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X-COM: UFO Defense

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X-COM: UFO Defense
X-COM: UFO Defense cover
Developers
Mythos Games
MicroProse
Publishers
MicroProse
Japan Spectrum HoloByte
Current 2K Games
Release dates
DOS March 1994
Windows September 4, 2008
X-COM: UFO Defense guide on StrategyWiki
X-COM: UFO Defense on Wikipedia
X-COM
X-COM: UFO Defense 1994
X-COM: Terror from the Deep 1995
X-COM: Apocalypse 1997
X-COM: Interceptor 1998
X-COM: Email games 1999
X-COM: Enforcer 2001
XCOM: Enemy Unknown 2012
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified 2013
XCOM 2 2016
XCOM: Chimera Squad 2020

This page is for the original game. For the reboot, see XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Key points

Use OpenXcom for many new features, which is also highly moddable.
Also released as UFO: Enemy Unknown and X-COM: Enemy Unknown.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions
UFOpaedia - Wiki for the game.
StrategyCore - The largest and oldest community for the game.
xcomufo.com - Fan site with good FAQ and downloads.
OpenXcom
OpenXcom Modding Database

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Prompts for answers from manual, code wheel, etc.
Use OpenXcom or DOSBox. Use UFO 1.4 to remove code prompts.
DOS
GOG.com
DRM-free
DOS 1.4 pre-packed with DOSBox
Windows
Humble Store
DRM-free
The X-COM: Complete Pack includes: X-COM: Apocalypse, X-COM: Enforcer, X-COM: Interceptor, X-COM: Terror From the Deep, X-COM: UFO Defense.
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Includes both DOS 1.4 and CE merged together; DOS runs though DOSBox
Windows

Version differences

The US version (UFO Defense) comes pre-patched to version 1.2
The Collectors Edition ("Gold") is Windows native and, thus, wont run in DOS. It also is fully patched to 1.4 and has the difficulty bug fixed.

Essential improvements

The following tweaks are only available by using OpenXcom.

OpenXcom

An open-source, multi platform remake with various improvements.[1][2]
Unlimited save games support, along with native widescreen support and proper audio formats.
DOSBox no longer required, simply copy the new OpenXcom files where the main executable is located or use the provided installer.

Skip intro videos

Skip Intro[citation needed]
  1. Go to the Options menu and then go to Advanced.
  2. Uncheck Play intro.

Track Steam playtime

Instructions[citation needed]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\X-Com UFO Defense\XCOM\
  2. Rename dosbox.exe to something else, then rename OpenXcom.exe to dosbox.exe

Amiga/PSX Fonts

Great for enhanching the readability.

Original MS-DOS and CE

Patches

UFO 1.4 updates the game to the latest version and removes the copy protection. Digital versions come pre-updated making this unnecessary on them.
AI Patch unofficial patch that fixes several bugs in the enemy AI making them more effective. Warning to new players: makes the game more difficult. If you're on CE and using UFO Extender then this fix is unnecessary as it already includes one of it's own.
Polar Terrain Footstep Fix reintroduces the snow footstep sound on the polar terrain that was broken in patch 1.4; works on CE and somewhat untested on DOS.
Run with UFO Extender plus XcomUtil[citation needed]
UFO Extender is CE version only. XcomUtil however works on both versions. If you only have the DOS version you can replace some of UFO Extender's functionality with BaseFixer: info on getting Python working in DOSBox is available here and a modified linker for XcomUtil 9.7+ integration can be found here.

The UFO Extender program runs on the Windows version, providing a mouse-resizable window, a smoother-running, more responsive screen than DOSBox, and a host of fixes for various bugs or exploits in the game.. It also supports the use of higher-quality .mp3 music from the PlayStation release, and keyboard shortcuts. XcomUtil provides bug fixes, including for the disjointed-base bug, and additional ease-of-use features like the automatic re-equipping of soldiers before a mission and appending rank and stat info to soldier names.

Both also offer many gameplay modifications such as enhanced weaponry, different starting-base layouts, and randomized terrain and UFO layouts. These are all optional and turned off by default.

