UFOpaedia - User contributions [en]

Base Layout Strategy

2006-04-03T12:46:49Z

Acha11: /* Overhauling the Starter Base */

Your base will, at some point, be raided by angry aliens looking for revenge for all those UFO's you've taken out. Unlike most places you'll have to fight, you have control over the layout of your base, so design it wisely.

The key point for base defensibility is to minimize the number of points of entry. Aliens can only come down into your base through hangars and the access lift. If you group your hangars with the access lift, then built one module only connecting to the access lift, that module becomes a choke point for base defense. A long chain of rooms becomes a long choke point ripe for mining with Proximity Grenades and other dirty tricks. This way, you can line up all your units against one point of entry instead of having to spread them out to cover four or five.

The access lift is always the first unit built, so it becomes the obvious candidate for this single point of entry. Place it on the grid so you leave enough room to build hangars on one side of the lift, and everything else on the other side. I'd recommend building a General Stores on the lift opposite the hangar. A general stores is needed for any base, and it gets completed quickly. Once the general stores are completed, build all new facilities (except hangars, of course) off of that.

==Overhauling the Starter Base==

At higher difficulty levels, alien retaliation can often come MUCH sooner than you might be ready for-- before you have base defenses built, and before you have powerful weapons to arm your troops with. Considering that the access lift and all hangars serve as entry points for the invaders, the starter base has all the defensive virtues of a screen door:
[[Image:starterbase-before.png|center|An unmodified starter base]]
The hangars and lift are distributed as widely as possible through the base, giving the aliens a wealth of breech points and enabling them to assault any defenders from all sides.

With this in mind, I recommend a partial rebuild of your initial base ASAP. Build two hangars next to the topmost hangar to replace the lower two, and a living quarters down between the two lower existing hangars to replace the one next to the access lift. Place any other new modules on the lower half of the screen, where they will not touch the lift or the new hangars.

As the new living quarters and hangar are completed, dismantle the old ones. It should now look something like:
[[Image:starterbase-after.png|center|A modified, defendable starter base]]

Of course, place any other new facilities with a mind to preserving the new choke-point at the grav lift (i.e., nothing adjacent to the top hangars.) This layout isn't as fortified as many new-build bases can be, but it's a good compromise between defendability (one choke-point at the lift), available space, expedience (it converts from the standard layout in minimal time), and, especially, cost. It only costs the price of two hangars and a living quarters ($800,000) to overhaul your base this way-- a cost that can be covered by the proceeds from, say, one small landed UFO.

==Notes==
*Corridors attaching to the right topside of a hangar (on the grid, the east side of the north wall) corner come through a ground-level hangar door. Corridors attaching anywhere else don't get a door. See picture at [[X-Com_Base_Terrain]].
*The ideal case is to have your choke point aligned vertically on the base grid, lined with general stores. The general stores have large, doublewide doors that open out onto the vertical corridor. These doors will give your your troops and tanks cover, and let them pop out to make attacks at will.
*Troops will spawn primarily in the Living Quarters and General Stores . Tanks will spawn mostly in the General Stores. You might want to cluster these units around your choke-point so your units will be where you need them.
*When constructing a base, be very careful that you avoid the [[Known Bugs#Base Disjoint Bug|Base Disjoint Bug]] where modules along the right and lower edges of the map can get sealed off. Improper placement will often end up forcing you to cut through the very tough walls and dirt blocks with heavy plasmas or tank lasers. However, with proper placement of modules, the sealed off walls can be very advantageous in controlling the flow of aliens. [[XcomUtil]] users cannot take advantage of this as the setup tool for this utility automatically rips out the walls.

==See Also==
[[Base Defense]] | [[Base Defense Measures (UFO Defense)]] | [[X-Com Base Terrain]]

Manufacturing Profitability

2006-04-01T11:27:45Z

Acha11: /* See Also */ Clarified some labels on the calculation table.

== Accounting ==

Accurately reflecting profitability of manufacturing items requires that the following be accounted for:
*Cost for "parts", the value shown on the manufacturing screen
*Cost of [[Elerium-115]] ($5k each) and [[Alien Alloys]] ($6.5k each), if any. Also, cost of [[UFO Power Source]](s) ($500k each) and [[UFO Navigation]] ($80k each) for XCOM craft.
*Cost of Engineers, at $25k per month. When manufacturing for profit, the number of engineers is usually based on how many Workshops one has, less Workspace requirements.
*Cost of [[Workshop]]s ($35k/month) and [[Living Quarters]] ($10k/month) sufficient for the number of engineers employed.

These costs are then compared against the Sell price, to determine profitability.

One could approach the overall profitability several ways. Arguably the simplest is based on monthly production by a fixed number of workshops filled with engineers (minus workspace requirements). This approach has been used here.

== Profitability ==

''The figures below show monthly profits, based on a two-workshop operation.

There are 35 items that can be manufactured, but only 14 of these make a profit. And only five stand out as real winners. Indeed, the average "profit" for all 35 items is '''-$2.3M'''.

The first item you're likely to find profitable is the [[Medi-Kit]] at $605k. This is the sixth-most profitable item, and it doesn't need much [[Research (UFO Defense)|research]]. The [[Motion Scanner]] is the fifth best, is quickly researched, and nets $1.2M. Your exact order of research may vary, but if things are going well, you can probably quickly jump to the most profitable item, the [[Laser Cannon]] at $4.2M.

There is an oddity in XCOM in that the item that might be considered the most profitable is the [[Fusion Ball Launcher]] (FBL). The oddity is that the first one you produce does not require an Alien Alloy (and thus, no Alien Alloy requirement appears on the manufacturing screen). If in doubt, watch your Alien Alloy stores while manufacturing. Without the alloys, the FBL nets $4.3M, which is 1.8% more profitable than the Laser Cannon. However, when the Alien Alloys are taken into account, it only nets $3.2M - far less than the Laser Cannon. Due to the micromanagement needed to repeatedly restart manufacturing versus the very small gain, few players build one FBL at a time. Thus, many consider the Laser Cannon the most profitable item "in real life", but this oddity with the FBL has caused a fair bit of confusion; some (particularly older docs) say Fusion Ball Launchers are the most profitable. Anyway, now you know... and it's your choice. :)

== Tables ==

For a PDF showing profitability based on 1 to 5 workshops, see [[Image:XCOM_Profit_Tables.pdf|this]].

