UFOpaedia - User contributions [en]

Trade (Apocalypse)

2008-06-16T16:50:56Z

Nateski: New; Trade Page - General, Effect of Relations, Supply & Demand

===The Equipment Market===
This section will describe the ins and outs of purchasing equipment and its wider economical effect within Apocalypse.

==General==
Equipment is one of the most important features of Apocalypse as sending an un-equipped agent into combat is suicide, whereas the right equipment can see you winning battles against the odds. A variety of Organisations within the cityscape are willing to sell you weapons, armour, armaments and various enhancements for your army of agents or your fleet of craft. Thier willingness to trade with you, however, depends on your actions throughout the game.

==Effect of Relations on Trade==
Various Organisations within Apocalypse are responsible for the manufacture and retail of numerous pieces of equipment. Your relationship with these organisations determines the avilability of these items. If relations with a particular organisation are unfriendly, your supply of the items they produce will be reduced if not cut-off completely.

To prevent this from happening avoid raiding structures belonging to any company that provides items you need, common examples are Megapol and Marsec. Also when attending Infestations try not to cause too much collateral damage as this will affect relations with the owners of the building. It may be a good idea to leave your HE equipment at home.

==Supply & Demand==
The market in Apocalypse changes with the level of demand for each item. In practice this means that if you buy all the available ammo for a particular weapon one week, its price will rise the next. If you do not purchase the same item for a week after, the price will drop back to its original level.

Note that the prices of items will not fall below certain levels. These levels depend on the item in question.

When selling items that you have manufactured in your workshops the same principle applies, if you sell lots of one item in one week its value will drop, sometimes instantly. Manufactured items regain thier value more slowly than other items, especially if they are commercially available from another company. E.g. cargo modules

User:Nateski

2008-06-16T16:11:44Z

Nateski: Edit; User Profile

Nateski is a contributor to the Apocalypse side of Wiki and has written several articles over the space of about a year. He considers himself an Apocalyptic God and thinks that everyone should have jet-pack sniper groups and stun grenades galore. Believes that well placed precision fire is better than a storm of lead. and generally considers everyone else's tactics wrong. despite proof to the contrary. Remember, Marsec Body unit + Sniper Rifle = Avenging Angels

Talk:Main Page

2008-06-12T22:45:03Z

Nateski:

__TOC__
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Quick nitty gritty gribbly grabbly notes:

* Template navigation toolbars for subsections.
* Strategy by terrain notes?
* Mention of bug where unit gets stuck in the corner of the map
* Mention of bug where you reload a battlescape mission only to be on an invalid level and how to recover from it (use OHMap, go back down to legal level, click until you find the map again, save the game). Often happens after editting the game, strangely enough. Is it possible the game stores map camera coordinates as a file checksum or somesuch?

::Blast! I must really remember to write my thoughts down here as often as possible. I've had many floaty lightbulb moments on what we're currently lacking/missing, and they're all gone.

::- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

== Site Backups ==

Ok, gents. Here's the scoop - straight from GazChap. The site is backed up every day, so there is basically no worry about losing everything if it should go down. The only thing that may be lost are transactions during that day when it is down. Normally there isn't much activity, but there is the occasional marathon editing session which some people partake in. ;)--[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 19:41, 9 June 2006 (PDT)
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The server hosting the UFOpaedia experienced a few issues over the weekend, but nothing major. However, I've decided that being reliant on a third-party backup service is foolhardy - consequently I'm going to be installing my own backup solution to the server soon (hopefully within the next few days) that will backup all user-submitted data. If anyone would like to volunteer to receive additional backups via e-mail (no point me just having backups, if I get knocked down by a bus we'd be stuffed ;) ) then please contact me at gazchap at gmail dot com. --[[User:GazChap|GazChap]] 13:48, 31 July 2006 (BST)
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If I could ask one necessary question on this score: Gaz (or others), what might we do, if the site goes down and we can't contact you? Who's the "backup" for you?

Why do I ask?

In mid July the Europa Universalis 3 (EU3) wiki went down (and indeed its location at that time still [http://europa-universalis.kerak.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page is]). On the EU3 [http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=314776&page=1&pp=20 forum], I (RedKnight7 there) kept asking when it would be back up. The forum regulars kept saying "the host is on vacation or something and will be back". To make a long story short, the wiki didn't come back up until two months later, at a different [http://www.paradoxian.org/eu3wiki/Main_Page place]And I have yet to post a bunch of nice EU3 reference info because I moved on to other games in the meantime, in part because the wiki was down. (That was real sad because it was "prime time" for EU3... the game had recently come out, the wiki's down for weeks, and everybody's saying, "relax". So I relaxed on to other games.) Anyway. It still begs the question,

We luv you for hosting this, Gaz. But can we ask for fallback plans?

Ideas: Ask 2 or 3 of your bros, with server access (at work?), if they can be alternates. Then tell all the wiki admins who the alternates are (contact info) and instructions on just where the stuff is (in a way that makes sense to the alternates). OR, if you entirely trust 2 or 3 folks here give them the location, password, etc. OR, other possibilities are mirrors or access to site backups. OR maybe 2 or 3 wiki regulars are using a crawler (is that the word?) that regularly independently backs up the source. Or maybe even it can all be snagged off Google???

Something, somehow. For if the wiki goes down and we can't reach the host. It's good to cover all the bases. (Just like in a good game of XCOM.)

- [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 18:05, 19 October 2007 (PDT)

:Mike: GazChap and myself have been discussing this with Pete from StrategyCore for a while now. The idea is for StrategyCore to host the wiki so that backups are done on a consistent basis and would prevent downtime. (StrategyCore isn't going to disappear anytime soon, so by default, neither should the wiki if it is hosted by them). I'll have to get in touch with Pete again to see how far along he is in the process. --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 20:43, 21 October 2007 (PDT)

Sounds great, Zombie. It's something hard to bring up - but a responsible thing to do. I was really shocked with what happened to EU3. Only one further stupid question - StratCore and GazChap aren't affiliated, are they? (Not both run off the same company's resources? I don't know who runs either server.) And thanks for thinking ahead! - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 16:10, 26 October 2007 (PDT)

== Slight problem with transclusion tables for main page ==

Folks, I've noticed a problem with the main transclusion tables for the main page when I was adding a few links to the UFO table.

The problem is that the tables are classed as ordinary pages. They certainly work with transclusion the same way the template pages do, but there are two problems that they create.

The first, and most prominent, is that actual main page doesn't update when updates are made to the individual tables. You have to have your browser perform a forced refresh to get the updates to show.

The second is that the templates aren't listed at the bottom of the edit box when you edit the main page. Having them listed would make it a convenient way to get to them rather than manually type the name into the address bar.

It's not a major problem, but I wanted to bring it to everyone's attention. I'll fix this later when I get a bit of free time. I a fix would just involve moving the tables into the template namespace. If not, well, I'll do a bit of cut and paste wizardry to make everything right.

- [[User:NKF|NKF]]
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Apologies, yep template pages do update near-automatically so they are a better choice than transcluded pages. I noticed that when you move a page that has a link on the template page and subsequently edit the template to point to the new location that the links on the moved page will not refresh. You must perform a dummy edit on the pages with the template info to update the links accordingly. I'll have to check to see what happens if you rename a template link and then move the page. The same thing might happen. It depends on the software here and if it uses dynamic pointers. --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 08:52, 1 February 2007 (PST)

== Clean Up ==

It's just occurring to me that "Community" does not feature the main two actual forums (XCOMUFO and StratCore) that newbies might turn to, right up front. Also, this Discussion page has gotten way long.

Newbies need that Community connection, since that's the meaning of the word. Never mind that it can be found down around here somwhere, which even I can't find, right off. (It's why I came here, to show others examples of linking, but now I can't find where the heck the forums show up here.) Wikis should appeal to newbies heartily. Links to talk forums need to be "right there".

Could someone take a hand at making the forums highlighted for newbies. And also, such a dedicated person might cut down this Discussion page tons. The new Style page is a place to put some things.

Some thoughts - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 23:39, 9 February 2007 (PST)

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Well, I cut this page down. It was on my list of things to do in the near future anyway.

Ok, we have 2 "Community" pages right now: the [[UFOpaedia:Community_Portal|Community portal]] page (on the sidebar) and the [[Community]] page. The plain community page is buried at the bottom of the main page and contains the links to the forums. I'm thinking that we just get rid of the community page and add that info to the community portal instead. This way, the info is always near the top of the screen for quick access. --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 00:14, 10 February 2007 (PST)

== Discussion/talk page proposed format ==
Ok folks, we all seem to have our own ways of adding comments to a discussion page. The way it stands now, it becomes really difficult to follow a discussion when it is broken apart with different formats. What I suggest is this: when you leave a comment use a horizontal line to separate your post from the one(s) above it. In this manner, everything is left justified and the comments are separated. The reason why I do not support the colon as comment separation is that as the discussion progresses you are going to be adding more and more just to get the indenting correct. It also makes it confusing. Another side effect is that once you have a lot of colons present it pushes the text off the page itself and forces a scroll to the right to view. That isn't good.

I suppose if we really want to use colons as separators, we could alternate the use. If a comment is indented above yours, do nothing. If a comment is not indented, use a colon for your submission. Still, the constant zig-zagging isn't really the best idea either.

My vote is therefore to stick with the horizontal line (four dashes). If the discussion veers way off course, or if you have a couple questions/comments, break it apart into different headings. And always sign your post too as that makes it easier to follow.

Discuss.--[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 20:46, 9 March 2007 (PST)

Works for me, Zombie. Another problem with indentation is that one isn't necessarily addressing only the previous comment, but it could be about the previous one, and tying together things that are 4, 6, ''and'' 12 entries back. Colons are fine for quick rejoinders, but not as a requirement. A potential alternative is to leave two blank lines, as I just did after your sig. This is a fairly clear delineator for folks scanning quickly. However, the horizontal separator is more clear, in general. So I guess I'd vote for the hor-sep for all except quick comments thrown in, which can use colons. And anything that's a new topic or big break should get a new topic, using = signs. - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 21:10, 9 March 2007 (PST)

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I've reformatted [[Talk:Exploits#Extra_Ammo_Exploit]] to demonstrate how the indentation style ''can'' work, if done consistently. I think it's somewhat better than the line-separator style for very long discussions, making the structure a little clearer. However, if it's sometimes-used and sometimes-not things get messy, as you've noticed.

I'll codify the rules right here (surprisingly, they're not well-codified on Wikipedia itself, despite the fact that it's used quite consistently throughout the site):

*Add an indent for each reply
*Reuse your prior level of indentation if it's a back and forth:

First person's comment

:Second person's comment

::Third person's comment

:Second person again

::Third person again

::Third person's afterthought

:Second person again

::First person jumping back in

:::Third person once more

::First person again

*If you get to 5 or 6 indents, just "reset" (start without indents for the next reply).
*If you have an addendum to your own comments, use the same indent level and re-sign.
*If somebody doesn't know/doesn't use the right indent level, fix it when adding your next reply so the rules become clear during the course of conversation.
*Likewise, if someone adds a new comment to the top or fails to add a heading when starting a new subject, fix it when replying.

