X-Com General FAQ

[Freyar]

This is a general purpose FAQ for the 2K/STEAM re-release of the X-com series.

Updates made when possible/needed. (PM if you have urgent information.)
(Layout stolen from Wally3K (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/member.php?u=210220)

--------

Q. What Operating Systems will the X-Com series work for?

1) X-COM: UFO Defense is running via DOSBox.
2) X-COM: Terror From the Deep is running via DOSBox.
3) Apocalypse: Retail version is running via DOSBox.
4) Interceptor: version 1.2 for Windows
5) Enforcer: 1.0 for Windows

All have been tested and run fine in Vista.


Q. Why doesn't 2k fix [INSERT BUG/PROBELEM HERE]?

2k does not have access to X-COM's source code, and thus cannot furnish any patches or fixes, however there are possibly many third party sources you can look at for fixes.


Q. How can I improve the sound quality in UFO Defense?
Thank you, johnnie (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/member.php?u=454950)!

This requires editing files, make sure to back them up before changing anything.

First locate "dosbox.conf" in ...\Steam\steamapps\common\xcom ufo defense and open it with a text editor (notepad).
Replace "call ufocd.bat" with "call setup.exe" and launch X-COM: UFO Defense using Steam.
Change the sound card to "Soundblaster 16", set the Base Port to "220", IRQ to "7", DMA to "1", and the sound channels to "8". Afterwords, select "General Midi" and the default settings (the ones already highlighted.)
Open "dosbox.conf" again, and replace "call setup.exe" with "call ufocd.bat".


Q. I'm on a Dell computer, and your "Sound Improvement" resulted in no music! How do I fix that?

If you are running on a Dell computer that is using a SigmaTel Audio Chipset, choose "Soundblaster FM" instead of "General Midi" for the music board while running Setup.exe as detailed above.

Q. How do I run X-Com: UFO Defense or Terror From the Deep in windowed mode (or fullscreen)?

If you are wanting a quick way to switch, the shortcut ALT-ENTER to switch from windowed mode to fullscreen and back, then locate "dosbox.con inf ...\Steam\steamapps\common\xcom ufo defens and open it with a text editor (notepad).

Look for "fullscreen=true" (or false) and set it to "true" for fullscreen, "false" for windowed mode.


Q. How do I improve image quality in UFO: Defense?

First locate "dosbox.con inf ...\Steam\steamapps\common\xcom ufo defens and open it with a text editor (notepad).
Replace the line "scaler=advinterp2x" with "scaler=advmame2x" or "scaler=hq3x" depending on your preferences or compatibility. (advmame2x recommended)

Q. Low FPS while on the Geoscape or in a Battlescape Mission in UFO Defense?
Answer found here (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=722322).

Find "dosbox.conf in ...\Steam\steamapps\common\xcom ufo defense and open it with a text editor (notepad).
Find "cycles=auto limit 8000" and either remove "8000" or replace it with a range between 20000 and 30000. (Note: Increasing the rate, or altering this setting may make the game unplayable if set too high or too low.)


Q. How do I fix sound lag in UFO Defense?
Answer found here (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=722303).

This requires editing files, make sure to back them up before changing anything.

Find "dosbox.conf in ...\Steam\steamapps\common\xcom ufo defense and open it with a text editor (notepad).
Find "blocksize=4096" and change "4096" to "1024".


Q.How do I fix this "Memory Reference" error when I try and play UFO, Apocalypse, or Interceptor?

Find "dosbox.conf" in ...\steamapps\common\xcom apocalypse and open it in a text editor.

Find "output=surface" and change it to "output=overlay", "output=opengl", "output=openglnb" or, "output=ddraw"

Save, and try again.

Q. How do I order my soldiers to deploy in a specific order from the Skyranger in UFO Defense?
Answer found here (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=724497).

You can use XcomUtil (http://xcomutil.scotttjones.com/) to have it alter game files, and re-order your squads. (Note: As said, this will edit files involved in your X-COM UFO Defense installation. Use at your own risk.)
(Note: The Steam version of X-COM: UFO Defense requires additional instructions for XcomUtil.)

Q. How do I get the "better" alien screams for X-COM: UFO Defense?
Answer found here (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=722420).

Using a patch directed from here (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8106473&postcount=2), you can place the windows versions of the alien death screams into your installation, however this reportedly turns your X-COM: UFO Defense installation into the Windows version, which will make your installation no longer compatible with Windows Vista.

