Where are the original (official) stories?

[Fëanor]

Hi guys... I'm a noob here....

 

A long time ago, I entered the X-Com Tactical Command website, the one before the new Strategy Core, and there was some stories based on the X-Com timeline. I think they were the official stories of the game.

It happens that in the Strategy Core website, I just can't find these stories.

 

Does someone remembers them, and knows where to find them?

 

Thanks...

[Pete]

The whole X-COM timeline is around here somewhere on the forums (not quite managed to get it back up on the site yet, sorry!).

 

I'll dig it out and post a link for you

 

Oh, and welcome back

[FullAuto]

'Official' X-Com stories? Hmm.

Timeline is here. As for official stories, I'm not aware of any. Perhaps in my role as X-Com fanfic ruler I have been remiss. I shall investigate.

Obviously, there's the X-Com Stories forum, but I don't think any of those are 'official'.

[Pete]

Good job FA - wasn't aware of that thread containing the timeline, but now I know, it's going to eb up on the site before the end of the day

[FullAuto]

No prob. I shall have a trawl of the net for these official fics. I seem to remember one, vaguely, written as a companion to EU by some Microprose bloke.

 

Is this them, Feanor?

[Pete]

Wow. Never seen those before. They're prolly worth adding here if you've got teh spare time to stick 'em in the relevant forum.

[FullAuto]

I'll get right on it. Talk about making freaking work for myself...

[Hobbes]

There were official stories written to bridge UFO and TFTD that take place on that period but I've never heard of any that took place during UFO.

[FullAuto]

Hmm. The mystique deepens. Remember any particular details about them, Feanor?

[Pete]

The timeline is back up. I haven't finished putting in all the pics I had in the original version, but you can find it at https://www.strategycore.co.uk/xcom/pg/timeline

[Danial]

Does someone remembers them, and knows where to find them?

I remember the stories you're talking about, but as for where to find them, I have no idea, sorry

[Pete]

Surely they'll be about on the internet somewhere...? some detective work might be in order

[FullAuto]

Give me a few details and I'll get right on it. Faenor? Danial? What can you tell me about the suspects?

*dons pipe and deerstalker*

[Bomb Bloke]

I've a vague memory that some woman published a book...

 

*hunts around a bit*

 

Hmm. Not sure this is the one I heard about, but scroll down this page a bit and see what you can come up with.

 

The reports I heard on the forums about the UFO book(s) is that they weren't that good...

[NKF]

Diane Duane's X-Com novel, "X-Com UFO Defense A Novel", ISBN 0-7615-0235-1

 

There was a teaser released for the first chapter.

 

I wouldn't say it was bad, but I wouldn't say it was epic either. It was just a short story, and started in the middle of the war and ended in the middle of the war.

 

- NKF

 

P. S: No, I didn't remember the ISBN. I've got the book.

[Pete]

Any cool pics on the cover?

[NKF]

Eh, just take the Mars and heavily modified Avenger cover, stick on X-Com UFO Defense A Novel and the author's name on the cover, and there you go.

 

Unless, of course, they've issued a re-release with a new cover, or your nearest publisher chose to use a different cover, that's about it really.

 

- NKF

[Pete]

Fair enough. Just wondering

[Zombie]

No prob.  I shall have a trawl of the net for these official fics.  I seem to remember one, vaguely, written as a companion to EU by some Microprose bloke.

 

Is this them, Feanor?

The only "official" stories I know about are those written by Russ Brown. MicroProse software commissioned those stories in 1994 just around the release date for X-COM: Enemy Unknown. If you follow this link, you will see that at the top of those 8 stories there are copyrights plastered all over it:

 

by Russ Brown

Copyright (1994) MicroProse Software, Inc.

X-COM Copyright 1994, MicroProse Software, Inc.

X-COM is a Trademark of MicroProse Software, Inc.

 

Way back in March of this year, I was involved in finding any and all links pertaining to the games we cover here (especially X-COM). Russ Brown's stories were the only "official" Enemy Unknown literature I could find after countless hours searching the internet. A comprehensive site list (including a link to his stories) can be found in our X-COM links page.