The problem we've had lately is the mixing of styles, neither being used correctly. So far it seems that myself, Sf, and NKF have been using indents, you (Zombie) and Mike favoring dashes, and most newcomers failing to use either. No clear winner just yet. ;-)
--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 23:56, 9 March 2007 (PST)

:What if you're addressing several and various issues raised before, not just a comment on the previous statement? (And it runs on for four or six paragraphs?) - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 00:14, 10 March 2007 (PST)

::If you're consolidating a bunch of replies to several earlier points, that's a good time to reset the indent.--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 01:07, 10 March 2007 (PST)

::: Works for me, Eth - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 16:47, 9 November 2007 (PST)

== British vs. American spelling ==

:NKF Stealth note for authors or any nosy person reading the source: For those pedantic about the American/British English spelling of Armour/Armor, I used the British spelling because that's how it's spelt in the game when running it in the English text mode. This may not necessarily be the case for the other games in the series or earlier localized releases, but it is very much so in v1.4ce, hence why I'm sticking with it. I'd also like to add that a section relating specifically for armour is required, with some sections regarding armour management, such as how its distributed and the particulars of armour recovery when a soldier dies or is fired (i.e. none). (Damnit, just added Category:Armor -HeckRuler)

:We should move this note to the top of the back of Main Page. English vs. USA doesn't matter. - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 22:07, 9 March 2007 (PST)

I moved the above two comments from within HTML comments on the [[Soldier]] page. Might as well "have a discussion" about it, it's what we do. Although I'm an American, I favor the in-game (British) spelling, wherever it appears (Plasma Defence, Armour, Cyberdisc, etc.). I'm, um, pedantic. Or probably just anal-retentive.--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 00:58, 10 March 2007 (PST)

: I'm in favour of the UK spelling scheme myself, only due to general preference and because UFO is in UK English (on the other hand, TFTD is in US English). However, I still like to think the spelling is interchangeable, and when it comes to the spelling of the actual article: redirects can do wonders! I actually left that note there as an afterthought in case some authors suddenly decide to do mass edits of the spelling, and others come along and revert the changes, and the whole process repeats itself. I mean, armor → armour → armor → smurf → armour → ad-infinitum. Not a nice thought. - [[User:NKF|NKF]]

It's probably a very small issue on this site regardless. By comparison, Wikipedia has yet to implement any way for Commonwealth readers to see British spellings while American readers see US spellings. Instead, they're sticking with the comical compromise of "the creator of the article fates whether it'll have British or American spelling for the rest of its days". Maybe through Wikipedia's confusion the mother tongue will eventually merge back together. :-) --[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 02:24, 10 March 2007 (PST)

: Agreed. I'll try my best to use the British spellings, but when I get on a typing roll the American spelling is what comes to me first. I usually don't catch it either when I proof read. I'd say redirects would be the best solution, so 'Personal Armor' redirects to 'Personal Armour'. As far as the spelling in articles, I think it's pretty well known the two differences of spelling, though it could be a problem if an article switches back and forth from it alot.

: That said this affects maybe 3 or 4 Armour articles? I can't think of any other differences that would be in an article, at least as a main subject. Maybe the occasional colour or favour. --[[User:Pi Masta|Pi Masta]] 11:59, 10 March 2007 (PST)
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If anybody is still caring about this: I say do what the Wikipedia does, and let the author do what they want. Except when you're tacking a little onto a page that's already big into one way of spelling; then stick to what it's using. I'm U.S. and just want to write, not spend time looking up possible British variants - I'm not even sure what they all are. There are even a lot of acceptable variants in U.S. English already, shrug.

I like the Wikipedia rule since it focuses on getting stuff posted. Yet still in the case of XCOM, there is a real reason for letting British be the standard. I really don't care, but will use U.S. for much of my writing. Still if anybody wants to go through and re-write everything British, that's fine with me. The focus is, posting game info.

My two cents. - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 18:05, 19 October 2007 (PDT)

: Just do whatever you want MTR, that's how I've been going about it. If later you read through an article and spot these things and decide to change them, then so be it. It's just that it would be preferable for UFO to stick to its in-game language. The same goes for TFTD and Apocalypse, which use the US spelling - hence why I try to use armor for them, but often end up typing armour instead.

:I'm sure we all agree that US and British spelling is interchangeable so this issue isn't really a big one - until we get into little wars where one party is pro one variant of the language while the other party is pro another variant, and they end up at logger heads. - [[User:NKF|NKF]]

== MediaWiki upgraded. ==

I've upgraded MediaWiki to the latest version, although I'm afraid I don't know how to prevent spamming etc. If anyone can point me in the direction of something about this I can take a look at it, but now that it's upgraded and I have backups I should be in a position to allow Pete at SC to take over hosting.

: See my email Gaz. We'll get this fixed yet. The only problem I noticed with the upgrade is that the logo in the upper left isn't linked to the correct picture. :) --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 07:32, 28 September 2007 (PDT)

:: Fixed the logo, and I've also added a CAPTCHA extension. You'll be prompted to enter two words if you try to: create a new account; add an external link using an anonymous account. I'm now going to look at trying to give Pete at SC FTP access to the server without inadvertently giving him access to everything else I have hosted on there. Sometimes I hate these web control panels.

:: I've now e-mailed Pete with all the details he requires to take over hosting. --[[User:GazChap|GazChap]] 12:19, 30 September 2007 (BST)

:::Great job, Gaz. Thanks as always for your hosting!! - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 16:21, 12 October 2007 (PDT)

== XCOM Box Art ==

Someone (NKF? Danial?) once asked if anybody could scan XCOM's box art, so that they might e.g. put a better graphic on the main page. I just uploaded a 300 dpi scan of all four sides as [[Media:XCOM_UFO_Defense_DOS_US_Box_Art.zip]] (3.2 MB). The box is not in mint condition (see the ReadMe), but a little tweaking by somebody with skillz (Danial) could easily spruce it up. - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 18:05, 19 October 2007 (PDT)

: Was it me? Hmm. Can't remember. I did think to just grab the cover for the PDF version of the X-Com Player's Handbook (US version - with the Mars/Super Avenger cover), but it's black and white. Could've sworn I've seen a copy in colour somewhere. Not that sepia version wouldn't look great though!
: Oh hang on, I don't think it was for the front page graphic in particular, but we did want to get various versions of the box art for the various games. - [[User:NKF|NKF]]

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NKF - or anybody - can we consider replacing the current main page art, with the XCOM box art? Or a portion of it. I loved the game's intro and in-game "cartoon art", but why not use the game's best image, for our primary Main Page image? (Is there somebody with skills that can clean it up quickly? I'm happy to, but I'm no pics wizard.)

[[image:XcomScExample.png|thumb|100px|One of many possible screencaps]]Related to this, I think it would be a nice touch if anyone put a bunch of selected and/or random screen captures (screencaps) onto a page, with a link just "under" (i.e., indented under the Main Page entry for) [[Info|About X-COM: UFO Defense]]...

:I have a sneaking suspicion that we get a ton of lurkers (someone who is there but never speaks) who once played X-COM and came across our page by chance, and would like to relive it, if even for a few screencaps... yet as it is now, our site is becoming more of an in-depth encyclopedia, instead of a "you were once here" kind of place. All us hard core players gravitate toward the encyclopedia - but even if folks who once played it don't stay, if they say, "wow, I remember doing all that" based on a stack of screenshots, that would be good. I'm thinking of easy sections that are light on text (and no Ufopaedia info), but heavy on thumbnails and click-on screencaps (see the image to the right - I love that financier in the background) like:
:*My first base - Decisions
:*The Globe - Radar alert!
:*First contact! Small farm in Iowa, USA
:*Managing Research
:*Terror in Sydney! ''(include zombies - squad wiped out - see next)''
:*Headline: World Council generally supports X-COM efforts - subheadline - Australia may now be under the control of aliens ''(funding results for a month)''
:*Headline: X-COM squad impacted by "Blaster bomb" - the world cries (before and after pix)
:*The tricky depths of a Battleship
:*Elite squad Mind Controls all aliens
:*Final showdown: Cydonia
:Each of the sections above might have 1-5 images. Something like that.

:If no one objects, can I ask that anyone who is willing to do it, make a bunch of screencaps, using .pngs and thumbnails as shown above. Then lurkers can "remember the days" right up front. And a few more lurkers than currently breeze through, might stay.

:To put this in context, CNN recently had a number of articles admiring Commodore 64s (one of them [http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/12/07/c64/index.html?iref=newssearch here]). X-COM is like that, to me... it lives past its "life expectancy" to gamers, because of how well put together it was, especially including how much it hit you in the gut.

In summary, then. I have one question for us XCOM hardcore (can we change the Main Page image) and one for everybody (want to post a lot of screencaps?). I have made a stub page for the screencaps page. I'll retract it if the hardcore object or there's no response in a couple of months' time. - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 21:44, 14 December 2007 (PST)
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I'm perfectly fine with getting the main title changed. Get a few more ayes and we'll make it so.

A screencap section would be nice. I'm quite partial to creating screencap mini-comics (no, not real comics. Just sequential before/during/after images), although I never use them and they just get deleted in the end.

One benefit is that some of the shots can also be recycled throughout the rest of the site to illustrate certain things. Or for an article that's no more than a solid block of text, something to break up the monotony. I'm also always for a few well placed humorous shots.

-[[User:NKF|NKF]] 01:02, 15 December 2007 (PST)

:Sounds good, NKF. There could easily be a "comics" page link several ways:
::1) The new Main Page entry indented under [[Info|About X-COM: UFO Defense]] could also have a link to a comics page, but on the screenshot page itself,
::2) That same new entry on the Main Page could read something like "[[Screenshots]] - and [[Comics]]!" The concept of the screenshots page is to help folks relive the past. And something just as good as screenshots - or better - is screenshots with humor.
::3) Or, make a link for it, all by itself, somewhere obvious on the Main Page.
:I think it's a great idea!
:As for the other idea - you said you're fine re: changing the main title. But it's the graphic at the top of the Main Page that I'm talking about. Just to make sure we're clear on that. - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 17:21, 21 December 2007 (PST)

== Smart Quotes ==

Do we use them? When I write up articles in MS Word, it automatically uses "smart quotes," i.e., “this.” I can imagine that there could be some benefit to keeping it all consistent.

[[User:NinthRank|NinthRank]] 17:48, 21 October 2007 (PDT)

:Well, I can't see any practicality in trying to convert all articles to smart quotes, so I'll clean up the ones that I've done with straight quotes to be consistent.

