X-Com 3 - Apocalypse [Archive] - Page 4

Base commander

13-08-2007, 10:57 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eagle of Fire @ Aug 13 2007, 03:13 PM) 304517</div>
At the beginning of the game, stun grenades will dispatch and save you the Alien shield at the same time. ;)

If you didn't noticed yet, stun grenade is one of my prefered weapon in that game. I use it from the beginning to the end. Always!

To prevent squaddie death, try to make them move in squads. I usually send them in squads no smaller than 3, my usualy strike team consist of 12 men: 3 squads of four. Having different payload for each of those four men can also make a big difference. You have a squaddie with low aim but high reaction? Give it the minigun and make it target in priority the Brainsuckers and the immediate area. Your sniper should off course try to focus his attention far away, while the two other men use weapons in the middle and are the usual grenade throwers or use mind attacks.

Boomeroids can also be of a great help against Alien. As long as you don't move but they do, they'll invariably jump toward them and explode at their feet. :)
[/b]

I found out something cool while playing. If you use turn base at the begining of the game most likely you'll be killed by brainsuckers. But when brainsuckers stop appearing and aliens with shields start coming in, turn mode is very effective.

BTW are you saying human weapons can still be very effective agansit aliens even near the end of the game?

Eagle of Fire

13-08-2007, 11:06 PM

Most weapons, no. Especialy when the personnal shield kick in. But stun related weapons, as long as the Alien shield is not in the way, are always as effective even in the late game. The only difference is that you don't need live specimens for research in the late game, so I usually just stun them for their shield or obliterate them. Not to say that there is a finite amount of product the humans can produce, so you probably will be in short supply of the stun grenade by the mid game anyways... So don't neglect research. ;)

Base commander

13-08-2007, 11:51 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eagle of Fire @ Aug 13 2007, 05:06 PM) 304532</div>
Most weapons, no. Especialy when the personnal shield kick in. But stun related weapons, as long as the Alien shield is not in the way, are always as effective even in the late game. The only difference is that you don't need live specimens for research in the late game, so I usually just stun them for their shield or obliterate them. Not to say that there is a finite amount of product the humans can produce, so you probably will be in short supply of the stun grenade by the mid game anyways... So don't neglect research. ;)
[/b]

The aliens aren't so tough if you use turn mode late in the game. Stun weapons rock. Is there anything that can shoot down UFO's well. I am losing lots of vehicles (type 5) to UFOs. Even with sheild the aliens don't stand a chance in ground combat turn mode. I did so good that I had a whole two days to keep raiding the cult of sirus. Their defenses are so bad I had no damage even after 10 raids!

Eagle of Fire

14-08-2007, 12:17 AM

Is there anything that can shoot down UFO's well. I am losing lots of vehicles (type 5) to UFOs.[/b]
Yup. Use the flying bikes as decoy, attacking them at close range. Then use the rest of your flying vehicles to hammer the UFO down.

Base commander

14-08-2007, 12:46 AM

This is a question that is about xcom's history. Why does Xcom keep getting disbanded? I was reading the ufopedia and it says earth was poisoned air and water and that this is the only city on earth that exists. i don't know if it has been asked all ready but could someone please explain what happened. or when exactly this game took place? Sorry if it seems like I'm causing trouble...

Eagle of Fire

14-08-2007, 01:21 AM

In the year 1999, strange UFO's were spotted in the sky. After some investigation from the numerous world governments, it was found that the people of Earth was indeed under some kind of attack from outside the planet. To react to the problem and prevent the loss of human life, a special project code named "X-Com" was created and funded by all the major governments of Earth. This is where X-Com first appear in Earth history.
Eventually, X-Com commanders succeed in containing and fighting the Aliens, and end up striking deep in Alien territory on Mars: Cydonia. The X-com kamikaze attack succeed, and Earth is saved. Being an organization funded exclusively by the numerous governments of Earth, they get disbanded rather quickly as normal Earth relations return between each governments. Receiving no funds anymore, they have no other chance to to comply.

In the years 20XX (sorry, I don't remember the date by hearth), a new threat emerge but this time from the depth of the oceans. Same story short: after an investigation the real threat is found and catalogued, and the code named project "X-Com" reinstated to provide as first line of defense for the whole planet. After a long fight and huge research projects spent in creating submarines and armor able to wisthand the pressure of the deep oceans, the X-com organization finnaly launch an attack on Atlantis, the main base of operation of the Aquarians. Same story short again, they succeed, lose funding and get disbanded.

Much, much later in the future, Earth is a very poluted wasteland. All minor cities are practically eradicated from the surface of the Earth, and the only thriving city is Megapolis - the city you play in. Because of the incredible breakthrus of the first two initial wars, Earth managed to explore space and colonize other planets, mostly for mining purpose. It is then that some strange portals appear above Megapolis, and some strange, long time forgotten Aliens pop out from nowhere again to attack the few remaining human population. Searching in the archives of history, the Government of Megapolis recreate an obscure project code named "X-Com" to fight and save the only hope left for Earth, which is this city.

I won't tell you how it end tough. :P

Base commander

14-08-2007, 03:29 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eagle of Fire @ Aug 13 2007, 07:21 PM) 304544</div>
In the year 1999, strange UFO's were spotted in the sky. After some investigation from the numerous world governments, it was found that the people of Earth was indeed under some kind of attack from outside the planet. To react to the problem and prevent the loss of human life, a special project code named "X-Com" was created and funded by all the major governments of Earth. This is where X-Com first appear in Earth history.
Eventually, X-Com commanders succeed in containing and fighting the Aliens, and end up striking deep in Alien territory on Mars: Cydonia. The X-com kamikaze attack succeed, and Earth is saved. Being an organization funded exclusively by the numerous governments of Earth, they get disbanded rather quickly as normal Earth relations return between each governments. Receiving no funds anymore, they have no other chance to to comply.

In the years 20XX (sorry, I don't remember the date by hearth), a new threat emerge but this time from the depth of the oceans. Same story short: after an investigation the real threat is found and catalogued, and the code named project "X-Com" reinstated to provide as first line of defense for the whole planet. After a long fight and huge research projects spent in creating submarines and armor able to wisthand the pressure of the deep oceans, the X-com organization finnaly launch an attack on Atlantis, the main base of operation of the Aquarians. Same story short again, they succeed, lose funding and get disbanded.

Much, much later in the future, Earth is a very poluted wasteland. All minor cities are practically eradicated from the surface of the Earth, and the only thriving city is Megapolis - the city you play in. Because of the incredible breakthrus of the first two initial wars, Earth managed to explore space and colonize other planets, mostly for mining purpose. It is then that some strange portals appear above Megapolis, and some strange, long time forgotten Aliens pop out from nowhere again to attack the few remaining human population. Searching in the archives of history, the Government of Megapolis recreate an obscure project code named "X-Com" to fight and save the only hope left for Earth, which is this city.

I won't tell you how it end tough. :P
[/b]

oh I know all of that... I was just thinking there was more to the polution because the manual sugests aliens caused that. I downloaded all of the three games for free. lucky me :brain:

And the date for the water threat is 2040 I beleve.

Thanks for the info!

Base commander

15-08-2007, 06:09 PM

I just noticed something today. In this game psi attacks are pointless. Your units don't seem to get anywhere in terms of exp (get better at it) if you use psi attacks. training doesn't seem to work either. Now can any of you tell me if you have ever gotten a unit with psi attack defense and energy above 50.

Psi attacks was what made UFO enemy unknown so fun. You could make enemy's that were 2x2 shoot themselves or etherals pull out their grenades and kill themselves (this method is a glitch). Psi attacks made difficult situations easy (which also means it also is boring if you keep doing that often). Please prove me wrong, I don't want psi attacks to be nerfed by the lack of exp you get. It really would be a shame if psi attacks were useless.

Eagle of Fire

15-08-2007, 06:44 PM

In Apocalypse, Psy training take a long time. To raise it in combat, you must succeed in doing whatever you try. There is one kind of unit who is particularly good at Psy attack, the half human half Alien race you must have good relation with before you can recruit any of them. They really suck in physical combat tough, so what I usually do is give them the best armor I have but give them the Marsec flying red torso. They should not go too fast at first, but when they fly their speed is regulated so they won't get so tired so fast. I always give them my best one hand pistol (usually Marsec plasma pistol at first) and they fly around doing pot shot Psy attacks and using their gun when needed (usually specially on Brainsuckers. If you're not high enough they can jump you, but otherwise they're out of reach and will still always try to get you.

Only the half Alien race have psy skills high enough to be able to field immidiatly for Psy attacks. The best shot is, of course, when you take control of another Alien. What I usually do is remove the shield, throw it away on the ground in my direction and make it fire on his friends. :D

Base commander

17-08-2007, 04:31 AM

Hey I just found a neat useful trick. IF you raid an alien infested building sucessfully the aliens inside will disappear without you fighting them.

This way you can buy yourself time to research your ultimate weapon (the best weapon or item you really could use right now) agansit the aliens or just to buy time so your men can rest and heal up. Whatever it is this trick can save your mens lives and if you stun raid you can also get money without organisations getting angry.

WARNING: doing a raid is like doing a alien investigating mission and after a certain quota the aliens will get new weapons or units. So remember to do some raids as well as alien mop ups or you'll end up having to just raid all the time to even get pass a week in the game.

Psi training from the beginning can make antropods with shields have no shields(aka you made it throw it off)

has someone already noted this or posted this?

Eagle of Fire

17-08-2007, 04:59 AM

Didn't I just say this about psy training? :huh:

Base commander

17-08-2007, 04:23 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eagle of Fire @ Aug 16 2007, 10:59 PM) 305017</div>
Didn't I just say this about psy training? :huh:
[/b]

The main point of my last post was to let people know that they can stall for time without much of a penalty. Personal sheilds take almost two months to invent on easy and on supergenuis two months is like hell when it comes to protecting the city from aliens (they will most likely injure or kill at least one of your units per battle). If you raid your men are at less risk to die and so you can remove the alien threat from that building as well as raid it getting exp(human world).

And I can't see if my last post even had something you posted about psi training. tell me if I'm wrong (I'm not a good reader)

EDITATION: OH WAIT you wrote "The best shot is, of course, when you take control of another Alien. What I usually do is remove the shield, throw it away on the ground in my direction and make it fire on his friends."

AND I wrote "Psi training from the beginning can make antropods with shields have no shields(aka you made it throw it off)"

The Fifth Horseman

17-08-2007, 04:26 PM

Two months? :blink:
I remember having them around third or fourth week.

Base commander

17-08-2007, 09:48 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_fifth_horseman @ Aug 17 2007, 10:26 AM) 305163</div>
Two months? :blink:
I remember having them around third or fourth week.
[/b]

With or without advanced physics lab?

Capturing umaned ufo's do not seem to yield the power source research and thus for some reason I had to deal with aliens with sheilds while I had to research sheilds and the adv lab.

Maybe it's some kind of computerized dice roll to decide what kind of UFO's come in.

Eagle of Fire

18-08-2007, 01:59 AM

Shields are really overrated (on the Alien side, of course) when you know how to deal with it. Like I said, stunning (I usually always use stun grenades) works wonder and you capture the shield at the same time, which mean you don't have to manufacture it and you can use it right away. Also, if you use two shield in the inventory of the same person, the shield efficiency will double also if I remember well.

The Fifth Horseman

18-08-2007, 08:48 AM

Capturing umaned ufo's do not seem to yield the power source research and thus for some reason I had to deal with aliens with sheilds while I had to research sheilds and the adv lab.

Maybe it's some kind of computerized dice roll to decide what kind of UFO's come in.[/b]
All is based on the player's score, AFAIK. Use the stun raid trick.

Base commander

18-08-2007, 04:03 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eagle of Fire @ Aug 17 2007, 07:59 PM) 305210</div>
Shields are really overrated (on the Alien side, of course) when you know how to deal with it. Like I said, stunning (I usually always use stun grenades) works wonder and you capture the shield at the same time, which mean you don't have to manufacture it and you can use it right away. Also, if you use two shield in the inventory of the same person, the shield efficiency will double also if I remember well.
[/b]

The main problem is close quarters battle. The aliens (computer who plays them) tend to throw grenades at your men usually killing your men and destroying alien equipment which is very very bad. Depending on how well you do (new information I just learned) you can have aliens with a whole arsenal of weaponry just on the first few weeks giving you little time to research and power up. I had to restart twice because I did so well I had no time to research!

No not really. just the sheilds health bar will double. But when it reaches half health one of the sheilds will dissapear so if you don't mind them destroying themselves then put 2 if you really mind then put one in. Or maybe 2 but just make sure it doesn't reach halfway in terms of opening shield power. Any ideas on capturing alien UFO shields?

Who knew sheilds can block the entropy cannon?

Eagle of Fire

18-08-2007, 09:32 PM

Me. Shields block everything the Alien can throw at you.

For UFO shield, you still need to down them first so it's more of a luck game than anything else. But as long as you use the bike trick, you won't really need them if you stay long range.

Base commander

18-08-2007, 10:03 PM

Any ideas how to deal with giant mobile tanks called megaspawns?

My tactic: using toxiguns and cloaking generators, Sneak behind the megaspawn and open fire. Strangely just like antropods it regards itself as expendable and fires missles at close range.

