X-Com: Chimera Squad

[DJ-RK]

Figured I'd let it be known that I picked this up on pre-order, mainly because it's cheap, but also because it does look like a pretty good game in it's own right. I'm not super hyped to play this or anything, so don't expect a day one fix (and probably not even week one), but I've had some interest in revisiting my X-Com 2 fix for a while now so this will probably take it's place in my priority queue, and if I can make enough improvements I'll likely adapt them to X-Com 2 and update that fix down the line.

[Skawen]

Wow it's good to know that You are still interested in this game series

This game series have my attention from 90's when I first tried X-Com.

[skyrimer]

Great o hear, loved the original one but I haven't played yet the second game, it never gets cheap enough to get it.

[Necropants]

Big fan of Xcom 2, I'm not sure about this new one as it seems to remove the very thing that is appealing to many (myself included) about Xcom 2. i.e the character customization and the attachment that grows between characters and such.
Why is it so cheap? Short?. Anyway thanks for your attention to it regardless DJ-Rk

[sebastatu]

Sup DJ.. you always picking and fixing the games I love, from Mortal Kombat to Xcom. Big thanks to you my brother.

[Lysander]

Hi DJ, I don't suppose you ever got to this as I don't see any mention of a fix on the blog or elsewhere here? Just wondering.
Has anyone tried the XCOM2 fix with this game?

cheers

[DJ-RK]

Sadly no, and it's not even that I forgot about it (I keep seeing it in my Steam library every time I look at it), I just haven't really been in the mood to play it.

There is some possibility my X-Com 2 fix may work here, as I had updated it to regex for the latest version and I don't think the engine has likely changed at all. There may be a bit of jank with the convergence presets and HUD settings made for XC2, which unfortunately was janky in some circumstances even for that game (much to my dismay and not for a lack of effort of trying to work around certain 3DMigoto quirks and conflicts with loading convergence presets).

Fortunately, I am now in a much better position to be working on fixes again but I just haven't hit the right motivation to get started on anything yet. I've also been very preoccupied with a lot of other projects and interests lately, one of which has been building and tuning a whole new PC that is much more 3D capable than before. I can finally play GTA5 and RotTR at 60FPS now! AND I have the choice of doing it in 1440P on a 27" monitor or in 1080P/120hz on a 120" projector screen, so hopefully that'll draw my attention back to 3D gaming for some time, long enough to put out a couple of new fixes that I've promised at least, and perhaps this could be one of them. However, as alluring as 60FPS 3D gaming probably sounds, unfortunately 3D gaming has some stiff competition for my time and interest as I've also revamped my music studio with new gear and am dabbling in learning some musical production. I was also lucky enough to score a PS5, and the combination of playing 4K@60fps on a 120" screen with raytracing effects REALLY does diminish the loss of 3D. I don't know if it's because I've been playing in 3D so long, or what, but I feel like I can almost see 2D games in 3D now! (maybe that's just the weed, though, so I dunno :p) I'm currently in the middle of a Demon's Souls remake playthrough, so if anything I'll probably not be doing much 3D gaming until I'm done with that, at the very least.

So yeah, that's my latest update for y'all. A bunch of answers to questions about myself no one asked, but there ya have it.

Edit: Changed Dark Souls to Demon's Souls

[Lysander]

no worries, was just wondering cause I saw a deal on this game.
Certainly with all your new toys you are plenty occupied
I do hope you'll get your motivation for ME:Legendary though :O

[DJ-RK]

Yeah, ME: Legendary being one of the main ones that I said I would work on, so I intend to stick to it. Kinda wish it were here sooner since now is the time I'm readily available for this stuff, a lot could happen between now and May. At least that leaves some time to look at some other stuff in the meantime.

[whyme466]

Until DJ-RK has time to fix Chimera Squad (we really appreciate the quality of your fixes, DJ-RK!), two other isometric, turns-based games with great recent 3D fixes are Wasteland 3 and Phoenix Point.

