X-COM: Apocalypse: Walkthrough Guide

X-COM: Apocalypse Introduction

In this guide, "Apocalypse" refers to X-COM: Apocalypse (1997, Mythos Games), the third and most complex of all X-COM games.

As it pertains to cRPG Design, X-COM: Apocalypse is rated as Well Above Average. cf: Retro TBS Games.

Apocalypse is awe-inspiring in its complexity, atmosphere and tactics-strategy; it is a work of broad vision, tremendous ambition and coding wizardry. But unlike Jagged Alliance 2, it's not so easy to get into. It's still got pre-API genes in terms of sprites, animations and scrolling, though its user interface is decidedly of the cRPG Renaissance thanks to the resolution the game runs in: square-pixel SVGA 640x480 is twice the resolution of the original X-COM UFO Defense.

X-COM Apocalypse System Requirements

Designed and coded to run under MS-DOS 5.0 X-COM Apocalypse requires an IntelDX4 CPU clocked at 100 MHz, VESA graphics card, 400 kbytes conventional memory, 6573 kbytes extended memory, mouse driver, sound card, CD-ROM drive and 200 megs of HDD space. While not recommended, it was possible to run X-COM Apocalypse in Win3.x and Win95 as well.

Data files amount to 200 MB yet Apocalypse has more conceptual complexity than 150 GB current gen games.

X-COM Apocalypse Combat System

Oddly, Apocalypse includes both turn-based and pausable realtime combat systems for its Battlescape. If it just focused on the turn-based, and if the TB employment was exactly like it is in X-COM, I'd like to think it could have resulted in a tactical masterpiece. But, no. Not quite. What it amounts to is basically two highly-developed (but flawed) combat systems in one package. And what that means is, some enemies are hard in TB but not in RT, and vice versa.

Some cRPG combat encounter design in the Alien Dimension is incredibly hard in RT, for example; impossible in certain scenarios. We can definitely hit fail-states in the Battlescape during a long battle...

Except when I throw a grenade, this vid was taken in pausible realtime, though I do not pause during the recording. The point of the vid is not to show how I play but rather to showcase Apocalypse's advanced AI, cover systems, verticality and destructibility.

Note how good the pathfinding routine is.

Players can choose TB or RTwP each time they enter the Battlescape, so we don't have to commit to one or the other for the campaign's duration. They play very differently so it's almost like two tactical games in one.

Each combat system has pros and cons, and is easier in some situations and harder in others, but the TB system is extremely difficult for new players to get to grips with early on, even if they are veterans of Jagged Alliance 2, Silent Storm and ToEE. This is mostly due to the brutal combat encounter design and the marathon-length battles.

X-COM: Apocalypse: Alien Menace

Aliens are invading!

The Senate of the walled-in city of Mega-Primus has authorized funding for a covert X-COM operation against the alien menace: $140,000 (Novice difficulty setting).

The player assumes the role of X-COM Sector Commander. The campaign to defend Mega-Primus commences at 12:00 noon on March 7, 2084. 

X-COM: Apocalypse Cityscape

The Mega-Primus Cityscape (a variation on X-COM's Geoscape) is randomly selected from a preset pool of five maps. Buildings are randomised and destructible. Road-based and airborne battles are waged city-wide, in pausible realtime. 

[Map recombined by cRPG Blog.]

Cityscape buildings are owned by government, mega-corps and other factions. The factional cRPG reactivity is non-trivial in that factional relationships impact itemization and combat encounters. All buildings can be visited, entered and raided or defended.

X-COM Apocalypse Battlescape

Once a building is entered, the mode of play switches to Battlescape projected in isometric perspective.

In the Battlescape, all buildings are destructible and most are multi-leveled. Below-left depicts nine levels of verticality.

The destructibility carries through multiple levels. We can switch levels to watch the destructibles crash down through them. Impressive. But it's not all about bricks and concrete: in one outdoor mission, the squad engaged in what amounts to deforestation.

X-COM Apocalypse Base

The Sector Commander (player) oversees X-COM base, assets and future acquisitions and expansion. Base-type, location, interior layout and operatives are randomly assigned.

As can be seen above, the X-COM Base location in this campaign (the one I'm playing) is situated in the north-east corner, possibly delaying an alien raid on the base.