You only need at least 10 bikes and the rest air hawks and other such vehicles (till you are maxed out). I find that the plasma linage cannon is the best human weapon I have seen so far. Raiding a goverment slum to get elerium is no trouble for me.

I miss my plasma hovertank!

Base commander

20-08-2007, 02:51 AM

Hey I just got personal teleporters I don't have a picture to show (because people have had touble getting it) because I haven't researched it yet but it must be a teleporter because it's preresearch description is an alien teleporter and I don't know how to put in pictures anyway.

Strangely I haven't seen micronoids at all. Anyone know where they start popping up?

Eagle of Fire

20-08-2007, 03:10 AM

At the end of the game, but before you get to fight the Aliens on their own turf.

The Fifth Horseman

20-08-2007, 08:24 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(base commader @ Aug 18 2007, 06:03 PM) 305369</div> Depending on how well you do (new information I just learned) you can have aliens with a whole arsenal of weaponry just on the first few weeks giving you little time to research and power up. [/b]
Personal Shields & Devastator Cannons on the first mission. ^_^

Base commander

21-08-2007, 04:46 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eagle of Fire @ Aug 19 2007, 09:10 PM) 305575</div>
At the end of the game, but before you get to fight the Aliens on their own turf.
[/b]

Nope still haven't met them. Blew most of the buildings there in the alien deminsion. Where are the alien's common sense? They fire rocket launchers with no regret or second thought in thier own home.

Note: you can use this to your advantage by making the enemy shoot their own teleportaions pads.

And yeah (response to fifthhorsemens's post) like I posted about being careful not to raid often because it contributes to your score (a jist of what I said) and will most likely make you pay for it later when the aliens have super weapons.

What do micronoids do?

Eagle of Fire

21-08-2007, 06:04 AM

Nothing much. They are simply good at psy attacks if I remember well. And they are very resistant to physical attacks, especially stun if my memory don't fail me.

Nice story on the autopsy tough.

Base commander

21-08-2007, 07:14 PM

I"VE DONE! I'VE DONE IT! I have 100 on psi atk, def and energy. MUHAHAHAHA! Now only if mind control actually lasted longer (unit mind controled in turn based mode will have low tu to spend anyway).

Eagle of Fire

21-08-2007, 08:05 PM

Problem here is that the game didn't been designed for turn based combat. It was first designed for real time, and they patched a turn based system on it. I never bothered to play turn based because I felt that it never been balanced that way.

The game works fine in real time. It's similar in play anyways, since you can pause the game whenever you wish.

Base commander

22-08-2007, 12:34 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eagle of Fire @ Aug 21 2007, 02:05 PM) 305928</div>
Problem here is that the game didn't been designed for turn based combat. It was first designed for real time, and they patched a turn based system on it. I never bothered to play turn based because I felt that it never been balanced that way.

The game works fine in real time. It's similar in play anyways, since you can pause the game whenever you wish.
[/b]

Turn based mode is all on how much damage you do on your turn VS what the com does to you. I like this mode because the aliens can't and won't start throwing grenades close range. Aliens shoot very few times with a high miss rate, giving your men the advantage in ranged combat. It's just unbalanced since most soldiers come with low to lame reaction scores (Psi attack raises faster then that attribute). I haven't gotten it to 70 yet ever, even with the soldiers I had since the start of the game.

Edit: You don't have to play turn-based. the only reason I like it is because I won battles that weren't winnable in RTS mode even with causalties whereas I won in turn based with out a single wounded person. It's all how you play really.

Eagle of Fire

22-08-2007, 01:10 AM

I almost never lost a battle in RTS mode. But like you said, it's two completly different worlds. What is premium in RTS probably don't work in TB.

Base commander

23-08-2007, 03:39 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eagle of Fire @ Aug 21 2007, 07:10 PM) 305954</div>
I almost never lost a battle in RTS mode. But like you said, it's two completly different worlds. What is premium in RTS probably don't work in TB.
[/b]

Exactly. It also depends on how you play too, if you would rather exploit how easy it is to kill isolated troops or use all round fire power (In prone mode as well) then play RTS mode.

If you would rather exploit aliens who walked right out of the open and stood there as the turn ended (or he could have been shooting at your men but was unable to do damage), in this mode as long as you have a good plan, useful positions then you'll most likely win without damage. alien antropods walk straight out in the open fire off shots that miss at med to long range. All it takes is 3-5 shots from a devastator to kill an antropod (with sheilds of course). I used this mode when I trying to last out to get sheilds.

Best thing about TB is easy it gets when you can fly. Staying at long range is always the best because antropods are bad at aiming (even though they are surposed to have 100% aim) so they'll have to dodge shots from your elite men :tomato:.

Base commander

03-09-2007, 04:52 PM

It's been quite some time now even blew up some alien buildings and I haven't seen a mirconoid at all. Nor have I captured a type 7 ufo. Any ideas?

EDIT: At this rate I'll never find out what the real alien threat is...

Guest

13-09-2007, 02:56 PM

It has been 10 years since the games release, am I correct in saying that it is no longer under ESA protection? I remember reading that this site has a deal with the ESA that after 10 years the game is free to be put up on the site, or am I incorrect.

The Fifth Horseman

13-09-2007, 03:18 PM

Techically yes... but we don't have any information on the month of its release, and that complicates things.

wordscankill

13-09-2007, 04:57 PM

June, apparently! :brain:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-COM:_Apocalypse

The Fifth Horseman

14-09-2007, 08:15 AM

:brain: Check the review page... :max:

Guest

22-09-2007, 03:24 AM

I didn't feel like digging through 53 pages of posts to see if this info has been posted.

Hostile Organizations and the Consequences

Government - Lose Weekly Funding and Can't Buy New Bases
Megapol - Police attack you and Can't Buy Most Human Made Weapons
Cult of Sirius - Cult of Sirius attacks you more often
Marsec - Can't Buy Most Human Made Weapons and Can't Buy Flying Vehicles
Superdynamics - Can't Use the People Tubes or Buy Engines (flying vehicles)
General Metro - Can't Buy Ground Vehicles or Buy Engines (ground vehicles)
Cyberweb - Can't Buy Various Computer Devices (Motion Detector, Targeting Systems)
Transteller - Scientists and Engineers can no longer get to your bases when recruited
Solmine - Can't Buy Elerium 115
Sensovision - Aliens can Infiltrate Organizations faster
Lifetree - Aliens can Infiltrate Organizations faster
Nutrivend - Nothing
Evonet - Nothing
Sanctuary Clinic - Aliens can Infiltrate Organizations faster
Nanotech - Can't Buy Medkits
Energen - Nothing
Synthemesh - Nothing
Gravball League - Nothing
Psyke - Psyke attacks you
Diablo - Diablo attacks you and you can't Buy Incendiary Grenades
Osiron - Osiron attacks you
Sentient Engine Liberation Front (SELF) - Can't Recruit Robot Soldiers
Mutant Alliance - Can't Recruit Hybrid Soldiers
Extropians - Aliens Infiltrate Government faster
Technocrats - Aliens Infiltrate Government faster

Remember that your vehicles will attack the vehicles of a hostile organization on sight, wasting ammo and damaging the city in the process.

Hazardeus

28-09-2007, 06:46 AM

Heh, been a while since i played this game... I will never forget the great times i've had with the aliens (Of course, they did'nt think it was that funny, but who cares what they like :bleh: ) Anyways... how many of you all get a buzz by totally overpowering the aliens hiding in the UFO's? Aaaah... all the fond memories of standing with a battalion of soldiers ready to kill everyone coming into view in less than 3 seconds :rifle: :max: :D

Guest

07-10-2007, 11:35 AM

ok I might be an idiot... I can't get the game to work it just gives me a black screen...

_r.u.s.s.

07-10-2007, 12:01 PM

use dosbox 0.72 and dos version of the game

Guest

07-10-2007, 12:35 PM

Thank you r.u.s.s.

and how does that work?

_r.u.s.s.

07-10-2007, 12:41 PM

there is a nice faq about dosbox on the site=) or type in "intro" after you run the dosbox

The Fifth Horseman

08-10-2007, 11:07 AM

Even better, we've got The Beginner's Guide to DOSBox (http://www.abandonia.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14913)

_r.u.s.s.

08-10-2007, 12:58 PM

i think that the lenght of the text scares peopel away :tomato:

The Fifth Horseman

08-10-2007, 01:20 PM

Can't be helped, I'm afraid. Only way to shorten it would be to dumb down a lot of the text... and we know what results this had the last time round.

navarro

15-10-2007, 02:50 PM

Don't "shoot" me if this has been asked before, but:
I have win xp, and if i try to use dosbox - don't work. If I try to run "xcomapoc", the application, it worx (sound's a bit dodgy but what the heck), BUT... the mouse cursor moves incredibly slow in the game... is there any way I can fix that?

The Fifth Horseman

15-10-2007, 03:53 PM

Yup. Increase mouse sensitivity in DOSBox.conf.
Sound stuttering can also be fixed (scalers to none, output to ddraw, core to dynamic, IIRC there was some fix with blocksize/prebuffer settings).

navarro

16-10-2007, 05:14 PM

Problem iz it does NOT workin dosbox. The error message I get: it cannot open xcom.cfg on drive L (whaterver the heck that means, there's no drive with that letter on my pc. The drive letter i used for the "mounting" part (with d-fend) is D.
The VDM-apoc apllication in my xcom apocalypse folder worx - but - no sound. And (like I said.. xcomapoc.exe worx fine - except for the slow cursor part. So... looks like whatever I choose, something's to my disadvantage. :D

Since I haven't actually used this type of programs or played such games in long time, I'm pretty much back to "noob", so don't laugh if I don't undersand proprerly all the stuff you tell me. :cheers:

Done with the mouse problem. But the sound still stutters. (Again, I want to make 1 fact clear: NOT using dosbox)

The Fifth Horseman

17-10-2007, 12:19 PM

1. Don't use D-Fend!!! It's known to case trouble!
2. Open Dosbox.conf and find the line that determines mouse sensitivity. Double the value. It's what I did and the mouse worked smooth in Apoc ever since then.
3. VDMSound might help regarding mouse and sound, but with Apocalypse it tends to crash every so often..
4. Regarding drive letters, look into the game directory. There were some CFG or INI files there, one of which had a drive letter. Replace that drive letter with the path to the game directory in DOSBox.

Talix_splinterscale

25-10-2007, 12:33 PM

after setting up dosbox i am able to play X-Com - Apocalypse once more. :w00t: :brain:
Thank you ever so much :kosta: :kosta: :kosta:

navarro

26-10-2007, 12:30 PM

Well... I just Ignored the other problems, the game worked ok. But sometimes after a tactical mission, less then 1 sec after I clike the "ok" button on combat window message that appears before the debriefing screen (the message that says "all hostile unit are deat, etc" or "all your units have fled the combate zone" or whatever, the game just crashes and exits to windows. The game window closes right on the spot, too. As I usually save my game quite often, that never actually posed a problem, as a I renterd, reloaded the game and finished the mission without the game crashing again.

BUT... now, after having destroyed some of the allien buildings, It just started crashing and exiting every time. Every time the mission ended, after cliking "ok" to go to the debriefing screen it *****n crahed (pardon my french). I tryed reloading from an earlyer point in time, in strategy mode, and not saving ang just going through the tactical mission, finnished it but STILL - Same result.

It' very very disappointing AND annoying. :( :( :(

guest

29-10-2007, 07:57 AM

AH-HA

Finally got the music to work.

I own the Windows-95 CD version of Xcom Apocalypse.

This is what I did.

I simply copied the 304 meg music file into a folder, mounted the folder containing the music file to be drive F in dosbox, and loaded up the game with dosbox, clicked the music icon next to the volume bar inside the game options. Pow Music. :brain:

Now the music is slightly choppy, and I just have to tweak some settings to make it flawless.

This is what I named the folder containing the music file
D:\dosbox\apoc\apocmusic

Then mounted the drive

*Dosbox config file*
[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
mount c d:\dosbox
mount d f:\ -t cdrom
mount f D:\dosbox\apoc\apocmusic
c:
cd apoc
cd apoc

Guest

29-10-2007, 07:59 AM

I forgot to mention, the CD version of the game I could not get to run.

I used the downloaded version here from ABANDONIA, and copied only the music file from the CD.

Hope this helps some people.

Danny252

03-11-2007, 05:25 PM

I got Apoc telling me "Please insert Xcom CD" while loading up a battle earlier, yet I'd been playing battles before. There was no way I could get past this, and I had to close down Dosbox...

I lost all that beautiful work :(

Is there any way to avoid this happening?

The Fifth Horseman

05-11-2007, 11:47 AM

Happened to me too. Seems the configuration files got messed up.

The only sure way is to completely replace the config files in the root of the game directory (don't bother with subdirs), running the setup and then making backup copies of all relevant files.

The good news is: your savegames are completely safe.

jedimasterbazz

13-12-2007, 02:21 PM

This game has got to be my favourite game of all time. I can't explain why but it just rocks in so many ways! People can't really complain about the real time game play versus the turn based game play of the previous xcoms because at the beginning of every tactical mission you get the option of playing in either. I also know a handy little cheat for getting loads of cash and having completed the game a couple of times without using it I can safely say I'm allowed to.

sportster

08-01-2008, 08:35 AM

Hi,

i have just downloaded xcom3 and the music (mp3) from abandonia. May
i know how to combine the music (mp3) into the game ?