Q. Why does Enforcer seem to be missing it's music?
Answer found here (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=722750)

The Steam installation of Enforcer does not have a copy of the CD resulting in the redbook audio used for the music to be missing. There have been no statements regarding this at this point in time.

Q. Why does Apocalypse ask for the CD, and how do I fix it?
Answer found here (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8170553&postcount=17)

Find ...\steamapps\common\xcom apocalypse\cd.iso
Mount cd.iso using Daemon Tools, or open it using a high-quality archiver like WinRAR.

Copy the following folders to ...\steamapps\common\xcom apocalypse\XCOMA
MAPS
RAWSOUND
smk
TACDATA
TACEXE
TACINI
UFODATA
UFOEXE
UFOPAEDITo repair damage by attempting to install this fix, have steam "verify integrity" on Apocalypse.

Note: This method has not been fully tested, do so at your own risk

Q. How do I skip the intro video for Apocalypse?

Find "dosbox.conf" in ...\steamapps\common\xcom apocalypse
Find "xcomapoc.exe" and change it to "xcomapoc.exe skip"

[Freyar]

**Reserved For Future Updates**

[Dancing Muton]

You may want to change this: "X-COM: Terror From the Deep is not compatible with Vista." It should say that it is currently not compatible with Vista, but an update is planned for the near future (if everything goes OK, within a week or two).

Also, for the alien screams, there is a patch here (http://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/index.php?dlid=647). This is for the DOS version (the one currently on Steam). From the Sound folder of the patch, copy the Sample2.cat and Sample3.cat files to {Steam root folder}\steamapps\common\xcom ufo defense\XCOM\Sounds. The same files already exist there, you'll want to back them up, just in case.
The patch you linked to is for the Windows version of UFO (which should also be added soon via an update to the current game).

[Freyar]

You may want to change this: "X-COM: Terror From the Deep is not compatible with Vista." It should say that it is currently not compatible with Vista, but an update is planned for the near future (if everything goes OK, within a week or two).

Also, for the alien screams, there is a patch here (http://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/index.php?dlid=647). This is for the DOS version (the one currently on Steam). From the Sound folder of the patch, copy the Sample2.cat and Sample3.cat files to {Steam root folder}\steamapps\common\xcom ufo defense\XCOM\Sounds. The same files already exist there, you'll want to back them up, just in case.
The patch you linked to is for the Windows version of UFO (which should also be added soon via an update to the current game).

I downloaded a copy of that patch and read the Readme.txt, the readme claims:

warning: these files will NOT work under ufo v1.4 (dos version)
Is the Readme in error?

An update for Terror From the Deep may be in the works, but it isn't compatible now. I guess we ought to wait and see if others are willing to put in their two-cents on how it shoudl be worded. As soon as I get the word that the update to TFTD has been applied, I will change it immediately.

[Dancing Muton]

Well, I tried the patch myself and it worked, so I guess that the readme is wrong. You can try it out yourself if you wish.

[johnnie]

Ah... Great thread.

I would like to add that the music-fix also works for TFTD.

As for image quality, you might want to add the following:

change the line "scaler=advinterp2x" in dosbox.conf to "scaler=advmame3x" or "scaler=hq3x", depending on your preference (and on what works).

[Yazirian]

Another thing - I'm not sure it's necessary to run the "Setup.exe" file from DOSbox. At least on WinXP, I double-click setup.exe, change the sound options (SB16, general midi, etc.) and it works just fine.

[johnnie]

setup.exe doesn't work on x64. You need dosbox.

[Freyar]

Ah... Great thread.

I would like to add that the music-fix also works for TFTD.

As for image quality, you might want to add the following:

change the line "scaler=advinterp2x" in dosbox.conf to "scaler=advmame3x" or "scaler=hq3x", depending on your preference (and on what works).

Updated, thanks. :)

[asdfgoogle]

Could you add a section for what ports to forward for the games that have multi player(X COM: Enforcer/Interceptor)? Can't seem to get anyone to be able to join when I host.

[Freyar]

I am looking up information regarding multiplayer components of Enforcer/Interceptor.

The update right now is how to add MIDI support for Dell Laptops using SigmaTel.

[Dancing Muton]

Here's one that I think needs to be in the FAQ.

Q: Why doesn't 2K Games fix the <problem/bug name> in the game?
A: 2K Games does not have the source code of the X-COM games, which means it has no way of fixing those problems.

[Freyar]

Updated

890

[asdfgoogle]

Updated

890

Port 890?

What are you referring to?

[Freyar]

Port 890?

What are you referring to?

