Solver

There's a repeatable crash when trying to load a particular combat mission. Crash log: 2019-10-07 00:20:06,997 [FATAL] (D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Screens\XenonautsMain.cs:524) [INITIAL CRASH] Artitas.EntityMutationException: A crash occurred during delayed entity mutation - Mutation [ID: 308, ComponentID: 46, Next: Common.Components.GameObjectComponent, Added: True] ---> System.ArgumentNullException: A fatal error occurred during Update[] - - Argument cannot be null. Parameter name: key Parameter name: key at System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2[UnityEngine.Material,UnityEngine.Material].ContainsKey (UnityEngine.Material key) [0x00099] in /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Collections.Generic/Dictionary.cs:474 at Xenonauts.GroundCombat.Scripts.AActorDataBehaviour.ApplyMaterialPack (System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2 materialMap) [0x00035] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Screens\GroundCombat\Scripts\DataBehaviour\AActorDataBehaviour.cs:514 at Xenonauts.GroundCombat.ActorVisualVariationSystem.InstantiateMaterialItemPack (Artitas.Entity actor) [0x00055] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Screens\GroundCombat\Systems\ActorVisualVariationSystem.cs:348 at Artitas.Family+<EntityAdd>c__AnonStorey1E.<>m__0 (Artitas.Family family, Artitas.Entity entity) [0x00007] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Libraries\Artitas\Artitas.Core\Code\Family.cs:841 at Artitas.Family.AddEntity (Int32 entityID, Int32 componentID, IComponent previous, IComponent next) [0x00072] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Libraries\Artitas\Artitas.Core\Code\Family.cs:489 at Artitas.Managers.FamilyManager.UpdateComposition (Int32 entityID, Int32 componentID, IComponent prevComp, IComponent newComp, Boolean added) [0x001d2] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Libraries\Artitas\Artitas.Core\Code\Managers\FamilyManager.cs:344 at Artitas.World.MutateComponentOnEntity (Int32 entityID, Int32 componentID, IComponent previousC, IComponent nextC, Boolean added) [0x000d6] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Libraries\Artitas\Artitas.Core\Code\World.cs:361 --- End of inner exception stack trace --- at Artitas.World.HandleDelayedMutations () [0x000fe] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Libraries\Artitas\Artitas.Core\Code\World.cs:310 at Artitas.Template.Create (Artitas.World world) [0x0010a] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Libraries\Artitas\Artitas.Core\Code\Template.cs:617 at Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GroundCombatInitialization.SpawnIntoLocation (Artitas.World w, Artitas.Template actorTemplate, Common.Boards.Board b, Address a, Direction d) [0x00003] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Screens\GroundCombat\GroundCombatInitialization.cs:747 at Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GroundCombatInitialization.SpawnAICombatant (Artitas.World world, Artitas.Entity player, Common.Boards.Board board, Artitas.Template template, Xenonauts.GroundCombat.CombatantConfig combConf, Address target, Xenonauts.GroundCombat.SpawnRegionAllotment spawnTarget, Int32 combatantsSpawnedAlready) [0x000f0] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Screens\GroundCombat\GroundCombatInitialization.cs:703 at (wrapper delegate-invoke) Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GroundCombatInitialization/SpawnCombatant:invoke_Entity__this___World_Entity_Board_Template_CombatantConfig_Address_GroundCombatInitialization/SpawnRegionAllotment_int (Artitas.World,Artitas.Entity,Common.Boards.Board,Artitas.Template,Xenonauts.GroundCombat.CombatantConfig,Common.Boards.Address,Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GroundCombatInitialization/SpawnRegionAllotment,int) at Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GroundCombatInitialization.SpawnActorsForPlayer (Artitas.World world, Artitas.Entity player, IEnumerable`1 units, Common.Boards.Board board, System.Collections.Generic.List`1 spawnRegions, Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GenerateSpawnPointRestrictions spawnRequirements, Xenonauts.GroundCombat.PickAddressInSpawnPointRegion addressPick, Xenonauts.GroundCombat.SpawnCombatant spawnCombatant) [0x00262] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Screens\GroundCombat\GroundCombatInitialization.cs:570 at Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GroundCombatInitialization.SpawnActors (Xenonauts.GroundCombat.PlayerConfig pc, Artitas.Entity player, Artitas.World world, System.Collections.Generic.List`1 