The Fifth Horseman

08-01-2008, 12:26 PM

There is no way you can do that.

Eagle of Fire

08-01-2008, 12:58 PM

That's what I thought too, but I waited for someone to confirm.

The version on this site is a ripped version with the music ripped off. There is no way to get the music back on this version. To get the music playing at the same time, you'd need to find an iso or a full version somewhere else.

However, as I said everytime someone asked my oppinion about the matter... You're not missing much. It's way better not to be distracted by the music and listen to the steps the Aliens make when you're in a tactical mission, and the music itself is far from stellar...

laiocfar

11-01-2008, 06:12 PM

Or he can play it on a mp3 player while playing.....

_r.u.s.s.

11-01-2008, 10:29 PM

i'd simply give laiocfar a cookie if i could

Quake

04-03-2008, 05:08 PM

hallo,

weiß jemand vlt. wo ich mir ne deutsche Version runterladen kann?

mein englisch ist miserabel:(

Paco

04-03-2008, 08:01 PM

Hier wird englisch geschrieben.

Google ist dein Freund. Emule auch!

Translation:

English only please

Google is your friend. emule too!

esgmaster

17-03-2008, 10:10 PM

If you are having trouble knocking out psi-morphs and microids, raid MarSec and sooner or later you will get a Mind Shield, and it does work!

The Fifth Horseman

18-03-2008, 10:47 AM

Supposedly bugged, though. It's one of the loose ends that didn't get quite finished before the game's release.

Eagle of Fire

18-03-2008, 03:32 PM

I do not quite understand why you would have such problems knocking out those Aliens though... They are pretty easy to kill and their Psi powers are not that great once you have trained your own Psi team...

gufu1992

25-03-2008, 08:33 PM

Since I don't really want to search through 81 pages of topic... anyone knows how to fix the problem with the freeze of the game, if you try to activate music? Is it DosBox only, problem?

Eagle of Fire

25-03-2008, 10:11 PM

The version of this site is a ripped version. There is no music to listen at...

gufu1992

26-03-2008, 12:03 AM

Sad, so sad... oh well. There are alernatives.... dunno what are they though. :/

KillerFrogs

28-03-2008, 02:06 AM

Can someone tell me why whenever i start up the game and it gets to the menu and the color is messed up? the cutsence worked fine but the menu color is all inverted and such

Eagle of Fire

28-03-2008, 03:25 AM

Use DOSBox to run the game...

The Fifth Horseman

28-03-2008, 09:42 AM

Or VDMSound, altough the game is a little unstable on this one.

esgmaster

28-03-2008, 04:57 PM

Sorry about the mistake with the mind shield.
Here are all the ship speeds;
Alien Probe: 14
Alien Scout: 12
Alien Transporter: 8
Alien Fast Attack Ship: 20
Alien Destroyer: 12
Alien Assault Ship: 8
Alien Bomber: 14
Alien Escort: 16
Alien Battleship: 12
Alien Mothership: 8
Dimension Probe: 19
Biotrans: 15
Explorer: 16
Retaliator: 15
Annihiilator: 18
Overspawn:4
SD Standard: 10
SD Deluxe: 11
SD Sports: 12
SD Turbo: 13
SD Elite: 14
SD Special: 15
Metro Roadhog: 3
Metro Roadgrav: 4
Metro Turbograv: 5
Metro Powergrav: 6
Metro Multipower Plus: 7

Also the bikes gain 4 in speed, but no ground vehicle can outrun a UFO.
Also here is a way to edit stats with a hex editor. Find the name of the agent after the agent is the starting stats after the starting stats are the current stats, the last hex is the psi-defense, give that at most a 64, after that is the aim, but the lower the better.
Do not edit a Robot because a robot crashes whenever you select them.
Do not edit a Hybrid because it gains more than 100 becoming unstable whenever you start a mission it crashes.

esgmaster

03-04-2008, 03:53 PM

The Fifth Horseman

03-04-2008, 04:17 PM

I have found the cause of people thinking that aliens are their friends.
Yes, they are perfectly sane. Has an alien ship hovered strangely over the organization's building? Has it looked as if it was watering the building? If so then they are not friends of the CoS, but rather they have been hit by "Micronoid Rain".[QUOTE]
After an alien ship hovered over a building, you should always send in a strike squad to investigate for alien activity. Then keep an eye on the infiltration graphs for the factions who own the neighboring buildings, and investigate these if the graph as much as twitches.
[QUOTE]The only way to solve this is to attack their enemies. (which is usually Psyke.)
Did you ever get an organization back from under alien control that way?

esgmaster

04-04-2008, 01:00 AM

[QUOTE]I have found the cause of people thinking that aliens are their friends.
Yes, they are perfectly sane. Has an alien ship hovered strangely over the organization's building? Has it looked as if it was watering the building? If so then they are not friends of the CoS, but rather they have been hit by "Micronoid Rain".[QUOTE]
After an alien ship hovered over a building, you should always send in a strike squad to investigate for alien activity. Then keep an eye on the infiltration graphs for the factions who own the neighboring buildings, and investigate these if the graph as much as twitches.

Did you ever get an organization back from under alien control that way?
No, but you can get allied status.

esgmaster

08-04-2008, 12:53 AM

I have recently found out there is one organization that you can free from the Micronoid rain:Mutant Alliance, before you start the food chamber mission. Here are armor hexes:
Megapol:3D 64 3C 3D 3F 3E 40
Marsec:3E 52 46 47 48 4A
X-COM:5F 62 41 42 44 43 45
Here are the alien psi-defense stats:
Multiworm egg:100
Brainsucker:100
Multiworm:75
Hyperworm:70
Chrysalis:100
Anthropod:40
Skeletoid:55
Spitter:100
Popper:100
Megaspawn:100
Psimorph:80
Queenspawn:90
Micronoid:85
Here are the alien attack stats:
Megaspawn's Disruptor:70
Megaspawn's Launcher:100
Spitter's Vomit Funnel:34
Multiworm's Spit:36
Alien Egg's Vomit Funnel:30
Hyperworm's Bite:40
Queenspawn's Tentacles:255
Popper's Bomb:130
Here are the number of aliens in each alien building:
Incubator Chamber:
Alien Eggs:4
Hyperworms:6
Chrysali:12
Anthropods:2
Micronoid:6
Spawning Chamber:
Hyperworms:6
Chrysali:6
Spitters:3
Poppers:2
Megaspawn:1
Food Chamber:
Hyperworms:12
Chrysali:6
Poppers:2
Megapod Chamber:
Hyperworms:12
Chrysali:12
Anthropods:2
Spitters:2
Poppers:2
Sleeping Chamber:
Brainsuckers:6
Hyperworms:6
Chrysali:6
Anthropods:2
Psimorphs:2
Organic Factory:
Hyperworms:12
Chrysali:12
Anthropods:2
Poppers:2
Alien Farm:
Hyperworms:6
Chrysali:12
Skeletoids:6
Poppers:2
Control Chamber:
Hyperworms:12
Chrysali:12
Anthropods:2
Maintenance Factory:
Hyperworms:6
Chrysali:6
Skeletoids:6
Spitters:2
Dimension Gate Generator:
Chrysali:18
Spitters:6
Poppers:6
Brainsucker Pods:15
Sell all smoke grenades that you get because all aliens are immune to smoke. (why do you think they carry Megapol smoke grenades around?)

esgmaster

13-04-2008, 12:11 AM

I have found out how people get the alien equipment you haven't sold. They have either been hit with micronoid rain or are under alien control. I have also tried to find ways to control aliens permanently...without success. If you need a particular game stat let me know, and I'll get it.

Eagle of Fire

13-04-2008, 12:21 AM

What do you mean by "micronoid rain"? I am guessing you're refering to the alien ships transport beam, but that rain thing really sound silly.

esgmaster

13-04-2008, 12:35 AM

What do you mean by "micronoid rain"? I am guessing you're refering to the alien ships transport beam, but that rain thing really sound silly.

Micronoid rain is when a ufo goes over a building and looks as if it's a ufo rain cloud. ("Micronoid rain" is the name from the game's coding.) Micronoid rain occurs on a difficulty other than the easiest difficulty. The transport beam is different from the micronoid.

esgmaster

15-04-2008, 12:58 AM

I've found some of the unofficial stuff:
The following people have been reported dead:
has been reported dead.
Dank Dingy Reasonable OK Nice Good Pleasant Pleasing Expensive Luxurious Exclusive
Observation Duty
Searching for
Tailing
Spying
Zorium
#The applicants were given a variety of agility and speed tests; the combined result is shown.
#Stamina was tested with an 'until you drop' style assault course.
#Reaction times were carefully tested, using both electronic and traditional methods.
#A selection of exercises were monitored to obtain the strength rating of the applicants.
#This is an initial estimate of the applicants' psychic abilities.
#The applicants were tested with a selection of traditional firearms to see how they would fare in a basic sniper situation.
#The applicants were tested using advanced simulator technologies; a combined result is shown for on road/off road/flying vehicles.
#Perception is the ability to spot small, but occasionally vital, details that others may miss; it was tested using an extensive observation test.
#Biochemistry - the ability to perform research furthering understanding of the chemistry of living organisms.
The values shown below were obtained from the governing body for Biochemistry.
#Quantum Physics - the ability to perform research leading to a greater understanding of the area of physics exploited by Alien technologies.
The values shown below were obtained from the governing body for physics.
#Engineering skills - repairing cars/flying vehicles, as well as the production of weapons or devices.
Piloting Perception
#There is no help available for this item.
#Keeps the changes you have made and returns to the previous screen.
#Cancels (forgets) any changes you have made on this screen and returns to the previous screen.
#This displays a list of agents available for recruitment, or currently employed at the selected base.
#This displays a list of engineers available for recruitment, or currently employed at the selected base.
#This displays a list of Bio-Scientists available for recruitment, or currently employed at the selected base.
#This displays a list of Quantum-Scientists available for recruitment, or currently employed at the selected base.
#When the agility button is set the bar graphs show the relative agility of the listed agents.
#When the stamina button is set the bar graphs show the relative stamina of the listed agents.
#When the reactions button is set the bar graphs show the relative reaction ratings of the listed agents.
#When the strength button is set the bar graphs show the relative strengths of the listed agents.
#When the Psi button is set the bar graphs show the relative Psionic ability of the listed agents.
#When the accuracy button is set the bar graphs show the relative ability to use ranged weapons for the listed agents.
#When the piloting button is set the bar graphs show the relative driving/flying skills of the listed agents.
#When this button is set, the graph shows the relative perception levels of the listed scientists.
#When this button is set, the graph shows the Biochemistry competency level of the listed scientists.
#When this button is set, the graph shows the Quantum mechanics competency levels of the listed scientists.
#When this button is set, the graph shows the engineering skill level of the listed scientists.
You do not have enough parts to make this item.
#You need to select the agents you want to put on observation duty.
Weekly Salary
Alien corpse found.
The owner does not wish to sell this building.
An illegal road vehicle has been detected.
Staff resign at:
Resignations:
Alien attacks VIP.
Crazed VIP attacks VIP.
Dimension gate spotted.
Acquisition of:
Acquired by:
To secure and research large or dangerous Alien life forms.
A device based on disruption field research which could be used to disable Alien disruption shields.
Transports a vehicle between Dimensions.
We must discover a way to beat the Aliens once and for all
Dimension Shifter
Dimension Destabiliser
The Senate considers X-COM to be a worthy ally.
The Senate is content with our mutually beneficial relationship.
The Senate is less favorable to the X-COM organization and thereis a danger that the relationship could deteriorate.
The Senate is now openly hostile to X-COM and no further funding will be available.
Ammo Clip
Structure Probe
Vortex Analyser
Multitracker
Mind Shield
Dimension Force Field
Adjust Wage
No advice at this time.
You have to reduce wages to become profitable.
You should take on more staff if you wish to be productive.
Increase wages to attract more staff.
Cut wages to improve your profit margin.
Economic Information
Current mean wage
Mean income per head:
Fixed costs at building:
Weekly revenue generated:
Current staff level:
Aliens in building
Dimension:
Charted Gates:
Uncharted Gates:
Total Gate count:
Reload time:
Blast radius:
Laser guided
Recharge rate:
Enter defensive diplomatic negotiations with:
Diplomacy
Enter aggressive diplomatic negotiations with:
is currently owned by:
Function:
Bidding
Would you like to take part in this auction?
Building up for auction:
Auctioned by:
Bidding begins at: $
Going...
Last chance to bid...
Gone!!
: sold to:
No buyers found for this building.
Cost to recruit all applicants:
DIPLOMATIC RIFT
An alliance with X-COM has been requested by:
Dimension shifts
Unclassified
Rank:
Apprentice Worker Admin Security Management Director President
Wage: Residence: Unknown Hang out: Work Place:
VIP spotted: Spotted by Agent: . Do you wish to tail this VIP?
VIP spotted
Diplomatic relations for:
Espionage by Agent:
Do you wish to continue espionage?
Diplomatic relations determined
Item required:
Amount required
Amount in stores
Orders Required
Observe VIP's
Dimension Map
Spy on Organization
VIP's
Psionic Blast
It's both sad and interesting to know the stuff that didn't make it into the game, and I belive micronoid rain is a unofficial feature. Oh yeah, and I've finished a single mission against 30 megaspawns

Deathsangel

02-07-2008, 07:38 PM

Okay, I just got in to the X-com series though I did not do X-Com Terror of the Deep, seeing the reviews. Though with X-COM: UFO Defense I have no problems (currently genius level, never a soldier lost, now in april and making my first avenger, having plasming beams, laser rifles, heavy plasma and personal armor), I do have some difficulties with the x-com 3 game.