The programs are confirmed to run on Windows 7 as well as older operating systems, and with the Steam release.

XcomUtil supports the UFOExtender launcher, but assumes the use of DOS or DOSBox at several points in the installation process, so specific steps are required to run them simultaneously:

  1. Install X-COM. If installing from CD, make sure it is a full installation.
  2. Download the UFO Extender loader "UFOLoader.zip", available at this Ufopaedia page, and extract it directly to the folder "XCOM", which is inside the base installation folder (e.g. "Xcom UFO Defense") in distributions with DOSBox.
  3. In the "XCOM" folder open UFOExtender.ini, find "D3D=0" and change it to "D3D=1" and change the value of "D3D Windowed" from 0 to 1. Save and close the modified .ini file.
    • On Windows 7 and Vista, you'll only be able to run this mod combo in a window. It will launch work once in fullscreen, and not again subsequently (The window can be maximized though).[citation needed]
    • If you do not wish to install XcomUtil as well, stop here, and you may run the game by launching "UFOLoader.exe" in the "XCOM" folder.
  4. Download the XcomUtil install file, currently "XcomUtil 9.7 Beta-442.exe", available at the downloads page at Bladefirelight.com. Run this file, again directly selecting the "XCOM" folder as the install location. If unavailable, use this .zip file for build 442, extract it into the XCOM folder, and then run XcuSetup.bat.
  5. XcomUtil setup should now be running in a cmd.exe window. If the cmd.exe screen appears blank, right-click on its title bar and select Properties. Under the Colors tab set "Screen Text" to a contrasting color from "Screen Background".
  6. When asked if you wish to configure XcomUtil now, enter "yes" and allow the program to run.
    • XcomUtil setup may also ask Steam users if they wish to use XcomUtil when X-COM is launched from Steam. However, launching from within Steam will still launch DOSBox instead of the UFO Extender launcher, so select "no". You cannot launch with UFO Extender from Steam's menu.
  7. On the screen that says "Windows 7/Vista has Issues displaying DOS/Win. On startup you get a blank screen..." enter "no" to decline installing the patch suggested.
  8. Enter "yes" when asked if you wish to enable the use of UFO Extender when you launch the game.
  9. Continue answering the rest of the prompts with the options you prefer. If you do not wish to change gameplay, you can still enable the re-equipping of soldiers before each battle with their last set of items, and the automatic addition of useful information to soldier name strings after battles. Info on all the options can be found in the "XcomUtil.txt" file in the "XComUtil" folder.
  10. If you want to change these options, run setup again by launching "XcuSetup.bat" in the "XCOM" folder. You can also do this after starting a game.
  11. You may now launch the game by running "RunXCom.bat" (not "XCOM.bat") in the "XCOM" folder.
    • If you are running Steam do not launch X-COM directly from its menu.
    • Do not run the file "xcomutil.exe" to launch the game. It will not work outside DOS or DOSBox. Xcomutil.exe simply provides a launch menu, with options for running the Xcomutil setup and the X-COM sound programs.
  12. Set additional UFO Extender options as you see fit by altering UFOextender.ini with Notepad. Information can be found here. In the provided download, all options are off by default, including enhancements that do not affect gameplay. You may enable Geoscape and Battlescape keyboard shortcuts and the stat display on the equip screen by setting the appropriate "Apply" values from 0 to 1, and set the keyboard shortcuts.
  13. To use the enhanced music from the PlayStation version of the game, download the appropriate .mp3 files found here (right-click and select to save the links). Place them together in a new folder inside your XCOM folder. Name the new folder "mp3". Open "UFOExtender.ini" with Notepad and under the "Music" heading set "Apply" from 0 to 1. Set the track names to match those in the new mp3 folder. The .ini file should appear similar to the excerpt below. The PlayStation files include additional Geoscape music; you may choose to set up different tracks:
UFOExtender.ini suggested music settings
[Music]
Apply=1
Source=MP3
;Source=PSX CD

