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  X-COM:UFO  -  Enemy Unknown   :  the FAQ!  (version 1.2)
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I have added some more stats and some more contributions.  Feel free to
send any new additions by e-mail to me (tjc@ecs.soton.ac.uk) or Paul
James (prj91@ecs.soton.ac.uk) and they'll be worked in.  Anything welcome!
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*SPOILER ALERT*

This FAQ conatins info that you may prefer to find out by exploring and
researching yourself.  If you want to play the game "in the dark" then
read on with care or not at all!!

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General
  1a  What is UFO : Enemy Unknown?
  1b  What spec PC do I need to run it?
  1c  Is there a patch available?
  1d  Can the save games be hacked?

Game Info
  2a  Base facilities
  2b  Non-combat equipment
  2c  Ship types
  2d  Ship weapons
  2e  Soldier weaponry
  2f  Alien races
  2g  Alien missions
  2h  Manufacturing costs

Questions (this is a FAQ after all :)
  3a  Overall strategy
  3b  Combat questions
  3c  Miscellaneous

---------------------------  GENERAL  -------------------------------------

  1a  What is UFO : Enemy Unknown?

The game places you in charge of X-Com in the year 1999;  alien UFO's have
been sighted around the globe and your newly set up organization has been
charged with intercepting them, recovering any alien artefacts, and finding
out where the aliens are coming from and what they are after.

The strategic level is centered on a screen with a rotatable/zoomable 3D
globe, with buttons to manipulate your bases, check UFO activity, check
your funding levels from the 15 sponsoring nations, and to look up data in
your online ufopedia.  At the tactical level you control troops/tanks in
a 3D combat mini-game which is quite similar in appearance to Ultima 7/8.


  1b  What spec PC do I need to run it?

According to the box, you need a 386+, 20Mhz+, 2Mb RAM+ and a mouse; on a
486/DX33 with 8Mb RAM, mouse and 8-bit soundblaster it is pretty slick.
Base memory requirement is listed as 560K, with 1Mb EMS/XMS also required.
It comes on only 3 disks, and occupies about 13Mb of hard disk (including
the saved games).  The copy protection is a code at the bottom of each
odd-numbered page of the quite well written 128-page manual.  The manual
supplement does *not* guarantee that the game will work with DR DOS,
Novell DOS7 or OS/2.


  1c  Patches

Microprose have released a patch to bring UFO up to version 1.2; the patch
is now available at
    wuarchive.wustl.edu    pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS/ufo1-2.zip
    ftp.uml.edu            msdos/Games/Patches/ufo1-2.zip  (or try /pub)
This is an upload of a patch received in the post direct from Microprose.
The correct patch file size should be 634063 bytes.

The patch readme file lists the following points:

  * Please start a new game to eliminate all possibilities that the
     new version of the game fixes the bugs which you have seen so far.
  * This update contains a new version of the DOS Extender, DOS4GW to
     fix some compatibility problems seen with the earlier release.
     DOS4GW is not a MicroProse program and we were not aware of these
     compatibility problems until after UFO was published.  If you had a
     problem running UFO, this update will fix that.
  * Corrupt tiles that caused multiple images to appear have been fixed.
  * Action points have been limited to 80 to prevent the "wrap-around"
     problem seen with the original release.
  * Mission variety has been improved to allow access to all types of
     missions when playing.
  * Alien intelligence has been improved to allow a tougher game.
  * UFO encyclopedia has been expanded to include missing entries.
  * The corrupt game file, UBASE_07.MAP which caused problems when
     entering the Alien Bases has been replaced.
  * There is no PC Speaker support within UFO.
  * The Environment Space error has been fixed.

It doesn't seem to be necessary to start a new game after applying the
patch;  the old save files still work, though the soldier stat screens
can look messy.  You'll also miss a few ufopedia entries.

The aliens in version 1.2 do appear to shoot back a lot more than before,
and often have much better weaponry.  Your base(s) come under attack
earlier too (which in a way helps as you get some artefacts if you win!)


