UFOpaedia - User contributions [en]

Talk:Promotions

2007-04-04T07:51:30Z

Vagabond:

I think that we can easily merge the [[ranks]] and the promotions pages together. Lots of overlapping information between both of them.
--[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 00:38, 4 April 2007 (PDT)

Talk:Promotions

2007-04-04T07:38:53Z

Vagabond: Call for a merger wtih Ranks

I think that we can easily merge the ranks and the promotions pages together. Lots of overlapping information between both of them.
--[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 00:38, 4 April 2007 (PDT)

Rank

2007-04-04T07:37:17Z

Vagabond: Reword.

{{stub}}

:''This article is about the ranks an X-COM soldier can achieve, for alien ranks see [[Alien Ranks]]''

Your [[soldiers]] can advance to higher '''ranks''' with [[experience]], assuming you have a large enough number of soldiers to justify the [[Promotions|promotion]].

Higher ranked soldiers that are still in battle help keep morale high in an event of a a causalty. However, when they are killed or incapacited it means that the other soldiers suffer a big morale loss which could mean that they will [[panic]] or go [[berserk]]. You may find it useful for your highest ranked officers to act as a [[Rear Commander]].

<table {{StdDescTable}}>
<th {{StdDescTable_Heading}}>Rank</th><th {{StdDescTable_Heading}}>Notes</th>
<tr><td>[[Commander]]</td><td>Only one allowed over all [[X-COM Bases]], requires at least 30 soldiers in all bases</td></tr>
<tr><td>Colonel</td><td>Most experienced Captain is promoted to Colonel if opening present. 1 Colonel for 23 soldiers.</td></tr>
<tr><td>Captain</td><td>Most experienced Sergeant is promoted to Captain if opening present. 1 Captain for 11 soldiers.</td></tr>
<tr><td>Sergeant</td><td>Most experienced Squaddie is promoted to Sergeant if opening present. 1 Sergeant for 5 soldiers.</td></tr>
<tr><td>Squaddie</td><td>Promotion is gained upon attacking any alien.</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rookie</td><td>Starting rank for all new recruits</td></tr>
</table>

[[Category:Soldiers]]

Talk:UFOs

2007-03-22T12:54:07Z

Vagabond: Question on roles of ships.

Someone needs to make a table of, what you see before you get Hyperwave, vs. what it is. For example, you see a Medium UFO (before Hyperwave)... what are the various possible UFO types and missions it could be? Is this here on the wiki somewhere already? ---[[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 23:57, 21 December 2005 (PST)

----

Ye reallye quicke toe-doe notee:

Might want to have a single page summarising the crew populations.

- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

---

Another question.

All UFOs, will take on the role of the smaller non specialised UFO classes, if you gun down the smaller ones too many times righty?

Like will an abductor do scouting if you smash too many scouts? Or is it just battleships that does scouting? And if it is so, the battleship will never be involved in harvesting right?

Yeah on that case, should put mission roles in that table. Nice table etheral cereal.

--[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 05:54, 22 March 2007 (PDT)

Talk:Motion Scanner

2007-03-16T06:16:56Z

Vagabond: Using motion dectors...

Someone should make a tutorial on how to use those darn things.

I never manage to get a grasp on how to use it effectively. I often found it easier to turn my soldiers around in circles to clear my immediate vincinity. Maybe a image of the motion detector screen, and another to show the positions of the aliens and how it relates to one another?

--[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 23:16, 15 March 2007 (PDT)

UFO Exit Ambush

2007-03-16T06:07:56Z

Vagabond: Minor cleanup. Noted a repetition.

While you are [Sweeping the Battlescape]], the aliens will often remain inside the UFO. Inside the UFO, aliens have many places to hide, and your troops risk getting gunned down every time they stumble blindly into a room. It is therefore usually best to stake a position outside the UFO's outer doors and let the aliens come to you.

Successfully ambushing aliens in this manner requires soldiers with high [[Reactions]]; the [[Reaction Fire|reaction shots]] they take will provide good [[Reaction Training]].

== Troop positions ==

(TODO: picture of broken semicircle)

Lying outside UFO doors in wait for aliens is not without its dangers. Aliens may be able to fire at your troops (especially if more than one is waiting behind the door), or throw an [[Alien Grenade]], or worst of all, fire a [[Blaster Bomb]]. If you arrange your troops facing each other on either side of the door, they may accidentally hit each other in a crossfire.

To avoid getting shot at by aliens hiding behind the UFO's open door, avoid stationing troops directly opposite the door. To lessen the likelihood of a grenade attack, keep your troops spread at least two squares away from each other. Finally, to avoid friendly fire, either keep all your troops to one side, or have them avoid positions near the UFO hull.

=== Smoke grenades ===

Once the surrounding area is cleared, keep pressing the "end turn" button. Most aliens will switch from "patrol" to "attack" after Turn 20 and will make a beeline for your troops, spilling out of the UFO. A few stragglers may take several turns more.

Unfortunately, some aliens may end up "frozen" in one spot, waiting for you to come to them. It may be possible to "dislodge" them by having each of your soldiers walk around the UFO. Howevever, sometimes they will not budge, at which point you will have to enter and [[Clearing UFOs|clear the UFO]]. [[Large Scout]]s and [[Abducter]]s are particularly prone to FAS: Frozen Alien Syndrome.

=== Smoke Grenades ===

One way to reduce the likelihood of return fire is to drop a [[Smoke Grenade]] outside the door and station your soldiers 10-15 tiles away. Aliens emerging from the UFO will have to walk several squares before they will be able to see your troops, reducing their TUs subtantially, making it much more likely that your troops will be able to fire first. This also blocks the view of aliens within the UFO, making it impossible for them to shoot at your troops from within the craft.

The smoke will thin substantially within 10 or fewer turns; a new Smoke Grenade should be triggered at least that often. The smoke from a Smoke Grenade is much thicker than the moke generated by explosives ([[Proximity Grenade]]s, [[Rocket Launcher]]s, etc.) and is much more effective in this role.

=== Troop positions ===

''Hmm, a bit of repetition here.''

The best arrangement for your troops is in a broken semi-circle. Avoid stationing soldiers directly opposite each other on the left and right sides of the door, as they may catch each other in a crossfire. Also avoid placing troops directly in front of the door, as aliens may shoot at them from inside the craft once the door is open (unless you use a Smoke Grenade, as detailed above).

If possible, spread your troops out: troops which are standing shoulder-to-shoulder often attract an [[Alien Grenade]]. [[Flying Suit]]s are excellent for UFO door ambushes: hovering troops are immune to grenades, and since they are firing downward, they can be placed on either side of the door, less likely to accidentally hit each other.

[[Image:Shooters_and_looter.png|center]]

The soldiers assaulting this UFO have decided to wait for the aliens to come out. Four shooters are kneeling, facing the UFO's only exit. These soldiers have the highest reaction stats in the squad. It is recommend that only soldiers with good reactions should be used. However, the more soldiers the merrier no matter their reaction level, as every soldier that fires will get a chance of improving their reactions at the end of the mission.

