History VideoGame / TheXCOMFiles

* InfinityPlusOneSword: An ''actual sword'', even: the Ancient Katana. It does 50 cutting damage (already difficult for most enemies to resist), and it adds 30% of the user's psi strength, and ''70%'' of the user's melee skill to damage, on top of an exceptionally high accuracy (base of ''100%''). Agents can have up to 100 psi strength, and up to 150 melee accuracy[[note]]realistically, they'll top out at 120[[/note]], which means putting the sword in the right hands can do upwards of ''185 damage'' in a single strike, which is enough to bypass any armor ''in the game''. The disadvantage of having to get close to the target is massively offset by the sheer damage output of one 12-time-unit, 100% accurate attack. It also works [[spoiler: underwater, and in space]], and even in [[spoiler: the Dreamscape]]!

* JumpedAtTheCall: Most (if not all) of X-Com stuff, but most prominently Chief Engineer. Though in his own words, he's in it solely for the gadgets.

** M.A.G.M.A.
* TheMenInBlack: Early on your organization seems to be the Men in Black. The black suits are your default outfit, you are a mysterious organization with some SF gear. Quickly subverted when you end up having to fight the real Men in Black during a [[spoiler:crop circles, alien abduction or cattle mutilation]] mission. They are a mysterious organisation dealing with Hybrid Network and covering up stuff like abductions.

* NotEnoughToBury: Some powerful weapons have a chance to destroy the target's body leaving no corpse and no loot if they hit the target hard enough.

* StopHelpingMe: Occasionally local militias, police or army may start a mission against monsters and you would face a difficult task of keeping them alive while fighting monsters.
** On most "civilian defense" missions, you'll have a pile of gear at your spawn point, the stuff you didn't equip to your agents. While this isn't a big deal when your spawn point is in your transport, it's a ''very'' big problem on things like Council defense missions, where civilians will see the big pile of weaponry and decide to pick up a gun and fight back. More often than not, this will result in them shooting ''your'' agents in the back.

* ImpossibleHourglassFigure: Strix. With HartmanHips and GagBoobs (approaching NonMammalMammaries, since they give "energetic blood plasma" and substances that control lesser zombies).

* Main/JumpedAtTheCall: Most (if not all) of X-Com stuff, but most prominently Chief Engineer. Though in his own words, he's in it solely for the gadgets.

* BareYourMidriff: Some dossier pictures. Primarily Black Lotus Witches and Hybrid Infiltrators.

* EenieMeenieMinyMoai: Common decoration for holiday resorts, same as in ''TFTD''.

* BareYourMidriff / AbsoluteCleavage / {{Stripperriffic}}: Some dossier pictures. Primarily Black Lotus Witches and Hybrid Infiltrators.

* Main/EvilMinions: Syndicate scientists and office employees.

* TimedMission: Crop circles, alien abduction and cattle mutilation. If you don't kill or stun everybody in 10 turns, you will have to face a large wave of Men in Black reinforcements. And an even larger one if you're still there by turn 13. Usually it's pretty simple: find and stun the unlucky farmer. But occasionally you'll meet [[spoiler:zombies or Men in Black]].

** Recent additions to the lore practically confirms this fact: the [[{{TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness}} Council of Earth]] that formed the X-Com organisation consists of factions that are trying to influence the world in their own ways. Notable members include [[spoiler:TheIlluminati (literally)]] and [[spoiler:the Majestic 12, a.k.a. [[{{AssassinsCreed}} The Brotherhood]]]].

** There's also the inherent danger of the turn limit: these missions have a maximum duration of 10 turns. In the earlier versions of the mod, after 10 turns, the mission ended and ''everyone and everything'' on the mission was lost. Later versions replaced that with arrival of a large wave of Men in Black forces on turn 10. And if you cannot handle them or leave you will face another, ''harder'' wave at turn 13. Rokies tend to have far less Time Units than veterans, and the maps aren't all that small. Be quick.

