Search the Community

After finding Xenonauts I have also find that new 3d games with the Xcom name have been made recently. Seems the name has become popular again! Hollywood strugeling with new Ideas could maybe make a Xcom movie. What do you guys think would be a good format for it? I think a three part movie series (tv movie, or cinema depending on budget) would be awesome, maybe with three different styles, Part 1 mystery, thriller, horror. The Aliens reports start trikling in, until the full invasion is a fact.Seen from various viewpoints of leaders, squad members, scientists and civilians that will be followed through the 3 parts. Maybe ending with some countries allying with the ETs, while others form XCom. Part 2 Action, horror, war movie sci-fi. Serious WAR movie! Ala 'Bridge to Far' with a lot of reverse engenering and such.X-com responds to various types of missions. Earths forces are all but down for the count, when the alien base is discovered of world. Part 3 Adventure, Action, Horror. The team of now surviving veterans and rookies are sent to end the alien threat on its home turf.

I've started back up my UFO playthrough that I last updated back in April or so, and I hope it's a little more interesting now. Enjoy. [video=youtube;JZFQRxQQuLs] Applications will need to be re-submitted if you were one of the few who applied last time.

Will there be any further secondary objectives in the game beyond holding onto the UFO for X number of turns? This is partly off the back of the suggestion that the numerous Light Scout missions were dull*, so this sort of thing could add some variety into them. It's also from a page on Laser Squad (Gollop X-Com precursor) that listed the missions.** Although X-Com didn't have these, it's come up a fair bit previously. List of various missions here. *Although there's map variation, alien AI and general invasion balancing still to be finished. ** "The Assassins" - The mission's objective is to assassinate Sterner Regnix, the boss of a weapons manufacturer who is using illegal methods to get the best out of his workers. The player will lead a small squad of troops and infiltrate Regnix's hideout and eliminate him by any means, all the while dealing with Regnix's droid squad that patrol the hideout. "Moonbase Assault" - A small squad must penetrate the Omni Corporation moon base, via the airlocks, and destroy a great number of their databanks and analyzers that hold sensitive information. "Rescue from the Mines" - After a routine mission goes badly wrong, three members of the rebel squad are held prisoner in the Metallix Corp mines. A squad of troops must negotiate the mine complex, free all three prisoners and escape. "The Cyber Hordes" - A small squad must defend a rebel station from the attack of an advancing droid squad invasion. The rebel base holds seven stabilizer cores vital to the planet's stability and the droids have focused their efforts on these targets. "Paradise Valley" - Following on from "The Cyber Hordes", the destruction of the stabilizer cores has left the colony in ruins and assault ships hover above waiting for the time of attack. To prevent capture of the rebel blueprints for their advanced starfighter the data has been transferred onto a portable security device and a squad is given the task of escaping from the colony with the device. "The Stardrive" - A group of mercenaries have captured the stardrive controller for a new rebel fighter. A rebel squad must go to their hidden base and retrieve the device. "Laser Platoon" - A free for all deathmatch as equal teams are pitted against each other. Big (ten man) squads, with reinforcements arriving frequently, explore the symmetrical map hunting down or sniping the equally equipped opposition.

