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[Wade61]

Ok so..I've been playing this game since I was about 4 years old lol and it's only one of the most amazing games out there new or old. But I'm having a problem running it now..I downloaded it about 5 months ago (in June) but recently, just within the past few days, maybe a week, every time I've tried loading the game it says "patch code timed out" and it runs waaaay slow..it's done this all but once or twice in the past few days..has this happened to anyone else? And can somebody help? It's the Windows version..I have the Dos version but it won't run..can't figure out what I'm doing wrong with it either lol But any help would be greatly appreciated..Thanks!

[The Fifth Horseman]

You can run the DOS version with VDMSound or DOSBox.

[lassedk78]

And the summer came and went away igain... I played till my fingers bled

What a golden game this was (is)

[humorguy]

I prefer this in DOSBox. I think you get better AI for some reason, and you can obviously control the speed easier and the music and sound effects seem to sound better!

To give one example. I played the Windows version for a while, and in the battles, the AI always had one 'Please wait' screen, in DOS (at 10000 cycles) I will get 'please wait' then 'movement' then a shot at one of my men, then another 'wait' then maybe another shot from another alien... In other words, in Windows all aliens have there move and shots, in DOS, each alien get his AI move/shot - it just seems more dynamic! So if you are playing the Windows version, I recommend you try the DOS version in DOSBox with soundblaster 1, general midi, opengl and around 10000 cycles

Oh yea, and I have all the UFO games in their boxes with manuals AND the strategy guides and they are my prized possessions of EVERYTHING I own! That's how special these games are to me and how great they are!

[Japo]

I believe the DOS version has less bugs, it's what I'm playing. But I don't think the aliens move differently in the Windows version, only that DOSBox's cpu will always be slower than your real one specially at 10k cycles.

One of the worst failures of this game is that you can't shoot from cover. Figuring lines of fire out is like in Jagged Alliance, just draw the straightest imaginary line and if there's something in one of its squares then you can't shoot or be shot from there. In JA however the cover adjacent to you counts for blocking shots against you but not for blocking your own shots. That's a great feature, in UFO you can't shoot from cover and the safest practice is shooting from beyond the alien's spotting range, that means shooting with a different soldier than the one who spotted the alien and it doesn't really make sense. :/

By the way I've done math about selling manufactured items, not counting workshop space as an economic factor since it really isn't. Motion scanners are by far the most profitable item I'm able to manufacture so far (just started), likely there won't be many better items if any, at least not without using elerium up. Motion scanners make $18.0 per hour and engineer, medi-kits $9.3, laser rifles $7.5, and laser pistols $5.3. I haven't even researched heavy laser since they're worthless to use compared to rifles.

[Incappucciato d'Ombra]

Originally Posted by Japofran

I believe the DOS version has less bugs, it's what I'm playing. But I don't think the aliens move differently in the Windows version, only that DOSBox's cpu will always be slower than your real one specially at 10k cycles.

I totally agree, AI is exactly the same in each version of the game. First time i'd played UFO, i'd played it on the Amiga and AI is the same (but Amiga version is "bugs free" damned Windows!).

Originally Posted by Japofran

One of the worst failures of this game is that you can't shoot from cover. Figuring lines of fire out is like in Jagged Alliance, just draw the straightest imaginary line and if there's something in one of its squares then you can't shoot or be shot from there. In JA however the cover adjacent to you counts for blocking shots against you but not for blocking your own shots. That's a great feature, in UFO you can't shoot from cover and the safest practice is shooting from beyond the alien's spotting range, that means shooting with a different soldier than the one who spotted the alien and it doesn't really make sense. :/

Well, while i agree that in JA (and even more in JA 2) this aspect had been developed better than in UFO :

1) even in JA / JA 2 you can use, and sometimes it's advisable to use, the UFO tactic of "spotter & sniper" (now i'm playing JA and Ivan had just killed an enemy, spotted by Grunty, without being able to see the enemy and 3-4 space "out of range" ).

2) More important, i agree that this is a limitation of UFO but there is nothing strange in this tactic. With the proper equipment it's possible to see an enemy and send information to a buddy and then the buddy can shot at the enemy. Yes, ok, this equipment can't be materially see in game but we are talking of a high tech war so even if we can see... we can think that this equipment exist.

[Japo]

Yes I know that radio alone could make a bit of sense out of it. Besides that someone is too far to spot an enemy in the first place doesn't necessarily mean that he won't be able to see if he's indicated where to look. Still, the alien being shot should be able to spot where it's been shot from as well from farther away... Anyway it's a shame that this feature of shooting from cover isn't present in UFO, it's very cool in JA; in UFO if a soldier tries to shoot from cover he just shoots every time right into the cover that's just next to him.

[humorguy]

Well, I see what I see and have put a lot of hours over the years into this game, and I am going to stick with my opinion that the game does play differently in DOS. Whether the AI takes advantage of the processor or whatever, I am convinced the AI is better in DOS, with the multiple pauses for the AI in ground battles a lot richer.

[petetherovers]

hey i ave got ufo enemy unknown and i have download it and unziped it but when i go to play the screen goes black and i can hear music!

i am on windows xp

[The Fifth Horseman]

If you're using Windows, then get the Windows version... The DOS one is for use with DOSBox or real DOS only.