The main benefit of having more soldiers is that they present more targets for the alien to shoot at. More importantly, every time the alien fires off an attack, this gives the slower soldiers a chance to react.

Before shooting one of the soldiers, an alien must:
* Open the door and step outside (8 [[TU]]s)
* Turn to face the target (2 TUs)

Or, if he's not the first one out:
* Move onto the square in front of the door (4 TUs)
* Step outside (8 TUs)
* Turn to face the target (2 TUs)

The total is at least 10 TUs. For slow aliens like [[Snakeman|Snakemen]], that's a significant fraction of the total TUs, and the loss of 10 (or 14) TUs often allows a soldier to fire first. Also, aliens do not always start on the square next to the door so they may have used up even more TUs.

The other soldier in the frame isn't a shooter. He's a looter. Looters have nothing to do with increasing anybody's reaction stat and everything to do with increasing X-Com's "bank balance" stat. Looters pick up corpses, stunned aliens, and dropped equipment and carry them somewhere safe, where they won't get destroyed by an explosion. Stunned aliens can optionally be left alone to provide even more reaction training once they recover. The looter can also be used to scan the entryway for any possible movement during some of the more quiet turns.

''If you're still nervous about your troops getting shot, put a tank nearby. HWP's draw fire; aliens prefer to shoot at them over troops. As long as the tank is in the aliens' line of sight, and as close or closer than the troops, the aliens will always shoot at it before the troops. When I train, I keep several tanks on hand, replacing damaged ones with fresh units as they get shot. --[[User:Papa Legba|Papa Legba]] 14:09, 28 Nov 2005 (PST)''

=== Proximity grenades ===

The square marked with a 'G' is a good place to put a [[Proximity Grenade]]. It is a good idea to mine the exit while the shooters are getting into position - in case an alien pops out before you are ready. Once the shooters are ready, the proximity grenade can be destroyed with a normal grenade. But if the UFO contains [[Muton]]s, leave the proximity grenade where it is to soften them up before the reaction shots. Then grab the loot and set another proximity grenade for the next one.

'''Note:''' Prox Mines do not give you any experience. More specifically - and oddly - unlike other grenades, they give experience to the unit that makes them explode, not the unit that primes or throws them. So, [[Experience]] that might've been gained is basically lost - newbie units (pre Power or Flying Suit) dare not set off their Prox Grenades (which is counter to their purpose), and PS/FS units generally have psi capability and don't need proxies any more. ''Sure wish they designed Prox Mines differently - Ed.

===Which weapon to use?===

This depends on how many shots you expect to get, which in turn depends on how many shooters there are, and how good their reactions are. If the number of shooters is small, it is best to use something accurate and powerful to get a quick kill. The [[Plasma Rifle]] has the most accurate snapshot in the game, and is an excellent reaction weapon. If there are lots of shooters with excellent reactions, spraying with rapid fire weapons like the [[Laser Pistol]] will result in greater stat increases. The Laser pistol is also incapable of penetrating the front armour of a [[Flying Suit]] or [[Power Armor]], which makes it possible to set up shooters on both sides of an entrance
without any risk of damage due to friendly fire.
:''Note, fire teams that are directly facing each other should be avoided in general. I'll have to detail the scattered firing team approach at a later time - if only to avoid grenades. -[[User:NKF|NKF]] ''

====Heavy weapons====

Lack of an autoshot mode is not a disadvantage, because reaction shots are always snapshots. The [[Heavy Cannon]] may therefore be the best standard weapon for reaction shooting.

====The [[Small Launcher]]====

This weapon has the potential to generate many reaction shots - first to put the alien to sleep, and then every time it wakes up. This is bordering on an [[Exploits|Exploit]]. But keep in mind that a stun bomb can do up to 180 stun damage, so it could take tons of [[Medi-Kit|medkits]] to wake up the [[unconscious]] target. Maybe it's not so hot a trick - but plenty of fun!

====The [[Rocket Launcher]]====

This is messy but effective. Few things are more entertaining than hitting an alien with multiple reaction-fired large rockets.
If fired from some distance from the side of the UFO (e.g. by the blonde soldier in the picture) then even a miss is likely to strike the wall of the UFO and do some damage. Firing from above ground level - either with a flying suit or from the roof of a conveniently placed building - is also very likely to hit something close to the target. It is definitely not recommended when using two groups of shooters facing each other, and care must be taken to ensure that all soldiers are safely outside the blast radius.

Talk:Experience

2007-03-15T08:53:11Z

Vagabond: A secondary explosion test result, and additional thoughts.

Just some thoughts I want to jot down before I forget them, based off a discussion I read on one of the forums:

* Kills. Just to be clear, it needs to be emphasised that kills do not count towards stat increases. Was this mentioned or has it been mentioned elsewhere?

* Similarly, kill attribution. When do you get the kill counter incremented. Grenades (thrown and unthrown), volatile battlescape element (i.e. gas tank), secondary explosion from cyberdisc, or volatile battlescape element set off by cyberdisc explosion. Probably by reactions and active attacks too. Don't remember if we ever quantified all the methods that'll increment the kill counter.

- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

:Tested the secondary explosion from oil drums, found within my X-COM base hanger. Waited til that last snakeman soldier roamed around weaponlessly, and then smacked the barrel infront of him him. Boom, and Tatsuo Iwahara graduates to a squaddie after this base defense with 1 kills in 3 missions, via a unarmed snakeman using a barrel for cover. Can someone confirm my test?

Hmm, but is only just off one barrel exploding. I don't know if things change, if you say, line up barrels across the screen and fry the poor sectoid at the other end. --[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 01:53, 15 March 2007 (PDT)

Talk:Experience

2007-03-15T08:44:50Z

Vagabond:

Just some thoughts I want to jot down before I forget them, based off a discussion I read on one of the forums:

* Kills. Just to be clear, it needs to be emphasised that kills do not count towards stat increases. Was this mentioned or has it been mentioned elsewhere?

* Similarly, kill attribution. When do you get the kill counter incremented. Grenades (thrown and unthrown), volatile battlescape element (i.e. gas tank), secondary explosion from cyberdisc, or volatile battlescape element set off by cyberdisc explosion. Probably by reactions and active attacks too. Don't remember if we ever quantified all the methods that'll increment the kill counter.

- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

:Tested the secondary explosion from oil drums, found within my X-COM base hanger. Waited til that last snakeman soldier roamed around weaponlessly, and then smacked the barrel infront of him him. Boom, and Tatsuo Iwahara becomes a squadie after this base defense with 1 kills in 3 missions, via a unarmed snakeman using a barrel for cover. Can someone confirm? --[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 01:44, 15 March 2007 (PDT)

Talk:Battlescape

2007-03-08T11:04:12Z

Vagabond:

It's true, victory is subjective. Just a quick - well, a long-ish word on victory.

Technically speaking, dusting off from a site that's still manned with aliens can also be counted as a success if you were able to get whatever it was in the battle that you came for (be it experience, an abduction of a really difficult alien (such as an Ethereal without the convenience of the Psi Lab), capturing a certain weapon, etc). What you do not win is the loot outside the Skyranger and the UFO Alloys and its remaining components.