890 was actually the minimum character count because ValvE thinks that every single post needs to have 10 characters. I just added:

Q. Why doesn't 2k fix [INSERT BUG/PROBELEM HERE]?

2k does not have access to X-COM's source code, and thus cannot furnish any patches or fixes, however there are possibly many third party sources you can look at for fixes.

[Caboose_Nor]

The problem with that is that I can't get unofficial patches to work with Steam.

[Freyar]

Some have worked, some haven't. There's no definitive list right now.

[James.Denholm]

Q. How can I improve the sound quality in UFO Defense?

Thank you, johnnie (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/member.php?u=454950)!
This requires editing files, make sure to back them up before changing anything.

First locate "dosbox.conf" in ...\Steam\steamapps\common\xcom ufo defense and open it with a text editor (notepad).
Replace "call ufocd.bat" with "call setup.exe" and launch X-COM: UFO Defense using Steam.
Change the sound card to "Soundblaster 16", set the Base Port to "220", IRQ to "7", DMA to "1", and the sound channels to "8". Select "General Midi" when asked to select a Music Board.
Open "dosbox.conf" again, and replace "call setup.exe" with "call ufocd.bat".

On behalf of the idiots, such as myself, I'll just ask:

I've done up to the "General Midi" step, but what base port do I need for that? It does ask, and the default is 330.

Thanks in advance,
James.

[Freyar]

On behalf of the idiots, such as myself, I'll just ask:

I've done up to the "General Midi" step, but what base port do I need for that? It does ask, and the default is 330.

Thanks in advance,
James.

Yup, I updated it as you asked, should read:

Change the sound card to "Soundblaster 16", set the Base Port to "220", IRQ to "7", DMA to "1", and the sound channels to "8". Afterwords, select "General Midi" and the default settings (the ones already highlighted.)

My emphasis.

[asdfgoogle]

blank message

[Freyar]

blank message

Blank? Might want to repost so we can read it.

[James.Denholm]

Yup, I updated it as you asked, should read:



My emphasis.

Awesome, thanks man.

[dterror]

Might want to add a tidbit about Interceptor:

Is there any way to stop Interceptor from crashing in WinXP/2k/Vista?

Not right now. Only way to prevent the constant crashes, usually while in the equipment buying or base building screens is to play it on Win98. Compatibility mode does not affect the crashes.

How do I attack the Pirate Base/Alien Probes?

If you are using anything later than Win98, you cannot attack them. They will always appear to be at a distance of 0 directly behind you. Bringing wingmen along on the mission will not help.


I do hope 2k reverse engineers the games or recodes them with updated graphics and such. As someone said in another thread, I would be one of the first in line to buy them. As of now, since 2k doesn't have the source code for any of the games, patches to fix problems like those in Interceptor won't happen.

[Freyar]

Hmmm... I'll have to look into that. I haven't had Interceptor crash on my Windows XP laptop (but then again, I haven't it played it that long.

As far as the probes and whatnot, I'll have to look into that too.

[Dancing Muton]

Probes can be dealt with by using cheats. On the Frontierscape, press Ctrl + e (you'll hear a sound), then type in battlecheats. Once you enter combat mode, make sure the probe is your selected target (should be by default), then press Ctrl + <key directly below the Esc key, and left of the 1 key; it's the key you use for bringing up the console in FPS games>. All you need to do now is press H to go to Hyperspace. The screen will spin like mad, but that's fine.

The crashes are happening on all the Windows versions, there's no way around those currently.

[Freyar]

When is Interceptor supposed to be crashing? During x amount of time playing, or during specific actions?

[Dancing Muton]

Same as other games, random crashes.

[Freyar]

Update

Added:
Q. Why does Apocalypse ask for the CD, and how do I fix it?
Answer found here

Q. How do I skip the intro video for Apocalypse?

[MrLogic]

The No CD change looks wrong. All the directories to copy over should go to the XCOMA folder, not the folder above it?

[MrLogic]

Another one is If you get colour corruption in Vista on APOC then edit the conf file for dosbox and set output=ddraw

[Freyar]

The No CD change looks wrong. All the directories to copy over should go to the XCOMA folder, not the folder above it?

Fixed. I'll look into that DDraw thing in a bit.

[dterror]

When is Interceptor supposed to be crashing? During x amount of time playing, or during specific actions?

Most people encounter the crash when in the Buy/Sell equipment interface, probably because that's the most common one to use. I've had it happen on any of the in-base interfaces. Buy/Sell, Ship Loadout/Pilot Assignment, and Base Building being most common for me. It's totally random whether it'll crash while doing any of those.