For the Excel file that the PDF is made from, see [[Image:XCOM_Profits.xls|this]]. With the spreadsheet, you can change number of workshops or engineers, choose whether to include associated costs (exotic ingredients, maintenance), sort it, edit it, etc.

== Notes, Tips, Tricks, Etc. ==
*The maximum number of engineers you can assign to a project, equals the number of engineer hours it requires. In other words, the game "enforces" that '''you can only build one item per hour, at most'''. Example: You can only assign 60 engineers at most to work on a plasma pistol clip, which requires 60 engineer hours. The tables above don't take this into account, but then, small-fry products are usually not made by a large operation, anyway.
*You cannot have more than one project of the same type going at the same base. (This otherwise might've been a way "around" the limit of one per hour at most.) However, you can make that thing at some other base.
*Excess/wasted Workshop and Living Quarters are only a miniscule part of your costs. Example: A large operation (four workshops) might have 184 engineers instead of the optimal 194 for Laser Cannons (because of an occasional need to drop back and making flying suits, craft, etc. - it's a balance of constantly wasted space versus occasionally wasted engineers). The "wasted" 10 WS and LQ spaces only cost $9k/month ($45k*10/50), which is only 0.11% of the $8.3M/month that the 184 engineers make when producing LCs.
*Likewise, profits generally scale linearly according to number of workshops (2 full workshops make twice as much as 1 full workshop, etc.). Many projects only require a handful of workspace requirements, and are almost totally linear. However, some projects have a large workspace requirement, such as the Laser Tank (25). With only one workshop, the Laser Tank only makes 39% of the profit that Laser Cannons would, whereas they make 64% of Laser Cannons with five workshops. The real reason they do so poorly with one workshop is much less due to the wasted overhead of workshop and living quarters; it is mainly because you can only assign 25 engineers with one workshop, versus 44 for Laser Cannons.
*Those who know XCOM, know that it suffers from integer truncation in a number of places. This could've hurt profitability badly if it occurred there; for example, if an item needs 100 engineer hours but you only assign 99, it might've taken twice as long, and halved your production and profit potential. Fortunately, this is not the case with manufacturing; it does not truncate production time this way.
*There is an [[Exploits#Free_Manufacturing|exploit]] that lets the sneaky make items for free - but only one at a time.
*Another [[Exploits#Free_Wages|exploit]] involves transferring staff at the end of the month to avoid salaries - but engineer wages are only 6% of the cost of making Laser Cannons, and some of these "savings" are lost due to the fact that they can't build while in transit.
*Factoid 1: The Heavy Plasma Clip is the most unprofitable item to make, due to the facts that it can be quickly made, but requires 3 Elerium. Be careful what you ask for!
*Factoid 2: Strange as it may seem, XCOM craft are ''not'' the most unprofitable items in the game, even though they are very expensive to make, and you '''can't sell them'''. (High cost, zero sales.) This is because craft take a long time to make, whereas other items can be made quickly, but incorporate expensive components. Their extreme costs override the fact that they can actually be sold. :P

== Bugs ==

* In the UFO: Enemy Unkown (and most likely all the other XCOM and TFTD versions) you can overflow the variable that holds the number of engineers. If you go over 255 engineers in a base the number listed in the base will be negative. If you have them all on some projects, you can keep them. However, if the project ends or you try to move them around, you will lose up to 255 engineers and have to hire them again. Keeping them past the end of the month has not been tested yet. Don't go over 254 engineers in a base. This doesn't count transfers until they arrive.

== See Also ==

*[[Workshop]]
*[[Hiring/firing]]

== Item profitability tables ==

{|
|-
!align ="left"|Item
!align ="center"|Engineer Hours
!align ="center"|Item cost (thousands)
!align ="center"|Item sell price (thousands)
!align ="center"|Net monthly profit per Engineer (thousands)
|-
|align ="left"|[[Fusion Ball Launcher]]
|align ="center"|400
|align ="center"|242
|align ="center"|281
|align ="center"|70.2
|-
|align ="left"|[[Laser Cannon]]
|align ="center"|300
|align ="center"|182
|align ="center"|211
|align ="center"|69.6
|-
|align ="left"|[[Tank/Laser Cannon]]
|align ="center"|1200
|align ="center"|500
|align ="center"|594
|align ="center"|56.4
|-
|align ="left"|[[Medi-Kit]]
|align ="center"|420
|align ="center"|28
|align ="center"|46.5
|align ="center"|31.71
|-
|align ="left"|[[Laser Rifle]]
|align ="center"|400
|align ="center"|20
|align ="center"|36.9
|align ="center"|30.42
|-
|align ="left"|[[Heavy Laser]]
|align ="center"|700
|align ="center"|32
|align ="center"|61
|align ="center"|29.83
|-
|align ="left"|[[Personal Armor]]
|align ="center"|800
|align ="center"|22
|align ="center"|54
|align ="center"|28.8
|-
|align ="left"|[[Laser Pistol]]
|align ="center"|300
|align ="center"|8
|align ="center"|20
|align ="center"|28.8
|-
|align ="left"|[[Alien Alloys]]
|align ="center"|100
|align ="center"|3
|align ="center"|6.5
|align ="center"|25.2
|}

The calculations in this table assume a 30 day month.

----
Here's the list from the OSG (sorted by profit) for you to use as needed:

[[User:Jasonred|Jasonred]] : Added the sale price of Special Materials used, and Net profit after factoring them in! Left out figures which made a net loss... no further calculations necessary on these. Also, E=Elerium, A= Alien Alloys, -1A means it makes this much profit, but you've used up 1 Alien Alloy.