I have read a few of the post, but they generally deal with later in the game seeing all kinds of weapons I haven't got yet and fighting styles in the air (I do not look at ground combat, for as with X-Com: UFO Defense - I have never any losses (turn-style combat)).

The following points I wanted to ask:

I) I get a report every day of my score, with also a balance count. This states that my money should go down due to base maintance and salaries. I am fine with it, but .... it does not happen. My bank account the same, is this because I play currently at easy (as to learn the game) or is this later deducted at an end of the week

2) I see no income. Now I noticed I should have it according to the UFOpedia, but I only get it from heavily raiding the cult of Sirius and selling the loot the money. Not that I loose money, due to bug 1 but still.

3) What are ways to get organisations to look at you differently. I only can get them angry :p (invading buildings in search for aliens due to 19% infiltration (apparently bad idea)). I have noticed the bribe button, but I wonder if their isn't a more better/normal friendlier way (besides the tip I read of letting Aliens wrack buildings as you fly low). For some reason the mutant allience is happy with me, but I have 2 hybrids and 3 androids but S.E.L.F. is not impressed

4) The speed of the game. Now my computer isn't that quick I give in, but I can run games like BG2 without slowing down, but one battle here takes me more than an hour, with alien/enemy turns lasting 2 minutes or so. And civilians when in sight... oh brother.
(Dosbox setting -> cycles:max (auto lowered the speed even more))

5) UFO intrusions score incredibly high and they are gone in a flash, with the current map. I was extremelly lucky to down 2 (well 1 got destroyed). This only works by sending in every air unit of the start of the game (probably heavily laughable) - meaning the interceptor and two hovercars. The rest comes to late. which means my personal carrier joins the fight.

6) At novice for my first 2 days of getting the controls right megapol helped to down UFO's. In easy they just... are never in sight when UFO's are around. Is this correct? Or just coincidence? I ask this as the people say megapol helps to down them, but if they stop already at easy...

7) I do a lot of raids to get points per day as there seems to little to score by otherwise and alien intrusions score quickly down as with forementioned 5 & no help due to 6 they happen a lot without me downing them.

That was all for now.

P.s. I noticed a lot of other spin-offs on Wikipedia when you search for X-Com: UFO Defense for those interrested.

The Fifth Horseman

02-07-2008, 09:33 PM

I) I get a report every day of my score, with also a balance count. This states that my money should go down due to base maintance and salaries. I am fine with it, but .... it does not happen. My bank account the same, is this because I play currently at easy (as to learn the game) or is this later deducted at an end of the week
This is deducted immediately.

2) I see no income. Now I noticed I should have it according to the UFOpedia, but I only get it from heavily raiding the cult of Sirius and selling the loot the money. Not that I loose money, due to bug 1 but still.
Income enters your account at the end of each week.

I only can get them angry (invading buildings in search for aliens due to 19% infiltration (apparently bad idea)).
Newb error, one which I also made the first time. Raid building = attack the organization. Invesitgate = search for aliens.

I wonder if their isn't a more better/normal friendlier way (besides the tip I read of letting Aliens wrack buildings as you fly low).
IIRC, you could do it by attacking the organization's enemies.

The speed of the game. Now my computer isn't that quick I give in, but I can run games like BG2 without slowing down, but one battle here takes me more than an hour, with alien/enemy turns lasting 2 minutes or so. And civilians when in sight... oh brother.
(Dosbox setting -> cycles:max (auto lowered the speed even more))
That is worth a topic by itself. First, before running the game you need to shut down every program you've got running in the background. EVERY ONE, that includes virus scanners, instant messengers and whatnot.
I go as far as to shutting down Windows Explorer, for that extra percent of boost. :p

Second, it takes some messing with the DOSBox config to get the max efficiency. I'll name the settings, but they're a little scattered inside DOSBox.conf, so you'll have to find them yourself

For the graphics, we have to make the game run in fullscreen, at its native resolution and without any scalers or aspect correction (neither is neccesary here). Also, Frameskip must be set to at least 1. (2 is faster but the graphics may become a little choppy):
fullscreen=true
fullresolution=640x480
output=ddraw
aspect=false
scaler=none
frameskip=1

Second, disable all unneccesary sound emulation components. It's a small gain, but one nonetheless
mpu401=none
gus=false
tandy=off
disney=false

Third, you need to set
core=dynamic
cycles=20000
cycleup=1000
cycledown=1000
Play around with increasing the cycles value during the game to see what's the max your machine can handle, then change cycles=20000 to that value (in my case, about 35000 does the trick). The max setting auto-detects the maximum speed, but is far from perfect - manually adjusting the value got X-Com 3, Quake and Duke Nukem 3D running much faster than on the automatically detected maximum for my machine.

Sound lagging can be fixed by adjusting blocksize and prebuffer settings in the config file. Forgot to mention this part before so I'm editing it in. These values were recommended by Data to someone else a long time ago, but work for me just fine:
blocksize=4096
prebuffer=30

5) UFO intrusions score incredibly high and they are gone in a flash, with the current map. I was extremelly lucky to down 2 (well 1 got destroyed). This only works by sending in every air unit of the start of the game (probably heavily laughable) - meaning the interceptor and two hovercars. The rest comes to late. which means my personal carrier joins the fight.
Hoverbikes. Use them. Love them.
They're cheap and expendable, so you can use them to swarm the enemy.
Also, don't forget to arm yourself with some better weaponry whenever possible.

6) At novice for my first 2 days of getting the controls right megapol helped to down UFO's. In easy they just... are never in sight when UFO's are around. Is this correct? Or just coincidence? I ask this as the people say megapol helps to down them, but if they stop already at easy...
This is more or less correct. Megapol may assist you on Novice (and probably higher difficulties too, except less frequently).

7) I do a lot of raids to get points per day as there seems to little to score by otherwise and alien intrusions score quickly down as with forementioned 5 & no help due to 6 they happen a lot without me downing them.
Don't forget that by raiding a corp you'll earn yourself it's hostility.
But - and here's a trick to massive cash, as long as you use real-time combat for this - if you're allied with a corp and your attack is ONLY done using Stun Grapples as weapons, you're going to get plenty of loot without any drop in your relationship with the corp. The three most frequently suggested are Marsec, Megapol and Government. Also, do the same to gangs - Psyclone implants can be sold for major cash.

laiocfar

03-07-2008, 03:19 AM

Also, we may add that hoverbikes dodge most of enemy fire, they are the first defense line. Even when selfdesigned aircraft is avaible, no other unit will dodge so much enemy fire.

Deathsangel

03-07-2008, 10:35 AM

This is deducted immediately.

I would have expected that, but it is not deducted. As said my cash remains the same. Example:

I have $140.000, due to salary it says I will drop to $110.000. I hit the OK button -> I still have $140.000

Income enters your account at the end of each week. Ah, that may be it than due to slow speed.

Newb error, one which I also made the first time. Raid building = attack the organization. Invesitgate = search for aliens.

Sorry, but not a newb error. Why? I do search for aliens, but it says no aliens were found and that the organisation did not the intrusion. It is not like the raid where you go in the building and got to handle the security guards. The alien infiltration was 19% and I had little to do so I wanted to kick their ass, but as I did not find them the organisation was not happy. Probably 19% isn't that much, but the building is next to portals and is already targeted like three times by those unmanned ufo's.

IIRC, you could do it by attacking the organization's enemies.

Yeah, so there is no friendly way like I asked. :p. I wonder what the enemy is of mutant allience though. I had only though an allien attack at diablo and they started to like me.

That is worth a topic by itself. First, before running the game you need to shut down every program you've got running in the background. EVERY ONE, that includes virus scanners, instant messengers and whatnot.
I go as far as to shutting down Windows Explorer, for that extra percent of boost. :p

Second, it takes some messing with the DOSBox config to get the max efficiency. I'll name the settings, but they're a little scattered inside DOSBox.conf, so you'll have to find them yourself

For the graphics, we have to make the game run in fullscreen, at its native resolution and without any scalers or aspect correction (neither is neccesary here). Also, Frameskip must be set to at least 1. (2 is faster but the graphics may become a little choppy):
fullscreen=true
fullresolution=640x480
output=ddraw
aspect=false
scaler=none
frameskip=1

Second, disable all unneccesary sound emulation components. It's a small gain, but one nonetheless
mpu401=none
gus=false
tandy=off
disney=false

Third, you need to set
core=dynamic
cycles=20000
cycleup=1000
cycledown=1000
Play around with increasing the cycles value during the game to see what's the max your machine can handle, then change cycles=20000 to that value (in my case, about 35000 does the trick). The max setting auto-detects the maximum speed, but is far from perfect - manually adjusting the value got X-Com 3, Quake and Duke Nukem 3D running much faster than on the automatically detected maximum for my machine.

Okay, first of all thanks for so much info.
I have seen many topics on this but tips tend to vary, which also leads to the second part of the reply to this.
If I do all these changes... what happens to my other simulated games? I have other games I run with DosBox, most noteably MoM and that is 200x320 resolution if I remember correctly. Won't that go screwy with these setting.
Also putting off sound emulation, won't that disable some sounds to be played in this or other games? If so I rather not touch it.
I might be annoying over this, but I rather have a dosbox working for all games that just focused on one.

P.s. I am using my slow laptop as my PC is a bit down and out for the count...

Hoverbikes. Use them. Love them.
They're cheap and expendable, so you can use them to swarm the enemy.
Also, don't forget to arm yourself with some better weaponry whenever possible.

Okay, that sounds like a plan than. The game seems lovely but in comparison to X-COM: Enemy Unknown this has so many options it boggles me...

This is more or less correct. Megapol may assist you on Novice (and probably higher difficulties too, except less frequently).
check

Don't forget that by raiding a corp you'll earn yourself it's hostility.
But - and here's a trick to massive cash, as long as you use real-time combat for this - if you're allied with a corp and your attack is ONLY done using Stun Grapples as weapons, you're going to get plenty of loot without any drop in your relationship with the corp. The three most frequently suggested are Marsec, Megapol and Government. Also, do the same to gangs - Psyclone implants can be sold for major cash.

Ah, I won't do this. Why? I hate real-time combat... I love it in Lords of the Realm 2, but in here? My soldiers with their poor accuracy start to shoot immediatly when they see the enemy through glass (like the poor AI) destroying the building, making tactics poor and stuff. Even if real-time combat ran more smoothly - It is a bit of cheating doing that and I am not into cheating, trainers and the like.
I rather just go the normal way.
On the not of Psyclone implants... can you use them on your soldiers actually? Reading the description I had hoped to get my soldiers with little bravery a bit boost in it due to different stimuli, but I can't seem to get it done (after all bravery is so hard to get up in X-Com (whichever version)).

The Fifth Horseman

03-07-2008, 12:09 PM

Sorry, but not a newb error. Why? I do search for aliens, but it says no aliens were found and that the organisation did not the intrusion. It is not like the raid where you go in the building and got to handle the security guards. The alien infiltration was 19% and I had little to do so I wanted to kick their ass, but as I did not find them the organisation was not happy. Probably 19% isn't that much, but the building is next to portals and is already targeted like three times by those unmanned ufo's.
I drop in to check at the slightest sign of contamination. Can't be too cautious.
The aliens drop in on specific buildings and then spread from there, so in order to find them you need to crossreference the UFO trajectories from most recent intrusion with buildings owned by that company. Works 99% of the time.

Okay, first of all thanks for so much info.
I have seen many topics on this but tips tend to vary, which also leads to the second part of the reply to this.
If I do all these changes... what happens to my other simulated games? I have other games I run with DosBox, most noteably MoM and that is 200x320 resolution if I remember correctly. Won't that go screwy with these setting.
Also putting off sound emulation, won't that disable some sounds to be played in this or other games? If so I rather not touch it.
I might be annoying over this, but I rather have a dosbox working for all games that just focused on one.
This might sound a little complex, but there is a way of having several different DOSBox configurations, associated with specific shortcuts.
Go to Start menu/Programs/DOSBox. Right-click on the DOSBox shortcut and choose copy. Right-click on your desktop and choose Paste.
Now right-click the new shortcut and rename it to X-Com 3, then right-click it again and choose Properties.
Under Target, you'll have something like this (might differ slightly depending on where you installed DOSBox and what version it is):
"C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.70\dosbox.exe" -conf "C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.70\dosbox.conf"
The second part dictates which config file the shortcut uses. So change it to C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.70\xcom3.conf , then go to DOSBox directory and create a copy of dosbox.conf, renaming it to xcom3.conf . Changes made to that config will not affect your main one, while you'll be able to run DOSBox under the altered configuration instantly by clicking the modified shortcut on your desktop.

On the not of Psyclone implants... can you use them on your soldiers actually? Reading the description I had hoped to get my soldiers with little bravery a bit boost in it due to different stimuli, but I can't seem to get it done (after all bravery is so hard to get up in X-Com (whichever version)). Nope, Psyclones can only be sold for cash.

