Sounds like the old Nvidia palette hold up issue. Try an output that's not surface.

Unfortunately I am not too computer literate. I don't even know what that means. I got it on my laptop, windows 7. It is a top of the line laptop... plays WoW better than my desktop even. Just won't play the game in full screen. The small screen is just so small and is driving me nuts. As much as I love the game I never would have bought it having known I would have to re-write some of the code or whatever. One fix-it place told me to go into the .conf extension and rewrite it. However my computer won't even let me open it. I hate being this stupid.

You don't have to rewrite code. You have to edit dosbox' configuration file and there is start menu item for that. Click on the Windows button and select show all programs then go to the dosbox group and click on edit configuration or similar. When the text file opens look for the output setting and change that. It's near the top and above is written what settings you can try.

Also when you post for help in a forum don't write everything in caps. This is considered as screaming and rude.

Ok... will have to try that. Sorry for the caps, but I think I was actually screaming in frustration when I wrote it. j/k Thanks again guys.

Ok.. I did that. All I saw was the XCOM game, the manual, and the uninstall. There was nothing to edit the configuration.

there is a file called dosbox.conf. That file tells dosbox how to behave and what sort of system to emulate.

The following explains it:
http://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Dosbox.conf

One line in that text file says:
output=surface

If you read that link I sent, you will see that there are several other options, such as ddraw

So try changing that line to say
output=ddraw

Then save the file, and relaunch dosbox.

Dominus's post tells you exactly how to find this file.

Very awesome. Thank you so much for your help. I really do appreciate it guys.

One quick question. I understand the dosbox.conf thing... but how do you open it? Everytime I try it says to pick a program to open it. Do I have to download a special program?

notepad

ok.. cool. I had opened it once on notepad before... but wasn't sure if saving it would do anything. So just open it on notepad, then rewrite the stuff, and save it. Is that right?

ddraw worked!!!!! You guys are freaking amazing!!!!! Thank you sooooooo much. This has been driving me completely nutty. You guys ever make it out to the Kalispell, Montana area let me know cause I'm buying you all beers! 😀

I bought the game on Steam and ddraw, opengl, etc does not work, neither does setting full screen to true and inputting a resolution. The screen is still black, and even the loader provided with xcomutil doesn't fix the problem, or the color issues associated with the alternative start-up option available when starting the game through Steam (Windows 7). Ctrl-F10 doesn't cycle color patterns in that mode either. The only dosbox commands that work when running the game in windowed mode, full screen or the alternate color weird method from Steam is Alt+Enter for full screen and windowed mode.

I am playing the game in windowed mode, but I tried asking for help at the Steam forums and they couldn't suggest anything new to try, just kept repeating the ddraw stuff, etc. If I can get it to run in full screen that is great, but right now I do feel kinda cheated by buying the game only to have it not run in full screen and have so many game ending bugs (which xcomutil fixed, but still a lot of work to get a game to run properly).

Aymish wrote:

I bought the game on Steam

Why ask here? Steam have it's own forums and tech support. 😀
The short answer - you need to edit "...\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\x-com ufo defence\dosbox.conf", not the standard one.

Updated your graphic card drivers to the latest?

Gamecollector wrote:

Aymish wrote:

I bought the game on Steam

Why ask here? Steam have it's own forums and tech support. 😀
The short answer - you need to edit "...\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\x-com ufo defence\dosbox.conf", not the standard one.

Aymish wrote:

I tried asking for help at the Steam forums and they couldn't suggest anything new to try, just kept repeating the ddraw stuff, etc.

I asked there, and that is the only dosbox.conf I edited. There is no dosbox folder under start, all programs. They just kept repeating to use ddraw, which doesn't work.

Dominus wrote:

Updated your graphic card drivers to the latest?

Yes.

EDIT:

The game is becoming more work than it's worth even at the $5 dollar price tag, since xcomutil doesn't fix all of the bugs in the game. The 80 item limit ruined a save. I will just focus on the new game and leave this dinosaur alone. Thanks for the help everyone.

I'm having issues with getting Xcom to run without graphical glitches and failed shut downs, and with Xcom Util. I have the Steam version, but it has problems running at all, and still has the same set of color glitches. Rather than repeat it, here's a link to the Steam thread that offers no direct fixes. I've tried asking the current developer of XcomUtil for a fix without response.
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpos … 8&postcount=250

Here's the post I put on Steam, which has yet to be answered by anyone on any forum.
I have Win7 x64. I have vcredist_x86 already installed. I downloaded the Steam version. Prior to any other steps, I started the game and didn't see any palette glitches. I could not figure out how to close out of the game aside from a hard shut with Task Manager, or how to access the main menu.

