Installation:<br />

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Unfortunately, X-Com in its current iteration isn't terribly mod-friendly, so you have to take some careful steps to get it working.<br />

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1) Get a clean game installation, either through a fresh install or by using the "verify integrity of game cache" option in Steam to fix all your files. Make sure you are patched up to date and X-Com is able to "phone home" by putting Steam in online mode and removing any hosts block you have previously implemented. Fully exit out of Steam, and then restart it. Then start X-Com to the main menu (un-modded), close it, and start it again, and close it, so the game can install any run-time updates. This will ensure you have a clean game that's fully installed.<br />

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2) Exit Steam again. Now you have to ensure X-Com is *unable* to phone home to acquire certain updates (intended to prevent cheating on multiplayer) that will overwrite part of the mod. There are two ways to do this:<br />

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a) Offline Mode. Easier to accomplish. This prevents Steam from connecting to the Internet, but you won't be able to chat or update other games.<br />

1) Start Steam.<br />

2) Steam Menu (top left) > Go Offline > Restart in offline mode.<br />

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b) Modifying hosts file -- prevents XCom from calling out. More complicated, but lets you use Steam's online functions.<br />

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1) Start Menu > Right click on Notepad, select "Run as Administrator"<br />

2) Find the file %systemroot%system32driversetchosts -- It has no .suffix. If it doesn't exist, you may create it. Also, %systemroot% on my system is C:Windows, but it may vary.<br />

3) Open the file's properties. Uncheck "read-only" if it is checked.<br />

4) Add these three lines to the file:<br />

# Prevent XCOM Phone Home<br />

127.0.0.1 prod.xcom.firaxis.com<br />

127.0.0.1 65.118.245.165<br />

5) Save the file. Make sure you don't add a ".txt" or other suffix to the file.<br />

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If X-Com phones home, you'll need to uninstall the mod and start this process over. One common example of X-Com phoning home is if after you start the mod, all your weapons have one ammo. This means you haven't fixed the problem.<br />

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3) Make sure you have the latest .net framework (4.0 or later, obtain via Windows update) and Java (1.7). The installer may not fully install the mod without these.<br />

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4) Run "Long War Mod Setup.exe" and follow the instructions. Make sure you point the installer to your root game directory; it should alert you that the directory already exists. On my machine, it's C:Program Files (x86)SteamSteamAppscommonXCom-Enemy-Unknown. If it doesn't alert you, you have the wrong directory and the install won't work.<br />

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If you have difficulty installing or running the mod, try some of the solutions discussed here: http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/834174-warspace-technical-support-v150/. The game uses the same installation process as the Warspace mod, so the advice there should apply.<br />

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5) Once you start X-Com, you'll need to start a new campaign for all the changes to take effect. As long as you are patched up to date, the mod should work regardless of whether you have the Slingshot DLC or not.<br />

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6) If you are going to run texmod to inject new textures into the game, you'll need to do the texmod installation procedure AFTER installing Long War over a clean vanilla install. Installing Long War over a tex-modded game will lead to crashes.<br />

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Changed files:<br />

BinariesWin32XComGame.Exe<br />

XComGameCookedPCConsoleXComGame.upk<br />

XComGameCookedPCConsoleXComStrategyGame.upk<br />

XComGameCookedPCConsoleCommand1.upk<br />

XComGameCookedPCConsoleXcomGame.upk.uncompressed_size (deleted)<br />

XComGameCookedPCConsoleXcomStrategyGame.upk.uncompressed_size (deleted)<br />

XComGameConfigDefaultEngine.ini<br />

For Slingshot owners:<br />

XComGameDLCPCConsoleDLC_Day060CookedPCConsoleDLC_Day060_SF.upk<br />

For those who selected an English installation:<br />

XComGameLocalizationINTXComGame.int<br />

My GamesXCOM - Enemy UnknownXComGameLocalizationINTXComStrategyGame.int<br />

Additionally for Slingshot users who selected an English installation:<br />

My GamesXCOM - Enemy UnknownXComGameLocalizationINTXComGame.int<br />

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This mod isn't compatible with others that replace the upk, ini or int files.<br />

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To verify the game has installed correctly, check the following<br />

1) Go to Xcom-Enemy-UnknownBinariesWin32 directory.<br />

a) Verify Log.txt and XComGame.exe have stamps that they say were modified at the time and date you installed the mod.<br />

b) Open Log.txt and verify the last two lines say the following:<br />

(TIME OF INSTALL) getmodfile: DefaultGameCore.ini<br />

(TIME OF INSTALL) done<br />

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2) Go to Xcom-Enemy-UnknownXComGameCookedPCConsole<br />

a) Verify XComGameCookedPCConsoleXcomGame.upk.uncompressed_size and XComGameCookedPCConsoleXcomStrategyGame.upk.uncompressed_size are NOT present.<br />

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Within the game, you can check the following:<br />

a) In the first mission, Troopers should have 5 hp and Sectoids 3 hp. Assault Rifles should be able to fire three bursts before requiring a reload.(This confirms modpatcher successfully changed DefaultGameCore.ini.)<br />

b) Sectoid bodies should remain visible for the duration of your first mission. (This confirms XComGame.upk successfully installed.)<br />

c) Immediately after the first mission, you should be able to enter the Situation Room. (This confirms XComStrategyGame.upk successfully installed.)<br />

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Uninstalling should restore your original files, or you can go to Steam and use the "Verify Integrity of Game Cache" option (under the Xcom game menu / Properties / Local Files tab) to restore your game to its original settings.<br />

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Note: If Firaxis / 2k issues any patches to X-Com, it will overwrite and disable Long War, and almost certainly make the mod unplayable until the modders are able to update it. If you want to avoid that happening, you can turn off automatic updates to the game in Steam, via the game menu / Properties / Updates tab. This will prevent any patches from loading.