:[[User:NinthRank|NinthRank]] 19:30, 25 October 2007 (PDT)

== Favicon ==

Does the UFOpaedia have a favicon? -- [[User:NinthRank|NinthRank]] 17:51, 6 November 2007 (PST)

:We did have it at one time but I think it disappeared after an upgrade to the wiki software. If you have an idea for a favicon, submit it here. --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 18:21, 6 November 2007 (PST)

Okay, I don't know where that logo in the upper left came from, but after a quick GIMP edit, I came up with this: [[Media:favicon.zip]]. I'm not quite sure how The GIMP works with icons, so I also included the .png's. What do you think? -- [[User:NinthRank|NinthRank]] 18:51, 6 November 2007 (PST)

:Not too shabby. Next time I talk to GazChap, I'll run it past him. Any more ideas for a favicon? I'd like to get a few (at least 3) and run it through a vote here. --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 20:28, 6 November 2007 (PST)

::[[image:FavIcon-Crude1.png|thumb|16px]][[image:FavIcon-Crude2.png|thumb|16px]]NinthRank and Z, my two cents are something like this. My pics are incredibly crude - I'm a total graphics n00b - and would need somebody like you, Ninth, to turn it into the "burnished gold and navy" (or is that black?), like you did with yours. I couldn't even get my damn background to change for me using simple MS Word art ... what do you use? (See how n00b I am?)

::I think you have some great ideas there, but my favicons show as 16x16 pixels. (Is this because I use small icons? I had never heard the the word until you said it, Ninth, at which point I read the wiki entry, and it made immediate sense.) At 162, you have to keep it incredibly simply... having the COM on a big X does that, because it doesn't "waste a repetitive 'X-' across the center", if that makes sense. Another idea is be careful with the X ... I didn't like the X in your 16x16 and 32x32 because it was "narrow" (more vertical than horizontal). I definitely like your 48x48. (I can't tell what's going on with your animated 16x16 .ico, my friend - a 16x16 pic on a 1280x1024 screen (or higher) needs to be real simple. It looks like a tiny pulsing thing, with an X sort of there, overall.) I think the X should be, if not symmetric, then, more wide than high - to me, this implies something "ominous". A true X would have to be "cut off" at the corners to be "wide and fat" at 16x16. This shows more in my second try than the first.

::You can make things bigger than 162, a real plus and you get much more flexibility, but for me, only 16x16 exists.

::My two cents. I love your overall idea, and using navy (or black?) with gold trim. Thanks for signing in and helping out, NinthRank! -[[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 19:40, 14 December 2007 (PST)

== XCOM-like games ==

Are the After-games and Extraterrestrials allowed on this wiki? [[User:Ssfsx17|Ssfsx17]]

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I don't see the point, unless there's enough authors prepared to put together the pages.

On the other hand, if there are then I don't see a problem. It might be worth putting the question forward in the relevant forum sections first to see if there's any real interest.

- [[User:Bomb Bloke|Bomb Bloke]] 01:31, 9 February 2008 (PST)

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I'm just thinking about the organisation. The wiki so far has been quite specialised and only covers X-Com content. The other games are similar, but are not really X-com. The solution would be to open up an be a more general wiki for X-Com-likes, although I feel that might might cause some loss in focus. We can already see that here with the X-Com spinoffs. Nary a paragraph of interesting tidbits in any of them. Well, not much anyway.

Still, I'm now of the belief that all good games should have great compendiums of knowledge like this.

If we're going to move the wiki onto Strategycore (is that still going ahead?), perhaps separate wikis for the other X-Com-like's series could be created as well if there is a demand?

- [[User:NKF|NKF]] 02:27, 9 February 2008 (PST)

==Technical Commentaries==

I just thought of adding a specific section concerning commentaries regarding the game, i.e., trying to explain how the weapons/diplomacy/funding/etc. would work in real life. The idea here is not to expand on the canon X-COM material but to describe/explain in a rational way.
I've come with this idea after reading Spike's section (on his [[User talk:Spike]] page) explaining the economics of X-COM and starting my own section regarding the Council of Funding Nations.
I think there is plenty of material available on the Data canisters that could be used/adapted to this. Also, the discussion regarding Elerium (with all those formulas) on the Talk Page is exactly the sort of thing I was thinking of.

- [[User:Hobbes|Hobbes]] 22:59, 10 March 2008 (PDT)

: I don't see any problem with it. Go for it. We've started with a magnificent wealth of knowledge about the game itself (and a bit beyond, with the binary file diving). Theories and explanations of the X-Com world wouldn't be out of place. They'd certainly add a bit of literary colour and interest for those that wish to look beyond the game. There are lots of interesting bits and pieces scattered throughout the articles (like real world equivalents of weapon or tanks, just to name one example) that would probably fit better in a section like that than in the articles. Perhaps a an expanded data-canister like section would be in order. - [[User:NKF|NKF]] 01:13, 11 March 2008 (PDT)

== Game Editors ==

I was going to add a link off the Main Page to the [[Game editors]] section that I wrote, under Misc. I still have a nagging feeling there is another list of them somewhere, but I can't find it. Any comments?

Also, any additions to the Game editors section are welcome.

[[User:Spike|Spike]] 03:40, 15 March 2008 (PDT)

: I don't think we've ever had a particular listing of editors.

: Tell you what, I'll throw these changes in, and we'll see how this works out.

:# I'll put the new game editor section onto the UFO main table (I've also renamed the page to stick to the first capital letter naming convention the other articles use).
:# I removed XComutil off the main table, since it'll be under the game file section.
:# Removed the UBK - it's just a tool for wiki editors and not something that would interest players of the game.

: I might also add the [[Command Prompt]] to the game editor section for its notes on using MS-Edit as a binary file editor.

:- [[User:NKF|NKF]] 04:46, 15 March 2008 (PDT)

:: While I see the validity of adding XComUtil to a page regarding editors won't it make sense to keep a sublink to the page which deals on how to use it, together with MSEdit? I mean, the other editors only have links to them on that page and I think that at least XComUtil deserves main page status because of its notoriosity and complexity. What do you guys think? - [[User:Hobbes|Hobbes]] 14:08, 15 March 2008 (PDT)

----
a good idea to include the Command Prompt help. How about broadly dividing it into 2 sections: X-COM-specific tools and general purpose tools?
[[User:Spike|Spike]] 07:08, 17 March 2008 (PDT)

== Newb questions ==

Hello good sirs. Sorry for my bad non-native english. While in total noob in wiki, im relatively for long playd this great games. Great thanks for you for this great site, it really helped me with some ideas, especially with Funding Nation, even dont know how i played it before without it. Now more close to point, i realized what TFTD section here are, say, unperfect, if not somewhat wrong. As i readed somewhere not all play TFTD much, UFO1 instead, so it maybe be the point. Id edit something on it, but im totally dunno how to do it, and my language will have too many mistakes to be proudly presented to people. So id be glade to hear what you may propose for me to do. Again big thanks. Ill wait for answer.

PS Or im searched too badly, or its differ in TFTD (i play only it now) from UFO1, but i cant find here about stunned persons behaviour. Cant find what they awake only if theyr stun is lower then HP's and if only they have awaken person in theyr tile during end of turn. IMHO its important thing to know off, at least for me.

PPS. My friend made great tiny changes to one tiny file, what make FundingNations game way more easy and elegant then described in issue. I can upload it if you need this, tho its for TFTD im sure he can do UFO1 also if its needed. Anyway this game too easy even on FN to play it without it :).

Eh PPPS. Dunno how to properly log on :(.

: Do not worry about the language barrier - sometimes it's harder to understand people who speak English natively! ;) In any case, There'll be other editors who will be able to help fix the article for you if you can get the idea across.

: To get started editing pages, check the Community Portal on the left sidebar. That has links to articles that can help you get started - more or less. One good way to find out how some text is formatted (or anything else you'd like to duplicate) is to edit the page and see how it's done in the source.

: If in doubt, or if you're unsure about editing the article, feel free put your ideas or suggestions in the article's Discussion page.

: Because TFTD and UFO share a lot of the same mechanics, there would be a lot of unnecessary duplication if we were to write up articles for it that are already available in the UFO articles. Therefore we mainly include articles that cover topics that are unique to TFTD, like the weapons, door opening, aliens, etc. General mechanics like how damage works or how experience is earned is identical to UFO's, so there's no need to duplicate them. What sections do you think need improving or what sections do we need to add? The more input the better.

: Regarding consciousness, have you checked the [[Unconscious]] article? I think we might need to redo that article bit and perhaps add a few illustrations. One note about the difference between UFO and TFTD with the visual appearance of a unit recovered with a medikit needs to go in there too if it hasn't already. Oh well. - [[User:NKF|NKF]] 22:54, 22 May 2008 (PDT)

: PS, to sign your messages in the discussion pages, put four tilde's <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> anywhere you want to insert your name and the timestamp.

== same questions ==

Thank you for answer. I been somwhat incorrect in my english. I didnt mean what TFTD pages are bad or what they lose reduntand UFO1 information. All they lack are only slightly wrongly described alien's dangers levels (one of most dangerous creatures cant be low treat, and least dangerous one medium) and lack of mission types what only TFTD have. Also i readed "Unconscious@ article few times, stiil cant find only how to use medkit and no word about what generally need for stunned person to rise. From that follow advices to grenade stunned chryssalids and so on.

PS. Oh, yes, and whats wrong with door openings?
[[User:Derrida|Derrida]] 08:59, 23 May 2008 (PDT)

: A unit falls unconscious when the stun bar is equal or greater than the unit's remaining health points. If it's under that, the unit will be awake.

: To wake a soldier up, you have to reduce the stun level by either waiting for the stun to wear off, 1 point per turn, or use stimulants on a medikit. Looks like the TFTD section doesn't have its own medikit page, but UFO's [[Medi-Kit]] section explains how to use it, as they are identical. Basically, if the unit is unconscious, the medic must stand on top of the unconscious unit and use stimulants (the second choice) until the unconscious soldier wakes up. When the unconscious unit wakes up, they'll appear to the north of the medic.

: TFTD's stun weapons are much more powerful than in TFTD, so you often have to use a lot of stimulants to wake a person up.

: TFTD's unique because it allows you to open doors by right clicking them - and it's a free action so you won't spend any TUs to do it. UFO cannot do this (except the Playstation version).

: As for the threat levels of the aliens - I agree, some should be reclassified. Personally I'd move the Gill-Men and Calcinite up to medium threat - all the current medium level threats look just about right though. What are your suggestions?

: Hang on, why are there so many references to vibroblades in the overview article? That can't be right. I'll have to update that later on. - [[User:NKF|NKF]] 15:05, 23 May 2008 (PDT)

Nonono. I mean what if unit's stun damage falled below it's HP, and no one stand in tile it lying, it will never rise. Medkits not the point. No stunned aliens or soldiers will rise if no one will end turn on it, or take it to inventory/hand. I tried to say this. Maybe it been different in UFO1 (as with doors, i thought what doors always open by right click, and in UFO1 too (btw cant find about door opening anywere in wiki)), but in TFTD it means what you dont have to bother with stunned tentaculats etc to rise after stun if you do not stand on it, or try to move it in backpack/hand. Same with soldiers, you can click zillion turns, but they will never rise until someone stand on it. Without this game must be horrible with all this undying lobsters awake afer you pass them.
With danger level id suggest this: Harmless: hallucinoid; deep one; Low: gillmen; aquatoid; Meduim: zombie; calcinite; bio-drone; lobsterman; xarquid; high: tasoth; triscene; What really matters: tentaculat. In line of growing dangerness. [[User:Derrida|Derrida]] 16:30, 23 May 2008 (PDT)

== Regarding image file formats ==

I'd really like to add a note somewhere obvious about using GIFs for screenshots in the wiki, rather than JPGs. For 256-color images like X-COM uses, GIFs are no larger than JPGs and generally look much better. For example, see the nasty compression artifacts on the terrain maps in the [[Terror Ship]] article. PNGs might work just as well, I'm not sure, but we should really avoid JPGs.

