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Xenonauts 2 - Version 0.1.0 (Public Combat Test) Released!


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We have just released an update to the free public build of Xenonauts 2 - this is free because it is a very early build of the game and we don't think the project is of the quality where we can reasonably expect everyone to pay for it; full details on where to get the build can be found in this thread.

If you want to see what progress we're making on the game content (like artwork etc) then you'll have to check out our November Progress Update, as this build is an attempt to address some of the more major code issues with the game and does not add any new content. We've reworked some major systems (e.g. line of sight, mouse input, etc) so there may well be some new bugs introduced; please report them if you see them as we're planning to put out small "fix" builds out over the next week or so to address them. New maps and environments, aliens, weapons etc will start coming after Christmas.

CHANGELOG:

  • Move paths and other in-world UI elements now draw above grass and other decorative vegetation.
  • We've rewritten the input system to stop the crosshair and selection box being so jumpy
  • We've improved the way the camera tracking works:
    • When your units shoot, the camera more intelligently picks a focus point based on the positions of the shooter and the target
    • Alien activity under the hidden movement screen should be displayed properly now, including both movement and shooting
  • The Xenonauts and aliens have all had a fresh texture job to make their details "pop" a bit more at the camera distance we're using in the game.
  • The camera angle and distance have been changed to be somewhat closer to the view in X1; we think that gives a more "strategic" feel
  • Pressing End Turn no longer hangs the game for a few seconds
  • Load times for the ground combat have been halved
  • I've done a UI pass on the game, replacing programmer art with slightly superior game designer art. It's still fairly placeholder stuff, but:
    • The Xenonauts font has returned on the ground combat UI elements, giving them a more appropriate style
    • Colour consistency has also been improved; the predominantly blue GC elements now use more black
    • Many element outlines have been sharpened up and made a bit neater
    • We've switched to a plugin that improves on the Unity text rendering, so we should now have crisper text
  • The move path has been updated:
    • The green / orange / red move path squares from the first game have returned.
    • The TU cost now displays "?" if you click on the shroud, preventing "scouting" the terrain via the move cost.
  • The fog of war has been recoloured to be less aggressively blue.
  • Units now have 16 sight range instead of 20, as they did in the original.
  • Movement animations have been made less jerky, as previously units took the same amount of time to cross tiles diagonally as they did laterally (despite diagonally being a longer distance)
  • Crouching units now play injury animations when they take damage

Please let us know what issues you're experiencing, as we should now be able to fix all the camera / crosshair / UI etc issues once we're made aware of them. We've got a couple of weeks until we shut down for Christmas and we'll be releasing small fix builds in this time; I don't expect any major new updates to be put out before then.

We're going to be targeting two main things for the next build in early January - one is the sub-map support which should let us start semi-randomly generating maps, and the other is the soldier animations system. Currently our code cannot plan actions in advance so a soldier doesn't know he's ended his movement until he's reached his destination tile, and then plays his "stop running" animation by jogging on the spot once he's already there - really he needs to know half a tile earlier, so he can slow down in time. I imagine we'll start work on both these things before our holidays, but neither are quick jobs!

Thoughts, bugs and other feedback can be posted in this thread.

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There's an annoying bug to do with the appearance of the move tiles and selection boxes that's making them hard to see and giving them ugly edge borders; that's going to be our first hotfix but I figure it's not worth holding the release up for! :)

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First time playing since 0.0.4, and I'm pretty happy with how it feeling. Between the edge scrolling and whatever's been done to the aim reticle, the game feels a lot more responsive and natural. I might suggest that the reticle should be fixed in place over the alien, instead of following them as they go through their idle animations.

Also, can confirm Dranaks findings. When using the LMG and the game crashed, both when when I killed an alien and (accidentally, see below) iced a friendly.

What is the intended mechanic for firing "over" soldiers? Since there is no manual crouch, am I unable to fire over soldiers not in cover? The block percentage UI did not appear for a standing soldier in the adjacent tile, so I assumed he would be safe, but he ate a few rounds from the LMG and crashed the game.

Edit: It appears no-one is safe. From some testing, even crouched soldiers can not be safely fired over. 

I'm also experiencing some problems with corpses. I am unable to move into the tile occupied by the previous sections test subjects. If I click on the tile, I get the soldier UI for the dead guy, and can even give movement orders. The body doesn't actually move, but provided the dead soldier still had TU's left, it can still spin around, and it's still granting me vision.

Edited by meerkatking
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