I downloaded Dosbox 0.74 and placed it in common\XCom UFO Defense. My dosbox config is edited to read:

1#fulldouble=false 
2
3fullscreen=true
4fullresolution=1920x1080
5windowresolution=original
6output=ddraw
7autolock=true
8sensitivity=100
9waitonerror=true
10priority=higher,normal
11mapperfile=mapper.txt
12usescancodes=true
13
14frameskip=0
15aspect=false
16scaler=advmame2x
17
18core=auto
19cycles=auto limit 16000
20cycleup=500
21cycledown=20
22
23@echo off
24mount c XCOM -freesize 1024
25c:
26cd XCOM
27call ufocd.bat
28GO.bat
29exit

I ran XcuSetup.bat bat from \common\XCom UFO Defense\XCOM. My setup reads as follows from the LastOp.bat file:

1REM ##############################
2REM ##### Last Used Options ######
3REM ##############################
4 
5REM Unless listed, valid options(case sensitive): Yes, No
6REM Options are Case Sensitive
7 
8REM #### Windows Executable ####
9 
10REM SplEXE = Split Windows EXE. Required for most options.
11REM VsW7P = Patch for Vista / Windows 7 to fix blank screen
12REM Enf0dder = Enable f0dder loader to fix corrupted video.
13REM EnUFOEx = Enable UFO Extender
14 
15REM SplEXE: N/A, Yes, No
16set SplEXE=Y
17set VsW7P=Y
18set Enf0dder=Y
19set EnUFOEx=N
20 
21REM ##### Game Fixes #####
22 
23REM FAll = Apply all Fixes
24REM FURou = Fix UFO Routes
25REM FDesM = Fix Desert Map
26REM FXRou = Fix X-Com Base Routes / Spawn points
27REM FATer = Fix Alien Base Terrain
28REM FMTer = Fix Mountain Terrain
29REM FUTerain = Fix UFO Terrain
30REM FExTer = Fix Explosive Terrain
31REM FLitn = Fix Lightning Terrain
32REM FTMSwp = Fix TFTD Swaped Maps
33REM FixTUout = Fix TFTD USO Routes
34REM FTIntDis = Fix TFTD Interception Images
35 
36REM FAll: Y, N, P
37set FAll=Y
38set FURou=Y
39set FDesM=Y
40set FXRou=Y
41set FATer=Y
42set FMTer=Y
43set FUTer=Y
44set FExTer=Y
45set FLitn=Y
46set FTMSwp=N
47set FTURou=N
48set FTIntDis=N
49 
50REM ##### Game Modifications #####
51 
52REM ### Sound ###
53REM SG = Original Geoscape Sound Effects
54REM ST = Original Tactical Sound Effects
55 
56set SG=Y
57set ST=Y
58 
59REM ### Craft ###
60REM FasT = Fighter as Transport

61REM THP = Transport Hard Point
62 
63set FasT=N
64set THP=N
65 
66REM ### Base ###
67REM DefBas = Defensive Base Layout
68REM ImpBas = Improved Starting Base
69REM DisBas = Fix Disjointed Base Bug
70 
71set DefBas=N
72set ImpBas=N
73set DisBas=Y
74 
75REM ### Equipment ###
76REM ITank = Improved Tank
77REM IPst = Improved Pistol
78REM IHLsr = Improved Heavy Laser
79REM IHiEx = Improved High Explosive
80REM IDyeG = Improved Dye Granada
81REM IGuass = Improved Gauss Damage
82REM ReGCl = Remove Gauss Clip
83REM NewLT = Scott's Alternate Laser and Plasma Mod
84 
85set ITank=N
86set IPst=N
87set IHLsr=N
88set IHiEx=N
89set IDyeG=N
90set IGau=N
91set ReGCl=N
92set NewLT=N
93 
94REM ### Research ###
95REM ResFix = TFTD Research Fix
96REM CapARes = Captures Alien Research
97 
98set ResFix=N
99set CapARes=N
100 
101REM ### Units ###
102REM UNStat = Unit Name Stats
103REM UNR = Unit Name Ranks
104REM UNK = Unit Name Kills
105REM pCSrt = Pre-CombatSort
106REM ReEqp = Re-Equp Units
107REM EqpFRes = Equipment File Reset
108REM RemMC = Remove PSI/MC from Game
109REM MCScr = PSI/MC Screening
110REM ScrTyp = PSI/MC Screening Type
111 
112set UNStat=Y
113set UNR=Y
114set UNK=Y
115set pCSrt=Y
116set ReEqp=Y
117set EqpFRes=N
118set RemMC=N
119set MCScr=N
120REM ScrTyp: Lab, Alwase
121set ScrTyp=Lab
122 
123REM ### Battlefield ###
124REM fDay = Force Daylight
125REM fNight = Force Night
126REM BFGorWRnd = BFG or World Map Randomization
127REM BFG = BattleField Generator
128REM BFGProm = BFG Prompting for each CombatSort
129REM BFGRTer = BFG Random Terrain Selection
130REM RndWorld = Randomize World map Textures
131 
132set FDay=N
133set FNight=N
134 
135set BFGorWRnd=Y
136set BFG=Y
137set BFGProm=Y
138set BFGRTer=Y
139set RndWorld=N
140 
141REM ### Alien Craft Maps ###
142REM RndAC = Randomize Alien Craft
143REM RndACFr = Freqency of Randomization
144REM RndACSap = Randome Alien Craft Shapes
145REM KepRndAC = Keep Random Craft Files
146 
147set RndAC=Y
148REM RndACFr: Once, Every
149set RndACFr=Every
150set RndACSap=Y
151set KepRndAC=Y
152 
153REM ### Misc ###
154REM XcUMes = Display Autocombat and Research Messages
155 
156set XcUMes=Y
157set Ad=N

