Xcom: UFO Defense (UFO: Enemy Unknown)...

[DutchSchaeffer]

What a game!

I am just playing through this now (on Steam)... absolutely loving it.

I haven't played this game since I was young and it was fairly new. Timeless gameplay!

I have tried most remakes and for whatever reason they seem to miss the mark.

A few questions...

I have followed the guide on the steam forums for setting up dosbox, I can't seem to find a fix for the alien screams etc that were apparently loads better on older versions...anyone had much luck with this?

Is it best at the start of the game to quickly establish new bases to widen your radar coverage or build up the initial base for research / manufacture etc?

Any point in the initial tanks as they seem to get wasted pretty quickly?

I would quite like to add a couple of weapons to the game, ie a sniper rifle for the start that would have high accuracy at the expense of very high TU cost...I have worked out how to hex edit original weapons, has anyone come across a very simple to use editor for such a thing?

I love the difficulty of the game, it is refreshing not to have your hand held (so to speak) through a game and sort of work it out yourself!

 

[DutchSchaeffer]

I picked Veteran...though I'm not sure if the steam version has the difficulty bug.

Ah i never thought about the tank/rocket launcher...must give that a go.

Just got some personal armour, is it just me or does it do nothing lol.

Walk into ufo door...get one shotted by a plasma bolt haha! I guess thats what the rookies are for.

I think I need to make my own openings with some C4....

 

[DutchSchaeffer]

For those who have yet to try it, there is a good FAQ thread on the steam forum for the game that helps with sorting out dosbox, improving sound etc.

I found a download for mp3 music (from the PS version) it sounds great!

Anyone had luck implementing it?

I tried using ufo-extender, but the game just crashes whenever I try to run it...

As for my game progress, just starting month 2, have about 5 mil in the bank ready to start a new base...my first is in the UK, thinking about the states or SE Asia for the next...

Loving prox grenades at the mo, my scouts (armed with laser pistols, motion scanners, and several prox and smoke grenades) are getting lots of kills!

Had a shocker with that auto-cannon loaded with HE, was in a tight alleyway and the auto-cannon guy at the back thought it would be a good idea to reaction shot at a target of opportunity... he wasted 2 of my guys!!! Haha! Love it!

 

[DutchSchaeffer]

There is a funny video of the amiga version on youtube...

"insert disk 5...insert disk 3...insert disk 4...insert disk 3....insert disk 5...insert disk 1"

Just to load a tactical battle! That would have severely tested my patience lol

Esp if you were reloading after a silly mistake / accidental click during a battle

 

[DutchSchaeffer]

Well, looks like I need to start over... Too many casualties on terror missions and some poor financial decisions have resulted in failure!!!

I am not a big fan of saving / reloading tactical missions, I prefer to just accept the results, good or bad. Mostly bad in my case lol

Think I have learned a fair bit to take into game 2.

I have installed XcomUtil which corrects some bugs and fixes the difficulty glitch, as well as offering some nice features (eg soldiers auto-equip with the gear they had for the last mission, worth it for this alone!)

When can I buy better interceptors? My fighters were killed pretty quickly against a large ufo, 1 x Avalanche which seems to miss more often than not and 1 x laser cannon, infinite ammo is handy but the short range means that you get beat up pretty quick

 

[DutchSchaeffer]

So if I buy it through Steam, do I have to use DOSBOX to run this game?

Hi there, the steam version comes ready set up with dosbox so all you have to do is run the shortcut and it does the rest.

Well worth tweaking though, I personally much prefer to run it in a window so that it doesn't look too stretched.

Just edit the dosbox.conf found in steamapps/common/xcom ufo defense folder.

fullscreen=false
windowresolution=1024x768
output=ddraw

frameskip=0
aspect=true
scaler=advmame3x

For optimal gamespeed I recommend:

cycles=auto limit 20000

To fix sound lag:

blocksize=1024

A useful guide here:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=724550

I would also recommend xcomutil which provides bug fixes, sound fixes etc.

http://www.bladefirelight.com/

The download link can be found there.

 

[DutchSchaeffer]

Some nice tips, thank you!

I think my revised research plan will be something like:

Laser Weapons -> Laser Pistol -> Laser Rifle

Elerium 115

Heavy Plasma -> Heavy Plasma Clip

Plasma Cannon

I think that is all I need to build plasma cannons, I think they take 15 Elerium each, so 2 undamaged smalls will be needed fairly early doors.

 

[DutchSchaeffer]

Just encountered my first cyber disk on a terror mission...

Soldier 1 discovers it, out of TUs
Soldier 2 with a laser pistol auto shots it a few times, out of TUs
Soldier 3 with a heavy laser (oh yeah) shoots it....

The damn thing explodes and kills everyone!!!!

Haha what a crack up! Totally wasn't expecting it.

On another note, I tried that UFO: The Two Sides and whilst it is pretty good they seem to have changed the game somewhat...ie no mission to Cydonia, you just need to find the Alien base on earth and destroy it to win.

I appreciate the game is for multiplayer though.

Another project I have stumbled across is called xenonauts, heres hoping it is decent!!!

http://www.xenonauts.com/

Edit: If only i had read killerkebabs post before playing the mission lol

 

[DutchSchaeffer]

Has anyone here managed to get both XcomUtil and UFO Extender working together?

If so, I would really appreciate an idiots step by step guide...

The guide on steams xcom forums does not seem to work for me.

I currently have xcomutil working fine, but there seems to be some nice additions with UFO extender too, such as the MP3 music etc.