  1d  Editing the save games

The format of soldier.dat (which holds your troop stats) appears to be
like this, with 72 bytes making up each soldier:

Byte   What it does
9      Number of missions
11     Number of kills
13     Number of days till healed
17-29  Name (may be longer, not positive)
43     Initial Tu's
44     Initial Health
45     Initial Stamina
46     Initial Reactions
47     Initial Strength
48     Initial Firing Accuracy
49     Initial Throwing Accuracy
50     Unknown
51     PSI Strength
52     PSI Skill
53     Unknown
54     TU's gained
55     Health gained
56     Stamina gained
57     Reaction gained
58     Strength gained
59     Firing Accuracy gained

A couple of people are working on neat save file editors which will
hopefully be available one day soon for those who don't like hex editors!


---------------------------  GAME INFO  ----------------------------------

As you research more tech, your on-line UFOPEDIA will have more information
added automatically.  None of this is included in the game manual;  some of
the info here might be spoiler(s).


  2a  Base Facilities

You can have up to 8 bases around the world.  There are 36 (6x6) locations
to place rooms in.  Only the hanger takes up more than one location (2x2).

                 Days Build  Cost Cost/month

Access Lift           1      300k     4k    (Entrance to underground base)
Living Quarters      16      400k    10k    (Sleeps 50)
Laboratory           26      750k    30k    (Allows 50 research)
Workshop             32      800k    35k    (Allows 50 manufacture)
Small Radar          12      500k    10k    (300nm range, 5% detect/10mins)
Large Radar          25      800k    15k    (450nm range, 5% detect/10mins)
General Stores       10      150k     5k    (Holds 50 units of equipment)
Alien Containment    18      500k    15k    (Holds 10(?) live aliens)
Hanger               25      200k    25k    (Repairs/refuels/rearms 1 plane)
Laser Defence        24      900k    10k    (Def value  600, Accuracy 60%)
Plasma Defence       36     1200k    12k    (Def value  900, Accuracy 70%)
Fusion Ball          36     1800k    14k    (Def value 1200, Accuracy 80%)
Grav Shield          38     2300k    15k    (Gives defences an extra shot)
Mind Shield          33     1300k     5k    (Helps stop aliens finding base)
Psi Lab              24      750k    16k    (For troop psionics training)
Hyperwave Decoder    26     2000k    30k    (To evaluate alien missions)

To dismantle a base, you must remove all facilities (which means transferring
all people and equipment elsewhere if needbe) then finally remove the access
lift itself.


  2b  Non-combat equipment

Most of this you need to research, some you get at the start.

Motion scanner     -  detects movement in the near vacinity
Medikit            -  heals fatal wounds (heal), revives unconscious soldiers
                      (stimulate) and boosts morale (painkiller)
Stun rod           -  has a chance to render an alien unconscious
Electro flare      -  essential for night time operations.  Thrown.
Elerium 115        -  only found on alien ships/bases, and needed for many
                      important weapons and power units.
Mind probe         -  when used on an alien tells you his stats and rank
                      (useful to find an alien commander or leader).
Psi amp            -  required to allow soldier to use psionic attacks on
                      aliens (attempting to cause panic or get mind control).

  2c  Ship types

The XCom craft at your disposal throughout the game are:

                Max                    Weapon   Hull    Max
               Speed   Acceln    Fuel   Pods   Damage  Cargo  HWPs
Skyranger        760      2     2000     0       150     14     3
Interceptor     2100      3     1000     2       100      0     0
Lightning       3100      8     30(E)    1       800     12     0
Firestorm       4200      9     20(E)    2       500      0     0
Avenger         5400     10     60(E)    2      1200     26     4

The firestorm is the new fighter craft you can research, lightning the new
fighter transport and the avenger is the ultimate craft. (E)=Elerium fuel.

