:       I have few questions to ask :
:
:       1) What's the STRENGTH of the solider for, I find out even the solider
:           didn't kill anyone , he can raise the str.

Strength is a measure of how much stuff a soldier can carry. A low strength
soldier will, if you give him/her a heavy weapon, have fewer TUs at the
beginning of the round. For example, don't give a heavy cannon to a soldier
with strength<25. This is a really easy stat to increase, all that you
need to do is have a soldier stand around carrying stuff. Most experienced
troopers will have str>40 after several missions.

:       2) How come my firestorm is always travelling not very far distance,
:          don't tell me the fule tank (20E) is only travelling distance like
:           20 for the interceptor.

Firestorms have a small fuel tank. 20E is the number of elerium units to
fuel the craft; I don't know how this translates into range. Use Avengers
instead; they have more range :-)

:       3) If one of the country sign secret pact with alien, is it possible
:           to have that country support back ?

Yes. Shoot down everything that comes near that country for a couple of
months. Make sure that there aren't any bases there. Take out whatever
bases do exist. This will give you a reasonable chance of getting the
country back.
:       4) I didn't finish my psi-lab yet, so I don't know which soliders have
:           higher psi-str, but I want to know is that will every solider has
:           possibility of panick or even being alien control. Last time I goto
:           terror site to fight those etherals, they control or cause most of
:           my soliders panic.

I'm not sure what you're asking here, but psi strength is essentially
defensive psi ability, and psi skill is offensive. Strength is invariant
for a given soldier, while skill can be increased.

:       5) I capture and research those alien engineers, but what's for ? I
:           can't seem to find out.

Engineers give you knowledge of the stats of the different UFOs. Look in
the UFOpeadiea under UFOs.

:       6) How do I know how full those alien containers has ? Since everytime
:           I finish a battle with Muton, I did get a few live back, I don't
:           want to have them, but maybe laser can't kill them completely.

There's no way to know how many aliens are in the containment. This is
a major annoyance once the ACUs start to fill up.
:       7) Although many aliens have their str and weakness, but I can't see
:           the big difference, I still can kill muton(resist AP) or other race
:           with laser rifles.

Mutons have an average health of 125, which means that it will take several
laser bolots to kill one, as opposed to weakling races like floaters, which
have health ~40.

:       8) How come everytime I fight sectoid ,I didn't get psi attack, even
:           though I know they can, I only get psi attack when in terror sites,
:           I fight sectoid AND cyberdisc, so I start to think cyberdisc can
:           control my soliders.

Only section Leaders and Commanders have psi. Leaders can be found at
terror sites, alien bases, xcom base raids and large ships. Commanders
can be found at alien bases, xcom base raids and battleships.

:       9) How do I attract the alien to attack my bases. I want to get those
:           hugh bunch of Elerium.

Get a hyperwave decoder, and when UFO scouts appear on a retaliation mission,
leave them alone. Eventually a battleship will appear. This is the actual
strike force. Note that in version 1.2 of the game, aliens do not bring
Elerium with them on their base raids. (I think that we should at least
get the 200 elerium from the battleship that they came in)

:       10)I got so many alien alloys, and I don't know what's they can be good
:           for ? I built many general stores to store many items.

You need alloys to manufacture lots of different things. At the minimum,
you need 1 Avenger to win the game, which requires 120 alloys to build
(among other things). If nothing else, you can sell the alloys. 150 units
is worth ~1 million on the open market, which isn't too bad, as they're
easy to come by.
:       11)Is it possible to arrange the order of the teams, so that I can put
:           some strong guys in front , so the first attack out of ship is
:           better.

Unfortunately no.
# There's no way to know how many aliens are in the containment. This is
# a major annoyance once the ACUs start to fill up.
#

One way is go to the transfer screen (not the one in the base info screen), and
count how many different live aliens you can transfer to some other base.  Or
you can go to the research screen, and choose new subject and see how many live
aliens you can interrogate.  Of course, if you have more than one alien
containment on that base, these won't tell you which one has how many.
-------
Next, one FAQ states that once you research Plasma Cannon you get both
the cannon and the plasma hovertank. I've got through plasma defense
but I still can't purchase OR produce a hovertank. Obviously I've got
UFO nav, UFO power source so that can't possibly be it. Is the chart in
the FAQ wrong? What else do I need? I did skip over plasma handguns, maybe
that's the missing piece? (ARGH, now I'll have to find one...)
-------
Get rid of Alien Entertainment and habitat, etc.  Keep minimum of corpses
until the race has been autopsied, then sell them all.  Keep only a
couple of power sources and navigations, with a 1:2 ratio depending on
how many hi-tech ships you want to build.  150 scientists working should
be enough for all tasks...  You realize how much you pay these guys a month?

>eager to get rid of the entertaiment but my luck would have it be important)
>Also, what sould I really push for reaserching right now.  I have a hunch I

Corpses can wait...  Live aliens will eventually die.  Doubles do take
up space... no roommates!  10 to an area.  Do Alien Origins BEFORE the
leader... but do the leader...  then study his results before working
over a commander.  Mind probes are field equipment...  nothing to do with
interrogation.

