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Xenonauts-2 Version 0.5.1 (Public Combat Test) Released!


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This new version of Xenonauts 2 is a free public test build, released free because it is still an early build and we don't yet think we can justify charging for it; full details on where to get the build can be found in this thread. The next update is due on Tuesday 28th March, although if necessary we will also release hotfixes for any game-breaking bugs encountered in this build.

The headline feature in this new build is a UFO and various connected game features. The current UFO design will be rather familiar to most of you and is just a little joke on our part; it'll be changing shortly to something more original. There's only a single map (available in two biomes) this time around but we're planning to do a new batch of maps once the UFO has had a bit of testing.

CHANGELOG:

  • UFO: A test UFO is now in the game. As we're currently testing box UFOs with fully destructible walls like those in the original X-Com, so we've included a homage to the original game in this build (it won't stick around for long).
    • Take-and-Hold Victory: An alternate victory condition has been added to the mission, allowing you to win the game if you clear the UFO of aliens and hold it for 5 turns. You should get a little pop-up at the start of the turn if you are making progress towards a take-and-hold victory.
    • Defender Aliens: The AI is still basic in the extreme, but a few designated aliens should now stay inside the UFO rather than just rushing your team at the start of the mission.
    • Diagonal Walls: The game didn't previously support diagonal walls, but it now (mostly) does. There's some ongoing issues with the line of sight, but we're getting there.
  • Secondary Weapons: We've added a way to quickly access secondary weapons and equipment - pressing "X" or right-clicking on the weapon image panel swaps to the secondary equipment of the soldier. At the moment all the soldiers currently have access to a sidearm pistol with unlimited clips, and there's an empty slot which we will use to test out medikits / stun batons / etc in the coming week. Please give the pistols a test if you can, because the 1-handed animations haven't appeared in the game before.
  • Unity 5.5: We've updated to Unity 5.5 now, which was a time-consuming necessary evil and should hopefully increase performance in the longer term.
  • Bug Reports From Menu: You can now report bugs direct from the menu (Escape) rather than having to press Alt + F12.
  • Visual Improvements:
    • Main main screen 3D scene has had a texture update on the big background screens; these were previously quite low-quality textures but should now be a bit sharper. UI buttons have had a slight visual rework.
    • We've added some post-processing to the ground combat - a slight vignette effect and a sharpen effect.
    • We've also got a glow effect working, and have added glow to the alien weapons / projectiles and also to some of the stuff inside the UFOs.
    • Units now splatter blood on the ground when injured - unfortunately the blood hovers about 10cm off the ground at present, but we'll fix that in the next build.
  • Gameplay Tweaks:
    • RNG is now fully random - in previous builds the game used the same sequence of random numbers each time you played, which is no longer the case.
    • Pysons have been nerfed down to 50-60 Accuracy from about 80 Accuracy previously
    • Aliens now have the same sight range as humans (18) up from 16 previously.
    • Fixed a bug where being on raised areas would reduce the enemy cover by 20%, even if it was a 100% block object - allowing units to shoot through walls and cliffs.
    • Fixed a bug where aliens were sometimes incorrectly visible despite still being one tile inside the fog of war.

Quite a lot of work has gone into behind-the-scenes stuff required to get the UFOs working and enabling the animation / weapon swapping that occurs when you change to the secondary weapons (plus the migration to Unity 5.5). Next build we're planning to add some new maps and try to add a few more weapons to the game - grenades, the grenade launcher, the medikit and the stun baton are all on our work list.

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Just couple words about release.

1. UFO... guys... that metal box, actually never will fit my sense of beauty and style, but... it`s amazing!  The only I can say against- it`s too fragile =) I can imagine, that it`s because there is no explosives in game, but UFO walls may be a bit harder to break. There is some issues with it like unable to look inside UFO from outside (soldier must come inside to see something), and, mentioned here LOS issues with diagonal walls.

2. AI... well in 0.4.0 aliens was much easier than here =) it`s not bad, but first time it was a bit surprising.

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It is ooh healthy that combined new Xenonauts and a kind-old game UFO: the enemy is unknown, admirers of the UFO series obviously don't expect such combination! :)
I understand that it is a demo the version, but...

