X-COM: UFO Defense

[autoexec]

Installing

1. Lines in this section will be run at startup.

X-Com: UFO Defense is a strategy and turn based tactics game from the early 90s. The player runs the organization called X-Com, tasked with defending the Earth from a UFO invasion. The player accomplishes this by placing, building and maintaing bases as well as controlling soldiers in the field combatting the aliens. The game is known for its difficulty.

Windows

The recommended methods are purchase a packaged DOSBox version of the game. It is currently available from Steam, this version is only Windows compatible at the moment, but can be early ported to other operating systems. It is also possible to install games from disk (or the original files) using DOSBox, although i would recommend a graphical fronted for the tool.

Steam Version

The game is currently available for sale through Steam. It comes preinstalled with a DosBOX copy. The version as sold will enter full screen mode and has some graphical performance issues due to the settings being scaled wrong.

Mac

Using Windows Steam Version

It is recommended you read the recommended settings at the bottom of this article after installing if you experience any difficulties.

1. Download the appropriate version of this [tool].
2. You will find the game files at this location:

    \Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Steam/steamapps/common/XCom UFO Defense 

   If you do not have a windows computer to install this on, you can of course use Bootcamp, VMware Fusion or Parallels to install Steam and download the game, otherwise you can attempt to install via WINE, where you would need to install steam and install the game, then copy the game files, but that is beyond the scope of this guide. It is not advisable to run these games in WINe, as DOSBox is not heavily tested for this and it may introduce unexpected errors and break with upgrades.
   • If you are on the computer where you want to create the Mac port of the game, just leave a window witht he folder open, otherwise copy the files to the computer where you'd o want to do so.
3. Open Boxer and click on "Import a new game"
4. Inside the XCom: UFO Defence folder the is another refolded called "XCOM", drag this folder into the "Drop You're Games Here" window.
5. Select SETUP.EXE as your installer.
6. Accept all defaults using enter until you are prompted to Relaunch the installer or Finish importing. Press Finish importing.
7. The game will important show you you're new Game.
8. This Step is optional and may not be required, irt is recommended, and may fix any crashes.
   1. Right clock on the icon and click Show in Finder.
   2. In Finder click Show Package Contents.
   3. Copy "DOSBox Preferences.conf" into the Application bundle.
      • You scan copy the files from the "XCom: UFO Defence" folder and rename the file.
      • Or you can create a new file with that name, using these settings:

