Not to disparage anyone's skill level, but if you honestly are having trouble or think the game is tough at this point, then you either have monumental bad luck or are just missing something fundamental. There's no way around it; on Rookie, XCOM 2 is cheating for you, and it's cheating hard: Rookies start with +2 HP and +10 will.
Today, XcomUtil not only fixes the Difficulty Bug and several others,but it enables you to use all five ships to carry troops, it can randomlyredesign the alien ships before each battle, and it can allow you to pickyour terrain and the type of alien ship before each battle.The image on the right is an OS/2 screen capture of the new XCOM Interceptor.It holds up to 6 soldiers, with the possibility of one tank.
The latest version allowsyou to merge the terrains from both XCOM and TFTD so that the terrainsfrom either game are available in both games.
The original XcomUtil was a command line utility with a confusing set of options.Today, the XCUSETUP batch file prompts you for the most popular features and providesdefaults for everything. The average user can just keep pressing enterand probably get what he or she wants.You can safely run XCUSETUP again and again to change the features whenever you like.The RUNXCOM batch file is used in both games to control the many runtimefeatures of XcomUtil, such as new human ships, random terrains,and random ship generation.
XcomUtil supports all known versions of X-COM:UFO Defense andX-COM:Terror from the Deep (sometimes called TFTD or XCOM2)by MicroProse.It also supports all foreign versions of these games, includingUFO:Enemy Unknown, the original European version of XCOM.ApocUtil modifies XCOM:Apocalypse (sometimes called XCOM3),which was also written by Mythos Games and distributed by MicroProse.
The versions of XCOM and TFTD in XCOM CE and the various Classic Games CDsfound in game magazines have been rewritten for Windowsin such a way that many of the best features of XcomUtil could no longerbe supported. Thanks to a patch provided by Silas Dunsmore, XcomUtil once moreprovides full support for the Windows versions of XCOM, starting with version8.3. However, only partial support for the Windows version of TFTD is possible.RUNXCOM.BAT and some of the features it supports,such as the logging of combat results,are impossible until an equivalent patch is found.Other features have been made to work,but not as smoothly as they have been in the past. For example, randomlygenerated alien ships will still be possible, but you will have to manuallyrequest that new ships be generated.Use of the new human ships, like the Barracuda,can still be supported, but only by runninga batch file from another session when the game describes the battle that isabout to be fought.
XcomUtil always allows you to view and modify your enemies and their equipment,dynamically change your money, score, or level of difficulty,and even switch sides with the enemy to allow two-player battles.
ApocUtil allows you to view and modify game features such as the damage tables,number of enemies, and even the research tree.It randomizes the effects of each weapon on each aliento make XCOM:Apocalypse more difficult and more interesting. Desolate game cheat tables.
Use these programs at your own risk, only after making backups of thedirectories containing the files they modify. I am not liable for anydamages they may cause. You may freely distribute these ZIP files only ifthey are not modified and no money is charged for their distribution.However, to allow me to easily update XcomUtil and ApocUtil,you should link to this page rather than allow downloading of the filesfrom your own pages.
XcomUtil has always been a DOS programbecause XCOM has always been a DOS program and XcomUtil must be ableto run everywhere that XCOM runs.Therefore, XcomUtil and ApocUtil run equally well under true DOS or in a DOS window.
For more information about the loaders, see the README.TXT file or visithttp://f0dder.has.it orhttp://f0dder.cjb.net.
For all of the features of XcomUtil to work, you need to install your gamecompletely to your hard disk from your CD. This is already done by theWindows versions of XCOM and TFTD.For the DOS version of TFTD, this is as easy as switching to the HARDDISK directory on your CDand entering INSTALL.For the original XCOM CD,you need to execute the following steps from the DOS command line:
where x: is your CD and y: is the drive on which you wish to install XCOM.When this is done, XcomUtil can be installed by unzipping XCOMUTnn.ZIP intoyour XCOM directory and running XCUSETUP. Now you can run XCOM/UFO orTFTD by entering RUNXCOM.
