V19 Experimental Build 6 available!

Firstly, if you do not know how to access the experimental branch on Steam, please read the instructions (and warnings!) in this thread. All saved games from earlier versions (including experimental versions) are incompatible, attempting to load them will cause problems.

The main improvement in this build is an implementation of the new style of alien bases; these are now vastly easier to produce, and a lot more interesting inside - unfortunately due to a bug only the smallest base type is accessible in the game right now, but any feedback would still be appreciated. The other big change is a large accuracy boost to pretty much all of the ground combat weapons, so expect increased lethality in battle. Other changes include air superiority UFOs no longer being able to lock your fighters in a loop until they run out of fuel and UFO doors in ground combat missions having been re-worked so they are now breach-able.

Our focus for the next build will be mainly fixing bugs, as we want to release a new stable version to Steam shortly - to help us make sure it is a bug free as possible, please remind us of any really annoying long standing bugs in this thread.

Here is the changelog:

Fixes

- When viewing a UFO hull with an open door from any layer above it, you can no longer see the ground under the UFO through the door

- Fixed destroyed sprites re-appearing in some cases after reloading a save

- Fixed issue where a mission might unexpectedly abort when you clicked on "save" (!!!)

- Fixed various crashes on the Geoscape when intercepting multiple enemy UFOs at once (including when autoresolving against them)

- Fixed error preventing Xenonaut base building upgrades unlocking correctly

- Air superiority UFOs will no longer "combat lock" Xenonaut craft by repeatedly re-engaging it in a loop, instead if a Xenonaut craft escapes them once they will be unable to re-engage it for a short time

- Fixed Corvette supply runs having no aliens defined

- Fixed air superiority UFOs getting stuck if they lost their target

- Fixed Geoscape dialogue boxes sometimes not setting their dimensions to accomodate the information they displayed

- Fixed aliens sometimes spawning in walls/props in alien bases

- Flares now immediately update the players line of sight without requiring a unit to move or turn to update the LOS

- Fixed sprites inside a UFO being displayed on top of the hull

- Fixed hypervelocity weapons being unable to aim in diagonal directions (they are now re-enabled)

- Hypervelocity weapons should no longer ignore cover, and their chances to hit are calculated in the same way as normal weapons

Additions

- Added special dialogue for when a Xenonaut aircraft is intercepted by an enemy UFO (you cannot disengage from the fight)

- Alien bases have been completely reworked. There is now different layout for small, medium and large bases and they also have some special rooms indicating the type of aliens in the base. (Unfortunately a bug causes only small bases to spawn right now, but you can at least see the new style)

- Related to above; Alien base maps are vastly easier to make, now you simply place a preset room in the map editor then place door props wherever you need them on it, and hook it up to corridors

- New ground damage tiles! 9 variants of both damaged and destroyed overlays which are randomly selected

- Flares now display an animated sprite on the ground where they land (current sprite is just a placeholder) and play a sound effect

- The doors on UFOs have been completely reworked. They now support manual opening/closing, no longer auto-close and are also destructible

- When you mouse over a soldiers icon on the ground combat "quick select" bar it will now highlight the soldier in green and also display their name, portrait and role. If you click the icon to select the soldier it will center the screen on them.

- New map frame for the Geoscape (first part of the new UI style, so it might not fit in right now)

- Various Xenopedia updates

Balance

- If a Xenonaut aircraft escapes from an alien air superiority flight, then the UFOs will be unable to re-attack them for a short time

- Implemented a new baseline accuracy level for all ground combat weapons, both Xenonaut and alien. In general accuracy has improved to a significant degree, which leads to deadlier combat

- Reduced the number of alien troops present in alien base attack missions, small ones have 12, medium 18 and large 24 (each base also has a handful of non-combatant aliens as fodder)

- Scout UFOs now appear earlier in the invasion in order to provide some variety with light scouts

- The value of heavy missiles in the air combat auto-resolve calculation when against evasive UFOs is now 50% their normal value (was 0%)

- Stealth shotgun buff

Please post your comments on the build here. If you encounter any bugs please post them in the experimental build sub-forum of the bugs forum. I will post new threads in the beta forum shortly for in-depth discussion of the current Geoscape and Ground Combat balance, but feel free to post brief opinions here too.

Good stuff. That's a lot of long-standing bugs fixed. If those work as intended and don't throw anything new up, I'd expect 19v6 to feel pretty damned good.

"combat lock" that's what I should have called it instead of wasting paragraphs trying to explain it Looking forward to this one.

I'll miss the huge numbers in base attacks. It was overpowering, but it felt great when you go through in one piece.

This looks like a great update! I'll try this when I get home from work this evening. Great work!

I was hoping to see some balance changes to the Air Combat section, but I'll see how it goes.

SOAB! is there anyway anyway I can get back to build 5??! Does someone still have it? I was enjoying my game!

*Face melts

Dam thing auto updated before i could stop it!

I cant go through all that again can someone add me on steam and send me the files i need to go back down to build 5?

Please!

Steam is

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197978733024/

Someone help!

You can start Xenonauts without steam by adding a shortcut (Steam\SteamApps\common\Xenonauts\Xenonauts.exe) to the desktop/toolbar for easy access. That will prevent steam from updating unless you really want it to. Of course, you also have to remove steam from your startup applications, but that has the added benefit of faster boot up times.

