UFOpaedia - User contributions [en]

User:Mauirixxx/SavedGameNotes

2014-06-27T08:49:07Z

Mauirixxx: /* Base / Soldier editing */

== About .sav files ==
Since the saved game file is in [http://www.yaml.org/ YAML format], it's rather easy to hand edit the saved game file. First thing to note, there's NO tabulation allowed - every new line is doubled spaced per its own section.

== Quick Tutorial ==
All country information will be found in the "countries:" block of data. Each country represented will have the following information laid out like so:

<pre>countries:
- type: STR_USA #this defines the data for this specific country
activityXcom:
- 0
activityAlien:
- 0
funding:
- 996000
- type: STR_RUSSIA #and repeat until all desired countries are listed</pre>

All blocks of data start with a dash "-" double space indented from its section identifier (in this case, "countries:"). So from the USA block of data, we can easily see that we've had 0 X-COM activity (each month of activity is represented by a new line, preceeded by a dash and then the activity amount, like so: - 459), 0 Alien activity, and for the first month, they funded us nearly a million dollars USD.

== Notable sections ==
Each section will have unique name that's easy to find, however the data laid out inside it may not make sense at first (remember, a dash "-" starts a new data block, but it matters not what comes first in the new block after the dash). When viewed in Notepad++ configured to be an IDE for YAML, you'll start out with 13 collapsible sections, listed below:
* rulesets - this dictates what custom rules were loaded when this save was made
* time - literally, the time & date in your X-COM game
* countries - a listing of all the funding countries
* ids - a count of how many objects you've encountered/acquired from a global view (total # of soldiers, # of waypoints set, alien landing/crash/terror sites, total # of ufos). More informational then anything else
* maintenance - how much maintenance cost per month; each new line represents 1 month
* research scores - not sure exactly what it represents, but like maintenance, each line represents 1 month
* expenditures - how much $$$ you've spent, each line represents 1 month
* incomes - how much $$$ you've made, combines both money from countries given at the end of each month, and money from selling items (alien weapons & corpses for example)
* funds - how much $$$ you ended the month with
* bases - all of your individual base info will be in here
* alienMissions - shows current alien missions
* alienStrategy - shows current alien strategy (abduction, infiltration, researching (us humans!), base building, & harvesting)
* regions - similar to countries, though less defined (Asia covers Japan, Taiwan, China etc etc, for instance)

Basically, you'll probably edit your "funds" info once (go on, give yourself a billion dollars or 2!), and constantly messing with your "bases" section, as that's where you'll be able to edit soldier stats, base building completion time, reorganizing your current base facilities, and quickly heal wounded soldiers

== Base / Soldier editing ==
Each base in the save file will be a new block preceeded by a dash symbol, TYPICALLY in the following order:
* lon: #.###############################
* lat: #.###############################
* Name: Example Base NAME
* Facilities (which will have a new block under THAT showing the "type:" (for example "type: STR_ACCESS_LIFT"), and the X & Y coordinates of the type that's defined in that new block (if you have a facility under construction, you'll have a 4th line named buildTime: ## (## being the amount of days left in the build))
* items - this is your inventory, and where you'll gift yourself 1,000 Elerium ("STR_ELERIUM_115: 1000" to be exact)
* crafts - this section lists all your aircraft
* soldiers - this section is where you take your green rookies and turn them into super soldiers with 200% aiming accuracy & 1000 time units!

Each soldier name is preceeded by their id #, and followed by their initial & then currents stats, like so:
<pre>bases:
- soldiers:
- id: 1
name: Bill Clinton
initialStats:
tu: ##
etc etc....
- id: 2
name: Hillary Clinton
currentStats:
tu: ##
etc etc ...</pre>

It also shows what aircraft they're on, mission/kill stats, armor, rank and more. Current stats are what you want to edit, specifically the "tu:" line if you want 1000 tu super soldiers.

