4Aces

From the manual: "Soldiers gain experience in battle and level up their attributes (they gain stat points by using those stats, so for example you gain Accuracy points by firing your weapons at aliens)." With reduced requirements to get the stat bonus, you will find that they just come from regular combat. Currently you have to 'train', by clearing most of the map, then having everyone run back an forth (for TUs), or shoot at stationary objects (Accuracy), which is what DNK was referring to.

I distinctly remember seeing the same maps over and over. I could probably mock up a few diagrams of them right now, but that is too much work so I went searching: here is a link. They devs claimed the maps were random, but they did not actually mention that it was just some placeable objects and aliens that were random. As for your link to procedurally generating 2D tiles, I am afraid that while there is some useful information there it does not apply to these tiles. The two games that were discussed within two links of that page, were exceptionally basic art (and the rest were 3D). What this amount to is comparing the graphical style of Xenonauts to a stick man. The problem is not that the tiles cannot be randomly generated, it is that they need to be specifically placed, or else they will look weird. If this were more like the demo that Chris just posted the pic of, then it would be easy to do. Just make sure that a random cabbage is not in the middle of a street or wall, and you are good to go (well not quite that easy but relatively close to it). Xenonauts uses highly detailed bitmaps and they require blending where dot art or procedural (aka bland) bitmaps do not. Imagine a straight line with two tiles. Now put grass tile A beside grass tile G, and you will see a seam where they meet as the bitmaps do not blend across them as a whole. Only tile A can be placed beside tile B to get no seam. The hard part comes from the fact that only tile G may have an edge border that will look appropriate to start a new tile type (or it may even require a specific type of tile). So you have to have the entire grass cube in a specific order, and it may dictate what kind of tiles can go beside it (probably not, but it is possible). So you can have a cascade effect that takes over the map, and large sections could be self-forming from a single tile placement. That is what Max_Caine was talking about. Semi-random maps that require a boatload of work to get the code just right. It is far easier to make large modules (e.g. 1/16th of the map) that are combined either manually, or procedurally, and then layer all the placeable objects on it. Considering the modding tools that allow users to create their own maps, and the fact that the game will have a semi-randomized map selection, there will be far more maps than Aftermath ever had. Having manual modules would also allow tweaking of existing maps very easily. Just clone the module, rename, alter, and swap it on the map (or make it into a new map). Once semi-random alien placement is also nailed down, it will be highly acceptable. Thanks for the link!

Different engine = different rules. The original did not really have procedural maps as you would constantly find the same large blocks in the same arrangements. What the originals did have was random placements so you never knew where the enemies were. It is known to be tied to the transparency, so if you stay one square away from the walls, then the shots will not go through it. Note that the shots from above are another issue, and will not be effected by this workaround. PM me for a link to my AI file, and you can see if that improves your experience. If you right click while targeting you get to spend more TUs per shot, with a higher chance of hitting. The assault weapons start with a much higher accuracy at close range, so a single right click will give you a very high chance of each shot being a hit. These weapons are meant for move out of cover, shoot, and move back into cover engagements. Decent damage, and higher hit % = good in my book. Development is still in the early-middle of the Beta phase. It is currently being re-balanced, and the unimplemented features are being added with each build. The game is not fun right now, because it is not done. This type of game really hinges on the curves (alien progression, research, combat difficulty, ufo difficulty, etc.) and that is why the balancing is being carried out. As more elements are added/implemented, it will still need to be tweaked. Perhaps the initial screen should warn that this is not for fun (yet), but to help the Devs track and squash all the bugs. You assume because they are looking forward, that development will stop. G.I. Chris has clearly stated that Xenonauts will not be rushed out the door. That it will only be released when it is finished. So keep doing your part to help kill those pesky bugs, and the game will continue to be developed. That link is to the Bug Report Section of the board. All bug reports go there, not just 18.x. Check out the area above the Post New Thread button (Upper Left of the window) to see the board's path and for easier navigating.

That is the logic. It should be the same as an alien base, where you place the units, and then start your turn. Make sure you are not double-clicking the End Turn button. Also, be careful of clicking on the unit portraits. I have done this a few times and suddenly had my turn end using v18hf3. I wish I could be of more help, but I just tried to build my first Val and got a CTD on completion (known bug). As for the benefits, considering the listed speed it should be much faster at getting your team to the mission at the very least.

Predator armor is not fixed yet (v18hf3) for walking though all walls. Also, the Valkyrie is the dropship with the pods. Building one can result in a CTD, and using it will definitely, so it is not air-worthy just yet.

Not at this time, and probably not in the design. Robot units are probably planned for Xeno^2.

When you click on the item to drag it, does a 'ghosted version' appear so that you can move the item across the window or does it just appear over the equipment list and then crash? After answering that, you can try to just transfer things by Right clicking them. I have found it more stable.

I had the same thing happen (v18hf3) on a Cruiser in the Middle East. A shot through the window (already broken) hit the alien and killed it. As it died, every tile in the house went to rubble. I thought it might be a psychic shockwave from the alien at the surprise of being killed.

