Cpl. Facehugger

Is it XP and Vista compatible? I might buy it just so I know I'll never be without X-Commie goodness again.

Hmm. Have you tried just downloading the apoc music files and plugging them into a media player? Then playing that in the background while slaughtering the alien scum? I mean, it sounds like a lack of mouse is a bit more serious than a lack of music.

I'm afraid I haven't encountered that problem. But then, I use dosbox to emulate a dos environment rather than going with VM. I've found dosbox works great for apoc, so maybe you might want to give it a try.

Not really. I pay attention to these things. I was just asking about X-Com in particular since, as I said, the only official X-Com book I'm familiar with is the novelization of the first game.

X-Com books, Zombie? Do you mean the strategy guides, or are there multiple novels? I'm only familiar with the one novelization of the first game, but I'm always interested in learning more X-Com lore.

Look up Mok's voices patch. Found here on this very site, if I recall. This replaces the new (windows) version sounds with the old DOS version ones. Also, ignore Knan. UFO: Enemy Unknown is a silly name. X-Com is much more awesome.

... But Doom 3 has that same excuse?

Nope. I just posted on the Bethesda forums to protest FO3's Oblivionization.

Does this copy of Aftershock include Starforce like the retail copy did?

In principle, I agree, however in practice I found myself using Apoc's RT mode because I felt it gave me a sizable tactical advantage. Therein lies the problem -Balance. Something that's perfectly balanced in RT mode can all too easily become a terrible imbalance in turnbased mode, or vice-versa. Yes, however, conversely, being a free project, man-hours are spread over a much greater period of time. They don't have a half-dozen codemonkeys working nine to five to get the game out within a reasonable period of time. Adding RT mode, along with all of the balance issues that entails, only exacerbates this problem. I'd rather they focus on just one combat system (preferably pure TB) and only think about doing other combat systems when they've got version 1 out the door. I don't quite understand what you mean here. How can an RT engine play in TB mode? The closest I can think of is Fallout: Tactics, but that system was about as far from X-Com as you can get, and, to be honest, I think it would fail utterly in maintaining the 'feel' of X-Com unless there was a 'classic' option available for actual TB combat. Also, I don't quite understand what the 'perks' of a RT engine would be if limiting the game to TB combat. Why would an engine have to be realtime in order to have multiple tasks going at once? UFO: ET is purely TB but it lets you move multiple men at once as I recall. Why? I don't understand why this has to be the case with a TB engine.

Is the Steam version different from the DVD version or Sprocket version in any meaningful way? I've had a very good experience with Steam in the past, but I'd like to know if the mods are compatible. I especially enjoyed ShadoWarrior's rebalance mod for AS, and I'd be sad if the AL equivelent didn't work on the Steam version.

Take it with a grain of salt, but over on the Official FO3 forums, the Devs admitted that they have a hidden thread with all sorts of sick, mature stuff that they want to work into the game. In fact, conversing with the Devs, I've found them to be decent people who seem to care about Fallout. Time will tell, however, if this is truth or in fact a clever ruse.

Yeah, it's a low price... but more exposure for X-Com is always a good thing. Really? Excellent.

Damnnation. I didn't actually look at the date. I assumed that since it was in this new subforum, it was a recent topic! By the Emperor I will purge fifty additional aliens for this heresy!

Good. Frightening in this game is a colloquialism for 'Frighteningly powerful.' Basically, what I can't conquer, I can buy.

Seconded on all counts.

From what I understand, the 'soldiers turning' is either the middle mouse button, or the control key.

Hmm. Chances are you got jumped by claim-jumpers or someone who tends to carry around heavy weapons. That happens sometimes near Redding. Especially when you don't have goot armor. Decent weapons are often taken from the still-warm corpses of your fallen foes. Armor is trickier, though. It's a bit of a cheat, but I typically went down to Algernon in Reno, got the EMP 'nades and electronic lockpick, and then returned to the toxic caves. That provided me with Mark II combat armor, which is basically the best you're going to get until the power armors and brotherhood combat armor becomes available in the military base, Navarro, and San Fran. (T-51B PA is in Mariposa military base... with a bunch of killer mutants with heavy weapons. Go loaded for bear. Advanced PA is in Navarro, which you can actually get for free and without fighting. The problem there is that you have to be extremely careful about what you do in Navarro, lest you bring the wrath of the whole damn Enclave down upon you. Dozens of power-armored, plasma-toting troopers with hundreds of HP each.) Or you can just download one of the various mods out there. I prefer MIB88's 'Megamod' because that restores a lot of the cut content to the game. And, more importantly, it lets you salvage armor from your defeated foes. Makes getting combat armor for everyone a lot easier and more convenient, I"ll tell you that. And you can finally put all your human characters in PA, while before there were only three wearable suits of PA in the game IIRC.

While it's certainly not an original idea, I contest your assertion that it is not a great game. Verily, the definition of a great game is that it is fun and enjoyable to play, yes? X-Com is, for all its faults, extremely fun. So fun in fact that I find myself going back to it time and again, even though my hard drive is burdened with the latest and greatest like STALKER, C&C3, and Supreme Commander.

I was playing the game on the easiest setting, and while searching for, Reno for example, I would encounter packs of Mutants with very powerful weapons and Aliens that would kill me in something around two or three rounds, not a chance Maybe I just suck at Fallout You shouldn't be seeing mutants near Reno... In fact, you only see them towards San Fran and ocassionally in the area around NCR and the Military base. Maybe once near Broken Hills if you're really unlucky. Aliens are only in the desert between San Fran and Mariposa Military Base, so... Moral of the story: Don't go exploring until you have the weaponry to kill what you find.

That makes sense given that it takes place on a human space colony, ne?

Hmmph. This forum is new. Is the game out in the US yet?

The intro is not necessarily representative of the game itself in any way. As anyone who remembers the soldier-launching Avenger from X-Com's intro will attest.

...It's really gone gold? Wow... this is, what, the fifth year of development? I'll probably end up getting it anyway... but meh.

Shades of the Dune prequels. Dune fans should get that one... Suffice to say that these things rarely turn out well.