Where would be the best place to mention this? I'm thinking near the top of the main page for visibility, but that might be more clutter than people want. [[User:Phasma Felis|Phasma Felis]] 23:59, 11 June 2008 (PDT)

:It's been dealt with [[User_talk:Zombie#Image_Types|here]] that PNG is the preferred file format of the wiki; however, where to note this...I honestly don't know. [[User:Arrow Quivershaft|Arrow Quivershaft]] 00:37, 12 June 2008 (PDT)

:: PNG's reduced to 256 or less colours can be quite the space saver for X-Com screenshots. You can go the extra step and run them through PNG compression programs and somesuch - but they're pretty good as-is. Jpgs should be reserved for images with a broader range of colours. One place the note could go is in [[Guidelines to writing articles]]. In fact, that section could do with a few extra additions in any case to expand is to that it's not just covering the composition of the language of the articles, but to cover the creation of the articles. - [[User:NKF|NKF]] 03:04, 12 June 2008 (PDT)

== Administrator Positions ==

As a fairly regular and large scale contributor to the Apocalypse side of this site i would like to offer my services as an administrator. I believe i can make the site better by editing spelling, punctuation, grammar and headings, i can also make the information more managable and simpler to understand. It will also give me something to do in my days, as apposed to nothing. many thanks Nathan King

Talk:Main Page

2008-06-12T22:28:22Z

Nateski: New section: Administartor Positions

__TOC__
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Quick nitty gritty gribbly grabbly notes:

* Template navigation toolbars for subsections.
* Strategy by terrain notes?
* Mention of bug where unit gets stuck in the corner of the map
* Mention of bug where you reload a battlescape mission only to be on an invalid level and how to recover from it (use OHMap, go back down to legal level, click until you find the map again, save the game). Often happens after editting the game, strangely enough. Is it possible the game stores map camera coordinates as a file checksum or somesuch?

::Blast! I must really remember to write my thoughts down here as often as possible. I've had many floaty lightbulb moments on what we're currently lacking/missing, and they're all gone.

::- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

== Site Backups ==

Ok, gents. Here's the scoop - straight from GazChap. The site is backed up every day, so there is basically no worry about losing everything if it should go down. The only thing that may be lost are transactions during that day when it is down. Normally there isn't much activity, but there is the occasional marathon editing session which some people partake in. ;)--[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 19:41, 9 June 2006 (PDT)
----
The server hosting the UFOpaedia experienced a few issues over the weekend, but nothing major. However, I've decided that being reliant on a third-party backup service is foolhardy - consequently I'm going to be installing my own backup solution to the server soon (hopefully within the next few days) that will backup all user-submitted data. If anyone would like to volunteer to receive additional backups via e-mail (no point me just having backups, if I get knocked down by a bus we'd be stuffed ;) ) then please contact me at gazchap at gmail dot com. --[[User:GazChap|GazChap]] 13:48, 31 July 2006 (BST)
----

If I could ask one necessary question on this score: Gaz (or others), what might we do, if the site goes down and we can't contact you? Who's the "backup" for you?

Why do I ask?

In mid July the Europa Universalis 3 (EU3) wiki went down (and indeed its location at that time still [http://europa-universalis.kerak.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page is]). On the EU3 [http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=314776&page=1&pp=20 forum], I (RedKnight7 there) kept asking when it would be back up. The forum regulars kept saying "the host is on vacation or something and will be back". To make a long story short, the wiki didn't come back up until two months later, at a different [http://www.paradoxian.org/eu3wiki/Main_Page place]And I have yet to post a bunch of nice EU3 reference info because I moved on to other games in the meantime, in part because the wiki was down. (That was real sad because it was "prime time" for EU3... the game had recently come out, the wiki's down for weeks, and everybody's saying, "relax". So I relaxed on to other games.) Anyway. It still begs the question,

We luv you for hosting this, Gaz. But can we ask for fallback plans?

Ideas: Ask 2 or 3 of your bros, with server access (at work?), if they can be alternates. Then tell all the wiki admins who the alternates are (contact info) and instructions on just where the stuff is (in a way that makes sense to the alternates). OR, if you entirely trust 2 or 3 folks here give them the location, password, etc. OR, other possibilities are mirrors or access to site backups. OR maybe 2 or 3 wiki regulars are using a crawler (is that the word?) that regularly independently backs up the source. Or maybe even it can all be snagged off Google???

Something, somehow. For if the wiki goes down and we can't reach the host. It's good to cover all the bases. (Just like in a good game of XCOM.)

- [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 18:05, 19 October 2007 (PDT)

:Mike: GazChap and myself have been discussing this with Pete from StrategyCore for a while now. The idea is for StrategyCore to host the wiki so that backups are done on a consistent basis and would prevent downtime. (StrategyCore isn't going to disappear anytime soon, so by default, neither should the wiki if it is hosted by them). I'll have to get in touch with Pete again to see how far along he is in the process. --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 20:43, 21 October 2007 (PDT)

Sounds great, Zombie. It's something hard to bring up - but a responsible thing to do. I was really shocked with what happened to EU3. Only one further stupid question - StratCore and GazChap aren't affiliated, are they? (Not both run off the same company's resources? I don't know who runs either server.) And thanks for thinking ahead! - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 16:10, 26 October 2007 (PDT)

== Slight problem with transclusion tables for main page ==

Folks, I've noticed a problem with the main transclusion tables for the main page when I was adding a few links to the UFO table.

The problem is that the tables are classed as ordinary pages. They certainly work with transclusion the same way the template pages do, but there are two problems that they create.

The first, and most prominent, is that actual main page doesn't update when updates are made to the individual tables. You have to have your browser perform a forced refresh to get the updates to show.

The second is that the templates aren't listed at the bottom of the edit box when you edit the main page. Having them listed would make it a convenient way to get to them rather than manually type the name into the address bar.

It's not a major problem, but I wanted to bring it to everyone's attention. I'll fix this later when I get a bit of free time. I a fix would just involve moving the tables into the template namespace. If not, well, I'll do a bit of cut and paste wizardry to make everything right.

- [[User:NKF|NKF]]
----
Apologies, yep template pages do update near-automatically so they are a better choice than transcluded pages. I noticed that when you move a page that has a link on the template page and subsequently edit the template to point to the new location that the links on the moved page will not refresh. You must perform a dummy edit on the pages with the template info to update the links accordingly. I'll have to check to see what happens if you rename a template link and then move the page. The same thing might happen. It depends on the software here and if it uses dynamic pointers. --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 08:52, 1 February 2007 (PST)

== Clean Up ==

It's just occurring to me that "Community" does not feature the main two actual forums (XCOMUFO and StratCore) that newbies might turn to, right up front. Also, this Discussion page has gotten way long.

Newbies need that Community connection, since that's the meaning of the word. Never mind that it can be found down around here somwhere, which even I can't find, right off. (It's why I came here, to show others examples of linking, but now I can't find where the heck the forums show up here.) Wikis should appeal to newbies heartily. Links to talk forums need to be "right there".

Could someone take a hand at making the forums highlighted for newbies. And also, such a dedicated person might cut down this Discussion page tons. The new Style page is a place to put some things.

Some thoughts - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 23:39, 9 February 2007 (PST)

----
Well, I cut this page down. It was on my list of things to do in the near future anyway.

Ok, we have 2 "Community" pages right now: the [[UFOpaedia:Community_Portal|Community portal]] page (on the sidebar) and the [[Community]] page. The plain community page is buried at the bottom of the main page and contains the links to the forums. I'm thinking that we just get rid of the community page and add that info to the community portal instead. This way, the info is always near the top of the screen for quick access. --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 00:14, 10 February 2007 (PST)

== Discussion/talk page proposed format ==
Ok folks, we all seem to have our own ways of adding comments to a discussion page. The way it stands now, it becomes really difficult to follow a discussion when it is broken apart with different formats. What I suggest is this: when you leave a comment use a horizontal line to separate your post from the one(s) above it. In this manner, everything is left justified and the comments are separated. The reason why I do not support the colon as comment separation is that as the discussion progresses you are going to be adding more and more just to get the indenting correct. It also makes it confusing. Another side effect is that once you have a lot of colons present it pushes the text off the page itself and forces a scroll to the right to view. That isn't good.

I suppose if we really want to use colons as separators, we could alternate the use. If a comment is indented above yours, do nothing. If a comment is not indented, use a colon for your submission. Still, the constant zig-zagging isn't really the best idea either.

My vote is therefore to stick with the horizontal line (four dashes). If the discussion veers way off course, or if you have a couple questions/comments, break it apart into different headings. And always sign your post too as that makes it easier to follow.

Discuss.--[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 20:46, 9 March 2007 (PST)

Works for me, Zombie. Another problem with indentation is that one isn't necessarily addressing only the previous comment, but it could be about the previous one, and tying together things that are 4, 6, ''and'' 12 entries back. Colons are fine for quick rejoinders, but not as a requirement. A potential alternative is to leave two blank lines, as I just did after your sig. This is a fairly clear delineator for folks scanning quickly. However, the horizontal separator is more clear, in general. So I guess I'd vote for the hor-sep for all except quick comments thrown in, which can use colons. And anything that's a new topic or big break should get a new topic, using = signs. - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 21:10, 9 March 2007 (PST)

----

I've reformatted [[Talk:Exploits#Extra_Ammo_Exploit]] to demonstrate how the indentation style ''can'' work, if done consistently. I think it's somewhat better than the line-separator style for very long discussions, making the structure a little clearer. However, if it's sometimes-used and sometimes-not things get messy, as you've noticed.

I'll codify the rules right here (surprisingly, they're not well-codified on Wikipedia itself, despite the fact that it's used quite consistently throughout the site):

*Add an indent for each reply
*Reuse your prior level of indentation if it's a back and forth:

First person's comment

:Second person's comment

::Third person's comment

:Second person again

::Third person again

::Third person's afterthought

:Second person again

::First person jumping back in

:::Third person once more

::First person again

*If you get to 5 or 6 indents, just "reset" (start without indents for the next reply).
*If you have an addendum to your own comments, use the same indent level and re-sign.
*If somebody doesn't know/doesn't use the right indent level, fix it when adding your next reply so the rules become clear during the course of conversation.
*Likewise, if someone adds a new comment to the top or fails to add a heading when starting a new subject, fix it when replying.