Base-type is warehouse. Warehouses are smaller than slums but easier to defend against alien incursions. Interior layout and operatives are serviceable. Other bases can be purchased, and assets are transferable between them.

The base is always furnished with various modules which include labs, bays, stores and living quarters. The layout of the base (its corridors) cannot be redesigned but modules can be destroyed and rebuilt in new locations in order to improve defenses in the event of a raid (the access lift cannot be relocated).

X-COM Apocalypse Operatives

The Sector Commander has access to randomized X-COM employee pools consisting of 10 agents (combat operatives), 5 biochemists (alien lifeforms, bio-weapons), 5 engineers (equipment and vehicles) and 5 quantum physicists (UFO tech).

The civilian recruitment pool for the four careers is randomly generated each day. Thus, they are checked by the player each day and hiring and firing is based on stats. The vast majority of civilians are human. Sometimes there are no recruits, sometimes there are no androids. The advantage of androids is strong stats but most notably max Psi Defense which grants immunity to brainsucking and domination. The disadvantage is that androids cannot improve their stats like humans can.

X-COM Apocalypse Vehicles

The Sector Commander has access to road-based vehicles and airborne craft which are employed for transportation of operatives as well as the defense of the Mega-Primus Cityscape against alien incursions.

The Valkyrie comes prefitted with Passenger Module and Cargo Module. Also vital is the provision for an upcoming Bio-Transport module which allows for the transporting of alien lifeforms to the X-COM base for research purposes.

Vehicles can be upgraded, refitted, destroyed and bought and sold. The above depicts initial vehicles only.

X-COM Apocalypse Initial Phase

Agents, scientists and engineers with average stats are fired and replaced with superior individuals. An android is recruited.

Physicists are assigned to research Dimension Gates and Biochemists are assigned to research Bio-Transport modules. The latter is vital, the former of no game-play consequence. Engineers have nothing to do yet.

Equipment is bought and sold. 

Time is advanced until the ordered equipment and new recruits arrive at the base. 

Time is advanced again until the first alien alert is received. Location: Government Apartments: "Babylon".

The Valkyrie takes off from the base and makes its way directly to Babylon.

Flight path:

The above is represented in pausible realtime, every pixel of the way. Altitude and AI of the Valkyrie can be set, at-will. Ground-based vehicles drive below on the roads as well. The "cam" can be locked onto "NPC" vehicles in order to track them across the Cityscape.

Upon arrival, deployment is kept simple: those with stun weapons are placed in one squad, those with lethal arms in another.

The deployment location is randomly assigned. Sometimes squads are split up. The Motion Scanner is activated by the android, who can tank psi.

Impressively, waypoints can be set up for individual squads and agents. In TB mode, the squad members move as far as their Time Units permit for one turn, but are then allowed an auto-continuation for the next turn or turns until they reach their destination. Here is shown two squads coming together. The black space between the two squads represents space that is out of visible range of both squads (as they move in, the tiles are filled in).

Combat can actually play out in this map mode. Insanely cool.

At this point the squad does not know the names of the aliens. They need to be captured and researched, but that can't be done until the above-mentioned Bio-Transport module is researched and built. Thus, an alien threat is simply being neutralized at this point, nothing more.

On Novice difficulty mode, the squad found only a few aliens to neutralize (slay or stun). It's the blue alien - an Antropod - running down the corridor in the below-left pic. It fires pods from which Brainsuckers emerge (the little orange aliens). The brainsuckers are deadly "face-huggers" straight out of Alien (1986). They are highly mobile, can jump up onto an agent's head, and then suck their brains out. It is possible to dodge them, but it's difficult. Once the brainsucker has done its dirty deed, it dies, but the victim becomes what amounts to a zombie for the alien side (and must be slain, too). This is why android agents are coveted.

Anyway, there is not much to report on tactics at this point. A debriefing is given after the Anthropod and Bloodsuckers have been neutralized.

To jump ahead a bit, this is what X-COM eventually finds out as a result of its research:

The agents having defended Babylon apartments, the Valkyrie speeds back to base. The squad recovered an alien artifact which is a weapon the Antropod was wielding (depicted above as the Brainsucker Launcher). This can be researched by the Biochemists when they've finished developing the Bio-Transport module...

The first evening falls, and several UFO's are spotted in the Cityscape of Mega-Primus.

