Unofficial guide

[teklor]

Alright...these tips are helping me along a ton. I ahve a new dilema though. I have a terror ship shot down...with almost no damage done to it. It seems to have about 6 snakemen and like 20 crystalids...though that might be a slight exaduration. It seems like no matter what i do...how many people i have watching countless directions....my soldiers are getting turned into zombies and i never see it coming. Also i have a bit of a problem it seems. On 2 different occasions I've managed to capture 2 different live aliens and when the research on em finishes......the game crashes. One was a sectoid medic the other was a reaper terrorist. If i remember right you have to research afew different types of aliens in order to finish the game don't you. Any suggestions how to remedy this problem?

[teklor]

Also what does it take to get blaster bombs....they sound like wicked little toys but i haven't come across any yet

[NKF]

You might as well hold off on those aliens until the very end. The only aliens you need to research are:

 

Any live alien (to get Alien Origins)

Any live leader or commander (to get the next step after Alien Origins)

Any live commander (to get the end-game mission)

Any navigator (to get hyperwave decoder)

Any MC capable alien - including Sectoid Leader/Commander or any Ethereal.

 

That's it. You can technically combine most of the above and cut the whole list down to three aliens. But that's it.

 

As for blaster launchers - you'll know when you meet one.

 

They are generally found on Battleship missions, alien base attacks and X-Com base defence missions. You'll know when you see one as it tends to have a really big bang. If you don't find one, don't worry. One will turn up eventually.

 

- NKF

[Bomb Bloke]

Look for aliens carrying really big guns. Best not to let them fire them, even if you wanna be sure of the crater size. At the end of mission you'll be able to check your stocks to see if you were right or not.

[JellyfishGreen]

Alright. Next question, How long does the game run....is there a set time limit or do you have to wipe out all the alien bases...or how does that work?

 

Also, how soon should i start on my secondary base...i tried afew months in but it ended up being too expensive to maintain....

 

And lastly, whats the best way to make money early on...I've just reached the point where i have power suits...plasma defenses and i just started making my first firestorm....i'm guessing manufacturing things but what nets you the fastest cash?

 

1. EIther you play as long as you want, or you max out the Research tree, which gets you Avengers and a mission to kill the Supreme Alien Commander. That's the official end of the game. If you don't mind spoilers, see the Wiki.

 

2. I think the guideline's when you have $1-4 million or so to spare. Start slowly with just the lift and a radar, and add a couple of modules every month.

 

3. Sell! Sell everything you recover from the aliens that you aren't researching or putting on the Skyranger, and sell all those rifles and things you no longer use. You only need 5 or so Alien Navigation consoles, for instance, and anything more than one Heavy Plasma per soldier is just cash waiting to be claimed. See "Tricks, Tips and Hints" in the Wiki - although we don't have a "Spring Cleaning" page yet.

 

We have a good Wiki page on Starting Your Shadowy Paramilitary Organization!

 

JFG

[Zombie]

uhh, hey guys, russia just signed a pact in my game. it was the first one to go, so I dunno if it's impossible to lose them all, but russia isn't invincible.

 

I'll see if I can figure out how to take a screenshot.

 

EDIT: there we go

russia signed a pact

 

 

Edit again: Note, i didn't try for this, it just kinda happened, 2 battleships are a bit hard to take out with only two interceptors in range of them.

What version are you using? So far, I have been unable to get Russia to withdraw from X-COM (CE version). In fact, even with leaving the country alone and having terrible monthly scores, Russia seems happy to remain onboard. Of course, this could all be a fluke and only the last country standing will not withdraw. I'm currently running some tests on this to verify.

 

- Zombie

[teklor]

I'm still not having any luck finding alien bases...are there any specific hotspots where aliens usually start bases...should i have a ship patrol around constantly to check for alien activity...i've tried following what appear to be supply ships but they always go out of range and i can't track them. I know larger ships tend to travel in straight lines when heading to a base but still no luck......any tips

[NKF]

One good way to check for alien bases is to use your graphs. Look at the alien activity by area, and if there are any spikes in activity in an area that you haven't been near, then you've got a good hint on where to go and inspect.

 

Your interceptors are good for quick patrols, but they are by far inadequate for locating distant bases. Instead, you can use your Skyranger, which can stay up for a very long time. This has the disadvantage that you'll be missing out on a troop transport in case there's an emergency, so it's your call.

 

My suggestion would be to set up a second base on the other side of the globe and arm it with a UFO assault squad in a Skyranger. When you get even more money, you can build more bases between these two and decrease the size of the patrol area for each base

 

If you manage to get a Hyperwave Decoder, and spot UFOs on an 'alien base' mission, then you're set. They'll be out on a survey mission to locate an area to build their base. They'll finally send in a construction crew in a battleship to build it. I think you can probably tempt fate a little by saving and then reloading to randomize the location of the base slightly. I don't recall if it works, but it's worth a try.

 

Alternately, if any country suddenly withdraws funding, send out a ship to patrol the country. Alien bases are sometimes constructed in withdrawn countries.

 

If the alien base is too far from one of your bases with an assault team, build a new base nearby. Be sure to go light on intercepting UFOs near this area to keep their attention away from the base being constructed. And if you have the cash, you can surround it with dummy bases. In other words empty bases consisting of the lift and nothing else. Remove them once the new base is constructed and has is garrisoned with armed troops. This isn't foolproof, but it can work.

 

- NKF

[sluissi]

What version are you using? So far, I have been unable to get Russia to withdraw from X-COM (CE version). In fact, even with leaving the country alone and having terrible monthly scores, Russia seems happy to remain onboard. Of course, this could all be a fluke and only the last country standing will not withdraw. I'm currently running some tests on this to verify.

 

- Zombie

 

I'm running CE with Xcomutil

 

There was an alien base built in siberia, so maybe they only withdraw if a base is there.

 

Although there were a bunch of infiltration ships that landed there, I shot down most of the small ones before they landed but 3 battleships and a supply ship(on infiltration mission) landed before I could get to them.

 

also, do note I have been having some minor bugs with my version of the game, mostly text in the wrong places, like the type of craft being an alien corpse, or the size of it being Pursue without engagement. Also my graphs are stuck on a scale way too big to be readable.

[Jman4117]

3 Battleships? I think the infiltration only has 2...it might be you had two missions going down in the same month in European and Asian Russian and it caused both parts to defect and hence Russia to defect? First time I saw anything like this, it's weird.

[sluissi]

one might have not been on an infiltration mission or something, things were kinda hectic at the time I just know that 3 battleships and a supply ship all landed in the general area of russia and the supply ship was on infiltration, I'm sure of that... because there was an alien base in russia and it caught my attention that the supply ship didn't land at the base