'''Item Cost Sell Profit Special Materials Net Profit'''
'''---- ---- ---- ------ --(sell price)--- ----------'''

Hovertank/Launcher $900,000 $1,043,000 $143,000 $177,000
Hovertank/Plasma $850,000 $980,000 $130,000 $182,500
UFO Power Source $130,000 $250,000 $120,000 $132,500

Tank/Laser Cannon $500,000 $594,000 $94,000 $94,000
Flying Suit $58,000 $115,000 $57,000 $132,500
Blaster Launcher $90,000 $144,000 $54,000 $ 6,500 $47,500-1A
Heavy Plasma $122,000 $171,600 $49,600 $ 6,500 $43,100-1A
Power Suit $42,000 $85,000 $43,000 $ 57,500
Mind Probe $262,000 $304,000 $42,000 $ 5,000 $37,000-1E

Small Launcher $78,000 $120,000 $42,000 $ 6,500 $35,500-1A
Plasma Beam $226,000 $267,300 $41,300 $ 75,000
Fusion Ball Launcher $242,000 $281,100 $39,000 $39,000
Plasma Rifle $88,000 $126,500 $38,500 $ 6,500 $31,500-1A
Psi-Amp $160,000 $194,700 $34,700 $ 5,000 $29,700-1A
Personal Armor $22,000 $54,000 $32,000 $ 26,000 $ 6,000-4A
Laser Cannon $182,000 $211,000 $29,000 $29,000
Heavy Laser $32,000 $61,000 $29,000 $29,000
Plasma Pistol $56,000 $84,000 $28,000 $ 6,500 $21,500-1A
Fusion Ball $28,000 $53,300 $25,300 $ 20,000 $ 5,300-4E
Medi-Kit $28,000 $46,500 $18,500 $18,500
Laser Rifle $20,000 $36,900 $16,900 $16,900
HWP Fusion Bomb $15,000 $31,500 $16,500 $ 77,000
Laser Pistol $8,000 $20,000 $12,000 $12,000
Motion Scanner $34,000 $45,600 $11,600 $11,600

Blaster Bomb $8,000 $17,028 $9,028 $ 15,000
Stun Bomb $7,000 $15,200 $8,200 $ 5,000 $ 3,200-1E
Alien Grenade $6,700 $14,850 $8,150 $ 10,000
Heavy Plasma Clip $6,000 $9,590 $3,590 $ 5,000
Alien Alloys $3,000 $6,500 $3,500 $ 3,500
Plasma Rifle Clip $3,000 $6,290 $3,290 $ 5,000
Plasma Pistol Clip $2,000 $4,400 $2,400 $ 5,000

UFO Navigation $150,000 $80,000 -$70,000 $ 19,500

XcomUtil

2006-03-30T11:29:30Z

Acha11: /* What is XcomUtil? */

==What is XcomUtil?==

XcomUtil is an utility written by Scott T. Jones to enhance both UFO Defense and Terror From The Deep. It works with either both the DOS or the CE (Windows) version of each game.
Quoting from Scott T. Jones' [http://xcomutil.scotttjones.com/ page]: "XcomUtil is a game enhancer. It is not really an editor and it is certainly not a cheat program. The original purpose of XcomUtil was to make the game more difficult, because there was a bug in the original game that forced all games to the Beginner difficulty level, regardless of what level you chose."

Scott T. Jones has been working on this program for years and the latest version (9.60) can be downloaded from his [http://xcomutil.scotttjones.com/ page].

==XcomUtil's features==

Some features are optional, others are not. You can turn some on, but not others. And then return to the original version if you change your mind:

Optional features:
*Allows for hybrid games, where UFO's maps can be played on TFTD and vice-versa.
*Sorts your soldiers by stats and rank and saves their equipment configuration.
*Has an option for a enhanced set of the original weapons.
*Allows to play only day/night missions.
*Allows to choose the terrain and UFO/USO for the tactical mission.
*Makes research more difficult by making it dependent on captured aliens.
*Allows to change the aliens and their weapons during tactical missions.
*Adds an AutoCombat feature to automatically resolve a combat.
*Allows for world terrain and UFO/USO floorplans/shapes randomization.
*Permits players/modders to use new terrains and other features.

Fixed features:
*Allows for all 5 X-COM ships to carry troops.
*Fixes the difficulty bug mentioned above.
*Removes copy protection for UFO.
*Sets the soldiers to face different directions at the start inside the craft.
*Changes the displacement of the troops inside the Avenger, Lightning, Hammerhead and Leviathan.
*Increases the troop capability of the craft mentioned above.
*The 3 last features can be disabled by changes on the XcomUtil.cfg file (but be sure of knowing what you are doing)
For a complete list see the XcomUtil.txt file included with the program.

==How to use XcomUtil==

Warning: this indications are merely for a quick use/explanation of some of its features. For full documentation read the XcomUtil.txt file included with the program. It is always recommended to make a backup copy of the game to restore it to its original configuration.

First, you will need to download XcomUtil from Scott T Jones site and unzip it to your UFO/TFTD folder. Afterwards run XcuSetup to configure it and choose the options you want (there's an explaining list below).
For more advanced options you will need to use the xcomutil command (instructions on that below).
Finally, to load the game with XcomUtil fully working you will need to use the RunXcom command.

===The XcuSetup configuration program===

The easiest way to run XcomUtil is to run the XcuSetup program. It will then prompt you to choose a number of options:
*Do you want to enable f0dder's loader? - This is in case you are having video problems with the Windows edition.
*Do you want to use the improved starting base? - The starting base will have a different configuration better suited for defense, plus the scientists and engineers will be increased to 50 each. It will also upgrade the Small Radar to a Large Radar and build an Alien Containment
*Do you want to use the alternate starting base? - If you have answered No to the previous prompt this query will appear. Your starting base will have the defense configuration but not the other improvements.
*Do you want to use the improved tanks? -The HWP will have the same stats as the Hovertanks, if chosen Yes.
*Do you want to use the improved weapons? -Pistol, Heavy Laser and High Explosive will have better stats.
*Do you want to use the new laser weapons? -Lasers now require Elerium to be built, plus it is not possible to build Plasma weapons (with the exception of the Plasma Cannon and clips).
*Do you want to get research help from captured aliens? - This will greatly increase the research times for all technologies, and you will need to capture aliens to speed up your research.
*Do you want stat strings added to the names of your troops? - To help distinguish them on combat. Other suboptions will appear if you choose Yes.
*Do you want your troops automatically sorted before combat? - Places the rookies and high reaction soldiers at first to disembark the craft.
*Do you want to automatically re-equip your troops before combat? - Saves the equipment for each soldier at the end of each mission and reequips them on their next mission.

There are more options available, these are only some of them.

===The XcomUtil command===

The second way to use XcomUtil is by running the xcomutil command to change a saved game. This command allow for specific modifications to the files (XcuSetup makes nearly all general modifications), especially to games saved while on tactical.