User:Mauirixxx/SavedGameNotes

2014-06-27T08:01:44Z

Mauirixxx: saved page before I do something stupid and accidentally lose all my typing :P

User:Mauirixxx/SavedGameNotes

2014-06-27T02:35:10Z

Mauirixxx: will be filled in later :P

I hate red links.

User:Mauirixxx

2014-06-27T01:59:05Z

Mauirixxx:

Not much to say, I used to play X-Com back in '94 when it came out on a 486-SX 25, played hell getting the sound to work. Soon I was playing it on a Pentium 90 with 8 megabytes of ram, watching time whiz by on the Geoscape :P

Got bit by the nostalgia bug a few years ago, picked up the entire X-Com collection for $2.50 on Amazon, played a few days, got tired of DOSbox, and stopped.

I heard about the OpenXcom 1.0 release .... and haven't slept much since I downloaded it :D

*[[User:Mauirixxx/CustomRules|My Custom Rules]] for OpenXcom (nothing useful, but fun for me).
*[[User:Mauirixxx/SavedGameNotes|Notes on saved game files]] for OpenXcom (structure, content)

User:Mauirixxx

2014-06-27T01:58:35Z

Mauirixxx:

Not much to say, I used to play X-Com back in '94 when it came out on a 486-SX 25, played hell getting the sound to work. Soon I was playing it on a Pentium 90 with 8 megabytes of ram, watching time whiz by on the Geoscape :P

Got bit by the nostalgia bug a few years ago, picked up the entire X-Com collection for $2.50 on Amazon, played a few days, got tired of DOSbox, and stopped.

I heard about the OpenXcom 1.0 release .... and haven't slept much since I downloaded it :D

[[User:Mauirixxx/CustomRules|My Custom Rules]] for OpenXcom (nothing useful, but fun for me).
[[User:Mauirixxx/SavedGameNotes|Notes on saved game files]] (structure, content)

Info

2014-06-25T22:35:51Z

Mauirixxx: /* See Also */ fixed broken web link

'''In other languages: [[정보|한국어]].'''

'''X-COM''' is a series of computer games, started by MicroProse in 1994. The first installment, released as ''UFO: Enemy Unknown'' in Europe (and as ''X-COM: UFO Defense'' in North America) was written by a team led by Julian Gollop. After the success of ''X-COM: UFO Defense'', The Gollop brothers went straight to work on [[Info (Apocalypse)|X-COM: Apocalypse]], which would end up being the third in the series when released in 1997.

MicroProse quickly had an internal team create the sequel ''[[Info (TFTD)|X-COM: Terror From the Deep]]'' in under a year as a quick cash in (hence the amount of uncanny similarities between the first two games). These first two games also show strong similarities to games such as ''Rebelstar'' and ''Laser Squad'' for the ZX Spectrum, including names of organisations such as 'Marsec'. The fourth title, ''[[Info (Interceptor)|X-COM: Interceptor]]'' was an action-based space combat/strategy game, while the fifth (''[[Info (Enforcer)|X-COM: Enforcer]]'') was simply a third person shooter.

All titles were developed for the PC, and some ported to the Sony PlayStation and Amiga. The first three titles were originally developed to run under DOS, though the first two have subsequently been ported to run under Microsoft Windows using DirectX. ''X-COM: UFO Defense'' was the best selling computer game of 1995 and is considered a true classic, and despite its age, still has a large following.

=Series Standards=

The premise for the series is fairly simple and straightforward, with variations among them: armies of hostile aliens have begun invading the Earth, killing and enslaving the human race. The style and theme of the game closely mirror those of the classic BBC television series ''UFO''.

In each game of the series, the player is put in command of "X-COM": the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit. By defending countries from enemy invasion, the force gains monetary support. Any nation may quit, if X-COM's service is deemed unsatisfactory or the nation's government has been infiltrated by the invaders. Through research of recovered alien artefacts, X-COM is able to develop better and more powerful weapons, armor and vehicles to combat the alien menace and eventually uncover their true nature.

The game takes place within two main views: the Geoscape and the Battlescape, a dichotomy that's the hallmark of the entire series. The Geoscape is where the player waits for enemy alien activity and makes strategic decisions.