The problem we've had lately is the mixing of styles, neither being used correctly. So far it seems that myself, Sf, and NKF have been using indents, you (Zombie) and Mike favoring dashes, and most newcomers failing to use either. No clear winner just yet. ;-)
--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 23:56, 9 March 2007 (PST)

:What if you're addressing several and various issues raised before, not just a comment on the previous statement? (And it runs on for four or six paragraphs?) - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 00:14, 10 March 2007 (PST)

::If you're consolidating a bunch of replies to several earlier points, that's a good time to reset the indent.--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 01:07, 10 March 2007 (PST)

::: Works for me, Eth - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 16:47, 9 November 2007 (PST)

== British vs. American spelling ==

:NKF Stealth note for authors or any nosy person reading the source: For those pedantic about the American/British English spelling of Armour/Armor, I used the British spelling because that's how it's spelt in the game when running it in the English text mode. This may not necessarily be the case for the other games in the series or earlier localized releases, but it is very much so in v1.4ce, hence why I'm sticking with it. I'd also like to add that a section relating specifically for armour is required, with some sections regarding armour management, such as how its distributed and the particulars of armour recovery when a soldier dies or is fired (i.e. none). (Damnit, just added Category:Armor -HeckRuler)

:We should move this note to the top of the back of Main Page. English vs. USA doesn't matter. - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 22:07, 9 March 2007 (PST)

I moved the above two comments from within HTML comments on the [[Soldier]] page. Might as well "have a discussion" about it, it's what we do. Although I'm an American, I favor the in-game (British) spelling, wherever it appears (Plasma Defence, Armour, Cyberdisc, etc.). I'm, um, pedantic. Or probably just anal-retentive.--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 00:58, 10 March 2007 (PST)

: I'm in favour of the UK spelling scheme myself, only due to general preference and because UFO is in UK English (on the other hand, TFTD is in US English). However, I still like to think the spelling is interchangeable, and when it comes to the spelling of the actual article: redirects can do wonders! I actually left that note there as an afterthought in case some authors suddenly decide to do mass edits of the spelling, and others come along and revert the changes, and the whole process repeats itself. I mean, armor → armour → armor → smurf → armour → ad-infinitum. Not a nice thought. - [[User:NKF|NKF]]

It's probably a very small issue on this site regardless. By comparison, Wikipedia has yet to implement any way for Commonwealth readers to see British spellings while American readers see US spellings. Instead, they're sticking with the comical compromise of "the creator of the article fates whether it'll have British or American spelling for the rest of its days". Maybe through Wikipedia's confusion the mother tongue will eventually merge back together. :-) --[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 02:24, 10 March 2007 (PST)

: Agreed. I'll try my best to use the British spellings, but when I get on a typing roll the American spelling is what comes to me first. I usually don't catch it either when I proof read. I'd say redirects would be the best solution, so 'Personal Armor' redirects to 'Personal Armour'. As far as the spelling in articles, I think it's pretty well known the two differences of spelling, though it could be a problem if an article switches back and forth from it alot.

: That said this affects maybe 3 or 4 Armour articles? I can't think of any other differences that would be in an article, at least as a main subject. Maybe the occasional colour or favour. --[[User:Pi Masta|Pi Masta]] 11:59, 10 March 2007 (PST)
----

If anybody is still caring about this: I say do what the Wikipedia does, and let the author do what they want. Except when you're tacking a little onto a page that's already big into one way of spelling; then stick to what it's using. I'm U.S. and just want to write, not spend time looking up possible British variants - I'm not even sure what they all are. There are even a lot of acceptable variants in U.S. English already, shrug.

I like the Wikipedia rule since it focuses on getting stuff posted. Yet still in the case of XCOM, there is a real reason for letting British be the standard. I really don't care, but will use U.S. for much of my writing. Still if anybody wants to go through and re-write everything British, that's fine with me. The focus is, posting game info.

My two cents. - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 18:05, 19 October 2007 (PDT)

: Just do whatever you want MTR, that's how I've been going about it. If later you read through an article and spot these things and decide to change them, then so be it. It's just that it would be preferable for UFO to stick to its in-game language. The same goes for TFTD and Apocalypse, which use the US spelling - hence why I try to use armor for them, but often end up typing armour instead.

:I'm sure we all agree that US and British spelling is interchangeable so this issue isn't really a big one - until we get into little wars where one party is pro one variant of the language while the other party is pro another variant, and they end up at logger heads. - [[User:NKF|NKF]]

== MediaWiki upgraded. ==

I've upgraded MediaWiki to the latest version, although I'm afraid I don't know how to prevent spamming etc. If anyone can point me in the direction of something about this I can take a look at it, but now that it's upgraded and I have backups I should be in a position to allow Pete at SC to take over hosting.

: See my email Gaz. We'll get this fixed yet. The only problem I noticed with the upgrade is that the logo in the upper left isn't linked to the correct picture. :) --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 07:32, 28 September 2007 (PDT)

:: Fixed the logo, and I've also added a CAPTCHA extension. You'll be prompted to enter two words if you try to: create a new account; add an external link using an anonymous account. I'm now going to look at trying to give Pete at SC FTP access to the server without inadvertently giving him access to everything else I have hosted on there. Sometimes I hate these web control panels.

:: I've now e-mailed Pete with all the details he requires to take over hosting. --[[User:GazChap|GazChap]] 12:19, 30 September 2007 (BST)

:::Great job, Gaz. Thanks as always for your hosting!! - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 16:21, 12 October 2007 (PDT)

== XCOM Box Art ==

Someone (NKF? Danial?) once asked if anybody could scan XCOM's box art, so that they might e.g. put a better graphic on the main page. I just uploaded a 300 dpi scan of all four sides as [[Media:XCOM_UFO_Defense_DOS_US_Box_Art.zip]] (3.2 MB). The box is not in mint condition (see the ReadMe), but a little tweaking by somebody with skillz (Danial) could easily spruce it up. - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 18:05, 19 October 2007 (PDT)

: Was it me? Hmm. Can't remember. I did think to just grab the cover for the PDF version of the X-Com Player's Handbook (US version - with the Mars/Super Avenger cover), but it's black and white. Could've sworn I've seen a copy in colour somewhere. Not that sepia version wouldn't look great though!
: Oh hang on, I don't think it was for the front page graphic in particular, but we did want to get various versions of the box art for the various games. - [[User:NKF|NKF]]

----
NKF - or anybody - can we consider replacing the current main page art, with the XCOM box art? Or a portion of it. I loved the game's intro and in-game "cartoon art", but why not use the game's best image, for our primary Main Page image? (Is there somebody with skills that can clean it up quickly? I'm happy to, but I'm no pics wizard.)

[[image:XcomScExample.png|thumb|100px|One of many possible screencaps]]Related to this, I think it would be a nice touch if anyone put a bunch of selected and/or random screen captures (screencaps) onto a page, with a link just "under" (i.e., indented under the Main Page entry for) [[Info|About X-COM: UFO Defense]]...

:I have a sneaking suspicion that we get a ton of lurkers (someone who is there but never speaks) who once played X-COM and came across our page by chance, and would like to relive it, if even for a few screencaps... yet as it is now, our site is becoming more of an in-depth encyclopedia, instead of a "you were once here" kind of place. All us hard core players gravitate toward the encyclopedia - but even if folks who once played it don't stay, if they say, "wow, I remember doing all that" based on a stack of screenshots, that would be good. I'm thinking of easy sections that are light on text (and no Ufopaedia info), but heavy on thumbnails and click-on screencaps (see the image to the right - I love that financier in the background) like:
:*My first base - Decisions
:*The Globe - Radar alert!
:*First contact! Small farm in Iowa, USA
:*Managing Research
:*Terror in Sydney! ''(include zombies - squad wiped out - see next)''
:*Headline: World Council generally supports X-COM efforts - subheadline - Australia may now be under the control of aliens ''(funding results for a month)''
:*Headline: X-COM squad impacted by "Blaster bomb" - the world cries (before and after pix)
:*The tricky depths of a Battleship
:*Elite squad Mind Controls all aliens
:*Final showdown: Cydonia
:Each of the sections above might have 1-5 images. Something like that.

:If no one objects, can I ask that anyone who is willing to do it, make a bunch of screencaps, using .pngs and thumbnails as shown above. Then lurkers can "remember the days" right up front. And a few more lurkers than currently breeze through, might stay.

:To put this in context, CNN recently had a number of articles admiring Commodore 64s (one of them [http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/12/07/c64/index.html?iref=newssearch here]). X-COM is like that, to me... it lives past its "life expectancy" to gamers, because of how well put together it was, especially including how much it hit you in the gut.

In summary, then. I have one question for us XCOM hardcore (can we change the Main Page image) and one for everybody (want to post a lot of screencaps?). I have made a stub page for the screencaps page. I'll retract it if the hardcore object or there's no response in a couple of months' time. - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 21:44, 14 December 2007 (PST)
----

I'm perfectly fine with getting the main title changed. Get a few more ayes and we'll make it so.

A screencap section would be nice. I'm quite partial to creating screencap mini-comics (no, not real comics. Just sequential before/during/after images), although I never use them and they just get deleted in the end.

One benefit is that some of the shots can also be recycled throughout the rest of the site to illustrate certain things. Or for an article that's no more than a solid block of text, something to break up the monotony. I'm also always for a few well placed humorous shots.

-[[User:NKF|NKF]] 01:02, 15 December 2007 (PST)

:Sounds good, NKF. There could easily be a "comics" page link several ways:
::1) The new Main Page entry indented under [[Info|About X-COM: UFO Defense]] could also have a link to a comics page, but on the screenshot page itself,
::2) That same new entry on the Main Page could read something like "[[Screenshots]] - and [[Comics]]!" The concept of the screenshots page is to help folks relive the past. And something just as good as screenshots - or better - is screenshots with humor.
::3) Or, make a link for it, all by itself, somewhere obvious on the Main Page.
:I think it's a great idea!
:As for the other idea - you said you're fine re: changing the main title. But it's the graphic at the top of the Main Page that I'm talking about. Just to make sure we're clear on that. - [[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 17:21, 21 December 2007 (PST)

== Smart Quotes ==

Do we use them? When I write up articles in MS Word, it automatically uses "smart quotes," i.e., “this.” I can imagine that there could be some benefit to keeping it all consistent.

[[User:NinthRank|NinthRank]] 17:48, 21 October 2007 (PDT)

:Well, I can't see any practicality in trying to convert all articles to smart quotes, so I'll clean up the ones that I've done with straight quotes to be consistent.

