Long War mod discussion

[johnnylump]

Thanks for the reply. I will give the updates to .net and java a try. I know I can get my mod to work in offline mode, so I don't mind blowing away my files to try and get your MOD to work. I have not gotten to the point of .upk surgery yet (I have open up the files and looked at the code but have not tried to change anything).

 

Have you seen any issues with your LongWar mod and the Marathon setting in 2nd Wave?

 

FWIW, the DefaultGameCore.ini loads via a different mechanism than the upk files; they both need to work for the LW mod to function properly.

 

Honestly, Long War in basic mode picks up a lot of Marathon settings, plus a few more (like delaying alien advancement). Adding marathon shouldn't break anything, but it will make things quite difficult -- I'd expect 45 to 60 days reserach time for the plasma rifle, for example. So, if you want a *major* challenge.

 

I'll try to put together an alternate installer that will provide feedback and error codes; maybe we can pinpoint what's going wrong.

[BlackAlpha]

 

Honestly, Long War in basic mode picks up a lot of Marathon settings, plus a few more (like delaying alien advancement). Adding marathon shouldn't break anything, but it will make things quite difficult -- I'd expect 45 to 60 days reserach time for the plasma rifle, for example. So, if you want a *major* challenge.

 

 

My mod has a similar thing. What I did is reduce the Marathon setting to 1.5. In my case, I think it makes Marathon more doable.

 

 

@drake8888

 

You have to be a bit more specific about the kind of problem you are experiencing. Do you get errors during the installation? Is your game crashing at start-up?

 

Also, do you run the original Long War mod or are you making changes to it yourself?

[drake8888]

I like that the research for a plasma rifle should take 45 days, to me that is realistic. That was the best part of the original game, the wait for research to be done. You had no idea when it would get done, just that when the research status reached GOOD then you knew you were close. I find it silly that I can research plasma weapons in 3 days currently.

 

In regards to the issue I have had installing the LongWar mod.

 

I first followed BlackAlpha's #2 and #3 steps in his help page. So I totally removed anything I have modded, restored the game to the original form. Started in OnLine mode and I got the "Customizing....2%" dialog box and the game starts fine. Created a new game, no tutorial, played the first mission and got to the base where I meet the gang and can see my antfarm. Exit out of game. Exit Steam. Open up Steam, set to OffLine mode. Opened Xcom in Offline mode, loaded my saved game, dismissed soldiers from the barracks. Saved game again and exited Xcom and Steam. So I am still in Off line mode.

 

Ran Long War executable and it installs just fine.

 

Open up Steam (still off line) and I try play the game. I get a Windows Dialog box saying that there was an error. Asks if I want to Debug... Close out the window, and try to run the game again, and I get the "Customizing....2%" error again. I am offline, so I think the error might be that the game cannot phone home.

 

So, I then did #4 on the help forum and deleted the ClientRegistry.blob file, then I deleted all the files stated in #4, then followed #3 to repair Xcom (turning Steam online). I then started the game up again, which it worked fine and started another game and so on. Followed all the steps again, and it failed with same windows error dialog box.

 

Only thing I can thing I might need to do is open and start multiple games first. To make sure the "phone home" and final inialization takes place. But I have tried the above about 5 times now and I always get the same results. Could be my machine, might need to update Java. I will try that too.

 

thanks for the hard work on your mods fellas. I hope to get to play them :)

[BlackAlpha]

Do you get the "Completing Installation..." message when you start the mod?

[drake8888]

Sorry, my bad on the my initial description.

 

Yes, the "Customizing....2%" should have read, "Completing Installation.....2%"

 

Since I have started and run the game a couple of times, I would have thought that would have solved it. So I know that something is screwy.

[johnnylump]

Sorry, my bad on the my initial description.

 

Yes, the "Customizing....2%" should have read, "Completing Installation.....2%"

 

Since I have started and run the game a couple of times, I would have thought that would have solved it. So I know that something is screwy.

 

BlackAlpha can correct me, but I think you just have to get to the inital game menu (with the sectoid and the stoplight) after two base game loads and exits, and you can install the mods.