When I start Xcom up from Steam, it goes to the XcomUtil prompt. I hit 2, and the game goes to a blank screen and nothing else happens, in spite of the f0dder mod. Starting the game from common\XCom UFO Defense using DOSBox gives the same result. With either case, I must bring up Task Manager to end both programs. With the Steam version, it lags even more as Windows tries to find a way to fix it. The DOSBox status window reads on exit,
Code:
vga is not a valid value for variable: machine
Failed to create hardware surface.
Restarting video subsystem with windlb enabled.
Placing DOSBox in common\XCom UFO Defense\XCOM and trying to start it up results in DOSBox opening and shutting down immediately.

Since the Steam launch method failed, I tried starting it up from RunXcom.bat. The game launches with incorrect colors, as McZeroNG mentioned. The problem with displaying the glitches is that this is being done outside of the Steam overlay, so using Steam as a screencapture utility isn't possible, and using other screen capture techniques does not display the contents of the game at all, or displays the game imagery as it should be displayed, without the color artifacts; however when the game is in runtime, the palette is still glitched. I tried editing it to mapperfile=mapper-0.74.map, which was part of several other fixes required to run a different game from DOSBox, but did not help in this instance.

Starting the game from any other shortcut results in the same graphical glitches and shut-down problem.

Please help with the three issues I mentioned (blank screen, color glitches, and inability to shut down).

AceJoel96 wrote:

vga is not a valid value for variable: machine Failed to create hardware surface. Restarting video subsystem with windlb enable […]
Show full quote

vga is not a valid value for variable: machine
Failed to create hardware surface.
Restarting video subsystem with windlb enabled.
Placing DOSBox in common\XCom UFO Defense\XCOM and trying to start it up results in DOSBox opening and shutting down immediately.

DosBox is not lying: VGA is not a valid value for variable: machine.
For 0.74:

1#           Possible values: hercules, cga, tandy, pcjr, ega, vgaonly, svga_s3, svga_et3000, svga_et4000, svga_paradise, vesa_nolfb, vesa_oldvbe.

I see no VGA there...do you?
Also, try different outputs...you don't list what your video specs are (related to "failed to create hardware surface")...but, even if your video card is a POS...install the latest drivers 😀

"# machine -- The type of machine tries to emulate:hercules,cga,tandy,pcjr,vga."
I switched it to vgaonly after copying the following config file to this thread. It goes to a blank screen after choosing option 2, play X-COM. The DOSBox status window reads:
SHELL:Redirect output to nul
//the above message repeats several times
SHELL:Redirect output to scrap.txt
//more output to nul messages
SHELL:Redirect output to xcomutil.log
//repeats twice

I have an AMD 4870. My video card drivers are up to date.

1[sdl]
2# fullscreen -- Start dosbox directly in fullscreen.
3# fulldouble -- Use double buffering in fullscreen.
4# fullresolution -- What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).
5# windowresolution -- Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.
6# output -- What to use for output: surface,overlay,opengl,openglnb,ddraw.
7# autolock -- Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen.
8# sensitiviy -- Mouse sensitivity.
9# waitonerror -- Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.
10# priority -- Priority levels for dosbox: lowest,lower,normal,higher,highest,pause (when not focussed).
11#             Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized.
12# mapperfile -- File used to load/save the key/event mappings from.
13# usescancodes -- Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.
14#fulldouble=false 
15
16fullscreen=true
17fullresolution=1920x1080
18windowresolution=original
19output=openglnb
20autolock=true
21sensitivity=100
22waitonerror=true
23priority=higher,normal
24mapperfile=mapper-0.74.map
25usescancodes=true
26
27[dosbox]
28# language -- Select another language file.
29# memsize -- Amount of memory dosbox has in megabytes.
30# machine -- The type of machine tries to emulate:hercules,cga,tandy,pcjr,vga.
31# captures -- Directory where things like wave,midi,screenshot get captured.
32
33language=
34machine=vga
35captures=capture
36memsize=32
37
38[render]
39# frameskip -- How many frames dosbox skips before drawing one.
40# aspect -- Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!.
41# scaler -- Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes.
42#           Supported are none,normal2x,normal3x,advmame2x,advmame3x,hq2x,hq3x,
43#                         2xsai,super2xsai,supereagle,advinterp2x,advinterp3x,
44#                         tv2x,tv3x,rgb2x,rgb3x,scan2x,scan3x.
45
46frameskip=0
47aspect=false
48scaler=none
49
50[cpu]
51# core -- CPU Core used in emulation: normal,simple,dynamic,auto.
52#         auto switches from normal to dynamic if appropriate.
53# cycles -- Amount of instructions dosbox tries to emulate each millisecond.
54#           Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags.
55#           You can also let DOSBox guess the correct value by setting it to max.
56#           The default setting (auto) switches to max if appropriate.
57# cycleup   -- Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo.
58# cycledown    Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.
59
60core=auto