 

As for other official literature, there are 4 stories (not 3 as FullAuto's xcomufo.com link shows). They are an X-COM EU/TFTD amalgamate which tried to capture the spirit of both games. These stories can be found here. An updated links page for this website will be coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

 

- Zombie

[FullAuto]

No need. Already copy n pasted them.

[Pete]

Rock on. Good stuff chaps

[Hobbes]

The only "official" stories I know about are those written by Russ Brown. MicroProse software commissioned those stories in 1994 just around the release date for X-COM: Enemy Unknown. If you follow this link, you will see that at the top of those 8 stories there are copyrights plastered all over it:

Way back in March of this year, I was involved in finding any and all links pertaining to the games we cover here (especially X-COM). Russ Brown's stories were the only "official" Enemy Unknown literature I could find after countless hours searching the internet. A comprehensive site list (including a link to his stories) can be found in our X-COM links page. 

 

As for other official literature, there are 4 stories (not 3 as FullAuto's xcomufo.com link shows). They are an X-COM EU/TFTD amalgamate which tried to capture the spirit of both games. These stories can be found here. An updated links page for this website will be coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled. 

 

- Zombie

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Errr....I have my doubts that Russ Brown's stories are official. If you check the SciFi Emporium page you will find that same of the stories have this:

 

by Whatever

Copyright (1994) MicroProse Software, Inc.

X-COM Copyright 1994, MicroProse Software, Inc.

X-COM is a Trademark of MicroProse Software, Inc.

 

Plus they are attributed on this page to have been made for Game Bytes magazine (check the end of the page).

 

Also, the Literature Literature page of XCommand only lists 5 stories ("Decomissioning", "Deposition", "Moray in the Wreck", "The Dig", and "Angel Diver") as made by Microprose. And XComUFO only lists the first 3 as made by the company.

 

I guess there isn't a way to confirm whose stories are official or not.

[Skonar]

I always thought Russ Brown was a fan... ah well.

 

The Diane Duane story is, on the whole, no Tom Clancy, but it's pretty good reading.

 

Incidentally, it seems to imply that there's an X-Com base in North Africa, one in Switzerland, a base in Washington, and if memory serves at least three or four others as 'fully confirmed', but from the context, particularly the numbers of craft involved, it seems likely that if you go by the novel there's probably thirty-plus bases kicking around.

 

She doesn't describe many of the aliens too well, unfortunately. Bare basics. I remember someone pontificating that she'd only been handed some documentation rather than having actually played the game. I'm hlaf-tempted to bribe someone to go and interview her now...

[Zombie]

I guess there isn't a way to confirm whose stories are official or not.

Well, I think I figured out which stories could be "official" and which might be "unofficial" (not endorsed by MicroProse). From the literature page at the ScifiEmporium, those stories which list the following are almost certainly official:

Copyright (199x) MicroProse Software, Inc

But you can't take that as 100% since sometimes that is found associated with a game title. The authors which seem to have written "official" stories for MicroProse Software are:

• Brian Gallucci
   
  
• Ted Paulsen
   
  
• John Possidente
   
  
• Russ Brown
   
  
• Tim McCarty
   
  
• Rick Riordan
   
  
• Doug Kaufman
   
  
• Shaun McClintock
  

I must emphasize that John Possidente's stories are almost guaranteed to be official since he was involved with both X-COM: Interceptor and Email X-COM. My gut feeling is that the other authors I list are also "official" story writers.

The authors I do not list are almost guaranteed to be unofficial since none have a MicroProse copyright. If I get some time, I'll look into this further.

 

[Edit]

While looking around, I came across this page at the speedy.franken site. For those too lazy to click, here is what it says:

  Hi Russ,

 

 

  I saw in the reposts of your stories that they are

[Fishfins]

I liked reading Russ Brown's stories.

 

However, he makes Reapers seem more deadly than they really are. Even on Superhuman mode, they're big, clumsy and stupid. One of them recently came close to chomping one of the soldiers, then ran away when he got hit with a single pistol bullet.