#openxcom

[leflairzone]

Just exploring a little bit of heresy lately.

ROSIGMA 40K mod, OpenXcom.

[krisfaeley]

Stop me if you've heard this one before - "drawing is scary and I cannot do it ;-;" so, I'm back at spriting little XCom dudes. The Rosigma team have been stupid active, they've made a whole playable Tau faction and a bunch of flavors of playable Chaos, and now we've come full circle and they tasked me with fleshing out Valhallans - this feels significant to me, since concept for Valhallans was how I originally butted my way among the contributors.

Not sure what to do about their equivalent to T3 armors (Cadians get Kasrkin, Steel Legion got oldschool Stormtroopers), there isn't a whole lot of artwork for Ice Warriors out there and what there is is most definitely not heavy armor. Maybe I'll make some shit up. Anyways, their gameplay gimmick: their stats align closer to regular PDF, significantly less movement than Steel Legion, BUT they start each mission with a horde of NPC meatshields, so the player should have a minute or two to deploy their troops before things get hairy.

[readmedottxt]

The X-Com Files - OpenXcom, February 2026

WHAT DOES THIS MOD DO?

This mod lets you start the game much earlier than the original game. You begin as the head of an FBI-esque investigation bureau, tasked with checking all sorts of supernatural events around the globe. Track strange monsters, investigate evil cults, build up your strength to be ready for the alien invasion which starts in 1999!

Therefore The X-Com Files is a borderline case between a total conversion mod and a normal expansion: it has everything the original does, but it has so much new content that you won't be seeing the original one all that much, especially in early stages. It also has everything the Final Mod Pack had, albeit some things work a bit differently.

WHY WAS IT MADE?

This mod is in a way the next generation of the Final Mod Pack. I wanted to keep the FMP in line with the original game feel, so the changes were limited in many ways. In The X-Com Files, I allowed myself much more freedom in all possible ways. This allowed me to make a game that plays completely differently and gives you a more varied experience.

Also, this mod is something I wanted to play since the 90's. Go figure.

[doolallymagpie]

XCOM files is fun because you send your agents around on normal-ass flights and rental cars in the early game, and also you can flip through the UFOpedia and see some familiar faces

[digital-elixir]

X-Com UFO Defense is one of my favorite turn based strategy games of all time. I adore many, many elements. From the creepy, anxiety filled musical score, gorgeous and colorful sprite work, user interface, style, nostalgic sound effects, to the rock solid, customized gameplay, everything about this game brings me joy. I would sit hours on end in front of our families Compaq Presario PC, mesmerized. The integrated side speakers blared screeching sounds of Sectoids or Snakeman taking plasma fire.  While I never played Terror from the Deep, I discovered "Open X-com" and one day might give it a go. If you haven't played X-com UFO defense before, I highly urge you to try it! . . . #xcom #ufodefense #microprose #firaxis #pc #pcgaming #turnbasedstrategy #dos #msdos #openxcom #sectoid #aliens #floppydisk #floppy #games #gaming #videogame #gamer #videogames #retrogaming #instagaming #photography https://www.instagram.com/p/B7SAp0Nn3b1/?igshid=1wobej59ev7a0

[krisfaeley]

Fell down the depression hole and paper is now sPoOpY again, so I'm trying to crawl back to drawing the way I did last time, since that worked wonders. Not all that sure what it's good for, but I do manage to give it proper time and attention, which is an improvement over just lying around feeling bad for myself. Welp!

Largely finished with Steel Legion, but far be it from me to actually wrap something up and put a bow on it, nope! Started doing Krieg and opted for the blue color scheme, partly because OpenXcom has shite selection of greens, partly because it makes them look more French/less German, which has some people acting funny.

For the most part, it was just keeping me occupied and my mind off things, but there did rise a challenge; my BRILLIANT alternate sprites for 2x2 tile bolter units didn't actually adhere to the bounds by which the game uploads images. Sure looked like I'd have to scrap them, but that would break my freaking heart, so instead I went and broke them and voilá! I DID IT!

Huge thanks to Filip H for introducing me to a tool that dumbs down sprite-sheet cutting to a level even I can't mess up!

Meanwhile, Steel Legion has received a variety of Sentinels, new skins for mechanized units and unique heavy weapons teams. What remains is to do SL-unique Squats and Ratlings, and probably some CODEX arts to go with some of the items. Oh, and Orc Hunters! Mustn't forget the Orc Hunters.

In case it needs to be said, I can't code for jack, so none of this would be any good if not for the hard work of Leflair, Surrealistik and others of the Rosigma community who jumped on this without even needing to be asked. Thank you guys!

40k ROSIGMA for OpenXcom - mod.io

ROSIGMA is a collaboration of Leflair, Xom126 and Buscher combining ROSE and IGMA for the 40k mod. ROSIGMA expands the 40k mod with addition

[krisfaeley]

Something a little different this time, which is to say: I am sorry, everyone who's waiting for their commissions. My brain broke or something and drawing has been stressing me out of late, with the bizarre exception of spriting??? which feels safe and playful and ok.

So, uh, instead of doing my job, I've been making these for the Rosigma mod for OpenXcom. I really can't say enough good stuff about that, for the record; OpenXcom is the best Xcom on its own, but the Rosigma mod is a completely mindblowing experience that makes most huge release titles I've played look silly, and the community that makes it is super nice and helpful, even though I'm butting in without invitation and, uh, possibly trying to replace some sprites they've already made, but a commissar's >got to< have a long flowy coat, okay?

I used to pride myself on having gone through life completely ignorant of all things Warhammer until just about now, and I have... mixed feelings... about spending dozens of hours drawing little baby space fascists, but BOY the game is fun. I like to think that at the very least, this extremely niche mod for an ancient game that is being enjoyed by 10-12 people is an extremely funny hole to fall down.

Wouldn't be me if I didn't start a NEW project without first finishing the previous one, so while Steel Legion is still only half-cooked, I already slapped some dang Valhallans together.

Again, I'm sorry to anyone reading this that I've left on read for some weeks. I don't know how much of comfort this is, but I usually go through phases of drawing tiny little things compulsively for some time until one day, I find the paper is too small, and get back to "real" stuff - I hold onto a flickering hope that one day soon, these sprites will grow too small for me and I'll pick up a pen again ;-; Anyway - happy new year!

[doolallymagpie]

me: alright, my agents are gonna have a good investigation today

me: *sees that it's zombies* no they are not, get the fuck back in the car