* AnarchyIsChaos: Surprisingly subverted. [[spoiler:One of the members of the Council, the Cult of Eris, promotes anarchy, but only out of belief that universal self-determination of all human beings is the best way to better humanity. They also promote [[{{InformationWantsToBeFree}} open distribution of knowledge and technology]].

* TimedMission: Crop circles, alien abduction and cattle mutilation. If you don't kill or stun everybody in 10 turns, all your agents outside the exit grid die. Usually it's pretty simple: find and stun the unlucky farmer. But occasionally you'll meet [[spoiler:zombies or Men in Black]].

** Interceptors no longer can carry ray guns or MagneticWeapons, because anything advanced is powered by an elerium reactor. Even the previously existing InfinityMinusOneSword got removed .

* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: So far, there are only ninja cyborgs in the unfinished Ninja Assassins arc.

* NotEnoughToBury: Some powerful weapons have a chance to destroy the target's body leaving no corpse and no loot.

** Additionally, unscrupulous scientists create militarized forms of the latter: zombie troopers, megazombies.
* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: Flying saucers before 1999 probably qualify. Several [=UFOs=] on "research" mission are guaranteed to land near your base in January 1997 and stay on the ground a few days -- long enough to reach them by car. Several more may appear randomly in 1997-1998, but not necessarily within your reach. They are crewed by Sectoids armed with plasma, shields and often psionics. If you win (hint: use cover), the spoils are worth a lot, though you won't be able to research most artefacts until much later.

* SanitySlippage: While not a problem at first, eventually, most missions will have an "eerie atmosphere" or worse, an "oppressive atmosphere". These moods represent the amount of sanity damage your agents will take each turn. At high Sanity, agents get a boost to Energy and Morale regeneration, but at low Sanity, regeneration is penalized, and at very low levels, even Time Unit regeneration (normally 100% every turn) can be penalized. Sanity also doesn't automatically get restored at the end of combat either: agents will normally only get 3 points back ''per day''.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: This mod has many more missions that penalize letting them expire than the vanilla game, but it's still possible to arrive, see the situation is unwinnable and leave. Of course, if there are any civilians or crucial installations, you are penalized for leaving them to die or be destroyed.

** It's ''expected'' that some missions will be too difficult to actual complete. Being completely surrounded at your arrival point will happen more often than not, and since you move first, the enemies will have full Time Units and ''will'' get reaction fire if you don't down them immediately. In those cases, it's usually better to hit the Abort Mission button and take the penalty: there will be other opportunities to succeed.

* SnakePeople: Snakemen.

* BalanceBuff: Sectoids went through several over the course of development. Earlier versions made psionic attacks much more frequent than in ''UFO''. As of 0.9.1 the psionics seem to be back to normal, but now they have force field shields. Killing them now requires to inflict all damage in the same turn. Still, not much of a problem, even with the starting Glock.

** You can use [[HeroicDog dogs]], and so can some of your enemies. You can also tame any [[RodentsOfUnusualSize Giant Rats]] you capture, after a little research, and even breed them to get more.

** [[spoiler:Mrrshan (as in ''VideoGame/MasterOfOrion'')]] weapons appeared in version 0.6.8.

*** orange for soldiers;

*** dark orange for leaders;

*** grey-blue for navigators.

*** orange for soldiers;
*** grey-blue for beasmasters (medic equivalent);
*** dark orange for commanders;

** Low-ranking Ethereals wear orange robes, members of their [[spoiler:Order]] wear white, [[spoiler:Keepers]] wear green, and the dreaded [[spoiler:Eliminators]] wear black. [[spoiler:Servitors]] wear red, but it's unclear if they should even be considered to be living things.

* DelinquentHair: Agents' hair styles vary greatly. Some of them obviously won't be welcome in any military or police force, but RagtagBunchOfMisfits called X-COM can't be picky.

* GunStruggle: If the shooter stands next to the target and the target has time units left, he'll try to push the gun aside. The outcome depends on their respective melee skills and random chance. If the shooter fails, he spends extra [=TUs=] turning in random direction and shoots there. Good news: your agents can defend themselves this way too, and after months of training their melee stat gets high enough to shoot most enemies point blank.