1. In case of a certain foreshortening of the camera it isn't possible to pass in the UFO, it is necessary to rotate the camera

2. In case of an input in the UFO it is possible to kill the opponent even if it for 100% protection of an object

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3 minutes ago, Kompa3ot said:

2. In case of an input in the UFO it is possible to kill the opponent even if it for 100% protection of an object

Machinegunner eventually can get alien throw UFO wall or non 100% blocking object, but there is no big chance on it. Rifleman\assault\sniper can`t break rocks and other enviroment (exclude UFO).

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Thanks guys. Yes, there's a known bug in this build where units can shoot through solid walls - it has several causes, but one is the short-range hit bonus is being applied even to 0% shots (i.e. units on the other side of a wall). It's not a simple fix so we're unliekly to update this build with the fix, but it'll be working properly for the next build. We'll also do a bit more work on positioning the aliens better within the UFO.

Yeah, the UFO walls might be a bit fragile at the moment compared to the terrain like rocks etc. I'll check the HP values in the next few days. Anyway, hopefully in the next build we'll get the grenades and grenade launcher working so there are better tools for destroying terrain and UFO walls even if we do make them a bit tougher.

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And some more about UFO...  After couple games in this version I`ve got point, that I personally would prefere X-1 style UFOs, instead of UFO:EU style ones. (I`ll explain that in "features")

And actually I can`t find any use for pistol in combat (it may be not for this thread, but I just caught this thought and don`t whant to loose it). Pistol is very weak as weapon, bad range, bad damage, unlimited ammo can`t make picture any better. The only situation I can see pistol- sniper, this class needed (as all other) in sidearms, but something heavier (SMG for example) may make sniper too powerful, or make him suffer lack of TU for really aimed sniper shots, in that case... it will be good idea to keep pistol in sniper`s pocket.

Edited by Severvus
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5 hours ago, Severvus said:

And some more about UFO...  After couple games in this version I`ve got point, that I personally would prefere X-1 style UFOs, instead of UFO:EU style ones. (I`ll explain that in "features")

And actually I can`t find any use for pistol in combat (it may be not for this thread, but I just caught this thought and don`t whant to loose it). Pistol is very weak as weapon, bad range, bad damage, unlimited ammo can`t make picture any better. The only situation I can see pistol- sniper, this class needed (as all other) in sidearms, but something heavier (SMG for example) may make sniper too powerful, or make him suffer lack of TU for really aimed sniper shots, in that case... it will be good idea to keep pistol in sniper`s pocket.

Hmm ... well, what about the special squad class that's with the shield !? The shield itself is heavy, for him the pistol is just needed! If, of course, make him a simple grenade thrower :)

Untitled-1.jpg

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Ok. This time I am on a barren land, with the sand of the land meshing well with the colour of bullets.  I definitely cannot see who is overwatch shooting who.  I can catch some flying rocks if I am lucky.  In one case I only know about the overwatch in my turn, when I see the floating damage on the head of a drone.  In another case the screen centred on bottom side of the ufo but the action happened in the front door, which I missed as I'm scanning for firing action on the left side, and only know it after seeing the body of a sergeant on the ground.

Note that I usually play without sound, so I didn't even hear his scream.  I'll stop play testing gc for a while because I consistently don't know what is happening at all in alien turn.  I barely catch them moving when the screen can centre properly.

Otherwise, first time I run the game it crashed after I think the third alien turn ends.  There are some LoS issue with walls and LoF through wall at close range as listed.  One of them I don't see any alien on the map (blocked by wall) but the indicator is on the right of the screen.  Another main bug is my soldiers will stand up from crouch, turn, see nothing (absolutely nothing because he is facing the map edge after turn), and crouch down again, wasting CP.  Alien accuracy is low enough that I can play more recklessly and lost only that sergeant at what must be point blank range, because the sergeant was right next to the door at full AP and the last alien is standing right behind the door the next turn.  Never get to see the inside, though.  Wish I can continue to explore the map after the mission.

Didn't test pistol as my main guns are doing as low as 6 damage to the sebillian, which I guess match the novella quite well.

