Author Archives: SupSuper

Nighty builds fixed

The Downloads page has been updated and the nightly builds (Windows and Linux!) are now generated by Github Actions. Now the build process is open for anyone to maintain, there’s a reference for package maintainers, and any mod and fork can make their own builds easily. Plus if something catastrophic happens, you’ll always have a mirror.

Some important changes to note:

  • The Data Patch is now included with OpenXcom. You no longer need to worry about when to install it, update it, overwriting original files, etc. We’ve also moved it to Github so you can report any issues or changes there. If you’re compiling it yourself you still need to download it separately, but just stick it in your “bin” folder and you’re good to go.
  • The Transifex translations are working again as well. If you need a version more recent than the one in the builds, just grab them from Github Actions.
2 Replies

Server migration

After 15 long years, NineX is retiring from being our generous host and webmaster. We salute your efforts.

OpenXcom.org and Ufopaedia.org are now being hosted by StrategyCore. You might remember them as one of the first X-COM fansites, so I guess we’ve come full circle. If you notice any issues with the site, let us know.

Stay tuned for a website refresh in the future.

1 Reply

The war in Ukraine

On February 24th 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. This is, quite frankly, terrifying. I don’t need to tell you war is bad for everyone involved. A large portion of our community is in the middle of this, and I worry for their safety and well-being. You’re like our family and you have our solidarity in this.

Do what you can to help. I’ll be donating to the Ukrainian Red Cross and praying this is all over before we all become casualties. Stay safe.

OpenXcom and XPiratez

The XPiratez Discord has been banned following allegations of hateful conduct, you can read about it here. Due to the large overlap between OpenXcom communities, several developers and modders were caught in the aftermath, and will not be returning to Discord. So if you need assistance with mods and OpenXcom Extended, you should use our forum instead.

Normally this would be the end of it, but we keep getting involved in the accusations, so let me make this perfectly clear: OpenXcom does not condone any behavior in the XPiratez Discord. There is no official association between the developers of OpenXcom, OpenXcom Extended and XPiratez. Any discrimination and harassment in our official channels is a bannable offense and should be reported to us immediately.

However, community sites and mods are not affiliated with us. If you have a problem with them, report it to their staff and leave if you are not comfortable there. Developers may provide support to players and modders in unofficial channels, but that’s the extent of our relationship. Personal opinions are their own and not representative of anyone else.

We’ve talked with the XPiratez staff and they’ve agreed things got out of hand and will strive to do better, so for now we are keeping their mod subforum but under new management. This is subject to change and we’ll be monitoring the situation closely. The safety and security of our community is paramount, but we don’t want to hold every player responsible for the actions of a few individuals either. For now we leave it up to you whether you wanna keep supporting XPiratez or not.

25 Replies

The Making of X-COM book

Thanks for all the support everyone! On to more X-COM news, David Craddock is writing a book about the making of the original game, which I figured fans would be interested in. From the author’s own words:

Monsters in the Dark: The Making of X-COM: UFO Defense tells the story of the early years of legendary strategy game designer Julian Gollop and the making of the original X-COM, and is funding now on Kickstarter.

The standard edition will be available from retailers, but the special edition is exclusive to the Kickstarter and contains some bonus content (including an interview with yours truly). So if you need to know everything about X-COM, go check it out.

Edit: Second chance to get the book on Indiegogo.

3 Replies

Patreon

Hello everyone. This is SupSuper writing to you personally, not as representative of OpenXcom. No light-hearted tone, jokes, or any of the usual stuff. This is a serious post so I don’t wanna waste your time.

I’m sure you’ve noticed my contributions to OpenXcom have been pretty rare lately. Sadly my life has had to take priority, OpenXcom is a hobby I work on in my spare time, my income comes from working full-time as a programmer and it’s very difficult to keep both up without taking a toll on my mental health. I am as sorry about this as much as you, I love my community, I do my best to keep myself available whenever possible, and I hate letting you all down like this.

To make matters worse, 2020 has been a rough year on everyone and I’ve been running into financial difficulties. I talked it over with some friends and they suggested setting up a Patreon. This lets you donate to me monthly, helping support me and my hobbies like OpenXcom. It’s like a subscription, only there are no hidden penalties, you can start, change and stop donations at any time.

So if you’ve been a fan and have money to spare, consider donating to my Patreon and spread the word. You’d be surprised how every little helps. At worst, you will help alleviate my financial troubles. At best, I could work full-time on this and more remakes, without having to juggle jobs. I can’t guarantee you’ll get anything out of it but I’ll be eternally grateful and I’ll do my best to meet your expectations.

If you don’t care I fully understand, I’m not trying to guilt you or ask for charity, just trying to figure out ways to help both of us. This will be my first and last time asking for personal donations on this website. I’d rather keep this related to OpenXcom or more charitable causes. Here’s a FAQ, if you got more questions just ask:

Continue reading →
5 Replies