Question About The Explosives.....

[Shotgunner]

Can they be thrown like a grenade after being set? Also, can they be set off if they are shot?(soldier 1 drops one on the ground and runs away, soldier 2 fires his laser rifle and hits the explosives)

[Snakeman]

I can't remember if shooting them can set them off too (be neat if it did), but I do know that any other grenade primed and set to go off near one can set it off/erase it from being a danger to you. ex. using a grenade or smoke grenade to take out that proximity mine.

 

Although for those, if the prox mine is on open terrain, you can come at it from above and come straight down on it with a flying suit, pick it up that way without setting it off. Probably one thing I hope Xeno can avoid A motion is a motion, that didn't make sense to me.

 

Side note too, I hear that smoke grenades can be used to great effect to put out fires.

[[Blehm 98]]

no, i'm pretty sure you can't. and i haven't ever used HE's too, so don't feel bad. :Wink:

 

and yes, they can be thrown like a grenade, but they will never go that far unless you have like 70 strength or something(even then you'll have problems)

[[NKF]]

The High Explosives are THE cheapest source of wholesale destruction you can obtain right from the very start of the game (and pretty much all the way through it). Mainly because they don't cost any elerium and you can buy as many of them as you want until you run out of money. Packs even more of a punch than an alien grenade, and a lot lighter than a large rocket.

 

The High Explosives is basically an ordinary grenade in function. Nothing special. The only difference is that it is two times as heavy and two times as large as an alien grenade/standard grenade. Meaning you can only throw these half as far as an ordinary grenade/alien grenade.

 

The best soldiers to throw a high explosive are soldiers with lots of strength, naturally. 40 and up is highly recommended and can allow you to throw it quite a good distance. Don't expect to be tossing these about like alien grenades, but do expect them to pack a whallop.

 

Note, if you intend to plant these and use their timers, I recommend you throw them down rather than drop them from the inventory screen. The reason being that if you kill any aliens with the blast, you won't get any experience by dropping it, but you will get experience by throwing it.

 

Trust me, they're well worth it. Just mind you don't stand too close to the explosion unless you're wearing power suits.

 

- NKF

Edited January 15, 2005 by NKF

[Zombie]

Most of the time, I never use Alien Grenades. I sell them all off and purchase a boatload of High Explosives instead. Just because you can't throw it as far as the Alien Grenade, doesn't make it useless. The extra damage potential is the biggest selling point. That 110 average points of damage to a normal unit is 20 points more than the Alien Grenade! I'm telling you right now that these things almost guarantee an instant kill. Not only that, but multiple kills!

 

Last time I checked, you cannot destroy a primed/unprimed grenade laying on the ground by using AP, Plasma, Laser or Incendiary ammunition. A nearby HE detonation does the trick though!

[Kloreep]

I always order high explosives at the start of the game, along with normal grenades. And I then always take them along to Terror Sites. They're well worth it if you run in to Cyberdiscs.

[[Blehm 98]]

hmm, i never really used HE's though, i found that although alien grenades are weaker, they are much smaller, weigh less, can be thrown farther, and can wreck almost as much terrain, so i tend to use them.

[Shotgunner]

Actually, there is a rumor I once heard on the GameFAQs boards that I would appreicate if someone could confirm - supposedly, the HE can last a hole in the side of a UFO large enough to admit an HWP(two squares wide).

 

Can someone confirm this? If true, the HE's useage just got upped in my book!

[Zombie]

Sorry to say that the High Explosive is not powerful enough to do that. With 110 for damage, its not enough to open up the hull of a UFO's on normal terrain. However, in the mountainous terrain, the HE pack can.

 

Even the Hovertank/Launcher's fusion bomb can't damage UFO hulls, and it deals 140 for average damage. The ONLY ammuntion capable of this feat is the Blaster Bomb. With 200 average damage, it opens up a 1-tile hole in UFO hulls!

[Shotgunner]

 

Guess GameFAQs will ALWAYS have their share of "rumor priests", as I call them.

 

DEATH TO THY RUMOR SPREADERS!

 

What aobut my question about setting them off with weapons fire? I don't think it was definetly answered......

Edited January 18, 2005 by Shotgunner

[[Blehm 98]]

okay, NO!