A look at the influences and sources of one of the most inspired computer games. “I remember going out and buying a video tape of the old Gerry Anderson UFO TV series, and the thing that inspired me from that was the idea of having a worldwide organisation that was set up to stop this alien menace.”- Julian Gollop When Rebelstar Raiders creator, Julian Gollop, approached Microprose with ideas for a sequel to his Laser Squad title, it was suggested that the tactical, turn based game should take on a much larger scope, in keeping with games like Civilisation. From that meeting it was decided that the theme of protecting Earth from the threat of UFOs would supply the general strategic background to the title. Gollop combined elements of Gerry Anderson’s Supermarionation TV shows, particularly UFO, with themes from UFOlogy, especially books by Timothy Good such as Above Top Secret and Alien Liaison. There are many themes relating to UFOlogy within X-Com. They combine in subtle ways, to provide an intriguing and unsettling backdrop against which to combat the alien forces, attempting to dominate the planet. This series of posts looks at the game and highlights its sources. The many elements used by Gollop often provide a more coherent background than a subject that is rife with hoaxes and disinformation. Organisations “Many elements of this UFOlogy went into the game, and the concept of X-Com as a secretly funded organisation is based on the alleged existence of MJ12, a government sponsored group of leading scientists and military personnel.”- Julian Gollop [table=width: 730, class: grid, align: left] [tr] [td] [/td] [td] Formation Both X-Com, (Extraterrestrial Combat Unit), and SHADO, (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation), have very similar backgrounds. Both are clandestine organisations formed to combat the growing threat that unidentified flying objects and related events pose to humanity. It is a threat that is considered to be beyond the capabilities of a single nation to combat. In both backgrounds we have attempts by individual countries to find out more about the aliens. The X-Com background has Kiryu-Kai fail to successfully intercept a single craft. In UFO it is a British cabinet minister who is killed upon receiving firm evidence of the aliens’ existence. They both realise a larger organisation is required. In UFOlogy, Majestic -12 was formed from the US military elite following the key event of the Roswell incident of 1947, where an alien craft crash landed into the New Mexico desert. Majestic -12 operates within the largest military budget on the planet, from a country with a strong global military and industrial links. The inherent irony of X-Com is that you are controlling an organisation that in UFOlogy circles are considered to be the bad guys. The secretive, manipulative conspiracy based group are just who are needed in the world’s hour of need. Both SHADO & X-COM operate on a global scale with impressive funding and the ability to recruit the best personnel and the most advanced weaponry and facilities. A month after its inception, X-COM makes its first successful alien interception. UFO also begins at a key moment, the first capture of a live alien. This event justifies the ten years that Commander Straker has spent building up the organisation. Majestic -12 would operate within the world of the escalating Cold War, where any potential threat to security was investigated. The feeling of escalation, and overwhelming dread, is a common theme throughout all three organisations. [/td] [td] [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] [/td] [td] Base of Operations X-Com allows for the creation of underground bases across the world, with the option to construct and manage a number of facilities. Likewise, in UFO, SHADO operated from an underground base, 80ft beneath the cover of a film studio outside London. The head of SHADO HQ, Commander Straker, accesses the base via an access lift which doubles as his office. In X-Com the key access point to the base is the Access Lift. In UFOlogy, there are endless debates over what the facilities are at secret US government installations, and not so secret installations such as Area-51, in the Nevada Test & Training Range. Area 51 has long links with test flying the latest of US military aircraft; craft so unusual as to be considered beyond the capabilities of man. As with the other two organisations, the bulk of the facilities are considered to be underground. The Cold War resulted in numerous nations building secret underground facilities to be used in case of nuclear attack or for other clandestine purposes. Alien bases, constructed with the assistance of the USS government are also invariably placed well underground. Following the UFO crashes of the late 1940s there have also been rumours of facilities in which the aliens survived in captivity, the equivalent of X-Com’s Alien Containment.[/td] [td] [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] [/td] [td] Starting Troops Both X-Com and UFO feature coverall clad personnel disembarking from cramped vehicles into the sights and range of aliens and their craft. Their goals are invariably to capture or kill all aliens present and secure their equipment and craft for the retrieval teams. In Majestic -12 the retrieval teams are also the ground troops of their organisation, with Red and Blue teams assigned to secure evidence and knowledge. They follow the procedures contained within the Special Operations Manual. A copy of the manual dated 1954 has been leaked. UFO frequently showed a blend of all colours and genders, which had an influence in the personnel available for X-Com missions. They are led by Commander Straker, and Commander is also the top rank in X-Com. One of the main inherent strengths of X-Com is that is not only captures one state of it’s world and organisation, but can develop them over time adding the fruits of it’s research to better arm and equip its soldiers. Claims by retired Colonel Phillip Corso state that a number of technological advancements, such as fibre optics, have been made from retrieved alien technology. [/td] [td] [/td] [/tr] [td] [/td] [td] Funding “X-Com, however, is a truly international force funded by many countries.“- Julian Gollop Despite the Earth being under attack, X-Com does not operate with infinite resources. It’s funding is carefully controlled by a group of funding nations. X-Com is provided with a strict budget. The funding nations alter the funding levels based on the success of X-Com or the level of alien influence within their own boundaries. This mirrors the UFO series where SHADO’s purse strings were controlled by the International Astro-physical Commission. Its chairman General Henderson regularly reminded Straker about the possibility of funding being withdrawn without progress being made against the alien threat. [/td] [td] [/td] [/table]

I was looking for some information for another post, and I tripped across this board game. It's called Target Earth, and it came out back in 2010. It is derived from the EU1994 game. Interestingly, it promotes it more as an all out alien invasion. There are bases to build, complete with facilities. There are rules for detection, interception and ground combat. Following those there is research across a number of tech trees for Interceptors, Tanks, Soldiers and Alien science. There are also a variety of alien races, UFO types and alien missions. It can be played by up to 4 players. It's a co-operative game, but there are additional rules for players having secondary objectives (which really increases the appeal for me) I've ordered a copy and if it arrives by the weekend, will get to give it a play through then. For lots more information there's the usual great boardgamegeek link. What gave me a Xenonaut vibe (as if the above wasn't more than enough) were the expressions of the leaders on the player mat cards. Glum enough to be in Xenonauts. There's an interesting diplomacy angle, reminiscent of other tactical games, to influence countries to renounce their alien pacts. Something that strikes me as a good way of handling the mechanics of it.