My soldiers with their poor accuracy start to shoot immediatly when they see the enemy through glass (like the poor AI) destroying the building, making tactics poor and stuff.
Give them sniper rifles, set them to kneeling position and fire mode to aimed. They won't shoot too often, but they'll hit most of the time and their accuracy will rise through the roof.

It is a bit of cheating doing that and I am not into cheating, trainers and the like.
I rather just go the normal way.You may be interested in knowing that the game automatically reacts to such a massive increase in your score and sends out more and better equipped aliens against you.

Deathsangel

04-07-2008, 10:12 AM

This might sound a little complex, but there is a way of having several different DOSBox configurations, associated with specific shortcuts.
Go to Start menu/Programs/DOSBox. Right-click on the DOSBox shortcut and choose copy. Right-click on your desktop and choose Paste.
Now right-click the new shortcut and rename it to X-Com 3, then right-click it again and choose Properties.
Under Target, you'll have something like this (might differ slightly depending on where you installed DOSBox and what version it is):
"C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.70\dosbox.exe" -conf "C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.70\dosbox.conf"
The second part dictates which config file the shortcut uses. So change it to C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.70\xcom3.conf , then go to DOSBox directory and create a copy of dosbox.conf, renaming it to xcom3.conf . Changes made to that config will not affect your main one, while you'll be able to run DOSBox under the altered configuration instantly by clicking the modified shortcut on your desktop.

Haha, not complex at all. It is simply a multi-install.
So the answer was; no - but I suggest cloning using this technique. Okay, I can do that. I have done so before. Thanks a bunch.

The Fifth Horseman

04-07-2008, 10:48 AM

Deathsangel

04-07-2008, 12:56 PM

Also, you can declare multiple config files, like this:
"C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.70\dosbox.exe" -conf "C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.70\dosbox.conf" -conf "C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.70\apocalypse.conf"
The first config file needs to be full, but the subsequent can be incremental - ie only have those settings they're meant to change and nothing else. Autoexecs of both configs are executed in the order in which the configs were declared, so you can have the first config mount your games directory and the second run a specific game.
This is how I've been doing this - now I have over a hundred games set up this way, and just keep adding more. :D

Who, I don't have that many games. Though it has to be said I have downloaded about... 50 (?) and through many many away again. Some after finishing, some not my style, some to aggrevating... Also my dad threw out a lot of old MS-DOS games once - and we had quite a few... :(
Which remains me once again, I need to look up the floppy's and use them before I get a computer without floppydrive even... Sometimes I get distracted into to many things :mad:

Anyway bit more back on topic. I did it using the first suggestion, added it all and played with the cycles.
Now don't get scared, but I have to run it at 10000 cycles (less than 1/3 of you). This means the game is still slow, but only in this setting the intro movie for example goes fine enough. However, in game I also hit twice f11 (in total, after fiddling around) and it got to its best - so I set it to 8000 cycles now. However, I don't if this is true, as in game f11 and f12 also have functions... do these keys when the game is running also change the cycles?
If not than I have 10000 cycles, otherwise 8000 cycles.

Apart from this I do wonder if I should go down even more. This as the intro still doesn't pray properly (which at first it did) and it did became better in sound at least when I went down in cycles; and sometimes I get video artefacts => Like half of my medi-kit dissappears when moving it around in combat, for two seconds a black beam across the screen when loading.
However, combat goes smoother, quicker and loads faster.

A bit of playing got me another few questions.
Is it possible to heal another character with the medikit, instead of only yourself. I have, as I do within X-COM: UFO Defense, specialised troops. Some are appointed medics, but if they can't heal another person... I had the medikit and one soldier was critically wounded and had a blooddrop at her lifebeam -> clearly I need to apply aid. Aside from the incredible 21 TU's this costs... double the old amount, and even more when you consider the less TU's you now have, I simply constantly get a screen of a healthy soldier.. I assumed the one carrying it. I saved the wounded one by killing all hostiles the next round.

Sidenotes:
I) Unlike you I still adore turn-based combat, as it allows for better placement of troops and that is quite needed in this game.

II) Not my snipers but my poorest shots are going up the fastest due to a technique of mine;
Cover fire on distant of better shooters, with aimed shot or snap shots, giving some pre damage. From around the corners stand nex to the other guy and unload for 2 TU per shot your law pistol. This is doable for the Sirius guys and the weak aliens. It seems the game lets you increase accuracy by a formula including number of times shot, and hit percentage of those times of shot (quite like JA).
This tactic does not always work, for instance using it with a Multiworm = death for the soldiers (and probably other tough aliens I haven't seen yet, but multiworm has got an unfair amount of HP -> over 200).

III) Still the money is not taking from me after each day... still have to play till end of the week.

IV) On your advice saying it was good to attack organisations that were being infiltrated I retried the hospital - this time I did find aliens
(three - yay (in sarcastic tone))

V) Can building be build in this game from other organisations... I have raided two temples of the Cult twice, and all of a sudden I find a third. Have I overlooked or is this normal?

VI) Nice for hybrids they inherited PSI, but why did they have to inherit weak strength? :confused: :p Or is that just coincidence?

VII) To bet hearing is not implemented as in JA. 3 Sirius guys attacked from behind (I have no clue where they came from, as I had looked down all corridors... probably sneaky around a corner).
P.S. They were stupid enough to run out of TU's when they came through the door though... I thought "nice" untill I shot them down and they appeared to have high explosives primed... that hurts.

dosraider

04-07-2008, 01:27 PM

.....I also hit twice f11 (in total, after fiddling around) and it got to its best - so I set it to 8000 cycles now. However, I don't if this is true, as in game f11 and f12 also have functions... do these keys when the game is running also change the cycles?
If not than I have 10000 cycles, otherwise 8000 cycles......
CTRL+F11 to slow down and CTRL+F12 to speed up.
CTRL+xxx as for all the dosbox comm keys.
And yes they work when the game is running, you can read the CPU cycles in dosbox's menu bar when running windowed.

The Fifth Horseman

04-07-2008, 01:29 PM

However, in game I also hit twice f11 (in total, after fiddling around) and it got to its best - so I set it to 8000 cycles now. However, I don't if this is true, as in game f11 and f12 also have functions... do these keys when the game is running also change the cycles?
If not than I have 10000 cycles, otherwise 8000 cycles.
F11 and F12 only alter the cycles in combination with CTRL.

Apart from this I do wonder if I should go down even more. This as the intro now plays okay for the voices, but the sounds still lags a tiny bit (got better and better as I turned the cycles down);
Sound lagging can be fixed by adjusting blocksize and prebuffer settings in the config file. Forgot to mention this part before.
I remember Data recommended the following values:
blocksize=4096
prebuffer=30

Is it possible to heal another character with the medikit, instead of only yourself.
Not as far as I know.

I) Unlike you I still adore turn-based combat, as it allows for better placement of troops and that is quite needed in this game.
It's better for placement, sure. But dual-wield devastator cannon mayhem still works better in realtime. Send eight such troops into a CoS temple and you'll see what I'm talking about - Kneel, Full Auto, Agressive Stance and the sheer volume of fire won't let any cultists survive (and the property damage is simply icing on the cake!)

II) Not my snipers but my poorest shots are going up the fastest due to a technique of mine;
Cover fire on distant of better shooters, with aimed shot or snap shots, giving some pre damage. From around the corners stand nex to the other guy and unload for 2 TU per shot your law pistol. This is doable for the Sirius guys and the weak aliens. It seems the game lets you increase accuracy by a formula including number of times shot, and hit percentage of those times of shot (quite like JA).
This tactic does not always work, for instance using it with a Multiworm = death for the soldiers (and probably other tough aliens I haven't seen yet, but multiworm has got an unfair amount of HP -> over 200).
Not sure. I'll have to try that, tho.

V) Can building be build in this game from other organisations... I have raided two temples of the Cult twice, and all of a sudden I find a third. Have I overlooked or is this normal? Other organisations never build new facilities, at least as far as I could tell. Note that when you're on the city map (the simple display mode, not the isometric one), selecting an organization's icon on the list highlights their properties.

VI) Nice for hybrids they inherited PSI, but why did they have to inherit weak strength? :confused: :p Or is that just coincidence?
This is on purpose so that the Hybrids are balanced with humans and androids (who are completely Psi-resistant, so you can use them safely as forward scouts in brainsucker-heavy areas)

VII) To bet hearing is not implemented as in JA. 3 Sirius guys attacked from behind (I have no clue where they came from, as I had looked down all corridors... probably sneaky around a corner).
P.S. They were stupid enough to run out of TU's when they came through the door though... I thought "nice" untill I shot them down and they appeared to have high explosives primed... that hurts.
The explosives didn't have to be primed. When you fire at a square which has any ammo/grenades/explosives in it, there is a chance those materials will explode (possibly setting off a chain reaction). The chance depends on what you hit with, obviously. Fire detonates explosive materials after a while too.

Deathsangel

04-07-2008, 05:19 PM

Answering quick as I have to go to two parties in a few minutes.

Okay, will give later the results of the sound setting, but I also have problems now with the movie lagging and stuff, which I did not have in the beginning. Not a big problem in my eyes as it is about the game not the intro movie.

I find that a major flaw of medi-kit by the way. I dropped a few of the regular troops to save weight... now I need to toss them to them. Though picking up from the ground nowadays does not cost a thing or putting something in a backpack and such... kind of weird, it did cost TU (logically) in X-com I and II.

I do like the fact people can take hiding while under cover fire, but the bad thing is they also do it when out of TU, as does the comp. One time it actually nearly killed my soldier, as I was covered and the CoS dude came around the backdoor to find he was being cornered... needless to say I did not get shots, he did a lot. Oh, well live and learn.

I got the manual from way back in the topic by the way, but can't seem to find a certain thing I want. In the UFOpedia they mention about GRAV ball players getting out of the league when having more than 50% non-human parts... can I give my soldiers some as to perfect them, as well as the androids seeing you can't train them (logically, but annoying)?

As well, as to what medals are there and when you get them. I got this deadskull medal now on a few soldiers, with more than 10 kills, however an android of mine with 12 kills has got none... I would like to see the requirements for getting one.

raven_milicon

11-07-2008, 02:38 AM

Why cant I save in apocalypse?

_r.u.s.s.

11-07-2008, 04:23 AM

because your computer is racist

seriously, we're not fortune tellers to know your pc specs, os, how did you try to run the game, etc..

The Fifth Horseman

11-07-2008, 05:59 AM

I got the manual from way back in the topic by the way, but can't seem to find a certain thing I want. In the UFOpedia they mention about GRAV ball players getting out of the league when having more than 50% non-human parts... can I give my soldiers some as to perfect them, as well as the androids seeing you can't train them (logically, but annoying)?
First, sorry for late response.

Unfortunately, that text is just a blurb. It's not actually possible to cyborgize your soldiers or modify your androids.
Regarding the latter, remember they are completely immune to psionics: if you're confronting aliens with mind control abilities or large amounts of Brainsuckers, make them your forward scouts.

As well, as to what medals are there and when you get them. I got this deadskull medal now on a few soldiers, with more than 10 kills, however an android of mine with 12 kills has got none... I would like to see the requirements for getting one.
I believe the medals are based not just on kills but also the mission count and service time. Possibly also the improvement percentage for the specific soldier.

Why cant I save in apocalypse?
You can save in this game, this is 100% verified.
You're probably doing something wrong.

ObiMark

15-07-2008, 02:52 PM

I recently managed to get apocalypse working, thanx to new version of dosbox. I really loved it back in the days and even now it still has a lot going for it. Anyway one of the things always enjoyed was destroying whatever I was raiding, be it Marsec, Transtellar, any of the gangs (most commonly osiron) even Extropians.
In my latest raid vs Osiron I really out did myself. I raided the slums and got the map with large square building that sits on top of 7 pillars with eight pillar in the middle housing the lift and staircase on one side.
I had the idea of bringing down the entire 6 story house. Using disruptors and vortex mines I blew 3 rightmost pillars along with staircase. Entire eastern section started to fall apart. From the bottom to top it was literally raining buliding. It was fascinating. Among the wreckage it rained 7 or 8 osiron soldiers as well. they didn't make it.

The Fifth Horseman

15-07-2008, 03:21 PM

I once tried doing something to the extent, except arming all my agents with dual-wield Devastator Cannons. Was funny to watch buildings fold like card houses. :)

ruud316

16-07-2008, 01:48 PM

What the hell, is going on?!:wacko:

Some blobs come out of a hole, I chase and shoot down said blobs, how do I land and start a mission, are there no instructions?! Why god damb it why?

Why I tells ya!!!!

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!!!!!:mad:

Etc!:idea:

The Fifth Horseman

16-07-2008, 02:36 PM

In order to begin crash site recovery, you need to load several troopers to a flying vehicle (don't forget to equip them!!!) and send said vehicle to the crash site.