Default Steam File: DOSBox Preferences.conf

[sdl] # fullscreen -- Start dosbox directly in fullscreen. # fulldouble -- Use double buffering in fullscreen. # fullresolution -- What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768). # windowresolution -- Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling. # output -- What to use for output: surface,overlay,opengl,openglnb,ddraw. # autolock -- Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen. # sensitiviy -- Mouse sensitivity. # waitonerror -- Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error. # priority -- Priority levels for dosbox: lowest,lower,normal,higher,highest,pause (when not focussed). # Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized. # mapperfile -- File used to load/save the key/event mappings from. # usescancodes -- Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems. fullscreen=true fulldouble=false fullresolution=original windowresolution=original output=surface autolock=true sensitivity=100 waitonerror=true priority=higher,normal mapperfile=mapper.txt usescancodes=true [dosbox] # language -- Select another language file. # memsize -- Amount of memory dosbox has in megabytes. # machine -- The type of machine tries to emulate:hercules,cga,tandy,pcjr,vga. # captures -- Directory where things like wave,midi,screenshot get captured. language= machine=vga captures=capture memsize=32 [render] # frameskip -- How many frames dosbox skips before drawing one. # aspect -- Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!. # scaler -- Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes. # Supported are none,normal2x,normal3x,advmame2x,advmame3x,hq2x,hq3x, # 2xsai,super2xsai,supereagle,advinterp2x,advinterp3x, # tv2x,tv3x,rgb2x,rgb3x,scan2x,scan3x. frameskip=0 aspect=false scaler=advinterp2x [cpu] # core -- CPU Core used in emulation: normal,simple,dynamic,auto. # auto switches from normal to dynamic if appropriate. # cycles -- Amount of instructions dosbox tries to emulate each millisecond. # Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags. # You can also let DOSBox guess the correct value by setting it to max. # The default setting (auto) switches to max if appropriate. # cycleup -- Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo. # cycledown Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage. core=auto cycles=auto limit 8000 cycleup=500 cycledown=20 [mixer] # nosound -- Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though. # rate -- Mixer sample rate, setting any devices higher than this will # probably lower their sound quality. # blocksize -- Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering # but sound will also be more lagged. # prebuffer -- How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize. nosound=false rate=22050 blocksize=4096 prebuffer=14 [midi] # mpu401 -- Type of MPU-401 to emulate: none, uart or intelligent. # device -- Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401. # This can be default,alsa,oss,win32,coreaudio,none. # config -- Special configuration options for the device. In Windows put # the id of the device you want to use. See README for details. mpu401=intelligent device=default config= [sblaster] # sbtype -- Type of sblaster to emulate:none,sb1,sb2,sbpro1,sbpro2,sb16. # sbbase,irq,dma,hdma -- The IO/IRQ/DMA/High DMA address of the soundblaster. # mixer -- Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the dosbox mixer. # oplmode -- Type of OPL emulation: auto,cms,opl2,dualopl2,opl3. # On auto the mode is determined by sblaster type. # All OPL modes are 'Adlib', except for CMS. # oplrate -- Sample rate of OPL music emulation. sbtype=sb16 sbbase=220 irq=7 dma=1 hdma=5 mixer=true oplmode=auto oplrate=22050 [gus] # gus -- Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation. # gusbase,irq1,irq2,dma1,dma2 -- The IO/IRQ/DMA addresses of the # Gravis Ultrasound. (Same IRQ's and DMA's are OK.) # gusrate -- Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation. # ultradir -- Path to Ultrasound directory. In this directory # there should be a MIDI directory that contains # the patch files for GUS playback. Patch sets used # with Timidity should work fine. gus=true gusrate=22050 gusbase=240 irq1=5 irq2=5 dma1=3 dma2=3 ultradir=C:\ULTRASND [speaker] # pcspeaker -- Enable PC-Speaker emulation. # pcrate -- Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation. # tandy -- Enable Tandy Sound System emulation (off,on,auto). # For auto Tandysound emulation is present only if machine is set to tandy. # tandyrate -- Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation. # disney -- Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. pcspeaker=true pcrate=22050 tandy=auto tandyrate=22050 disney=true [joystick] # joysticktype -- Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none, # 2axis (supports two joysticks), 4axis, # fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick). # none disables joystick emulation. # auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s). # timed -- enable timed intervals for axis. (false is old style behaviour). # autofire -- continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed. # swap34 -- swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks. # buttonwrap -- enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons. joysticktype=auto timed=true autofire=false swap34=false buttonwrap=true [serial] # serial1-4 -- set type of device connected to com port. # Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial. # Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of # parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq. # for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional). # for modem: listenport (optional). # for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr, # transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional). # Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000 serial1=dummy serial2=dummy serial3=disabled serial4=disabled [dos] # xms -- Enable XMS support. # ems -- Enable EMS support. # umb -- Enable UMB support. # keyboardlayout -- Language code of the keyboard layout (or none). xms=true ems=true umb=true keyboardlayout=none [ipx] # ipx -- Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation. ipx=false @echo off mount c XCOM -freesize 1024 c: cd XCOM call ufocd.bat exit

If you are then prompted to select the file to run, when you attempt to start the application, select "xcom.bat".

Bugs

Difficulty Bug

The original version of the game has a bug which would run the game at the Beginner difficulty regardless of what the player actually selected. This bug went undetected until before the release of the sequel, at which time it was patched. The complaints regarding the game being too easy even at the highest difficulty setting led to the sequel's difficulty being scaled up so much that it's easiest difficulty was harder than the intended hardest difficulty for this game. The patch is included in all Steam versions of the game.

Recomended Settings

DOSBox Settings

In order to improve performance in DOSBox, it is recommended you set the following in the dosbox.conf file:

 output=opengl
 memsize=64
 cycles=auto limit 10000

The settings will not be found grouped together, but will each be in a different category throughout the document. Search for the name in order to find the setting to change.