A fine example of this is Zombie's patented Smash-And-Grab technique with alien bases, where a base is raided, one alien is left alive and the rest are dealt with. Once cleared, all the equipment (and corpses) are then carted to the entry platforms and all troops head back to the entry points and the dust off command is issued.

The mission will read as a failure, but the score, experience and loot will reflect a successful mission. As it is a base and the victory condition for the base destruction has not yet been met (destruction of the command tables or all aliens), the base will remain on the map.

Other missions types are a lot less permanent and tend to vanish (crash sites/terror sites) or take off (intact UFOs).

So, don't read in too much to the status on the tally screen. Let the score, experience and goods that you were able to come away with tell you whether you've won, or lost.

- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

----
"What happens if you hit Lift Off with NO units in the dropship? - BB": From article page.

All units are MIA and the craft is lost. --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 11:55, 21 January 2007 (PST)
----
What if you mind control an alien, and lift off while only he is in the ship? - BB
----
Nothing, except the craft is lost. (MC'd aliens are not in Soldier.dat and cannot be considered a true X-COM unit). --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 19:49, 21 January 2007 (PST)

----

Just copy and pasted the discussion from main article - plus a thought of my own:

What happens if you hit Lift Off with NO units in the dropship? - BB

:You will end the scenario immediately. Chances are, you will not have killed enough aliens to cover the loss of all the soldiers missing in action. Yeah, you will still have the transport though!--[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 02:40, 7 March 2007 (PST)

::That's basically admitting defeat. Don't forget you lose the ship if you abort an alien base attacks as well with no troops in the exit. By the way, lifting off from a site does not always count as a loss. You may very well have come for what you came for and didn't want to bother cleaning up the rest of the aliens. For example, in a typical smash-and-grab scenario, or if you've stolen some artefact or abduct a specimen from an alien race you're not ready to fight (like the ethereals before you learn your psi strength). The game tells you you've lost, but you've technically won if you've accomplished what you came for. Just pointing out the silver lining. - [[User:NKF|NKF]]

:::Yeah. If I manage to stun a Sectoid Leader in an early mission (especially if it's the first Terror Mission), I'll grab him, pile into the ship, and dust off. Woot, Psi Lab.--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 12:10, 7 March 2007 (PST)

----

'''Battlescape Interface'''

To-do list:
1. Inventory screen. (Already uploaded an image, but needs compressing)
2. Motion detector Radar screen.
3. Map screen.

: Are they necessary? For one thing, I know I am still quite at odds on how to use the motion detector properly (maybe a separate article/tutorial for it?) I am quite sure that there would be others as well. As for the Inventory screen, I think it is a must, and well, the Map screen, we can skip that as I think it is self explanatory... Well, I think that by doing all the screens and explainations, we might get the wiki article a tad too big...
--[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 20:08, 7 March 2007 (PST)

:: They should probably each be on their own page.--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 02:33, 8 March 2007 (PST)

==Playing Piece/Boards?==
I am wondering about this way of naming everything in the article, it means it is inconsistent with pretty much every article it will link too, which I think won't help people understand. Its not too bad when just reading this article itself, but it someone comes into one of the later sections, or is coming in and out of other articles it decreases the clarity I think. --[[User:Sfnhltb|Sfnhltb]] 21:44, 7 March 2007 (PST)

: It's a good way of describing the playing area and the playing units on the field and so on. It ties it in with chess analogy (which I think is mentioned in the manual at one point) but I don't think we should use it all the way through the site. - [[User:NKF|NKF]]

::I'd just go with "map" and "units", which are more concise terms anyway. A little bit of metaphor or humor is nice, but never at the expense of clarity, IMO.--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 02:33, 8 March 2007 (PST)

:::To be honest though, I believe that there's no issue over using an analogy to describe the battlescape. This portion of the game is turned based and I believe it makes quite good sense to describe it as a game of chess. Some of us spend more time thinking between the turns than they ever did at a game of chess. I don't think there is any loss of clarity, but if you want to make the article more succinct by 'map' and 'units', that would be no problem.--[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 03:04, 8 March 2007 (PST)

Talk:Battlescape

2007-03-08T11:04:02Z

Vagabond:

User:Vagabond

2007-03-08T05:21:28Z

Vagabond:

'''Age''': 20

'''Location''': Sydney, Australia

'''X-COM experience''': Encountered X-COM: UFO Defence after being introduced by a friend, back in 2002. For some reason, forgotten it, and only recently came back to it. Now making up for lost time. Still blown away from the concept of reaction fires, and the incredible depth that this game has, and the way all the seemingly unrelated concepts (turn based battle, capturing interrogating aliens, playing politics to get funding, researching and manufacturing and more!) are seamlessly intergrated together into one damned fine piece of art.

This Wiki, along with the xcomufo message boards has helped me much. By giving a hand, I hope that give something back to the wonderful community, and hopefully give my tribute to the wonderful game that UFO Defence is.

User:Vagabond

2007-03-08T05:21:10Z

Vagabond:

Age: 20
Location: Sydney, Australia
X-COM experience: Encountered X-COM: UFO Defence after being introduced by a friend, back in 2002. For some reason, forgotten it, and only recently came back to it. Now making up for lost time. Still blown away from the concept of reaction fires, and the incredible depth that this game has, and the way all the seemingly unrelated concepts (turn based battle, capturing interrogating aliens, playing politics to get funding, researching and manufacturing and more!) are seamlessly intergrated together into one damned fine piece of art.

This Wiki, along with the xcomufo message boards has helped me much. By giving a hand, I hope that give something back to the wonderful community, and hopefully give my tribute to the wonderful game that UFO Defence is.

User talk:Vagabond

2007-03-08T05:13:19Z

Vagabond:

Battlescape

2007-03-08T05:04:48Z

Vagabond: Started an explanation of the playing pieces with some minor edits.

The '''Battlescape''' is the tactical portion of the game, where all ground combat takes place. This is where [[soldiers]] and aliens live, fight and die. [[Terrain]] and mission objectives vary on the Battlescape, but one rule is paramount - don't allow your men to get killed. Veteran soldiers are an invaluable resource, but only survivors gain [[experience]].

The terrain on the Battlescape depends on the geographical location of the mission. When you intercept a UFO, you can sometimes wait until it is over favorable terrain to shoot it down. Most of the world is covered by farm, forest, or jungle terrain, however, so you will have to make best use of whatever natural and artificial cover is available. Unfortunately, the aliens will also be making use of this cover, so missions on flat, featureless terrain (such as polar tundra) are often the easiest to play, as the aliens have nowhere to hide (except for their UFO). On the other hand, if things start to go wrong, you will have nowhere to hide either.

==The Playing Board==

The battle takes place on a small layered tile map. Maps will have dimensions that range between 40 to 60 tiles in width and height and have either 2 or 4 map layers. Exterior maps always have 4 elevations and can have areas of 40 to 50 square tiles. Interior maps always have 2 elevations and are always played in 60 square tile areas. [[TFTD]] differs slightly in that interior maps use 4 elevations except the maps in the final level, which only use 2 per map.