And the manual is here: http://www.abandonia.com/files/extras/X-Com%20-%20Apocalypse_Manual.zip

Dumblor

15-08-2008, 05:29 AM

The Fifth Horseman

15-08-2008, 09:27 AM

Guys, i've got a big big problem. At the start of the game the Aliens get their asses kicked badly, but later they bring a big angry cannon and send my hovercars to hell. Im hopeless! Although I used to play EU on SuperHuman, I play this one on novice and still my ass is red from being kicked by alien ships!
Hoverbikes. Use them, love them. Upgrade their engines, load in targeting modules, upgrade their weapons (laser cannons, if you can afford the Elerium go for plasma guns, don't forget about a few Janitor and Prophet launchers.
A large enough swarm will eat most UFO types alive. :amused:
There's one UFO type which uses swarm-type ammunition, though, and for that you'll need Hawks.

Hovercars do best with long-range, high-accuracy weapon systems - like Prophet missiles.

Latter in game, when those pesky Selectoids or something come in to greet me, some new type of alien ship comes out and kicks my hovercar's ass so bad, his engine started crying. I bought That Hawk Warrior thingy, equiped it with the missile evasion matrix (why is a matrix SO BIG ???) and that thingy which gives you more chances to hit the target. And it still gets sent to hell.
Only one Hawk? Lulz. I'm always buying two. Sometimes more. Raid Cult of sirius for extra guns, ammo and Psiclones to sell, if you need money.

Then equip each hawk with at least one evasion Matrix - altough two wouldn't hurt - and as many targeting systems as you can ram in there. Remember that it's best to load the large ones there first, since the more you put in the less increase in accuracy you get. 2 large targeting modules give you a 45% accuracy boost.

Im hopless. What to do ? (I didn't mentioned that I have only six soldiers because every time they get kicked they're asses on a battle field they're grand parents from mars start crying so much, that mars was once again a ocean world. But never the less, now I'm okay with ground battles, but ships are still a thick in the ass.)
Six??? That's suicidal. In some of my games of Apocalypse I've used as many as 24 soldiers on a single mission. Six is a minimum strike-team that's only effective in the beginning.
Hire every recruit you can. You need a 12-man team ready for missions and a 6-man backup unit to rotate in for any troopers who lose more than 25% of their health.

Dumblor

16-08-2008, 09:05 AM

Thanks for the answers, but I still don't understand one thing. When you say swarm the Saucers with HBikes, how many do you mean ?

P.S. Yes, I raid Cult, and ussually get ~4-5 psyke thingies, but that ussually isn't enough. And later they get those mini-rocket-launchers, which kick my soldiers back to baby status, because I don't have PShield yet :(.

P.P.S. Six soldiers are enough for me even when skeletoids or whatever come out. And I don't have any choice. Even though i'm allied with MAlliance and S.E.L.F., I don't have many recruits. By the way, is that normal that sectoids ussually outpower humans IN ALL WAYS. Even strength !

The Fifth Horseman

16-08-2008, 09:42 AM

When you say swarm the Saucers with HBikes, how many do you mean ?
As many as you've got.

Yes, I raid Cult, and ussually get ~4-5 psyke thingies, but that ussually isn't enough. And later they get those mini-rocket-launchers, which kick my soldiers back to baby status, because I don't have PShield yet .
You raid them once. I raid them several times. Usually five to eight in a single go.
Also, there's one uber-easy way of getting cash: stun raids against organizations you're allied with. http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showpost.php?p=238461&postcount=541

P.P.S. Six soldiers are enough for me even when skeletoids or whatever come out. And I don't have any choice. Even though i'm allied with MAlliance and S.E.L.F., I don't have many recruits. By the way, is that normal that sectoids ussually outpower humans IN ALL WAYS. Even strength !
I'm 99% sure that your heavy losses are caused by a too-agressive playing style. If you're careful enough, you shouldn't be losing any troops at the lowest difficulty level.

Dumblor

16-08-2008, 03:15 PM

thanks for the answers again :). And about stun-raids, I read about them today in UFOpedia. I was quite interested :). I will give it a try. I also read that the best organization to stun-raid is Diablo because if you collect everything on ground you'll get lots of Psiclones. (~40).

zilla59

20-08-2008, 12:46 AM

i have just brought thie game, x-com apocalypse, when i go to install it i get an error that say's; in top heading bar "16 bit DOS subsystem" in main window "this system does not support fullscreen mode.chose 'close' to terminate the application." and i can then chose to close it, or click ignore, of which if i ignore it, it just comes back to same message, i am running with a laptop, pretty much brand new, using vista. can anybody help me with this please?

dosraider

20-08-2008, 03:58 AM

This can help you if you have the dosversion:
>A beginner's guide to DosBox< (http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?&t=14406)
>wtf IS dos bOX AND DOES IT WORK ON wIN xp?< (http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=17476)

_r.u.s.s.

20-08-2008, 09:50 AM

or the original... (http://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Basic_Setup_and_Installation_of_DosBox)

Dumblor

21-08-2008, 11:57 AM

The dude said he's runing it on vista, not xp, Raider.

The Fifth Horseman

21-08-2008, 11:58 AM

Doesn't matter: DOSBox works on Vista too.

dosraider

21-08-2008, 12:32 PM

Would even say more: dosbox 0.72 works perfect in Vista 32 ànd Vista 64.
Only thing that's different compared to XP:
Use to install dosbox and for your virtual C:
-> or your own personal folders as Vista is much more protective then XP
-> or another partition then C:

BTW, if you don't have a partitioned HD you can eventually use a USB key to install dosbox ànd your virtual C, works fine.

Dumblor

21-08-2008, 01:47 PM

Anyway, is that normal that Organizations that you are allied with attack your enemies ? When Mutant Alliance attacked Cult of Sirius i thought it's just they're not popular at parties, but when Super Dynamics (also my ally) attacked them, I was confused. So do allied organizations help you against other organizations or it's just EVERYBODY raiding Cult of Sirius ?

The Fifth Horseman

21-08-2008, 02:42 PM

Yes. It also works the other way.

Dumblor

21-08-2008, 03:04 PM

You mean that everybody is hostile to the cult ?

The Fifth Horseman

21-08-2008, 03:19 PM

No. I mean that organizations allied with your enemies may become hostile to you.

Tomekk

10-09-2008, 02:53 PM

Best strategy game ever!
It's just so perfect! At one part it's a pretty nice SimCity like game, and the other part it's a great tactical/action game!
If you like strategy games, then this is a must!

TeKila78

12-09-2008, 02:04 AM

Hi every body I`m from Mexico and my english writing is not good but i try to explain.

I like very much x-com series, my first game I have is abomination and in this moment I play only byb games (built and batlle). Colet resourses and then begin the war.

Before i play UFO Afthermath and i love a lot of the concpet and my travel to x com end here and play xcom 1 and 3. I have to say thank you abandonia because I think the probabilities to play this game when Micropose has desapair is iqual to cero. And you make the oportunity.

And at las I`m very sad to kwon the game has sold. :( and other like my don´t have the same oportunity to play this games.

Tomekk

12-09-2008, 05:53 AM

Check your inbox later...

The Fifth Horseman

12-09-2008, 07:15 AM

Before i play UFO Afthermath and i love a lot of the concpet and my travel to x com end here and play xcom 1 and 3. I have to say thank you abandonia because I think the probabilities to play this game when Micropose has desapair is iqual to cero. And you make the oportunity.

And at las I`m very sad to kwon the game has sold. :( and other like my don´t have the same oportunity to play this games.

It's sold, yes, but on STEAM. It's online - you just pay and download it from them. :D

Furry

15-09-2008, 07:12 AM

Hellow everyone...please can anyone tell me how download this excellent game ?

This game alive ?

The Fifth Horseman

15-09-2008, 07:52 AM

It's sold. You can buy it here: http://storefront.steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=sub&SubId=964

Tomekk

15-09-2008, 01:13 PM

Or...you could offend the U.S.A's copyright Laws and ***** *** **** ****! :bleh:

The Fifth Horseman

15-09-2008, 01:22 PM

I think he should rather *** ** *******. ^_^

Eagle of Fire

20-09-2008, 10:13 PM

Are you asking for a ban buddy? :notrust:

STEVAN

24-09-2008, 04:20 PM

Hi. I love this game but i cant get DOS box to work. Im having problems with CPU cycles ( or something like that). Any suggestions?

The Fifth Horseman

24-09-2008, 06:06 PM

Halfway through this post (http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showpost.php?p=330116&postcount=840).

Tomekk

24-09-2008, 06:32 PM

This is a neat little bug I discovered, and it gives you lots of $$$.
1)Research the Bio Transport Module.
2)Assign your Engineering team to make one.
3)Now click the assign button again and....you get your money back. Do it again and again, and you'll always get that money back.
4)If it doesn't work, cause you did something else, cancel the assignment, and re-assign it and it will work again!

Have fun!

STEVAN

29-09-2008, 04:08 PM

Did enyone buy the x-com series from steam. I was wondering if it works on xp or do you still have to use dosbox

The Fifth Horseman

29-09-2008, 07:38 PM

Actually.
It works on XP, because it's integrated with a streamlined version of DOSBox.

Likesgoodgames!

22-03-2009, 03:30 AM

Lulu_Jane

22-03-2009, 03:53 AM

Please don't post your email in forum posts, it's for your own good. We have a private messaging system which you can use to communicate with other members, and then you can tell them your email :)

AlumiuN

22-03-2009, 08:28 AM

the message on the x-com a page says no-go, im assuming that the download is down? but i checked about 2 weeks later and here i am still disappointed. this is one of my favorite games and i like to consider myself quite the avid oldschool gamer.

little help here? if someone could upload or fix the download thatd be much appreciated. also, i've finished this game at least a few times on every difficulty, so if anyone has any questions, just reply here or email me at *email removed*

Thanks!

Unfortunately, the game is sold on Steam. As such we cannot host it here. We only keep the review as a matter of archiving, and if, at some point, the game becomes abandoned again e.g. not sold, the download will be available again. :)

WilliamC23

22-03-2009, 08:56 AM

I honestly dislike programs like Steam. Luckily I never got rid of X-Com Apoc, or any of the X-Com games.

WilliamC23

22-03-2009, 08:58 AM

Anyways, I wonder what X-Com Apoc would have been like if EA hadn't rushed it. There was supposed to be a more fleshed out political system along with more conflict within MegaPrimus, instead of only being against the aliens, and political fights between the two political parties, etc. It would have been a lot more colorful.

Batmanifestdestiny

11-04-2009, 10:50 PM

So, a friend of mine gave me his old 98 with this game on it, but when I try to open it, it wants a CD to be in drive D. Should I just pop in any old CD, or does it have to be THE CD?

Eagle of Fire

12-04-2009, 01:02 AM

...

Why are you asking us? :oh:

AlumiuN

12-04-2009, 03:29 AM

So, a friend of mine gave me his old 98 with this game on it, but when I try to open it, it wants a CD to be in drive D. Should I just pop in any old CD, or does it have to be THE CD?

I'm guessing it would have to be THE CD. You could try and find a crack for it.

The Fifth Horseman

12-04-2009, 11:21 AM

So, a friend of mine gave me his old 98 with this game on it, but when I try to open it, it wants a CD to be in drive D. Should I just pop in any old CD, or does it have to be THE CD?
If a game's copy protection requests a CD, it's asking for the CD. Not for any other disc.

Batmanifestdestiny

12-04-2009, 10:54 PM

If a game's copy protection requests a CD, it's asking for the CD. Not for any other disc.

hmmm....well, darn it, I was hoping on trying this game out.

At least I still have Descent 1-3 ;)

AlumiuN

13-04-2009, 08:52 AM

At least I still have Descent 1-3 ;)

And expansions? IMHO, D2 Vertigo was the best part to all of the Descent games. Mercenary was also very good.

[/OT]

The Fifth Horseman

13-04-2009, 09:43 AM

hmmm....well, darn it, I was hoping on trying this game out.
I just remembered something that worked for me way back. Try editing Xcom3.cfg using Notepad and change the letter/path to correspond with the game's location on the hard drive.

Fubang

15-04-2009, 08:48 AM

I'm having issues with this game so I'm trying to get the cheats to work but can't manage it. From the main cityscape screen i'm holding alt and typing ufo cheat. but I can't manage to get it to activate. There something I'm missing?

Fubang

15-04-2009, 09:16 AM

nevermind. I found an editor instead. no need for cheats anymore.

jasonmloh

26-06-2009, 10:04 AM

So, a friend of mine gave me his old 98 with this game on it, but when I try to open it, it wants a CD to be in drive D. Should I just pop in any old CD, or does it have to be THE CD?

The game is being sold, otherwise I would be more than happy to upload the game :sneaky:
________
BLOWJOB SCHOOL (http://www.fucktube.com/categories/360/school/videos/1)

AnbuxD

28-08-2009, 05:24 PM

Hello
I have a question!
I have taken X-Com last year!
But I have a new Pc and, unfortunately, is my mirrow broke down the conversion!
And now I want to know where I can download X-Com Apokalipse!?