While in the Geoscape, the player can view the X-COM bases (located in various locations on Earth), make changes to them, equip X-COM craft, order supplies and personnel, direct research efforts, schedule manufacturing of advanced equipment and sell alien artifacts to raise capital. The Geoscape is continuous and not turn-based.

Gameplay switches to the isometric combat view of the Battlescape whenever X-COM personnel come in contact with alien units. This can result from investigating downed enemy crafts, combatting alien terrorist activities or attacking alien bases discovered during play. Aliens may also be encountered if they manage to attack and infiltrate one of the X-COM bases.

In the Battlescape view, X-COM combatants are pitted against the alien enemies. In addition to personnel, the player may have vehicles such as heavy weapons platforms outfitted with powerful weapons ranging from rockets to plasma beams. The Battlescape mode is turn-based and each combatant has a number of "time units" which can be expended each turn. When all alien forces have been neutralized, the mission is scored based on number of X-COM units killed, civilians saved, aliens killed or captured and the number of alien artefacts obtained.

The X-COM series is known for its difficulty. Third party programs have been developed to modify the game files to make playing the game less frustrating, and to increase replay value. Those third-party programs can also make the game more difficult for highly skilled players. The most complete of these tools is [[XcomUtil]].

=Ports=
*Amiga500
*Amiga1200
*Amiga CD32
*DOS 1.2, 1.4 (Zipped Box Art for the U.S. DOS version is [[Media:XCOM_UFO_Defense_DOS_US_Box_Art.zip|here]])
*Windows CE
*Playstation (both PAL and NTSC formats)

=System Requirements=
==Minimum==
*386 processor
*4MB RAM
*Hard drive (10MB free, game alone)
*MS-DOS 5.0 or higher
*VGA Graphics

==Recommended==
*486 or better
*8MB RAM
*Hard drive (15MB free, game + manual)
*SVGA Graphics

==Sound Cards Supported==
*PC Internal speaker
*AdLib compatible cards
*Sound Blaster compatible cards
*Roland LAPC-1

=Working In Windows=

*The Collectors Edition of XCOM works in all versions of Windows natively.

*The DOS version can be finicky in WinXP, as modern processors run the game so fast that the slowest speed in Geoscape is about the speed of "5min", not to mention that projectiles are so fast that following them with eye to determine where it come from is impossible. While it's probably possible to subdue it manually, many people use [http://dosbox.sourceforge.net DOSBox] as a WinXP DOS emulator, with a high degree of success. It does have some minor inconveniences, but they're a lot less than figuring everything out manually! A tutorial for DOSBox can also be found [http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewtopic.php?t=2502 here].

*''How do you check your game version? I know there are a bunch.''
=DOS X-COM in WinXP=

== DOSBox settings ==

As of August 2012, these settings work fine for the latest [http://www.dosbox.com/ DOSBox] (0.74) in WinXP, for DOS X-COM v. 1.4. This is on a 2 Ghz quadcore Intel CPU with wide-screen display (the display is not warped) and RealTek HD audio built into the motherboard.

Although one can make a separate DOSBox file just for running X-COM, I ([[User:MikeTheRed|MTR]]) just edited the DOSBox configuration file to run X-COM.

As the documentation states (section 13), the configuration file is automatically created the first time you run DOSBox as: "Start/WinLogo Menu"->"All Programs"->DOSBox-0.74->Options. This is a shortcut to the file C:\Documents and Settings\[Your Name]\Local Settings\Application Data\DOSBox\dosbox-0.74.conf (If you copy an old dosbox.conf file into the new DOSBox directory, it will be ignored!)

