other human.

@@Subjagator Servants are in the position that they have to give up land to the Aliens so you have to figure out your goals in advance as you have to advance taking new countries as the aliens take what you used to own. The Servant's end goals are control New York and 60% of the global population must have the submit opinion

@@Subjagator the aliens don't want to exterminate, they want to subjugate, it's different.

It becomes very obvious quite quickly why the servants are the easy campaign. The Protectorate are the ones who have to work for it.

@@thedarkmaster13 They're playing to what the top dog wants.

Do you remember what the twist was and can you spoil it?

@@lamename2010 Clap alien cheeks.

@@lamename2010 Spoiler: The Servants aren't mindless slaves to the aliens. They're playing the long game, so that when humanity inevitably achieves equality in the Hierarchy, it'll be within an already massive and galaxy spanning utopia. They're basically trying to be to the Hydra what the Greeks were to the Roman Empire. "Slaves" who run the bureaucracy,are tremendously wealthy, fetishized by the elite and highly valued and admired by their masters. Considering the ge eral lack of malevolence the Hydra hold towards other races it's likely to turn out the exact way they think it will. Tl;dr, The Servants are less cucked than the Protectorate.

This was my thought as well

Save academy for last. They learn so much and are so spoliery every other faction feels like they are groping in the dark at the end.

"Vigilo Confido" Time to activate the X-COM project, soldiers with the worse RNG aim.

id say humanity first or academy are the best options for earth's survival.... humanity first just kills the aliens... and academy's goal is basically to prove were a threat to them and get them to back off.

@@arcanumelite4853 HF are essentially the Servants - killing other humans so the aliens don't need to get their hands (?) dirty. And long-term that's just no solution at all. Defending one's home is one thing, but the alien's home planet will persist (just like they can't really eradicate humans on our home turf) and given their "domestication" of other races and apparent economical superiority, they will be able to fling shit at us until we're drowning in it.

Good opinion

​@@arcanumelite4853 My inclinations would lie between Humanity First and Resistance: It looks like the Resistance just launches a temporary defense but doesn't do anything to stop the aliens from being a threat in the future, while Humanity First tries to wipe out the aliens. The former isn't really a satisfying ending, while the latter is an atrocity. Something closer to conquest and demilitarization would be more appealing to me. The Exodus Project seems like a good Plan B (and certainly beats the Protectorate and the Servants), but is way too quick to jump to retreat instead of preparing it alongside the war effort. It seems like the things you'd do to fight back and the things you'd do to prepare to flee can easily align enough that one wouldn't hinder the other too much. The Academy and the Protectorate seem dangerously naïve (at least once it's revealed that the aliens are hostile), and the Servants are just plain insane (the most rational explanation is that they're a cult and their leader hopes to be rewarded for betraying humanity). Meanwhile, the Initiative are outright traitors.

Well manny people initialy share the views of the academy (so do i to be honest) which is why they have the highest support at the start however that can easly change depending on what the aliens do (so its a pretty dificult playthrough) They also have the ISS tho

Considering how the aliens have been violating Earth sovereignity, i dont think one can take the academy stance with them. Intellectually, more in line with the resistance

@@durianjaykin3576 Can one truly discern that there isn't some possibly benign intent without being able to directly communicate? Maybe the aliens are unaware of the damage they're causing to Earth and its inhabitants initially...? (I've played the early demo, so yes I'm aware that the chances are slim, but I'm also playing devil's advocate in this comment.)

Well from a logical standpoint it is stupid to assume that the aliens would co-operate with mankind due to their vastly superior technology they have nothing to benefit from co existing with us I personally favour the humanity first and resistance

@@durianjaykin3576 The Academy is the only faction that provides a long-term solution to the threat. Completely defeating billions and billions (perhaps trillions, they have "domesticated" many other planets and probably settled on a few more) of aliens just isn't in the realm of possiblity (just like the aliens couldn't eradicate humanity that easily). Sending them home with a bloody nose will just lead to their equivalent of the Humanity First faction and they'll eventually come back with a vengeance. Sure, humanity might be safe for years or decades, but the threat will always linger - which would make Earth a crappy place to live. Now compare that to engaging with them on equal ground eventually. Guess what: England and France aren't mortal enemies anymore, Poland and Germany don't have any lingering issues - because past grievances were acknowledged and dealt with. So it's possible to move past hate and revenge - and with societies integrating with each other, both sides can benefit.

Academy

yeah the academy is diplomatic and wants a diplomatic solution to this conflict. but of course when diplomacy fails is time to bring the big guns to show the Aliens who is boss around here. :)

Academy wants to be on equal terms with aliens, Servants are the collaborators.

The initiative or academy. Both factions are neutral to the ayylmaos, without running away Moses' style. The other four have something to say.

Resistance. They are the military approach to a potential threat. Make sure you show no weakness, but never take the first shot.

academy is... basically winning thru diplomacy rather than warfare... convince the aliens we are strong enough to be equals so they back off rather than outright kill them... that is why its the hardest faction.

Doing that now :)

If this Game Get Multiplayer Sometime in the Future its Gonna Be Interesting,Because acording to the developers Project Exodus is the Only Faction That Can Win and Will not Result in a Game over To You,Say if You are playing as the Resistance and Exodus complete Their Ship They Win But Life goes on To the Other factions after all They are still on earth,this will be interesting specially on multiplayer games.

The Initiative are basically spy movie villains. It makes sense when you learn about the alien tech.

I'd say give yourself 10h or so to understand what's going on. It's such a complex game with tons of parameters and specs. Will take some time getting used to.

