XCOM Baby!

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Fardaza
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XCOM Baby!

Post by Fardaza »

Something triggered in me yesterday to fire up the original XCOM: UFO Defense from 1993 (95?). I went online to look for beginning of game tips because it's been a couple of years since I last played. Guess what I found? I guide written by Kasey Chang!! He mentioned the Official Strategy Guide many times. I looked over at my bookcase, and it's one of only 6 OSGs I hung on to. So, I've got the OSG and Kasey's Unofficial Strategy Guide to work with.

Thanks Man!

Now to go finish the first assault mission I started earlier today.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by NickAragua »

Heh, that game was something else. And I remember reading Kasey's guide when I was like 20 or something, it really helped me up my X-Com game.

I recommend downloading OpenXCom - it lets you take the original's data files and play it natively on a modern computer without dosbox. It also fixes several annoying bugs with the original, such as the 80-item limit on missions, the bug where your base will sometimes contain inaccessible sections during base defenses, the bug which always resets your difficulty to ultra-easy after loading a save, etc.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by dbt1949 »

I second OpenXCom. Adds so much more than the original.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by Fardaza »

I was looking at OpenXcom earlier today. It looks like it's more difficult to set up than modding Skyrim manually. :shock: It also seems to have bugs of its own?

I don't have the patience anymore for reading 6 hours worth of websites to figure out how to get a game going.

Am I missing something?
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by NickAragua »

If you've got the steam version of XCom, then the OpenXCom installer will set it up for you.

Otherwise, take all the subfolders in your X-Com install directory and copy them over to the OpenXCom install directory/UFO subfolder. Should be pretty straightforward, no magic needed.

Source: https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?tit ... (OpenXcom)
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by dbt1949 »

I have the Steam Xcom and it was easy peesy.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by Kasey Chang »

Ah, that did bring back memories. :)

One of the guys from Spectrum HoloByte, which by this time bought MicroProse, actually mailed me the beta version of TFTD. I remember being very underwhelmed by it. :)
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Kasey Chang wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 2:13 am Ah, that did bring back memories. :)

One of the guys from Spectrum HoloByte, which by this time bought MicroProse, actually mailed me the beta version of TFTD. I remember being very underwhelmed by it. :)
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by Kasey Chang »

Why, me being on GG wasn't proof enough? :D
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Kasey Chang wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 1:44 pm Why, me being on GG wasn't proof enough? :D
Exactly what an imposter would say.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by Fardaza »

Okay. I must be really dense. I can't find any file to download for OpenXcom on their website. On the downloads page, there is no version 1.0 file.
https://openxcom.org/downloads-milestones/

I don't see anything. I have the Steam version of Xcom: UFO Defense btw.

What/where am I supposed to download?

Thanks
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by NickAragua »

Try going to the nightlies and grab openxcom_git_master_2021_09_20_0740.exe
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

Fardaza wrote: Thu Nov 18, 2021 7:55 pm Okay. I must be really dense. I can't find any file to download for OpenXcom on their website. On the downloads page, there is no version 1.0 file.
https://openxcom.org/downloads-milestones/

I don't see anything. I have the Steam version of Xcom: UFO Defense btw.

What/where am I supposed to download?

Thanks
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by Fardaza »

Thanks Nick and AB!

I had seen that video earlier but hadn't watched it because it's an hour and 20 minutes long. I'd rather be playing the original unpatched version than spend time watching or reading for that long.

The git_master.exe file failed to download 3 times. I tried the .zip file instead. I unzipped it, and after copying and pasting 3 times ( :doh: ) I finally got it to work! I then started a new game and promptly lost contact with my first alien ship while trying to interdict. I waited about 19 more days before another one showed up. Oh well, that's XCOM Baby!

Thanks for all the replies. I'll let you know how it's going.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by Kurth »

XCOM was the first game I bought for my new Sony Play Station in 1996. I had just graduated from college, gotten a job, and finally had disposable income to buy my own console and stop mooching off my friend’s Sega Genesis.


XCOM was also the first game I ever owned that came on CD-ROM. I remember downloading Kasey’s guide and reading it from the first page to the last. That thing was gold!!!
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Re: XCOM Baby!

