42 replies to this topic

[karafeka]

Well, there is a prob when playing x-com interceptor in win xp. You can't attack alien probes and bases. When you try to target it, it says that distance is 0.00 and you can't get a lock at it.

I tried with compatibilty mode, no luck.
If anybody know how to fix that, then go ahead.

But it's a great game, and a big thx to xracer for that.

[dipstick]

I have noticed this one - I do not have any idea how to fix it - I just stick to playing with Win 98SE!

[karafeka]

I found that on x-com.co.uk
http://www.x-com.co....p?showtopic=169

--------------
well,u cant fix the problem with normal probes but those data jammers can be delt with.


steps to fix it:
1.change ur gamesettings congif file from read only to non-read only by right clicking and going to properties,then unmark the read only check mark.

2.now,open the file with note pad or what ever and find the following:
[IntelJammerProbe]
Side=ALIEN_EXCLUSIVE
ProdTime=1
Cost=1
Size=1
EnergyCost=1
RechargeRate=1
HitPoints=100
RepairRate=1
Penalty=1
Range=1
Materials=1
SellPrice=500000
TechRequired=-1
TechRequired2=-1
TechItem=69

and delete that and tity it up and bingo,no data jammers.


worked for me on XP
------------

[karafeka]

I gues that bug is on win2k as well. But with probes bug there is also a base bug (you can't destroy alien (or pirates) bases and outpost), so you must have win98 or less

[j'ordos]

About editing it, try this altered ini (not tested yet)

edit: attachment gone with forum upgrade...

Edited by j'ordos, 19 September 2005 - 04:36 AM.

[soundman]

Cool, outpost thing works (they will pay), but about the probe, do you mean just delete it altogether?

[karafeka]

Yup, exactly, you must DELETE it all

[soundman]

Thanks for the file j'ordos, but it doesn't seem to remedy the problem...........

[j'ordos]

Yep, you won't encounter it anymore this way(well, it should be that way). There's just no other solution I know of...

Thanks for the file j'ordos, but it doesn't seem to remedy the problem...........

EDIT2 : how do you mean,? there is no remedy but to delete it... I haven't found regular alien probes in that .ini tho, so it only works with jammer probes.

Edited by j'ordos, 25 July 2003 - 06:23 AM.

[soundman]

I'm not sure if I deleted the right set of data (alien drone) but I still can't pick up the data jammer. There is actually no such thing as a data jammer under the space craft section but I can't seem to find anywhere (apart from as a research item)

[j'ordos]

it only works with jammer probes, not with other alien probes...
Also try the compatibility mode, I seem to remember someone who got it running correctly that way, not sure tho...

do NOT delete the alien drones...

edit2 : tidied this one up

Edited by j'ordos, 25 July 2003 - 06:40 AM.

[soundman]

Maybe this could be the first technical help topic for xcom4

Grrrrrrr that still doesn't work, are there any other win2000 users out there who have solved this?

Edited by j'ordos, 25 July 2003 - 06:29 AM.

[j'ordos]

Sorry, Nothing you can do then just ignore it...

[karafeka]

soundman
Tell me, you have problems with probes, and not with bases??

Beacause on xp there is problem with both.

[j'ordos]

I think it's only with probes and pirate bases, not alien ones... Not sure tho.

[karafeka]

There are problems with alien bases and pirate bases 100% on xp (see it on my own eyes). Who knows, maybe on some systems everything goes fine, and on others no. (like X-com apocalypse - everybody says that CE runs on XP, but not here by me). Those x-com games

[soundman]

Yeah, alien bases are no problem, haven't encountered pirates yet. Problem is that the probe is jamming my research so I can't advance too much really. There has to be way around it, it would help if we had someone to blame......

[soundman]

I'm just curious as to whether that probe/pirate base problem is occurring just on the cd version or on the fixed exe version as well, has any fixed exe-win2k/xp users got this as well?
Deleting the jammer probe stats in gamesettings.ini didn't seem to help either. Do you have to delete the entry in the tech attributes too?

[miceless]

I'm just curious as to whether that probe/pirate base problem is occurring just on the cd version or on the fixed exe version as well, has any fixed exe-win2k/xp users got this as well?

Err, yes. Me. I have the same problem on 2000. Am considering trying it on XP and also (if needed to fix it) Win 98.

Deleting the jammer probe stats in gamesettings.ini didn't seem to help either. Do you have to delete the entry in the tech attributes too?

CAnt help you im afraid. I didnt try this as deleting it from the game seemed like a bad fix. Ill try XP, then win 98 (which should fix it i hope) before I consider this approach.

Edited by miceless, 01 August 2003 - 11:43 PM.

[dipstick]

STOP PRESS! I have an idea. I am about to get a friend into Interceptor, so it would help as he has XP. It was while I was trying to help this friend with TA while I got this idea - you can alter .exe files in XP to run under Win98 or Win95! Try it! Ignore this if you already have!

[j'ordos]

You mean 'Compatibility Mode'? That's the first thing I try when something doesn't work, and granted, sometimes it can solve a problem... but most of the time it's only a partial solution, or no solution at all

[dipstick]

Right click on the .exe file, then click properties then go to the tab marked 'compatibility', then click the box about running it under Win95

[j'ordos]

Also try the compatibility mode

Already suggested that to soundman :

Grrrrrrr that still doesn't work, are there any other win2000 users out there who have solved this?

Edited by j'ordos, 02 August 2003 - 02:45 PM.

[dipstick]

Oh well, worth a try anyway

[j'ordos]

Wow, that's gonna be a load of work... . Good luck and thanks

Edited by j'ordos, 16 August 2003 - 09:31 AM.