[Shotgunner]

Forgive me - I need to pay closer attention to the other people's posts. Sorry

 

Anyway, thanks for the patience guys - mucho thanks!

[Adun_Toridas]

Forgive me - I need to pay closer attention to the other people's posts. Sorry

 

Anyway, thanks for the patience guys - mucho thanks!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

hablas castellano mano? digo pos... (i´m asking him if he speaks spanish)

[Red Stone]

My first X-Com game was Apocalypse; I never played it, but I got addicted to it just by reading the manual. o_O;

 

That was over ten years ago.

 

Anyway, got myself a Collector's Edition of UFO. As a retro-gamer of sorts (I've only re-completed Crusader: No Regret recently . . . ) the graphics -

 

 

 

 

Wait. Why don't I just ask the question and be done with it?

 

Question: What happens if you demolish all the walls of a barn/farmhouse/etc? Are the corners indestructible? I'm guessing that it's too much to hope for the whole thing to collapse . . . =/

[[NKF]]

In Apocalypse, yes. (or rather, anything between two supports)

 

In 1999 and 2040, no. During these time periods, all building materials have a certified seal that states that eveything is made of prime free floating material and will stay up whether or not the main supports have gone.

 

- NKF

[Red Stone]

In Apocalypse, yes. (or rather, anything between two supports) 

 

In 1999 and 2040, no. During these time periods, all building materials have a certified seal that states that eveything is made of prime free floating material and will stay up whether or not the main supports have gone.

 

- NKF

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

o_O;;; Whoa. (Sorry, I was referring to UFO).

 

Are there "phantom corner supports" then - invisible to sight but blocks gunfire?

[[NKF]]

So was I. Everything in UFO/TFTD is free floating.

 

The walls and corner supports are mainly just for show and to block visibility and attacks.

 

I don't think there are any invisible walls - but there are a lot of 'fake' walls that look and try to behave like walls but can still allow stuff to go through them given the right conditions.

 

- NKF

[Red Stone]

Ah, I see.

 

Say, if I bazooka'ed a corner of a building, and have a trooper stand/kneel outside of the building, peeking around the non-existant corner (which was there a few moments ago), would his/her aim be obstructed just as if the corner still existed?

[[NKF]]

No. If it's gone, it's gone.

 

But - best of all - the soldier standing behind the ex-wall will not proke an act of opportunity from any aliens that are suddenly revealed now that the wall is gone, even if the soldier has a lower 'reaction score'. But that's for another discussion.

 

- NKF

Edited March 8, 2005 by NKF

[Adun_Toridas]

Now i´ve been using those toys and could be nice if properly used...

[Exo2000]

If you use XCOMUtil and set "Enhanced Weapons" to true, the High Explosive's power is boosted to a whopping 200. :wink1:

[pokrak]

question about the explosives..

 

i've heard that explosives can destroy ufo inner walls.. is that true ? i've tried to do that on the outer wall but nothing happened (except the flowers were gone)

[Ente-X]

Only a blaster bomb can pierce an outer wall (not counting the pre-mission power source explosion) with the base game. You have to use a program (like the above-mentioned xcomutil) or hack manually to get anything else to do it. Interior walls have a chance to be pierced by several weapons.

[Zombie]

Normal UFO inner walls are impervious to the High Explosive. With an armor rating of 80, you would need an explosive strength of at least 160 to destroy said walls. That rules out everything except the Blaster Bomb. Of course, there are other types of UFO walls too... ranging from 50 armor (the colorful alien entertainment walls in a battleship on L1) to 100 (the walls protecting the central lift compartment of the battleship on L2).

 

- Zombie

[pokrak]

now i understand..

 

i was trying to sneak attack on large scout. put a charge on inner wall from the corridor and jump in straight to the engine room bypassing the nav room. but my plan ended with nothing..

 

strange, but aliens didnt do anything when they heard big booooom in the corridor, hehe

 

 

thanks

Edited September 1, 2006 by pokrak

[Empyrean]

I recommend the XComUtil enhancement for high explosives. Powerful demolitions make for some interesting tactical options. I boosted it manually to 210 damage, which makes a 3x3 hole in external walls and ceilings. Nasty stuff, but considering how powerful satchel charges are in real life, I don't see why it shouldn't be.