** Werewolves and werecats are [[spoiler:artificial]] creatures combining human and animal genes. They are bipedal, covered with fur, smart (but no longer sapient as of 0.9.3), carnivorous and can eat humans.

** Ghosts require several dozens of bullets to kill. The Asylum Apparitions mission requires a [[GuideDangIt different]] solution. [[spoiler: Energy weapons will being a ways away, it's important to remember that ''electricity'' is a type of energy.]]

* InfinityMinusOneSword: Thunderstorm interceptor with tritanium cannon. The best fighter that needs no elerium. Enough speed to catch all UFO types, but two. Enough hit points, agility and firepower to fight battleships one-on-one and survive (more often than not). And best of all, you can get it before 1999. Still, it cannot help against infiltrations[[note]]According to developers' notes, the country is successfully infiltrated the moment the second battleship arrives, shooting down earlier [=UFOs=] only delays the inevitable.[[/note]] or enemies that don't use flying craft.

* Main/MagneticWeapons: Represented by Gauss weapons (used by [[spoiler:Reptoids]]) and their less advanced cousins, mass drivers.

** The alien invasion threatens to expose ''all'' of this, which upsets the Council, who in turn demand XCOM deal with the problem.

* MindControlDevice: Psi-Amp, Psiclone, holy statues.

** Interceptors no longer can carry ray guns or MagneticWeapons, because anything advanced is powered by an elerium reactor. But see InfinityMinusOneSword.

** There's also the inherent danger of the turn limit: these missions have a maximum duration of 10 turns. In the earlier versions of the mod, after 10 turns, the mission ended and ''everyone and everything'' on the mission was lost. Later versions replaced that with arrival of Men in Black reinforcements on turn 10. And if you cannot handle them or leave you will face another, ''harder'' wave at turn 13. Rokies tend to have far less Time Units than veterans, and the maps aren't all that small. Be quick.

** There's also the inherent danger of the turn limit: these missions have a maximum duration of 10 turns. After 10 turns, the mission ends and ''everyone and everything'' on the mission is lost. Rookies tend to have far less Time Units than veterans, and the maps aren't all that small. Be quick.

** Bibleic [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephilim Nephilim]] -- offspring of humans and fallen angels, usually translated as "giants" or "fallen ones" -- were an earlier experiment that used Ethereal rather than Sectoid DNA. Some of them may have survived the purge.

* SequenceBreaking: Normally you start researching and making high-tech alien devices -- such as ray guns or anti-graity -- only in 1999. It is possible to research alien alloys and Reaper and Sectoid autopsies (and alien containment) before mid-1997, but that's all. Unless you are CrazyPrepared enough to have an alien containment at every base, lucky enough to catch several landed [=UFOs=] between 1997-02 and 1998-12, good enough to capture several engineers and navigators, and [[SaveScumming lucky]] enough to get important technologies from interrogated aliens. The trickiest part is detecting the [=UFOs=] in time -- headquarters and intelligence centers have unlimited range, but low probability of detection; radars (researchable from mid-1997 or later) have short range, but higher probability; all of the above have prohibitively high costs, especially the HQ.

* {{Unobtainium}}: Elerium-115 as in ''UFOEU''. Can be picked from intact UFO engines, an in the original game. The mod adds a twist that it can be extracted from alien ammunition, some other deices and even fuel traces from landed [=UFOs=]. Zrbite as in ''TFTD'', but it has fewer uses.

* UnwinnableByMistake: In version 0.8.2, the game could not be completed, since a crucial artifact didn't spawn. It was fixed in 0.8.3.

* WeAREStrugglingTogether: [[spoiler:Men in Black are your enemy. But they turn out to be backed by the same countries that founded X-COM. While X-COM fights, they seem to be negotiating surrender.]] This arc isn't finished yet.

** Agents can run (spending more energy, but less time units) and strafe (losing less time units for turning).

* DefeatMeansFriendship: If you capture an enemy dog alive, it's added to your kennel. Using other dog-like monsters isn't implemented yet.