The UFOs are as follows (from interogated alien navigators):

               Max   Hull     Weapon    Max  Ship
              Speed Damage Power Range Crew Width
Small Scout    2200    50     0    0     1    3   Like an Apollo capsule
Medium Scout   2400   200    20  120     6    9   1 level, small square
Large Scout    2700   250    20  272     ?
Harvester      4000   500    40  176     ?   16   3 levels, 11 windows
Terror Ship    4800  1200   120  336     ?   30   2 levels, narrow top
Supply Ship    3200  2200    60  288     ?   30   3 levels, wide middle
Battleship     5000  3000   140  520     ?   30   3 levels, no windows
Abductor       4300   500    40  160     ?

Any observations on maximum (or minimum) crew figures would be welcomed,
as these would probably help on missions.

To see a picture of the UFO in flight just click on the UFO icon on
the airborne combat display.  To keep tracking the UFO until it is over
land you can minimise the airborne combat window to an icon (making sure
you are in "standoff" mode :) and then accelerate time to 1-min slices;
when you're over land open the window and shoot!


  2d  Ship weapons

You initially start with cannon/stingray/avalanche missiles, but you can
research more stuff:

                Damage   Range   Accuracy  Reload time
Cannon             10      10       10%       2s
Stingray           70      30       70%      15s
Avalanche         100      60      100%      20s
Laser Cannon       70      21       70%       4s
Plasma Beam       140      52      140%       6s    (uses Elerium)
Fusion Ball       230      65      230%      25s

It is important to match the weapon to the target as usually you want to
force the alien to land (preferably intact) to be able to recover artefacts
and prisoners on the ground.  If you intercept over the sea, it doesn't
really matter though.


  2e  Soldier weapons

Your soldiers can be equipped with a hue arsenal of weaponry;  either by
equipping their transport ship, or in the case of a base defence when the
attack starts.  Many weapons can be loaded with different ammo types.

                      Aimed    Snap    Auto  Dam Type  Dam Type Dam Type
Pistol                78/30   60/18           26  AP
Rifle                110/80   60/25   35/35   30  AP
Heavy Cannon          90/80   60/33           56  AP    52  HE   60  I
Auto Cannon           82/80   56/33   32/40   42  AP    44  HE   48  I
Rocket Launcher      115/75   55/45           75  HE   100  HE   90  I
Laser Pistol          68/55   40/20   28/25   46 Laser
Laser Rifle          100/50   65/25   46/34   60 Laser
Heavy Laser           84/75   50/33           85 Laser
Grenade                                       50  HE
Smoke Grenade                                 60  HE
Proximity Grenade                             70  HE
High Explosive                               110  HE
Heavy Plasma         110/60   75/30   50/35  115 Plasma
Plasma Pistol         85/60   65/30   50/30   52 Plasma
Plasma Rifle         100/60   86/30   55/63   80 Plasma
Blaster Launcher     120/80                  200  HE
Small Launcher       110/75   65/40           90 Stun
Alien Grenade                                 90  HE

 (AP = Armour piercing  HE = High Explosive  I = Incendiary)

The pairs of numbers indicate accuracy and TU cost to shoot.  Note that
the TU cost is always a percentage of the soldier's total TUs, not a fixed
amount.  Accuracy for two-handed weapons is improved if one hand is empty,
and overall accuracy is better if the soldier is kneeling.   The autofire
option gives you three shots, but these are the least accurate (they are
effective with area effect weapons like autocannon).

Grenades are thrown, and the accuracy of where it lands is based on the
soldier's own throwing accuracy stat.

Many people suggest that the laser rifle is the best overall weapon; cheap
to produce, rapid fire rate, quite accurate and doesn't use Elerium.