If you bought XCOM and TFTD in the Conquer the Universe package fromMicroProse, you should have no problems,since they only install to your hard disk.
If you have trouble running XCOM or TFTD under Win95 with sound, youshould try selecting Restart in MS-DOS Mode from the Shutdown menu.When you do this, you may have to load a mouse driver from another source.I got mine from the diskette that came with one of my replacement mice.If you still have trouble, make a backup copy of AUTOEXEC.BAT, then editthe file to remove the lines marked as 'Created by Windows. Do not modify them.'By removing these lines, I was able to get even XCOM 1.0 to run in MS-DOS mode.After doing this, Win95 will still ask you every time you reboot if you stillwant to run in MS-DOS mode, so no harm will be done to the system. If you haveany doubt about this, just restore AUTOEXEC.BAT from the backup you made.
No version of XcomUtil is ever perfect. The following is a list oferrors in the current version.Any major bug will immediately force a new release.
XcomUtil can not properly identify a version of XCOM that I have never seen.When this happens, the results are unpredictable.Please report any such problems to me immediately,I will attempt to provide a new version of XcomUtil as soon as possible.
The Base of Origin for an attack is not always correctly determined. Ifthis is incorrect, you need to explicitly specify it for flags like EQP.This bug has existed since version 4.2 and no fix is expected unless I makea major breakthrough in my decoding of the data files.
Aliens replaced with the RPL flag retain their original flying ability. Icould not figure out how to correct this, but it has little effect.
The current ship may be reported as a Skyranger or Triton when no ships atall are present. This is a very minor bug that allows me to report shipseven when terrains are replaced.
If you reload a prompted battle using the Small Scout or Survey Ship, theship itself will be corrupted since I could not tell that I needed torestore the ship files.
The information about casualties in the log file is not always correct.This will be corrected in the next version, if possible.
If you find XCOM just too easy, even after using XcomUtil to increase the difficulty,let me suggest a few scenarios that you can play. You use these scenarios byforcing yourself to follow the rules described. If any soldier violates the rulesof the scenario, even accidentally, he must immediately be sacked.If you play by these rules, you may discover tactics that you never knew existed.
Not all of these scenarios can be won in the normal wayby destroying the brain on Mars.In those cases, I suggest that you eliminate all known alien bases after yourgame has reached a steady state.I have played entire games of each of these scenarios, except where noted,and have tried to list them by increasing difficulty.
You have a morbid fear of all aliens and all alien technology.You never try to capture or interrogate any aliens and you sell all alien artifacts immediately.You can not win this scenario in the normal sense, since you can never go to Mars.You simply play it until you don't want to play it any more.I stopped playing at the end of the year 2000, after I had eliminated all 17 alien bases in 25 attempts.I had already made nearly $1 billion by having 255 engineers build and sell laser cannons atall 8 of my bases.
This scenario takes its name from the beaurocratic 'bean counters' who driveus crazy with their constant cost cutting measures.You are not allowed to destroy anything, since that wastes profits.You are not allowed to shoot down any UFOs, since that destroys valuable artifacts thatcan be sold.You can not use any explosives or any weapon that uses a clip or ammunition,since those would have to be replaced.You are only allowed to use reusable items, like lasers, flares, stun rods, and psi-amps.
You must limit yourself to only explosive weapons.This scenario forces you to learn tactics that protect you from your own weapons.It was rather frustrating at times, because you were constantly destroying things thatyou wanted to keep. It is virtually the opposite of the Bean Counter scenario.I stopped playing this game shortly after I researched Stun Launchers,since I already knew I could beat the Neo-Pacifist scenario.
You can not tolerate sunlight and must not fight any battle in full daylight.If you land at a battle and an aura of light is visible around your soldiers,you must leave immediately.This scenario is very interesting and teaches you how to fight at night.It is much harder to win, but it can still be won because it is dark on Mars.