====How to use the command====

The syntax for the command is :

''XCOMUTIL path [flags] [WRT]''

''path'' Where your game is located. If xcomutil is on the same folder then you will simply have to specify which saved game you want to be changed

''[flags]'' These are the specific commands. More on those below.

''[WRT]'' To make changes permanent you will need to put WRT at the end, otherwise XcomUtil will simulate only the effects (which is great to practice).

An example of a command would be:

''XCOMUTIL GAME_1 DXC WRT'' - This would eliminate all extra clips carried by the aliens on the first saved game.

====Flags affecting tactical missions====

These flags will change only elements of a saved tactical game. There are other flags that affect also Geoscape, although most of those changes can be made already with XcuSetup. For more information on the flags consult the XcomUtil.txt file.

*''DXC'' - This flag deletes all of the extra plasma clips carried by the aliens to make more room for extra aliens.
*''S2B'' - Changes stun launchers (SL) to blaster launchers (BL). Other similar flags include ''B2S'' (changes BLs to SLs); ''W2H'' which changes alien pistols and rifles to heavy plasmas; ''W2R'' changes alien weapons to rifles; ''W2P'' changes alien weapons to pistols.
*''CHG:old:new'' - This will change objects carried by the aliens from old to new. As an example it is possible to change plasma weapons to lasers or any other object on the inventory.
*''DEL:name'' - Deletes all objects carried by the aliens of the name type.
*''RPL:oldrace:newrace:oldrank:newrank'' - Allows to replace aliens and to change their ranks.
*''typ:#'' - This will add new alien units, if there is space for them. The possible flags are SEC, FLO, SNA, MUT, ETH, CEL, SIL, CHR, CIV or ALL. It is not possible to add large aliens.
*''VIS'' - Makes the entire battlefield visible, including the aliens.
*''WIN'' - Kills all alien units at the end of your turn.
*''ARM'' - Equips all unarmed aliens with a Heavy Plasma
*''SWP'' - Allows you to switch sides with the aliens (Warning: this flag can be very dangerous do your game, read the instructions to further details).

====Flags affecting Geoscape====

These flags make changes into a game saved on Geoscape. The changes aren't permanent and some of them can be used to cheat.

*''ACT:n'' - Sets the X-COM activity on each area to n.
*''MSK'' - Reveals the Psi level of Soldiers/Aquanauts.
*''TEC:xyz'' - Allows for unresearched technologies to be used/built. XYZ can be HUMAN, HYBRID or ALL
*''MNY:n'' - Sets the money to n.
*''FND:n'' - Sets the funding for each country to n times $1000.

====Flags affecting the game executable====

These flags make permanent changes to the game.

*''TNK'' - Adds improved HWP/SWS, with the stats of the Hovertanks/Displacers.
*''FLY'' - Allows Celatids, Silacoids, Engineers and Tentaculats to fly.
*''PSI'' - Gives Psi abilities to all alien Leaders/Commanders. Doesn't work with TFTD.
*''BAS'' - Uses the improved base.

==But I Don't Want Some Features==

Tested on: DOS Ver v1.4

As much as XcomUtil being a game enchancer, some aspects of the program cannot be easily disabled. Once installed via Xcusetup.bat, some features are implemented that may not be welcome (even if you answered 'No' to all questions). Such as, the soldier carrying capacity of the Interceptor and the Firestorm. If you were not wanting these additions, or any other, but want the Difficulty Bug squashed, you must use a different editor (for example: Khor Chin Heong's XCOM2 MultiEditor v0.2) to change values within the geoscape.exe back to originals. As much as this is a pain, it only needs to be done once if you keep a backup of the edited and corrected geoscape.exe.

How To:

Run Xcusetup.bat, when you are asked your first question, just close the program as you would any other windows program. Windows will come up with a message: "Cannot close this program normally, are you sure you want to end this program?" (or something similiar to that wording). Once closed, run XCOM2 MultiEditor. (NOTE: this editor works for Xcom1, even though its written for Xcom2 in mind) and change values to what they are originally. Look inside "Sub Editor" within the editor and change "Craft Weapons" to 0 for the Triton. Once you have edited the values back to originals, save it. Cut geoscape.exe from the currnt game install and move it to a new installation of Xcom1. Just overwrite geoscape.exe with your patched and edited file. Keep it somewhere else as a backup, just in case.

What About Base Disjoint Bug?:

(i don't use the edited xbase##.map files, sorry) [[User:EsTeR|EsTeR]]

Heavy Weapons Platforms

2006-03-29T13:15:53Z

Acha11: /* General Information */

There are five different HWP units available to you as an [[X-COM]] Commander.

*[[Tank/Cannon]]
*[[Tank/Rocket Launcher]]
*[[Tank/Laser Cannon]]
*[[Hovertank/Plasma]]
*[[Hovertank/Launcher]]

== General Information ==
Tanks are divided into two distinct chassis types, the standard miniature tracked tank and the hover tank. The tracked tank chassis is the weaker of the two, however it is relatively cheaper on materials and can be purchased off the market. Our engineers can also reproduce a replica of the tracked tank in the workshops for the purposes of mounting our proprietary heavy laser turrets. The hovertank, a hybrid of human and alien technologies, must be built in the engineering labs. It is the most expensive, especially on exotic resources, but it comes with superior internal and external subsystems, a generous amount of armour, and comes with the ability to hover in the air much like a Cyberdisc or Ethereal.

Tanks use turrets to fire. These turrets can turn independently of the tanks themselves. For example, if you tell a tank to fire behind itself, the turret will turn and not the tank. The turret will keep its new bearing relative to the tank until it is told to fire again. Moving the turret costs 1 [[TU]] per directional change. However, the turret itself does not contain any optical perception sensors, so it cannot see an enemy if the tank cannot see it.

With the exception of the [[Tank/Laser Cannon]] and the [[Hovertank/Plasma]], you must have sufficient ammunition in your stores before loading the tank onto a transport craft. However, if one of your bases is attacked and you do not have ammunition available, any tanks will be granted with a full payload of ammunition. Any rounds remaining after a successful [[Base Defense|base defense]] will be added to your stores.

