gsteff

I'm a software developer (for backend Linux systems... definitely not a game developer), and am curious about some of Xenonauts development practices. Like, what language is it being written in? And does the engine use either OpenGL or DirectX (i.e. is there any possibility of eventually porting it to platforms other than Windows)? And do you guys unit test? I'm a big supporter of unit tests, but have never really thought they'd make as much sense for video game development (where so much of the code is UI) as they do in other contexts. I get the impression that game shops generally use QA teams instead of automated tests. Also, what, if anything, do you use for version control (i.e. subversion, git, etc.), and do your artists commit directly to it too?

Yeah, I'm not sure if this is practical business-wise, but if Xenonauts sells well-enough, I hope there's some way to go back and fill in a few of the corners that had to be cut due to resource constraints. Adding additional tile sets, alien races or background art, for example. But again, that probably doesn't make any business sense- no one is going to decide to buy the game when it has 8 tile sets, but not when it has 6, and you aren't going to get any meaningful amount of new publicity out of changes like that. If you can package that up into an expansion pack, and charge another $20 for it, it might make sense, but if people are going to pay again for the game, I think they'd expect something more like a 50% expansion of content, not a 20% one. To me, in a perfect world, the smash success of Xenonauts would provide the resources to port it to the iPad... I haven't played any of the pre-releases, but I've always thought that both the geoscape and combat interfaces of X-Com would work well with a touch screen interface. Unfortunately, I'm aware that this makes no technical sense... I don't know what language the underlying engine is written in, but I'm certain it's not objective C. Too bad. On the other hand, I know that Chris has indicated he might go with a different engine if he could do things over again, so if Xenonauts does well enough to justify a sequel, perhaps that might provide an opportunity to switch to a tablet-friendly engine? If the most difficult part of the development is producing art assets, which is what it sounds like, it seems like there might be enough reusable work to make that practical. I don't even own a tablet, but do think that if this game were somehow available on the app store, it would sell like hotcakes, even at $20 a pop.

I'm still getting malware warnings from Google Chrome when I visit the news page.

Having looked at the EU screenshots, I think it will probably be a good console strategy game, but I'm definitely looking forward to Xenonauts more (I'll definitely buy both). Impressions from the tactical screenshot: Based on this screenshot and what I've seen of the FPS game that it appears to be linked to, I'm concerned that there won't be much variety in the types of aliens you fight It appears that all of the terrain is visible to you at all times, though I assume that you still can't see opponents until you have line of sight. If so, I'll miss the initial blindness of the original, and the way that it encourages you to, say, get a rough layout of a building by peeking through windows before entering. It appears that all of the terrain is visible to you at all times, though I assume that you still can't see opponents until you have line of sight. If so, I'll miss the initial blindness of the original, and the way that it encourages you to, say, get a rough layout of a building by peeking through windows before entering Do you get to see the health of your opponents? That also would be disappointing. I don't see any indicators of stamina or morale, and I suppose I wouldn't necessarily mind if stamina were dropped from combat mechanics, though I'd miss morale. Limiting you to four soldiers in combat would be a major dissapointment, but something I can totally see them doing for the sake of preserving a fast console game pace. Impressions from the base screenshot: I'm cool with the vertical base organization... it looks like you'll get more variety in base components and layouts... being able to limit access between levels to specific shafts adds an interesting element to base defense. And the holographic globe looks pretty cool- if that's the basis of much of the geoscape interface, I'll be happy. Overall, although I'll miss a lot of the micromanagement, I'm sympathetic to the desire to simplify and accelerate gameplay on consoles. Assaults on alien bases and terror missions on ships (in TFTD) could take me more than 3 hours to complete- especially hunting down the last alien- and I don't think that would really be acceptable to console gamers. But it will inevitably change the character of the game, and gamers looking for the intense, nerve-wracking experience of the original will likely be much better served by Xenonauts, IMHO. As console strategy games go, I expect this will be a good one, but I also expect an inevitable loss of depth relative to a PC strategy game.