Here are the only things I changed. I didn't experiment with anything; I just got to something that worked:
[sdl]
fullscreen=true
output=ddraw
[render]
aspect=true
[cpu]
cycles=12000
[mixer]
rate=49716
[sblaster]
oplmenu=compat
oplrate=49716
[autoexec]
mount c D:\Games
c:
cd \X-COM
Go.bat
That last part causes it to be in my X-COM directory (D:\Games\X-COM) when it runs X-COM's GO.BAT. Note that I have the mixer rate matching the opl (synthesizer) rate. Also:
*Run X-COM's sound SETUP.EXE (should be in your X-COM 1.4 directory) and have it match the DOSBox [sblaster] settings: Board= Soundblaster 16, Base=220, IRQ=7, DMA=1, any channels (8 is fine), music board = AdLib/SoundBlaster FM.
*I found it a little tricky to get DOSBox to shut down when exiting X-COM. Editing the last line of X-COM's GO.BAT to say "exit" seems to do the trick.

== Starting DOSBox with RegEdit ==

I ([[User:Amitakartok|amitakartok]]) found a very convenient way to run the game with DosBox: using regedit, I added registry entry
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Run with DosBox\command (the part after *\ doesn't exist at first on XP, you have to add it yourself)
and changed the (Default) key's value to
"C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.73\dosbox.exe" "%1" //optionally, you can append -exit to the end so that DB closes when X-COM closes
The result is a new command in the right-click context menu that causes DosBox to start up and load the exe/bat I gave out the command on! Only problem with this approach is that DosBox absolutely refuses to load the configuration file and starts X-COM with
cycles=max
which is WAY too much. I find the optimal value to be 20% (I got a 2.8 GHz single-core CPU overclocked to 3 GHz).

=Screenshots=

Taking screencaps (screen captures):
*For the CE version, use F12. It will make a .TGA file in your game directory.
*For DOS 1.4, it's more complex. I ([[User:MikeTheRed|MTR]]) use DosBox (see above). Once I could simply hit PrintScreen when in fullscreen XCOM, then switch out and paste to a graphics app. At some point in time that stopped working (makes for a garbage screencap), so instead I now switch out (Alt-Tab, not Ctrl-Enter), take a PrintScreen (of everything on the WinXP desktop), paste this to a graphics app, and crop the graphic to the XCOM window. (And x2 it, if wanted.) DosBox does have the ability to take a screenshot of the shell by pressing CTRL-F5. The resulting image is in PNG format and is saved in the "capture" folder of the DosBox directory.

=The Makers=

Published in 1994 by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microprose Microprose] (bought by Atari), developed by Mythos Games, chief designers brothers Nick and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Gollop Julian Gollop].

Mythos preceded X-COM with Laser Squad and have recently produced [http://www.lasersquadnemesis.com/ Laser Squad Nemesis].

Created by:
*Microprose (1994)

Owned by:
*Atari (2004-2007)
*Take-Two Interactive (2007-present)

=Credits=

==Primary Credits (DOS, Windows)==

===Game Design and Programming===
Mythos Games Limited 
Julian Gollop 
Nick Gollop

===Graphics and Animation===
Julian Gollop 
John Reitze 
Martin Smillie

===Music===
John Broomhall

===Sound Effects===
Andrew Parton

===Quality Assurance===
Peter Woods 
Andrew Luckett 
Richard Bakewell 
Darren Kirby 
Philip McDonnell 
Jason Sampson

===Manual Author===
Kristian Ramsay-Jones

===Managing Editor===
Alkis Alkiviades

===Packaging and Manual Design===
John Emory 
Joe Morel 
Cesar Novoa 
Sarah Warburton

===Producer===
Tim Roberts

===Publishers===
Paul Hibbard-Teall 
Peter Moreland

==Additional Credits (Amiga)==

UFO 500 Conversion by Climax Productions

===Programming===
Steve Legg

===Artwork===
Mike Baxter

===Music===
Matt Simmonds

===Producer===
Jason Lihou

For MicroProse

===Programming/Tech Advice===
Scott Johnston 
Bob Koon

===Producer===
Tim Roberts

===Documentation===
Nick Stokes

UFO A1200 Conversion

===Programming===
Scott Johnston 
Bob Koon

===Documentation===
Alkis Alkiviades

Amiga CD32 Conversion

===Programming===
Scott Johnston 
Bob Koon

===Additional Programming===
Tim Cannell 
Paul Dunning 
Adrian Scotney 
Nick Thompson