[Lysander]

Yeah, ME: Legendary being one of the main ones that I said I would work on, so I intend to stick to it. Kinda wish it were here sooner since now is the time I'm readily available for this stuff, a lot could happen between now and May. At least that leaves some time to look at some other stuff in the meantime.

super!

Until DJ-RK has time to fix Chimera Squad (we really appreciate the quality of your fixes, DJ-RK!), two other isometric, turns-based games with great recent 3D fixes are Wasteland 3 and Phoenix Point.

I'm in no rush, first I need to play XCOM2

[DJ-RK]

Alright, I think I've left people waiting long enough here and that it's time for me to finally produce the goods!

Been working on both XC2 and XC:CS this week, and unfortunately the XC2 fix still needs a bit of work with respect to reflections (which strangely and thankfully isn't a problem with XC:CS, and CS could already be in it's final version already), but I don't want to let that hold me back from letting some of you enjoy these fixes sooner since I probably won't have more fixing time until next week, so I'll post up both the WIP's in here for now. Both game fixes are nearly identical, but one of the UI features I've built in does interact a bit differently in both games (because XC2 has 7 different zoom in/out levels in gameplay, while XC:CS only has 5), so for now I've packed each one separately.

Unfortunately I only have time to do a basic rundown of features. I'll try to edit and update more over the weekend.

Some basic keys are:
Caps Lock: Toggles between mouse cursor being at 3D depth or at static depth (same depth as rest of HUD). Default to static HUD depth
F2 or Shift+F2: Cycles through 5 convergence settings
F3 or Shift+F3: Cycles through several HUD depth settings (which might not be necessary to use much thanks to the following feature):
F4: HUD on/off toggle

I've duplicated the HUD depth adjustments to be on the T and G keys (but without the Help OSD displaying the value on screen, ie. in stealth mode), which by default in game are the zoom in and zoom out keys. The key binding conflict is intentional, I personally want them on the same keys because as you zoom into the scene the HUD may go inside of geometry, which I don't like, so by having the HUD depth % decrease as you zoom in keeps the HUD from going inside geometry, and instead always seems "in front of" the geometry in the scene. This feature can be enabled/disabled via the Alt + F3 key if you don't like it. (enabled by default)

I've also made some light use of my 3D Zoom custom shader here. I need more time to explain this in detail, but it essentially is used to lower the convergence when attacking (by pressing the 1 key on the keyboard), and then gradually return back after pressing 1 a 2nd time (while the attack animation plays out). There is also another Zoom preset to return to normal convergence via the Esc key (so this in effect cancels the zoom effect if you cancel your attack). This feature can be enabled/disabled by pressing the Alt + F2 keys (enabled by default)

Ok, I think I pretty much explained most of what's necessary, so maybe I won't need to edit after all.

Downloads:
XCom 2 and War of the Chosen 2021 3D Fix WIP1
XCom: Chimera Squad 3D Fix WIP 1

Enjoy, and all feedback/bug reports are welcome at this point.

Sorry, not a ton of pics taken at this point, but here's a few taken from Chimera Squad:

xcom001_085.jpg

xcom003_085.jpg

xcom004_085.jpg

xcom005_085.jpg

Edit: One issue I am aware of is the screen effect when being spotted in XC2 is bugged. Occurs fast, just haven't had time to tackle capturing that yet, but will be resolved in full rls.

Edit 2: Updated Chimera Squad WIP to 1.1 on Aug 8, 2021 to rectify red error messages on startup and certain UI features not working correctly thereafter. Everyone that has downloaded the previous version will want to redownload this version.

[Lysander]

ooooh, an awesome late night surprise! I am downloading CS now and will check it out tomorrow. I bought it as part of a Humble Bundle and was unsatisfied that it was the only big game in the bundle without a fix, so I'm really glad it now has it another game in my 3D queue I got X-Com 2 lined up as well as I only played the 1st one years ago. thx a lot man!