Probes can be dealt with by using cheats. On the Frontierscape, press Ctrl + e (you'll hear a sound), then type in battlecheats. Once you enter combat mode, make sure the probe is your selected target (should be by default), then press Ctrl + <key directly below the Esc key, and left of the 1 key; it's the key you use for bringing up the console in FPS games>. All you need to do now is press H to go to Hyperspace. The screen will spin like mad, but that's fine.

This cheat also works with taking out the pirate base, though you do need to destroy any defense ships it spits out before using it. Thanks, Muton...that Pirate Base had been an annoyance.

[Freyar]

Added:

Q.How do I fix this "Memory Reference" error when I try and play UFO, Apocalypse, or Interceptor?

[ldperron]

Something to add. With my computer configuration (HP KR888UT#ABC LAPTOP, Windows XP), the sound in Enforccer was working REALLY bad (starts with clipping due to underbuffer up to no sound at all after 2 minutes of play).

The quick fix was to reduce the hardware acceleration of my sounnd card. (Which you can do using DXDIAG).

Thanks

[Freyar]

Can I get a second affirmation that it works?

[ldperron]

While playing further... I just noticed that it doesn't fix the problem at 100%... I played a whole hour with 100% sound quality... but later in the day, I got little hearable clipping... like 98% of the actual sound was okay.

[Freyar]

What audio chipset does your laptop use?

[Dancing Muton]

Ah yes, you probably have the (Realtek?) AC97 integrated sound card. It has this problem across many games.

[Freyar]

My Dell-based laptop is using a SigmaTel (read: cheap ♥♥♥♥) chipset, so unfortunately, I can't do the same testing.

[Freyar]

FAQ updated with new support details for X-COM: TFTD.

[KingBongoBong]

thanks alot for this thread, really helped

[BlacknWhite4]

Can i get terror from the deep to work on vista home basic x32

[asdfgoogle]

Can i get terror from the deep to work on vista home basic x32

Probably.

Have you tried?

[BlacknWhite4]

Just get a black screen.

[KingBongoBong]

Can i get terror from the deep to work on vista home basic x32

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=733169

that thread relates specifically TFTD and vista, it may have some info you could use.

[Freyar]

A poke to avoid a purge.

[cogadh]

The link to XcomUtil points to a now non-existent AOL member page. The correct page to find and download it is here:

http://xcomutil.scotttjones.com/

[Freyar]

Q. How do I order my soldiers to deploy in a specific order from the Skyranger in UFO Defense?
Answer found here (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=724497).

You can use XcomUtil (http://xcomutil.scotttjones.com/) to have it alter game files, and re-order your squads. (Note: As said, this will edit files involved in your X-COM UFO Defense installation. Use at your own risk.)
(Note: The Steam version of X-COM: UFO Defense requires additional instructions for XcomUtil.)

Updated to reflect new URL for XcomUtil.

[Clarkbug]

Admins should definitely sticky this thread.

[Dancing Muton]

It may be better to link to one of the fan sites for XComUtil, because Scott T. Jones is not working on it anymore, BladeFireLight took over.

[cogadh]

It may be better to link to one of the fan sites for XComUtil, because Scott T. Jones is not working on it anymore, BladeFireLight took over.
Scott still owns the code (legal reasons) and even though he isn't actively working on it anymore, he is still advising Blade on the further development. The current version is still released on Scott's site, though if that were to change in the future, the link should definitely be updated.

[Freyar]

A bump to avoid any purge.

[xcomer]

Okay, so, this maybe be my stupidest question yet: I'm trying to install xcom tftd on my computer at work using my Steam account and it's coming up in a tiny window. I think this has something to do with the dos box, but i dunno. Any help would be appreciated.

[Dancing Muton]

Alt+Enter

Or open the dosbox.conf file (don't remember where exactly it is located) and there should be a screen size option which needs to be set to fullscreen (probably "fullscreen: yes").

[Freyar]

ADDED:

Q. How do I run X-Com: UFO Defense or Terror From the Deep in windowed mode (or fullscreen)?

[Freyar]

Bump to avoid being purged.

[Elman]

I thought TFTD was the Windows version, not the DOS one. In that case, I'll think of buying it too :D

[Freyar]

I thought TFTD was the Windows version, not the DOS one. In that case, I'll think of buying it too :D

It runs through DOSBOX just the same.

[Elman]

And is it the patched or the unpatched version?