The map shows all walls, obstructions, ceilings, floors that can are currently in view or have previously been seen seen. The general look of the battlescape is determined by the mission, the aircraft that have landed at the site and the area the mission was initiated.

Everything on the map is static by nature. They do not change until they are damaged by weapons fire.

In addition to physical items shown on the map, it will also show differences in lighting which can affect visibility when on [[Night Missions]]. The parts of the map not visible to your troops will be left black, as the shroud of war.

The lighting in a particular spot or tile consists of an ambient light level to represent the time of the day and any fixed light sources in the vicinity. It also is affected by the light thrown off by moving light sources, which are made up of player controlled units, flares and fires.

The shroud of war, or fog of war, is common in many strategy games to represent areas that have not been seen or visited. In effect, areas of the map are coated in black until a friendly unit looks at it. From then on, the fog is lifted for the rest of mission, although it should be noted that enemy units moving into a previously seen area will not be highlighted, you merely still retain knowledge of the terrain itself. For this reason you should [[Sweeping the Battlescape|sweep]] the combat area in such a way to avoid aliens getting behind your lines, which can both be dangerous and time consuming to locate them at the end of a mission.

It must be noted that gravity in the battlescape does not apply to any map features, except the units and objects that can be picked up by units. This means that the entire lower floor of a building or craft can be destroyed without causing problems for the upper floors.

==The Playing Pieces==

On a map, soldiers, aliens and sometimes civilians interact with each other and the environment. Generally by way of projectiles and explosives.

===General rules for the pieces===

*Only one playing piece or environmental feature can occupy a tile at a time.
*Multiple items may occupy the same tile.
*Each playing piece move onto the same tile as the items, provided that there is no playing piece on that tile.
*Each playing piece is unique with individual variations in their statistics and ranking.
*Each playing piece and environmental feature can be destroyed. Often the playing piece turns into a dead body (another item) drops everything from the inventory to the floor.
*If a playing piece is incapicated or stunned, it will turn into a body, and can be treated as an item, until the stun points are sufficiently diminished.

===Playing Pieces===
*'''Soldiers''': The principal playing piece of the player, representing an X-COM soldier. Comes in two genders and four different races. His starting inventory can be selected by the player, before the battle, after the arrival of the troop transport. He can equip and utilise any dropable item on the battlefield, including those that are dropped or thrown by the aliens. In addition, he can be equipped with different sorts of body armour at the base, before the mission, which may grant him the hover ability. However, he is susceptable to physical damage, stun damage and fatal injuries that is mainly inflicted by the aliens. Also he may moral loss from squad casualties or panick attacks from the aliens. In worse cases, he can be even mind controlled, at which point the alien gains temporary control. Survival will ensure that that the soldier will experience statistic grow, providing that he took some part in the battle.

*'''Aliens''': The alien's playing piece comes in eleven different races, all with varying statistics and inherit resistances to various types of weapons. Has never been observed picking up items from the floor, nor throwing any other item besides a primed alien grenade. Otherwise, has very similar properties to the Soldier playing piece.

*'''Tanks''':

*'''Civilians''': Carries no weapons and will only run around. Will be targeted by aliens.

===Items===

A list of droppable items, and of course a description on explosives in general

===Environmental Features===

Doors, post box, signs, lamps, walls, stairs should go in here

==Combat Damage Model==
All discussion on how damage is dealt and received by units. Covers damage, armour, explosions.

===Psionics===
Psionics are initially a dangerous facet of facing two of the alien races that can make things very difficult for your squad, especially for those soldiers that turn out to have low [[Psionic Strength]], as they will be targeted constantly by these psionic capable aliens. One you have captured a psionic alien and [[research]]ed it, you will be able to develop psionic soldiers by training them in [[Psionic Laboratory|Psionic Laboratories]] and equipping them with [[Psi-Amp]]s.

Psionics allow the wielder to attempt to either [[panic]] or [[Mind Control]] enemy forces, with the success rate being dependant on relative psionic strength and [[Psionic Skill|skill]] between the attacker and defender, and the range between them. Panicked soldiers can be a problem as they can leave gaps in your lines, but Mind Controlled soldiers are far more serious a problem, as they will turn around and fire on their comrades. A psionic attacks effects will last for one full turn per attempt, including both the users and the following opponents part of the turn, although the morale lost to a successful attack will often mean the soldier will be out of action for longer as they continue to panic or [[berserk]] for a time, even if no further attacks are directed towards them.

==Battlescape Interface==
===Battlescape Screen===

The bulk of the battlescape scenario will take place here. Here, the player can view the areas of the board visible to their pieces and can choose actions for them via the Battlescape Control Bar.

[[Image:taclabel.png]]

The main features of the Battlescape Screen are labeled. Refer to below for an explaination.

# Item carried by the piece's right hand. Left click on that area to use.
# Move up or down. Only usable if the piece is equipped with a flying suit, or if located on an elevator tile.
# Change the viewing level. Yesh, that is not clear enough. Can someone improve it? - Vagabond
# View the map screen.
# Switch between kneeling and standing stance for 2 TUs. Will affect the piece's height, the firing accuracy, and the required TUs to move in the next player phase.
# Switch to the inventory screen.
# Centre the Battlescape Screen onto the currently selected piece.
# Select the next piece.
# Select the next piece. Any difference to button eight? - Vagabond
# Hide or reveal the roof or ceiling. Useful for viewing inside enclosed areas.
# Open the Battlescreen Options menu. Use this to modify the firing, scrolling, and movement speed. Note that it is only possible to save, not to load, the battlescape scenario. However, the option to load will be advaliable within the Geoscape screen, and the title menu of the game.
# End player turn button. The alien phase will then commence.
# Dust off button. For UFO Crash Recovery, UFO Assault and Terror missions transport ship will then take off, leaving all the pieces not within it's initial deployment area behind. For Alien Base Assault, the pieces in the deployment area will retreat, leaving those elsewhere within the board behind. For Base Defence mission, it will concede the battle and the base to the alien without further loses to the player. Most of the units left behind will be listed as MIA and will be unadvaliable for the rest of the game.
# Item carried by the piece's left hand. Left click on that area to use.
# Reserve TU buttons. Will stop the piece from taking any action once a certain amount of TUs has been used. Those TUs may be used for reaction shots in the Alien's phase. Top left is to reserve none, Top right is to reserve enough TUs for a snap shot. Bottom left is to reserve for an aimed shot, with the bottom right similarly for auto-shot.
# Indicates the rank of the selected piece. Click to view detailed statistics, including current armour values.
# Information panel detailing the name, and the current status of the piece. The green bar, and the number corresponds to the current TUs advaliable, with the yellow bar and number for the current energy. Likewise with the red bar and number for the current health with the purple bar and number representing the moral level.
# Currently selected piece.
# Mouse cursor and selection box. Left click on the board to move the piece to a specific location, consuming TUs in the process. Move to the edge of the screen to scroll along the board. Right click on the board to have the currently selected piece face that direction. Also used to target areas and pieces for the item to be used on.
# Aliens sighted buttons. Left-click to center the screen on the indexed alien. These buttons are assigned in "increasing order" in terms of the appropriate file. In particular, the numerically highest alien sighted will also be the maximal rank sighted.

