Difficulty Bug

[Bomb Bloke]

Well, you all know abou the difficulty bug. But, uh, I don't.

 

So, what is it it does, exactly? I know that harder difficulties affect unit health, and so on. I'm not sure what the difficulty BUG does.

 

What versions of the game does it affect?

[NKF]

All game version dos 1.4 and under are stricken with this foul bug. XComutil fixes this bug.

 

Basically, the effects are: After the first mission, the game reverts back to beginner.

 

They finally fixed it in 1.4CE.

 

- NKF

[Bomb Bloke]

I see...

 

That might explain why I score so high in superhuman mode. Funny thing is, on the first mission, I usually don't take a loss.

[lingmiester]

How can i find out what version I am playing with?

 

LMr.

[Bomb Bloke]

Try checking the readme files in the game directory. If you're playing CE, then it's version 1.4.

[Bomb Bloke]

Found another few 'bugs' while hunting round the web. Do they still work, I wonder?

 

There is a debug command which works in both UFO: Enemy Unknown (aka X-COM: UFO Defense) and X-COM: Terror From The Deep. By pressing Control+C in tactical, the mission ends, and the mission results are the same as the last mission played.

 

Ctrl+C is DOS's way of giving a program the finger. If a UFO mission does not complete properly, it won't pass the new mission data to the geoscape.

 

After you construct a craft (Firestorm, Lightning or Avenger), it's fuel will be 0%. The first time you take it for a flight, it will have unlimited fuel.

 

Can you send the craft out like that?

 

To avoid paying the wages of employees (Scientists or Engineers), transfer them to another base just before the end of the month. If they're in transport they won't get paid.

 

An old exploit; I've never tried it.

 

Select an item to manufacture, but leave the number of copies and number of assigned engineers to zero. Then after work starts, change the number of copies to one, and the number of engineers to whatever you want, and the item(s) will be produced for free.

 

Hmm...

[NKF]

The only reason why the ctrl+c abort program function works the way it does in the original dos version is because you were aborting the executables, not the main game loop (the batch file (or com file - which is just a binary version of the batch file)). In CE, it the keyboard handler traps it and ignores it. Even if it did work, you'd have to be using XComutil's executable splitter to even get it to work. In a pure unmodified version of the 1.4CE, you'd crash right back to the desktop, because you'd be aborting the main game loop as well.

 

The craft fuel bug and the scientist docked salary bugs are the same as they were from the original.

 

As for that last one, never tried it myself. Not really worth it unless it doesn't use the resources it requires. would be handy for a few extra plasma cannons when you don't have enough elerium. But most of the time I find that you have so much money to spend, it's not worth cheating the game of its money. .

 

- NKF

[Bomb Bloke]

As I said, Ctrl + C is *DOS*'s way of giving a program the finger. I know of no Windows program which pays attention to the combo, unless the programmers specifically specified the program to end that way. It's much like Alt + F4...

[Zombie]

The craft fuel bug you mention does work. I use it every once and a while to keep things interesting. The only limiting factors on how long a craft in 0% fuel mode can stay aloft are:

1) Damage. Fight lots of tough UFO's with subpar weapons, or just Battleships and the craft will take on damage. When the meter reaches 100%, the craft is gone so therefore no more intercepts.

2) Ammo. Well, this is more of a practicality than a limitation. If you use up all the ammo in your craft's weapon pods, you cannot shoot any more UFO's down. Most people would usually send the craft back to base for rearming in this instance.

3) If you have soldiers and/or HWPs on the craft, and you let them get into the battlescape for a ground mission, the craft will automatically return to base.

 

One time, I equipped an Avenger with dual plasma beams and sent it out with 0% fuel for some scouting missions. Must've shot down 20 or so UFO's (3 or 4 were Battleships) before it ran out of ammo. At least this method increased my radar coverage where I didn't have bases yet. And when a serious problem came up, I just sent that Avenger out to quiet the threat in the air, then my transport ships mopped up the mess on the ground.

 

Ahhh.... the old transfer personnel trick. I don't use this one much anymore, but it does work. By the way, you can transfer any type of personnel between bases as long as there is enough living space. Soldiers, Engineers, and Scientists all fall under personnel so they work the same.

 

Now for the last one:

Select an item to manufacture, but leave the number of copies and number of assigned engineers to zero. Then after work starts, change the number of copies to one, and the number of engineers to whatever you want, and the item(s) will be produced for free.

This works too. Just some notes though... If you want to produce something for free, and that item requires special materials, make sure you have those materials on-hand before you start. If you don't have enough Elerium-115 and try to build a Plasma Beam, it won't let you. One good thing: if you have enough of the special materials on-hand to begin construction on an item, after it is produced NO materials were used in the process! One bad thing: if you try to produce more than one item for free, the first will cost nothing, but the next ones will cost you as normal. Bummer!

 

I only use this trick when I am seriously strapped for cash, or maybe Elerium-115. That's it. Normally, the only things I produce with this trick is the big-ticket items like craft or HWP's. And only at the early stages of a game. Later on, when I am visiting many UFO's and gathering tons of booty, cash is not that big of a problem and Elerium-115 seems to flow in like water. I have been known to actually sell Elerium if it is taking up too much space in my General Stores!