spawnRegions) [0x0008b] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Screens\GroundCombat\GroundCombatInitialization.cs:353 at Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GroundCombatInitialization.SetupPlayers (Artitas.World world, Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GCParameters gcsp, System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2 teams) [0x0008b] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Screens\GroundCombat\GroundCombatInitialization.cs:310 at Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GroundCombatInitialization.PopulateLevel (Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GCParameters gcp, Artitas.World world) [0x0000e] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Screens\GroundCombat\GroundCombatInitialization.cs:253 at Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GroundCombatLogicSystem.SetupGameParameters (Xenonauts.GroundCombat.ParametersSetupCommand command) [0x000e9] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Screens\GroundCombat\Systems\GroundCombatLogicSystem.cs:404 at (wrapper delegate-invoke) System.Action`2<Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GroundCombatLogicSystem, Xenonauts.GroundCombat.ParametersSetupCommand>:invoke_void__this___GroundCombatLogicSystem_ParametersSetupCommand (Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GroundCombatLogicSystem,Xenonauts.GroundCombat.ParametersSetupCommand) at Artitas.Core.Utils.ExpressionUtil+<ActionFromMethodInfoFactory>c__AnonStorey1`4[Artitas.Systems.EventSystem,Xenonauts.GroundCombat.ParametersSetupCommand,Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GroundCombatLogicSystem,Artitas.IEvent].<>m__0 (Artitas.Systems.EventSystem target, IEvent param) [0x0001c] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Libraries\Artitas\Artitas.Core\Code\Utils\ExpressionUtil.cs:151 at Artitas.Systems.EventSystem.HandleSubscribers (IEvent event) [0x00050] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Libraries\Artitas\Artitas.Core\Code\Systems\EventSystem.cs:49 at Common.FSM.Systems.FSMSystem`3[Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GameState,Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GameTrigger,Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GameStateComponent].Handle (IEvent trigger) [0x0001a] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Libraries\Common\Code\Concepts\FSM\FSMSystem.cs:124 at Artitas.DefaultProcessStrategy.Process (IEvent event) [0x0020c] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Libraries\Artitas\Artitas.Core\Code\World.cs:928 at Artitas.World.HandleEvent[ParametersSetupCommand] (Xenonauts.GroundCombat.ParametersSetupCommand event) [0x000a3] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Libraries\Artitas\Artitas.Core\Code\World.cs:708 at Xenonauts.GroundCombat.GroundCombatScreen+<OnSetup>c__Iterator0.MoveNext () [0x0075d] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Screens\GroundCombat\GroundCombatScreen.cs:338 at System.Collections.Generic.List`1[RSG.IPromise].AddEnumerable (IEnumerable`1 enumerable) [0x0001a] in /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Collections.Generic/List.cs:128 at System.Collections.Generic.List`1[RSG.IPromise]..ctor (IEnumerable`1 collection) [0x00025] in /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Collections.Generic/List.cs:65 at System.Linq.Enumerable.ToArray[IPromise] (IEnumerable`1 source) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at RSG.Promise.All (IEnumerable`1 promises) [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0 at Common.Screens.DataStructures.LoadScreen`2[Xenonauts.GameScreens,Common.Screens.DataStructures.IScreenParameters].CheckLoading () [0x00163] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Libraries\Common\Code\Lifecycles\ScreenLifecycle\DataStructures\LoadScreen.cs:247 at Common.Screens.DataStructures.LoadScreen`2[Xenonauts.GameScreens,Common.Screens.DataStructures.IScreenParameters].Update (Single deltaTime) [0x00002] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Libraries\Common\Code\Lifecycles\ScreenLifecycle\DataStructures\LoadScreen.cs:96 at Xenonauts.XenonautsLoadingScreen.Update (Single deltaTime) [0x00003] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Screens\Loading\XenonautsLoadingScreen.cs:30 at Common.Screens.ScreenManager`1[Xenonauts.GameScreens].Update (Single deltaTime) [0x000f3] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Libraries\Common\Code\Lifecycles\ScreenLifecycle\ScreenManager.cs:154 at Xenonauts.XenonautsMain.Update () [0x00066] in D:\Jenkins\workspace\X2 (Build)\release-0.52.0\Assets\Code\Screens\XenonautsMain.cs:444 crash.json

