GAMES:X-COM: Apocalypse

X-COM: Apocalypse
The title screen for X-COM: Apocalypse
Developer	Mythos Games
Publisher	Microprose
Released	1997
Status	Gold
Tested on	0.71
Tested game version	Unknown
Links	Compatibility List
Commands
Executable	XCOMAPOC.EXE
Installer	INSTALL.EXE
Setup	SETUP.EXE
DOS Extender
DOS4GW.EXE	Unknown
Works with DOS32A	N/A

Making it work

Since this is a CD-ROM game, you will need to mount either the physical CD or an ISO image while the game is running. Mount your CD using IMGMOUNT D "path to ISO file" -t iso . Settings are straight forward, but for the best performance you will need at least 200MB of free space on your mounted C drive to install the optimal version. If installing with the minimal (20MB) or standard version (60MB) does not work, use the optimal version (200MB).

Typical mounts will show around 100MB of free space. Since this is a huge game (for its time), you will need the flag -freesize. Try mount C YOURDRIVE -freesize 1024 if you need intend to use the optimal version.

Use the default settings for Sound Blaster 16, and all will be well. The speed of the CD-ROM drive can be ignored if you are mounting the ISO. On DOSbox V 0.73 the CD mount was not required after installation of the optimal version

RENDER

Find what renderer works for your, there is a balance between quality and performance here. ddraw will use hardware accelleration so disable it, if you experiance problems and use Surface mode. Surface, overlay and opengl output methods work too, if your computer supports them. fullscreen=true works, you should use fulldouble=true to prevent cursor flickering if your computer can handle it. Note, on Mac OS X 10.9 and DOSBox 0.74, there are problems if you use any screen other than the main screen.

CPU

Use core=normal or core=auto cpu type.

Configure cycles for smooth gameplay by running the game in a window and increasing the cycles value till u get good performance CTRL+F12 will increase cycles by the number defined in the conf file. I have found values from 8500 to 22 000 work best, make sure u don't exceed your processing limits - to monitor this use Task Manager. On DOSBox V 0.74 cycles=max provides optimal result. If you exceed your processing limits, sound starts to be choppy, decrease your cycle count.

SOUND

To improve the choppy perfromance of sound increase the sound buffer until it dissapears, following settings work best for most. blocksize=4096 prebuffer=20

Reason for Gold

The program hangs once a blue moon, sometimes the game will ask for the CD-ROM when it is already mounted. This is tested on Ubuntu 7.10 with DOSBox 0.71. Just close the window and reload the game. Save often.

With DOSBox 0.74 on MacBook Pro retina running Mac OS X 10.9, the game runs perfectly, it is quick, smooth, sounds is fine, all graphics work and crashes are almost unheard of. Keyboardlayout needs to be adjusted on Mac.

External Links

• [VOGONS :: View topic - Tips for getting X-Com: Apocalypse working] The site this page is based on.
• [X-COM: Apocalypse - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia] Wikipedia Entry on the Game.