== Advantages ==
*Tanks are very rarely affected by [[morale]] loss. In order for a tank to [[Psionics|panic]], your squad must take a severe amount of losses during a given [[turn]]. (Tanks have 110 bravery)
*Tanks are not affected by [[stun]], nor can they receive [[Fatal Wounds|fatal wounds]].
*Tanks are not affected by psi attacks.
*They tend to have a greater amount of [[TU]]s then normal [[Soldiers (UFO Defense)|soldiers]] making them excellent for use as scouts. They also carry their internal weapons with no penalty, as opposed to weak soldiers who struggle with Rocket Launcher+ several reloads.
*Tanks start off with fairly decent stats, except for their Reactions, which are horrible.
*Tanks are counted as items, not staff. This lets them be stored in general storage instead of Living Quarters.
*When starting up a new base and fearing alien attacks, it's convenient to buy/send a couple of HWPs there on guard duty. You still need at least one soldier on duty there for a base defense though.
*They can take fairly heavy damage before being destroyed.
*A damaged tank is instantly repaired at the end of a mission.
*Other units can fire over the top of a tank without the tank getting hit in the crossfire.
*Tanks carry more ammunition than a soldier can. In particular, [[Hovertank/Launcher]]s and [[Tank/Rocket Launcher]]s carry more ammo than a soldier carrying a launcher and ammo can.
* More importantly, the ammo loaded in the tank one does not count towards the 80 item limit, unlike the ammunition for man-portable Blaster and Rocket Launchers.
* The tank does NOT have to manually reload its weapon. It doesn't even have to use any TUs. This is important for the Blaster and Laser tanks. Basically, it uses a clip with many many shots, as opposed to soldiers with many 1 shot clips. Makes a difference.
*Tanks do not draw salaries. While their initial cost is large, you don't have to keep shelling out cash every month for them. Of course, for the blaster, rocket and AP tanks, the ammunition cost can far outstrip a soldier's salary.
*As expensive as they are, everything is included in the cost of the tank except ammunition. You do not need to buy weapons, armor or equipment for them. Furthermore, two of the most useful tanks-- the laser and plasma tanks-- do not require ammunition at all.
*Tanks cannot be implanted by [[Chryssalid]]s. Their bite may well destroy the tank, but at least you don't have to worry about the tank turning into a [[Zombie]].
*Hovertanks, like all flying units, can avoid physical attacks- most noticably [[Chryssalid]]s- completely by staying above ground level.

== Disadvantages ==
*Tanks are much more expensive than [[Soldiers (UFO Defense)|soldiers]] - eg $420,000 vs $40,000. Their cost and usefulness are inverse with time. Ie, by the time you can afford them, they are a lot less useful.
*They do not gain [[experience]] during combat.
*Their extra size makes it difficult to get them to certain areas - through most doorways, for example.
*It's possible for a tank to be "halfway" (one square) past a wall and be visible to enemies and vulnerable to their fire, yet unable to spot those same enemies and, needless to say, unable to return fire.
*They take extra damage from explosives due to their size.
*Tanks do not have high [[reactions]].
*Tanks do not have any Auto-Fire capability, a big liability in close combat.
*The Launcher, AP, and Plasma HWP's have weaker weapons than their man-portable counterparts.
**In particular, Hovertank/Launchers are a LOT weaker than Blaster Bombs- 200 power vs 140- and unable to breach outer walls of UFOs as standard blasters can.
**Also, plasma hovertanks are incapable of breaching inner walls of UFO's as heavy plasma can.
*Tanks cannot carry sidearms/ medkits/ lights/ live aliens/ etc etc.
*Tanks with limited ammo cannot reload.
*Tanks draw fire. Aliens will prefer to fire at tanks rather than your troops.
**Many commanders consider this an advantage, however, knowing they can bring a tank in to distract the enemy from vulnerable troops.
*The aimed shots on most tanks are not worthwhile. The gain in accuracy does not nearly match the extra time units they require. This is epecially true on the [[Hovertank/Plasma]].
*Once destroyed they are unrepairable and unrecoverable.

== See Also ==
[[Field Manual: HWP]]
[[Category:Heavy Weapons Platforms]]

Known Bugs

2006-03-29T11:10:50Z

Acha11: /* Sticky Craft Transfer Fee glitch */

== Collectors Edition Blaster Bomb Bug ==

In the Collectors Edition of UFO, the [[Blaster Launcher]] has a bug that prevents it from going up or down on the same tile. Or in other words, you cannot change the elevation of the missile vertically on the same tile.

Instead of flying down (or up) to the next waypoint, it will instead fly directly to the south at the pivot waypoint. Relative to the screen, this would be the lower left side of the screen.

This does not happen if you plot the waypoints at an angle. Or, if the blaster bomb flies right off the map, it will reappear at the proper waypoint as long as there are additional waypoints placed after the vertical move.

This bug also applies to the [[Disrupter Pulse Launcher]] in TFTD.

== 80-item Limit ==
When loading up your Avenger for a massive UFO assault or arming soldiers for a [[Base Defense]] from your overflowing stores, you will likely hit this limit.

You only get a max of 80 items, and you don't get to choose which ones, so you may end up with 80 clips and no rifles for the base defense.

The solution is timely housekeeping. Sell off your spare personal equipment. See our handy [[Spring Cleaning Tips]], and also [[Managing the Item Limit]] for ideas.

== The trouble with Mines (general) ==
The armed states for [[Proximity Grenade]]s in both UFO and TFTD are NOT stored in savegames. More information to come.

== TFTD Research Tree Bug Avoidance Guide ==
TFTD's research problems are more of a design flaw than a true bug. More of a pain, really. If you research the wrong thing at the wrong time you won't get the endgame research topics.

A variation of NKF's [[TRTBAG | TFTD Research Tree Bug Avoidance Guide]] will be forthcoming - free time permitting.

For now:

*NEVER research the Tasoth Commander. There's no reason to, as far as I can tell.
*ONLY research Deep One Terrorist AFTER you have completed Plastic Aqua Armor and Ion Beam Accelerators.
*DO NOT research M.C. Lab unless you have AT LEAST one MC Reader in storage.
*You MUST have at least one "Sub Construction" in storage before completing research on Zrbite and/or Transmission Resolver.

Other than the MC reader one, any of the above would make it impossible to finish the game.

-compiled from NKF's guide.