61cycles=auto limit 16000
62cycleup=500
63cycledown=20
64
65[mixer]
66# nosound -- Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.
67# rate -- Mixer sample rate, setting any devices higher than this will
68#         probably lower their sound quality.
69# blocksize -- Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering
70#              but sound will also be more lagged.
71# prebuffer -- How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.
72
73nosound=false
74rate=22050
75blocksize=4096
76prebuffer=14
77
78[midi]
79# mpu401      -- Type of MPU-401 to emulate: none, uart or intelligent.
80# device      -- Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.
81#                This can be default,alsa,oss,win32,coreaudio,none.
82# config      -- Special configuration options for the device. In Windows put
83#                the id of the device you want to use. See README for details.
84
85mpu401=intelligent
86device=default
87config=
88
89[sblaster]
90# sbtype -- Type of sblaster to emulate:none,sb1,sb2,sbpro1,sbpro2,sb16.
91# sbbase,irq,dma,hdma -- The IO/IRQ/DMA/High DMA address of the soundblaster.
92# mixer -- Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the dosbox mixer.
93# oplmode -- Type of OPL emulation: auto,cms,opl2,dualopl2,opl3.
94#            On auto the mode is determined by sblaster type.
95#            All OPL modes are 'Adlib', except for CMS.
96# oplrate -- Sample rate of OPL music emulation.
97
98sbtype=sb16
99sbbase=220
100irq=7
101dma=1
102hdma=5
103mixer=true
104oplmode=auto
105oplrate=22050
106
107[gus]
108# gus -- Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.
109# gusbase,irq1,irq2,dma1,dma2 -- The IO/IRQ/DMA addresses of the 
110#            Gravis Ultrasound. (Same IRQ's and DMA's are OK.)
111# gusrate -- Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.
112# ultradir -- Path to Ultrasound directory.  In this directory
113#             there should be a MIDI directory that contains
114#             the patch files for GUS playback.  Patch sets used
115#             with Timidity should work fine.
116
117gus=true
118gusrate=22050
119gusbase=240
120irq1=5
121irq2=5
122dma1=3
123dma2=3
124ultradir=C:\ULTRASND
125
126[speaker]
127# pcspeaker -- Enable PC-Speaker emulation.
128# pcrate -- Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.
129# tandy -- Enable Tandy Sound System emulation (off,on,auto).
130#          For auto Tandysound emulation is present only if machine is set to tandy.
131# tandyrate -- Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.
132# disney -- Enable Disney Sound Source emulation.
133
134pcspeaker=true
135pcrate=22050
136tandy=auto
137tandyrate=22050
138disney=true
139
140[joystick]
141# joysticktype -- Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none,
142#                 2axis (supports two joysticks), 4axis,
143#                 fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick).
144#                 none disables joystick emulation.
145#                 auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s).
146# timed -- enable timed intervals for axis. (false is old style behaviour).
147# autofire -- continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed.
148# swap34 -- swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks.
149# buttonwrap -- enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons.
150
151joysticktype=auto
152timed=true
153autofire=false
154swap34=false
155buttonwrap=true
156
157[serial]
158# serial1-4 -- set type of device connected to com port.
159#              Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
160#              Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of
161#              parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq.
162#              for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).
163#              for modem: listenport (optional).
164#              for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,
165#                             transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).
166#              Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000
167
168serial1=dummy
169serial2=dummy
170serial3=disabled
171serial4=disabled
172
173[dos]
174# xms -- Enable XMS support.
175# ems -- Enable EMS support.
176# umb -- Enable UMB support.
177# keyboardlayout -- Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).
178
179xms=true
180ems=true
181umb=true
182keyboardlayout=none
183
184[ipx]
185# ipx -- Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.
186
187ipx=false
188
189[autoexec]
190# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
191@echo off
192mount c XCOM -freesize 1024
193c:
194cd XCOM
195call ufocd.bat
196GO.bat
197exit