  2e  Alien types

              Attacks with    Resists    Weakness    Notes
Sectiod        Weapons & Psi                        Likes cattle abduction
Snakemen       Weapons       fire/heat              Carries up to 50 eggs
Ethereal       Weapons & Psi                        Physically weak/blind
Muton          Weapons          AP                  Strong & intelligent
Floater        Weapons                              Likes terrorising
Celatoid       Venom
Silacoid       HTH           fire/incend            Works with mutons
Cryssalid      HTH                          HE      Turns humans to zombies
Reaper         HTH                        incend    Two brains and hearts
Sectopod       Weapons        plasma       laser    Highly armoured
Cyberdisc      Weapons       explosives             Works with sectoids
Zombie         HTH                                  Dies -> Cryssalid

You can get info on particular alien stats by using a mind probe on them.
From doing this it seems average stats on aliens are as follows.  Some of
the stats vary a lot between the races!
                                                        ----- Armour ------
            TUs Ene Hea Bra Mor Rea Fir Thr Str PSt PSk Fro Lef Rig Rea Und
Sectoid      55  90  30  80 100  65  30  60  30   -   -   2   1   1   1   1
Ethereal     70 100  60  80 100  75  40  80  50  50  40  17  17  17  17  16
Snakeman     40  80  45  80 100  45  30  65  50   -   -  10   9   9   8   6
Muton        58  90  90  80 100  60  30  60  70   -   -  10  10  10  10   5
Floater      50  90  35  80 100  50  25  60  40   -   -   4   3   3   2   6
Celatoid     ??
Silacoid     40  80 115 100 100  40   0   0  70   -   -  25  25  25  25   5
Cryssalid   110 140  95 100 100  70   0   0 110   -   -  17  17  17  17  17
Reaper       ??
Sectopod     60  90  95 110 100  65  30   0  90   -   -  70  65  65  50  45
Cyberdisc    60  90 120 110 100  65  30   0  90   -   -  17  17  17  17  17
Zombie       40 110  85 110 100  40   0   0  85   -   -   4   4   4   4   4

Leaders tend to have slightly higher stats than other ranks in each race,
for example an ethereal leader has 20-rated armour all round and a psionic
strength of 60.

The high TUs on cryssalids allows them to move a long way and often surprise
troops from behind, turning them to zombies before you can react.  When
killed, zombies shed their skins to become new cryssalids.


  2f  Alien Missions

There are many mission types.  The nasty ones are terror and infiltration.
Supply is handy because it can lead you to an alien base, and in turn to
an alien leader.

  Research:      Small vehicles, least threat to earth and Xcom
  Harvest:       Any size ships, great concern to governments
  Abduction:     Causes great alarm
  Infiltration:  Make pact with earth govt, greatest threat to Xcom
  Base:          Build alien base (you need to let them build one to win game)
  Terror:        Causes hysteria, troubles govts
  Retaliation:   Attack Xcom base
  Supply:        Supply alien base

A hyperwave decoder is very handy to work out mission types.  Later in
the game you are probably safe to leave ships on research missions alone
and concentrate on the dangerous ones.


  2h  Manufacturing Costs

This chart shows which items need alien alloys and Elerium for production;
all of them need to be researched.  You could use the info to work out
which item is best to produce for profit if your engineers are idle ...
(an initial glance suggests personal armour is good if you have the alloys
to spare, or power suits if you have Elerium coming out your ears too :)

                 Engineer       Workshop          Alien   Sale
                   Hours   Cost   Space   Elerium Alloys  Price

Motion scanner       220    34k      4       -      -     45600
Medikit              420    28k      4       -      -     46500
Psi amp              500   160k      4       1      -    194700
Personal armour      800    22k     12       -      4    140000
Power suit          1000    42k     16       5      5    310000
Flying suit         1400    58k     16      16      5    420000
Alien alloys         100     3k     10       -      -      6500
Elerium-115            -      -      -       -      -      5000