You have a morbid fear of all technology.You must sack all of your scientists and engineers at the start of the game.You must sell all alien artifacts immediately.If you can not buy the item, you can not use it.
This scenario forces you to learn how to use conventional weapons against the aliens.You can not win this scenario in the normal sense, since you can never go to Mars.You simply play it until you don't want to play it any more.I stopped after about one game year, having destroyed all of the alien bases on the planet.
You are a Pacifist and can not directly take the life of any living thing, even an alien.You can not shoot down any UFO, because aliens might be killed.You can not use any weapon that can kill an alien, even via reaction fire.Aliens who die during interrogation or because of lack of space in the alien containmentfacility are someone else's problem, so your conscience is clear.
The only lethal weapons that you can use are grenades, but you must still give thealiens a chance to escape.In this way, the alien causes its own death.For example,an alien next to an armed explosive with a long fuse can save it self by moving away,while an alien next to an armed Proximity Grenade can save itself by not moving away.
Even with these restrictions, the game can still be won by mind controlling analien on Mars and having him stand next to an armed Proximity Grenade which wasplaced next to the master brain.Once this is ready, you release your control and wait for the alien to move, ending the game.
This scenario was very hard in the early stages, with very heavy casualties until theStun Launcher was researched.This was my favorite scenario, because the logic was so perverse and because of thenew tactics I learned.
Games where you only have one base are not that different from normal games,unless that base is located in Hawaii.This scenario is very difficult and requires a different strategy.The challenge is that you have almost no radar coverage over any significant land mass.You must keep Skyrangers constantly on patrol over areas that are likely to havealien activity. Since combat is rare, you can not afford to skip any battles.This scenario teaches you how to use the graphs to gather information about areas inwhich you have no radar.
This scenario takes away your large, long range troop carrier, the Skyranger.Ideally, you should also eliminate the Lightning and the Avenger (except forthe assault on Mars).This is quite difficult because you do not have enough men to allow formistakes and the short range of your ships forces you to miss some terror sites.This requires at least version 6.0 of XcomUtil.
This scenario is an even harder variation of the No Skyrangers scenario.It not only takes away your large, long range troop carrier,but it also demands that you shoot down every ship you assault.This is extremely difficult, because you almost never capture any Eleriumfrom ships that have been shot down.The lack of Elerium forces you to attack UFOs with Interceptors armed withLaser Cannons to minimize the damage, but this maximizes your chances oflosing the Interceptors.This requires at least version 6.0 of XcomUtil.
The following packages represent the work of others.Although I have used all of these packages and will try to answer questionsabout them,I claim no responsibility for the contents of any of these packagesor for any problems you may encounter using them, except as noted below.As with XcomUtil itself, use them only at your own risk.
The developers of these add-ons used a variety of techiniques to enhance the game.However, almost all of them were developed independently and do not peacefullyco-exist with each other.This is further complicated by the fact that someof the packages were developed to work with XcomUtil 6.2 and are no longercompatible with newer versions of XcomUtil. For this reason, XcomUtil 8.5and 8.6 added new interfaces that try to resolve these problems.
Replacement of entire files, rather than simply patching them, is the main reasonfor incompatibilty.I plan to address this issue in future versions of XcomUtil.
I will try toexplain the compatibility issues involved with each package listed below.This section will be expanded as I find and test more XCOM and TFTD add-on packages.
Robert Di Fiore holds the honor of releasing the first XcomUtil compatiblemap pack in May of 1997. His .ZIP file contained 14 new UFO maps, twoSkyranger maps and one Interceptor map. However, it was not compatiblewith later versions of XcomUtil and was created at a time before we understoodhow to make the aliens move properly about the ships.As a result, I am in the process of breaking it up into two packages,the human ships and the alien ships.
You can now download updated versions of his human ships in the new Xc1Shipspackage. I intend for Xc1Ships to grow over time as I design more new humanships and receive new human ship designs from other developers.The current package, which was updated on 17 JUN 2001,contains two new Skyrangers and one new Interceptor.