==Additional Credits (Playstation)==

===Producer===
Stuart Whyte

===Quality Assurance===
Darren Kirby 
Craig Lear 
Daniel Luton 
Justin Manning 
Philip McDonnell 
Jason Sampson 
Klaus Starke 
Donald Witcombe

===Programming Conversion===
Graeme Ashton 
Bob Koon

===Additional Programming===
Tim Cannell 
Paul Dunning 
Nick Thompson

===Playstation Design Implementation===
Andrew Williams

===Additional Artwork===
Drew Northcott 
Martin Severn

===Original Game Music Composition===
John Broomhall

===Original SFX Design===
Andrew Parton

===Playstation Music Conversion & Additional Music Composition===
Allister Brimble

===Audio Post Production===
Matt Vowles

===Audio Producer===
John Broomhall

===Publisher===
Rob Davies

===Packaging Design===
Sarah Warburton

===Manual Design & Layout===
Sarah Kerr

===Managing Editor===
Alkis Alkiviades

===Manual Writer & Editor===
Rick Haslam

===Brand Manager===
Adrian Turner

===Thanks To===
Sheila Boutin 
Valentina Britten 
Marc Curtis 
Gareth Davies 
Steve Hickman 
Laurie Sinnett 
Scott K. Tsumura 
 
----

Some of the material in this article was adapted from Wikipedia's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-COM X-COM] page.

=See Also=
* [http://www.edge-online.com/features/making-x-com-enemy-unknown/ The Making of Enemy Unknown] - An interview with Julian Gollop, one of the game creators on Edge Magazine.
* [[Background]] -- a timeline of events in the X-COM story line and other connections to the "real world"

{{Games Navbar}}
[[Category:Enemy Unknown/UFO Defense]]

User:Mauirixxx/CustomRules

2014-06-22T21:11:17Z

Mauirixxx:

== Add Hawaii to the Geoscape ==
<pre># Ruleset to add new cities to the geoscape map

regions:
- type: STR_PACIFIC
cities:
- name: STR_HONOLULU
lon: 207.074
lat: -21.3902
- name: STR_LIHUE
lon: 205.479
lat: -22.0707
- name: STR_HILO
lon: 209.757
lat: -19.6007
extraStrings:
- type: en-US
strings:
STR_HONOLULU: Honolulu
STR_LIHUE: Lihue
STR_HILO: Hilo
- type: en-GB
strings:
STR_HONOLULU: Honolulu
STR_LIHUE: Lihue
STR_HILO: Hilo</pre>

Just copy and paste this into data/Ruleset/[CustomRuleName].rul then go into Options -> Mods, find your newly created custom rule, and enable it.

== Misc Notes ==
Weapons that consume ammo have both an:

<pre>items:
- type:</pre>

AND an associated:

<pre>units:
- type:</pre>

More info can be found via the [[Ruleset_Reference_(OpenXcom)]] page.

User:Mauirixxx/CustomRules

2014-06-21T00:18:36Z

Mauirixxx: Needed a place to store my Hawaii (Honolulu, actually) rule for the Geoscape

User:Mauirixxx

2014-06-21T00:06:48Z

Mauirixxx: I'm a boring guy.

Not much to say, I used to play X-Com back in '94 when it came out on a 486-SX 25, played hell getting the sound to work. Soon I was playing it on a Pentium 90 with 8 megabytes of ram, watching time whiz by on the Geoscape :P

Got bit by the nostalgia bug a few years ago, picked up the entire X-Com collection for $2.50 on Amazon, played a few days, got tired of DOSbox, and stopped.

I heard about the OpenXcom 1.0 release .... and haven't slept much since I downloaded it :D

[[User:Mauirixxx/CustomRules|My Custom Rules]] for OpenXcom (nothing useful, but fun for me).