[miceless]

Did you mean you were going to decompile the Interceptor code?

Have fun on that one!

[A_dxman]

The simple solution for these OS compatibility problems is simple. Partition you HDD with Partition Magic (7 is the latest I think) then install win 98 on one and install XP on the other.
This means that you all lose all of you HDD information. But if you a hard core X-COM fan or a tech junky you will be willing to do it.
If you have an old computer lying around with a big HDD put that in you computer and transfer the documents to that. Wipe you master drive, install you 2 OS’s and then transfer the information back or just leave that information where it is.

its a good trick, time consuming but it works!!!

[SupSuper]

The simple solution for these OS compatibility problems is simple. Partition you HDD with Partition Magic (7 is the latest I think) then install win 98 on one and install XP on the other.
This means that you all lose all of you HDD information. But if you a hard core X-COM fan or a tech junky you will be willing to do it.
If you have an old computer lying around with a big HDD put that in you computer and transfer the documents to that. Wipe you master drive, install you 2 OS’s and then transfer the information back or just leave that information where it is.

its a good trick, time consuming but it works!!!

i used to do that until PartitionMagic crashed during a partition operation leaving my partition and all its data invalid (and my 9gb backups - stored in DVD-RWs - also mysteriously disappeared) and... well, i don't really want to talk about it.

anyways, through a more detailed investigation on the bug, i've found out that:
- only the Alien Base, Sensor Probe, Data Jammer Probe and Pirate Base are effected. Alien Outposts, OPPs or Pirate Ships aren't effected in any way.
- it only occurs in Single-Player mode. you can play missions against the above targets fine using the Simulator.
- the missions don't apparently have any other active targets besides the "invisible" probe/base, but when you leave the mission they leave the probe/base and come after you. you also get a Mission Failed and 0 score for doing nothing on the mission
- the probe's sound doesn't stop annoying you EVER during the mission, not even when you're going into hyperspace.
- the "invisible" target is always positioned at -0,00km from your ship at a SE direction.
i once managed to blast a data jammer just by launching all my missiles right on the start of the mission and suddenly getting the "Mission Successfull" message. unfortunately i only managed to do this once.
a good trick to avoid the annoying Data Jammers is to build your bases relativeley close to black holes, since probes easily get sucked by them. i had the luck of my initial base being near one

anyways, i hope someone finds a fix for this utterly annoying bug, since it's quite pointless to try to finish the game when u can't destroy alien bases, now isn't it? i also attached a screenshot of the awful bug in it's full glamour.

Attached Files

•  xcom_int.zip   17.46K   415 downloads

[SupSuper]

actually you can, i've tried it
remember to first activate battle cheats and check if you hear the sound. also, iirc, the shortcut in non-english keyboard is Ctrl + \ or something, instead of Ctrl + ~
also, after destroying targets with such bug (eg. probe), your ship will stop working, so i recommend either destroying the probe last or destroying all targets with the cheat. then just press H to return to hyperspace (it'll look odd but it works) and you'll be done

[Jh316]

Hey, I've got a bit of a problem here. I deleted the stuff in the .ini and started a new game, but I'm still gettng the data jammers. Any advice?

[j'ordos]

Hmm, are you sure you deleted the correct entry? Perhaps there are multiple entries too.

Else, you'll just have to use cheatcodes

Edited by j'ordos, 11 February 2005 - 04:33 AM.

[Jh316]

Yeah, I deleted the right one. The one that said soemthing about an IntelJammer. And I also deleted its research entry. And how do I use the codes? I hit ctrl+e and hear a tone, I type in the code, and nothing happens.

[j'ordos]

Haven't tested it myself, but after you hit ctrl+e, you first have to type "battlecheat" or "battlecheats", then press alt+~ to destroy the selected target.

Don't know about the ini, sorry.

[Jh316]

I tried that. I know about the alt+~ thing. What I need to know, is after I type in "battlecheats", what do I do? I tried typing in "payday" to see if the money cheat would work, and it didn't do anything. Do I hit enter, hit ctrl+e again, what?

[WillToHave]

I am currently playing interceptor on windows vista, and I have played it on xp without the bugs. Well, not exactly. But if you are really dying to play the game the way it was meant to be played and don't want to buy an old comp, you can set up a virtual pc on your computer and install windows 98 on it. Virtual pc is available from microsoft for free and works on xp or vista, though they say it isn't supported. It works just fine. You can find boot disk images anywhere. Here is a great tutorial on how to set it up and which has a link in it to a site with a boot disk:

http://www.goodells....index.htm#fdisk


The hardest thing to find is the right install cd. I recommend getting an iso from the bittorrent and/or the pirate bay. The first one I got didn't work, try to find one with a lot of seeders and you will be fine.
If you have iso using software you can check the cd for setup application, however, the virtual pc can read img and iso files already, or it can mount a cd from your phsyical drive, or you can mount an iso using daemon tools and then use the physical drive function in virtual pc. Nice huh?


I was going to post the cd key because I am pretty sure microsoft doesn't care about it anymore, but thought better of it. However, a quick google search for "windows 98 generic cd key" will find it for you, which should work with any cd you get. It should be the top link.

This can be time consuming, but is easy and quick to use once it is set up. And it should work with any other old games that didn't translate well to xp or vista. A one time cure all.

[Gazz]

If you bought the game through Steam you have another problem.

It will not run without Steam and Steam will not run with any less than XP/Vista.

Solution to run X-Com Interceptor without Steam:

Copy the whole folder to a path that doesn't include the word "Steam".
Funny, I know, but it works.

Then you can run it with an emulator. =)