Reload the game and check to see if your unit can target the alien without any small Red squares in their targeting line. If that line is all Green for the section that goes over the Tractor, then it does not count as cover. If it is partial cover the line will not be Green, and the % for the Tractor absorbing the hit will be displayed. This works for all obstructions (boxes, pipes, etc) on the map. If you see Red then it will absorb 100% of all shots until it's health is depleted and then it will degrade/break. Some objects like the dropships have infinite health, so do not try to blast through them.

Also occurs with the plasma smg + Sentinel for Left animations as well as crouch toggle (not sure if it is direction specific).

It is also intermittent (at least with v18hf3). A UK base could not transfer to my Australia base, transferring the second unit resulted in an immediate CTD, so it was not as bad as yours cbabs. But a month or two later, the game would let me transfer from UK to Australia without issue. At first I thought it was unit based (particular units had a bad variable of some nature and the transfer referenced it for some reason), but after the success it appears to be a time dependent issue. As a workaround you might be able to sneak them past the game individually. Wait unit the first arrives before sending the next. Also, make sure that you have a storeroom at the base you are sending them to (just in case equipment is being defaulted there, and then transferred back to the units).

Check your version. Steam might have 'helped you out' by uploading the latest version, and if that happened your save games are from v18 and your game is v19. Saved games do not work between versions due to various constraints. Removing the game and reloading v18 will allow you to play the game. Just make sure to toggle off the Steam auto-updates.

In v18hf3 all the equipment is returned to the base. Do you have a storeroom at the base? If not build one. The game remembers your stuff, it just has it 'locked away' in a storeroom that does not exist (yet). I built a engineering base, and made a lot of kit, and then realized I could not transfer it as intended. As soon as I realized I had missed a storeroom, I built one and all the stuff I had made was in it. If you are really losing kit, you could always use the duplication cheat*. Right click on weapons in the unit Equipment Screen, back and forth between the equipment list and a unit. The number of that weapon will be incremented as you cycle through this. Be warned that the unit will be equipped with an empty weapon at the end, so you will need to drag a magazine over the weapon on that screen to reload at the base. If you get to the Cruiser stage you can be ambushed at the landing zone, and empty weapons could cost you a unit or two. *This does not always work. Some units can duplicate anything, while others are limited to laser, and if I remember correctly, there are some that will not duplicate anything. So find one unit that does work and just use them over and over. I have only tested it with laser and plasma weapons, and it does not work with the shield.

Yep, click on it like a mad hatter and it will work in most cases. BeronBlackclaw - Thanks for the tool! Mashiroo - I am sending you a PM.

You will have to be a bit more specific than that. At which part of the process does it fail - packing or integration into the running game? You do not need to pack them if you are merely testing. Just make a new folder, copy the unpacked pfp files (2) into that folder, and the game will no longer use their files. Then just copy the unpacked folders over their traditional counterparts. There is no overwriting, at least with v18, so it is easy. I stumbled on the above means of unpacking pfp files a month ago and tested a few alterations to some of the equip screen textures and backgrounds. The game incorporated them without complaint and ran fine without re-packing them.

I did. It cut the number of Hidden Movement infinite loops considerably (but is still in testing). The coder's blog entry was from August 2012. This is the 'new' AI that the game is using' date=' and [b']states[/b] can be modified by editing \assets\groundcombat\ai\behaviours.xml. Unfortunately there is no commenting, but most of the variables appear to have logical names.

It is the major focus of your life, that is for sure, but should not totally consume your life. If that does happen, you will just burn-out, which will slow down production while you recover. While a project can never be 100% finished, with proper goals you should be satisfied when it is 'done'. Deadlines keep the budget in check, but should always be planned with a sensible margin (based on the design and target platforms). I have yet to see a modern project actually meet the initial deadline without leaving a lot of features unfinished, or worse, cutting massive chunks out, wasting all the development time (and money) spent on them. But without deadlines, you get things like Duke Nukem Forever.

Call 'em Mags. Ballistics covers any object that transcribes an arc due to gravity, and technically has nothing to do with how it is powered (gas launched vs rocket motor). A football and an ICBM can both be ballistic objects. I found the scientist comments about the engineers to be initially amusing, but the one-sided nature made it petty over time. I would suggest either interjecting some comments from the engineers, or keeping the initial research completed pop-ups to the basics (including relevant stats), and have the personal comments exist only in the Xenopedia entries. Also include full stats with the Xenopedia entries whenever applicable, for ease of comparisons.

You would still have to explore as most of the aliens are not in the ship, as they were in the original games. Currently, most of the money earned from a mission comes from their weapons, to occupying a UFO to win is a very bad idea. Some of the map also have the UFOs visible from the start (or it may be a particular class of UFO, I do not recall right now). It does not effect how the sweep of the map occurs.

Everything should sell for more than it costs to make. I am sure that the re-balancing will fix them.

Snow in Cuba would be right up the alien's method of operation (messing with us). Importing all the buildings, trees, ice water, and corrugated buildings would be a bit much though.

That is how the tactical combat shines. You have to figure out which weapons to launch at exactly which time, and in which order. Large craft take out the first two shots, so use the weakest ammo first, then follow up with the heavies. The country relations has not worked for a few builds. Just look at the money adjustment to see if the country is getting angry.