:[[User:NinthRank|NinthRank]] 19:30, 25 October 2007 (PDT)

== Favicon ==

Does the UFOpaedia have a favicon? -- [[User:NinthRank|NinthRank]] 17:51, 6 November 2007 (PST)

:We did have it at one time but I think it disappeared after an upgrade to the wiki software. If you have an idea for a favicon, submit it here. --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 18:21, 6 November 2007 (PST)

Okay, I don't know where that logo in the upper left came from, but after a quick GIMP edit, I came up with this: [[Media:favicon.zip]]. I'm not quite sure how The GIMP works with icons, so I also included the .png's. What do you think? -- [[User:NinthRank|NinthRank]] 18:51, 6 November 2007 (PST)

:Not too shabby. Next time I talk to GazChap, I'll run it past him. Any more ideas for a favicon? I'd like to get a few (at least 3) and run it through a vote here. --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 20:28, 6 November 2007 (PST)

::[[image:FavIcon-Crude1.png|thumb|16px]][[image:FavIcon-Crude2.png|thumb|16px]]NinthRank and Z, my two cents are something like this. My pics are incredibly crude - I'm a total graphics n00b - and would need somebody like you, Ninth, to turn it into the "burnished gold and navy" (or is that black?), like you did with yours. I couldn't even get my damn background to change for me using simple MS Word art ... what do you use? (See how n00b I am?)

::I think you have some great ideas there, but my favicons show as 16x16 pixels. (Is this because I use small icons? I had never heard the the word until you said it, Ninth, at which point I read the wiki entry, and it made immediate sense.) At 162, you have to keep it incredibly simply... having the COM on a big X does that, because it doesn't "waste a repetitive 'X-' across the center", if that makes sense. Another idea is be careful with the X ... I didn't like the X in your 16x16 and 32x32 because it was "narrow" (more vertical than horizontal). I definitely like your 48x48. (I can't tell what's going on with your animated 16x16 .ico, my friend - a 16x16 pic on a 1280x1024 screen (or higher) needs to be real simple. It looks like a tiny pulsing thing, with an X sort of there, overall.) I think the X should be, if not symmetric, then, more wide than high - to me, this implies something "ominous". A true X would have to be "cut off" at the corners to be "wide and fat" at 16x16. This shows more in my second try than the first.

::You can make things bigger than 162, a real plus and you get much more flexibility, but for me, only 16x16 exists.

::My two cents. I love your overall idea, and using navy (or black?) with gold trim. Thanks for signing in and helping out, NinthRank! -[[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 19:40, 14 December 2007 (PST)

== XCOM-like games ==

Are the After-games and Extraterrestrials allowed on this wiki? [[User:Ssfsx17|Ssfsx17]]

-----

I don't see the point, unless there's enough authors prepared to put together the pages.

On the other hand, if there are then I don't see a problem. It might be worth putting the question forward in the relevant forum sections first to see if there's any real interest.

- [[User:Bomb Bloke|Bomb Bloke]] 01:31, 9 February 2008 (PST)

----

I'm just thinking about the organisation. The wiki so far has been quite specialised and only covers X-Com content. The other games are similar, but are not really X-com. The solution would be to open up an be a more general wiki for X-Com-likes, although I feel that might might cause some loss in focus. We can already see that here with the X-Com spinoffs. Nary a paragraph of interesting tidbits in any of them. Well, not much anyway.

Still, I'm now of the belief that all good games should have great compendiums of knowledge like this.

If we're going to move the wiki onto Strategycore (is that still going ahead?), perhaps separate wikis for the other X-Com-like's series could be created as well if there is a demand?

- [[User:NKF|NKF]] 02:27, 9 February 2008 (PST)

==Technical Commentaries==

I just thought of adding a specific section concerning commentaries regarding the game, i.e., trying to explain how the weapons/diplomacy/funding/etc. would work in real life. The idea here is not to expand on the canon X-COM material but to describe/explain in a rational way.
I've come with this idea after reading Spike's section (on his [[User talk:Spike]] page) explaining the economics of X-COM and starting my own section regarding the Council of Funding Nations.
I think there is plenty of material available on the Data canisters that could be used/adapted to this. Also, the discussion regarding Elerium (with all those formulas) on the Talk Page is exactly the sort of thing I was thinking of.

- [[User:Hobbes|Hobbes]] 22:59, 10 March 2008 (PDT)

: I don't see any problem with it. Go for it. We've started with a magnificent wealth of knowledge about the game itself (and a bit beyond, with the binary file diving). Theories and explanations of the X-Com world wouldn't be out of place. They'd certainly add a bit of literary colour and interest for those that wish to look beyond the game. There are lots of interesting bits and pieces scattered throughout the articles (like real world equivalents of weapon or tanks, just to name one example) that would probably fit better in a section like that than in the articles. Perhaps a an expanded data-canister like section would be in order. - [[User:NKF|NKF]] 01:13, 11 March 2008 (PDT)

== Game Editors ==

I was going to add a link off the Main Page to the [[Game editors]] section that I wrote, under Misc. I still have a nagging feeling there is another list of them somewhere, but I can't find it. Any comments?

Also, any additions to the Game editors section are welcome.

[[User:Spike|Spike]] 03:40, 15 March 2008 (PDT)

: I don't think we've ever had a particular listing of editors.

: Tell you what, I'll throw these changes in, and we'll see how this works out.

:# I'll put the new game editor section onto the UFO main table (I've also renamed the page to stick to the first capital letter naming convention the other articles use).
:# I removed XComutil off the main table, since it'll be under the game file section.
:# Removed the UBK - it's just a tool for wiki editors and not something that would interest players of the game.

: I might also add the [[Command Prompt]] to the game editor section for its notes on using MS-Edit as a binary file editor.

:- [[User:NKF|NKF]] 04:46, 15 March 2008 (PDT)

:: While I see the validity of adding XComUtil to a page regarding editors won't it make sense to keep a sublink to the page which deals on how to use it, together with MSEdit? I mean, the other editors only have links to them on that page and I think that at least XComUtil deserves main page status because of its notoriosity and complexity. What do you guys think? - [[User:Hobbes|Hobbes]] 14:08, 15 March 2008 (PDT)

----
a good idea to include the Command Prompt help. How about broadly dividing it into 2 sections: X-COM-specific tools and general purpose tools?
[[User:Spike|Spike]] 07:08, 17 March 2008 (PDT)

== Newb questions ==

Hello good sirs. Sorry for my bad non-native english. While in total noob in wiki, im relatively for long playd this great games. Great thanks for you for this great site, it really helped me with some ideas, especially with Funding Nation, even dont know how i played it before without it. Now more close to point, i realized what TFTD section here are, say, unperfect, if not somewhat wrong. As i readed somewhere not all play TFTD much, UFO1 instead, so it maybe be the point. Id edit something on it, but im totally dunno how to do it, and my language will have too many mistakes to be proudly presented to people. So id be glade to hear what you may propose for me to do. Again big thanks. Ill wait for answer.

PS Or im searched too badly, or its differ in TFTD (i play only it now) from UFO1, but i cant find here about stunned persons behaviour. Cant find what they awake only if theyr stun is lower then HP's and if only they have awaken person in theyr tile during end of turn. IMHO its important thing to know off, at least for me.

PPS. My friend made great tiny changes to one tiny file, what make FundingNations game way more easy and elegant then described in issue. I can upload it if you need this, tho its for TFTD im sure he can do UFO1 also if its needed. Anyway this game too easy even on FN to play it without it :).

Eh PPPS. Dunno how to properly log on :(.

: Do not worry about the language barrier - sometimes it's harder to understand people who speak English natively! ;) In any case, There'll be other editors who will be able to help fix the article for you if you can get the idea across.

: To get started editing pages, check the Community Portal on the left sidebar. That has links to articles that can help you get started - more or less. One good way to find out how some text is formatted (or anything else you'd like to duplicate) is to edit the page and see how it's done in the source.

: If in doubt, or if you're unsure about editing the article, feel free put your ideas or suggestions in the article's Discussion page.

: Because TFTD and UFO share a lot of the same mechanics, there would be a lot of unnecessary duplication if we were to write up articles for it that are already available in the UFO articles. Therefore we mainly include articles that cover topics that are unique to TFTD, like the weapons, door opening, aliens, etc. General mechanics like how damage works or how experience is earned is identical to UFO's, so there's no need to duplicate them. What sections do you think need improving or what sections do we need to add? The more input the better.

: Regarding consciousness, have you checked the [[Unconscious]] article? I think we might need to redo that article bit and perhaps add a few illustrations. One note about the difference between UFO and TFTD with the visual appearance of a unit recovered with a medikit needs to go in there too if it hasn't already. Oh well. - [[User:NKF|NKF]] 22:54, 22 May 2008 (PDT)

: PS, to sign your messages in the discussion pages, put four tilde's <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> anywhere you want to insert your name and the timestamp.

== same questions ==

Thank you for answer. I been somwhat incorrect in my english. I didnt mean what TFTD pages are bad or what they lose reduntand UFO1 information. All they lack are only slightly wrongly described alien's dangers levels (one of most dangerous creatures cant be low treat, and least dangerous one medium) and lack of mission types what only TFTD have. Also i readed "Unconscious@ article few times, stiil cant find only how to use medkit and no word about what generally need for stunned person to rise. From that follow advices to grenade stunned chryssalids and so on.

PS. Oh, yes, and whats wrong with door openings?
[[User:Derrida|Derrida]] 08:59, 23 May 2008 (PDT)

: A unit falls unconscious when the stun bar is equal or greater than the unit's remaining health points. If it's under that, the unit will be awake.

: To wake a soldier up, you have to reduce the stun level by either waiting for the stun to wear off, 1 point per turn, or use stimulants on a medikit. Looks like the TFTD section doesn't have its own medikit page, but UFO's [[Medi-Kit]] section explains how to use it, as they are identical. Basically, if the unit is unconscious, the medic must stand on top of the unconscious unit and use stimulants (the second choice) until the unconscious soldier wakes up. When the unconscious unit wakes up, they'll appear to the north of the medic.

: TFTD's stun weapons are much more powerful than in TFTD, so you often have to use a lot of stimulants to wake a person up.

: TFTD's unique because it allows you to open doors by right clicking them - and it's a free action so you won't spend any TUs to do it. UFO cannot do this (except the Playstation version).

: As for the threat levels of the aliens - I agree, some should be reclassified. Personally I'd move the Gill-Men and Calcinite up to medium threat - all the current medium level threats look just about right though. What are your suggestions?

: Hang on, why are there so many references to vibroblades in the overview article? That can't be right. I'll have to update that later on. - [[User:NKF|NKF]] 15:05, 23 May 2008 (PDT)

Nonono. I mean what if unit's stun damage falled below it's HP, and no one stand in tile it lying, it will never rise. Medkits not the point. No stunned aliens or soldiers will rise if no one will end turn on it, or take it to inventory/hand. I tried to say this. Maybe it been different in UFO1 (as with doors, i thought what doors always open by right click, and in UFO1 too (btw cant find about door opening anywere in wiki)), but in TFTD it means what you dont have to bother with stunned tentaculats etc to rise after stun if you do not stand on it, or try to move it in backpack/hand. Same with soldiers, you can click zillion turns, but they will never rise until someone stand on it. Without this game must be horrible with all this undying lobsters awake afer you pass them.
With danger level id suggest this: Harmless: hallucinoid; deep one; Low: gillmen; aquatoid; Meduim: zombie; calcinite; bio-drone; lobsterman; xarquid; high: tasoth; triscene; What really matters: tentaculat. In line of growing dangerness. [[User:Derrida|Derrida]] 16:30, 23 May 2008 (PDT)

== Regarding image file formats ==

I'd really like to add a note somewhere obvious about using GIFs for screenshots in the wiki, rather than JPGs. For 256-color images like X-COM uses, GIFs are no larger than JPGs and generally look much better. For example, see the nasty compression artifacts on the terrain maps in the [[Terror Ship]] article. PNGs might work just as well, I'm not sure, but we should really avoid JPGs.