I think this game would benefit alot from a cover system (i know you can already take cover behind small objects but still it would be nice if you put your soldier against something and then allow him to shoot the alien on the other side much like x-com enemy unknown).

The title says it all. Whether it was a time when everyone got shot coming off the transport, or the last soldier was able to kill 10 aliens, let's hear it. Mine was probably a terror mission where the transport was surrounded by sectoids, and the tank was covering the entrance, and I thought it would be useful to crouch everyone behind the tank so they wouldn't get controlled, but somehow, the aliens controlled people in there, and let's just say that the tank was the only survivor.

Remember the original X-com? It had so many maps that I would never see the same one twice. I tried playing Xenonauts but the maps got boring to me. Are you guys going to use the same structure as the original game to have randomly generated maps, or are you going to have default maps that can be played over and over?

Thought that you guys might appreciate this one http://www.gollopgames.com/2013/04/original-x-com-concept-art.html

Arctic mission. I know (die to some previous fun on similar maps) that there will be at least 1 alien just out of range. So, I choose a shortcut through a building to get a better position. except I can't as the civilian is completely blocking my way. But he wasn't alone. This is when I try to leave the building. get out of the doorway! Gah!

E'rybody likes a good LP, right? Well, here's a good X-COM one. I didn't make it, I don't know the dude who did, I didn't even participate in the original thread. But it's actually fantastic so give it a read! http://lparchive.org/X-COM-UFO-Defense/

Let's sign it people:) http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ufo-enemy-unknown-1993-hd/

Just thought I'd let everybody know that Xenonauts has been mentioned in a presentation by Julion Gollop (29th of March 2013). It's mentioned at the very end, check it out here:

I first heard about the X-COM franchise from TotalBiscuit's WTF is Xenonauts in a very early stage of the game. It immediately got pre-ordered because the strategy behind the game looked SO GOOD! I then decided to learn more about this mysterious 'X-COM' and and bought the pack on steam for $15. I've played a ton of the OG, probably over 200 hours. After learning about XComUtil, I've played more and more of it. I've even dabbled in TFTD and recently tried my hand at Apocalypse. Interceptor lays never played on my steam library and Enforcer has 14 minutes played. With the Firaxis game, I bought it on release. I was a bit disappointed in the mechanics like aliens needing to be activated in such. What is your experience with X-Com? TL;DR: I learned about Xenonauts, pre-ordered, then bought the original games then EU2012.

This is a great mod, mixes up the two games so you can fight normal land battles on land and sea battles at sea. Oh and of course you get all the normal terror missions like ports, ships etc. I took some snaps to show ya There is also a "dawn city" patch for it where it mixes up parts of all of the urban landscapes into one. I haven't done it yet though but i'll be sure to fill ya in. Here is the page with bomb blokes toolkit http://www.strategycore.co.uk/forums/topic/9751-ufo-tftd-combo-mod-beta/

I found this on the Ufopaedia wikki, I might have a go at setting it up and sharing the save file as it does take same time to create. Does sound like fun though http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Aliens_Own_Earth

Works 100% with EU and TFTD. It is very simple to use, you just load your save with it and edit lots of values in game, depending on where the save is made from ie; battlescape\geoscape it allows you to change the values of all the aliens on the map, make them panic give them blaster launchers or just plain old kill em. Problem is if you get greedy and have maximum bases all with 2 avengers with fusion cannons and 9000% fuel, it can get boring pretty quick. I try to use it to make fun scenarios. Like disabling the funding from the council (set max funding to 0) and trying to survive independently, (Inde-X-com) is also pretty helpful if you have Sebs extender mod installed for this as you can use auto sell functions for steady income. Basically just use it to have fun. You might want to back up your saves before hand but I have never had an issue with the tool before. How to get it working. 1, Download from >>>here<<< (You can scan for virus's if you really want but I have downloaded it tons of times over the past year) 2, Open in winrar or any other archiver tool 3, Open README.txt and read (just so you know what's what) 4, Run XCOMHack3Install.msi and install to your hard drive (it in't necessary to plop it in your XCOM folder ) 5, Run X-Com Hack v3.exe 6, Select the location for either your EU or TFTD game saves (mine is c:\program files\steam\steamapps\common\xcom\ufodefence) then open it. 7, Make changes to the game and SAVE before exiting 8, Play

I just found this cool mod that lest you change all the text in the game. I can't believe this one slipped by me all this time. You load the exe files into the editor and them edit away. I'm assuming save the patch file into your xcom folder (I assume) and launch xcom with your customised game. I'm just playing about trying to get it to work at the moment. For some reason I can't get it to work yet??? ANY IDEAS??