[pokrak]

say.. does the XComUtil enhancement works with dos version ?? Edited September 1, 2006 by pokrak

[Horoma]

say.. does the XComUtil enhancement works with dos version ??

Yes, the latest version works for all windows and dos versions of both UFO and TFTD. You can even play hybrid games UFO/TFTD.

[pokrak]

Yes, the latest version works for all windows and dos versions of both UFO and TFTD. You can even play hybrid games UFO/TFTD.

pretty clever

i like the idea of powerful satchel charges.. i can already see faces of aliens, when my HE makes a backdoor.. mwahahahaha

 

edit:

hmm, everyhing seems to be fine.. but can you tell me how to change the power of high explosives ONLY.. there are tons of things that i dont like but i had no choice to disable them (the ONLY thing i want is more destruction power of HE).

help me..

Edited September 2, 2006 by pokrak

[Horoma]

Yes, the latest version works for all windows and dos versions of both UFO and TFTD. You can even play hybrid games UFO/TFTD.

pretty clever

i like the idea of powerful satchel charges.. i can already see faces of aliens, when my HE makes a backdoor.. mwahahahaha

 

edit:

hmm, everyhing seems to be fine.. but can you tell me how to change the power of high explosives ONLY.. there are tons of things that i dont like but i had no choice to disable them (the ONLY thing i want is more destruction power of HE).

help me..

If you use XcuSetup, answer "no" to all other questions obviously. But even then, Xcomutil still changes some other things automatically. Have a look around the forum, I know I read somewhere how you could return the original settings after running Xcomutil.

 

You might also wish to check the documentation file that comes with Xcomutil. There should be a way to use the Xcomutil command with parameters to change only what you want. I don't have much experience with this, as I'm one of these lazy bastards that only uses the Xcusetup.

[grommet]

If all you want to do is up the power of the high explosives, then DON'T use XcomUtil...as mentioned, it changes many, many things (some without telling you or asking if you wanna...) Don't get me wrong, I love XcomUtil, and consider Xcom to be much better and much more stable with it, but you don't use an entire surgical theater at the hospital to remove a splinter from your pinky, and if you just wanna change one little item in the game, you don't use XcomUtil to do it...

 

To change the explosive power of the high explosive (and NOTHING else), just edit the OBDATA.DAT file in the /GEODATA directory(folder) with MS-Edit (comes with all versions of Windows, I believe)...here are instructions: (everything in quotes should be typed as it appears, WITHOUT the quotes)

 

1] open a command prompt (click START>run>type "cmd")

 

2] change to the directory Xcom is installed in (for example, if Xcom is installed in c:\games\xcom, type "cd\games\xcom"; if its installed in d:\xcom, type "d:" then "cd\xcom" )

 

3] change to the /GEODATA directory ("cd geodata")

 

4] ALWAYS make a backup of the file you're changing ("copy obdata.dat obdata.bkp")

 

5] open the file in MS-Edit ("edit /54 obdata.dat" (the /54 bit tells edit to open the file in binary mode with a line length of 54 bytes))

 

6] you'll see a list of various weapons and equipment in the game, each followed by a bunch of weird symbols...scroll down to the line for High Explosive (line 23)

 

7] the symbols after the names of stuff is the values the game uses for each item...for High Explosives the first 3 symbols look like _,_,n...the n is the value for damage (if you look at the bottom right of the edit window, you'll see Line:# Col:# Value:#...if you put the cursor on the n, it should read Line:23 Col:23 Value:110, which is the damage for high explosive)

 

8] Highlight (select) the n with the mouse, or by holding shift and hitting the right arrow key, then press and hold the ALT key (either side of the spacebar) while pressing 2-1-0 on the numpad...this will replace the n with a symbol that looks somewhat like the Pi symbol (╥), which has value 210 (which is the damage value for XcomUtil enhanced HiEx)

 

9] Save and exit, then enjoy your newly enhanced HiEx in Xcom...note that the UFOPaedia will reflect the change you made, as well

 

10] if you decide you don't like the change, simply delete the modded file, then rename the backup you made back to obdata.dat

 

Much more info can be found in the Xcom Wiki entry for OBDATA.DAT

 

Grommet

Edited September 3, 2006 by grommet

[pokrak]

well grommet.. i have nothing else to say, but.. thanks

it's a detailed instruction that i even wasn't expecting..