== Difficulty Bug ==

The DOS version had a problem where no matter what difficulty level you chose, you were actually playing at "Beginner" level. Because of one or two incorrectly set bytes in all dos versions of the game( 1.0 through to 1.4), no matter what difficulty was selected, the difficulty bug would reset to beginner at the end of the first mission. [[XcomUtil]] corrects this problem. This bug was officially fixed in the Collectors Edition Windows port (also commonly known as UFO Gold).

== Mountain Map ==
Due to a bug in the way this tileset was created, when you shoot the ground, it doesn't burn up - it turns into a tree stump.

Because the stump is on object, as opposed to actual ground, any objects that were in the tile already (for example, UFO hulls or the landing gear of your craft) get replaced by these stumps, making it seem as if they were destroyed.

Tree stumps don't take much damage, so they often get burnt up immediately if an explosive goes off, leaving nothing but burnt ground behind. It is easier to view the effects of this bug by shooting the ground instead.

For more details, see [[Explosions#Mile-High_Madness|Mountain Madness]].

== Base Disjoint Bug ==
Base facilities built along the right or bottom edges of the base building area may end up being cut off from each other by dirt walls, a bug in the routine meant to keep soldiers from accidentally exiting the map edges during [[Base Defense]] missions. The dirt walls can be knocked down by Blaster Bombs during combat but are otherwise unbreakable.

NKF illustrates this in a [http://www.geocities.com/nkfarma/reference/bdb.html pretty picture] for you. XCOMUTIL corrects this problem.

== Big Text Bug ==
There are a few bugs in XCOM, especially early versions, that can build up and make the game unstable enough that it crashes and prints out a screenful of green 40-column text, essentially debug or memory dump information useless to you.

One fairly consistent cause is saving the geoscape game during a UFO standoff, with the interceptor window minimized to an icon. The next mission after that point will likely dump you to the green text screen, and perhaps an earlier battlescape mission instead of the proper one.

''-- I was able to recover from this state by quickly sending in another interceptor (Firestorm) to take over, which allowed my first interceptor (Avenger) to break off and go home without crashing the game again. After the shootdown I overwrote the buggy savegame. --[[User:JellyfishGreen|JellyfishGreen]] 03:11, 22 Aug 2005 (PDT)''

''In the dos version, the text that you see is simply a memory dump in mode-13h (the 320x200x256 colour screen resoulution the game uses) and the text colour is based off the changes to the pallete that the game made. The game sometimes continues with the next part of the game. The game is made of two different programs, one for each segment of the game, so when one part of it crashes, the other one will not have registered that anything has gone wrong and will attempt to soldier on.''
''In the Windows version of the game, the game simply crashes back to the desktop, unless you're using the Xcomutil split executable variant. - [[User:NKF|NKF]] ''

== Interceptions: Using Cautious Attack ==
When intercepting UFO's, the longest ranged weapon will fire as soon as you are within range of that particular UFO using any attack of your choosing, which is normal.

If you use only "Cautious Attack", the craft will only get within range of its longest ranged weapon. Now, if you only have one type of weapon mounted (eg: two Fusion Ball Launchers) or you're down to your last weapon, when the last remaining shot is fired, the intercepting craft will drop back to "Standoff" range as soon as the last shot leaves the weapon tube.

What then happens is that the last fired projectile is still travelling towards the UFO which was just in range, but as you automatically enter stand-off range when you are no longer armed, your ship will have removed itself from your weapon's effective firing range. When the missile reaches the end of its effective firing range it is wasted.

This means, the last shot of ammo from '''any weapon''' using a Cautious Attack will NEVER reach the UFO.

To get around this waste of ammo, briefly enter "Agressive" mode and then return to "Cautious" after the projectile has hit its target.

==Sticky Craft Transfer Fee glitch==
As pointed out by Zombie and Danial, transferring any craft causes '''''all subsequent transfers to have that cost added to it''''', for as long as the craft is in transit. Additional craft in transit will add additional fees. (This has also been called the Exponential Transfer Fee bug, although it's actually additive, not exponential.)

Example (all numbers are only approximations):
Cost of pistol transfer (↔ = to or from)
EU ↔ USA 80
EU ↔ Asia 100
USA ↔ Asia 120

Cost of craft transfer
EU ↔ USA 1600 ''Notice how transfer fees always work as relative percents,
EU ↔ Asia 2000 ''probably on a distance-based formula
USA ↔ Asia 2400

Cost to transfer '''pistol''', after transferring craft from EU to Asia for $2000
EU ↔ USA 1680 (80+1600)
EU ↔ Asia 2100 (100+2000)
USA ↔ Asia 2520 (120+2400)

The cost of the craft transfer "sticks" to '''all''' subsequent transfers, until the craft arrives - although it acts on a proportionate basis, which is probably distance related.

Unfortunately, this cost is '''additive'''. That is to say, if you transferred a second craft from EU to Asia while the first was still in transit, it would cost $4000 ($2000 plus $2000 - it too suffers from the glitch!), it would then cost e.g. $4100 to transfer a pistol from EU to Asia. Having even more craft in transit would add even more fees.

This only appears to happen with aircraft, although it does happen for them all. So try to space out your transfers, if you can.

A related problem is that, if you are in the Transfer screen, start to transfer a craft, and then cancel because you remembered you wanted to send something else first - if you then try to Transfer something on that same screen, ''it will still get the sticky craft fee added''. Try it and see. You have to back up out to the main Base screen and hit Transfer again, to get rid of the sticky fee from a cancelled craft transfer.

==Transfer Limit cash eater==
Only 100 items can be in transit at a time. (Here, a transfer of e.g. 200 Elerium counts as one "item". Also, all soldiers are counted individually.) If you go over the limit, you will get a warning that there is no more transport capacity. If you STILL try to transport something after getting the warning, the item will stay where it is, but the transportation cost still gets deducted. Bad if you're shuffling expensive aircraft.

==Carrying Unconscious Units==
Refer to : [[Unconscious#Bug|Unconscious]].

==Disappearing Ammo==

For all game versions, partially-used clips disappear at the end of a mission. This dictates that you should try to use clips that are not full. No mystery here.

However, in the CE edition, clips in '''alien''' weapons (not XCOM weapons) are lost at the end of a mission, whether they are full or not. Thus, you should unload all virgin clips before ending a mission, if you have the CE edition of the game. (Partially used clips are lost regardless, so there's no reason to unload them.)

