Info (Long War)

Long War features over 700 distinct changes in gameplay from vanilla XCOM. Here is a list of what you can expect:

Aliens:

• Aliens have a larger toolkit in general and are gradually upgraded over time. Aliens can gain many perks.
• Abductions doesn't happen simultaneously - you can answer them all. However, you only get credits, not personnel.
• The aliens run their own base game, similar to the humans. In addition to abductions and terror missions, they scout and hunt satellites, research, gather resources, bomb cities to increase panic, and launch base assaults of their own when they consider XCOM a threat.
• More UFO types.

Soldiers:

• Squad size begins at six and increases to eight, with 2-4 individual soldiers on major missions using the appropriate Foundry Upgrade.
• Soldiers suffer from Fatigue. After finishing a mission they must rest for several days. You can deploy a fatigued soldier if you must, but then they'll receive a fatigue injury, and need a longer rest session that can't be skipped.
• The promotion system has a different naming scheme. Soldiers have eight classes, with three perks selectable per level at each tier.
• MEC Troopers also have eight classes, seven armor suits in three tiers, and equippable primary, secondary weapons and items.
• SHIVs are available from start, on the other hand MECs come into play much later.
• New stat for soldiers/aliens: Damage Reduction (DR).
• Randomized stats are enabled by default.
• In place of the medal system, Long War features promotable Officers with unique squad perks. These officers share will with nearby soldiers.
• All non-officer, non-MEC soldiers can become Psionic. The Psionic tree has been expanded, and Rift can be learned on top level Psionics who have mind controlled an Ethereal.

Inventory/Weaponry:

• All soldiers start with two inventory slots and a plethora of free items.
• Gun types now include a high mobility, low damage SMG, a high accuracy, low damage Carbine, and a low accuracy, low mobility, high damage Battle Rifle. Shotguns are equippable by multiple classes.
• Pistols are inaccurate at range, and have limited ammo. Secondary weapon types now include Machine Pistols and a one tile range Sawed-off Shotgun.
• There is an extensive amount of new items for SHIVs, MECs, and Soldiers to manufacture and equip.
• Equipment that is purchased has a 50% chance to be lost on soldier death.
• Equipment may become damaged and require repair at the Repair Bay as a result of a soldier taking non-armor damage or dying.
• Alien weapons obtained through stunning enemies with the Arc Thrower cannot be used directly, but are consumed to manufacture XCOM plasma weapons.

Research/Foundry:

• The research tree has been overhauled.
• Autopsies are required before interrogations and need multiple corpses. Some autopsies require relevant research.
• Psionics can be researched before capturing a Sectoid Commander.
• New research category: UFO analysis.
• The Foundry has been massively expanded, with many expensive projects and useful upgrades.

Construction:

• Almost all facilities have their cost, maintenance, power requirements, adjacency bonuses, etc. changed.
• Satellite Uplinks provide 1 Satellite, Satellite Nexuses provide 2. Uplinks are capped by engineers.
• Laboratories and Workshops do not grant personnel.
• Workshops only affect item prices, and provide diminishing returns up to a cap of 50%.

Situation Room:

• The game is only lost when ALL Council Nations leave the project.
• You can select every Council Nation as starting, and choose among many different bonuses. All Council Nations who have not left the Council contribute credits to XCOM (they contribute more with a satellite). Satellite coverage also provides nation-specific bonus. Continent bonuses are overhauled, and you do not gain any continent bonus at start.
• Successful Base Assaults will return a Council Nation to XCOM.
• The aliens will set up a base in a Council Nation early in the first month. This nation will leave the project immediately.
• Nations not in XCOM become alien strongholds and provide them with resources. The aliens will often focus on particular continents.
• Fulfilling nation's requests for materials and resources will provide personnel and improve their ability to resist the aliens' influence on their own - they maintain a resistance level.
• Losing the Base Defense no longer ends the game, however, you can expect substantial resource/personnel loss.
• EXALT is tougher to pinpoint and will remain around for much longer. EXALT hacks can reduce your funds below 0.
• The Base Assault can be done with 2 additional soldiers given the proper Foundry upgrade (max 10). The Temple Ship Assault can be done with 4 additional soldiers using the same upgrade (max 12).
• You can sell meld and manufactured equipment on the Gray Market.

Tactical Combat:

• Many maps that were specific to terror or council missions are used in abduction site missions. A small tagline will indicate what type of map you will be flying to.
• All aliens except Outsiders make noises when they move.
• Most pods contain a squad leader, a slightly tougher alien with a higher chance of having unique perks, or a squad navigator, featuring perks appropriate for the role.
• In the later game, some pods contain boss aliens, which are larger and deadlier than their counterparts.
• Panic no longer causes soldiers to shoot each other.
• You can see percentages of alien shots and overwatch fire.
• Most weapons can be steadied for bonus aim in the next round.
• Explosives deal random damage.
• Arc Thrower is much less accurate.
• Rockets are much less accurate.

Air Combat:

• Air battles are generally harder. Even the weakest UFO can defeat your basic aircraft.
• Three battle stances for interceptors: aggressive, balanced, defensive.
• Pilots gain experience.
• Maximum six interceptors per continent (up from four).

Current Version

Long War EW Beta 15f3. Download

Change Log

Full Change Log is here on the wiki.

Acknowledgments

• Chief Designer and Programmer: JohnnyLump
• Chief Programmer and Designer: Amineri
• Chief UI Programmer and Artist: XMarksTheSpot
• Programmer and Chief Quality Assurance Specialist: Ellatan
• Senior Contributing Programmer: WGhost81
• Sound Editors: TrackTwo, Matt Lees
• Contributing Artists: JCLewis, Ebolii, lfish, Obstbanane, IvanDogovich, Kordolius, Zyxpsilon, Neonin, AlexGlitch
• Contributing Programmers: TrackTwo, Liquid911, Part Time Commie, Uberjumper, Drakous79, Bertilsson, Bokauk, BlackAlpha, Guicomir, MuckBeth, Peasly Wellbott, Oddball_E8
• Translators: Noganeto1 (Spanish), Aldo32 (Spanish), Kordolius (French)
• Linux Port: Shivoc, Falex007, WGhost81
• Mac OS/X Port: Thither, Anderkent
• Thanks to: Kevin Schultz, Dan Price, Roland Rizzo at Firaxis Games for some expert assistance
• Thanks to: DubiousIntent (X-Com's modding archivist), ufopaedia.org (for hosting the Long War wiki) & Hobbes (wiki admin), Uzifeline, Gugacuardo, Tapkomet, Ogel, and Thunder_GR(soldier name lists), Heramael (copyediting)
• Amineri and XMarksTheSpot for UPKModder
• Eliot van Uytfanghe for UE Explorer
• twinj for discovering how to rescript functions
• Gildor for Unreal Package Decompessor
• Inno Setup 5, by JRSoftware.org
• Also special thanks to Neonin for the Long War logo on the Nexus mod page! Check out Neonin's UI Texture Replacement mod for livelier in-game icons and other graphics: http://xcom.nexusmods.com/mods/382//?
• Included software:XCOMEUModHelper by UberJumper

Installation

• If you are upgrading from Beta 3 or earlier, you should verify back to an up-to-date vanilla install.
• If you are upgraded from Beta 9a or earlier, you must start a new campaign.
• If you have ever played with any other mods on your EW install, or have changed some files yourself, verify back to a vanilla installation of EW before installing Long War. If you have any trouble with installation, do this as well.
• Disable any antivirus software. We have specific reports that Comodo security software can prevent a proper install; some have reported installation problems with it *on* while others with it installed but *off*. We have separate reports that BitDefender Free will crash XCOM with this mod.
• Make sure you have the latest .net framework installed.
• Run the installer.
• When you select your path to install the mod, you should receive a warning that the directory already exists, although we have had reports that it doesn't if you run in the installer in admin mode. If you aren't in admin mode and don't get this warning, you may have selected the wrong path.
• Start the game once. You may receive a CTD error; this appears to be some aspect of the mod completing installation and making nice with Steam. Start it again, and it should run.
• If you have been playing vanilla XCOM in a language other than the one you installed it in, switch XCOM to the installed Long War's language via its properties in Steam.

Installation notes

• This mod will overwrite several game files and likely render multiplayer unplayable until you uninstall.
• We don't think it will work on Macs, although you are welcome to try and give us feedback.
• The mod will not work properly on vanilla EW campaigns, so you'll need to start a new one. Campaigns are saved even if you uninstall, so you should be able to return to vanilla campaigns. Long War campaigns probably won't work well in vanilla.
• If Firaxis / 2k issues any patches to vanilla XCOM, it will overwrite and disable Long War, and almost certainly make the mod unplayable until the modders are able to update it. Unfortunately, turning off automatic updates to the game in Steam, via the game menu / Properties / Updates tab, does not prevent patches from loading. Your savegames should be preserved, though.
• If you want to use alternate game textures via Texmod, install them AFTER you fully install Long War.
• If you install this mod over an existing version of Long War EW, you won't be able to uninstall back to vanilla; to do so, you'll have to go to Steam and use the "Verify Integrity of Game Cache" option (under the Xcom game menu / Properties / Local Files tab) to restore your game to its original settings. You should also do this if something goes wrong with the uninstall.

To uninstall

• Uninstall via the usual Windows Control Panel Add/Remove Programs feature, or verify back to vanilla.

Troubleshooting

If you hit something that seems to be a bug, try the following steps and see if any of them clear up the problem

• Save your game and reload.
• Save your game, shut down XCOM and Steam, and restart.
• Save your game, shut down XCOM, and restart your computer.
• Save your game, shut down XCOM, delete all files in C:\Users\YOUR WINDOWS USERNAME\Documents\My Games\XCOM - Enemy Within\XComGame\Config, and restart XCOM.
• Consider verifying your XCOM install back to vanilla and reinstalling the mod per the instructions above. This will not remove your savegames.
• If you are getting periodic slowdowns or lockups on the Loading User Settings popup, try: 1) deleting most of your old savegames (in C:\Users\YOUR WINDOWS USERNAME\Documents\My Games\XCOM - Enemy Within\XComGame\SaveData) 2) turning of Cloud synch in Steam, or 3) Playing in offline mode.
• Find the file Long_War_EW_Detailed_Install_Troubleshooting.txt in your XEW folder and follow the instructions there.
• Report the bug on the Nexus. Please include the difficulty and any second wave options.

If You Get a Crash To Desktop Please help us by posting crash output on the LW EW Beta Nexus subforum.

• Describe the circumstances of the crash.
• On most installations, go to this directory: C:\Users\YOUR WINDOWS USERNAME\Documents\My Games\XCOM - Enemy Within\XComGame\Logs
• Open the file Launch.log in a text editor.
• Scroll to the bottom of the file and look for the line that says "Log: === Critical error: ==="
• If it is present, copy that line to the end of the list of functions that were called and post on the subforum.
• Unfortunately, this stack dump doesn't occur very often in the log, and if a function list isn't present, it is unlikely we can do much with your post.
• If you can repeatedly reproduce this error after reloading your save game and taking the same steps, we may want your savegame. Please PM johnnylump on the Nexus with details, and he'll get you an email address for you to send the save.
• In any event, accept our grateful thanks for helping us debug the mod.

For more information please see the Troubleshooting Guide.

Special Thanks

For advice, ideas, support and feedback from many people, including but not limited to: Adam T., Agammamon, Albrecht S., Alec K., Alex E., Allen S., Allen M., Amanasleep, Anaxibois, Anders H., Anders J., Andrey S., Angel R., Anthony S, Antioche, AnUser, Armarnis, Avenger93, Ayur S., BeagleRush, Ben C., Bilfdoffle, BigRowdy, Binkleywalker, Bjlinden, Bowen X., Boyski, Brandon C., Brian H., Brian K., Bryan B., BuffaloBurger, Businessware Technologies Inc., Cal0004, Casnimot, Charles B., Charles-Henri G., Chris H., Christian P., Commander Gorda , Computeraddict, Daniel S., Darkrenown, David N., David W., DeadCrowsFood, Deducter , Demiansky, Devon_v, Dominique V., Duong N., Dustin K., Dustin S., drake8888, Edward O., eld10, Eric M., Erik H., Feldelm, Felerys , Firestorm10, FilthyRobot, Fishbo, Florian E., FlyingHigh10000000, Geoffrey N., Gerd G., Gorgon01, Guillaume B., Gyogen, Haerzog, Hambil, Haruspice, Hazapuza, Hellraptor, Heramael, Houmie, Ian R., Iceciro, Insufferable Smartypants, Jan-Michael M., Jared B., Jeffrey E., Jeremy O., Jeroen K., Jesse N., Joachim W., Johan K., John S., Joseph B., Joseph H., Kara42, Kaya E., Ken D., Khamza D., Kirill Z., Kostas A., Low Low H H, Luix, Maik A., Markus L., Matthias L., Maxim I., MelloAce, Michael B., Miguel P., Mike B., Minoitos, MrBims, MSpain77, Mufuks, NeoSeether, Nesi N., Nontalo, Oleg E., Oliver L., Orost, Patrick M., Patrick P., Philip M., Philipp D., Phwop, RaymondHouser, Reid A., Renraw, Rex F., Robert F., Robert H., Ross C., Rudiger S., Saph7, Sebastian C., Sebastian S., Shane F., Sibiryak, SirDrD, Skrzaciksc, Squee913, Stefan S., Stephen M., Talhydras, Teemredd31, Thomas M., Thomas G., Thunder_GR, Tim E., Valakov, Vesa P., WalterJ, Wintermist, WorthlessBums, Xaxyx, Xwynns, Yustarius , Yzaxtol , ZiggRolls20, Zybertrix,