 

I'm going to try to improve the install instructions in future releases, but here's a more detailed guide:

 

1) Get a clean game installation, either through a fresh install or by using the "verify integrity of game cache" option in Steam to fix all your files. Make sure you are patched up to date and X-Com is able to "phone home" by putting Steam in online mode and removing any hosts block you have previously implemented. Then start the game to the main menu (un-modded), close it, and start it again, and close it, so the game can install any run-time updates. This will ensure you have a clean game that's fully installed.

 

2) Now you have to ensure X-Com is *unable* to phone home to acquire certain updates (intended to prevent cheating on multiplayer) that will overwrite part of the mod. There are two ways to do this:

a) Offline Mode. Easier to accomplish. This prevents Steam from connecting to the Internet, but you won't be able to chat or update other games.

a. Start Steam.

b. Steam Menu (top left) > Go Offline > Restart in offline mode.

b) Modifying hosts file -- prevents XCom from calling out. More complicated, but lets you use Steam's online functions.

a. Start Menu > Right click on Notepad, select "Run as Administrator"

b. File > Open > %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts -- The hosts file has no . suffix, make sure you don't add .txt or anything else. Also, %systemroot% on my system is C:\Windows, but it may vary.

c. Add these three lines to the file:

# Prevent XCOM Phone Home

127.0.0.1 prod.xcom.firaxis.com

127.0.0.1 65.118.245.165

d. Save the file.

If X-Com phones home, you'll need to uninstall the mod and start this process over.

 

3) Make sure you have the latest Java (1.7) and .net software. The installer may not fully install the game without these.

 

4) Run "Long War Mod Setup.exe" and follow the instructions.Make sure you point the installer to your root game directory; it should alert you that the directory already exists. On my machine, it's C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\XCom-Enemy-Unknown.

 

If you have difficulty installing or running the mod, try some of the solutions discussed here: http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/834174-warspace-technical-support-v150/. The game uses the same installation process as the Warspace mod, so the advice there should apply.

 

5) Once you start X-Com, you'll need to start a new campaign for all the changes to take effect. As long as you are patched up to date, the mod should work regardless of whether you have the Slingshot DLC or not.

 

Changed files:

Binaries\Win32\XComGame.Exe

XComGame\CookedPCConsole\XComGame.upk

XComGame\CookedPCConsole\XComStrategyGame.upk

XComGame\CookedPCConsole\XcomGame.upk.uncompressed_size (deleted)

XComGame\CookedPCConsole\XcomStrategyGame.upk.uncompressed_size (deleted)

 

This mod isn't compatible with others that change these files.

 

To verify the game has installed correctly, check the following

1) Go to \Xcom-Enemy-Unknown\Binaries\Win32\ directory.

a) Verify Log.txt and XComGame.exe have stamps that they say were modified at the time and date you installed the mod.

b) Open Log.txt and verify the last two lines say the following:

(TIME OF INSTALL) getmodfile: DefaultGameCore_t.mod

(TIME OF INSTALL) done

 

2) Go to Xcom-Enemy-Unknown\XComGame\CookedPCConsole

a) Verify XComGame\CookedPCConsole\XcomGame.upk.uncompressed_size and Game\CookedPCConsole\XcomStrategyGame.upk.uncompressed_size are NOT present.

b) Look for the file XComGame.upk. It should have the following "date modified" stamp: 1/7/2013 7:43 PM

c) Look for the file XComStrategyGame.upk. It should have the following "date modified" stamp: 1/8/2013 9:18 AM

 

Within the game, you can check the following:

a) On Impossible start, troopers should have 5 hp and Sectoids 3 hp. (This confirms modpatcher successfully changed DefaultGameCore.ini)

b) Sectoid bodies should remain visible for the duration of your first mission. (This confirms XComGame.upk successfully installed)

c) After the first mission, run the geoscape until your first abduction pops up. You should only have once choice of cities available.

[BlackAlpha]

Sorry, my bad on the my initial description.

 

Yes, the "Customizing....2%" should have read, "Completing Installation.....2%"

 

Since I have started and run the game a couple of times, I would have thought that would have solved it. So I know that something is screwy.