I see what you mean in some cases, like roofs. With some others, like the rocks on many maps, the terrain seems visible anyway, so it's as if just the soldier disappears. And it really doesn't feel right. I'll get some screenshots in, but seems like some creative UI solution is needed.

Seems like the right-clicking is a problem. If you drag and drop another weapon instead, the ammo gets updated - I was able to fix the HEVY that way. Still doesn't work for the shield, which has no ammo type, so the old invalid ammo stays even if you drag the shield.

I've been having problems with some weapons not working. The HEVY fires but there's no explosion. I can't make a shield soldier fire his pistol at all. After some clicking, I think it's actually a bug in loadout storage in v8. Notice the rifle mag next to the HEVY. If you create a new role, it starts with whatever the previous role had, such as the basic rifle + mag. But then if you change weapons, you can't get rid of the previous ammo type. More specifically: 1. Take a soldier with one of the default roles. Observe that the displayed ammo type is appropriate for the weapon. 2. Create a new role. 3. Right click the weapon. It gets removed as it should, but the ammo stays. 4. Right click any different weapon to assign - it will get assigned, but with the old invalid ammo. Changing soldiers to the predefined loadouts works, but no new loadouts work. This essentially means that only the starting weapons are usable in this version. In conjunction with the other loadout bug I reported yesterday, I suspect it's something like the ammo type not getting stored in the loadout information.

Some gameplay feedback from me. I didn't have the time to try V7, so this is based on V8. The Skyhawk itself feels like I expected, a major improvement over the previous dropship. The ability to get out of it without wasting lots of TUs really makes a difference, and the dropship itself acts as reasonable cover when needed. Getting out can still feel a bit awkward due to not having any extra space to move in, so a width-3 ship wouldn't feel amiss, but it's not as awkward as I expected. I don't like having 10 soldiers, it feels like too many in several ways. With 8, I always found there's a tradeoff to making one of my soldiers a specialist, like a HEVY carrier - it's a useful weapon but then I lose some more conventional firepower. With 10, at least the early Probe/Scout missions feel like I make no tactical tradeoffs. I can go for a high-suppression squad with two LMGs, or get different extras while still having plenty of soldiers with regular weapons. The whole part with soldiers being fragile also feels less relevant. Psyons kill my guys in one lucky hit, but even losing 2 soldiers doesn't feel like it creates extra trouble. With 8 soldiers, losing 2 was a setback because I couldn't properly cover every direction with just 6. So 10 feels like too many, and that's despite HEVY being bugged in this version.

The "Update" button on the equip screen that's supposed to save loadouts doesn't work. If you click Yes in the dialog, it still stays on the screen. Pressing Esc makes it go away, but the loadout doesn't get saved - can be verified by pressing Equip, which then equips the default loadout.

Seems like the current camera controls hide soldiers above the current camera level. So if you send a soldier up on some rocks (level 2) and then move the camera back to level 1, the soldier's model will be hidden from view.

You might not be able to reproducing this one, but attaching a save in case it's something to do with this map. When I started this mission, the LOS wouldn't update on the first turn - black areas remained black as I moved my soldiers. A save and reload fixed the issue. los.zip

I started a new game, went to recruit a couple additional soldiers - including some low-strength guy called Chris England - and they immediately show up in the equipment menu, and can go on Geoscape missions. The previous 72 hour (?) hiring time doesn't seem to apply.

This definitely makes you underprepared for the mission. Singularity cannon makes the mission much easier, but is still rather optional. Plasma weapons mean you likely don't enough gear - mag weapons are quite necessary, and Magstorms especially are great to have. It should be possible with plasmas if you play aggressively enough, but going in without mag weapons and without singularity cannons really complicates things.

I'm also interested in how it's actually possible to get to the final mission without being ready for it. The final mission requires a captured Praetor. That means at least one successful raid on a Battleship or an alien fortress. You can't really manage that without a team of experienced soldiers and good gear. And you don't even get to see Battleships unless you've developed some decent tactics - if your tactics are subpar, then I think Landing Ships is where you lose the game.

This is an interesting perspective, since I would have the opposite complaint about the final mission. It's too easy. It's easier than some other late-game missions (Carriers, Battleships, the largest alien bases), and to me the Xenonauts final mission has usually felt like a show of your own superiority. That's as long as you have end-game gear. Enemies are clustered close together, a singularity cannon can wipe out most of each cluster, and magstorms finish off the rest. If you have a full team of soldiers with mixed Predator/Sentinel armor, a couple of Singularity cannons and mag weapons for everyone else, it's pure dominance.