If you want an uninterrupted game it would probably be best to stick to the stable builds. Alpha software is inherently unstable and prone to changes which break backwards compatibility.

Anyway, this update looks pretty interesting, I'm really happy to see increased accuracy and breachable UFO doors.

Wow, many of my reported bugs ale finally told to be fixed here. It seems I'm going to make another video.

Great news!! 2 big fixes in one update = pure win! Air combat loop and low accuracy were some main sources of frustation that are now gone! Good job

Was the bug with low accuracy inside alien ships fixed?

Great Improvements guys....As i just droped 70 bucks on panzer corps and the mega pak dlc i'm gonna skip this build and wait for the stable one, however i want to reiterate two things I hope make it into the stable build somehow.

#1 Please consider adding more ranks and medals to the game.....I really love the immersion you get from bonding with your troops and seeing them grow into ultimate soldiers with the fruit salad to prove it.

#2 Please Please bring in a memorial wall so you can see all the troops you've lost. At least just a roster of them if not the way xcom ufo defense did it.

Thanks

Happy programming.

Excuse me but how do I prevent Steam from updating the game automatically when I launch the game? I set it to "don't update automatically" but it still began updating when I launched the game. I don't want to lose an ongoing game at the moment since I had it close to the finish.

Excuse me but how do I prevent Steam from updating the game automatically when I launch the game? I set it to "don't update automatically" but it still began updating when I launched the game. I don't want to lose an ongoing game at the moment since I had it close to the finish.

Only way to do that with beta builds is to not connect to Steam.

Stealth shotgun buff

what it this? explain pls

Thanks for the update!

I second the request for clarification on the shotgun buff.

Stealth shotgun buff = damage buff 45>60

edit: little "bug": MAG rifle and shotgun still has auto fire accuracy 20 instead of 30

Seem to have good stuff.

Stealth shotgun buff = damage buff 45>60

edit: little "bug": MAG rifle and shotgun still has auto fire accuracy 20 instead of 30

buff shotgun? srly? it was OP gun from 19.5 whith close combat buf accuracy now its more OP.

buff shotgun? srly? it was OP gun from 19.5 whith close combat buf accuracy now its more OP.

Still not enough OP to replace assault rifle, especially after accuracy buff. Assault rifle is like mini sniper rifle and mini machinegun 2in1. At long range shotgun sucks while at close range burst fire of assault rifle or grenade can do the same as shotgun, and even better. In my game shotguns are left to farmers and civilians

shotguns still suck hard, same with the other CQC weapons. Why not make it a automatic shotgun instead of a pump action 2 rounds or 3? hell a double barreled sod off would be a far better choice considering how they end up being used.

While we are at it can we please

recover armor off dead soldiers,

have electroshock grenades do damage to robitic types

Get something more for shooting down fighters and bombers, IE recover alien alloys from the crash or something.

have a upgraded version of the rocket launcher that is like the alien plasma ball launcher or change the plasma rocket rounds so they do plasma damage like the plasma ball IE dont destroy equipment!

ability to sell manufactured items at the very least at cost to manufacture, your telling me no one would give you money for a god dam plasma tank?!

introduced some sort of nightvision to higher teir suits? or how about a alienum improved flare? I mean for god sakes you can make power armor but cant give me a decent flare or super flashlight?

improve performance of night ops.

- The doors on UFOs have been completely reworked. They now support manual opening/closing, no longer auto-close and are also destructible

- Alien bases have been completely reworked. There is now different layout for small, medium and large bases and they also have some special rooms indicating the type of aliens in the base. (Unfortunately a bug causes only small bases to spawn right now, but you can at least see the new style)

looks like game no longer alpha, very very good.

Looking forward with hope for 4:3 resolutions support.

Still not enough OP to replace assault rifle, especially after accuracy buff. Assault rifle is like mini sniper rifle and mini machinegun 2in1. At long range shotgun sucks while at close range burst fire of assault rifle or grenade can do the same as shotgun, and even better. In my game shotguns are left to farmers and civilians

balistick assault rifle sucks. on insane now shootgun+smoke is only one weapon cary early game vs a lot of aliens whith heavy plasma rifles and canons

hey. just got to try the new release.

the game still crashes on air combat - not everytime though. i got to more or less instantly rely on the autoresolve feature cause these air combat scenes get old real quick. game crashed on one of the earliest 3-ufo combinations. a... was ist called medium? the second ufo typ you get anyway - with two sidekicks, beeing attacked three of mine.

these air combat crashes are a bit annoying - any idea on when these get adressed?

Does accuracy over 100 on a weapon mean anything? Or is it only used for enemies behind cover?

I have been wondering about that since the 40 TU shot on the Rifle now has 120 accuracy.

Are there any plans to change suppression?

I have a very hard time wrapping my mind around a system that says "shoot at" an Alien a couple of times and then it's harmless on your turn...followed by it having a massive TU penalty on its turn to where it can run away a very short distance or take a low TU shot if it can see you.

(I feel like bullets are coated in Radioactive NyQuil)

The increased accuracy seems to primarily benefit the player, as before Aliens rarely fired at you because they were suppressed with 1-2 shots, so now on the occasion they do shoot at you, it's more dangerous...but...

But they arent going to survive for as long now, so its less chances to shoot overall.