This bug does not appear to affect the DOS or Playstation versions. ''(Make a note here if you've observed otherwise! -[[User:MikeTheRed|MTR]])

Note that you still get credit (score) at the end of missions, regardless of the CE loaded-weapon bug and/or whether a clip is full or partial.

== Overcrowded Engineers (And Scientists?) ==
In the Dos version (probably the others as well) if you hire more than 255 engineers in a single base, the number of engineers in the base will read a negative number once the 256th engineer arrives. Any Engineers engaged in projects will continue to work on them, but if you cancel the project you will lose engineers until you have lost 255 of them. This bug probably also affects scientists. It may be exploitable to pay a negative salary at the end of the month.

Field Manual: Deployment

2006-03-29T11:06:54Z

Acha11: /* 2002-2 THE OTHER FIRETEAMS */

Chapter 2
INITIAL DEPLOYMENT

==2001 INTRODUCTION==

The squad commander upon landing must perform the following actions:

* Assess the characteristics of the landing zone, namely the terrain and any natural / artificial obstacles around the Skyranger.
* Identify all hostiles in the vicinity of the transport that might endanger the landing operation
* Deploy forces to engage and neutralize them, taking attention to both flanks of the transport and also the area around the cockpit.
* Establish a safety perimeter around the craft by the use of smoke covers, maintaining proper distance between the squad members and securing the rear of the squad.

==2002 DISEMBARKING TACTICS==
===2002-1 THE FRONT ROW FIRETEAM===

The fireteams that are the first to deploy have one of the most hazardous duties on the battlefield. Upon landing their immediate task is to eliminate any hostile opposition that
is directly facing the ramp of the transport. Their actions are determined by the following list of conditions:

#Enemy in front of the ramp and directly looking at it - fire one round at targer, then move one square to the front and another to the next to the side to clear the ramp. If there isn't any read #2.
#Enemy in front of the ramp but facing another direction - do not fire to avoid reaction shots that might hit personnel inside the transport! (unless they have already fired) - move one square to the front and another to the side to clear the ramp and read #3.
#Enemy on another location and facing the ramp. Fire one/two rounds but make sure that there's enough TUs to clear the square right next to the ramp by moving to another direction.
#Enemy on another location but not facing the ramp. Engage only after all enemies on #1, #2 and #3 have been eliminated. If there are several hostiles then engage first the dangerous one - the closest and heavily armed.
#No hostiles visible near the transport - the soldiers should start scouting the area near the Skyranger.

===2002-2 THE OTHER FIRETEAMS===

If condition #5 applies the rest of the soldiers might start disembarking the transport and widen the perimeter around the transport. If any aliens are detected they must be eliminated as soon as possible.
In case the front row fireteam has been taken out by the aliens, the next team becomes the front row team and must act accordingly to the previous list of conditions. If there's insufficient lighting the back soldiers must deploy electroflares to the area surrounding the transport. Also if there's a heavy enemy presence close to the landing zone, it's recommended the use of smoke covers.

===2002-3 USE OF HWPS ON LANDINGS===

If there's an HWP present on the transport then it should be deployed according to 1003.3.1.4 and used to scout and spot all hostiles while drawing fire from them. After it has finished moving them the soldiers can disembark using 2001.2. procedures.

==2003 REORGANIZING AND DEPLOYMENT==

After the landing area has been successfully cleared of any enemy opposition the squad can reorganized to perform its mission. At this point there are two major factors that should be taken into account: a quick dispersal of the squad members to maintain safety distances and the position of the landing zone.

===2003-1 LANDING ZONE POSITION===

The location of the landing (LZ) zone on the area of operations is a major factor in determining the direction to which the squad must be deployed. The rear of the squad should be set against one of the ends of the map to prevent any rear attacks by hostiles as it moves forward to complete its mission. but it can be either easy or difficult, depending on the location of the LZ.

2003-1.1 CORNER LZ

It's when the Skyranger lands on one of the corners of the tactical map and is the position most easy to secure since there are only two directions from which enemy contact can be expected. To establish a safety perimeter the squad must have cleared the corner of any hostiles, allowing it to afterwards start moving towards the rest of the battlefield.

2003-1.2 SIDE LZ

When the Skyranger is positioned next to one of the sides of the map, it protects one side of the squad against possible attacks but it still leaves three others open. After the squad has successfully exited the transport, it is recommended that the squad set a half circle perimeter as it pushes forward.

2003-1.3 CENTRAL LZ

The hardest landing zone since hostile attacks can be expected from all directions. After clearing the landing site of aliens, the closest edge of the map should be located by the scouts and secured. Then the squad can manoeuvre in the opposite direction, with that side being the rear and using the half-circle mentioned on the previous topic.

==2004 ADDITIONAL NOTES==
[[Category: Field Manual]]

Alien Containment

2006-03-29T11:00:32Z

Acha11: /* General Information */

== General Information ==

This is required to hold captured aliens, as it provides the enviroment that is needed to keep them alive for extended periods of time. Several research advances that are necessary to completing the game require the presence of a particular alien species in Alien Containment.

A single Alien Containment facility can hold any number of alien individuals from up to ten different combinations of alien species and rank. For example, one facility can hold any number of [[Sectoid]] Soldiers, but cannot hold alien units of every rank and race all at the same time.

Whilst this facility can be built from the start of the game, the default starting base does not include this facility.

== Statistics ==

Construction Time: 18 days 
Construction Cost: $400,000 
Maintenance Cost: $15,000/month 

== See Also ==
[[Category:Base Facilities (UFO Defense)]]

Alien Base Assault

2006-03-29T06:57:23Z

Acha11: /* Notes */

==Briefing==
XCom operatives have gained entrance to an alien base. The control centre must be destroyed to render the base inoperative. The Mission will terminate when all enemies are eliminated.

==Locating an Alien Base==
Alien bases do not show up on the Geoscape by default. They are hidden until you find them. To locate one, an X-Com craft must patrol in its vicinity for a short time. Also, X-Com agents may report a base location to you at the beginning of the month, but that shouldn't be relied upon.