 

It's some kind of problem with Steam. You've tried number 4, right? If so, you'll need to do the following:

 

- Uninstall all mods.

 

- Start Steam in online mode.

 

- Uninstall the game.

 

- Remove the entire game folder manually.

 

- Restart Steam, start it in online mode.

 

- Install the game.

 

- Start the original game twice.

 

- Install mods.

 

That should fix it.

Edited January 11, 2013 by BlackAlpha

[drake8888]

Gentlemen, thank you for your help today, I have successfully been able to install the LongWar Mod. For those who might be having similar issues, this is what I did.

 

Installed Java 7 version 10 (I had Java 6 update 17)

Deleted Java 6 update 17

Ran Windows Update

 

Followed Step 4 of BlackAlpha's Technical Support - (deleted 544 files including the ClientRegistry.blob)

 

Followed Step 3 of BlackAlpha's Tech Support - verified XCOM files - (downloaded new files to patch my install)

 

Started new game - Completing Installation dialog box finished the installation. Played 2 missions without issues (well other than some folks dieing)

 

Started a 2nd game - NO completing installation this time - again no issues - able to do another mission

 

Turned Steam to OffLine

Open up Steam - ran XCOM - loaded saved game - No issues

 

Installed LongWar MOD - install went fine

 

 

I think that the only thing that I did differently from my previous tries was the Java and Windows updates. I really think that this was the issue.

 

Thank you both for your help and I will be playing both Mods. Thank you for your efforts in making this game better. I also plan to dive into the .upk modding as well, so wish me luck :)

Edited January 11, 2013 by drake8888

[drake8888]

OK here is my input so far in playing through the first month in the LongWar Mod.

 

First some stats.... During the month of March, I had the following.

Classic Difficulty

5 UFO interceptions

5 Crashed UFO investigations (obviously if you shoot them down you get to go check them out)

5 Alien Abductions

1 Council Mission (rescue Thorpe)

88 Aliens killed during the month (wow... thats a lot of action)

1 promoted to Sergeant

5 promoted to Corporal

 

First off, .... YES this is what I was looking for. Way more than the vanilla 3-4 missions per month. With this mod, during the first month, I had 11 encounters with the aliens.

 

Things that I liked so far

Research Much Longer - very nice, takes way longer to research items. I was only able to finish 1 research project in March. Most items take 18 - 30+ days to research right now. Trying to get another lab built to reduce this. Makes building additional labs a must. Much like the original game, this makes the Labs relevant.

 

Money - wow you really have to watch what you spend. You need troops, you need interceptors, things cost WAY more (1 medikit = 46 credits) so you have to be very wise on what you spend your $$$ on. Nice!

 

Using ALL of your troops - Started with 15 troops... during the month of March, 1 died, 9 are in the sick bay healing up and I only have 5 available troops. You have to use everyone, which is very nice. Those who get injured (even if it is just 2 hitpoints) is in the sick bay for 8+ days. If one of your guys gets down to 1 hitpoint, they are out for 24+ days...seems realistic instead of the "I can heal them up in 2-4 days type of thing". With injuries taking so long to heal, you NEED more troops to go on all the missions.

 

Interceptors are needed - Like the troops, when your interceptors are damaged; they take many days to repair them. So you NEED to have 4 in the hanger because 2 are always being repaired.

 

Levels - I like the experience levels. It takes much more to advance to the next level.

 

Things that I do not like so much

The guys seem to panic a little too much. This could be the Classic difficulty, but it is hard when 3 out of 4 guys panic just because someone takes a hit (even Corporals). This does not happen all the time; but for my taste, it happens a bit too much when you consider these guys are supposed to be the best of the best. I will have to see what April brings and guys get up in level.

 

Otherwise, this is very fun, reminds me more of the original where everyone is getting hurt or killed. Action every few days so you are always in the thick of it. NICE JOB!!!!

Edited January 16, 2013 by drake8888

[drake8888]

I forgot, the other very nice thing is that there is only ONE city where the Alien abductions happen instead of the THREE. So instead of selecting from one of the 3 simultaneous abduction spots, you just go to the place of the abduction.