==How to end a mission==
Missions will end if one of the following happens:

# All aliens are killed or knocked [[unconscious]]. All equipment and UFO components will automatically be [[Equipment Recovery|recovered]] from the battlefield. If any X-COM units are under alien [[Mind Control]] when the last alien is defeated, those units will be "MIA", and lost forever.
# All human soldiers are killed or are incapacitated. All soldiers and equipment (including the transport) will be lost.
# Player aborts the mission. All units and equipment in the transport will be recovered; all units and equipment outside the transport will be lost. No UFO components will be recovered. Any unconscious aliens inside the transport will be transferred to [[Alien Containment]], if you have one. If more aliens were killed than X-COM units, you will probably still end the mission with a positive [[score]].

There are several cases where aborting a mission may be a good option:

* If your forces are overwhelmed and likely to be defeated, get as many back to the transport as you can and cut your losses.
* Early [[Terror Mission]]s (especially at [[night]]) can be very difficult. However, not responding to a terror site costs X-COM a lot of [[score|points]] in its monthly evaluation. Fewer points will be lost if you send a transport, even if you abort the mission right away. You may also be able to pick off a few aliens before abandoning the mission.
* [[Alien Base]]s can be raided and looted an unlimited number of times, as long as at least one alien is left behind alive and conscious (these are known as "Smash and Grab" missions).
* Early in the game, capturing a [[psionic]] alien is of a high priority. If you manage to knock out a Sectoid Leader during a dangerous mission, you may choose to grab its body and hightail it back to the base.

==See Also==
* [[Combat]]
* [[Field Manual]]
* [[:Category:Tactics]]
* [[:Category:Terrain]]
[[Category:Tactics]]

Talk:Battlescape

2007-03-08T04:08:01Z

Vagabond: To-do list related to battlescape interface, and thoughts

It's true, victory is subjective. Just a quick - well, a long-ish word on victory.

Technically speaking, dusting off from a site that's still manned with aliens can also be counted as a success if you were able to get whatever it was in the battle that you came for (be it experience, an abduction of a really difficult alien (such as an Ethereal without the convenience of the Psi Lab), capturing a certain weapon, etc). What you do not win is the loot outside the Skyranger and the UFO Alloys and its remaining components.

A fine example of this is Zombie's patented Smash-And-Grab technique with alien bases, where a base is raided, one alien is left alive and the rest are dealt with. Once cleared, all the equipment (and corpses) are then carted to the entry platforms and all troops head back to the entry points and the dust off command is issued.

The mission will read as a failure, but the score, experience and loot will reflect a successful mission. As it is a base and the victory condition for the base destruction has not yet been met (destruction of the command tables or all aliens), the base will remain on the map.

Other missions types are a lot less permanent and tend to vanish (crash sites/terror sites) or take off (intact UFOs).

So, don't read in too much to the status on the tally screen. Let the score, experience and goods that you were able to come away with tell you whether you've won, or lost.

- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

----
"What happens if you hit Lift Off with NO units in the dropship? - BB": From article page.

All units are MIA and the craft is lost. --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 11:55, 21 January 2007 (PST)
----
What if you mind control an alien, and lift off while only he is in the ship? - BB
----
Nothing, except the craft is lost. (MC'd aliens are not in Soldier.dat and cannot be considered a true X-COM unit). --[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 19:49, 21 January 2007 (PST)

----

Just copy and pasted the discussion from main article - plus a thought of my own:

What happens if you hit Lift Off with NO units in the dropship? - BB

:You will end the scenario immediately. Chances are, you will not have killed enough aliens to cover the loss of all the soldiers missing in action. Yeah, you will still have the transport though!--[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 02:40, 7 March 2007 (PST)

::That's basically admitting defeat. Don't forget you lose the ship if you abort an alien base attacks as well with no troops in the exit. By the way, lifting off from a site does not always count as a loss. You may very well have come for what you came for and didn't want to bother cleaning up the rest of the aliens. For example, in a typical smash-and-grab scenario, or if you've stolen some artefact or abduct a specimen from an alien race you're not ready to fight (like the ethereals before you learn your psi strength). The game tells you you've lost, but you've technically won if you've accomplished what you came for. Just pointing out the silver lining. - [[User:NKF|NKF]]

:::Yeah. If I manage to stun a Sectoid Leader in an early mission (especially if it's the first Terror Mission), I'll grab him, pile into the ship, and dust off. Woot, Psi Lab.--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 12:10, 7 March 2007 (PST)

----

'''Battlescape Interface'''

To-do list:
1. Inventory screen. (Already uploaded an image, but needs compressing)
2. Motion detector Radar screen.
3. Map screen.

:: Are they necessary? For one thing, I know I am still quite at odds on how to use the motion detector properly (maybe a separate article/tutorial for it?) I am quite sure that there would be others as well. As for the Inventory screen, I think it is a must, and well, the Map screen, we can skip that as I think it is self explanatory... Well, I think that by doing all the screens and explainations, we might get the wiki article a tad too big...
--[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 20:08, 7 March 2007 (PST)

Battlescape

2007-03-07T10:40:53Z

Vagabond:

__NOTOC__
{{STUB}}
= Overview =

The battlescape is the tactical portion of the game where all the action takes place. Soldiers and aliens live, fight and die on the battlescape.

Editor Summary: Description of the battlescape. Types of missions. Geography and terrain information. Brief explanation on common battlescape features.

=The Playing Board=

The battle takes place on a small layered tile map. Maps will have dimensions that range between 40 to 60 tiles in width and height and have either 2 or 4 map layers.

:In X-Com UFO, exterior maps always have 4 elevations and can have areas of 40 to 50 square tiles. Interior maps always have 2 elevations and are always played in 60 square tile areas.

:TFTD differs slightly in that interior maps use 4 elevations except the maps in the final level, which only use 2 per map.

The map - we'll call it the physical map - details all structures (walls), obstructions (walls, objects and foliage), ceilings(or floors), floors (or ceilings, as the case may be), etc. The general look of the battlescape is determined by the mission, the aircraft that have landed at the site and the area the mission was initiated.

Everything on the map is static by nature. They do not change until they are damaged by weapons fire.

In addition to the physical map, there is a lighting map that controls the level lighting and a map for the shroud of war. The lighting map is self explanatory, it determines the lighting levels of the whole map. It consists of an ambient light level to represent the time of the day and fixed light sources. It also consists of all roving light sources, which are made up of player controlled units, flares and fires.

The shroud of war, or fog of war, is common in many strategy games to represent areas that have not been seen or visited. In effect, areas of the map are coated in black until a friendly unit looks at it. From then on, the fog is lifted for the rest of mission.

It must be noted that gravity in the battlescape does not apply to any map features, except the units and objects that can be picked up by units.

=The Playing Pieces=
Editor note: The units and equipment on the battlescape and how they interact. Unit stats, weapon stats, inventories, other non-combat tools, objects that can be picked up, etc.