There are several clues that indicate the presence of an alien base:
*A large UFO performing an "Alien Base" mission may indicate the creation of a base, or a preliminary scouting mission. Several UFOS running alien base missions simultaneously indicate the construction of a base, and the base may be built even if you interdict all of those UFOs. See: [[Alien Missions]]
*An "Alien Supply" mission will always land directly on top of a base; patrol the location until you find it.
*For each nation that the aliens enter a pact with, they will also build a base somewhere on that nation's continent-- but not necessarily within that nation's borders.
*Check your graphs for UFO activity by region. A spike of UFO activity in a given region probably indicates the construction of a base there.

==Goal==
Destroying the contents of the room on the second floor of the Command Center renders the base destroyed for all intents of a base assault. If you abort the mission after destroying the command center, the base will be destroyed. However, The mission will not end until you abort it or kill every alien in the base-- the latter is of course to be preferred.

==Alien Deployment==
'''Rank Beg./Exp. Vet./Gen. Super.'''
'''---- --------- --------- ------'''
Soldiers 5-9 6-10 7-11
Navigators 1 1 2
Engineers 1 1 2
Medics 1 1 1
Leaders 2 3 4
Commanders 1 1 1
Terrorists 1-3 3-5 5-7

Totals 12-18 16-22 22-28

==Smash And Grab==
Alien bases can be a very quick and dirty (dangerous) way to get Elerium, using what we call the "smash and grab" mission. Raid them by seeking out the storage room with power units. Destroy the power units without using explosives, and pick up the purple elerium canisters that were underneath. Boogie back to the entry lift, and abort the mission. You get the elerium and the base is not destroyed. This means you can raid as often as you dare. Consider grabbing a few alien equipment on your retreat to replenish any spent equipment during the raid, and perhaps if you are lucky enough to knock out a high ranking alien, drag it back to the entrance to have it abducted.

If you want to do repeated Smash And Grabs on the same base, you must not destroy the base Control Center, and you must leave some aliens alive in the base.

One tip is to knock out an alien, bring it somewhere safe where you can watch over it (such as the small storage rooms with the small grav-lift), and then revive it with a med-kit. Proceed to wipe out the rest of the aliens, but do not damage the command consoles in the command centre. As soon as the base is neutralized, initiate a recovery mission and gather as much equipment (and corpses, if you're really stretched for cash) in the green entrance pads before aborting the mission. Though this may seem time consuming, it does allow you to reap the rewards of a normal successful mission.

The mission will be counted as a technical failure, but that's nothing to worry about, as the activity points, loot and experience will tell you otherwise.

==Notes==
*Somebody turned the lights out. Alien bases start dim and remain dim, so bring electroflares.
*Remember those [[Proximity Grenade | proximity grenades]]; you can't guard every intersection.
*Terror units will be in the area.
*The alien base will be staffed by the same variety of aliens that ran the "alien base" UFO mission that set the base up, and the aliens that run the "alien supply" missions to that base. See [[Alien Missions]] For more detail.
*Alien bases populated with Snakemen deserve special caution. The high mobility of the [[Chryssalid]] makes it especially dangerous here-- it can run around three corners and still have enough time to infect your troops.
*The Alien Base Commander and a couple leaders will usually- but not always- be hanging around the Control Center. Expect at least some of them to have blaster bombs.
*Alien Engineers hang out around the Storage Loft sections. many of them will be armed with blasters as well.
*Don't linger long in the rooms beneath the access lifts, and stay spread out at all times. There WILL be aliens with blaster bombs here, and they will be happy to use them on any clusters of your troops.
*If you are trying to capture a commander, be aware that before entering the inner door of the command center, if the commander is not killed or incapacitated before the end of the turn where the door is opened, he may fire his blaster launcher and kill himself and most of the aliens in the command center accidentally.

==See Also==
[[Alien Base Terrain]]
[[Category:Missions]]

Proximity Grenade

2006-03-29T06:55:46Z

Acha11: /* Tips & Tricks */

The portable mine, this little beauty uses a weighted base and ultrasonics to set up a 3-meter detection circle with a 5-meter explosion. Exceedingly useful for mining corridors in base defense missions or "softening up" aliens emerging from UFO doors.

== Stats ==
*Damage: 70, Explosive
*Size: 1x1
*Weight: 3
*TU cost: 30 to prime, + throwing cost
*Buy Price: $500

== Earning Experience The Hard Way ==

Unlike other explosives, the Proximity Grenade does not give [[Firing Accuracy]] experience points for hits to the person throwing it (although this will give you Throwing experience). Instead, it gives Firing XPs to the person who triggers it to explode.

Unfortunately, the accompanying pain and death make it a dubious choice for earning experience, especially early in the game (when you don't have the armor to go near one). For more on experience points, see [[Experience#How Experience Points Are Applied|here]].

Among the aliens, [[Muton]]s can survive the explosion handily. Keep a few snipers around so they won't live long enough to benefit from the experience.

== Tips & Tricks ==
* On higher skill levels, many aliens can survive the blast of a proximity grenade. Mutons always shrug them off, some Snakemen and even the occasional Floater will survive. Even when a prox grenade doesnt kill, they are still useful to soften up targets and-- perhaps more importantly-- acting as burglar alarms. When you see a prox grenade go off, it will alert you to an alien in the area.
* PGs will trigger on movement on the far side of walls and doors, if dropped next to them. Therefore,
* When mining a door, aim for one square away from the door, not the square next to the door. This detonates the grenade after the door opens.
* PGs detect movement into, but not out of, the eight surrounding squares, meaning you can walk away from a mis-throw.
* PGs can safely be picked up by entering their square vertically (e.g. with flying suit).
* In some versions of the game, a bug allows an armed proximity mine to transfer its properties to some other item in the next mission, which then may explode unexpectedly.
* The mine can be destroyed by explosives. However, it's only advisable to destroy the mine if there's no alternative. Even with armour, the explosive should be set off as far away from the soldier as possible, as your under armour is by far your most vulnerable spot. Make no mistakes.
* Just like every other live [[grenade]] in the game, it's safe to pick up a live mine and reposition it. However, it's highly recommended that live mines not be used in the grenade relay manoeuvre.
* If all else fails, and you are trapped with nowhere to move and no way to defuse the mine: just stay still. Don't move and wait until the bomb squad arrives (i.e., wait until the mission ends).

-- Collection of [[User:NKF|NKF-Sensei's]] posts by --[[User:JellyfishGreen|JellyfishGreen]] 12:50, 25 Apr 2005 (BST)