TheChosen

28-08-2009, 05:31 PM

Hello
I have a question!
I have taken X-Com last year!
But I have a new Pc and, unfortunately, is my mirrow broke down the conversion!
And now I want to know where I can download X-Com Apokalipse!?

http://store.steampowered.com/app/7660/

passerby

30-08-2009, 02:15 PM

I do remember that game... Spending every week giving 40K to trans because the alien portals were right next to the spaceport, and they got a stray shot that grazed an antena... until 3 week when I have a base with 20 bio and 20 chemists, and another with 20 engineers...at which point I stoped raiding the cultists and started going after trans... God I felt good after that...
The wierdest part was, half of the organisations then became hostile, and the other half became ally!!! not sure why...
Also, my endgame fav tactic, in realtime mode, mind you, was teleport + 2swords.... no shields, no other weapons, just, 2 blades then fill every other space with teleporters... even megaspawns became easy to kill like that

lookigotanewusername

18-09-2009, 12:45 AM

I use DOSBox .73 I have an ISO CD of the game, I mount it installs fine, starts with the into just fine, but after the into (wether i let it run its course or skip it) it cuts back to the command prompt then DOSBox crashes. Any suggestions? ive looked through some sites but no solution to this problem, and I dont know where else to turn, can someone please help?

The Fifth Horseman

18-09-2009, 07:19 AM

Try with 0.72 first.

Torquemada10

23-09-2009, 01:50 AM

I've played Ufo:Enemy unknown and Terror from the deep, but this game is in my opinion the must fun.
You must give it time to sink in to enjoy it. What makes it so fun is ability to buy all kinds of vehicles and fit it with just about anything, research better ships and better weapons, engines, shields and so forth.
You might find it best to have one or two slow hard hitting ships in the rear to take down the big alien ships while your smaller faster moving ships swarm the alien ship.
Shooting down alien ships takes much more tactic than it did in the former games. During your first encounters the police might be a valueable ally but after awhile their weak machine guns start to do minimized damage.

There's also diplomacy in the game, you don´t want to screw the transport company or else you must manually move your stuff between bases. Other companies can declare war on you either by grudge or because of alien influence, so you aren´t only fighting aliens here.

There is one noticeable nuisance in the game however, the really annoying brainsuckers. In tactical combat your biggest concern should always be those tiny balls of terror, if you see one of those suckers shoot it, explode it, flame it, gas it, nuke it what ever, don´t let it get close to you as it takes over one of your guys with 95% certainty (on superhuman difficulty). As the name suggests the brainsuckers sucks the brain of your guy, so it's worse than mindcontrol.

In short: The ability to further customize your ships and vehicles and the more in-depth air battles really puts this game above it's predecessors.

Guestfromouterspace

25-09-2009, 12:01 AM

Has anyone ever got this kind of bug ?:

1) Going into ground combat after shooting down alien ship (That fast flying, attacker ship, i guess it was 4th ship that appears)
2) everything loads up ok, i choose real-time or tactical, then the map loads.
3) When map is loaded, gray window pops in middle of screen saying that there is not enough space on map for soldiers (even if i have only one soldier).
4) after that, game runs endlessly...turn-based fights are neverending alien turns.
P.S.) turn-based tactical fights in that 1st transport ship (that purple one, 3rd ship) very often 'hangs up' at the point where aliens have nearly finished their move...so i 'fix' that by playing in real time ( i dislike real time very much :[ ).

I got my Xcom Apoc a long time ago, it was on a collection of strategy games, the standart installation from the cd is very weird, it installs, but you can see that extractor 'skips' all files, and in the directory later you cant see any gamefiles, but there is uninstall in control panel -> add remove. So i usually just manually extract files from archive. Maybe my installation files are corrupted ? But i remember playing this same game from this same CD, years ago, and everything went fine till the end of game.

I'll check up on answers, thanks for reading :p , couldnt find anything on google.

The Fifth Horseman

25-09-2009, 06:14 AM

Sounds like a corrupted copy.

Guestfromouterspace

25-09-2009, 12:13 PM

I remember playing the same version, but i guess it was the holy win98, and then the installation went fine. *sigh* game hangs up not only in that alien ship fight...i have a feeling that some alien type gets stuck somewhere and thus cant finish its move, so it could trigger the end of alien turn. :[
btw, I'm using DosBox0.73

thx for reply.

sprsoldier

21-10-2009, 09:24 AM

This is certainly a 5 in my book. I prefer the turn based tactical combat also because i have such large and high leveled groups of agents, i need to be able to give each one careful instructions. This is especially true when facing poppers and brainsuckers.

Artifice

18-11-2009, 01:48 AM

I'm having an odd fatal error.

I'm on sunday of week 3. When it hits midnight all my cash goes through, yay, but when the payment summary window closes, the game freezes.

I've played through 3 times now just to see if it's random - Every time week 4 starts, the game freezes. Now i have seen another error when leaving a tactical mission which crashes the game, but that appears to be an XP related crash.

Is anyone else having this same week 4 issue? It's entirely possible that my old copy is finally rooted, but everything else runs fine. The game crashes whether running it through dosbox or XP. I am stumped, and frustrated :wall:

arete

25-11-2009, 12:39 PM

Could your copy be corrupt? What are your settings?

laiocfar

29-11-2009, 02:35 PM

Last time that i did play this game, was a lot time ago. Now, I got a problem when trying to run the xcomapoc, it ask me for the original cd... i used dosbox, win98, dosbox with drive d:, folder mps, vdm and i runned out of ideas. Do someone got any idea?

Syrius

29-11-2009, 08:32 PM

I've seen that Steam sells every X-Com episode at 4,99€ (quite expensive isn't it?): is it legal that we still have them avalaible on our servers?

El Quia

29-11-2009, 08:57 PM

I've seen that Steam sells every X-Com episode at 4,99€ (quite expensive isn't it?): is it legal that we still have them avalaible on our servers?

We don't have them for download... we only have the review, some extras, some screenshots and then a link to steam where they can buy it. If you check it, the button says "Buy it", not "Get it"...

Syrius

29-11-2009, 09:02 PM

sorry :(

El Quia

29-11-2009, 09:31 PM

sorry :(

No problem. Sometimes, I get them mixed up,too. I am just too used to the "NoGo" Icon :p. Give it some time :)

laiocfar

30-11-2009, 12:05 PM

Nobody remembers how to run this game?

El Quia

30-11-2009, 12:15 PM

Nobody remembers how to run this game?

Hi, compatriot! I am trying to make it run, but so far no success, either.

And now I really want to play this game again... :(

If I make a breakthrough, I will post it here...

arete

01-12-2009, 08:27 AM

Apocalype manual, if anyone still wants it:
http://www.xcomufo.com/x3manual.pdf

See if this helps ;) Otherwise, pm Eagle of Fire, he seems to be quite the expert.

Eagle of Fire

01-12-2009, 04:03 PM

Use DOSBox? Worked well for me.

Otherwise, I remember that Apocalypse was quite a pain to run on my Windows 98 machine. I had to reboot in DOS mode for it to work.

If you absolutely want to go the Windows 98 route, you will need to edit your autoexec.bat and config.sys files. This guide (http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=6991) will be able to help you with that.

jordos

15-01-2010, 01:22 AM

This looks like a good spot to promote my very own kick-ass xcom apocalypse editors!
If you'd like to fix the useless road vehicles, try roadwar, a tool that can make roads invulnerable, or at least very tough, along with a bunch of other tweaks like reducing air vehicle availability.
Links:
Strategycore (http://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/index.php?dlid=758)
Xcomufo forums (http://www.xcomufo.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5732) (needs registration, but since I can upload the files myself it tends to be slightly more up to date)

And if that's not enough you can do it yourself with the exe editor apoc'd. It also sports some savegame editing capabilities but won't beat XeD or Midnight there yet!
Links:
Strategycore (http://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/index.php?dlid=642)
Xcomufo forums (http://www.xcomufo.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=242028524) (same as above)

Have fun!

telles0808

30-08-2010, 01:42 PM

This is my very first strategy game what I loved and shared with friends, before it I played all the serie XCOM, WC, etc and nothing is near of the quality of this game. This game is well made, veryvery advanced for that year and ultra very nice ambient of terror with a nice selection of sounds.

My five stars is for this game with certain!

Mendisal

05-09-2010, 07:25 PM

Anyone has succeded in playing music for the game? I have dl a backup from internet but I think it dont have any music.

Any idea of a site where download the music?

jasonmloh

08-12-2010, 06:59 AM

You can use proximity mines on poppers. The moment they move KABOOM and they have a very wide radius, so steer clear.
________
Arizona Dispensary (http://arizona.dispensaries.org/)

Japo

06-02-2012, 12:23 AM

I have played only a tiny little, and it's hard to tell which weapons are most effective from the numbers... From what I read, if you have the ammo it always improves your odds to use the weapons with the highest firing rate, even though they will have the lowest accuracy per shot, and even to wield one rifle in each hand... It seems a bit off.

A question: Is there a point in fighting alien infiltration in the Cult? Considering that they'll end up hostile sooner or later, and that they don't have anything to sell anyway? And that even before they're infiltrated cultists fire on you on sight! Even though they're listed as just "unfriendly", not "hostile". And considering how much they like explosives, and cultists will happily run towards a whole squad firing at them to get the opportunity to toss a grenade before dying. I've found that mission very dangerous compared to any other at this point (right at the start).

Eagle of Fire

06-02-2012, 12:57 AM

Do you play turn based or real time? The game is really balanced only for real time.

In real time, every main weapon is useful. I always bring them in a fight. At least until I find (research) better ones.

The minigun is useful at close range. Especially against mindsuckers. The laser sniper rifle is (surprise) quite useful at long range and the autocannon is your power gun, in the middle.

What is important when you equip your squaddies is not really the weapons themselves but rather what they can use effectively. First of all, you should always bring the Megapol armor on you as your most basic protection. This is a break in the traditional X-com gameplay as you normally have no armor and you need to research some ASAP. In Apocalypse, you already have armor... And a good one at that. The only downside is the weight and you need to trade speed for it.

I am used to send a 12 members squad team into the fray, so I plan 4 guns of each of those three types I mentioned above. So, first of all the autocannons should be used only by units with quite high strenght so their TUs (speed) don't fall too much because of it (robots are usually great for that). Then I usually equip the soldiers with highest accuracy with the riffles and the soldiers with the lowest accuracy with the miniguns.

I never used the other types of guns very much. The pistol is virtually useless as a minigun have more ammo and a bigger punch. The launchers have the exact same problem than the previous X-coms. The plasma pistol is very useful but its ammo is very hard to come by so I usually reserve those for half breeds (half alien, half human) because they have such a ridiculous strenght rating: the plasma pistol pack a good punch, is lightweight and don't take much inventory space.

The plasma pistol and the Marsec armor turn available after the first week. The red armor is nice for the half breeds because it allows them to run around (and fly) decently with still a decent protection... But for your normal soldier the protection is not enough to protect well enough against grenades and the Alien guns so don't bother even though it make them run faster. With the Megapol armor at least when one of your soldiers get a bad hit he will survive long enough to heal himself (medkits can be used by the soldier having to heal himself in Apocalypse) while the same cannot be said for the Marsec armor.

The most important thing you need to learn is how to defend you well enough against brainsuckers. Especially at the beginning of the game, those little guys will attack you often and in numbers. Once they latch on the head of a squaddie you will only have a few moments before you lose your soldiers permanently... Worse, it will turn hostile and try to gun your other soldiers. To prevent that you either have to move in squads so they can cover eachother or use the Eagle of Fire BS proof (tm) way to get rid of a brainsucker: have every single of your squaddies carry at least one grenade and when the sucker latch on your soldiers pause and go in the inventory of another soldier. Find the right one in the list and make him hold the grenade so it can prime it to explode immediately. Make it drop the grenade then unpause. Your soldiers will most likely be hurt but the armor will save him easily and the brainsucker will be dead.

Then you will eventually learn about those blue smoking balls of death... As soon as you spot one have every squad in range concentrate their fire on it until it either explode or die. Make it a priority every single time. If you cannot gun it, have a high HP unit run toward it so it take the brunt of the explosion while the others run away, hopefully alive. Again, robots are great for this since they have very high HP and usually (barely) survive the blast.

Just ask if you need something else. ;)

Japo

06-02-2012, 06:53 PM

OK but what about organizations and the Cult? If I got it right, the downside of an organization being infiltrated is that you won't be able to trade with them any longer, and that they might attack you. But since the Cult has nothing to trade, is apparently hostile from the start, and anyway will hate me more every time I kill an alien, is there a point in investing any effort in fighting alien infiltration in their organization? The problem is that to fight infiltration at any other organization I have to fight the aliens only, but at a Cultist location there are guards attacking me, and they're much tougher than the aliens at this point, and this is before they're infiltrated (1%) and they're listed only as "unfriendly", not "hostile".

I haven't even tried turn-based battles. The experience I've had so far is that at long range I'm untouchable, it's when enemies come close that I'm at risk. And most of my soldiers had machine guns, but enough bullets hit the targets before they came close, even though my soldiers had no training at this point.

12 men 12 guns? Then you don't equip a weapon in each hand as many people seem to do? Have you tried it?

What's the problem with missile launchers? I previous XCOM games I didn't like them because they had terrible accuracy, and it was always better to throw a grenade, that always lands at least near instead of flying by. But the missiles in Apocalypse are homing (unlike explosive auto-cannon ammo), they look like a sweet deal. The only downside I see would be damaging property inside the city?

And how do you go about stunning aliens? It seems to be absolutely necessary to capture lots of them for research.

Do you use psi (I guess so if you recruit half breeds), if so how?

The Fifth Horseman

06-02-2012, 08:29 PM

But since the Cult has nothing to trade, is apparently hostile from the start, and anyway will hate me more every time I kill an alien, is there a point in investing any effort in fighting alien infiltration in their organization?1. When truly taken over, they also have alien weapons.
2. When not taken over, fighting them gives you useable loot.
3. It is my understanding that once an organization is taken over, they help aliens spread in the city. Do you really want that?