[Onemanstanding]

Thanks DJ-RK for these fixes!

Looking forward to trying them out.

[Skawen]

Thank You very much DJ-RK for those fixes!

Will try them out after finish current game.

[Guig2000]

Thank you!

Guys, be aware that war of the choosen have his own sub-directory and separate binary, the 2021 WotC fix must not overwrite the 2019 fix as the 2021 does not works on the vanilla game.
The subdirectory is this one: "XCom2-WarOfTheChosen\Binaries\Win64"

As I prefer to launch 3D games via 3Dfix manager, I created profiles into my installation:

DJ-RK XCOM2 Fixes profiles.zip

Just place them into your 3D fix manager "fixes" subdirectory. You may have to rename the two profile's directory in order to avoid overwriting your own existing profiles. You may also have to edit the profiles' url to 3dfix.

But I've an issue with chimera squad: there is warnings displayed in red at launch about undeclared variable and invalid condition $tactical_convergence and $HUDDepthOnTandG:

chimera squad 3Dfix starter error.jpg

[DJ-RK]

But I've an issue with chimera squad: there is warnings displayed in red at launch about undeclared variable and invalid condition $tactical_convergence and $HUDDepthOnTandG:
chimera squad 3Dfix starter error.jpg

Yeah, whoops, unfortunately that's the result of me switching back and forth between fixing two games utilizing the same code (but unsynced files) and rushing to get things released. I've rectified that error and made a WIP v1.1 update for Chimera Squad. I've also updated the link in the previous post. Everyone please redownload, and thank you Guig2000 for reporting the error.

[DJ-RK]

Perfect timing! Steam is having an XCom franchise sale this weekend, and you can grab XC2 base, WOTC, and/or Chimera Squad at a large discounts so now's the perfect time to buy in for anyone waiting on a sale for any of those.

[Losti]

Perfect timing! Steam is having an XCom franchise sale this weekend, and you can grab XC2 base, WOTC, and/or Chimera Squad at a large discounts so now's the perfect time to buy in for anyone waiting on a sale for any of those.

Thy for the information!

[NeIVIeSiS]

Nice. I have been using the fix available in helix mod for a long time. But that in that one the water and holographic images in the training grounds were broken. Crossing my fingers those are fixed in this release!

[NeIVIeSiS]

Perfect timing! Steam is having an XCom franchise sale this weekend, and you can grab XC2 base, WOTC, and/or Chimera Squad at a large discounts so now's the perfect time to buy in for anyone waiting on a sale for any of those.

So I tried the new fix for WOTC, I was happy to see that you fixed the Training Center Holograms and the light beams from weapons. Unfortunately, there are two major issues introduced with this fix:

1- Most of the text in menus and general UI is broken:. Particularly in the strategy layer inside the Avenger.
2- Reaper overlay in the tactical layer is broken - it looks much darker and full of artifacts. So once a Reaper is selected you can't really see anything in the screen.

[whyme466]

Thanks for Chimera Squad fix, DJ-RK! Note that, without fix installed, I could not get the unmodified game to display the game graphics correctly (black/blank screen with game audio working, alt-enter sometimes temporarily restoring background graphics). However, the Chimera Squad fix uniquely enables all game graphics to be displayed on my setup, in glorious 3D…

[DJ-RK]

So I tried the new fix for WOTC, I was happy to see that you fixed the Training Center Holograms and the light beams from weapons. Unfortunately, there are two major issues introduced with this fix:

1- Most of the text in menus and general UI is broken:. Particularly in the strategy layer inside the Avenger.
2- Reaper overlay in the tactical layer is broken - it looks much darker and full of artifacts. So once a Reaper is selected you can't really see anything in the screen.

Thanks for the reports. I remember that overlay you're referring to from the last time I worked on the game/fixed it now that you've mentioned it, but unfortunately it didn't come up during my playtime while working on the latest version of the fix so I didn't catch it, but I'll make sure to locate and fix that for the next version.