On a map, soldiers, aliens and sometimes civilians interact with each other. Generally by way of projectile weapons.

=Combat Damage Model=
All discussion on how damage is dealt and received by units. Covers damage, armour, explosions.

==Psionics==
Brief explanation of psi, etc.
=Battlescape Interface=
===Battlescape Screen===

Had a shot at explaining all the buttons. Reword if necessary. Some buttons I am still not clear on. Please clarify when necessary---[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 02:40, 7 March 2007 (PST)

The bulk of the battlescape scenario will take place here. Here, the player can view the areas of the board visible to their pieces and can choose actions for them via the Battlescape Control Bar.

[[Image:taclabel.png]]

The main features of the Battlescape Screen are labeled. Refer to below for an explaination.

1. Item carried by the piece's right hand. Left click on that area to use.

2. Move up or down. Only usable if the piece is equipped with a flying suit, or if located on an elevator tile.

3. Change the viewing level. Yesh, that is not clear enough. Can someone improve it? - Vagabond

4. View the map screen.

5. Switch between kneeling and standing stance for 2 TUs. Will affect the piece's height, the the firing accuracy, and the
required TUs to move in the next player phase.

6. Switch to the inventory screen.

7. Centre the Battlescape Screen onto the currently selected piece.

8. Select the next piece.

9. Select the next piece. No diffence to button six, as far as I know. Can someone clarify? - Vagabond

10. Hide or reveal the roof or ceiling. Useful for viewing inside enclosed areas.

11. Open the Battlescreen Options menu. Use this to modify the firing, scrolling, and movement speed. Note that it is only
possible to save, not to load the battlescape scenario. However, the option to load will be advaliable within the Geoscape screen, and the title menu of the game.

12. End player turn button. The alien phase will then commence.

13. Dust off button. For UFO Crash Recovery, UFO Assault and Terror missions transport ship will then take off, leaving all the pieces not within it's initial deployment area behind. For Alien Base Assault, the pieces in the deployment area will retreat, leaving those elsewhere within the board behind. For Base Defence mission, it will concede the battle and the base to
the alien without further loses to the player. Most of the units left behind will be listed as MIA and will be unadvaliable for the rest of the game.

14. Item carried by the piece's left hand. Left click on that area to use.

15. Reserve TU buttons. Will stop the piece from taking any action once a certain amount of TUs has been used. Those TUs may be used for reaction shots in the Alien's phase. Top left is to reserve none, Top right is to reserve enough TUs for a snap shot. Bottom left is to reserve for an aimed shot, with the bottom right similarly for auto-shot.

16. Indicates the rank of the selected piece. Click to view detailed statistics, including current armour values.

17. Information panel detailing the name, and the current status of the piece. The green bar, and the number corresponds to the current TUs advaliable, with the yellow bar and number for the current energy. Likewise with the red bar and number for the current health with the purple bar and number representing the moral level.

18. Currently selected piece.

19. Mouse cursor and selection box. Move to the edge of the screen to scroll along the board. Right click on the board to have the currently selected piece face that direction. Also used to target areas and pieces for the item to be used on.

== Aliens sighted buttons ==
* left-click to center the screen on the indexed alien
* These buttons are assigned in "increasing order" in terms of the appropriate file. In particular, the numerically highest alien sighted will also be the maximal rank sighted.

=How to end a mission=
Missions can end in a variety of ways, whether it is the choice of the player to end the mission or if either side is victorious.

Humans win if:

1) All aliens die or are incapacitated using the Stun Rod or the Stun Gun.

Aliens win if:

1) All human soldiers are killed or are incapacitated.

2) Player hits 'Lift Off' button with 1 or more units in the dropship. Anything not on the dropship is lost forever. Evaluation Points lost due to this form of defeat can be negated considerably by having all equipment/soldiers/tanks/etc. on-board the dropship during liftoff. Best if used when one knows that they're going to lose, and decides to pull out with minor losses rather than lose everything.

What happens if you hit Lift Off with NO units in the dropship? - BB

You will end the scenario immediately. Chances are, you will not have killed enough aliens to cover the loss of all the soldiers missing in action. Yeah, you will still have the transport though!--[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 02:40, 7 March 2007 (PST)

Battlescape

2007-03-07T10:40:32Z

Vagabond: Attempted to explain the battlescape interface. Would desire assistance with formatting and cleaning.

Battlescape

2007-03-07T10:39:38Z

Vagabond:

__NOTOC__
{{STUB}}
= Overview =

The battlescape is the tactical portion of the game where all the action takes place. Soldiers and aliens live, fight and die on the battlescape.

Editor Summary: Description of the battlescape. Types of missions. Geography and terrain information. Brief explanation on common battlescape features.

=The Playing Board=

The battle takes place on a small layered tile map. Maps will have dimensions that range between 40 to 60 tiles in width and height and have either 2 or 4 map layers.

:In X-Com UFO, exterior maps always have 4 elevations and can have areas of 40 to 50 square tiles. Interior maps always have 2 elevations and are always played in 60 square tile areas.

:TFTD differs slightly in that interior maps use 4 elevations except the maps in the final level, which only use 2 per map.

The map - we'll call it the physical map - details all structures (walls), obstructions (walls, objects and foliage), ceilings(or floors), floors (or ceilings, as the case may be), etc. The general look of the battlescape is determined by the mission, the aircraft that have landed at the site and the area the mission was initiated.

Everything on the map is static by nature. They do not change until they are damaged by weapons fire.

In addition to the physical map, there is a lighting map that controls the level lighting and a map for the shroud of war. The lighting map is self explanatory, it determines the lighting levels of the whole map. It consists of an ambient light level to represent the time of the day and fixed light sources. It also consists of all roving light sources, which are made up of player controlled units, flares and fires.

The shroud of war, or fog of war, is common in many strategy games to represent areas that have not been seen or visited. In effect, areas of the map are coated in black until a friendly unit looks at it. From then on, the fog is lifted for the rest of mission.

It must be noted that gravity in the battlescape does not apply to any map features, except the units and objects that can be picked up by units.

=The Playing Pieces=
Editor note: The units and equipment on the battlescape and how they interact. Unit stats, weapon stats, inventories, other non-combat tools, objects that can be picked up, etc.

On a map, soldiers, aliens and sometimes civilians interact with each other. Generally by way of projectile weapons.

=Combat Damage Model=
All discussion on how damage is dealt and received by units. Covers damage, armour, explosions.

==Psionics==
Brief explanation of psi, etc.
=Battlescape Interface=
===Battlescape Screen===

Had a shot at explaining all the buttons. Reword if necessary. Some buttons I am still not clear on. Please clarify when necessary---[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 02:39, 7 March 2007 (PST)

The bulk of the battlescape scenario will take place here. Here, the player can view the areas of the board visible to their pieces and can choose actions for them via the Battlescape Control Bar.

[[Image:taclabel.png]]

The main features of the Battlescape Screen are labeled. Refer to below for an explaination.