I have played only a tiny little, and it's hard to tell which weapons are most effective from the numbers... From what I read, if you have the ammo it always improves your odds to use the weapons with the highest firing rate, even though they will have the lowest accuracy per shot, and even to wield one rifle in each hand... It seems a bit off.It does nothing to aid or train your troops accuracy, especially at full auto. (to reiterate: from what I've seen, using aimed fire seems to develop your troops' accuracy stat faster)
12 men 12 guns? Then you don't equip a weapon in each hand as many people seem to do? Have you tried it?Been there, done that.
Dual wielding is OK when you don't NEED accuracy (autocannons with incendiary or explosive clips, mini-launchers, alien guns used for demolitions).
Nowadays I'm much in favor of the sniper rifles used when kneeling or prone, on maximum accuracy, by 4-man squads.
And how do you go about stunning aliens? It seems to be absolutely necessary to capture lots of them for research.Stun grenades (the cone-shaped yellow ones), as long as the alien is exposed long enough to the gas. Stun Grapples up close (they're not point-blank, fortunately). Or Psi - allegedly.
Do you use psi (I guess so if you recruit half breeds), if so how?The hybrid needs to have the psionic amplifier device equipped (the name of the blasted thing escapes me right now). This will be one of the available modes of attack. Rookie hybrids (before spending a LOT of time in psi gym) are not very reliable for much beyond panicking the target.

Oh, and as for brainsuckers? Be friendly with S.E.L.F. Androids can't be brainsucked.

Eagle of Fire

06-02-2012, 09:57 PM

Yeah but androids cannot evolve their stats either. They really suck for that except at the very beginning when all your soldiers suck anyways.

Dual wielding? Having anything in your second hand for a weapon requiring two hands destroy your accuracy. I never actually even thought about using two weapons at the same time unless they are pistols (which only require one hand). The problem here is that pistols suck and the plasma pistol, which don't, have very little available ammo. And you cannot produce them.

The best use of your accuracy is the weapon status. Place it on autoshot to fire fast and reduce accuracy. Normal mode is the mode you'll use most often. Aimed shots will greatly increase your accuracy but you'll fire way slower.

The most important aspect of the weapons at the early game is the ammo. Even minigun ammo will eventually run out if you use too much of it. Since you cannot produce anything human made this mean that you either need to stop wasting it or move fast to Alien guns which auto recharge after every battle. Once you have your own X-com guns then it is the matter of producing enough ammo for all your squaddies at once, which is not a small matter to begin with if you consider you'll also want to produce your own armor, own crafts, etc.

To answer Japo question on organizations, you want none of them to be infiltrated by the Aliens. Even the Cult. I think Fifth explained it well enough why. Beside, attacking the cult for the loot is one of the most abused cash milking method in this game. To prevent an organization to be infiltrated is easy enough anyways: go in map mode and select the organization in question. You'll have yellow markers indicating all the owned locations of those organizations in the city. If you are the least successful in preventing the Aliens to enter the city then you can simply guess from the nearest UFO beaming area which building would most likely be hit by the Aliens. If you miss the organization will dislike you a little more but then again if you do nothing you'll lose them completely anyways while you can always buy them back to your side later.

For missile launchers, as I said they have all the same problems than old X-com games: they are big, ugly, costly, slow to fire and reload and in real time they are even easy to dodge as long as you don't ask your soldiers to kneel in front of them. Moreover, once you get better armor you can even easily withstand a few missiles dead on before getting worried.

I think Fifth covered everything else pretty well.

Japo

06-02-2012, 11:46 PM

OK but I wish the government would close the Cult down for shooting at me while I'm just doing my job. :P

It's just that the aliens are so easy in the first missions, but the temple was a veritable war zone. The grenades can "only" wound whole squads--and the cultists use them with no regard for their own life--but they also use heavy missiles which are almost twice as powerful and can be fired from any distance, and can take out a rookie in Megapol armor--or nine of them for that matter.

Can you dodge missiles? How, running sideways? I have to try it.

The Fifth Horseman

07-02-2012, 12:02 AM

Yeah but androids cannot evolve their stats either. They really suck for that except at the very beginning when all your soldiers suck anyways.Humans can (and do) get better, but they need to survive long enough first. A droid is meanwhile ready to kick ass from the get-go. YMMV on what's the best way to exploit that.

Dual wielding? Having anything in your second hand for a weapon requiring two hands destroy your accuracy. I never actually even thought about using two weapons at the same time unless they are pistols (which only require one hand).Which is where HE autocannon rounds come in. It doesn't matter if your shots miss two meters to the left or one to the right when it still frags everything in the same zip code.

Aimed shots will greatly increase your accuracy but you'll fire way slower.Which is why i trade actual rate of fire for volume of troops shooting at the same target. Same resulting firepower but greater accuracy and faster accuracy gain for the soldiers.

The most important aspect of the weapons at the early game is the ammo. Even minigun ammo will eventually run out if you use too much of it. The stun raid trick is invaluable for remedying that. Of course, that is an exploit so YMMV.

Eagle of Fire

07-02-2012, 12:40 AM

Hum... What does YMMV mean exactly?

Which is why i trade actual rate of fire for volume of troops shooting at the same target. Same resulting firepower but greater accuracy and faster accuracy gain for the soldiers.
Erm... Don't worry, I do the same thing. :unsure:

The stun raid trick is invaluable for remedying that. Of course, that is an exploit so YMMV.
I agree. I often raid the Cult but I never do the stunning trick. That's really a bug exploit and destroy the fun for me.

Can you dodge missiles? How, running sideways? I have to try it.
You can dodge anything as long as you specifically tell your soldiers to move the right way and the target is far away enough. ;)

Japo

07-02-2012, 01:01 AM

I've read about stun raids on the wiki, and although they look like a cheat and boring and I don't plan to do them, you could possibly argue that they're not a meta-game exploit, but just another corrupt practice of just another Mega-Primus cartel, that is XCOM, who as an officially authorized monopolist of enforcement is able to trample on other cartels' rights and they have nowhere to appeal. I'm not saying the game makers intended it, of course. ;) But I guess if the stun trick prevents the worsening of your relations with that cartel it's an explot.

PS: YMMV (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=YMMV)

Eagle of Fire

07-02-2012, 02:35 AM

Naw, it is really a bug and an exploit. You see, you can raid any organization this way. Normally attacking and raiding an organization would net you a huge reputation loss but if all you do is stun the guards you'll still collect their equipment without the guards reporting you as hostile for the encounter. So all you get is a slight decrease in reputation because you raided the place without finding Aliens.

That clearly was not meant to be.

Darabka

16-02-2012, 03:15 PM

I think we might need some sort of a guide that will explain the basics of the game. I've played X-com 1&2 for a long time, but I can't understand a single thing of what's going on in this one... :blink:

I could of not have said it better. I played X-com extensively and loved it. Apocalypse seems to have added unnecessary complexity. I love how you can now set your movement so that you have not to do snap shot AND duck, that was a great innovation. I don't know how to send your troop transport ATV to a crashed UFO (Something so basic should be simple, I could understand everything else). Still its a true X-com game, but not as good as the previous too, with some polish it could have been a gem.

Also how is the real time option. I haven't tried it out yet, but Im afraid that it might be a mess. Any Thoughts?

Eagle of Fire

16-02-2012, 03:38 PM

To send your transport to a downed UFO you simply need to go in map mode and select the transport ufo interception button. I don't remember which one exactly but you should be able to do it easily. Simply don't forget that the smaller UFOs don't have an Alien crew so if you see your transport get there and return immediately then you don't need to worry: you'll still recover the downed craft and everything in it.

The problem with Apocalypse is that the game really only been balanced for real time. They worked on this aspect of the game in priority and then added turn based only to appease the fans. But if you really want to play Apocalypse to its full potential you don't have much of a choice than to go real time.

The game is still great... But I started to enjoy this game only after I began to take it as a game which is not related to X-com 1 and 2.

The Fifth Horseman

16-02-2012, 05:04 PM

I don't know how to send your troop transport ATV to a crashed UFO (Something so basic should be simple, I could understand everything else).Only flying vehicles can be sent on UFO recovery.

Nuggista

20-02-2012, 08:15 AM

I was a huge fan of X-Com 1 and 2. And have sunk days of play into it.

I've tried to get into playing Apocalypse at least 10 times over the last 15 years, but I've always bounced after 15 mins of play.

Apocalypse was a sad sequel in my opinion.

zirkoni

20-07-2014, 01:02 PM

I can't start a mission.

I click on the crashed UFO to send my troops (in a flying vehicle) to the crash site but the mission never starts. When I click the UFO the line that shows the path my vehicle takes doesn't become red as it should but stays yellow as shown in the screenshot:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-iYwa5GGSe98/U8u8Jokr4uI/AAAAAAAAAb8/B03yrMYD8jc/w640-h480-no/ufo2p_000.png

And this is not the 1st time this has happened either.

Is this a common bug in the game and is there some way to fix it or prevent it from happening? Or maybe there's an alternative way to start the mission?

marko river

20-07-2014, 08:30 PM

Did you sign a temporary truce with aliens?

Just kiddin' :) Sorry but no idea. I finished this version from abandonia without problems

zirkoni

22-07-2014, 03:31 PM

Guess I'll just have to ignore this crashed UFO then, again...

marko river

23-07-2014, 12:17 AM

Which is very bad since those crashed UFOs are really important... Well, not necessary to beat the game, but you loose some fun for sure. Can you at least get some of them, or all of them same behavior?

The Fifth Horseman

23-07-2014, 08:51 AM

IIRC this happens with unmanned UFOs? Double check if there are troops in your vehicle too.

marko river

23-07-2014, 11:48 AM

YES! 5th is correct. If it is early in the game, small UFOs are more often than big ones. Small ones are unmanned and there cannot be any battle with your squads. IIRC you can only "collect" them for later research. You need vehicle with some sort of cargo, not sure which one exactly.

zirkoni

23-07-2014, 02:28 PM

Can you at least get some of them, or all of them same behavior?
Yes I can. This has happened about 4 times during the game, which is only a small percentage of all the UFOs I've destroyed.

IIRC this happens with unmanned UFOs? Double check if there are troops in your vehicle too.
Definitely not an unmanned UFO, it's one of those huge alien battleships. And my own vehicle is manned also. In fact I had this UFO and another crash earlier, sent my troops to the other UFO, played the mission, returned to base and then tried this one.

YES! 5th is correct. If it is early in the game, small UFOs are more often than big ones. Small ones are unmanned and there cannot be any battle with your squads. IIRC you can only "collect" them for later research. You need vehicle with some sort of cargo, not sure which one exactly.
I'm only a few missions away from completing the game. So, I can "safely" ignore this UFO because I don't really need any points or alien equipment to sell for money.

Just wanted to know if there's a way to fix it since it's damn annoying when it happens in the beginning of the game. Taking down a UFO always costs you some money (and possible makes some organisations hostile) and when you can't start the mission you loose all the equipment you could sell or research.

Tried ignoring that UFO but now the fast forward button doesn't work. Maybe crashed alien battle/motherships are a special case which prevent you from using the fast forward (forcing you to deal with them)?

I can put the game on quadruple speed and then DOSBox to fast forward but it would still take several hours to finish a day in the game (and you'd have to keep the fast forward buttons pressed all the time).

Sigh, guess there's no other way than to revert back to an earlier save. :cry:

EDIT: Reverted to an earlier save, shot down the same UFOs again and everything works now. Seems like some kind of bug corrupted the game at some point which caused my problems...

OpenApoc is an open source remake of XCom3 (like OpenXCom for XCom1&2). The project is still very much under development but it was playable the last time I checked. I'm not sure if the game can be finished in OpenApoc yet.
http://openapoc.org/threads/how-to-setup-and-launch-openapoc.221/

Japo

06-03-2019, 08:24 AM

I am playing this now. :D I had never got into it even though I loved the first X-com. Like many other people I found this game hard to start learning. I'm not sure why it feels so unwelcoming; once you take the effort to learn and start playing, you realize how similar the combat and base management engines are to the previous games.

All in all I'd say it's not a bad X-com game, other than this startup feeling, and the fact that the graphics SUCK so badly. I've seen the screenshots of this OpenApoc look much better, dunno if it's finished enough to play to the end. I might look at it for later replays.

I don't mind the city scenario, although I miss the global planet scape. The dystopian background politics are a very nice addition. I even found this fun play journal (https://lparchive.org/X-COM-Apocalypse/Update%2013/) written as fan fiction.

I'm playing turn based tactics, even though I realize it makes some enemies much harder, such as brain suckers and hyperworms. I think real time might be ok and fun but would push me to band my soldiers together, while I like to save time by dividing them in 3 or 4 teams to scout the locations. I can't see myself managing separate squads in real time, scrolling back from one to the other as they are done moving; perhaps I just have to try it. I wish there was the option to switch back from turn-based to real-time in the middle of the battle, not just chosing either at the start.

I like that the starting Megapol armor is much tougher and gives my guys much better survivability than in X-com 1, specially at the start.

Just started kicking alien and Sirian ass, almost no technology... Like Trump says, "we'll see how it goes." :p