Laser pistol         300     8k      2       -      -     20000
Laser rifle          400    20k      3       -      -     36900
Heavy laser          700    32k      4       -      -     61000
Plasma pistol        600    56k      3       -      1     84000
Plasma pistol clip    60     2k      4       1      -      4440
Plasma rifle         820    88k      4       -      1    126500
Plasma rifle clip     80     3k      4       2      -      6290
Heavy plasma        1000   122k      4       -      1    171600
Heavy plasma clip     80     6k      4       3      -      9590
Blaster launcher    1200    90k      5       -      1    144000
Blaster bomb         220     8k      3       3      -     17028
Small launcher       900    78k      3       -      1    120000
Stun bomb            200     7k      2       1      -     15200
Alien grenade        200   6.7k      2       2      -     14850
Mind probe          1200   262k      4       1      -    334000

FIRESTORM          14000   400k     30       -     65         -
LIGHTNING          18000   600k     34       -     85         -
AVENGER            34000   900k     36       -    170         -
UFO power source    1400   130k     22      16      5    250000
UFO navigation      1600   150k     18       -      3     80000
Fusion ball l'cher   400   242k      6       -      -    281100
Fusion ball          600    28k      6       4      -     53300
Laser cannon         300   182k      6       -      -         ?
Plasma beam          500   226k      8      15      -    267300

Tank/laser cannon   1200   500k     25       -      -         ?
Hovertank/plasma    1200   850k     30      30      5    980000
Hovertank/launcher  1400   900k     30      25      8   1043000
HWP fusion bomb      400    15k     25       5      8     31500

(The three aircraft all need 1 UFO power source + 1 UFO navigation
 unit, except the AVENGER which needs two UFO power sources).

Clearly you should never sell Elerium for cash.  You'd be much better
off making either power armour or flying suits and selling that.


----------------- GAME TACTICS/STRATEGY ----------------------------------

  3a  Overall strategy

Where should I build bases?

  Build a few bases at the start, make sure they all have long range radar.
  Spread them around the globe; you only get 8;  note the groupings of the
  richer funding countries and defend them early on.  You can also build
  bases on both poles.  The following eight locations have been suggested
  to maximise radar coverage of the globe:
        i)      North Pole
        ii)     South Pole
        iii)    Southern California
        iv)     Persian Gulf
        v)      North-eastern Australia
        vi)     Right most tip of South America (Brazil)
        vii)    Europe
        viii)   right most Russia (near Japan)

How can I make money?

  The main income at the start is from the funding countries, so you should
  maximise your efforts to win their favours early on.  As the game
  progresses you can sell off artefacts for cash.  If you set up workshops
  and have engineers with nothing to do have them make something like laser
  weapons and sell them; you can sell for more than it costs to make them.

Why is Elerium important?

  Elerium is only found on alien ships; you can't make it yourself (you can
  make alien alloys).  If you are running short of elerium use interceptors
  with laser weapons from multiple bases and give your troops laser rifles
  (laser rifles are very effective in any case). If you feel confident let
  the aliens attack your base, you can get lots (sometimes 1000+, on one
  occasion 3000+) elerium in a single battle.

How do I win the game?

  The ultimate aim of UFO is to research (interogate) live aliens to find
  out where they are coming from and why.  The best prisoner you can get
  is an alien commander; there should be one in an alien base.  Once you
  interogate a commander you should get a big clue as to how to win the
  battle once and for all!

What should I research?

  To find out about ship stats research alien engineers, to find out about
    missions research navigator.
  To find out about Psi research ethereals (and maybe sectoids)
  To find out about armour research alien alloys.
  To get new ships research UFO power source, UFO navigation, Elerium &
    UFO construction.

  It should be possible to build an "advances tree" similar to the one
  that is available for Civilisation; hopefully one coming soon!

  Don't research the same thing at different bases, there is no benefit;
  the research is independent at each base (as is manufacturing).

Why do I never see any large UFOs?

  On missions like retaliation, base and terror, small ships scout before
  the larger ships come in. If you destroy the scouts no larger ships will
  appear.  It is thus important to let them land!  (else you'll have a
  long game :)   By using the hyperwave decoder you can detect the alien
  mission; it can pay off to let aliens build a base so you can capture
  one of their leaders for interogation.