The Valkyrie takes off again in order to investigate. However, Megapol Police shot down the UFO before the Valkyrie could fulfill its interception agenda. 

The unmanned, crash-landed UFO 81 is recovered and brought back to base by the Valkyrie. Quantum Physics eventually determine the type: a Scout Ship.

Thus, the first day ends:

We did not complete any research on the first day (missed out by an hour!), so that's why our report looks worse than our situation is. By the end of the second day, it looks much better. Added to that, we also only had ONE alien alert or tactical mission. Sometimes, we can get several in a single day. That means we missed out on points. Also, I don't save scum for better RNG; that defeats the purpose of playing Apocalypse entirely.

Second day:

We sold off our ground-based vehicles. F*ck roads and traffic. Most importantly, the engineers have built the Bio-Transport module that was researched by the Biochemists, and we have now installed the Valkyrie with one. Thus, we can capture aliens and bring them back to base for research purposes.

In addition, engineers are working on a second BTM. Hell, why not 10? They can be sold for profit.

The third mission was our first in which we were able to capture aliens:

Interesting... a cult that gets mad when we start taking out aliens...

With the alien specimens in our locked in our base's containment facility, biochemical research is facilitated:

This necessitates another biolab and more biochemists:

As well as a second alien containment module:

Our fourth random mission was staged in the Aldous Huxley Emporium. Since the last few missions were a breeze, we let down our guard and paid dearly. In the below-right screencap, a nasty purple alien (a Spitter), ruptured the floor beneath us from one level above us with an explosive attack of some sort, causing agents to plummet two levels down, and to their doom. Needless to say, some were critically injured, others knocked unconscious, but most were killed instantly. I reloaded.

***

How to Play X-COM Apocalypse

[1.0]
• FIRST DAY. Pause game. Build a second Biochem lab, Workshop and Living Quarters
• Sell off road-based vehicles, buy hoverbikes
• Buy SD Special engine for Valkyrie and SD Sports engine and Light Weapons Control for Hoverbikes.
• Sell off average agents, buy >85 skillpoint scientists. Favor Accuracy and Reaction in agents.
• Buy ALL Laser Sniper Gun, ALL Laser Sniper Pod, ALL Lawpistol, ALL Lawpistol Clip, ALL Stun Grapple. Avoid Explosive and Incendiary ammo for now.
• Biochemistry research = Bio-Transport Module, Quantum Physics research = Dimension Gates
• Quadruple Timespeed until all cargo arrives
• Equip agents and aircraft appropriately
• Set idle field agents to COMBAT TRAIN
• Ultrafast Timespeed until First Alert

First Tactical Mission

Keep the squad small and elite (six max). Train your favored. Get them ranks ("squaddie", "sergeant") and crank that Accuracy and Reaction stat. You don't have a Bio-Transport module yet, so you can't transport alien specimens to do autopsies on. Just kill 'em. Employ pistols in close quarters and Sniper Rifles down long corridors, and outside. In realtime mode, space bar pauses the game. There is no marquee selection for combat units, so just double-click the squad icons in order to group-select. Familiarize yourself with controls such as stances, attack modes and firing modes.

• Now, you probably got your first Alien Artifact, but don't research it yet. It's not important.
• Ultrafast Timespeed until Dimension Gates are researched, and first UFO spotted!

First UFO Spotted

Target one of the little UFOs (red dots on Cityscape map) with your Valkyrie. The Valkyrie should intercept, attack, and force it to crash land (red dot stops moving). Attack the UFO again to recover it (it's small). Upon returning to base, you will see that Quantum Physics can now research UFO Type 1. This is IMPORTANT. Not this particular UFO (Type 1, an alien probe), but other UFOs to come. If we neglect to shoot down the different types of UFOs as the game progresses, we may miss out on VERY important items. Indeed, the game may become so difficult without such items that we enter into a FAIL STATE.

• SECOND DAY. Note that new recruits become available each and every day (agents and scientists). Sack the average and hire the gifted.

What the above constitutes is the main gameplay loop of Apocalypse. There are three pillars to the game:

• The strategy component (Cityscape)
• The tactical component (Battlescape)
• The realtime UFO component (also Cityscape, but action-based and somewhat tactical)

We need to expand our base (and buy other bases), train our field agents (tactical battles), loot alien gear and corpses, shoot down and raid UFOs, and research whatever we can recover in order to keep pace with alien technology, which eventually lets us battle them on their own turf (The Alien Dimension).