I am in the process of modding xcom to make some videos but the website xcomufo.com has been taken down. I am wondering if anyone knows a SECURE link to a mp3 download for the ps1 xbox music. I would just go ahead and download some but this time last year I got infected with vistapsyware2012 malware for downloading xcom muisc for modding purposes.I don't much fancy being locked out of my computer again. (No thanks to malware bytes PRO for helping) Alternatively, does anyone have the mp3 music they could send over, would be much appreciated

I came across the review that got me into X-Com way back in the '90s. At the time, I had no idea it was from the same guy who had brought out Rebelstar Raiders.

At this point in Alpha I've not really seen any two story UFOs or other alien installations yet. All I've seen are the stairs in the Farm map barns and the metal stairs in the industrial buildings. Still, I've no doubt they will be in there. After all the original EU1994 gave us ... and apocalypse gave us this one But considering the huge number of maps that could be modded into the game, is there a possibility that we could have the chance to modify the properties of anything ascending/ descending. For example, to have a number of different elevators, with a property to adjust the AP requirement of each? So while in EU1994 the AP to use the elevator was 8TUs at all times, could something perhaps be able to delay/ alter this. Alien UFO Grav Lift - 8AP Corporate Building - 12AP Apartment Building - 15AP Colonist (Research etc) Facility- 20APs and of course... Freight Elevator - 30-40AP This can be extrapolated into climbing directly up a manhole ladder or down and no doubt there are plenty of others. Just a passing thought.

A follow up to the Xenonauts action figure thread... I've been tripping across this lot for a while now, shopping for Christmas presents and think of this game. Clearly, it's something that could be used as a merchandising cross over for a Terror From the Deep re-imagining. You don't have to do everything yourself. Enter:- XENONAUTS2: THE OCTONAUTS The troops, each visually distinctive with a variety of alien killing abilities... Your new underwater HQ... They don't seem to fight much, obviously the war is in it's early days. But here's a vampire squid.

In the Cold War... no one cares if you scream. With X-Com2012 out there and at least a little while before Xenonauts is ready to go, why not look to entice yet another set of games fans towards the game? Aliens Colonial Marines is out in Feb 2013. Now who remembers this, from the Kickstarter goals:- Reaper (Chryssalid) Hive tileset ($40k) – in addition to the normal alien base missions, we will add Reaper (the Xenonaut equivalent of Chryssalids) Hive missions to the late-game. These would feature “nodes” that spawned infinite numbers of Reapers until destroyed. Yes, I have been playing Space Hulk. To get you in the mood, here's a flash game based on Leading Edge's rather brilliant board game of some years ago. Xenonauts would be onto something pretty good to recreate that sort of tension for such missions. Aliens Flash Game Naturally, Corporal Hicks will want a nuke 'em from orbit option in there

I'm new here, hello! For those of you who have the X-COM from 1994 and are playing it still here is a thread to ask questions. I'm new to the game myself, recently bought it to get into the series. I'm playing it without any of those CPU dampening utilitys and it runs like intended, not hyper fast like I see on some LPs. Setting up is easy and fun, follow this link to the steam forums: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1146530 Don't have the game? Check ebay! I'm loving it and excited for xenonauts. I don't find myself too keen on Firaxis as they seemed to trash TUs, Base Defense, Putting your base wherever you want, and having multiple bases. For me, this really kind of sours the strategical aspect. No one wants less options, am I right? So far, in UFO Defense, I'm doing well. It's overwhelming and I had to read a lot to get into it. Each game is an improvement and maybe eventually I won't be wiped consistently on terror missions. I'll start this off with my own question: What do you do to avoid alien grenades? My hatred for them started early on when someone threw an alien grenade into my ship and knocked out almost the entirety of my team from turn three. Not one to get angry over video games, I found myself laughing but some how dreading the next time that happens.

Hey guys! Figured there might be some drawfags among us who've wasted our time drawing Xenonauts/Xcom fanart, figured I'd get the ball rolling by posting a couple of MSPaint pictures I drew over the last few days. I used Microsoft Paint because a) I only have a laptop touchpad to draw with and b) the aliasing on the pixels is reminiscent of X-Com. Anyway, yeah, these'll appear small, but here are some previews- to see full image click the link under the thumbnail: http://x-com.org.uk/img/xcom.png http://i45.tinypic.com/w2jb6a.png I hope I'm not the only one!