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You do NOT have to have the OSG to use this supplement, but you
will get more out of both if you do.

According to Prima, the OSG is currently out of print.


0.10 ORGANIZATION

About organization of the guide... The sections are patterned
after the official strategy guide. However, as all parts of XCOM
are interlinked, it is best to read through the entire guide to
see how all the sections relate. When you see the part about air
combat, you should read the part about XCOM crafts and Alien
UFOs, for example.



1 Game Information


1.1 WHAT IS XCOM: UFO DEFENSE?

[Excerpt from XCOM manual page 6]

It is the year 1999. Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) have
started appearing with disturbing regularity in the night skies.
Reports of violent human abductions and horrific experimentation
had struck terror into the hearts of millions. Mass public
hysteria has only served to expose Earth's impotence against a
vastly superior technology.

[...]

On December 11, 1998, representatives from the world's most
economically powerful counties gathered secretly in Geneva. After
much debate, they decision was made to establish a covert
independent body to combat, investigate, and defeat the alien
threat. The organization would be equipped with the world's
finest pilots, soldiers, scientists, and engineers, working
together as one multi-national force.

This organization was named the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit.

[end excerpt]

You are in overall command of XCOM. You will perform the
following tasks:

* detect and track marauding UFOs
* launch and control interceptors to attack marauding UFOs in
the air
* send soldiers (in transports) to attack crashed or landed
UFOs
* raid alien bases on Earth (if you can find them)
* keep the sponsor nations happy and UFOs out of their skies
and aliens out of their land
* buy the ammo and weapons you need in the war
* research weapons and ammo as your troops bring in captured
alien artifacts for analysis
* build the alien weapons and ammo, as well as advanced crafts
* build defenses for your base(s)
* research the aliens themselves
* pay for everything by contributions from sponsor countries
and selling stuff

Eventually... figure out the alien threat's origin and end the
threat once and for all.


1.2 HOW DOES XCOM PLAY?

The game is divided into two main segments: GeoScape and
BattleScape.

GeoScape is a 3-D view of the globe, rotate-able and zoom-able.
This is where you control your various bases around the world
(with radars), your fighters and transports (carrying your
soldiers), your inventory at each base, the UFOs and alien bases
currently in sight, and so on. Once ground contact is made
(transport landed next to UFO, you attack alien base, aliens
attack your base, etc.), the game switches to Battlescape.

Battlescape is an isometric tile-based 3-D combat with viewpoint
similar to SimCity 2000 and Transport Tycoon. The combat is turn-
based with opportunity fire on the opponent's round (provided you
have enough TimeUnits [TUs] and reaction), with plenty of weapons
and terrain to choose from. When the battle concludes (either
side is annihilated or retreated) you go back to GeoScape.

Everything is mouse-driven so game is very easy to learn yet hard
to master.


1.3 WHAT IS UFO: ENEMY UNKNOWN?

UFO: Enemy Unknown is the European version of XCOM. The game was
designed by Mythos Games, and was distributed by MicroProse UK.
It was imported into the US later as XCOM. XCOM is equivalent to
UFO V1.2.

In fact, XCOM installs into \MPS\UFO directory. :-)


1.3.1 Why the name change?

The official strategy guide (OSG) has no explanation, but I
believe that SubLOGIC (the original Flight Simulator
people) had a game called UFO, and MicroProse couldn't register
the same name, so they picked XCOM.

XCOM is the official name of the series. XCOM2 will be sold as
XCOM2 in Europe.


1.3.2 What is the difference besides the title?

Quite small, mainly price changes for items, and some spelling
(esp. "armour").


1.4 WHAT TYPE OF PC DO I NEED? IS A DEMO AVAILABLE?

Requirements listed on XCOM is: 386/486 (Pentium?), 4 MB RAM,
VGA, Mouse, MS/PC-DOS 5.0 (or higher?).

(There are Amiga and CD32 version, PlayStation version, and many
other ports.)

One person reported that he was able to run XCOM with 2 MB RAM,
though it is SLOW. Your mileage may vary.

