illegal youth

i don't think it's worth trying out vanilla if you're looking for a new XCOM. i wrote a pretty long comparison between vanilla UFO: ET and XCOM here: http://www.xcomufo.com/forums/index.php?s=...st&p=167873 i'd get bman's new v3.06 v3.08 ease of use mod: http://ufo-scene.com/plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?1576 it's basically started combining all the different mods together into one supermod. since bman seems to be the one of the few UFO: ET modders still around, most of us have politely requested that other previous mods' features be included in bman's mod. so new modders like surma and cyslider wrote code for bman to put into the mod. oh yeah, and remember that "third side" that CC promised but never delivered? i don't want to ruin the surprise, but let's just say that bman has delivered instead! edit: looks like bman has already updated his mod again!

the only difference is that the regular install has all the files extracted and the easy install has everything still packed into the system.xbg file. you can extract your system file with xbigtool. there's a link somewhere around here, and i think it's hosted on the ufo-scene site. i find that the game runs smoother with the files extracted (and you can make your own changes to the game if you wish).

the patched game does not use the projectx.exe, but rather the ufo_et.exe file. bman's mod is only compatible with the patched game. follow aralez's instructions.

it's actually called "XCOM alien invasion" since the primary function of the mod is to include the XCOM aliens in the game. plus loads of other features to make it more XCOM-like (psi, flying, stun rods, panicking) sydaemon is working on an encumbrance mod, which is to be included in ovni's tactical mod. the tactical mod has things like an accuracy reduction if a soldier is carrying a rifle and something in the other hand (UFO: ET vanilla allows a soldier to carry a rifle and another item without an accuracy penalty) and a tactical minimap (among other features). the encumbrance mod will remove the strength requirements for weapons and armor and bring back a weight system for items. with sydaemon's encumbrance mod, late game rookies will be useful again, and UFO: ET will be that much closer to XCOM. now all we need is something to fix the lighting issues!

bman's ease of use 3.01 is now available! http://ufo-scene.com/plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?1576 this seems to be the mod that makes UFO: ET most like XCOM. here are the details: ------------------------ It's finally here! Current version is v3.01 Download it here: http://www.savefile.com/projects/808504622 Make sure you download either the Easy Install or the regular version. Also download the Multimedia Pack for all the sounds and UFOPedia entries. Changes in v3.01 --------------------- - Corrected Floater health (they were much too hard to kill in 3.0) - Fixed inventory crash bug during missions Changes in v3.0 ------------------- - New Weapon - Stun Rods can be purchased from the base store - Flying - Anaconda can fly. So can many of the aliens - Speed improvements to LOS Circles - it is not as laggy anymore. - Speed improvements to Movement Paths - it is not as laggy anymore. - Improvements to Advanced AI - they are less likely to stand in fires or smokes. Many other improvements I can't remember. - Bugfixes to AI involving not knowing the exact spot your soldiers are standing when they should - Bugfix - teleporting tanks related to LOS Circles - Bugfix - aliens can still die after taking stun damage--used to be they could only be stunned but never killed. - many other changes I can't possibly remember - X-COM ALIEN INVASION - 11 new aliens to fight - mind-control! - 40+ new research topics! - personal jetpacks! - other surprises I don't want to give away - make sure you capture one of each of the new x-com aliens. Some of the new research is triggered off of their interrogations. I know I'm leaving out stuff. Here is all the things in this mod: This mod will only work correctly with the 20070530 patched version of the game. Each mod lists the files changed for that mod. You can search the modified files for

agreed. my guess is that its because of how pathing is coded in game. its probably hardcoded that you can't force a soldier to walk off a ledge, heh. but that's just a wild guess, as i have no clue how to dig through the code myself.

one difference i should point out between UFO: ET and XCOM/TFTD is that you can't just walk off of the second level and fall to the ground level, like you could in XCOM. if it is possible, i haven't found a way to do so.

as far as i can tell, there aren't any physics in the game. walls are destructible, yes. there's no gravity system in place, so it's like XCOM/TFTD, not Apoc. there's no physics for soldiers or aliens, they just die on the spot. in fact, there's a lot of missing animation for the death sequences for the aliens -- one frame they are standing and in the next frame they are lying on the ground, dead. if you're thinking physics like the silent storm engine, this game doesn't have anything like that.

i read the review and i think it's an accurate portrayal of the game. i've played through entirely, so i think i have a strong sense of what the game does well and what it doesn't. the only thing i would disagree with in the review is the music for tactical missions -- it's atmospheric and ambient, and it does have a bit of a creep-factor. the rest of the game music is sub-par though... i don't get the sense from the review that the reviewer was expecting an XCOM-fps at all. not sure where you saw that, aralez. the complaints about less management in the geoscape are spot on. a lot of management is taken out of the player's hands and is automated. this does make planning finances a lot more difficult, especially considering that salaries/expenses are deducted daily rather than at the end of the month. add on top of that the fact that the finances screen doesn't show expenditure projections. there's no management for living quarters, storage, interceptor ammunition, or hiring/firing. the complaints about the tactical game are accurate too. there are no random maps, only pre-generated maps, so there's a lot of repetition. there are only 200 in the game, and they are pretty limited. considering that most players who have beaten the game have gone to more than 300 tactical missions, there just aren't enough unique maps for one game. for an example, every single battleship the player shoots down will land on a golf course -- every single one. the map feels like it's the same one every time, just rotated. there are missing features like saving AP and a tactical map. in fact, before the patch, there were no speed settings either, which was frustrating considering how slow soldiers and vehicles move. the review is correct about the alien AI too -- without mods, the aliens will walk around in the open, making no use of cover and having no sense of self-preservation, and make extremely limited use of buildings. it's almost not worth it to investigate the buildings. there are a lot of other issues that this review doesn't even touch on, but that have been discussed at length over here: ufo-scene.com, like the lack of encumbrance, the lack of a meaningful role for morale (there are no panicking or berserking soldiers in UFO: ET), the lack of a complex weapon damage-type system with a resistance/weakness system (there are only three damage types in UFO: ET), the way that aliens and weapon tech scale together so that old technology is obsolete, the lack of an item for incapacitated soldiers -- meaning that if the player wants to flee a mission, s/he will have to leave all downed soldiers behind for dead since there is no way to rescue them -- and those are just a few of the big ones. i'd check out the conversation on the ufo-scene forum. lots of good stuff is being discussed. i'd recommend this game to XCOM vets simply because it'd be something new for them and that the prospect of further mod development is very promising, but i don't think the game has a lot of replay value straight out of the box. after beating the game, i found myself playing XCOM and TFTD once again, waiting for the mods to be updated with the missing features that were present in all the XCOM games.