By at least the end of the second day, research by the Biochemists on the Bio-Transport Module should be complete. Now it is time for the Engineers to MANUFACTURE one so that we can INSTALL the Valkyrie aircraft with one. This lets us transport dead and alive aliens to our base for research. But we should have our engineers manufacture several, which we can then SELL OFF FOR PROFIT.

Once engineering has manufactured one Bio-Transport Module, it's time to capture live alien specimens by stunning them with Stun Grapples or Stun Grenades.

Our first main goal is to develop a TOXIGUN and TOXINS that kill the aliens EASILY. To do this, we need to capture alien specimens in Battlescape mode of play. It goes like this:

• Brainsucker Autopsy is the easiest way to unlock Advanced Biochemistry Lab. The lab should be researched immediately. Once research is complete, BUILD it immediately because it takes EIGHT days to build. During that eight days, we can achieve a lot in terms of research and training our agents.

• Multiworm Autopsy (or MW Egg or Hyperworm autopsies) unlocks The Alien Genetic Structure. Capture a Multiworm ALIVE by wearing it down with conventional weapons and then STUNNING it. After researching it (ABL), conduct an AUTOPSY (AGS).

• The Alien Genetic Structure and Advanced Biochemistry Lab are prerequisites for Biological Warfare.

• Once Biological Warfare is complete, the Toxigun and Toxin Type A can be manufactured by engineering.

• Multiworm, Hyperworm and Crysalis research (+Autopsies) unlocks The Alien Life Cycle, which unlocks Toxin Type B for the Toxigun.

With Small Shields + Personal Shield + Toxigun + Toxigun Type B +  Vortex Mines + Devastator Cannons + Marsec Armor, we're going to rip through the game (on Novice difficulty setting).

Don't have these things? Fail.

Also, agents should have very high stats. You want to have completed 50 or so tactical battles at least before you can take on big guns in the Alien Dimension.

Before end of first week, BUY UP on everything you can. Especially ammo for conventional weapons. Why? Because stocks get refreshed and do not stack (whatever we haven't bought at week's end is lost forever).

END OF FIRST WEEK

By the end of the first week, we should have built a Bio-Transport Module (and built several others to sell off), conducted a few missions (and trained a few of our guys into Sergeants), researched the Dimension Gates and a couple of UFOs (Type 1 and Type 2), built our second Biochem lab, our second Workshop, our second Living Quarters and our Advanced Biochem Lab, and conducted a few autopsies (or at least one; we should be well on our way towards Alien Genetic Structure).

Note how we now have access to new gear. Most notably, the Plasma Guns and that lighter Marsec armor that allows our agents to fly / levitate. Badass.

Make a clear, hard savegame at this point. Name it after Asimov's novel, "Foundation."

SECOND WEEK

Spot your next UFO. It should be UFO Type 3 (a Transporter). Shoot it down with the Valkyrie and then RAID it (enter the UFO with your agents and neutralize all aliens within).

Upon returning to base, note what Quantum Physics can now research: UFO Type 3, Light Disruptor Beam, Alien Propulsion System, Alien Control System and Alien Energy Source. This is vital for manufacturing aircraft that is capable of dimensional travel (entering the Alien Dimension).

As soon as Biological Warfare research is complete, engineers cease manufacture of Bio-Transport modules in favor of Toxigun manufacture. We want at least three workshops manufacturing Toxiguns 24/7. Not just for our agents, but to sell off for profit.

If it hasn't been already, another base must be built at this point because there probably isn't enough room for an Advanced Quantum Physics Lab. In the Advanced Biochemistry Lab, Biochemists should be researching Toxin Type B. General Quantum Physics should be researching artifacts after they are done with Alien Propulsion System, Alien Control System and Alien Energy Source.

So the big thing now is getting the Advanced Quantum Physics Lab and Advanced Workshop built. But we also need to keep raiding UFOs for their equipment.

Next: Alien Dimension X-COM Apocalpyse.

Back to: Retro TBS Games.

X-COM UFO Defense Guide	X-COM UFO Defense Review	X-COM Apocalypse Guide
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