1. Item carried by the piece's right hand. Left click on that area to use.

2. Move up or down. Only usable if the piece is equipped with a flying suit, or if located on an elevator tile.

3. Change the viewing level. Yesh, that is not clear enough. Can someone improve it? - Vagabond

4. View the map screen.

5. Switch between kneeling and standing stance for 2 TUs. Will affect the piece's height, the the firing accuracy, and the
required TUs to move in the next player phase.

6. Switch to the inventory screen.

7. Centre the Battlescape Screen onto the currently selected piece.

8. Select the next piece.

9. Select the next piece. No diffence to button six, as far as I know. Can someone clarify? - Vagabond

10. Hide or reveal the roof or ceiling. Useful for viewing inside enclosed areas.

11. Open the Battlescreen Options menu. Use this to modify the firing, scrolling, and movement speed. Note that it is only
possible to save, not to load the battlescape scenario. However, the option to load will be advaliable within the Geoscape screen, and the title menu of the game.

12. End player turn button. The alien phase will then commence.

13. Dust off button. For UFO Crash Recovery, UFO Assault and Terror missions transport ship will then take off, leaving all the pieces not within it's initial deployment area behind. For Alien Base Assault, the pieces in the deployment area will retreat, leaving those elsewhere within the board behind. For Base Defence mission, it will concede the battle and the base to
the alien without further loses to the player. Most of the units left behind will be listed as MIA and will be unadvaliable for the rest of the game.

14. Item carried by the piece's left hand. Left click on that area to use.

15. Reserve TU buttons. Will stop the piece from taking any action once a certain amount of TUs has been used. Those TUs may be used for reaction shots in the Alien's phase. Top left is to reserve none, Top right is to reserve enough TUs for a snap shot. Bottom left is to reserve for an aimed shot, with the bottom right similarly for auto-shot.

16. Indicates the rank of the selected piece. Click to view detailed statistics, including current armour values.

17. Information panel detailing the name, and the current status of the piece. The green bar, and the number corresponds to the current TUs advaliable, with the yellow bar and number for the current energy. Likewise with the red bar and number for the current health with the purple bar and number representing the moral level.

18. Currently selected piece.

19. Mouse cursor and selection box. Move to the edge of the screen to scroll along the board. Right click on the board to have the currently selected piece face that direction. Also used to target areas and pieces for the item to be used on.

== Aliens sighted buttons ==
* left-click to center the screen on the indexed alien
* These buttons are assigned in "increasing order" in terms of the appropriate file. In particular, the numerically highest alien sighted will also be the maximal rank sighted.

=How to end a mission=
Missions can end in a variety of ways, whether it is the choice of the player to end the mission or if either side is victorious.

Humans win if:

1) All aliens die or are incapacitated using the Stun Rod or the Stun Gun.

Aliens win if:

1) All human soldiers are killed or are incapacitated.

2) Player hits 'Lift Off' button with 1 or more units in the dropship. Anything not on the dropship is lost forever. Evaluation Points lost due to this form of defeat can be negated considerably by having all equipment/soldiers/tanks/etc. on-board the dropship during liftoff. Best if used when one knows that they're going to lose, and decides to pull out with minor losses rather than lose everything.

What happens if you hit Lift Off with NO units in the dropship? - BB
You will end the scenario immediately. Chances are, you will not have killed enough aliens to cover the loss of all the soldiers missing in action. Yeah, you still have the transport though!

Talk:Realistic Equivalents

2007-03-01T13:16:15Z

Vagabond:

As a note, an MP5 is not considered a battle rifle, as it is a submachine gun.
http://www.hkpro.com/mp5.htm

GazChap - I also wouldn't really consider the AK-47 to be a realistic equivalent. I've always pictured X-COM as being a very high-tech organisation. I would have thought the AK-47 would be too... raw, for X-COM. Not enough bells and whistles on it. - 21 July 2005 14:05 BST.

Not sure why would anyone use an M-16, if there is M4A1s around. Also back the reccommendation to remove the reference to MP-5, as it is just a submachine gun.--[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 05:16, 1 March 2007 (PST)

User talk:Vagabond

2007-03-01T11:45:22Z

Vagabond: Suggestion and image for battlescape interface

Ave.

In response to the missing page for 'Battlescape interface', I uploaded two images. Thank the heavens for ctrl-F5 function within dosbox!

[[Image:Taclabel.png]]

[[image:Invlabel.png]]

Well, what I envision is those images or similar in each separate section, and each of the items labelled explaining each button, the consequences, and of course, tips and tricks. For example, it took me a long time to figure out that standing up takes up 12 tus. And ducking button may help grenading through windows more easily. Okay, I'm a newbie. But that's the point righty?

What do you all think?
--[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 03:44, 1 March 2007 (PST)

User talk:Vagabond

2007-03-01T11:44:29Z

Vagabond:

Ave.

In response to the missing page for 'Battlescape interface', I uploaded two images. Thank the heavens for ctrl-F5 function within dosbox!

[[Image:Taclabel.gif]]

[[image:Invlabel.gif]]

Well, what I envision is those images or similar in each separate section, and each of the items labelled explaining each button, the consequences, and of course, tips and tricks. For example, it took me a long time to figure out that standing up takes up 12 tus. And ducking button may help grenading through windows more easily. Okay, I'm a newbie. But that's the point righty?

What do you all think?
--[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]] 03:44, 1 March 2007 (PST)

User talk:Vagabond

2007-03-01T11:42:13Z

Vagabond:

Ave.

In response to the missing page for 'Battlescape interface', I uploaded two images. Thank the heavens for ctrl-F5 function within dosbox!

[[Image:taclabel.gif]]

[[image:invlabel.gif]]

Well, what I envision is those images or similar in each separate section, and each of the items labelled explaining each button, the consequences, and of course, tips and tricks. For example, it took me a long time to figure out that standing up takes up 12 tus. And ducking button may help grenading through windows more easily. Okay, I'm a newbie. But that's the point righty?

What do you all think?

File:Taclabel.png

2007-03-01T11:36:13Z

Vagabond: Screenshot of the tactical scene with each feature labelled.

Screenshot of the tactical scene with each feature labelled.

File:Invlabel.png

2007-03-01T11:35:05Z

Vagabond: Inventory/setup screen with each feature labelled.

Inventory/setup screen with each feature labelled.

Talk:Known Bugs

2007-02-28T12:08:24Z

Vagabond: /* Disappearing Ammunition */

did anyone find ANNOYING! the airbourne intercept window of TFTD when flying over water?

Annoying:

Intercept a USO over land then follow it and it may (should) fly out towards to water. The aliens don't usually go straight into the drink so the "Unable to continue pursuit while airbourne" window comes when flying over water "return to base" OR "continue pursuit" as the options. If you'd press the 'continue pursuit', it would just display the window again. The only way to continue pursuit was to click it maybe 10 or 20 times before the aliens submerged. This is nuts! Are there any work-arounds to this than just pressing the "return to base" button?

just checking up ?

