Steam Weekend Deal: Tropico 3, X-Com series, and Freedom Force series

[Martimus]

ok so i got 5 different x-com games, where do i start?

The first one is UFO: Enemy Unknown. It is called X-COM: UFO Defense in the Steam Menu though. I have only played this one thus far. I suggest starting with the beginner difficulty until you figure it out though. I started with the medium difficulty and got smoked once the aliens found me and attacked my base.

 

[minmaster]

is there any way to run x-com in windowed mode?

 

[Joemonkey]

yeah i got xcom and don't know a thing about the game, need to do some reading up or find a tutorial

 

[heat901]

is there any way to run x-com in windowed mode?

I do not know how to but for some reason when I was alt tabbing to desktop a couple of times it went to windowed mode. Give that a shot !

 

[Doggiedog]

X-COM, Master of Magic and Master of Orion were classics by Microprose. Some of you guys say the graphics look terrible but that was state of the art back then.

For those who haven't played X-COM, you will love it. There are so many twists and turns in that game that it will really keep you occupied.

 

[Martimus]

is there any way to run x-com in windowed mode?

Alt-Enter will do it for you. Hit Alt-Enter again to put it back into full screen mode if you want that. It is in VGA, so it will only take up a 640x480 pixel window.

 

[Born2bwire]

I bought X-COM, and I am completely addicted. I suck at the game pretty badly, and lost my main base the first time the aliens attacked, but I love the game.

Yeah, X-COM is a bitch when you start out. Everbody just dies in the beginning regardless of the difficulty setting. The best thing you can do is try to get the first level weapons (laser/gauss) and body armor as fast as you can. Also, do not load down your personnel too much, I believe that the more weight they carry the fewer time units they have.

I can beat X-COM fairly easily these days I think but I still have to save and load like a bitch until I can get the first set of good equipment.

 

[Born2bwire]

Alt-Enter will do it for you. Hit Alt-Enter again to put it back into full screen mode if you want that. It is in VGA, so it will only take up a 640x480 pixel window.

There is a .conf file in the game's directory that is the configuration file for the game. I use it to turn off the interpolation and to change the resolution to my screen's native resolution. Looks much better that way in my opinion.

 

[BladeVenom]

Yeah, X-COM is a bitch when you start out. Everbody just dies in the beginning regardless of the difficulty setting. The best thing you can do is try to get the first level weapons (laser/gauss) and body armor as fast as you can. Also, do not load down your personnel too much, I believe that the more weight they carry the fewer time units they have.

I can beat X-COM fairly easily these days I think but I still have to save and load like a bitch until I can get the first set of good equipment.

I used scorch earth tactics, explosives and fire, to root out aliens while trying to keep my guys out of their line of site.

 

[minmaster]

god i have no idea what's going on in xcom UFO. have no clue what sort of game this is, it seems deeper and more complicated the more i click on things, lol.

 

[Born2bwire]

I used scorch earth tactics, explosives and fire, to root out aliens while trying to keep my guys out of their line of site.

Yeah, grenades will do it. I think I would also have more success if I was aggressive with flares. The biggest problem I have is that the aliens can see farther than my troops. Unless I can send out a scout ahead that can see an alien that is looking away or out of time units, then most of my losses come from troops advancing into sight of an unseen target. Using flares in the night missions would help extend our vision so I do not keep losing guys to exploratory moves.

 

[Mem]

god i have no idea what's going on in xcom UFO. have no clue what sort of game this is, it seems deeper and more complicated the more i click on things, lol.

Hehe its a classic,I actually dug out my old retail box of XCOM :Apocalypse and using DoSBox 0.73 to play it on my Win7 x64,I forgot how hard the start was but finding my feet again with those pesky aliens .

 

[Martimus]

Hehe its a classic,I actually dug out my old retail box of XCOM :Apocalypse and using DoSBox 0.73 to play it on my Win7 x64,I forgot how hard the start was but finding my feet again with those pesky aliens .

X-Com has take over for Eve as my current gaming addiction. Both are very similar, in that both are very complex and very deep. I have always really enjoyed complex and deep games, where there are many layers to the gameplay that you control.

I am going through my second terror site on my second game now. I equip all my guys with a laser pistol and a cattle prod, and usually end up capturing half of all the aliens I meet this way. I don't have armor yet, and I still lose a guy or two pretty often. But I feel confident going into a fight that I know what I am doing and have strategies to sweep the area efficiently.

I still haven't figured out how to use grenades or Medikits though. The one guy I was about to use a medikit with got killed after he picked it up off my other players corpse before I could try using it.

 

[Doggiedog]

Wait until they start invading your bases.

 

[BladeVenom]

Yeah, grenades will do it. I think I would also have more success if I was aggressive with flares. The biggest problem I have is that the aliens can see farther than my troops. Unless I can send out a scout ahead that can see an alien that is looking away or out of time units, then most of my losses come from troops advancing into sight of an unseen target. Using flares in the night missions would help extend our vision so I do not keep losing guys to exploratory moves.

Instead of flares, I used an auto-cannon with incendiary ammo.

 

[minmaster]

been watching some x-com videos on youtube and it looks very very complex. not sure if i can grasp this game.

 

[Chriscross3234]

The layer/camera system is what's getting me. My last few alien encounters have had horrible endings because I couldn't see an alien that was behind some corner of the UFO. Also, I didn't realize that downhill trees can block your vision as to what is downhill.

I'm starting to see the complexity that others have talked about, it just looks like it takes time to learn all the nuances and tactics. For example, I've learned to avoid alien encounters during the night...

Still a pretty fun game though

 

[Mem]

The layer/camera system is what's getting me. My last few alien encounters have had horrible endings because I couldn't see an alien that was behind some corner of the UFO. Also, I didn't realize that downhill trees can block your vision as to what is downhill.

I'm starting to see the complexity that others have talked about, it just looks like it takes time to learn all the nuances and tactics. For example, I've learned to avoid alien encounters during the night...

Still a pretty fun game though

I'm still playing X-Com Apocalypse however the main problem I have with Apocalypse is cash ( only $50,000 cash) which is very low at the moment,down to 2 fighters which is not enough to shoot down one UFO type 3 or higher ,also if I get one fighter destroyed its like $100,000 to replace .

I know how to sell gear etc.. but its very tight in the early stages of the game,you need to keep your soldiers healthy and out of medical bay(I rotate my soldiers since I keep a few spare and like to have them all combat trained) .

It's tricky having enough cash for everything else and also trying to improve your technology.

I like the fact that when you go to company builidngs to fight alien intrusions, you have to be careful how much damage you do to the interior of the building,too much damage and the company in question asks for compensation or you even get an attack by them if you refuse to pay,also you can get in big trouble if you do spot checks on company buildings if you think aliens are there and it turns out you are wrong,one way to upset companies lol,oh and your fighters can do accidental damage to civilian/company buildings too when they are fighting UFOs so you got to have decent gear on your fighters ie heavy weapons platform that improves accuracy.

 

[Magusigne]

They need to make a remake of X-COM and not F it up.

At any rate, here is my humble advice - granted I always get pwned when my base gets attacked by the stupid husks (Aliens that turn your guys into zombies)

Starting out I hire like 10-15 more scientists I build living quarters and alien containment.

Buy some stun rods maybe an extra soldier or two and begin researching Laser weapons ASAP. Typically I stop at Laser rifle as I use the spray and pray auto fire method. You don't get the 3 shot burst with the Heavy Laser.

After this I try to capture some aliens (preferebly a leader sectoid with Psi powers to unlock that but thats more advanced in the game). Make some cash and begin researching power armor and perhaps buy a rocket tank and arm it with incendiaries to use scorched earth tactics.

 

[minmaster]

i need a freaking tutorial... this is one game that needs one for the noobs.

 

[JoshGuru7]

- Start with UFO defense.

- Watch some of the really good walkthroughs on youtube, such as this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQf6Z3txY60

- The biggest tip is to save a lot. Losing your best soldier to the random number generator is a good reason to re-load.

 

[Martimus]

i need a freaking tutorial... this is one game that needs one for the noobs.

http://www.xcomufo.com/usg.html

That should help you.

also this is the manual:

http://store.steampowered.com/manual/7760/

 

[Rebel44]

I'm still playing X-Com Apocalypse however the main problem I have with Apocalypse is cash ( only $50,000 cash) which is very low at the moment,down to 2 fighters which is not enough to shoot down one UFO type 3 or higher ,also if I get one fighter destroyed its like $100,000 to replace .

I know how to sell gear etc.. but its very tight in the early stages of the game,you need to keep your soldiers healthy and out of medical bay(I rotate my soldiers since I keep a few spare and like to have them all combat trained) .

It's tricky having enough cash for everything else and also trying to improve your technology.

I like the fact that when you go to company builidngs to fight alien intrusions, you have to be careful how much damage you do to the interior of the building,too much damage and the company in question asks for compensation or you even get an attack by them if you refuse to pay,also you can get in big trouble if you do spot checks on company buildings if you think aliens are there and it turns out you are wrong,one way to upset companies lol,oh and your fighters can do accidental damage to civilian/company buildings too when they are fighting UFOs so you got to have decent gear on your fighters ie heavy weapons platform that improves accuracy.

Raid building owned by that crazy cult - its easy to kill them all and you will get enough money from selling your loot that it will solve your money problems for some time.

 

[lupi]

ok, now I know what I was thinking of. they released a version of trop 1 & 2 with expansion packs just after announcing this so I mixed them all together in my mind.