[Taipan92300]

Greetings,

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone on this thread for helping me to run X-COM: UFO on a Win-XP32 machine so fast.
What a treat to enjoy that uber-game from so many years ago :D

That being said, after applying all the tweaks listed here for both Sound and GFX (scaler=hq3x works best for my rig on a 22' in windowed mode btw), I'm experiencing a rather unpleasant sound experience during ground battles (ie. Battlescape) that I do not recall from the goo'ol'days.

As soon as I enter Battlescape mode, I hear an overwhelming fast and saturated "thump/boomboom" sound, like a heartbeat running at 250bpm or so.
This covers most other sounds while music is on (seems it goes away when I turn music off but then I don't get the "alerting" music).

My rig has a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R rev 2.0 motherboard with a Realtek ALC889 soundchip on-board.
http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=173

I tried several combos on the Setup Sound.exe without success.

Any idea ?

/salute

PS : Boy, I wish we'd get a chance to pay for a revised X-Com:UFO/TFTD for todays' graphics and sound like LucasArts just did for Monkey Island Special Edition :ooooo

[Tk3997]

I just wanted to quickly add for anyone that comes along that if you try to run Apocalypse and are getting weird errors in rendering (black screens that fill as you move the cursor etc) try setting it to run windowed. For me this fixed the issue.

[codepage9]

Bumping and requesting a sticky,

My father used to play this game, when I got older I tried and got owned. I'm considering trying again but I need to ask: How does it behave on 64-bit OS? I'm going to be upgrading to Win7 and would like to not have the game die on me.

[Zeraan]

Bumping and requesting a sticky,

My father used to play this game, when I got older I tried and got owned. I'm considering trying again but I need to ask: How does it behave on 64-bit OS? I'm going to be upgrading to Win7 and would like to not have the game die on me.

I just bought this game, and I have Win7 64 bit. It runs perfectly fine (at least the Ufo Defense one), however I had to tweak the max CPU cycles to reduce lag in battlescape.

[partialist]

*brushes away the cobwebs and dust*

Why is this not a sticky?

[Dancing Muton]

Because there's no mods for this subforum and we can't get the other mods/admins to stick it.

[Freyar]

Because there's no mods for this subforum and we can't get the other mods/admins to stick it.

Pretty much, sadly.

[sortedout]

'gear up' old men, 'gear up'!

[Dancing Muton]

Actually, Jason2K is a moderator, but unfortunately he now works for Bethesda. I'm going to have to see with my 2K contacts who is now responsible for X-Com.

[kkinoss]

Am i being dim? how do you turn the music off? i cannot work it out.

[Dancing Muton]

I assume you're speaking about the first two games. You would have to open the setup and turn it off there.

[Freyar]

I assume you're speaking about the first two games. You would have to open the setup and turn it off there.

Walrus! Do you has bucket?

Aaanyway. Bumping since it's an awesome $2 weekend deal.

[AbzWayne]

Where can someone go to learn how to play this game ...
Better still .. seeing as I got the pack .. WHICH do I play ???

[frags1981]

Where can someone go to learn how to play this game ...
Better still .. seeing as I got the pack .. WHICH do I play ???

You want to play X-COM UFO Defence. You can download the manual from Steam.

[steven2848]

Is it just me, or are some sounds not playing? I watched a few videos of UFO Defense on Youtube, and in the intro where the "warning warning UFO Detected" plays, the guy in the background is supposed to be saying "Roger Roger".

He doesn't do that for me.

I've followed the instructions on the first page for better sound, but that didn't make him say it.


Is it a bug, is that sound not included in this version, or what? I know it's a tiny little unnoticable thing, but it bugs me.

[Dancing Muton]

I think it's version dependent. I don't remember ever hearing it. May be the Amiga or PS version.

[kkinoss]

Sorry Mr Muton you are quite right i didnt specify the game.

2nd dumb question for TFTD is how do you open set-up to turn off the music (config file or in game option).

[Dancing Muton]

Open the dosbox.conf file in your TFTD directory, then scroll all the way to the bottom. Change the line:

call terror.com

to

call setup.exe

In the Setup, select SoundBlaster Pro, Set Base Port to 220, IRQ to 7, DMA to 1, Sound Channels to 8, No for Swap stereo and then finally select "No music".

Finally, change the line:

call setup.exe

back to

call terror.com

[Deathless2288]

Oh Freyar, gotta love your general faq. Thanks again.

[bigbangnet]

For anyone who has some lag problem the op mentionned about the increase of cycles. But I use core=dynamic
cycles= auto and it works perfectly.That's instead of using a # on the core line in dosbox.conf. No lag at all and my soldiers are running very fine.

Hope this helps anyone.

