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Tips for getting X-Com: Apocalypse working

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First post, by Nick Spolec

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Hey all,

I've been doing some testing with X-Com: Apocalypse, and I've got it to work pretty damn good DosBox. It's a very tricky game to get working right. Here's how..

First, download DosBox .63 and install, then download the latest CVS public compile build (http://cvscompile.aep-emu.de/dosbox.htm) and install it over .63.

Now, I'm working with the actual CD the game (got it from here http://www.fcdsoft.com/sku-APOCAL.html?sessid … t0202VkTE1DdT5M).. I actually made a CD image of it, and that is what I am using..

First step, you need to make sure DosBox sees your mounted drive as having enough space to meet the FULL INSTALLATION requirement of Apocalypse. I have my DosBox drive set to 1GB. You can do this by added the following line to the "AUTOEXEC" area of the dosbox.conf file...

mount c YOURDRIVEHERE -freesize 1024

Next, start DosBox and load up the CD installation. When asked to select the size of the install, select FULL. Full is the ONLY install that will work properly. This is vital. Also select SB16 as your sound.

Once the game has install, download and extract this zip file (http://www.xcomufo.com/x3cdfix.zip) into your main X-Com Apocalypse folder/directory. The files extracted are needed.

Now, you need to setup the DosBox conf correctly. Apocalypse runs best with NORMAL CPU Core and SB16. Dynamic CPU does not work, and the other Sound emulation gives very chopping sound in Apocalypse. So set your DosBox .conf accordingly. Apocalypse always needs a heafy BLOCKSIZE (at least 4096) and prebuffer (at least 12).

After you have done that, load DosBox and go to X-Com directory and type xcom3.bat (or just xcom3). This is one of the files extracted from the zip. The game should load the intro, you can skip this, and then you will be taken into the main game.

You might encounter a lot of choppiness in the game, so watch your CPU usage level when running the game, and make sure it is not at 100 percent. Higher CPU cycles does not mean better. I had to turn my CPU cycles down from 100,000 to 8,500 when running Apoclypse. I guess it is a CPU hog.

While there is still some choppiness (usually only happens when changing to one of the subscreen) here and there, I find it is very playable. Maybe once the dynamic core works for the game (future release) it will be much better.

Reply 3 of 48, by lapompelamousse

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Hi
I have followed your advice to get X-com apocalypse working. The game loads up and seems to work just fine. But whenevr I try to hire\fire staff, buy weapons or anything that involves a confirmation screen to pop up it crashes. What can i do about this?

Reply 5 of 48, by bon

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Hi,
I am trying to get xcom apocalypse to work in my windows xp using dosbox 0.7. i have managed to install the game using dosbox with -freesize 1028. i also have put the x3cdfix.zip extracted to my xcom folder. used autodetect for sound, which recommend SB16. when i tried to play it, the game goes back to c promt after the intro. The intro was fine, i can hear music and all but game wont start after that and goes back to c promt. any ideas on how to fix this pls?

Reply 7 of 48, by bon

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Hi,
thx for the reply. I did not use the batch file when i first started the game, which i only got up to the intro bit, i used xcomapoc.exe. This is my mistake, i did not use the batch file from the x3cdfix. When i tried to use the batch file which is the xcom3.bat the game skipped intro and went straight to the main menu. I tought i finally got it to work but the game would always freeze when i try to save it. sometimes i get the error msg saying that the memory from dosbox.exe could not be 'read'. The only 2 adjustments i made to dosbox was BLOCKSIZE 4096 and prebuffer 12 to dosbox.cfg as suggested by Nick Spolec. I hope this can help others whos trying to run xcom apoc using dosbox 0.7

Reply 9 of 48, by bon

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Hi,
I tried to tweak the dosbox conf as suggested (use core=normal, disable
the ems and xms settings etc.) xcom apoc still freeze when i tried to save. However once i disable the sound from the setup.exe the game doesnt crash when i save or do other stuff. i have been trying to adjust the sound setting from the setup but everytime i clicked on something other then autodetect or SB16, dosbox would freeze. any idea on how to get around this? The game would run without freezing when i try to save, but i dont have any sound.

Reply 11 of 48, by bon

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i have tried the other sound setting and this is the result:
SB
i cant even set IRQ or DMA, as soon as i click SB, dosbox would freeze.

SBpro
i can set IRQ 7, DMA 1, but the game would still freeze when i try to save.

SB 16
This is the result i got from doing auto detect sound. the setting was IRQ 7 and DMA 5. Game would freeze when i try to save.
When i try to change DMA to 1, the game instantly freeze, dosbox was still running (mouse pointer still move) but the game wont respond.

All setting use 220 port
thx for ur responds so far

Reply 12 of 48, by bon

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just a tought,
could it be my cdrom thats causing the problem? because for the game to play sound it would require to read from cdrom, and when i installed apoc, the cdrom speed is detected as error.
i believed i have mounted the cdrom with
mount d h:\ -t cdrom
and i got the MSCDEX installed msg.

Reply 14 of 48, by bon

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i tried using 8500 cycle and 10000 cycle. cdrom speed still detected as error.
when i tried to use the -t cdrom -ioctl, dosbox would would be very laggy when the game installer try to check cdrom speed.
only way i can fix the cdrom speed error msg is by copying the xcom apoc CD into a folder and mount it as cdrom. ie copied the CD into folder "apocCD", then mount d d:\apocCD -t cdrom
Howerer i cant copy the music file from CD to hard disk. which means still no music for me. If any1 can reply this with a zip or rar of the music file from cd, i might be able to test it.

Reply 17 of 48, by Kain The King

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Ok, I am using WinXp and Dosbox 7 I have set the core to normal the cycles to 8000, blocksize to 4096, prebuffer to 12, and I have tried various alternations of xms and ems on and off. I am using soundblasterPRO port 220 IRQ 7 and DMA 1

I successfully installed the game using my cd image and added all the cd fix files

I have an image of the cd (cd drive is busted) which I mount using
Z:\>mount d c:\xcom_apocalypse -t cdrom

Then I mount the game on my c drive with
Z:\>mount c c:\xcomap

I switch over to C and type in xcom3

It loads up the screen, the sound is choppy but bearable, and then I can start a game. But any time I click on anything with confirmation or that does anything.. ie: research, alter options, save game etc.. it freezes up and I cant control the cursor.

I can also turn off sound and make things work, but who wants no sound?
So.. what do I need to do to change it to make it work with the sound?

Reply 19 of 48, by Evilpoo

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Ok i am running dosbox 7 i have the zip file xtraced to my xcom folder my sound card is set to sb16 altered my conf file to the recommended settings I run the xcom3 batch file i get a than you message and a g: promp any help here i love this game and dearly want to play it again