CD Drive=F

MP3 Folder=mp3
Battlescape=X-COM UFO Defense PSX - 10 - Battlescape1.mp3
Start Menu=X-COM UFO Defense PSX - 09 - Final Briefing.mp3
Bad Ending=X-COM UFO Defense PSX - 09 - Final Briefing.mp3
Good Ending=X-COM UFO Defense PSX - 12 - Mission Accomplished.mp3
Geoscape=X-COM UFO Defense PSX - 01 - Geoscape1.mp3
Dogfight=X-COM UFO Defense PSX - 08 - Dogfight.mp3
Mission Debriefing=X-COM UFO Defense PSX - 07 - Debriefing.mp3
UFO Assault=X-COM UFO Defense PSX - 05 - Briefing1.mp3
Base Defense=X-COM UFO Defense PSX - 06 - Briefing2.mp3
Base Attack=X-COM UFO Defense PSX - 05 - Briefing1.mp3
Mars=X-COM UFO Defense PSX - 07 - Debriefing.mp3
Terror Mission=X-COM UFO Defense PSX - 06 - Briefing2.mp3

DOS/32A

DOS/32A is a more advanced extender and open source replacement to DOS4GW. It can improve both performance and stability of X-COM.

It is recommended to turn off the extender's warning messages with it's included ss.exe as they can be rather annoying and show up often when transitioning from geoscape to tactical mode.

Run in DOSBox

To improve DOSBox performance make the following changes to the DOSBox configuration file:

  • Change output=surface to output=opengl
  • Change memsize=16 to memsize=64
  • Change cycles=auto to cycles=auto limit 10000
  • Change prebuffer=20 to prebuffer=10

Enabling GUS music

UFOPedia has an excellent article on this here.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
DOS <path-to-game>\sound\sound.cfg
Windows
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/7760/pfx/[Note 1]
XcomUtil stores it's config info inside a file called xcomutil.cfg
UFO Extender stores it's config info inside a file called UFOExtender.ini
OpenXcom stores data in %USERPROFILE%\Documents\OpenXcom\ on Windows and $XDG_DATA_HOME/openxcom/data on Linux.

Save game data location

System Location
DOS %USERPROFILE%\game_*\
Windows
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/7760/pfx/[Note 1]
missdat\ folder stores temporary data related to current active save game.

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video settings

OpenXcom in-game video settings.
OpenXcom in-game video settings.

Template:Video settings

Input settings

Every key is by default already mapped when using OpenXcom.
OpenXcom in-game input settings.
OpenXcom in-game input settings.

Template:Input settings

Audio settings

OpenXcom in-game audio settings.
OpenXcom in-game audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

Use keyboard plus and minus (+ and -) to adjust music volume in DOS version.

Localizations

The original release only shipped with the English language.
Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
A patch to add US style spelling (verses UK) is available here.
Italian
Use the Italian Language patch. Replaces French.
French
German
Spanish
Use the Spanish Translation patch.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
Local play
2 Versus
Hotseat. Requires XcomUtil; a tutorial explaining the process can be found here. A batch to simplify the process can also be found here (direct link).
LAN play
2 Versus
Use the above method, but also requires passing save files around between computers (physical media or email, ect). Alternatively use the UFO 2000 Mod (Windows only).
Online play
2 Versus
See note above.

Issues fixed

Almost every single major bug has been fixed in OpenXcom.

Difficulty bug

The original DOS 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 the Collector's Edition was released. 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. If using the DOS version, XcomUtil also patches this bug.

Game hang when attempting to use the MT-32 in version 1.4 (DOS)

Apparently certain 1.4 versions of the game shipped without an updated MT-32 driver causing the game to choke when attempting to load it. Use this patch and place it in the sound\ folder. Overwrite if necessary.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D
Hackable on CE with UFO Extender.
DirectDraw
CE/Gold version only.
OpenGL
OpenXcom only.
Software renderer
DOS version only.
DOS video modes VGA SVGA compatible.
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

System requirements

DOS
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 5.0
Processor (CPU) Intel 386 20+ MHz
System memory (RAM) 2 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 10 MB
Video card (GPU) VGA

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/7760/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (7760) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References