To install this package, you must first install XcomUtil 8.6 or higher,unzip this package into the same directory as XcomUtil, then run Xc1Shipsto select the ships you want to use. You must not run Xc1Ships.bat whenthe game is running or you will get file sharing errors.
Robert is now working on a new version of MapPack1 which will containmore maps and improved alien behavior that is also fully compatible withXcomUtil 8.6+ and XCOM for Windows.
Luchian Deurell has been designing maps for both XCOM and TFTD for longer thanalmost anyone other than Marco Kaiser. His work represents much more thansimply a map pack, since he even modifies the graphics files and the Englishtext files. Both he and his friend Sam Jeffreys, who worked on theinstallation of Luchian's packages and contributed 3 maps (one for XCOM andtwo for TFTD), have extensively tested and tuned each of these maps to nearperfection.
Because of the many changes they have made, this package is not compatiblewith most other map packages or packages that rewrite the UFOpedia.However, the install files are robust enough to install and uninstallany of the new features.
You can go to Luchian's web pages to download my revised versions of hisNewShips and NewSubs packages that are now fully compatible with XcomUtil 8.5+and the Windows versions of XCOM and TFTD.
Remi Spaans has a wonderful web site devoted to all things X-COM.Included on his Files page is a partial conversion of X-COM in which he replacesmost of the weapons and weapon graphics in such a way that it seems like youhave a new research tree. I found it a real joy to play with this add-on.This package is incompatible with packages that replace the object dataand UFOpedia.This package is fully compatible with XcomUtil 8.5+ and XCOM for Windows.
Martin Ptacek of the Czech Republic has created something that many of youhave been requesting for years, a windowed shell for XcomUtil. The programsupports most of the common functions of XcomUtil in either true DOSor a DOS window. His first version was released in January of 1998, butthe newest versions are in English.
The following packages represent the work of others.Although I have used all of these packages and will try to answer questionsabout them,I claim no responsibility for the contents of any of these packagesor for any problems you may encounter using them, except as noted below.As with XcomUtil itself, use them only at your own risk.
Ben Ratzlaff has written a great new map editor for XCOM and TFTD.I couldn't have written XcomUtTE without it.
Robert Clark has written a free suite of comprehensive editors for both XCOM and TFTD.This is the best editor I have seen for these games.
In May of 1995, Marco Kaiser released MAPEDI10.EXE, a ship and terrain editor,with UFOEDI12.EXE, a soldier and base editor.Both were designed for use with UFO: Enemy Unknown, but I have testedthat MAPEDI10.EXE works with all versions of XCOM and TFTD on MAPS directorieswith no more than 250 files. For TFTD, you have to move your files to another MAPSdirectory to edit them.UFOEDI12.EXE definitely will not work for TFTD due to changes in the data files.
Included in the package are newMedium and Large Scouts, new Desert terrain, and a new Alien Base layout.Do not be concerned by the door that cannot be opened on the lower levelof the new Medium Scout. Using the XcomUtil VIS flag reveals that a UFOPower Source fills that tiny room, so you are not missing anything.
Much of the documentation for the map editor is in German, but it can befigured out with a little experimentation.If I can contact Marco via an interpreter, I willchange this link to his own page or to any newer version he might provideme. Until that time, I hope you enjoy his package. Thank you, Marco, fora fine complement to XcomUtil. Without his package, none of the other mappacks would ever have been written.
Marco's other major contribution was PCK_VIEW.EXE, the only program I knowthat can view, import, and export the graphics in XCOM and TFTD. PCK_VIEWmust be run from the same directory as XCOM or TFTD.
This patch primarily fixes sound problems and removes the copy protection.If you do not have sound problems, you probably will not want to apply thispatch, because the original sounds are better. The XcomUtil FIX flag willdisable the copy protection for those who want the old sounds, but hatecopy protection.
This patch fixes a large number of bugs, some of which were already fixedby early versions of XcomUtil. It primarily fixes catastrophic bugs in theresearch tree.