Edited by Sheepy
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5 hours ago, Kompa3ot said:

Hmm ... well, what about the special squad class that's with the shield !? The shield itself is heavy, for him the pistol is just needed! If, of course, make him a simple grenade thrower :)

Untitled-1.jpg

Well... "Shieldman" I think may have two general layouts: "Grenadier" (Shield+pistol+pack of grenades) and "Heavy assault" (Shield+SMG+Meele weapon)

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So the pistol is basically just an emergency weapon - although it should hit as hard as a rifle does at close range (as far as I'm aware it has identical stats to the pistol in X1). It's intended only to be used if you run out of magazines for your primary weapon, or your main weapon is empty and you'd rather take a pistol shot than reload it.

@Sheepy yeah, I think we'll take a look at the bullets again. You're not the only person complaining about lack of visibility with them.

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Had two plays and loved it.

I could successfully conquer the UFO in botch cases.

No pictures this time, as there was no real new stuff to show.

  • So funny to see this old UFO model, I know you will change to nicer ones. This is just a nice gift for us old gamers, thank you.
  • However funny the UFO model, it seems it is made out of the wall models for the modder community of the customized UFO discussion back in X1 days. Reason: it has the same flaws. The alien inside can look through the walls or their interfaces without being seen from the outside.
    Guess this effect is two tiles around the outer hull.
  • The sound of the UFO door is immensely loud.
  • Aliens will occupy the pace of a killed other alien within my turn.
  • Blood splatter looks good im amount, not in position but I know. I also think the blood is to shiny or has a too even mirror effect. It always looks as if the blood if spread on a glass plate. Randomizing the reflection will mimick surface topography.
  • Also someone other mentioned this already: The rotation angles coud be halfed to have more view positions.
  • My soldiers do hit better than ever, also the aliens are quite good shots and surpass my regulars, overall it feels more balanced. Great.
  • Corpse doll effect of the Sebillian is still funny, especially if one is hurdled onto the street on its tummy with the arms twiddling around like a turtle on its back. I know you will do something here, but you may have to add some sagging effect on the body when its killed. It looks artificial if it looks like a cylinder with attached arms.

 

Edited by thixotrop
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On ‎3‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 5:25 AM, Chris said:

So the pistol is basically just an emergency weapon - although it should hit as hard as a rifle does at close range (as far as I'm aware it has identical stats to the pistol in X1). It's intended only to be used if you run out of magazines for your primary weapon, or your main weapon is empty and you'd rather take a pistol shot than reload it.

I suggest you make it machine pistol capable of three round bursts or single fire.  That would make it more dangerous at extremely close range and give some suppression ability.  Of course, you should keep the horrible accuracy and weak ammo.  They're the same size as regular pistol and given a choice I doubt any of our troops would pass one up vs. a regular pistol. 

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---
Well...first time getting my team completely destroyed, thanks to the "Box-bug" already mentioned here, and of course the "officer" still shooting from "other side of the map".
I would be lying if I'd say this fight was fair□ honestly feeling very cheated.

I otherwise don't have anything else new to report.


Replay file can be found a the bottom again.
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---
(( I usually don't make post "filled with emotions", but I wasn't able to think of anything else witty for this post which primarily is meant to submit the replay-file. ))
---
---
---

recording_7.rec

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Prompt (if not a secret) whether there will be aliens on force and dexterity it is more terrible than (to make Chryssalid of the person of the zombie moreover in him to implant egg with the repairman, for the fighter it is the terrible opponent, bystry, silent and dangerous)?

123.jpg

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I just played through the demo a couple of times for the first time.

