Step by Step - how to mod. number of aliens in missions?

[flankengott]

Hi,

 

is there a way to modificate the number of aliens in the Missions?

 

i am playing Classic/Ironman and i want more Aliens in the missions.

 

Can somebody explain it to me how to do that?

 

Step by Step please... :)

(dont want to damage files...)

 

 

in the very first mission ther are 6 sectoids.

 

easy: 4 aliens --> Change to 6 or higher

normal: 6 Aliens --> Change to 8 or higher

hard: 8 Aliens --> Change to 10 or higher

very hard: 10 Aliens --> Change to 12 or higher

 

 

Thank you

 

regards

[Zybertryx]

This is actually pretty simple, though you'll need a Hex Editor like HxD and then you'll need Toolboks to enable your changes to be read.

 

In HxD, open up XComStrategyGame.upk (which is in your blahblah/SteamApps/Common/XCom-Enemy-Unknown/XComGame/CookedPCConsole and do a find/replace for the following hex line.

 

Mission Difficulty 0 (Easy)

 

Find: 2C 02 0F 00 EC 43 00 00 2C 04

 

2C 02 here defines the number of pods (spawns) and the 2C 04 towards the end defines the maximum number of aliens. Integers are almost always preceded by the '2C' or '24' token in hex here (and are of course hexadecimal).

 

So, this line means 2 pods and 4 aliens, which is why you're seeing 2 pods of 2 aliens. Pods will be built according to these values, so if you set 3 pods and 8 aliens then you will see 2 pods of 3 aliens and one pod of 2 aliens. (3 + 3 + 2 = 3 pods, 8 aliens). You wanted 6 aliens at the easy level, so that would look like:

 

Replace: 2C 02 0F 00 EC 43 00 00 2C 06

 

This will give you 2 pods of three aliens = 6 aliens.

 

The other difficulty thresholds and the changes you want are below (I simply added +2 aliens at each threshold)

 

 

 

 

Mission Difficulty 1 (Normal)

 

Find: 2C 03 0F 00 EC 43 00 00 2C 06

(3 pods, 6 aliens)

 

Replace: 2C 03 0f 00 EC 43 00 00 2C 08

(3 pods, 8 aliens)

 

Mission Difficulty 2 (Hard)

 

Find: 2C 04 0F 00 EC 43 00 00 2C 08

(4 pods, 8 aliens)

 

Replace: 2C 04 0f 00 EC 43 00 00 2C 0A
(4 pods, 10 aliens)

 

Mission Difficulty 3 (Very Hard)

 

Find: 2C 04 0F 00 EC 43 00 00 2C 0A

(4 pods, 10 aliens)

 

Replace: 2C 04 0F 00 EC 43 00 00 2C 0C
(4 pods, 12 aliens)

 

 

The very first mission is actually defined independently so the changes I wrote only affect Abduction missions (UFO's are handled elsewhere on a per type of UFO basis)

 

You can also increase the number of pods too but in my experience 5 is probably the highest you'll want. Most of the maps only have four spawn points, so you can risk some nasty insta-spawns when you exceed it.

 

Another vital program for browsing the decomplied code of the upks is called UE Explorer.

You might like to try either the Warspace, Merciless or Long War overhaul mods and tweak them to taste as they're all very feature rich and have done all of this sort of thing (and much more) already. The mods are moddable, so if there's something you don't like and you're willing to get under the hood anyway, you might find that tweaking one of the mods I mentioned is the best way to go. If you've only played Vanilla so far, you're doing it wrong. :D

 

Happy hexificating.

 

 

[flankengott]

Hi...

 

i downloaded and installed HxD.

 

In HxD i opened

D:\Steam\SteamApps\common\XCom-Enemy-Unknown\XComGame\CookedPCConsole\XComStrategyGame.upk

 

but it is saying:

can´t find "2C 03 0F 00 EC 43 00 00 2C 06".

 

what is wrong?

[Zybertryx]

Hm,

 

What's wrong is maybe that I've forgot what Vanilla's settings actually are. . .

 

Sorry for the inconvenience and lack of exact of exact vanilla-friendly hex values.

 

This is the complete function (mine at the moment) and this will help you make the changes you're looking for:

 

 

 

 

EF 43 00 00 AB 1F 00 00 00 00 00 00 E7 43 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 EF 43 00 00 00 00 00 00 6E 09 00 00 55 29 01 00 42 01 00 00 EA 00 00 00 05 EF 43 00 00 00 00 EF 43 00 00 0A 32 00 25 0F 00 EB 43 00 00 2C 03 0F 00 EC 43 00 00 2C 06 < EASY 06 94 00 0A 51 00 26 0F 00 EB 43 00 00 2C 03 0F 00 EC 43 00 00 2C 0A < NORMAL 06 94 00 0A 71 00 2C 02 0F 00 EB 43 00 00 2C 04 0F 00 EC 43 00 00 2C 0D < HARD 06 94 00 0A 91 00 2C 03 0F 00 EB 43 00 00 2C 04 0F 00 EC 43 00 00 2C 0F < VERY HARD 06 94 00 0A FF FF 07 C8 00 9A 19 1B 4C 0E 00 00 00 00 00 00 16 0A 00 43 41 00 00 00 1B F6 0E 00 00 00 00 00 00 16 2C 03 16 A1 00 EC 43 00 00 2C 02 16 0F 00 EA 43 00 00 25 07 07 01 96 00 EA 43 00 00 00 EB 43 00 00 16 55 00 E9 43 00 00 03 00 24 00 16 A5 00 EA 43 00 00 16 06 D3 00 1B 09 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 E9 43 00 00 00 EC 43 00 00 00 ED 43 00 00 4A 16 04 00 ED 43 00 00 04 3A EE 43 00 00 53 00 00 00 02 00 82 00 C2 07 00 00 00 00 00 00

 

 

Do a search for the the one you successfully changed (the one I must have gotten right, "Easy"). The others will be nearby in the same location following the same format. If you're having trouble finding any of the lines I posted, you might pin point the location by searching for

 

00 EC 43 00 00 2C

 

Because the complete call for each threshold is

 

2C ## 00 EC 43 00 00 2C ##

 

Compare to the spoiler hex to ensure you're in the right place before making changes.

 

When I get the correct Vanilla values I will update my post so as not to confuse anyone else.

 

Let me know if that works for you.

 

Z

[flankengott]

ok, i will try this :)

 

But i have one more question.

 

Where can i change the starting stats of my soldiers?

Does it matter if Second Wave Option: "Not Created Equally: Rookies will have random starting stats." is enabled or disabled?

[flankengott]

sorry, but i still cannot find: 00 EC 43 00 00 2C

 

i am playing XCOm in Gernam Language - but the HexCode should be still the same right?!

 

If you want i can somewhere upload my XComStrategyGame.upk

[Zybertryx]

Wow, that is weird.

 

Yeah, upload your file and send my a PM, I'll have a look at it.

[Amineri]

You probably are trying to edit compressed upk files.

 

To decompress these you need to run them through the decompressor (or download and run ToolBoks, which automatically decompresses the commonly modded upks).

[dubiousintent]

The basic modding procedure (step by step, and an example) is described on the Wiki in the article 'Modding XCOM:EU 2012'.

 

-Dubious-