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X-COM: UFO Defense is a true classic. I played it originally on Amiga for days on end and it has a fully functional open source engine from the community named 'OpenXcom'. The game is free right now on Humble Store, so go grab it.

It's a Windows key, so you will need some form of Wine or Steam commands to grab the data files to use in the open source OpenXcom engine. I've actually put plenty of time into the game inside of OpenXcom and it works damn nicely too.

Don't pass up on a good deal guys. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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13 comments
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qptain Nemo Jan 31, 2017
No excuse not to own the original X-COM now guys!

I wonder if collectively requesting 2K to spend 3 minutes to add a linux DOSBox setup to Steam is viable though...
buenaventura Jan 31, 2017
Also, check out the x-piratez, it's awesome.
Geppeto35 Jan 31, 2017
some explicit step-by-step tutorial on how to install it and use it on linux?
WorMzy Jan 31, 2017
If it gets you a steam key, you can use steamcmd to download the data files.

#   1. Start steamcmd
#   2. At the Steam> prompt, run:
#                   @sSteamCmdForcePlatformType "windows"
#   3. (optionally) Set the preferred download location with
#                   force_install_dir /path/to/dir
#   4. Log in to your account using:
#                   login your-steam-username
#   5. Download the game files by running:
#                   app_update 7760
#   6. Exit steamcmd:
#                   quit


If you are using an Arch-based distro, you can then use openxcom-data-steam (shameless plug) to package the data files up and install them with pacman. Or just copy them manually to where they need te be (/usr/share/openxcom/data for openxcom 1.0, or /usr/share/openxcom/UFO for current git)
qptain Nemo Jan 31, 2017
Quoting: buenaventuraAlso, check out the x-piratez, it's awesome.
Thank you for sharing this, it sounds fantastic!
stevemcsteve Jan 31, 2017
I made the mistake of playing the openxcom port on my android, this game is MADE for android.
The touch controls are so intuitive.

anyway, suffice to say my toilet breaks at work were upwards of 20 min blocks lol.
tofuhead Jan 31, 2017
Quoting: buenaventuraAlso, check out the x-piratez, it's awesome.

hmm, that looked nice... but I couldn't make it work, just segfaults after the microprose logo.
any tips how to get it working? (in addition to the installation instructions on the archive)

.b
Nor Mantis Feb 1, 2017
Quoting: WorMzyIf it gets you a steam key, you can use steamcmd to download the data files.

#   1. Start steamcmd
#   2. At the Steam> prompt, run:
#                   @sSteamCmdForcePlatformType "windows"
#   3. (optionally) Set the preferred download location with
#                   force_install_dir /path/to/dir
#   4. Log in to your account using:
#                   login your-steam-username
#   5. Download the game files by running:
#                   app_update 7760
#   6. Exit steamcmd:
#                   quit


If you are using an Arch-based distro, you can then use openxcom-data-steam (shameless plug) to package the data files up and install them with pacman. Or just copy them manually to where they need te be (/usr/share/openxcom/data for openxcom 1.0, or /usr/share/openxcom/UFO for current git)

Thank you. This worked well and I look forward to trying x-com. I have heard a lot about it but never played.


Last edited by Nor Mantis on 1 February 2017 at 2:27 am UTC
buenaventura Feb 1, 2017
Quoting: qptain Nemo
Quoting: buenaventuraAlso, check out the x-piratez, it's awesome.
Thank you for sharing this, it sounds fantastic!

No problem! The review I linked to is of an much earlier version also - the game has gotten MUCH bigger and better since then! If you have trouble installing (I sure did, the readme's included in the download are NOT helpful) search the forums for "piratez on linux" - I made that thread and BAM someone gave me this tasty link to an executable and it just worked. Bootypedia installation instructions are needed to to tweak the options etc. A little setting up, but it is great!

edit: see below answer for some more guidance.


Last edited by buenaventura on 1 February 2017 at 8:56 am UTC
buenaventura Feb 1, 2017
Quoting: tofuhead
Quoting: buenaventuraAlso, check out the x-piratez, it's awesome.

hmm, that looked nice... but I couldn't make it work, just segfaults after the microprose logo.
any tips how to get it working? (in addition to the installation instructions on the archive)

.b

I also had a lot of trouble (HOURS, and the installation instructions included are crap), then I asked for help some more so here is a short guide from that thread to all tuxers:

1. Get the rar from here
2. Extract to a nice folder, put following original xcom folders from wine-install of the win steam version ("<wineprefix>.steam/steamapps/common/xcom ufo defense/XCOM" something like that) OR do that fancy steamdl-stuff mentioned in a comment above (never tried that myself):
GEODATA
GEOGRAPH
MAPS
ROUTES
SOUND
TERRAIN
UFOGRAPH
UFOINTRO
UNITS
into /user folder in the piratez folder.
3. Get appropriate executable ("marked oxce3.3", for me it was the 64bit Xenial one ) from here (this step was hard, I tried compiling on my own but had no luck, until someone just happened to drop this link): https://lxnt.wtf/oxem/ - put it next to the windows .exe in the game folder
4. Start that executable! YAY! Now options->mods->change to X-Piratez, then change settings in various parts of options as specified here.
5. BAM! You are ready! It's very hard! Read the bootypedia back-to-back.

Edit: Here are some instructions for Arch Linux also, they seem good (I never found them before)


Last edited by buenaventura on 1 February 2017 at 9:09 am UTC
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