Thanks for Chimera Squad fix, DJ-RK! Note that, without fix installed, I could not get the unmodified game to display the game graphics correctly (black/blank screen with game audio working, alt-enter sometimes temporarily restoring background graphics). However, the Chimera Squad fix uniquely enables all game graphics to be displayed on my setup, in glorious 3D…

Glad to hear that's a double-win for you, in this case, my good man. Enjoy the game, and thanks for all the support!

[Skawen]

Maybe some one had the same issue as me, I tried X-Com: Chimera Squad fix & when I press F2 to change convergence I got black screen & every time I need to press Ctrl + F5 for long time & then I see normal image, but with very low 3d.

It look like this in the middle of Ctrl +F5:

xcom001_085.jpg

[Skawen]

Tested more & not black screen but all icons are missing even when I try in first mission to select places where my team will start, I don't change any convergence settings but when I select first box then all HUD disappears, but after long Ctr+F5 I got it back but 3d is so low that I can call it 2d.

I'm using W10 & latest 3d drivers.

[DJ-RK]

Tested more & not black screen but all icons are missing even when I try in first mission to select places where my team will start, I don't change any convergence settings but when I select first box then all HUD disappears, but after long Ctr+F5 I got it back but 3d is so low that I can call it 2d.

I'm using W10 & latest 3d drivers.

Ok, sounds like you just have the HUD disabled, possibly via my hotkey on the F4 key (which I seem to have not mentioned in my original post, somehow. I'll edit it to include that hotkey). Try pressing that to see if it brings the HUD back, or by pressing ctrl + alt + F10 to clear all persistent fix settings to default.

I also think you are having a conflict between your default Nvidia keybindings and this fixes default keybindings. I always hated the Nvidia default keybindings, and changed my convergence and separation +/- keys to be CTRL + '+' and CTRL + '-' and ALT + '+' and ALT + '-' a long time ago. This is also why I try to provide convergence presets of my own, so that people do not need to ultilize the original Nvidia functions, but I also forget that my fix keybindings may interfere with those. In any event, for now I'll need to ask you to figure out your own solution, but I'll consider rearranging my choice of keys for the universal fix going forward.

Anyways, if your issue isn't otherwise resolved by the above comments then I'll try to look at anything related to your issue and/or NeIVIeSiS reports on WotC possibly before the weekend or hopefully by next week.

[Skawen]

Hi DJ-RK!

I have changed my nvidia settings to CTRL + = & Ctrl + -, but this doesn't helped.

When I'm starting the game I see menu, but when I press F2, menu disappears & F4 or Ctrl +Alt +F10 doesn't show menu again (I can only see mouse cursor), but when I press F3 all is ok, HUD depth is changing.

Thank You for suggestion & fix, I really love You amazing fixes.

[NeIVIeSiS]

So as I've been testing the WOTC fix more, it appears that besides the Reaper overlay having glitches, it also happens with some status effects such as soldiers getting disoriented. This normally creates a sort of double vision effect for the soldier, but it glitches out with the newest fix. So whatever shader controls those screen effects are affected.

[Skawen]

Hi DJ-RK!

Did You get a chance to look in to this one ?

[DJ-RK]

Hi DJ-RK!

Did You get a chance to look in to this one ?

Hey man. Yeah, sorry, this one fix has been on my mind because I know you and others have started playing and are awaiting the update to continue, but unfortunately I've had to shift my focus and time away from all my fix work and put it towards studying towards some IT certification exams and other online courses I'm enrolled in. You may not have seen it, but I did mention as such in another thread here and once or twice on Discord. Long story short, I'm pretty much stuffed for time until the end of the year.