* EarlyBirdCameo: Reapers are the terror weapon of Floaters, who normally appear by spring of 1999. But a monster hunt with Reaper(s) may appear as early as December 1996.

* EveryoneIsArmed: Civilians in terror and monster missions are not completely defenceless. More so for police. Even unarmed ones can use their fists. Hunters and warriors in "Strange Life Form" missions may kill a lone spineboar before you find it. 2018 changes to the engine AI made them more aggressive. Though, they still can die en masse.

** "Asylum Apparitions" mission usually appears before you get weapons that can kill or stun ghosts reasonably quickly. But disabling all enemies is not necessary to win, if you pay attention to the briefing.

** Ghosts require several dozens of bullets to kill. The Asylum Apparitions mission requires a [[GuideDangIt different]] solution.

* LeftHanging: The game is still unfinished. As of version 0.9.2 (June 2018) you can fly to Mars and win the game, but you can't resolve the following subplots:
** Hybrids.
** Men in Black.
** Shogg (BeneathTheEarth).
** Cult of Apocalypse.
** Ghosts.
** Whoever ran Black Lotus.

** The Church of Dagon is controlled by, well, "sea god" Dagon.

** As of version 1.8 the Black Lotus handlers haven't been implemented yet.

* TheMenInBlack: Early on your organization seems to be the Men in Black. The black suits are your default outfit, you are a mysterious organization with some SF gear. Quickly subverted when you end up having to fight the real Men in Black during a [[spoiler:crop circles, alien abduction or cattle mutilation]] mission. They are a mysterious organisation dealing with Hybrid Network and covering up stuff like abductions. This arc isn't finished yet.

->The most important piece of information we have received from the Kiryu-Kai is: "The invasion will begin on the 1st of January 1999, 12:00 GMT."
The flying saucer activity does increase in 1999, but you may not notice immediately.

** Same goes for security in mansion defence missions. Even when they have half-decent guns, they are unarmoured, and outgunned.

* ScrewThisIMOuttaHere: This mod has many more missions that penalize letting them expire than the vanilla game, but it's still possible to arrive, see the situation is unwinnable and leave. Of course, if there are any civilians or crucial installations, you are penalized for leaving them to die or be destroyed.
** Surf Time mission has no exit grid. You can only win or die. At least it's not that hard and the penalty for skipping isn't too high.
** In Black Lotus Party mission you need to fight your way from the first floor to the exit grid on the roof. Killing all enemies isn't much harder.

* TechTree: Like in the original games, only much bigger and without the infamous ''TFTD'' [[GuideDangIt quirks]]. Furthemore, the engine allows to browse the tree entries (press "q" in Geoscape), because even some mod authours occasionally get lost.

* UnderTheSea: Underwater missions against Deep Ones and their masters. The problem: you can't see underwater anywhere as well as actual underwater races, and the choice of weapon and armour is greatly reduced.

** The research during the [[spoiler:Dagon]] arc leads you to believe this enemy is going to be far more challenging than your previous enemies, with him being the expy of [[spoiler:Cthulhu and "The Ultimate Alien" from ''TFTD'']] and difficulty scaled accordingly. But actually [[spoiler:he won't wake up until 2040s and started to build an army only recently. His arc ends with the destruction of tasoth factory.]]

* {{Unobtainium}}: Ellerium-115 as in ''UFOEU''. Can be picked from intact UFO engines, an in the original game. The mod adds a twist that it can be extracted from alien ammunition, some other deices and even fuel traces from landed [=UFOs=]. Zrbite as in ''TFTD'', but it has fewer uses.

* TheReptilians: Reptoids. [[spoiler:Based BeneathTheEarth]]. This arc isn't finished yet.

** You can use [[HeroicDog dogs]], and so can some of your enemies. You can also tame any [[RodentsOfUnusualSize Giant Rats]] you capture, after a little research.

* BlackMarket: Where alien technology is sold. Also some weapons can only be bought from your enemies' suppliers.