-------
I use a technique that I believe to be easier on the troops.
Whenever I need to go through a door, I position everyone outside
the door in a standard pattern.  One person primes a grenade.  Next
turn, a soldier with a very high reaction opens the door and
usually steps to the side.  Then the person with the grenade tosses
the grenade into the room and the door opener comes back out.
If the aliens return fire, it's usually at the grenade thrower who
is kneeling one or two squares outside the door.  Often they don't
even get that chance since I can be out of the aliens line of fire
and still get the grenade in the square next to the alien (good enough).
So far I seem to get one casualty out of every dozen trys.  Typically
it's when the grenade thrower is forced to stand (not kneel) in the line
of fire to make a decent throw.
-------
I believe that the values in the FAQ are for v1.0, and they were changed
in 1.2. Can anyone who has 1.0 confirm this? Anyway, the best cash cows
are laser weapons, preferably laser cannons. They are fairly easy to
build and don't require either Elerium or Alien Alloys.

:
:Next, one FAQ states that once you research Plasma Cannon you get both
:the cannon and the plasma hovertank. I've got through plasma defense
:but I still can't purchase OR produce a hovertank. Obviously I've got
:UFO nav, UFO power source so that can't possibly be it. Is the chart in
:the FAQ wrong? What else do I need? I did skip over plasma handguns, maybe
:that's the missing piece? (ARGH, now I'll have to find one...)

To build any hovertank, you need to research either UFO construction
or New Fighter Craft (not sure which). Plasma Pistols/PP clips are
a research dead end; research them only if you want to use them.
-------
A few corrections and additions to the UFOpedia:

Avengers take 12 units of E115 to refuel, NOT 60.
I presume that Firestorms take 4 E115 to refuel, and Lightnings take 6.

All lasers do not need ammo.

Fighter Plasma cannons do not use up E115 or any other form of ammo.
I presume Plasma tanks don't use up E115 either.

All fighter weapons ranges must be multiplied by 8, I believe, to compare
them to the UFO weapon ranges and the "range" number in fighter/UFO combat.

I have no idea how many hits it takes to destroy a UFO but after seeing
battleships go down after 2-4 fusion defense hits, I think it's very random.
-------
>I've never succeeded in controlling an alien unless my guy's psi
>skill is over fifty, and it doesn't succeed routinely until the
>skill is over sixty-five.

I suspect that the success of mind-controlling attacks depend on your
soldier's psi-strength PLUS psi-skill, not just psi-skill.  Thus someone
with psi strength+skill of 90+30 can usually do better than another with
50+60.

As a general rule, I let any soldier with good psi-strength (90+) practice
mind-control very early, even when his/her psi-skill is still rather low
(30+).  The initial success rate may not be good (typically just one out of
three or four), but your soldier's psi-skill will improve steadily with
every mission.  This is much faster than waiting for psi-school to take
effect every month.
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-------
Doug,
  I posted a file called XCOM-SOL.ZIP on AOL.  It is also on CIS and GEnie
under the name XCOM-S.ZIP.  This file contains a module for Universal Game
Editor, and will let you change almost anything on the first 66 soldiers
in your roster.  Change soldier stats, instant healing of wounds, teleport
from one base to another.  Give your soldiers super PSI powers and flying
suits.  You must have Universal Game Editor (filename UGE10.ZIP) to use
this module.
  UGE and the XCOM module are available on CIS, AOL and GEnie.  They are
also available on your first call to The Cutting Edge BBS at 713-466-1525.
Login as FILE REQUEST UGE instead of your name and you will get instant
access to download these files, without having to register.
      Jack Hartman
way, the best part of the game is just BEFORE you mastered psi.
Once I have trained a few psi-experts, every mission becomes a walk in
the park.  I just have my psi-experts round up more and more aliens each
turn, and march them out to the open field.  In the mean time, I have the
other soldiers do exercises like running wildly across the field (to build
up their TUs), shooting at trees/walls (to improve their firing accuracy),
while waiting for the aliens to match forward and be executed.  Yes, this
is so inhumane, but then again, aliens are NOT humans.
-------
-------
> >Actually with 8 TUs left, you could have easily made your befuddled muton
> >drop his weapons.  Then he is totally harmless. :)  Aliens never pick up
> >dropped weapons.  Not smart, but it sure makes life easier.  I mind
>
> Actually no.  You can't make them drop their weapons because you can't
> access the individual soldier screen of a mind controlled alien.  You
> can make them throw away their weapons, but that usually takes 14 TUs.
>
Actually yes.  Access the alien by selecting the equipment display
screen of one of your troops.
Then use the right or left arrow button to step from troop to troop.
Eventually you will hit a nordic looking character with a name like
"Muton Commander".
This is not one of your men; it is the alien.
Have him drop his weapon (2 TU) and his grenade hiding there behind
his spare clip.
The aliens have the unique ability to carry more than one item per slot.
Be careful; if you do not have enough TU left to drop the item,
you may not be able to put it back either.
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Dear Guys,

  I have a friend who has a friend... ...a programmer of X-Com. According
to him:

      1) The game stops giving away as much E-115 as time goes by in order
to simulate the awareness of the alien races to your inability to find or
produce the substance.

       2) *WARNING* - Don't sell Alien Entertainment - it shows the people
of the Earth that these creatures have culture and a social order and will
increase the chance of losing countries.


                                                                    Eric
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