With that said, I did manage a quick look about 2 or 3 weeks ago, was hoping to do a quick fix for those things reported, and for some reason when I loaded it up things were a lot more broken on the title screen than I remembered them being. Lens flares were all at screen depth, and I needed to do a slight tweak to the lighting regex to work, which had been universal in every other UE3 game up until this point. I fixed the lighting regex, but the shaders for the lens flares were seemingly completely different... and, well, I just kinda stopped at that point because it would have taken too long for the amount of time I was able to spend. It almost felt like there was an update for the game which changed those shaders. Either that or I've never seen that title screen environment before. Seems unlikely that this old of a game would get such an update, though. Anyone else happen to notice any newly broken stuff since a couple months ago?

[3DNovice]

...

[Skawen]

Hope You will successfully complete IT certification & return to IT job.

Thank You for taking a look!

My post wasn't intended to rush You in any way, I was just curious is there at least some slim chance that this will be fixed or I can uninstall it & now with universal fixes & so many individual fixes there are tons of games to play in waiting time

[DJ-RK]

Hope You will successfully complete IT certification & return to IT job.

Thank You for taking a look!

My post wasn't intended to rush You in any way, I was just curious is there at least some slim chance that this will be fixed or I can uninstall it & now with universal fixes & so many individual fixes there are tons of games to play in waiting time

Thanks, and no worries, didn't come across as rushing at all. I was pointing at the other thread just as the closest thing an "official response" to anyone asking about my status, rather than regurgitating the same words over, so that was definitely more of a "please see here for more info" rather than a "DAMMIT! Can't you read!!!" response.

And XCom 2 IS a major hog on your HDD, so I completely understand you for wanting to know whether to take it off, or not. It's a relatively small enough set of issue that I'd say that there's a good chance that I might end up banging it out one of these days, but at this point even I don't believe my own words when it comes to ETA's, so just best I don't give any anymore!

[Lysander]

So are the issues visible here expected with this WIP fix for X-COM 2 or did I apply the fix incorrectly? Upon startup, I also get some weird "Redscreen error" problem and the main menu is all scrambled up. This is after a fresh install and WIP fix applied. I get the same issues (except the main menu problem) with the old fix.

XCom2001_050.jpg

[DJ-RK]

So are the issues visible here expected with this WIP fix for X-COM 2 or did I apply the fix incorrectly? Upon startup, I also get some weird "Redscreen error" problem and the main menu is all scrambled up. This is after a fresh install and WIP fix applied. I get the same issues (except the main menu problem) with the old fix.XCom2001_050.jpg

I think that is related to...

Hi DJ-RK!

Did You get a chance to look in to this one ?

Hey man. Yeah, sorry, this one fix has been on my mind because I know you and others have started playing and are awaiting the update to continue, but unfortunately I've had to shift my focus and time away from all my fix work and put it towards studying towards some IT certification exams and other online courses I'm enrolled in. You may not have seen it, but I did mention as such in another thread here and once or twice on Discord. Long story short, I'm pretty much stuffed for time until the end of the year.

With that said, I did manage a quick look about 2 or 3 weeks ago, was hoping to do a quick fix for those things reported, and for some reason when I loaded it up things were a lot more broken on the title screen than I remembered them being. Lens flares were all at screen depth, and I needed to do a slight tweak to the lighting regex to work, which had been universal in every other UE3 game up until this point. I fixed the lighting regex, but the shaders for the lens flares were seemingly completely different... and, well, I just kinda stopped at that point because it would have taken too long for the amount of time I was able to spend. It almost felt like there was an update for the game which changed those shaders. Either that or I've never seen that title screen environment before. Seems unlikely that this old of a game would get such an update, though. Anyone else happen to notice any newly broken stuff since a couple months ago?

So yeah, I believe you've confirmed this to be an update that broke the fix, because those were most certainly fixed before (and I can see shadows are properly fixed, so the fix seems to be installed correctly).

[Lysander]

Ah, gotcha. Dammit! I'll see if I can install an older version then.

[Skawen]

Please let me know how was Your findings with older version

[Lysander]

Please let me know how was Your findings with older version

ugh, there are no previous versions available on Steam So DJ is our only hope