It comes on 3 3.5" HD disks, and needs about 12MB of hard drive
space to install (double that if using disk compression software
such as Stacker or DoubleSpace).

There's a CD version, which is the same as the floppy version
except only the saved games reside on the hard drive and all of
the data files stays on the CD.

You CAN install the CD version onto the hard drive if you have
enough space. There may be a HARDDRIVE directory on the CD with
a separate install program. Use that to do the full install.

The original release uses 32-bit protected mode, so it would not
run under Windows. No compatibility claims was made to any other
versions of DOS such as DR DOS, Novell DOS 7, or even OS/2.

There is a Collector's Edition which includes XCOM, XCOM: Terror
From the Deep (TFTD), and XCOM: Apocalypse (APOC). XCOM and TFTD
have been converted so they are now Windows DirectX friendly.
They will run in Windows.

There is no patch to upgrade the regular install to the "CE"
release. To get CE, you must buy CE.


1.5 WHAT ABOUT ANY BUGS? ANY PATCHES?

The OSG has no list of bugs, so here is a list of bugs that are
known to exist in XCOM/UFO (PC version, of course).


1.5.1 Green Text Bug

Symptom: Game suddenly displays 40-column Green text [DOS
Extender Error]. Usually happens right after a battle, and after
a bit it takes you back into the battle you just finished
(infinite repeat), and sometimes the computer hangs.

Cause and Solution: This is usually caused by attempting to save
a game while UFO interception is in progress. Another possibility
is you have multiple crafts in the air and one of them is
intercepting while another is landing and attacking a downed UFO
or base.

Unfortunately, the saved game is corrupt. You must restore from
an earlier saved game. [OSG only mentions this as "trust me,
don't save when intercept minimized"]

Further info: someone commented on the net that usually there is
this ONE UFO that you did not shoot down before XCOM crashed. If
you do NOT destroy it after you reload the game, the same thing
will happen again.

Another has reported that by not maximizing (minimizing?) the
GeoScape screen before going into combat cuts down the chances of
Green Text bug, but this is unconfirmed.


1.5.2 16-bit Sound bug

Symptom: Game has compatibility problems with most 16-bit sound
cards such as SoundBlaster 16 and PAS-16 (and Gravis UltraSound
as well). Music and sounds are often played as static, or no
sound at all.

Cause and solution: remember that the setup asks for the DMA
channel, NOT the interrupt as most setup programs do. If it still
doesn't work, it's a program bug. You can always play with the
sound off, but it's not as much fun having no alien screams when
they got hit and die... V1.4 patch should fix this.

WARNING: If you have a SoundBlaster 16 and the Waveblaster
daughtercard, do NOT select 16-bit digital sound with General
MIDI. Select 8-bit sound instead.


1.5.3 One-shot blaster bug

Symptom: Once you fired off a blaster launcher, sometimes there's
still a shell in there so you can't reload it, but you can't fire
it either.

Cause and solution: This is caused by programming only one
waypoint for the blaster bomb. If you program two or more
waypoints for the bomb this won't happen.

You can also attempt to UNLOAD the "empty" shell. See manual.


1.5.4 Flying Frozen bug

Symptom: Enemy hit a unit near the edge of the map. When it is
the unit's turn to move, it is off the edge of the map (totally
outside). It can move up/down, but not back onto the map. It
can still shoot, and it will return if you win the battle.

Cause and solution: no idea, this seems to be random. Don't put
your units near the edge.


1.5.5 "SMOKBIT.DAT not found"

Symptom: the game complains that a SMOKBIT.DAT cannot be found in
your saved game directory.

Cause and solution: no idea, since the file is not in all of the
saved games directories that I have (I have it only in 2 of 10
saved games). MicroProse chalked it up to computer
incompatibility and recommends a refund if you run into this
problem. (saved game during combat? Incendiary grenades?)


1.5.6 Stacked Equipment bug

Symptom: When you access the alien's inventory (see exploit)
you found that they have multiple items stacked in one
location (usually one of the legs). If you do not have enough TU
for that unit and you tried to move one item, you cannot put it