  3b  Ground combat questions

Who/what should I take on missions?

  A nice combo on a Skyranger is a couple of tanks and 6 troops;  the
  hovering plasma tanks are particularly effective.  Tanks lose out as
  they cannot enter most alien ships (terror ships being an exception).
  Tanks can be left in bases to defend them from alien attacks.  Flying
  suits give your troops a lot of versatility and save a lot of TUs in
  many terrain types.  If a soldier dies though you lose the armour (but
  keep his other equipment if you win the battle).  Try to always take a
  couple of rookies along to give them experience to boost their stats.
  On night missions always carry electro flares.  Medikits are important
  as in addition to healing fatal wounds they can raise morale if used
  on panicing troops.

Why do I lose ammo that I never use?

  After combat all clips loaded in weapons are lost, whether or not they
  have been used (not a great piece of design!).  Thus you should unload
  any weapons that uses valuable ammo before the battle ends.  To unload
  click on the weapon over the "rifle" icon on the soldier's equipment
  screen (this can also be used to select alternate ammo before battle).

Why should I need grenades when I have autocannon?

  An autocannon has very impressive firepower.  However it is very heavy
  to carry, and can reduce a soldier's TU total.  A soldier equipped with
  a laser rifle can carry a couple of grenades and use them to flatten
  small buildings or other targets without needing a bulky cannon.

How can I fire on aliens in their movement phase?

  You can carry out opportunity fire on aliens as they make their moves.
  To do this, leave enough TU's after your move for at least a snap shot,
  then if your trooper sees an alien and has good enough reactions (s)he
  will automatically fire on the alien.   You can use the 4 icons near the
  bottom left of the screen in your movement phase to reserve the TUs.

What's with troops missing in action (MIA)?

  If one of your troopers in under alien control at the end of a battle
  (s)he counts as MIA; therefore try to wait until (s)he is no longer in
  control before finishing off aliens.  Troops unconscious when the battle
  ends seem to survive.

How do I open spaceship doors?

  Simply target your soldier to move to the "square" behind the door and
  (s)he will then automatically open it (using some TUs).  It's wise not
  to open doors without plenty of spare TU's or without using a motion
  scanner first.

How do I counter psi attacks?

  Ethereal and sectoid races have psionic abilities.  This means they are
  able to amke a number of psionic attacks on your troops for which they
  do not need line-of-sight on the target.  There are two types of attack:
    Panic   - if your trooper succumbs (s)he will panic, possibly dropping
              equipment and then running, possibly also going beserk.
    Control - potentially worse; aliens can control targets, thus getting
              your troops to fire on each other.  The effect is usually
              temporary, and can be reduced in effect by not bunching
              potential victims too close together.
  When you research psionics and build psi labs, you can evaluate each
  soldier's resistance to psi attacks (his/her psi strength) and train them
  in psi skills (which allows your troops to make psionic attacks if they
  have a psi amp on them in battle).  Yes, you can leave troops in the
  transport and use HWP's to scout for aliens to attack with psionics!
  Psi skills can be trained, psi strength is constant, so don't waste time
  on psi training troops with low psi strength.  Psi training allocations
  happen at the end of each month at bases that have psi labs.


  3c  Miscellaneous

Why do my soldiers rarely get promoted?

  To have promotions after battle you need to have a certain number of
  troops around all your bases for the promotion to be possible.  This
  little charts sums it up:
    Rank            Sergeant Captain Colonel Commander
    Troops needed      5       11      23       30

  There can be only one commander.  So if you have 35 troops around the
  globe in theory you should have 1 commander, 1 colonel, 3 captains,
  7 sergeants and 23 rookies/squaddies.


Rohan Heyer
C9310067@alinga.newcastle.edu.au
"History has shown that no army is invincible..."
                                Josef Stalin.

Hope this helps all the X-COM players out there.