Where would be the best place to mention this? I'm thinking near the top of the main page for visibility, but that might be more clutter than people want. [[User:Phasma Felis|Phasma Felis]] 23:59, 11 June 2008 (PDT)

:It's been dealt with [[User_talk:Zombie#Image_Types|here]] that PNG is the preferred file format of the wiki; however, where to note this...I honestly don't know. [[User:Arrow Quivershaft|Arrow Quivershaft]] 00:37, 12 June 2008 (PDT)

:: PNG's reduced to 256 or less colours can be quite the space saver for X-Com screenshots. You can go the extra step and run them through PNG compression programs and somesuch - but they're pretty good as-is. Jpgs should be reserved for images with a broader range of colours. One place the note could go is in [[Guidelines to writing articles]]. In fact, that section could do with a few extra additions in any case to expand is to that it's not just covering the composition of the language of the articles, but to cover the creation of the articles. - [[User:NKF|NKF]] 03:04, 12 June 2008 (PDT)

== Administartor Positions ==

As a fairly regular and large scale contributor to the Apocalypse side of this site i would like to offer my services as an administrator. I believe i can make the site better by editing spelling, punctuation, grammar and headings, i can also make the information more managable and simpler to understand. many thanks Nathan King

User:Nateski

2008-06-12T02:22:31Z

Nateski: New page: Nateski is a large contributor to the Apocalypse side of Wiki

Nateski is a large contributor to the Apocalypse side of Wiki

Base Defense (Apocalypse)

2008-06-12T02:07:50Z

Nateski: Addition of Outnumbered Tip

This is an issue that many players either don't anticipate or simply don't realise is going to happen. Sooner or later an alien craft will hover over your base and beam down an attack force, some of these forces can be fairly large, others pitfully weak. Either way you should be prepared for the worst.

The damage, losses and irritation of base defense can be easily minimised not so much by what you do on the tactical map, but how you build your base in the first place. By following these simple steps you can make base defense missions a walk in the park.

# When buying a new base, take into account the location of the [[Access Lift (Apocalypse)|Access Lift]]. Lifts located in corners or in narrow corridors are easily defended as they create a bottleneck, slowing down the advance of intruding hordes and forcing them through a predictable path.
# Bear in mind that [[Hangar (Apocalypse)|Hangar Bays]] are a form of entrance too, and the aliens (or their pawns) will have no hesitation in swarming in through any foolisly unguarded, or poorly placed, bays.
# Isolate lifts and hangars by surrounding them with a string of [[Security Station (Apocalypse)|Security Stations]]. [[Advanced Security Station (Apocalypse)|Advanced Security Stations]] are naturally better if you have the technology and the space, as their disruptor beams are more powerful.
# If need be place further security stations down important corridors, such as between access points and living quaters. Any alien unlucky enough to come within range of these facilities will be shot to pieces and, better still, you wont lose an agent.
# Even if you have security stations, you must have at least one agent at a base, or else it will automatically fall when it is invaded. For research-specialist bases, your agents can be androids, or you can use normal humans and simply let them train all the time. A small garrison force of agents armed with moderate weapons will suffice for clearing up any invaders that bypass your defenses in most cases.

Hostile corporations (i.e., those under alien control or simply angry at you) can also assault your base. The irritation here is that you'll rarely see them coming - they simply appear out of thin air and there's no way to stop them. Such assaults are also totally unavoidable - not even by reloading multiple times can you dodge them.

With sufficient security stations, invaders should rarely be a problem unless packing some serious hardware - but make sure all exits from bays and lifts are isolated by security stations - invaders ''love'' to exploit security holes.

Take in mind that scientists can spawn in the oddest of places - a [[Stores (Apocalypse)|General Stores Module]] beside my base access was a long-time favourite of random science personnel and lead to one or two being killed. Generally, however, scientists will spawn safely in your living quarters, well away from the action. If you're worried, group a couple of heavily armed soldiers in with your scientists to protect them - keep the scientists hidden (the toilets of the living quarters, the underlevels of the alien containment, and the lower rooms of the medical facility are excellent hiding places - and leave your agents behind cover with a clear view of the only entrance into the room (use the bunks as cover in living quarters, for example) and non-AoE weaponry + grenades. Assuming anything even manages to get past the defenses it should be easy pickings.

Corporation assault forces are prone to panicking late into an attack if large portions of their group have been killed. Spare none of them.

===Tactical Advantage When Outnumbered===
If low on numbers or simply outnumbered play defensively, the aliens tend to seek you out so set up a defensive position, preferably just behind a bottleneck or a door and spread your men out if possible. The minute that door opens open fire! Don't be afraid to throw a boomeroid or stun grenade through for good measure.

Talk:Apocalypse

2008-06-12T01:51:29Z

Nateski: New section: Where do i put this?

Manufacturing???

missing from main apoc page under the '''Research''' title

== Where do i put this? ==

iwhere should i go about placing the fact that there are limited amounts of goods available for purchase per week, and the vale of the goods fluctuates with the supply demand factor?

Strategies for Troops (Apocalypse)

2008-06-12T00:21:34Z

Nateski: formatted heading

==Stun Squad==
Early in the game, it can be a beneficial tactic to set apart a few agents as a 'stun squad'. This squad carries stun grapples and stun grenades and is tasked solely with capturing aliens alive. Because they'll be getting up close and personal with brainsuckers, it's a good idea to comprise your stun squad out of androids.

Once you've got a few aliens stunned and down, keep your stun squad near them. Real-time makes this much easier, as you can set them for Aggressive and Auto-Fire and they'll automatically re-stun any aliens that try to stand up. Using a separate stun squad made up of three androids with twin stun grapples and grenades in a fresh game, this editor was able to capture alive an Anthropod, Spitter, Hyperworm, Multiworm, and Brainsucker all within two missions following acquisition of the Bio Transport Module.

==Heavy Weapons & Real-Time Mode==
Heavy weapons, such as the MarSec Heavy Launcher and the Dimension Missile launcher should be used with care in real-time mode. Personally, I recommend avoiding missile launchers entirely if possible, as one brainsucked agent in Distruptor armor with a dimension launcher can cause some serious pain later in the game's stages. Unfortunately, the game's AI doesn't seem to check friendly fire prior to using weapons, and you can easily end up destroying your entire squad if you don't keep heavy weapons reigned in. If you must use weapons like these, this editor recommends keeping all of your "heavy weapons experts" in the same squad, setting that squad to 'No Fire', and manually ordering them to fire when it's tactically sound to do so. An excellent example of this is when you're tasked with disabling parts of alien structures later in the game.

==Marksmen,Sharpshooters And Snipers==
No armed organisation can go to war without its snipers, they provide accurate, long-range cover fire to your other squads and, if used correctly, serve as spotters for target aquisition to aid your other squads.
The minute you start a game you should be on the look out for recruits with an accuracy skill above the rest of your troops. Try not to use Androids for this task as thier accuracy is a fixed value and will never improve, Humans make the best long-term snipers. Make sure these are always participating in combat training to improve accuracy, among other things.
Give these guys sniper rifles and keep them in a squad together. (dont forget to arm them with stun grenades and grapples) When possible buy the Marsec Body Armour Units as these have the built in jetpacks which allow your snipers to stay out of harms way and to take the tactical high ground quickly as well as provide dynamic support for your troops on the ground.
Always place your snipers on high ground if possible, ideally 3-4 floors above your other troops. This gives them un-obstructed fields of fire and sight, something that your agents lives depend on. Snipers are there to support other squads and are best used in a ratio of 1:2 1 unit of snipers to 2 units of machine gunners. However, bear in mind snipers become less useful towards the later stages of the game but still has uses, especially in ufo recovery, set them to watch the door from the cliffs either side.

Strategies for Troops (Apocalypse)

2008-06-12T00:15:21Z

Nateski: Addition of Sniping Section

==Stun Squad==
Early in the game, it can be a beneficial tactic to set apart a few agents as a 'stun squad'. This squad carries stun grapples and stun grenades and is tasked solely with capturing aliens alive. Because they'll be getting up close and personal with brainsuckers, it's a good idea to comprise your stun squad out of androids.

Once you've got a few aliens stunned and down, keep your stun squad near them. Real-time makes this much easier, as you can set them for Aggressive and Auto-Fire and they'll automatically re-stun any aliens that try to stand up. Using a separate stun squad made up of three androids with twin stun grapples and grenades in a fresh game, this editor was able to capture alive an Anthropod, Spitter, Hyperworm, Multiworm, and Brainsucker all within two missions following acquisition of the Bio Transport Module.

==Heavy Weapons & Real-Time Mode==
Heavy weapons, such as the MarSec Heavy Launcher and the Dimension Missile launcher should be used with care in real-time mode. Personally, I recommend avoiding missile launchers entirely if possible, as one brainsucked agent in Distruptor armor with a dimension launcher can cause some serious pain later in the game's stages. Unfortunately, the game's AI doesn't seem to check friendly fire prior to using weapons, and you can easily end up destroying your entire squad if you don't keep heavy weapons reigned in. If you must use weapons like these, this editor recommends keeping all of your "heavy weapons experts" in the same squad, setting that squad to 'No Fire', and manually ordering them to fire when it's tactically sound to do so. An excellent example of this is when you're tasked with disabling parts of alien structures later in the game.

Marksmen,Sharpshooters And Snipers
No armed organisation can go to war without its snipers, they provide accurate, long-range cover fire to your other squads and, if used correctly, serve as spotters for target aquisition to aid your other squads.
The minute you start a game you should be on the look out for recruits with an accuracy skill above the rest of your troops. Try not to use Androids for this task as thier accuracy is a fixed value and will never improve, Humans make the best long-term snipers. Make sure these are always participating in combat training to improve accuracy, among other things.
Give these guys sniper rifles and keep them in a squad together. (dont forget to arm them with stun grenades and grapples) When possible buy the Marsec Body Armour Units as these have the built in jetpacks which allow your snipers to stay out of harms way and to take the tactical high ground quickly as well as provide dynamic support for your troops on the ground.
Always place your snipers on high ground if possible, ideally 3-4 floors above your other troops. This gives them un-obstructed fields of fire and sight, something that your agents lives depend on. Snipers are there to support other squads and are best used in a ratio of 1:2 1 unit of snipers to 2 units of machine gunners. However, bear in mind snipers become less useful towards the later stages of the game but still has uses, especially in ufo recovery, set them to watch the door from the cliffs either side.