== Difficulty Bug ==

We should for historical reasons outline the "Difficulty Bug" that [[XcomUtil]] has saved most of us from. Any takers? --[[User:JellyfishGreen|JellyfishGreen]]

-----

That would only require two or three short lines. Something like this:

'' " Because of one or two incorrectly set bytes in all dos versions of the game( 1.0 through to 1.4), no matter what difficulty was selected, the difficulty bug would reset to beginner at the end of the first mission. XcomUtil performs a very minor tweak that corrects this problem. This bug was officially fixed in the Collectors Edition Windows port (also commonly known as UFO Gold). " ''

Or perhaps something a bit more succinct, and with less commas. Ha!

- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

-----

This is a technical bug that doesn't happen to everyone and one this article wasn't really meant to chronical - but we won't turn away helping a fellow player if it can't be helped. It's just that there are so many random crash points in this game that it would take far too long to find them all or come up with solutions for them.

Certainly, the transfer crash can happen to some players, but it's not one that can be reproduced easily. It's just like the random crash that some players get when they research a floater medic. It crashes the game for some of us, but others don't seem to notice it at all.

It really depends on your hardware and OS setup, whether or not your copy of the game is damaged or your savegame is damaged, etc.

Does it happen in all games or just this one savegame?

- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

-----

== "Invisible Muton" bug ==

Upon shooting repeatedly a Muton, it sometimes plays its "death" animation without sound (as if falling unconscious) and it is no longer displayed in the screen, while remaining visible to my soldiers (I can center the screen and the cursor appears yellow over them). Under this state, they cannot be targeted by Stun Rods. They may play their death animation anytime they get shot, until they truly die, when they emit their characteristic sound and leave a corpse (along with any items carried).

I'm quite fond of laser weapons, maybe this happens more often with those.

Also, though I remember experiencing this quite often fighting Mutons, it may happen to any other high health race.--[[User:Trotsky|Trotsky]] 02:59, 2 July 2006 (PDT)

-----

Never seen that one myself. Another "unpatched game" thing maybe?

There's a (very rare) bug that allows your soldiers to live if they become stunned by an explosion that happens to kill them. Sometimes the game will register their death, and THEN register that they've been stunned. In every case I've seen this happen, however, the unit will have such a low amount of health that a single fatal wound will render it dead (again) on the next turn. I have a vague memory that other players may have been able to get a medkit to the scene on time...

I dunno if that's related to your issue at all (I doubt it, but... meh). I'd advise using a Mind Probe on the alien the next time it happens so you can check the aliens stun/health levels.

- [[User:Bomb_Bloke|Bomb Bloke]]

----

I'm pretty sure I've seen this with Mutons. Possibly Chrysallids as well, another high health, high armor creature. They were still readily killed by shooting the place they are. Good thought on the MP, BB

---[[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 08:51, 2 July 2006 (PDT)

----

I've been known to have a dying muton(in fire) to spin around and then switch to the female civilian death animation. With the scream and everything. Even got a civilian death registered at the end of the mission. And this didn't just happen once, but on another separate occasion.

Unusually enough, I once had a sectopod die and then drop a tank corpse. I was using the Lightning at the time for my troop carrier, so you can imagine my surprise.

Then there was one occasion where a floater dropped a snakeman corpse. Let's not even get into the sort of things the aliens like to stuff themselves with.

Your invisible alien bug is quite common, although there appears to be many causes for it. I think one involves a full object table when it comes to invisible aliens in bases. But it can also happen in ordinary missions as well. I'm guessing the game may have tried to do something in the wrong order, and sprite information for the unit may have been lost or corrupted along the way.

Having had an experience where all the chryssalids become invisible in one base defence mission was quite a shocker. I fixed this by saving the game, quitting and then restarting the game. If you ever get an invisible alien again, try this and see if it helps. If it doesn't, well, just keep a careful watch on your map and any alerts that pop up as you play.

There's a similar but less severe bug where a dead alien will still leave its centre-on-unit alert button, but this goes away shortly after you move or turn.

- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

----

That last bug happens when exploding Cyberdiscs kill nearby Sectoids, doesn't it?--[[User:Trotsky|Trotsky]] 23:56, 2 July 2006 (PDT)

== Vanishing snakemen ==

I've known snakemen to become invisible when standing on a hay bale. On the first occassion I had a poor tank getting shot while spending numerous turns looking for it. On the second occasion I had an alien under Psi-control, left it on the hay bale, and couldn't find it next turn. - Egor

== Blaster Bomb Bug ==

I'm currently playing through X-com UFO Defense, I have the collectors edition version. I'm in the process of trying to catch a live alien commander and the blaster bomb bug is making this very difficult. If i remember correctly a commander is always in the command center of the the alien bases. The problem is anytime i get close there is always a dude with a blaster launcher up there that tries to kill my troops. When they try to fire it down at me the bug kicks in and they blow up the whole command room and all the aliens in it because they can't figure out how to get the blaster bomb down the grav lift thing in there. This is making it very dificult to actually catch a live commander. Anyone have any ideas for tactics or anything to breach that room without the aliens trying to fire a blaster launcher up there? - eL Hector

: I can suggest two possible solutions. The first is to wait outside the command room for the alien to move closer to you. If it comes out of the room or if you know it has moved down the lift, you then burst in and stand right next to it to stop it from firing the blaster. This is risky because there could very well be a heavy plasma toting alien in there. The other is to use a small launcher and launch it up at the ceiling near where you think the alien with the blaster is standing. -[[User:NKF|NKF]]

== Disappearing Ammunition ==

I have observed that problem with X-COM 1.2, modded with XCOMUTIL. My stun bombs and heavy rocket missiles, along with clips for the auto cannon went missing.
[[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]]

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Just run a test using my 1.4 DOS version with XComUtil but my stun bombs didn't disappear: 30 + 1 back in the base they came from, same number after I went tactical and I dusted-off immediately. Are you running XComUtil with Runxcom.bat or did you simply run Xcusetup?

[[User:Hobbes|Hobbes]] 22:12, 22 February 2007 (PST)

:Is it a case of hitting the 80-item limit?--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 12:28, 23 February 2007 (PST)

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With runxcomw.bat, as everytime. Apologies, I retested and it seems like I was mistakened, but I could have sworn that I lost them dang stunbombs. Had to manufacture some. I will test some more, using four heavy weapons and seeing whether their ammunition disappears at all. Thanks. [[User:Vagabond|Vagabond]]

==MC at end = MIA?==

I am sure I have seen this again recently, where I won a mission with no casualties (I thought), but the last thing I killed was a Commander that had been chain MC'ing a psi-attack-magnet trooper, and that trooper was listed as MIA at the end (presumably because he was on the enemy side at the end of combat). Is this a bug, or is there another way to get MIA's on a completed mission that I might have missed?

Since then I have been waiting for the leaders to panic at the end before killing them (or waiting for a rare resist), so I can safely exit, but am I being overcautious?

--[[User:Sfnhltb|Sfnhltb]] 13:45, 27 February 2007 (PST)

Talk:Known Bugs

2007-02-22T01:40:39Z

Vagabond:

Talk:Known Bugs

2007-02-22T01:39:32Z

Vagabond: