X-COM Comes To Steam

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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X-COM Comes To Steam

Retro gamers rejoice! Steam [http://www.valvesoftware.com].

this post [http://www.steamgames.com/v/index.php?area=app&AppId=7760&cc=CA] in the Steam forums says all five titles have been tested under Vista and run without problems.

The X-COM games debuted in 1993 with X-COM: UFO Defense (known as X-COM: Enemy Unknown in Europe), a tactical combat game that also offered strategic elements, research trees, statistical character development and more. Many elements of the game, including spaceships and aliens, were designed after classic 60s and 70s movies and television shows about alien invasions.

X-COM: UFO Defense is far and away the best game of the series, and with X-COM: Interceptor the franchise moved away from its tactical roots, becoming a space combat simulator instead. But Interceptor sold poorly, and despite its early successes the X-COM title slowly faded into obscurity, a fate sealed when Hasbro Interactive, which had purchased original X-COM publisher Microprose, was shut down by Hasbro. Rights to the property then passed to Infogrames by way of Atari before landing with Take-Two Interactive, where rumored [http://www.2kgames.com/bioshock/] to be working on a new addition to the series.

And while he's playing around with that, you could be playing around with the entire X-COM franchise for 15 bucks. There's a lot I don't particularly care for about Steam, but this is a screaming good deal. The game is deep, accessible even to fans who wouldn't normally consider something called a "tactical combat simulator," and unless you happen to be reading this on a 286 with less than four megabytes of RAM, you have zero worries about system requirements. X-COM: UFO Defense is widely regarded as one of the finest games ever made, and you can have the whole thing for 15 bucks! So why are you still reading this?


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Alone Disciple

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Jun 10, 2008
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I am so having a 'nerdgasm' right now.

The original X-COM is one of my all time favorite games....and I can't believe how many hours I spent on it 15 years ago!! Thank God some one had the same love for such a classic turn based tactical game to bring it back...and for $4.99!!!! OH...it gets no better.

Now if someone could port it to XBLA....
 

Anton P. Nym

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Sep 18, 2007
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X-com is one of the best computer games in history. If you at all like tactical games, give it a try if you haven't already. And at $5 (or $15 for the set) it's a steal.

-- Steve
 

BobisOnlyBob

is Only Bob
Nov 29, 2007
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In the words of my friend (a sentiment I share):

"unf unf unf unf"


In case you're confused, that's a good thing.
I don't care that I already own a (flakey, oft-crashing) version of it. I want this.
 

ElArabDeMagnifico

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Dec 20, 2007
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GOD DAMNIT!

OK, it's just a bad time for this to come out, it's 15 bucks but right now I gotta save every penny, BUT GOD DAMNIT X-FUCKING-COM ON STEAM!
 

Jhereg42

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Apr 11, 2008
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I'm rubbing my little nerdy hands in anticipation.

I figured when these surfaced we'd be seeing them on GOG. Steam works for me, though.
 

zoozilla

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Dec 3, 2007
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Jhereg42 post=7.70601.697268 said:
I'm rubbing my little nerdy hands in anticipation.

I figured when these surfaced we'd be seeing them on GOG. Steam works for me, though.
I would actually prefer them on GOG. I prefer no DRM and (presumably) no other required software, which GOG offers.

Still, can't deny this is a sweet deal.
 

Ralackk

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Aug 12, 2008
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Anyone on here purchased this yet?

If so is the game speed running at a good level?

I ask because I have both xcom 1 and 2, the problem is I managed to find a user made patch to bring the speed to a normal playable level for the first but theres no such thing for the second game.
 

Jhereg42

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Apr 11, 2008
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Khell_Sennet post=7.70601.698013 said:
Are these copies of XCom modded to run in Windows, or do we still have to dosbox them to run, use slowdown apps so they aren't mach speed, and then try to trick our computers into thinking they have XMS/EMS memory?
Pulled off of the info page for the original x-com:

System Requirements
Supported OS: A 100% Windows 2000/XP-compatible computer system (only)
Processor: 80386 processor or better
Memory: 4Mb RAM
Sound Cards Supported: AdLib compatible cards, SoundBlaster compatible cards and the Roland LAPC-1.

Looks like 2K games modded it to work on modern systems.
 

Vaynes

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Mar 20, 2008
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I bought Terror from the deep on Steam ages ago and it doesn't need dosBox. It does suffer from the occasional crash to desktop though.

I presume these all work through windows as well.

Guess i'm going to have a 2 hour lunch today.
 

GothmogII

Possessor Of Hats
Apr 6, 2008
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Yay :D I've tried for ages to get my copy of Apocalypse working on XP! Ufo, and Terror from the Deep I'm not so plused about, mainly because I've been playing them anyway, but it's nice to see old classics back in the market.

Speaking of which...who get's paid from the profits made from putting these old games on Steam? Is it the original publishers or developers? Or whoever holds the IP?
 

asiepshtain

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Apr 28, 2008
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ahhm, ahhm, let me clear my throat for this:

YEEEEES, SWEET MOTHER OF GOD, YESSSS!

ahem, yes...
To explain my excitment here are a few things to consider :
1. X-com UFO:Defense is one of my all time favorite games, I still rembber being a kid and drawing the interiors of the alien crafts in class.
2. I hate having to work in order to make games operate. Nothing upsets me more then a game not working properly.

So, for me, a working updated supported version of this game is some of the best gameing news I heard in months.
 

Jhereg42

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Apr 11, 2008
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The IP is held by 2K at the moment. They were listed as a "developer" along with Microprose on Steam, so at the moment I believe it all goes to them.
 

Giftmacher

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Jul 22, 2008
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Buying it now! I had it working on Dosbox at one time but I lost my disk. :( X-Com was an amazing game I could do with another fix. I just hope no one is put off buying from having played by that wanna be garbage: the UFO series.

Gift.
 

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
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Hey, the UFO games weren't bad. Obviously they weren't up to the level of X-COM, but that's hardly a fair comparison, and for people who wanted an X-COM-style fix over the past few years, it fit the bill nicely. Of course, now that you can have the real deal (for FIVE FRIKKIN' BUCKS!) there's just no reason to be messing around with reasonable facsimiles.
 

Giftmacher

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Jul 22, 2008
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Malygris post=7.70601.699168 said:
Hey, the UFO games weren't bad.
Well maybe, I just felt terribly let down by them (Khell nails the reasons), to say nothing of the bugs. So I've a bit of an axe to grind, don't mind me, sorry ;)

Gift.
 

jriesen

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Dec 18, 2007
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If memory serves, there was a DOS version and a Windows version of the original XCom - the later games (Terror from the Deep et. al.) all ran fine under Windows, I think.

The sticking point was that, when they released XCom for Windows, they replaced all the sweet sampled 16-bit music with this lame MIDI crap. I mean, I guess it wasn't horrible, but I didn't like it... maybe it's just because I played so many hours under the DOS version that changing something as simple as the ever-present background music was jarring. So I can only hope that the music is old-school FM sampled - has anyone bought it yet? Can anyone confirm?

Still - it's awesome to see an effort to revive this game for both crabby oldsters and the youngins who never had to mess with EMS and freeing up space in the HMA. I can only hope more super classic abandonware ends up getting released like this... so much of it never makes it into open source like, say, Star Control 2 did.