Major issues:

  • At one point I could spot an enemy through walls. I had a 0% chance to hit though. (I reported this via the in-game report tool as well.) Screenshot here https://imgur.com/a/VAaqr
  • Many times my shots where blocked by cover which didn't look like it could possibly be in the way. The last of the screenshots shows an especially egregious case where the edge of the plateau the soldier is standing on is blocking the shot https://imgur.com/a/2WrL9

Other feedback:

  • The game looks great! Graphics and animations are on point, it plays pretty well, it's stable. Great work!
  • Zooming! I want to look closer at all this beauty, and be able to get a nice overview.
  • Spotting an alien while moving does not stop/cancel movement. Please make it so it does.
  • The dense map filled with trees and rocks looks great, but all the cover is a pain to try to get a clear shot through. Most of the Xen1 maps were much more sparse which worked better.
  • A tiny tree being impenetrable by machine gun fire and granting 40% cover is just annoying.
  • The combined shot select/reserve is a good idea but the current UI implementation is super-unintuitive. I thought reserving was broken until I read the forum post. (A radio button for reserving might make sense.)
  • With the spiffy new rotational camera having a compass or minimap becomes important.
  • I've always wished my soldiers could walk past each other. It would make fighting indoors way less of a hassle.
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On 3/19/2017 at 9:49 AM, Kompa3ot said:

Prompt (if not a secret) whether there will be aliens on force and dexterity it is more terrible than (to make Chryssalid of the person of the zombie moreover in him to implant egg with the repairman, for the fighter it is the terrible opponent, bystry, silent and dangerous)?

123.jpg

They're not ready to go in the game quite yet, but the Reapers aren't far off being ready.

reaper.gif

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14 hours ago, kattfisk said:

I just played through the demo a couple of times for the first time.

Major issues:

  • At one point I could spot an enemy through walls. I had a 0% chance to hit though. (I reported this via the in-game report tool as well.) Screenshot here https://imgur.com/a/VAaqr
  • Many times my shots where blocked by cover which didn't look like it could possibly be in the way. The last of the screenshots shows an especially egregious case where the edge of the plateau the soldier is standing on is blocking the shot https://imgur.com/a/2WrL9

Thanks. We'll have a look into these issues in a bit more detail; there's incoming fixes in the next build that stop the fire line tagging cover as intervening when it's blatantly not actually in the line of fire but it's not going to affect the elevation issues you brought up. I'm not sure what's going on with being able to see through the cliff though.

We're going to have to sit down and figure out whether cover resulting from changes in elevation really should be accounted for in the same way as normal cover - if we do, you get some weird stuff happening like in your second screenshot. There might be a better way of doing it.

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"They're not ready to go in the game quite yet, but the Reapers aren't far off being ready."

Oh, that looks like an angry, metal chicken !  

Which sounds a bit like what the snot-nosed kid on the first Jurassic Park said, unimpressed, when he heard about the velociraptors, so I'm sure I'll be eating those words, lol ;) 

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8 hours ago, Wyldefyre_CP said:

"They're not ready to go in the game quite yet, but the Reapers aren't far off being ready."

Oh, that looks like an angry, metal chicken !  

Which sounds a bit like what the snot-nosed kid on the first Jurassic Park said, unimpressed, when he heard about the velociraptors, so I'm sure I'll be eating those words, lol ;) 

Personally it seemed to me that this monster is rather in general a cyborg (robot) and will rip up armor not worse an edge of a Predator... For certain will well fight in vanguard... It is a pity it is impossible to play for aliens, ooh would be great, to study terrestrial technologies and then to apply :) P.S. Alas, but yet there are no such games meanwhile....

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39 minutes ago, Larry Burstyn said:

Played several games but noticed I got the same map EVERY time.  Is this what I should be getting?

No way! :eek: The landscape changes!  Sometimes you are in a barren land, sometimes a forest, and sometimes it's snow covered.  Your team is fighting all around the globe!  Imagination! :cool:

A few releases ago tested the random map, which works, but for now we are back to a fixed map which feels to me easier to report, test, and debug.

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Reputable developers (forgive for such English of course) prompt: as the card different - winter, the desert, tropics, it is good to add - a snowstorm, sandstorms, fog, etc. both special effects, and influencing visibility both soldiers, and aliens...

 

1111.png

Edited by Kompa3ot
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On 3/26/2017 at 0:01 AM, Larry Burstyn said:

Played several games but noticed I got the same map EVERY time.  Is this what I should be getting?

Yeah, it is right now because we're still testing out the UFO map. It'll change to something semi-randomized relatively soon, probably in the build after next (about two weeks from now).

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