** Played straight for new line of antimatter-powered blaster weapons. They are stated to be limited, but very large.

* BreastPlate: Female tomb guardians wear those. But so far, there are no male tomb guardians.

** The author stated they are going to change once MookMaker is implemented in the engine.
* BriefcaseFullOfMoney: Part of the loot in some missions. Worth $100 000 each. There are also money bags worth $500 000. And later a scaled-down version "wad of money" was added (worth $5000). Unfortunately, grabbing money and escaping is rarely an option, since reaching it usually requires neutralizing most of enemies on the map.

* CommonplaceRare: Building Avenger now requires [[spoiler:"Alien Electronics"]]. Despite the name, it doesn't appear at every UFO or underground base. To get some, the player needs to [[spoiler:[[GuideDangIt disassemble]] certain dead enemies: Cyberdisk, Cybermite, Obliterator]].

** Low-ranking Ethereals wear orange robes, members of the Order wear white.

* CoupDeGrace: Take the unconscious enemy in one hand and a melee weapon in another, and "Execute" appears among available attacks. Useful against zombies, who tend to get stunned easier than killed, but don't bleed and recover consciousness after several turns. Also useful against ImmuneToBullets enemies, when you are out of flamethrower fuel or flares, but still have stunners. Too bad 4-tile enemies can't be picked up and have to be shot the old way.

* DropTheHammer: Sledgehammer is an uncommon and very sought melee weapon.

* EmergencyWeapon: GoodOldFisticuffs became available since version 0.9.0. Civilians suddenly became quite capable of beating early enemies. Using ranged weapons as clubs is still impossible, unlike some other mods.

** Averted for X-COM agents. Unlike the original games, when agents wear armour, they hold helmets in their hands on the inventory screen.

* Main/JumpedAtTheCall: Most (if not all) of X-Com stuff, but nost prominently Chief Engineer. Though in his own words, he's in it solely for the gadgets.

** As of version 0.9.5.1 the Black Lotus handlers haven't been implemented yet.

** The fan-named "lethal injection" -- [[NoRangeLikePointBlankRange shooting from an ajacent tile]] -- no longer works as before. A target with time units will start GunStruggle, see above.

* {{Transhuman}}: Cyberweb members claim to be ones. Their version of transhumanism includes TranshumanTreachery.

** Subverted for EXALT Masters. While they do look like a BadassGrandpa, their stats are moderate.

** You can use [[HeroicDog dogs]], and so can some of your enemies.

** Viewing enemy information in battle: portrait, species/affiliation, rank and weapons in hands.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: If you capture an enemy dog alive, it's added to your kennel.

* TheManBehindTheMan: The Church of Dagon is controlled by, well, "sea god" Dagon. EXALT is secretly run by [[spoiler:Hybrids, who do the bidding of Cydonian aliens]]. Red Dawn isn't directly run by any outside force, but they pick the scraps from [[spoiler:Cyberweb, who has connections in another dimension]]. As of version 0.8.2 the Black Lotus handlers haven't been implemented yet.

* Main/{{Mordor}}: [[spoiler:What the Reptoids plan to do with the planet Earth.]]

* NintendoHard: Mainly by limiting team sizes and rising the research cost. You start with a car that carries only 2 agents. A few weeks later you can research (by a team of 5 scientists) a van for 4. Anything significantly bigger has ridiculously short range -- until you research Skyranger years later. Weapon choice is limited to a weak pistol and a shotgun, too heavy for some of your agents. Nearly every weapon has to be picked on the battlefield and researched to pass around the red tape or find a black market dealer. You do get a few decent weapons with promotions -- many months later. Every base building beside hangar, storehouse, living quarters, gym and holding cells has to be researched. In addition, you need special buildings for interrogation and biology research. But if you keep an agent alive several months, he will have no trouble surviving most missions.

* TheProphecy: "The most important piece of information we have received from the Kiryu-Kai is: 'The invasion will begin on the 1st of January 1999, 12:00 GMT.'" The flying saucer activity does increase in 1999, but you may not notice immediately.