 

maybe this will be off topic but i also need to write this. please (all of you) don't get me wrong, but this forum is just awesome. i'am ashamed to say but in my country things like this are not to be found when someone is looking for help, others just laugh thinking: how this guy can be from this planet ?? he doesn't know such things ? .. all the knowledge they keep for themselves.. very sad..

 

anyway, thanks for everything and sorry for my poor english.

[Ente-X]

You get elitists everywhere. I've peeked at this site over the years, but never registered until recently. The fact that you have friendly and helpful people that have been here this long, for a series of games this old impresses me as well. Their dedication puts my own love for the series to shame I had the MMORPG bug for years, and I don't come back to X-COM as often as I should. It is still a mind-bogglingly good game, and it indeed should be a requirement for any game developer to play it. Graphics be darned (which I still don't think are that bad!) I'd bet that if I tried to get someone now, at my age when X-COM came out, to play it, they'd laugh at the graphics and sounds and blah blah blah. At the very least, it's a way to weed out the graphics-over-gameplay people

 

What other game gives you the combination of suspense, base management, research and manufacturing that you have to carefully balance, global strategy, small unit tactics, and real attachment to your troops (at least the experienced ones...hehe)?

[pokrak]

now my explosives are trully explosive.. hehehhe Edited September 7, 2006 by pokrak

[[NKF]]

Oh, we're not as open as you may think! We do have some terrible hidden motives. Yes indeed! You are expected to do us a service in return:

 

We want you to take what we've offered and start playing the game smarter, if not better!

 

Seriously though, as long as you are polite and have an open mind, we will try and help where ever we can.

 

X-Com's not exactly a competitive game between players to see who's got the biggest ego. Instead, it's just a (fun) cheesy game where you keep surprising yourself and enjoy yourself at the same time. (Oh, okay, there is a bit of ego involved, but just as long we're honest about it)

 

---

 

By the way, enjoy your super powered high explosives for now, but later on, please try and get used to the unedited high explosives. I've always been impressed by the original high explosives, and they're a joy to handle even though they don't break through UFO walls. I've always felt that the 'enhanced' high explosive cheapened the blaster bombs a little.

 

- NKF

Edited September 8, 2006 by NKF

[grommet]

By the way, enjoy your super powered high explosives for now, but later on, please try and get used to the unedited high explosives. I've always been impressed by the original high explosives, and they're a joy to handle even though they don't break through UFO walls. I've always felt that the 'enhanced' high explosive cheapened the blaster bombs a little.

 

I happen to agree with NKF that only blaster bombs should do that much damage in a wide area. As the primary motivation for hacking the high explosives seems to be so that you can breach a UFO hull, might I offer the following suggestion: hack the Incindiary Rocket instead.

 

While your mileage may vary, I find that the incindiary rocket is just not that useful...it does make a big fire, but so would 2 rounds of HC-I or 3 of AC-I...and they'll do so faster (remember that you'll havta reload the rocket launcher - 15TUs)...fire from the rocket doesn't hurt more, or burn any longer, so...why use it?

 

Instead, hack the incindiary rocket to do AP damage of, ohh...say 200 or so - converting it into a HEAT warhead (this is a real-world warhead type using a shaped charge explosive to focus the damage on a single point -- effectively turning HE into AP that can punch through serious armor.) At 200 damage, the rocket would have about a 50% chance of knocking a hole in the exterior of a UFO. If you wanted to limit how many you could use, increase the weight to 20 or so...

 

Presto! A way to punch through UFO hulls without messing up the dynamics of the High Explosives, or stealing all the thunder from blaster bombs

 

Grommet

[pokrak]

well, i have to admit that when i have the blaster launcher now, i have no use of the powered-up HE. the idea of tuning the IC rockets is even better than HE, but..

 

1. using the HE is much realistic for me, and you can set the timer freely, then clear the explosion area. when timer runs off and the alarm-clock rings.. BOOOOOM hehehee

it's a new round and all soldiers are fresh with TU's.

plus soldiers can plant HE on the top of battleship and start killing top-down. it's much safer.

 

2. using IC rockets.. well sometimes you can miss the target and that is not fun..

 

i will have to think about it.