Alien Ship Combat (Apocalypse)

2008-06-11T23:47:05Z

Nateski:

Tactics in no particular order:

*your craft DO NOT need to be at your own base building once you have equipped them! Spread you craft around the cityscape buildings (make them land at buildings which have multiple launch tubes). When you have an alien ship come through the gates, you'll have a little welcoming party very close nearby (if you have your craft based at a building with multiple launch tubes, they will launch in such a way to use all available tubes - even if the yellow craft icon doesn't appear over an actual tube. Try it at the Transtellar space port with its 12+ tubes using 10 Xcom vehicles). You'll have to fly back to base however once the engagement is over if you need to rearm. Send them out again afterwards.
* if you use hoverbikes, then three at the middle of each quadrant of the cityscape works best. (all sports engines with loadouts: 1xrendor, 1xbolter, 1xprophet+weapons control)
* if you use hovercars, then two work well. (all turbo engines with loadouts: 1xrendor+1xprophet+1xmeduim weapon control)
* one valkyrie can easily be overwhelmed. use more (6xhoverbikes per quadrant, or 4xhovercars, or 2x valkyries)if you can afford it.
*using agressive combat controls can sometimes be worthwhile when up against a difficult enemy because your ship(s) is concentrating on downing the enemy instead of trying to avoid its guns/missiles. It can get to the point where your ship rarely fires its armaments due to constant evasiveness. Be offensive not defensive.
*if your craft has sustained massive damage, try to land at the nearest building instead of trying to run back to base. You'll have to judge this yourself.
*lower flying heights are important if you want to limit damage to the cityscape. Corporations get pissed more quickly if you hit the buildings when you miss in combat, relative to the aliens hitting them. The added bonus is that sometimes the corporation will launch its own craft to combat the alien menace. This also can make the corp hostile to the aliens. Use it to your advantage (Transellar and Cultists), but remember the city damage will lower your score that the end of the month. WHY?? when flying lower, you'll have to shoot upwards at the alein craft. If you miss, then the shots just go into space and not into a building.
*Running low on powerful engines? Giving lower powered engines to missile launching craft can help the overall battle because these craft will be slower to get to an engagement (if you have to fly long distances across the cityscape quadrant) hence, they will be able to lauch missles directly at the hostile craft instead of getting up close and personal and hoping that the missile can turn sharp enough to hit the hostiles. If you aren't lacking powerful engines then this could be an option you'd may like to keep using.
*hoverbikes are very weak. Use them as a swarm. 2xbikes Vs 1xalienship only works in very early game. You'll need more.
*hovercars can mount small shields later on. Rememebr this when you think you should have used hoverbikes instead.
*a mixed force of hovercars and hoverbikes are best. It can work well either way! If you want quick evasive bikes up close and personal with the hostile craft, then give them guns and give the hovercars missile weapons. You don't need to give shield to the cars, just weapon control modules. since then should be near a standoff range. IF you want the opposite effect, give shields and guns to the hovercars for up close combat, and missiles to the bikes.
* changing combat attitudes of your attacking craft throughout the battle can help immensely. Fly to the alien craft using evasive control(don't waste missiles on hostile human cars), breifly switch to standard agressiveness so that everyone fires once (mainly for missile launching), change to full agression for craft with guns, change to cautious for craft with missiles. If a craft takes heavy damage, change to evasive control and disengage this craft. PAUSE BUTTON WORKS WELL!
*A good tactic, although slightly uninspired, is to buy as many hoverbikes as possible and attack in swarms of 5-8 bikes per alien craft, set them on the second lowest hight and set them to evasive. You Should expect to lose a one or two hoverbikes in each engagement in the early and middle stage battles, when fighting the larger alien craft its better to barrage them with guided missles to soften them up before the hoverbikes get there otherwise they will be dropping like flies.
*Also when employing the "Swarm" tactic try to break up the groups of hoverbikes so they dont all get destroyed by a hail of missiles and cannon. Try to have 3-4 max coming from any one direction. It may be a bit of work but it pays dividends in the end.
*This point cannot be stressed enough, make sure that you remove your agents from thier vehicles/aircraft before sending them to engage Alien ships, if your craft is destroyed the agent piloting it will perish too along with his/her equipment. Isn't that irritating?

Alien Ship Combat (Apocalypse)

2008-06-11T23:43:17Z

Nateski: Added 2 Further Tactics on Aerospace Engagements.

Capturing Live Aliens (Apocalypse)

2007-10-12T18:20:59Z

Nateski:

Capturing live aliens.

The key to success in Apocalypse lies in the successfull capture of live aliens. Once you have captured a number of different live aliens, you will be able to research their live cycle and then toxiguns. Toxiguns are amazingly effective weapons, especially once you reach the second and third ammo options.

The trick to capturing aliens is to know how stun damage works.
Basically, any alien (or human, for that matter) can take stun damage equal to his or her health points before dropping unconcious. Now, you should realize that this is calculated off of current health points, not maximum. If an alien has taken some stun damage and you drop his health total to below the amount of stun damage it has taken, it falls unconcious. So you can actually stun aliens with any weapon as long as the alien has taken some stun damage (from running through smoke gas for example).

The stun grenade blanket.
Equip all your agents with stun grenades, and when you are playing ufo recovery missions in real-time, throw two or three stun grenades at the entrance of the UFO as soon as the door opens. This will cover the outside of the UFO exit as well as a good portion of the inside of the UFO with stun gas, hitting all aliens the cloud with stun damage as well as causing them to try to get outside of the cloud in stead of shooting at you. In some UFO recovery missions, you can fill most of the trench the UFO created with stun gas.

Anthropods
If you equip all your agents with stun grapplers in their second hand, you should start capturing some of these aliens early on in the game. Use the stun grenade blanket if you don't want to make sure.

Brainsucker
If you equip your agents with stun grapples and keep them relatively close together, you should have no problem catching these.

Multiworm
Again, these should be caught easily if your troops carry stun grapples.

Hyperworm
These are hard to capture, but essential to research. They move slowly, so if you see one, pepper the area he is in with stun grenades or close in quickly with stun grapples.

Chrysalis and Alien eggs.
These aliens are immobile, and count as stunned all the time. You should have no problem capturing them, you'll probably capture them before seeing them on the battlefield.

Skeletoid
These can be very hard to capture, they use their flying capabilities to escape from stun gas and once you start encountering them the aliens start coming equipped with heavier weaponry too. While Psionics work on them, they are best caught at the earliest possible opportunity (wich is before psi is a viable tactic in my games). Try to engage these aliens in close quarters with stun grapples, or lay ambushes for them near single-story doors.

Micronoid Aggregate
These are best caught from alien battleships. Put one team to take out the aliens from the main exit, bring another team with some stun grapples to the two-door rear exit. They should be amongst the first aliens to exit the ufo there. Once one is stunned, leave two guards with just stun grapples with it, and wipe out the aliens with the rest of the rear-entrance team. Stun gas doesn't work as far as I know, but I've never tested that thouroughly.

Popper
These aliens are the main reason you should always have a stun grapple as your secondary weapon. If you do, you should not have much trouble capuring one or two of them. If you don't, you'll need to use the stun gas blanket. Both ways work, but I have better results using stun grapples. Hover at least 4 floors up over poppers with fire turned off and then throw stun grenades at it. pretty easy and fairly safe.

Spitter
These are easy to capture. Stun gas is very effective, and they are weak enough to safely approach for stun grapples to work.

Megaspawn
These can be a pain to capture. Equip half a dozen troops with stun grapples and get close and personal. Hope your shields survive the missiles he launches as you get closer. There is one minor blessing, though. He doesn't use missiles when you are within stun grapple reach.

Psimorph
They fly, so stun gas won't work well, and they take over your troops so approaching them can be tricky. They appear on alien motherships, and they have a tendency of staying inside of the ufo. Lure out all the aliens you can find, run inside with two teams of troops. Take out the megaspawn and any other stragglers left inside and head up to the second floor. You should be under psi-attack by now. On the second floor, have one team run up to the psimorph and hit it with their stun grapples while the other team stands guard. (Make sure that the second team doesn't start shooting at the psimorph, you want a live one, not a dead one.) Once the psimorph is stunned, leave the team that stunned it to guard it, as it will wake up quickly and repeatedly. Use the other team to sweep the ship.
Now, the psi-attacks it has are dangerous, but there is a trick to make it harmless. Equip your troops with nothing but toxiguns (harmless to humans) and stun grapples (won't go through energy shields), and the psi-attack goes from lethal to annoying.

Queenspawn
This one is rather easy to capture once you know how.
Destroy all the teleporters in the room with her so she doesn't get any reinforcements. Then throw two vortex mines into her pen, one to her far left, the other to her far right. This takes out the annoying alien eggs around her.
Then start tossing stun gas grenades into the room with her. Throw in the next grenade as the gas from the previous one evaporates. After about ten grenades, take a few pot shots at her, and you should have a captured alien queen!

Base Defense (Apocalypse)

2007-10-12T18:12:42Z

Nateski:

This is an issue that many x-com-er's either dont anticipate or simply dont realise is going to happen. Sooner or later an alien craft will hover over your base and beam down an attack force, some of these forces can be fairly large, others pitifuly weak. Either way you should be prepared for the worst.

The damage, losses and irritation of base defense can be easily minimised not so much by what you do on the tactical map, but how you build your base in the first place. By following these simple steps you can make base defense missions a walk in the park.

1. When buying a new base, take into account the location of the access lift. Lifts located in corners or in narrow corridors are easily defended as they create a bottle neck, slowing down the advance of alien hordes and forcing them through a predictable path.

2. Bear in mind that vehicle repair bays are a form of entrance too, and the aliens will have no hesitation in swarming in through any foolisly unguarded, or poorly placed, bays.

3. Isolate Lifts and repair bays by surrounding them with a string of security stations, advanced security stations are naturally better if you have the technology and the space.

4.If need be place further security stations down important corridors, such as between access points and living quaters. Any alien unlucky enough to come within range of these facilities will be shot to pieces and, better still, you wont lose an agent.

Base Defense (Apocalypse)

2007-10-12T18:05:52Z

Nateski: TIps on Base Defense

The damage, losses and irritation of base defense can be easily minimised not so much by what you do on the tactical map, but how you build your base in the first place. By following these simple steps you can make basze defense missions a walk in the park.

1. When buying a new base, take into account the location of the access lift. Lifts located in corners or in narrow corridors are easily defended as they create a bottle neck, slowing down the advance of alien hordes.
2. Bear in mind that vehicle repair bays are a form of entrance too, and the aliens will have no hesitation of swarming in through any foolisly unguarded, or poorly placed, bays.
3. Isolate Lifts and repair bays by surrounding them with a string of security stations, advanced security stations are naturally better if you have the technology and the space.
4.If need be place further security stations down important corridors, such as between access points and living quaters. Any alien unlucky enough to come within range of these facilities will be shot to pieces and, better still, you wont lose an agent.