Same here

Found the Quisling, guys.

Why do you expect the aliens to keep their side of the deal instead of gradually "altering the bargain" until humans are enslaved or exterminated? Historically speaking, human conquerors don't have a good track record of keeping their word, and I don't see why hostile aliens would be any better.

Protectorate is actually harder due to their win condition

Academy seems "too perfect" but it's the hardest faction so you work for that perfection.

They are in my opion the best faction for culture playthrough, if you want somthing like religion, ideology, capitalism to win the game, as them, you are closed to this human concept. Simply change the faction name and co, and you got your local ideologie on a run.

I agree with you and currently have a great Initiative game ongoing but the game really dislikes map painting. Without mods or cheats you'll never achieve that corporate dystopia we both want.

You're right! She does. Thought she was still aboard the Roci enjoying her downtime with Jim.

The Initiative one is great too! I think they actually got a South African to voice it which is rare for South African characters.

As the Initiative I got a project to decide how I want to proceed after the faction realizes the aliens aren't exactly friendly. Haven't gotten that far yet but I expect some factions to morph/change their goals

you are being rescued. please do not resist

"You offer one hand and arm the other. Wise, Shepard."

We shall liberate the galaxy from the filthy xenos Brother :) FOR THE EMPEROR ✊

So an altruistic version of Initiative, interesting.

I don't know if you're supposed to share that info.

It's the easiest because the aliens are so powerful, and because you can wreck the planet as much as you want as long as the aliens win. To put it this way, the resistance does not want to see a nuclear war on Earth, the servants don't care.

Dont think it makes much difference, at the moment it seems all factions treats all other factions as 100% enemy.

@@Carewolf the resistance and humanity first are not enemies rather they disagree on methods

@@SirElderock Try telling them that in the game when they declare war and invade you.

@@Carewolf i have both excudes, academy and humanity first all have a non-aggression pact with my resistance faction. Never had them invade or even attack me in any way. Severnavt are always stealing my low earth orbit stations though

Hahah "this little expedition" reminds me of the promo blurb for the classic Descent: Freespace 2 "The year is 2367, thirty two years after the Great War. Or at least what YOU thought was the Great War. The seemingly endless tide of Shivan capital ships, bombers and fighters with super advanced technology was nearly overwhelming. As the Terran and Vasudan races finish rebuilding their decimated societies, a disturbance lurks in the not-so-far reaches of the Gamma Draconis system. Your nemesis has arrived... and they are wondering what happened to their scouting party..." Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.

@@HonestObserver Yep. Never heard of this game but that's precisely how I feel about an alien invasion. Who sends everything they got at an unknown enemy?

No Protectorate is the option which sounds like, "I'm going to try to make a deal with this little expedition, and not expect the aliens to break their word as soon as they've sufficiently weakened us." Unless you expect alien conquerors to be honest, Protectorate is just Servants with extra steps.

​@@erickpoorbaugh6728 Ideally the extra steps buys you time to study the aliens and secretly arm yourself to fight them when you're closer to their level (so like Academy + Resistance with extra steps), but that's not what necessarily what might happen.

the academy is literally the "win thru diplomacy" faction... thats why its classified as hard when selecting it... it is VERY difficult to get everyone to get along... not just humans but also the aliens..

the academy aim to ally with the aliens. since the aliens want humanity extinct, that basically means their endgame is parking a massive nuke laser thing on their planets and saying "behave or get nuked"

No, EXALT is more like “The Servants”. The symbols are the only thing similar.

@@haltingultraman7147 EXALT isn't working for the aliens, no matter what the Speaker thinks. They wouldn't need to try and appropriate alien tech if they were working with them. EXALT is trying to use the chaos and alien tech to create a New World Order, exactly what The Initiative is doing. Don't forget the makers of XCOM: Long War made this game, they are going to throw in Easter Eggs like that.

@@haltingultraman7147 EXALT is never explicitly said to be pro-alien, in fact they even fought the aliens in that one DLC mission. They're really more like the Iniciative, exploiting alien tech for their own selfish gain even at the cost of hindering humanity's defense.

It's extremely complex. Learn and keep moving forward.

One wants to preserve the independence of humanity and the other one is a group made up of war criminals who believe the ends justifies the means and have no qualms about going full fascist to achieve their goals. Some slight differences.

The HF are extremists.

Because Humanity First is canonically genocidal and the Resistance just wants Earth to be left the hell alone. Humanity First is that person who calls 911 and clutches their pepper spray if a black person is using the same drinking fountain as them. The Resistance is Geronimo blowing up trains or whatever. Even the Protectorate and Servants have fairly different niches from what I've seen. The Servants seem to really have a huge role in early game alien simping and communicating with alien agents, but are still diplomatically compatible with factions like the Academy who want to establish contact with the aliens without wishing to submit to them. Whereas the Protectorate will probably spend much of the early game focusing on maximising their power base on earth, then when the aliens invade they flip everything over.

When you contact the other, you can actually see why they're different factions, HF thinks the resistance's methods are too weak, the resistance thinks HF is overreacting.

@@vascofernandes295 but can't they look past that since both want to stop the aliens from taking Earth? Another good ally of them is Project Exodus. They would want someone to delay the aliens long enough for them to get the evacuation going.

i really like the academy, because their approach is basically taking the protectorate and humanity first and forcing them to play in the same faction

I wouldn’t say the Protectorate are wise. Not going to spoil anything, but let’s just say that they do things even the Servants refuse to do.