[zocom12]

Regarding X-com Apoc what is the best way to get it running again after the CD-Bug?

[Spike_Black]

just wanted to check something - are UFO EU, TFTD, UFOAPOC steam versions confirmed to run under windows 7?
im using 32b version ultimate, on japanese applocale
however i own both TFTD Gold that was running under winxppro, UFOD that also worked, and apocalypse that is now in iso but never worked

however, none of them work to me now under win7
application starts and screen stays dark, and if i switch screen, i get error and shutdown. i tried all compatibility mods but no success...
i would really appreciate if anyone could advise me how to run them under win7
thanks in advance

[Kazei]

The Steam version for those 3 games default to using the DOS exe which runs inside a Dosbox shell in Windows. So to answer your question, yes they work under Win7. If you run the windows exe for those games you may have problems but there are patches to get around the blank screen.

[BladeFireLight]

Can you update the XcomUtil link to www.bladefirelight.com Scott's passed XcomUtil over to me some years back and his site is not the home anymore.

[thefarside]

Is there any way to slow down the game? In the geo view it's alright but when on a mission it just goes to fast. I've slowed down the scroll and move speeds but they are still too fast.

Anyone? I have the Steam version of the game and Windows 7 64bit.

thanks :)

[roberto88h]

You can edit the CPU speed in the dosbox.conf file. You should find that file in ".../steamapps/common/xcom ufo defense" You can open the file with a text editor like Notepad.

Edit the line:

"cycles=auto limit 8000"

To something else to speed up or slow down the game. The default speed was too slow on my machine so I changed the line to "cycles=20000" to make it just about right. Pick a higher number than 8000 to make it go faster or a lower number to make it go slower. I had to go through several cycles of trial and error before I got it right. I expect you'll just have to edit the file, save and try the game again and again until it runs to your liking. There are probably some other posts in this forum that cover this subject so a search may yield a better result.

[Dancing Muton]

You can also remove the "limit 8000" bit and it should set itself to an optimal speed.

[thefarside]

Thanks, you two :) I set it to 25000 and it's much better now

[MalcolmReynolds]

By the way, the aforementioned fix for Apocalypse's "Please put the CD back in the drive" bug doesn't always work (I should know, I tried it myself).

However, I've found that using the Apocalypse No-CD program ( http://www.xcomufo.com/x3cdfix.zip ) seems to fix the problem.

You will, however, need to edit Apocalypse's dosbox.conf file to call xcom3.bat instead of xcomapoc.exe, and you should edit xcom3.bat to read as follows (at least, if you want to watch the intro movie and don't want to deal with having to manually type "exit" in DOSBox):

@echo off
fakecd .. /L:D >nul
xcom3_cd.com
xcomapoc.exe
rem Uninstall process
xcom3_cd.com
fakecd /U >nul
mode co80
cls
exit

(By the way, the Apocalypse No-CD program isn't a patch per se, but a spoofer - the way I understand it, it basically keeps telling the game "Yup, the CD is there, no need to keep checking" as long as Apocalypse is running - and when you quit the game, the batch file unloads the spoofer.)

[MiamiGrandmasta]

You'll have to pardon my ignorance for asking this, but I looked all throughout the forums as well as this thread and couldn't find an answer. I thought that there was at least one official patch that was released for UFO Defense back in the day: Is the version of the game that is purchased from Steam already patched up to the highest official patch level? If not, what needs to be done to patch the game manually (if it is even possible)?

[Freyar]

Consider this a friendly purge-avoiding bump..?

[DecoyAUT]

The link to the better screams doesn't work anymore, I cant find that patch on google either, can someone assist please? :confused:

[boozie]

So steam sells these games but they don't work properly without extra modifications? I already own UFO and TFTD and can run them on DOSBOX but I wouldn't mind getting the others and having all of them through steam without worry of copying files across hard drives every time I get a new computer.

[Friendliest]

re: every issue in this FAQ -- YIKES!!!!

I was hoping for some beautifully integrated, patched-to-compatibility-with-modern-OS-bells-and-whistles versions of these games.

Guess not!

Is all the DOSBox setup stuff at least scripted in, or do I have to set that up, too?

Glad at least the Apocalypse music is not missing. It's genius, IMO. (The game itself is, too.) Why hasn't anyone ever re-made this??? (Properly, of course!! Not like some "let's re-make King Kong and put Jack Black in it" garbage LOL. :P And btw I am aware of that pay-to-play "ideological descendant" of X-Com, whatever it's called. Not interested, thanks!)

[Gurluas]

This should have been sticky.

