22 replies to this topic

[SupSuper]

Sick of always seeing ppl repeatedly ask for the solution to the "i can't find the last alien", most common in trade route missions, here's the step-by-step solution (works both in xcom1 and xcom2):

1. install xcomutil into your x-com game folder (you can download it from http://xcomutil.scotttjones.com/).
2. do a backup copy of your saved game in case something goes wrong (never happened to me, but better safe than sorry) - copy the game_x (x = saved game number) folder to somewhere safe (and which u remember later).
3. open up a command prompt on x-com's folder:
- go to Start > Programs > Acessories > MS-DOS/Command Prompt
- type cd.. and press enter until you're back in the root folder ( usually C:\> )
- type cd games\ufo and press enter (replace the games\ufo bit by your x-com game's folder path)
If your xcom folder is on a different drive than c: you'll have to type the driveletter it is on followed by ':', for example d: and press
4. type xcomutil game_x vis wrt (game_x being the target saved game folder) and press enter. if all works fine you should get some results similiar to the ones in the attached image. if all doesn't work right, put your backup game back in the x-com folder.
5. load your game in x-com. the map will now be fully visible so you can easily find the last alien (for big maps it's easier to look in the minimap for alien "blips"). as soon as you end your turn any aliens not spotted by any unit will disappear again, so memorize the position of remaining aliens (or just do step 4 again). the map will remain fully explored.

note by j'ordos: in case you're not too keen on ms-dos you can replace steps 3-4 by doing the following :
use windows explorer to find the xcom folder and rightclick xcomutil. There appears a menu, select 'properties' and there click the 'program' tab. There you can see the full path of xcomutil (for example : c:\games\ufo\xcomutil.exe). Now you add 'game_x vis wrt' to that line and press ok. Then run xcomutil and continue on step 5.

note2 by j'ordos : in case all of this was too confusing for you, get Martin Ptacek's XCOMSHEL (XCOMSH15.ZIP) and xcomutil (both on the xcomutil page. XCOMSHELL is a frontend for xcomutil allowing you to easily activate many of it's features (like seeing the entire map)

note3 by supsuper: a fast way of overcoming step3 (if you have windows xp) is to install the Open Command Window Here powertoy. that way all you have to do is right-click x-com's folder and select Open Command Window Here from the popup menu.

any questions just ask, specially if you didn't understand what i said

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by SupSuper, 19 October 2003 - 12:54 PM.

[j'ordos]

found another way to solve this, again with xcomutil.

WIN = Force a victory in battle by inflicting immediately fatal wounds on all
      aliens that are not already stunned.  After reloading the game, just end
      your move and all remaining aliens will die.  This is intended for
      situations where you are unable to kill the last alien or when you just
      want to finish the first phase of a battle so that you can play the
      second phase.  WIN:STUN will attempt to stun the aliens instead of
      killing them.  All large aliens will still be killed to avoid bugs in
      the program.  The number of live aliens actually captured may be limited
      by the space in your Alien Containment facility and other unknown
      factors in the program.  Use WIN:STUN at your own risk.

again, this can be done through XCOMSHEL, the frontend for xcomutil

[Yoni]

I use swp to switch sides with the aliens. Memorise where they are (usually only one of them so not hard to do), and then restore the game.
The xcomutil commandline for that was
xcomutil game_X swp wrt

[SheaTastic87]

This is what I do...I check EVERY inch of Every ROOM... and I never have a last alien problem

[Mustang]

I have spent 3098 turns looking for a last alien, this REALLY helped, thanks

[Tsereve]

OK, I've installed XCOMSHELL & XCOMUTIL, and all that other stuff. I've opened SHELL up, and there's this bunch of. . .stuff. Now what?

[j'ordos]

you open up the proper savedgame slot, and use the 'reveal map' option (or something like that )

[Cpl. Facehugger]

I have spent 3098 turns looking for a last alien, this REALLY helped, thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My god...I usually get tired and spam the entire area with sonic pulsers/disruptor pulse launchers/blaster bombs by then!

[Tsereve]

You like spam, don't you? Just a hunch, no reason to believe so. . .

[youngStar]

how do you turn it off again in dos? heh

[spencercui]

I always failed when i going to xcomutil homepage ,so could you give me a hyper link to download xocmutil directly?

[Inteck]

Thanks for the heads up on how to find the last alien. I have played more than one multi level ship scenario in which (usually only one) alien or terror units (especially the Bio drone units) get spawned inside a wall or inaccessable area (wish I would have saved a screen shot.....sorry). Thanks to this tip I can see if I truly missed something or I can see if it is an internal game screw up where a bug is spawned where I can't get to it.

[dan2]

I always failed when i going to xcomutil homepage ,so could you give me a hyper link to download xocmutil directly? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The links are:
http://home.austin.r...es/xcomut95.zip
http://members.aol.c...il/xcomut95.zip
Complain if still doesn't work

[Maganda]

Can someone help me please? I'm trying to install xcomutil but when I do so it states:

"Patch applied: Ship statistics set from XCOMUTIL.CFG
Read failure on UFOEXE\..\MAPS\XBASE00.MAP
Error executing XCOMUTIL, XCUSETUP aborted"

I need to install it so that I can beat a mission that seems to be bugged.

[NKF]

It sounds like it can't find that particular file. But you don't need to run the XComutil setup program to use XComutil's command line features.

Just have XComutil unzipped in your game directory. Then open up a command prompt window, navigate to your TFTD directory, then type:

xcomutil game_n vis wrt

Replace the n with the save slot number you want it to work on.

- NKF

[Maganda]

Thanks for reply NFK but I tried that already and it doesn't work.

It states:

"XCUSETUP.BAT has not been exectuted for this version of XcomUtil"

[NKF]

Strange. XComutil must've changed a bit since I last got it. Oh well.

From the error message, your problem lies with the setup program not being able to read xbase00.map. Perhaps the file is corrupted. You should be able to get the file or the whole maps directory off your installation disc and copy it into your game directory. (You could also install a fresh copy of the game into a separate directory and grab the files from there).

By the way, was this the partial install or the full install of the game?

- NKF

[Maganda]

It's the version downloadable from *a* website (ufogold2). I tried redownloading it and reinstalling the files but it didn't help.

[Edit by Zombie: Do not mention where to illegally download X-COM].

Edited by Zombie, 30 March 2007 - 07:43 AM.

[swooch]

First off, forgive a newbie doing some necromancing and reviving an old thread. (It was pinned anyways.)

I'm having some problems with the XcomUtil 9.60. I've installed it to my game folder and all files are in the same directory as terror.bat but I still get "Game not found in this directory" when trying to run Xcusetup.bat.

Any ideas on what's wrong?

[hei]

using
xcomutil game_X swp wrt
is nice and simple..
or else i wouldn't have found that squad leader stuck in the wall. >.>
Disruptor pulsed its donkey =)
thank you^^

[uncy]

I believe that "Last Aliens" are mostly Aliens that cannot find their way out since the Nodes in the Routes files are not well placed.

I downloaded the MapView program by Dayshiva (strategycore.co.uk) and I looked all the possible spawn places for aliens, thus finding them easily. I also fix some routes to help Aliens get out of their blocked nodes.

This problem never happened to me again

Edited by uncy, 22 March 2008 - 11:18 AM.