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I've been playing X-Com 1 a lot lately. Right after watching a youtube video about a guy who mainly uses shivs thruout the whole game. There are times when it's mandatory you have a human but other than that he used shivs.
I tried it out and it works great! No mind control and against the chrysalids in Newfoundland it was easy. Of course they don't gain experience and aren't as strong later in the game but they are a lot of fun. Eventually they self repair too and if the enemy gets within four hexes they have automatic quickshots.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

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I've been skipping around with many games lately, but have restarted for about the fourth time now OpenXcom. I keep getting beat up too much and wind up without any good soldiers. Hard to take out tougher enemies with rookies. The crew has been using a LOT more smoke grenades. This seems to be working. They get closer to the ships without being seen. Then they try to snipe from a distance. This keeps the best accuracy guys mostly out of harms way.

Our first assault on a landed battleship is waiting for me as I write this. I think I'm going to try to blow a hole in one or two of the feet with heavy explosives. Boarding the ship this way will prevent the meatgrinder of going in the main elevator. Heehee.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by NickAragua »

X-Com really pioneered my love of the "make your own door" approach.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by Carpet_pissr »

NickAragua wrote: Mon Mar 21, 2022 12:13 pm X-Com really pioneered my love of the "make your own door" approach.
Jagged Alliance did this amazingly well also.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

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Re: XCOM Baby!

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Fardaza wrote: Mon Mar 21, 2022 11:13 am Our first assault on a landed battleship is waiting for me as I write this. I think I'm going to try to blow a hole in one or two of the feet with heavy explosives. Boarding the ship this way will prevent the meatgrinder of going in the main elevator. Heehee.
I remember how fun that was, especially after researching Blaster Launchers and guiding a missile in the side of a battleship at the top and waltzing right in for an easier victory.
The only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.

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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by Kasey Chang »

Don't forget the "make the entrance wider" trick too...
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by baelthazar »

Lassr wrote:
Fardaza wrote: Mon Mar 21, 2022 11:13 am Our first assault on a landed battleship is waiting for me as I write this. I think I'm going to try to blow a hole in one or two of the feet with heavy explosives. Boarding the ship this way will prevent the meatgrinder of going in the main elevator. Heehee.
I remember how fun that was, especially after researching Blaster Launchers and guiding a missile in the side of a battleship at the top and waltzing right in for an easier victory.
This is how I won the game. It was very much like a movie. I guided a Blaster Launcher directly into the face of the Ethereal council you have to kill to end the game.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by Kasey Chang »

Isgrimnur wrote: Mon Mar 21, 2022 1:16 pm Silent Storm
More fond of making holes in the ceiling fun in SS... THEN the body falls through. It's like a turn-based John Woo movie.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

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Seems that the heavy explosives have a much wider blast radius than I intended. :shock: They took out 3 of my soldiers. But, they did open the sides of the ship's pods!

Okay, reload. Getting my guys back into positions after the explosions. Mutons and blobby thingy come out shoot the troops and go back in. I throw a grenade. Nothing. They come out and kill a couple more troops and go back in. I shoot a rocket launcher. Nothing. They come out and kill our leaders and go back in.

Okay, reload. Work tank cannon into position to guard the main elevators. Circle my snipers around to where they can shoot anyone that comes out the elevator. Mutons come out and kill a couple troops and go back in. One muton makes it out alive and soaks up all the damage. Then he takes out my leaders over the next few rounds.

Okay, reload. Maybe my guys aren't ready for this. Wait for blaster launchers.

Lift off.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by Apollo »

I downloaded some version of this game years ago that was similar to OpenXcom, but all my soldiers were female and there was a lot of, errr, "fan service" in the game. Definitely a game for pervs, so of course I really enjoyed it. Can't remember the name or where I downloaded it but I imagine it's still out there if you want an "ecchi" version of Xcom. :P
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Re: XCOM Baby!