[BladeFireLight]

The link to the better screams doesn't work anymore, I cant find that patch on google either, can someone assist please? :confused:

XcomUtil 9.7 (http://www.bladefirelight.com) (beta) has the original sounds now as an option.

[xcomer968]

hello y'all.... i am embarrassed to have to admit this, but i tried playing xcom apocalypse about a year ago and the game crashed at the beginning of the week, no matter what I tried or did... i remember dancing muton being very helpful with this and with my issues with sound, etc. with the original and with tftd.... but, i had forgotten. can xcom apoc be finished... is that bug always gonna happen... is there a friggin way around it... i just wasted hours and hours for nothing... vey upset..

please email me at scottsnewskirt@hotmail.com if you have an advice..

thanks for reading this

best regards
scott

[xcomer968]

i found a fix of sorts, but it will require shooting a building before the end of the day.. here's my repost


I FOUND SOMETHING THAT WORKS.. i tried to join http://www.xcomufo.com/forums/

just to thank the guy who figured this out, but couldn't get it to accept my freaking hotmail.com addy of all things... so, screw it... but I wish him the best, i actually quit my game just to tell him so, but I couldn't join...

anyway here's what he said, god bless you Airiz, you brilliant bastard

Airiz
View Member Profile Mar 18 2010, 09:38 PM Post #8


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Group: New Forum Members
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Joined: 18-March 10
Member No.: 24,320



Looks like i found a solution to this problem. When such crash occurs, just load last saved game and before ending that day, order your vehicles to attack any building (for reason of reputation i recommend to attack temples of sirius). You must do much damage to building and defending forces. When i tried to shoot buildings for several times and return to base, it never worked. Also, not every building may help. Sometimes i destroyed building and defending fleet completely, and game still crashed. So you should try different buildings, if one not helped. Hope, this will help someone, cause i didn`t find any solutions on this problem and discovered this method by accident, when destroyed city, depressed by constant crash and dea

[Dancing Muton]

I am bumping this to keep it on the first page, as it's a very useful thread.

[cogadh]

Q.How do I fix this "Memory Reference" error when I try and play UFO, Apocalypse, or Interceptor?

Find "dosbox.conf" in ...\steamapps\common\xcom apocalypse and open it in a text editor.

Find "output=surface" and change it to "output=overlay", "output=opengl", "output=openglnb" or, "output=ddraw"

Save, and try again.

One problem with this: Interceptor is not a DOSBox game, it's a Windows game, there is no dosbox.conf to edit. Are there any fixes that will actually apply to Interceptor in order to fix the random crash issues?

[Luitpold]

Two things (probably really just one issue)

1) During the intro the audio will cut out at certain points in the audio.
2) The screen is completely black at the main menu. If you move your mouse around it refreshes the image behind it revealing the bars, but when you pick stuff the fading effect is also very slow, and this issue just translates to the in-game activity.

I suspect upgrading the DOSbox to .74 would help, but I have no idea how to do it successfully. The screen never transitions to the game but sits on a screen expressing concern over the cycling rate.



Edit: I did two things to the dosbox.conf file that helped this issue. Under Full Resolution I changed it from original to 1024x768, or 800x600. Under output i changed it to opengl.

I don't know which one specifically fixed the slowing issue but the issue is non-existent anymore. I think it was Open GL, but maybe it my overwhelming resolution size was too much for it. Setting it to resolutions that most computers from that era could also be the true fix.

[Jaesun]

Could anyone confirm if these Steam versions of X-COM: UFO Defense and X-COM: Terror From the Deep have the original MT-32 MIDI music, and a way to select that option (I assume by running INSTALL.EXE in that game's directory while in DOSBox, and then choosing MT-32 or LAPC-1 from the set-up program, just like in other older games)?

I physically own 2 MT-32's (Old style and the newer CM-500) and if the MT-32/LAPC-1 options are not available for both of these games, then I'll look elsewhere.

Thanks!

[Liniert]

Is there anyway to increase the size of the resolution (box size) when playing X-Com Apocalypse in windowed mode?

[thegnord]

Bump!

UFO-Defense will not work on my Dell Latitude E4310 (unknown graphics chipset). It's just a black screen when I fire it up. Sound works and I can hear the clicking in the menu.

Oh well, was just going to play it on the airplane anyway :(

***edit***

Oh, snap! By changing fullscreen= to "false" in the dosbox.conf file, I made it start up in windowed mode, and now it appears to be working. But I haven't done a thorough play through yet. I'm sure crashes await!