yes there are alien bases in UFO: ET, but only in territories that the aliens control. usually you'll scout out a landed ufo first, then after completing that mission, an alien base will appear on the same spot. to get XCOM running in XP, use f0dder's patch (i'm sure it's in the files section) or get XCOMUTIL, which includes f0dder's patch among a number of other fixes/changes.

bman's 3.0 mod is going to have a lot of amazing changes -- an expanded research tree, new items, aliens from XCOM, flying, mind control, panicking... it's going to be a whole other game, heh. i've used the zoom feature (introduced in the first patch), and it doesn't help much. have you zoomed in on a soldier? zoomed in sprites are pretty ugly. but consider that i still find XCOM's graphics acceptable, i don't mind.

its part of the game engine. each era aliens have a chance of appear in any era after they are first introduced, but that chance gets smaller as the game progresses. so first era aliens have a chance of appearing in the late game (for instance, fourth era), but that chance is relatively small.

zaljin, there's no flight in UFO: ET, and the highest number of units (soldiers and/or vehicles) that can be brought to a mission is 12. you can scout areas with your craft in the geoscape, just like in XCOM. terror missions appear randomly and are not spawned by a UFO. during the early game (first era), terror missions are extremely rare. hope that helps.

this thread will answer all your questions: http://www.ufo-extraterrestrials.com/forum...opic.php?t=2668 you'll need a different version of the patch, located here: http://greycellgreen.net/ufo/UFO_ET_patch1.exe hope that helps.

i guess i just get the feeling that somehow i'm not going to have all the original sounds. i'll have to play a bit more to make sure it worked. but the other thought i had was that i could have the graphics filter without a slow down in the game. now that would be awesome.

there's a speed clock change in the geoscape.exe file?? why? with f0dder's patch, the speed issue is fixed for XP. here's how i got rid of it: 1. get your original UFO.exe file. 2. split that file using bomb bloke's EXE splitter. the program can be found in the files section. just place in your directory and run the EXEsplit.exe file 3. get the Ufo defense.exe file that comes with the sounds mod. 4. repeat step 2, but with the modded .exe file that comes with the sounds mod. 5. place the geoscape.exe file split from your original UFO.exe and the tactical.exe file split from the modded Ufo defense.exe 6. run xcomutil. the program should recognize the two .exe files and run the game. you'll know you did it right (having the new tactical sounds) because the intro will play without any missing sounds (i.e. the muton commander yell). i hope that helps. so is there any way to remove the speed clock change in the modded geoscape.exe file in the sounds mod?

thanks, that did the trick! edit: upon further reflection, this leads me to believe that the graphics filter is not to blame for the slow down in the geoscape, but something else in the modded exe that's included in the sounds mod. would anyone know how to find out what going on? i haven't the slightest idea where to begin....

bomb bloke, i removed the old exe files and placed the exe file that comes with the sounds mod in my directory. i used your splitter to make the geoscape and tactical exe files. it worked fine with xcomutil, and the game runs without the graphics filter. but, the geospace still runs like poop. it's all choppy, not smooth like it was before i installed the sounds mod. any ideas?

thanks bomb bloke! i'll give it a try when i get home.

i've tried that before... but whenever i run XCOMUTIL, the sounds revert back to the CE versions. i think it has something to do with the fact that XCOMUTIL splits the .exe. when i put the already split .exe files that come with the graphics filter, i get the old sounds perfectly. is there a way to get a split .exe that works with the dos sounds?

i was able to install this with the uniform mod without any problems. did you put the files from Mok's sounds into bb_tact, and the .exe files into the main directory? make sure that when you installed the uniforms mod that you didn't overwrite the six files in bb_tact from Mok's mod. my problem is this, though. the graphics filter is cool, but it makes the game runs like poop. i had everything going smoothly without it. is there any way to have the graphic filter and to have the game run properly? alternatively, is there any way to use the sounds in Mok's mod without the graphics filter?

i don't think the patch did that. bman's ease of use mod does, though.

i really hope that isn't true.... i can't stand real time with pause. i just find that real time with pause breaks the flow of the game too much to be enjoyable.

hmm. well, i guess it's too late for the survey.... there's a confidentiality clause in the survey, so i'm not even sure i should be saying this but i'll try to keep it brief: basically, the survey hints that THQ may be considering a game like squad command for PC/XBOX/PS, but a much bigger game with hundreds of more options. of course, my recommendation for such a game was to look at the X-COM model for inspiration, heh heh

sorry guys. try clicking on the link from here: http://us.games-workshop.com/news/default.htm#five underneath the "your opinion counts" there's a box for squad command. hopefully that'll work...