No. The launcher isn't just for show, it does things like processing your mod list and figuring out what files the game will use. There's no support for skipping the launcher.

I haven't played V7 yet, but from the description and the visuals, a few points. The overall layout seems much improved. It should mostly address the previous dropship's main problem of being very exposed. It might be nice to have a bit of empty space also to allow for more movement initially. The frontmost two soldiers should perhaps be a tile away from the ramp and not directly in front of it. Or consider making the side doors be a 1-tile corridor, so a soldiers steps through one tile on the way out. The sides should in my opinion be either completely solid (like X1 Charlie), or if they have windows like now, then the windows should be breakable (though probably not too easily). Indestructible windows are not immersive, and are inconsistent with the rest of the game. I really don't like the idea of increasing it to 10 soldiers. Let that be an upgrade, the starting dropship being 8 soldiers is more than fine. Increasing it to 10 means a 25% increase in your firepower, which doesn't feel remotely necessary based on V6, and I don't think the game calls for an increased number of enemies to compensate either. 8 soldiers has always felt like a sweet spot for early missions in terms of unit management as well - I remember that some pre-release X1 builds tried 6 and 10, and both of those options definitely felt worse than 8.

There's no such hard limit from a quick reading of the psionic attack source file. Although come to think of it, I forgot to check one layer up, whether the psionic behavior can be triggered at all a second time, I'll do that later.

There's a limit of each ability being used once per turn. So a Praetor would only do Fear once per turn, for instance. And the only types of attack that work are mind control, hallucinate, fear and dread.

So this is a couple of months overdue probably, but here's a small announcement. Given the current status of Xenonauts, and of X:CE, I currently have no plans to release additional versions of X:CE. The possibility is still there for other people to work on X:CE, but from my perspective X:CE 0.35 will likely remain the final version.

I think there is still no official news on other platforms. However, I've been playing the latest beta builds on Linux, and everything works very well. Hopefully nothing is going to break that compatibility.

I think you might need to be careful with the random elements, and with the subjective feeling that players get in the game. It's important for bravery to feel like it matters. A lesson from X1 - it shipped with psionics not working as intended, that is, bravery was mostly meaningless and psionics were resolved with a random roll, only marginally affected by bravery. Many players complained about psionics feeling wrong but that bug went undiscovered for a few years, and resulted in the game just feeling subtly wrong in that regard.

It was possible in the original game, but X:CE solved some technical issues that could crop up with too much fire and destruction.

Yup. Maybe getting a bit off topic here, but I think Oblivion's horrible VA wasn't so much because the actors were bad (though some were IMO), but rather because there were so few voices. When every Orc in the game has the same voice, it's immersion-breaking. And that leads to the conclusion that quality VA is costly. If I imagine VA in Xenonauts, the idea is fine, but if the game only had 1 male and 1 female soldier voice, it would just detract from the atmosphere. Goldhawk is obviously a small studio, and while I'm sure they could record a few lines, they just couldn't afford VA that's even halfway immersive. Overall I really think X1 had a great amount of character for such a low-budget game. The art had a distinct style, the Chief Scientist was a great snarky character - a major writing achievement since the game's text was almost entirely research reports - and the soundtrack was pretty great. The visual design of aliens is the only major flaw of X1 atmosphere-wise.

With regards to voice acting, I'd much rather have no voice acting than poorly done voice acting (I'm traumatized by Oblivion), but I expect that technical support for voice acting could be added by X2:CE, thus potentially allowing voice mods.

Could be anything of course, but I've fixed a bug that had similar symptoms in X1, and that was caused by a soldier trying to reaction fire (i.e. scoring a successful reaction check) but being unable to do so, such as having an empty mag.

I agree. The general recharging design is probably good, but a 3-shot cell isn't. One more possibility is to delay the recharge - instead of recharging 1 shot per turn, make lasers only recharge if they were not fired in the preceding turn.

Laser weapons - they're supposed to be limited in ammo due to the recharge mechanic, which I don't think works well now. They recharge every turn. A laser rifle has 5 ammo, so if you shoot 2 aimed shots per turn, you can still afford to do it for 5 turns. If you do a burst + normal, the next turn will still see you at 2/5 ammo, allowing two shots. Given that it's common enough to spend a turn repositioning with no targets in sight, I don't feel like lasers are severely limited by their low ammo now, which they are meant to be.