[Mogh]

Q. Why does Enforcer seem to be missing it's music?
"its", not "it's". :cool: (free bump)

[strangedane]

Probes can be dealt with by using cheats. On the Frontierscape, press Ctrl + e (you'll hear a sound), then type in battlecheats. Once you enter combat mode, make sure the probe is your selected target (should be by default), then press Ctrl + <key directly below the Esc key, and left of the 1 key; it's the key you use for bringing up the console in FPS games>. All you need to do now is press H to go to Hyperspace. The screen will spin like mad, but that's fine.

The crashes are happening on all the Windows versions, there's no way around those currently.

Hey, sorry to ask this but can you explain this trick to me Muton?
I've tried it and cannot get it to work (first, let me say I'm not a computer wiz kid!), I type in the battlecheats, it tells me the mode is on, I attack the drone and press the button below esc, next to 1 but nothing happens, I press H and mission is a fail?! I've asked my brother who knows computers better than me, and he says perhaps it's because our keyboards here in Denmark (Europa) are different? The symbols on the key in questions are "§" and "1/2".

Hope you can help!

[NKF]

He means the ~ key.

And for a bit of trivial knowledge, it's called a tilde.

(edit: and I understand is pronounced 'twiddle'. ;) )

- NKF

[strangedane]

Thank you!
However, it does not work for me?! I google tilde and keyboard, got this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout . If I understand you correctly, it is the uppermost key of those next to the enter button, right?

I tried both with CTRL and Alt Gr button plus tilde, neither works:eek:

[Major Isoor]

Ok, here's an issue that I didn't see being addressed in the OP: In X-COM Apocalypse, the left-hand side of the screen is cut off. I've been told that lowering the refresh rate on my computer/monitor will do the trick, but it's at its lowest setting, yet the problem persists. This might also be a resolution issue - is there any way for me to be able to change the resolution for X-COM:A? Any insight into this problem would be greatly appreciated, as I would very much like to play the game! :)

EDIT:
Is there anyway to increase the size of the resolution (box size) when playing X-Com Apocalypse in windowed mode?

And yeah, if the above question is unanswerable, I would also like to know how to make the window for the game (upon ALT-ENTERing) maximizable/of a resolution higher than the very small one it's giving me

[Major Isoor]

YES!

After a good bit of fiddling around with the dosbox.conf file, (should be located at "C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\xcom apocalypse", for the Steam version) I've finally fixed the resolution issue with X-COM: Apocalypse, (lefthand side of the screen being cut off) and that's to change a couple of lines in this section of it:

fullscreen=true
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=original
windowresolution=original
output=surface
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper.txt
usescancodes=true

to this:

fullscreen=true
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=800 x 600
windowresolution=original
output=opengl
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper.txt
usescancodes=true

Specifically the "fullresolution" and "output" lines. Feel free to set the resolution to something other than 800x600, but yeah, I'm happy with that, for now. (may want to put this somewhere on the front page/OP, if anyone else tries running the game through Steam, and has this issue. Else they'll have to be up for a bit of digging)


Finally, a year after I bought the bundle pack, I was bothered to find a solution to this problem! :D

[BebopVox]

Man it's almost 2012 and still getting the steam "please put the xcom cd back in". No fix yet? lost a good amount of time in a non saved game =\

[topperwa]

Q. How can I improve the sound quality in UFO Defense?
Thank you, johnnie (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/member.php?u=454950)!

This requires editing files, make sure to back them up before changing anything.

First locate "dosbox.conf" in ...\Steam\steamapps\common\xcom ufo defense and open it with a text editor (notepad).
Replace "call ufocd.bat" with "call setup.exe" and launch X-COM: UFO Defense using Steam.
Change the sound card to "Soundblaster 16", set the Base Port to "220", IRQ to "7", DMA to "1", and the sound channels to "8". Afterwords, select "General Midi" and the default settings (the ones already highlighted.)
Open "dosbox.conf" again, and replace "call setup.exe" with "call ufocd.bat".


Q. I'm on a Dell computer, and your "Sound Improvement" resulted in no music! How do I fix that?

If you are running on a Dell computer that is using a SigmaTel Audio Chipset, choose "Soundblaster FM" instead of "General Midi" for the music board while running Setup.exe as detailed above.


I have a dell XPS laptop (bought in 2006) with SigmaTel Audio. After following the above instructions and several other combinations of sound settings, there is still no music or sound effects.

Any suggestions for what steps to take next? I have great memories from this game when it originally came out and want to relive them! Thanks!

Edit: restarted my audio devices in services.msc and problem solved.