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I remember a few years back, some guy in a restaurant had the opening XCOM theme as his ring tone.
I was like "Cool, XCOM!"
He looked at me, "What?"
"You're ring tone is XCOM."
"I don't know what that is"

He became much less cool.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

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Apollo wrote: Tue Mar 22, 2022 8:55 pm I downloaded some version of this game years ago that was similar to OpenXcom, but all my soldiers were female and there was a lot of, errr, "fan service" in the game. Definitely a game for pervs, so of course I really enjoyed it. Can't remember the name or where I downloaded it but I imagine it's still out there if you want an "ecchi" version of Xcom. :P
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by dbt1949 »

Captured my first berserker today. Rather anti climatic results.
Using shivs again. Added a Mech to the collection. Unfortunately he's subject to mind control. And Mechs can't climb ladders.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

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Shot down my first battleship today. Just like the scripted one earlier in the game but with a lot more damage to it and more sectopods and cyberdiscs.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by NickAragua »

Man, Sectopods are so obnoxious in the newer X-Com game. They're basically the reason why I take that "+50% damage to mechanical units" skill almost every time.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

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I always plan on taking casualties on missions with this thing present. The plasma blaster launcher thing is the only weapon that can keep you from taking massive casualties.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by Bakhtosh »

Played through the first remake again recently with all of the DLC: Exalt & Augment/Mek Troopers. It's a good game. The original did a better job of making the game a bit more of a horror game - especially at the start.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

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Bakhtosh wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 12:10 pm Played through the first remake again recently with all of the DLC: Exalt & Augment/Mek Troopers. It's a good game. The original did a better job of making the game a bit more of a horror game - especially at the start.
I think we've talked about this before, but I like the first game better than the second. I like them both, but EW really did it for me.

I just finished a playthrough of XCOM 2 without the War of the Chosen. It was simpler and easier to play. Much more fun and less brain burn.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

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I'm finishing up X-Com2 with war of the chosen. My next play thru I'll go vanilla. I also find Long War too long and complicated too for both X-com1 & 2.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

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dbt1949 wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 11:14 pm I'm finishing up X-Com2 with war of the chosen. My next play thru I'll go vanilla. I also find Long War too long and complicated too for both X-com1 & 2.
Ditto for Long War. I only got about 1/4 of the way through when I tried it. Just ... no.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by TheMix »

I was doing pretty well in Long War of the Chosen. Until apparently it became too much for my brand new computer to be able to handle. I was doing my first assault on a regional base. Except it would crash every time I completed the mission. It couldn't save it or something. So endeth that attempt.

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Re: XCOM Baby!

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The Long War mod for the first game turned me off because of the horribly long load times on the tactical battles. And the difficulty. I'm sure it'd be fine now, I've upgraded my rig a few times since then, but I'd still blow chunks at it.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

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Been playing Enemy Within again. Decided to play Ironman. You die, you die.

Anyway, my last playthrough ended when Zhang missed a rocket shot that would have finished off 3 mutons. His shot went wide and wounded 2 of his own squadmates! Both of them panicked and ran. Thus when the mutons came into the ship's room on their turn, nobody point blank shot at them on overwatch. Instead the mutons killed both of them. Yikes.
Then to make matters worse, the next mission was a bomb disposal in the grave yard. I was playing it very tight to the vest. Worked my way to the left, took out all the thin men. Defused all the extended explosion timers. Worked back to the right and did the same. Then wasn't watching my yellow movement squares. All of a sudden the bomb activated when I was one square away from it! I ran back towards the Skyranger. 3 of the troops were in the evacuation zone and 3 were not. It said "1" turn left. I thought no problem. Oops. "1" turn means NOW! All 6 of my troops were disintegrated when the bomb exploded. This included 2 colonels and 1 major.
Game over. Killed by Zhang's and my own mistakes! After more than 1,500 in-game hours, I should know better.

Okay. Restart.

Man it's hard to level up squaddie soldiers mid to late game! I keep getting my supports and assaults killed before they even get to corporal. Oh well. Still having fun.
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Re: XCOM Baby!

Post by dbt1949 »

You can still scum save on Ironman. You just have to restart the game. I've beat it on Impossible Ironman without too much trouble this way.

I'm starting another X-com 2 game. This time I plan on using all Sparks as soon as I can get them. Some missions will be requiring humans tho.
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