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Xenonauts Livestream on Twitch


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Hi everyone,

I just finished my first session playing Xenonauts pre-release and as always as of late I streamed it live on twitch! This was my first look at the game, having followed the development at a distance for quite some time. I recently started a Classic XCOM-series and the timing was just right as the Xenonaut pre-release hit just afterwards.

I had a lot of fun playing the game and I will be continuing to stream content featuring Xenonauts in the future. I try to give a lot of commentary about game features in my stream, but it could also be interesting just to see how someone completely new to the game (but not to the XCOM-series) reacts when playing. Since I am playing a lot of UFO right now I make a lot of comparisons between the games, sorry about that - but it's all honest opinions with no ill intent.

Please give me some feedback, and maybe you can answer some of the questions and thoughts I had during the stream!

Channel - www.twitch.tv/jsbgame

Episode 1

Episode 2 part 2

Edited by JSBgame
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Watched a good deal of the first part. Comparison to EU'94 is fair I think, it is the game this one is primarily based on after all.

Some comments:

1. There've been discussions about it but the 2D geoscape won't be changed. While it's arguably less immersive/realistic it's also clearer and it's easier to keep track of things without having to rotate the globe.

It's supposed to remind you of the old school war rooms and fighter commands:

prb33059.jpg

ghsdrh10.jpg

The whole game and its setting (the cold war) has a retro feel to it and the 2D map fits that style imo.

2. Snipers, machine guns and rocket launchers have accuracy penalties if the soldier using them has moved that turn so you need to think in advance when positioning them. That's why your sniper was so inaccurate.

3. I know you were probably joking but the MiG is the heavy fighter mentioned in the research description. It's not "heavy" in terms of survivability but it does carry more powerful weapons.

4. The "destroyed" items mentioned in the after-mission report weren't destroyed by you. They are surplus items that aren't needed and have no use. Whenever you kill a new alien or obtain a new piece of tech for the first time it is automatically sent to the labs (you can see the "sent to research division" statement in the report) while further duplicate items and corpses are destroyed. Alien weapons and such that are not needed for research are automatically sold and missions are an important source of income aside from nation funding. You're not given a choice because there's nothing to choose, there are no other uses for items that get auto-sold/destroyed.

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Thanks for answering some of the questions I had. I think the 2D-map does it's job well. The war-room idea is great, it would be really nice and immersive if the map was placed on a table like that. The Geoscape is the first thing you see in the game after menus, and my first impression was that it came off feeling flat - like you are still in menus and not in the game. Any 3D or layered artwork around the map would help negate this impression - I think.

The movement penalties make sense - I never figured that out just by playing however. I guess it explains some things that have happened in my games. But with such large maps it makes sense, you can position snipers and spot with scouting soldiers.

Yes I was joking about the MiG - but there are some inconsistencies between the Xenopedia and the rest of the game that jump out at you on your first playthrough. The information about the Charlie holding 10 soldiers also comes to mind, or am I missing something there?

I have a question about the alien weaponry that came up during episode 2. How do I use the plasma pistols? I researched the pistol but there is no research option for the plasma pistol clip or similar. Do i need to research alenium? Or else, how do I unlock it?

Anyway, I am getting into it more and more now after another 3 hour stream on twitch. It's a really promising game and I will be doing more content featuring it.

Episode 2 - www.twitch.tv/jsbgame

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Once the new UI arrives the look of the geoscape will change though the basic 2D map will remain. There should be some more art giving the impression you're in a command centre with the map being something like a giant viewscreen (like the one seen in the background of the menu art). See previews here and here.

I believe the Chinook used to be able to carry 10 soldiers but it was rebalanced over time. Currently it's 8 guys or 6 + 1 vehicle. Some have argued that this is not enough so things could still change as the balance evolves. Chris either forgot about the description or he doesn't want to change it until he's sure what's it gonna be.

I'm not sure about plasma, you've actually played the game more than me. :P All I know is that researching plasma pistol/rifle doesn't actually give you access to plasma weapons but rather the technological base that will eventually lead to those things. In the mean time you're gonna have to go through laser weaponry and probably research both alenium and alien alloys but I don't know what you need exactly.

Edited by Jean-Luc
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You need to research a bunch of different plasma weapons to be able to make your own. Pistol and Rifle eventually lead to laser weapons (after 2-3 more topics they unlock).

You can't use them since they aren't useable for humans all that well. Awkward design and whatnot.

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Jean Luc: Thanks for that link to the plans for the graphical UI - it really looks a lot nicer and more polished. I we'll see it soon in game, it will definitely make a difference for immersion.

Sathra: Thanks for the info about the plasma weapons and the research tree. I guess you´d just naturally think it will be the same as UFO:EU but I like that the tech tree is diverging and uses a different logic.

All in all I think I have gotten a good idea of where the game is at the moment. The basic mechanics seem solid and all the integral parts of the puzzle is in place. Seems like what remains is the job of characterizing the content, (making the aliens, soldiers and equipment more diverse for instance) filling out the blanks and working out general game balance.

I liked the maps a lot and really like the detail, look and feel of tactical combat. I do have some concerns, as I explained on stream, about not having randomization of terrain. I personally really believe that random generation provides a lot of the staying power in these type of games. Do we have any idea about the projected size of the map-pool or is there anyone working on a system for randomizing terrain or UFO:s as part of a mod or similar project?

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There is randomisation, but its limited at the moment. There'll probably be more later on but till then I heartily recommend the Community Map Pack. I've rarely gotten the same map more that twice with it.

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Looks awesome - I will definitely use this for my next stream. I think user created content will be a big long term strenght for Xenonauts since it's so mod-friendly and has an active user base. I will browse around a bit for mods I think, maybe trying out some different setups in later episodes. Good stuff.

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