mbnx01

I did a search on this forum for starforce, didn't get any hits. Does anyone know if the Silent Storm Gold released in the U.S. has Starforce on it? Thanks for any news. -MB

The mediocre reviews were one thing, but when I found out UFO:AS has starforce on it, that's it. No copy for me. I've had to rebuild my system already because of starforce related problems. I'm drawing a line in the sand here. For a game company to install hidden system drivers on my computer....that's not even remotely acceptable. Sony got sued, and lost, big time because of their root-kit software. Too bad games don't have the same visibiliity in the marketplace the music cd's do.....I'd love to see someone get sued over this. First MMORPG's, then consoles, then starforce. The future does not look bright for single player gaming. -MB

I don't even know what Deamon-Tools is. This is a very generic game-machine (I have a separate computer for Internet).

Title says it all. I installed the game, and when I put the game disk 1 in and hit the game icon the message says 'game cannot run from backup, please insert original game disk'. This is the U.S. version, I believe that's 1.2 (that's what the read me says). I am stumped. Shall I return this game or is there ANYTHING I can do to get this working? I'm using an Asus DVD recordable drive and have no copying software on my PC. If there is not a quick and easy fix for this I will certainly never bother to purchase another product from this publisher again. All comments and suggestions welcome. -MB

I'm about 2/3 of the way through the game and the difficulty level just went through the roof. Almost every mission I pick has six reti's with Rocket Launchers to blow the team I spent 40 missions building up straight to hell. When the Reticulan peace offer came, I accepted it. I'm tired of this. I sure hope Aftershock has better balance than this. I'm sick to death of games that see an exponential rise in the difficulty level as the game goes along.... -MB Lapdog for the Reticulan Council

Well, I finally went in. 6 elite troops armed with long-range rifles. Ended with 2 in the hospital, and Richard didn't come back. Tough mission. I can imagine someone who was a newbie at PC games would pull their hair out over this one. Are there any further dramatic bumps in difficulty level later in the game? That's something I've always disliked...when it's a pretty steady level then they dump the 'impossible mission' on you 2/3rd's of the way through the game. I don't think most people finish most games they play. But I am trying hard to finish this one. -MB

I'm running 1.4 and have had problems where the sound just stops. When I leave the game my sound device (sb audigy zs usb) no longer works in windows. A reboot solves these probems and they're pretty rare (haven't been able to reproduce on a regular basis) so I've just rebooted now and then (doesn't happen often). This is not that hard a problem to live with. But now I'm further into the game (about 17 bases) and I get a hard lockup on my entire pc and a 'stuttering sound' playing over and over. I can bring up task manager, but can't 'end' UFO, when I try nothing happens and I have to do a hard boot. This problem happens about 10 minutes into a mission. I'm using latest drivers and have a very clean XP2 system. ATI 9800, latest drivers. I have no other sound problems in any other game. Here's a weird thought - I put a usb 2.0 pci card in my system yesterday - I wonder if that makes a difference? Maybe I'll try plugging the soundcard back into the 1.1 port. Is anyone else seeing something like this? Any suggestions?

I'm using an ATI 9800 running at max refresh rate. It's a strange thing, but about half the time when I see the 'air combat' video, it looks fine, but half the time it's very grainy and sort of green. Any comments on this? I'm curious as to why it only happens sometimes. On this same topic, I'm about to rebuild my PC and am facing the age old question of 'ATI vs. Nvidia'. By stats and price ATI is a clear winner, but I hear rumblings that the Nvidia cards have less graphics glitches and are much better at Opengl. I know the UFO games are Opengl, so I'm wondering if people have any recommendations on this topic. Thanks in advance for any info or suggestions... -MB

I see there is a 'Russian base mission' available now on the World map. This appears to be more of a 'plot-driven' than one of the regular 'automatically generated' missions. My question is - how long will it be available? I'm still leveling up my troops and have just started producing Blue Armor. I'd like to keep taking standard missions for awhile. My worry is that the mission will disappear off the map and I'll then be on some 'you can't win' track. I'm enjoying this game more than anything I've played in years. I wasn't sure how I'd warm up to the 'RPG elements', but now I found that one of the best parts of the game. Any info on how long this mission will be available will be greatly appreciated! Thanks, -MB

The problem goes away when I remove the XCOM music mod. Creative does not update the drivers for the Audigy 2 NX very often, but I just dloaded the latest (Feb 05) drivers. I haven't tested extensively, but it seems to solve the problem (no promises till I've had more time to play) Looks encouraging though! -MB

I just tried the xcom music mod and I love it. Aftermath is a terrific game, but the XCOM music is worlds better. But when I play for 20 minutes my sound card dies. Then I leave the game and can't play any sound file - I get a 'problem with your soundcard' error. I reboot and everything's fine.....until I play UFO:AM for another 15-20 minutes. I have a Soundblaster Audigy 2 NX card - it's a usb card, which may be an issue since this problem seems to kill my usb port as well. I know, it sounds too weird to be true, but it's very repeatable. For now I've gone back to the UFO music, but I'm interested in any suggestions! -MB

I'm running 1.4 and about 4 missions into the game. Malcolm and Margaret are on a 'maybe this would be a good base' mission. We've killed all the enemies and I go to the base, put them on the green square. Nothing happens. I've been around the map about 4 times - no more enemies. Back to the base. Nothing happens. I click the 'mission goal' button, it says, 'Enter the base'. If only it were that easy. Please, if you have any advice on how to finish this mission I'm very eager to hear it. I'm spent an hour playing something that should take about ten minutes. Thanks in advance for any help! mbnx01