This is a replacement for the GEOSCAPE.EXE file in the UFOEXE directory whichmakes further changes to the research tree and appears to do betterselection of underwater terrain.XcomUtil identifies this version as TFTD Beta, since it has no officialdesignation.
The Devisraad XCOM Page recommendsAT-SLOW, which can be downloaded from there.
However, the distribution of XcomUtil and ApocUtil is not free.Since 1995, I have paid for web space to distribute my free programs.If you feel that you have derived sufficent benefit from my web pages,you can send a donation of $5 to help defray my web costs toScott T Jones, 13027 Scofield Farms Drive, Austin, TX 78727,or just use PayPal.
I do not promise that you will receive any special privileges for sendingmoney, since that might imply that my software was sold to you. All I canpromise is that you have helped someone who has helped you and that you willencourage the development of similar web pages in the future.
The following is a list of the people who have contributed to this page, in theorder that their contributions were received. Those marked with an asterisk (*)contributed more than the suggested $5. Not all of them sent me E-mail addresses,so this is the best way that I can acknowledge their contributions.
Scott O Nichols*, John Holt, Michael Sterrett*, Brad Bernstein, Paul Thomasson,Jonas Lundin, Nai-Chi Lee, Nicholas John, Frank T Fairfax III*, Roger A Harrington,Glenn Ironhat, Jorge Diaz*, Andrew L'Amoureux, Aaron Lambert, Mike Berdos*,Mark Creaghe*, Patrick Lundrigan, Kevin Niccum, Craig Tsuchiya, Ron Giampa*,Stephen Callahan, Daniel Blakemore, David McCarty, Warren A Smith Jr*, Thomas Keeler,Mannon Martin*,Bob Elliott*,Thomas Kubli*,Micah Gibson,Michael Birch,James Cobb,Bill Huffman*,Jerry Sellards*,Russell Bungay*.
To all of you, I say 'Thank You'. The fact that there are people who care enough about XcomUtil to support thispage is the reason that I continue to work on XcomUtil today. I can only hope that future versions justify yourinvestment.
Go to the Barracks, and select the 'View Soldiers' option. Choose a soldier, then select the 'Customize' option. This can also be done from the 'Customize' menu at the 'Deploy' screen. Change the name of the soldier to one of the following names to unlock the corresponding hero. These new heroes will dramatically improve the unit's stats, and they also have a unique nickname. Note: Using these special heroes will prevent achievements from being earned.
Chris Kluwe: Enter 'Chris Kluwe' as a name. Chris Kluwe is a punter for the Minnesota Vikings and a World Of Warcraft fan. He won hero unit privileges after defeating Firaxis' Garth DeAngelis in an online match.
Joe Kelly (Heavy): Enter 'Joe Kelly' as a name. Joe Kelly is a popular comics author that has worked on Spider-Man, Superman, and many other famous characters.
Ken Levine (Sniper): Enter 'Ken Levine' as a name. Ken Levine is the co-founder of Irrational Games, the developer of BioShock, Freedom Force, and System Shock 2.
Otto Zander (Assault): Enter 'Otto Zander' as a name. Otto Zander is the hero and survivor of GuavaMoment's XCOM Let's Play series from the Something Awful Forumes.
Sid Meier (Support): Enter 'Sid Meier' as a name. Sid Meier is the co-founder of Firaxis and creator of the Civilization series, Pirates series, and more.
If a UFO is spotted in a country you do not have much defense in or you want to lower panic somewhere else (by completing the mission to clear it), reload a previous saved game. The UFO should still appear, but it will usually be in a different location. You can keep reloading it until it is in a desired country.
Evil Crysalid terrorists missionDuring Terror missions that have evil Crysalid terrorists, you do not actually need to kill the Zombie Civilians to complete the mission. As long as all Alien forces have been defeated, the mission will end successfully.
AchievementsAccomplish the indicated achievement to get the corresponding number of Gamerscore points:
Additionally, there are 15 secret achievements:
The following achievements require the 'Slingshot' bonus downloadable content: