Difference between revisions of "Making the Game Harder"

Latest revision as of 23:15, 4 May 2022

This page is intended for players who finish the game frequently on the highest difficulty and would like to keep the challenge alive.

Making the game harder is done in two ways: one can accept handicaps (not use some of the options the game puts at your disposal, or use them only under certain circumstances), or modify the game files via utilities or direct editing to make things harder.

This page contains a list of simple handicaps to get you started. It may be worth also examining these sub-pages:

Making the Game Harder/Scenarios - More complex scenarios, by assorted UFOpaedians.
Making the Game Harder/Modding - Scenarios that require third-party tools or direct hacking of game files to set up.

Mix and match these handicaps as you like, or invent your own variations. Note that certain combinations may make the game very difficult. Within each section, challenges are generally listed from least to most difficult.

Refrain from using exploits

The most obvious way to make the game harder is to avoid "cheating" by using the various exploits discovered over the years. A full list, and instructions on how to use the various exploits, are in the link above, but the most egregious and game-breaking are listed here for convenience.

Free Wages and Engineer/Scientist overflow - The majority of X-Com's expenditure consists of salaries and hiring engineers and scientists; removing these expenses trivialises financing.

Free Manufacturing - Building items for free makes Elerium management trivial (as you only ever need it to fuel advanced craft) as well as making manufacturing about 7 times as profitable.

UFO Redux - Multiplies the score and most of the loot (including Elerium) from a given UFO by a factor of 2 (or potentially even more).

Collision Detection exploits - Turns breaching UFOs from a nightmare into cake and allows risk-free extermination of aliens on higher levels than your troops.

Avoiding night missions - Removes one of the advantages aliens have on the Battlescape, and the use for incendiaries and flares.

Geoscape

Interception

Unarmed Avengers - Do not mount weapons on Avengers (which are otherwise clearly the most effective interceptors).

No Advanced Interception - In addition to the above, do not build any Firestorms or Lightnings. (This makes it almost impossible to shoot down Battleships.)

No Plasma Beams - Do not build any Plasma Beams. As these are, by far, the most effective craft weapons, you will have great difficulty shooting down Large and Very Large UFOs.

No Interception - The most extreme interception restriction is, of course, to never shoot down UFOs at all. Most UFOs land in one fashion or another, so you can still win the game.

Funding

These challenges reduce the ways X-Com can obtain money.

No commercial manufacturing - Don't manufacture items for profit. Only sell items that you bought, or recovered from missions (and don't manufacture more of the latter yourself).

Council income only - Don't sell any advanced technology (recovered and manufactured items) at all. Your revenue is to come solely from the Council of Funding Nations.

Bases

These challenges involve restrictions of one kind or another on how X-Com builds its bases. These are all independent and can be combined, though in some cases this may make the game extremely difficult.

One base - Simply don't build any more bases after the one you start with. Note that you will lose if all your bases are destroyed, so keep a garrison in case aliens come calling while the Skyranger is out. For a much harder challenge, build that single base in Hawaii.

Limited base size - Limit the size of your bases to 4x4 or (for the truly skilled) 3x3. Your starting base is larger than this, so you'll have to scrap significant parts of it.

No-base start - Start without a base at all, by selling everything and then scrapping your initial base. Then construct a new base from scratch and play as normal. The difficulty here comes from the extra cost and time taken to rebuild your base.

No advanced base modules - Do not build Hyper-Wave Decoders, Psionic Laboratories, or the researchable defence systems (Laser Defences, Plasma Defences, Fusion Ball Defences, Grav Shield and Mind Shield). None of these are actually necessary in order to win the game, although the lack of Hyper-Wave Decoders and Psi-Labs makes the task much more difficult.

Battlescape

Psionics

No Mind Control - Do not mind-control aliens with Psi-Amps. (This ability turns missions into boring cakewalks.)

No Psionic Training - Do not train soldiers in Psionic Laboratories. (This means you will not learn your soldiers' Psi-Strengths, or be able to use Psi-Amps.)

Weaponry

(Note that these handicaps are designed for use with No Mind Control, above; there is no point otherwise, as mind-control is by far the strongest available "weapon".)

No heavy alien weaponry - Do not use the Heavy Plasma Gun or Blaster Launcher, the most devastating armaments available.

No alien equipment - Do not use any alien weaponry or devices at all (Plasma weapons, Small Launcher, Blaster Launcher, Alien Grenade, Mind Probe).

Conventional equipment only - Use only weaponry that is available for purchase at the beginning of the game (no lasers or alien weaponry, no armour, no Medi-Kits, Psi-Amps or Motion Scanners).

And beyond... - Theoretically, one can restrict one's equipment even further and still have a chance of victory. The two actual requirements in terms of weaponry are these:
- You must have a weapon capable of inflicting stun damage (Stun Rod or Small Launcher), in order to reliably capture the required aliens.
- You must have a weapon capable of damaging the Alien Brain in Cydonia (40 tile armour). HC-AP rounds, Large Rockets, High Explosives, Laser Rifles, Heavy Lasers, Plasma Rifles, Heavy Plasma Guns, Blaster Launchers, Alien Grenades and all HWP weapons can do this; other weapons cannot.

Squads

Skyranger capacity only - Bring only 14 spaces (14 soldiers, 10 soldiers + 1 HWP, etc.) worth of troops into battle. This restriction only becomes relevant when you obtain Avengers, and has the main effect of making Cydonia much harder.

Maximum HWPs - Bring the maximum number of Heavy Weapons Platforms on each mission. This means only 2 soldiers on a Skyranger, which makes missions harder due to lack of firepower. This becomes much less of a restriction when Lightnings and Avengers become available, so consider combining it with Skyranger Capacity Only.

Commando missions - Use very small squads, or even a single soldier, to complete missions.

General

Saves

No Battlescape saves - Do not save while on the Battlescape. This makes it impossible to save-scum through missions and essentially gain prescience.

Iron Man - Save only when you quit, and overwrite your save every time you quit. This means no reloading from mistakes at all.

Other

One-mission X-Com - Beat the game with only one mission before Cydonia. This mission must be a UFO Ground Assault on a Battleship, in order to obtain all the necessary items (including captured aliens) to reach Cydonia.

Speed run - Beat the game in as little time as possible (either in-universe clock time, or real-life time; note that the two approaches differ dramatically). The current record for the latter is 1:02:21.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 This page is intended for players who finish the game frequently on the highest difficulty and would like to keep the challenge alive.
-Naturally it is quite easy to handicap yourself while playing the game: using only conventional weaponry, no armor, fighting only on night missions, etc. However, the idea here is not to go those extremes but to identify a number of exploits/cheats/tactics that make the game easier.
+Making the game harder is done in two ways: one can accept handicaps (not use some of the options the game puts at your disposal, or use them only under certain circumstances), or modify the game files via utilities or direct editing to make things harder.
-Feel free to try any of these ideas (or all of them!). Some may make the game very hard but not impossible to win.
+This page contains a list of simple handicaps to get you started. It may be worth also examining these sub-pages:
+* [[Making the Game Harder/Scenarios]] - More complex scenarios, by assorted UFOpaedians.
+* [[Making the Game Harder/Modding]] - Scenarios that require third-party tools or direct hacking of game files to set up.
-==Don't use game exploits==
+Mix and match these handicaps as you like, or invent your own variations. Note that certain combinations may make the game very difficult. Within each section, challenges are generally listed from least to most difficult.
-All strategy guides for UFO have plenty of mentions to [[Exploits]]. Their influence on [[Battlescape]]/[[Geoscape]] varies, here's a list of those that you should avoid and their consequences.
+==Refrain from using [[Exploits|exploits]]==
-===Alien Inventory Screen===
+The most obvious way to make the game harder is to avoid "cheating" by using the various exploits discovered over the years. A full list, and instructions on how to use the various exploits, are in the link above, but the most egregious and game-breaking are listed here for convenience.
-Although you are not supposed to be able to access an alien's inventory screen when you mind control it, there is a [[ExploitsB#Access_the_Alien_Inventory_Screen|way]] to do so. This allows for nasty things like priming grenades and dropping them at the feet of the alien.
+*[[ExploitsA#Free_Wages|Free Wages]] and [[ExploitsA#Robotic_Factories|Engineer/Scientist overflow]] - The majority of X-Com's expenditure consists of salaries and hiring engineers and scientists; removing these expenses trivialises financing.
-Another thing to consider is to stop using [[Psionics]] all together (see below).
-===Faulty Collision Detection===
+*[[ExploitsA#Free_Manufacturing|Free Manufacturing]] - Building items for free makes Elerium management trivial (as you only ever need it to fuel advanced craft) as well as making manufacturing about 7 times as profitable.
-A full description can be found on [[Exploiting_Collison_Detection|here]]. This exploit allows you to bypass map chokepoints (such as UFO doors) which can be used by the aliens to ambush your soldiers.
+*[[ExploitsA#UFO_Redux|UFO Redux]] - Multiplies the score and most of the loot (including Elerium) from a given UFO by a factor of 2 (or potentially even more).
-===Free Wages/Manufacturing/Fuel===
+*[[Exploiting_Collision_Detection|Collision Detection exploits]] - Turns breaching UFOs from a nightmare into cake and allows risk-free extermination of aliens on higher levels than your troops.
-These exploits are commonly used to prevent your finances from going negative at the end of the month or to keep your planes flying for free. The [[ExploitsA#Free_Wages|Free Wages]] avoids having to pay your scientists/engineers/soldiers' salaries. Most of your monthly expenses are made of those, so having to pay for your 250 scientists makes financial matters more hard to deal with.
+*[[Other_Geoscape_Exploits#All_Terror_Missions_During_Daylight|Avoiding night missions]] - Removes one of the advantages aliens have on the Battlescape, and the use for incendiaries and flares.
-==Excessive Firepower==
+==Geoscape==
-===Heavy Plasmas===
+===Interception===
-Don't equip the majority of your squad with [[Heavy Plasma|Heavy Plasmas]]. If it sounds too easy, then don't use alien weapons at all.
+*'''Unarmed Avengers''' - Do not mount weapons on [[Avenger]]s (which are otherwise clearly the most effective interceptors).
-===Blaster Launchers===
+*'''No Advanced Interception''' - In addition to the above, do not build any [[Firestorm]]s or [[Lightning]]s. (This makes it almost impossible to shoot down [[Battleship]]s.)
-To put it simply: the weapons are too powerful and thus the temptation to overuse them too great. Completely destroying a map is fun at start but butchering the aliens gets boring after a while. Either do not use the weapons or only bring 1 on each mission.
+*'''No Plasma Beams''' - Do not build any [[Plasma Beam]]s. As these are, by far, the most effective craft weapons, you will have great difficulty shooting down Large and Very Large UFOs.
-===Enlarged Squads===
+*'''No Interception''' - The most extreme interception restriction is, of course, to never shoot down UFOs at all. Most UFOs land in one fashion or another, so you can still win the game.
-Restrict your squad regarding soldiers and tanks. Never use more than 14 plane slots to bring units into a battlefield (the capacity of a Skyranger).
+===Funding===
-The logic behind this is that you can easily outnumber the aliens, especially if you are facing small UFOs thus assuring victory.
-Also, smaller squads allow for quicker play (you don't have to move 26 units each turn) and they make your soldiers more memorable, since you'll remember more their heroic achievements (or stupid deaths).
-===Load up your Skyrangers with as many HWPs===
+These challenges reduce the ways X-Com can obtain money.
-Instead of bringing 14 units into a battle you'll get just 5 (3 HWPs + 2 Soldiers) or 8 (2 HWPs + 6 soldiers).
+*'''No commercial manufacturing''' - Don't manufacture items for profit. Only sell items that you bought, or recovered from missions (and don't manufacture more of the latter yourself).
-===Rank-based equipment===
+*'''Council income only''' - Don't sell any advanced technology (recovered and manufactured items) at all. Your revenue is to come solely from the Council of Funding Nations.
-Only give the best stuff to officers. Squaddies has to use personal armors and laser rifles; rookies don't get armor at all. Advancing in ranks earns the privilege to use newest equipment. So Sergeants can use Power Suit, but not Flying Suit. Even better, only give Flying suit to you Commander.
+===Bases===
-===Commando missions===
+These challenges involve restrictions of one kind or another on how X-Com builds its bases. These are all independent and can be combined, though in some cases this may make the game extremely difficult.
-Use as few men to complete ground missions as possible-without HWPs, of course. Even two or three-man teams can be effective if used properly. The logic behind this is that either way, aliens are probably too busy carrying out their mission or repairing the UFO to notice the dropship approaching (as evidenced by the fact that if you go against psionic aliens, you are safe from psionic attacks as long as none of them sees you, adding an extra difficulty: you have to kill every alien from behind and with one shot so they won't turn around and see you). Plus, micromanaging a three-man team is easier than managing a fully loaded Avenger. You have the advantage of suprise, use it!
+*'''One base''' - Simply don't build any more bases after the one you start with. Note that you will lose if all your bases are destroyed, so keep a garrison in case aliens come calling while the Skyranger is out. For a much harder challenge, build that single base in Hawaii.
-====Iron man====
-If you are confident in yourself, use only one soldier. Knowing when to retreat and switch weapons at the dropship is essential, but try not to get wounded. Without friends with medkits around, fatal wounds are truly fatal. Get your popcorn out people and enjoy the show!
-==No Psionics==
+*'''Limited base size''' - Limit the size of your bases to 4x4 or (for the truly skilled) 3x3. Your starting base is larger than this, so you'll have to scrap significant parts of it.
-[[Psi-Amp|Psi-Amps]] completely unbalance the game towards the human player. Even 1 Psi-Amp is bad enough for the aliens, but to bring a squad full of psi-trained soldiers will mean that all the aliens will be mind controlled during the first turn (including even [[Cyberdisc]]s or [[Sectopod]]s). Once you start, the uncertainty and the risk will go down, and so will the fun.
+*'''No-base start''' - Start without a base at all, by selling everything and then scrapping your initial base. Then construct a new base from scratch and play as normal. The difficulty here comes from the extra cost and time taken to rebuild your base.
-The same applies to [[Mind Probe|Mind Probes]] since those devices can be used to screen aliens for their rank or to check if they will reaction fire.
+*'''No advanced base modules''' - Do not build [[Hyper-Wave Decoder]]s, [[Psionic Laboratory|Psionic Laboratories]], or the researchable defence systems ([[Laser Defences]], [[Plasma Defences]], [[Fusion Ball Defences]], [[Grav Shield]] and [[Mind Shield]]). None of these are actually necessary in order to win the game, although the lack of Hyper-Wave Decoders and Psi-Labs makes the task much more difficult.
-Finally, the use of [[Psionic Laboratory|Psi Labs]] should be restricted to screening troops but not training them, since they can't use Mind Probes or Psi Amps. A harder setting would be not to use them at all and only find out during a fight who are the psi weaklings.
+==Battlescape==
-==Funding Nations Only==
+===Psionics===
-Rely entirely on the Funding Nations to run your war.  Details [[User:Tequilachef#Rules|here]].
+*'''No Mind Control''' - Do not mind-control aliens with [[Psi-Amp]]s. (This ability turns missions into boring cakewalks.)
-==1 Mission X-COM==
+*'''No Psionic Training''' - Do not train soldiers in [[Psionic Laboratory|Psionic Laboratories]]. (This means you will not learn your soldiers' Psi-Strengths, or be able to use [[Psi-Amp]]s.)
-A more hardline version of Funding Nations Only, detailed [[User_talk:Arrow_Quivershaft#1_Mission_X-COM|here]].  In short, one Battleship mission, properly executed, can provide all the research needed to complete the game.  The focus is on intercepting that Battleship and completing the game with only the spoils from that mission.
+===Weaponry===
-==Base Limitations==
+(Note that these handicaps are designed for use with '''No Mind Control''', above; there is no point otherwise, as mind-control is by far the strongest available "weapon".)
-===Base Defense===
+*'''No heavy alien weaponry''' - Do not use the [[Heavy Plasma]] Gun or [[Blaster Launcher]], the most devastating armaments available.
-Don't play base defense missions.
+*'''No alien equipment''' - Do not use any alien weaponry or devices at all (Plasma weapons, [[Small Launcher]], [[Blaster Launcher]], [[Alien Grenade]], [[Mind Probe]]).
-===One Base===
+*'''Conventional equipment only''' - Use only weaponry that is available for purchase at the beginning of the game (no lasers or alien weaponry, no armour, no [[Medi-Kit]]s, [[Psi-Amp]]s or [[Motion Scanner]]s).
-Build only a single base.  This severely limits your efficiency, as you can only build a maximum of 35 base modules.  Aircraft and radar coverage will be quite limited.
+*'''And beyond...''' - Theoretically, one can restrict one's equipment even further and still have a chance of victory. The two actual requirements in terms of weaponry are these:
+**You must have a weapon capable of inflicting stun damage ([[Stun Rod]] or [[Small Launcher]]), in order to reliably capture the required aliens.
+**You must have a weapon capable of damaging the Alien Brain in [[Cydonia]] (40 tile armour). [[Heavy Cannon|HC-AP rounds]], [[Rocket Launcher|Large Rockets]], [[High Explosive]]s, [[Laser Rifle]]s, [[Heavy Laser]]s, [[Plasma Rifle]]s, [[Heavy Plasma]] Guns, [[Blaster Launcher]]s, [[Alien Grenade]]s and all [[Heavy Weapons Platform|HWP]] weapons can do this; other weapons cannot.
-====For a real challenge...====
+===Squads===
-Build that single base in Hawaii.
+*'''Skyranger capacity only''' - Bring only 14 spaces (14 soldiers, 10 soldiers + 1 [[Heavy Weapons Platform|HWP]], etc.) worth of troops into battle. This restriction only becomes relevant when you obtain [[Avenger]]s, and has the main effect of making [[Cydonia]] much harder.
-==XComUtil's Features==
+*'''Maximum HWPs''' - Bring the maximum number of [[Heavy Weapons Platforms]] on each mission. This means only 2 soldiers on a [[Skyranger]], which makes missions harder due to lack of firepower. This becomes much less of a restriction when [[Lightning]]s and [[Avenger]]s become available, so consider combining it with '''Skyranger Capacity Only'''.
-[[XcomUtil]] is a game enhancer that was actually designed to make the game harder, although many of its features can be used the other way around.
+*'''Commando missions''' - Use very small squads, or even a single soldier, to complete missions.
-There are 2 ways to use XComUtil, both of which can be used to increase the difficulty, the [[XcomUtil#The_XcuSetup_configuration_program|XcuSetup]] installation program and the [[XcomUtil#The_XcomUtil_command|XComUtil]] command.
-===XcuSetup configuration===
-When you run XcuSetup to install XComUtil a number of queries will be asked regarding which features you'll want to implement.
+==General==
-*''Do you want to use the improved starting base?'' (No)
+===Saves===
-With the improved starting base you start with an [[Alien Containment]] already built, your radar is upgraded and you'll start with additional scientists and engineers. It will also be designed to maximize defense.
+*'''No Battlescape saves''' - Do not save while on the [[Battlescape]]. This makes it impossible to save-scum through missions and essentially gain prescience.
-*''Do you want to use the alternate starting base?'' (No)
+*'''Iron Man''' - Save only when you quit, and overwrite your save every time you quit. This means no reloading from mistakes at all.
-This retains the optimal defensive layout but doesn't add the extra facilities/personnel.
+===Other===
-*''Do you want to use the improved Tanks/Weapons?'' (No to both)
+*'''One-mission X-Com''' - Beat the game with only one mission before Cydonia. This mission must be a [[UFO Ground Assault]] on a [[Battleship]], in order to obtain all the necessary items (including captured aliens) to reach Cydonia.
-*''Do you want to use the new laser weapons?'' (Yes)
+*'''Speed run''' - Beat the game in as little time as possible (either in-universe clock time, or real-life time; note that the two approaches differ dramatically). The current record for the latter is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wo71zOr5aU 1:02:21].
-With this option chosen your lasers will require Elerium to be built (supposedly to act as power cells). This also prevents you from building plasma weapons (but not clips), thus preventing you from selling [[Plasma Pistol|Plasma Pistols]] and [[Plasma Rifle|Plasma Rifles]] since the aliens will stop using those.
+[[Category:Enemy Unknown/UFO Defense]]
-It also makes [[Laser Cannon|Laser Cannons]] and [[Fusion Ball Launcher|Fusion Launchers]] a lot less attractive to sell because of the time required to build them and the [[Elerium-115|Elerium]]/[[Alien Alloys]] necessary for their construction. Be prepared for the blow on your finances...
-*''Do you want research help from captured aliens?'' (Yes! Yes! Yes!)
-To make the game REALLY hard try this feature.
-First, it will increase the research times of most items tenfold or more, especially regarding the alien technologies. Instead of having to wait days or a week for a certain technology the time will increase to months. With a little bad luck you will be stuck to lasers and no armor when the [[Muton|Mutons]] and [[Ethereal|Ethereals]] start showing up.
-Second, the only way to speed research (other than having 250 scientists on all bases) is to capture live aliens, forcing you to bring a few [[Stun Rod|Stun Rods]] for all missions. It is not required to have an Alien Containment present to receive the research help but remember it only reduces the time of the research being done at your starting base.
-==Financing solely by funding nations==
-Do not sell any alien equipment, corpses or UFO components. Do not sell manufactured Equipment. Only genuine earth technology (like rifles or avalance launchers) or researched aircraft (since they don't bring in money) may be sold. This not only adds some realism to the game (seriously, who would pay 334,000$ for some metal ball that lets you know the stats of your wife? And which government on earth would allow the possession of plasma weapons to other nations, or even civilians?), it also makes it significantly harder. In february for example you have around 6,000,000$ to cover base maintenance, wages, crafts, manufacturing and losses on the battlefield. This leaves not very much! Building new bases, hiring more engineers or just building a second laboratory is almost impossible. But it is definitely more fun than having worldwide radar coverage and 16 interceptors by the end of march.