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Found 24 results

  1. Map 1 is now available for level testing in its own new sub-forum! Please read the Readme Post and then check it out if you're interested in helping out. It's our first attempt so there might be some teething issues though! The map uses quite a few placeholder graphics but is intended to let us test a few things: - Map sizes relative to the number of aliens in it - A more open style of map - The new UFO wall hiding mechanics - The size and interior layout of the proposed new Light Scout UFO Future maps are in the works, there'll probably be at least one more this week that will showcase the new style of the Farm maps with big LOS-blocking hedgerows. If you're lucky, we'll get the first test map for the alien bases out this week too. The Xenonaut base defence missions may appear in the next couple of weeks too, as Aaron's done a lot of new tiles for them. The intention is that we'll iterate the maps with community feedback until we know what size works best for each UFO type, what the best UFO layout is etc, and take on board specific comments on each map so we build up a decent library of hand-crafted and playtested maps for release that are fun to play through. In the next few weeks we'll be adding more functionality so we can test "scenarios" as well, which will involve setting a specific number of alien units and a specific number of Xenonauts with specific equipment on certain missions to see how easy / hard they are. This will require further amendments to the levelsetup.xml code and the AI code, but we're working on those. There's also a bunch more tiles in the updated version, as well as as updated Submap / Level editors for those who like making your own maps. Enjoy!
  2. Community Map Pack Version 2 (This is out of date and currently not compatible with Xenonauts V1.0 onwards!) This map pack contains a wide range of custom maps and submaps for use in Xenonauts I have been out of the loop for 6 months due to family issues so I have combined all the maps into the community map pack 3. It now includes Stinky's asset fix for version 20. Hopefully nothing else is broken. Report if it is and will try to fix. Download Community Map Pack 3 HERE (This is out of date and currently not compatible with Xenonauts V1.0 onwards!) Current authors Flashman, Moxar and Ol' Stinky To install Extract to your xenonauts\assets folder or steam\steamapps\common\xenonauts\assets Click merge with any folders already present and overwrite files (including previous map packs) There is at least 1 map for every tileset. Primarily light scout / scout, Corvette / landing ship/cruiser versions. This project is being hosted and compiled on dropbox. Please PM if you are creating maps for the CMP and need access to the dropbox folder. ____________________________________________________________________________ To join this map pack, please follow these rules. The rules 1) Naming - All files will need a standard naming scheme. Maps Tileset_MapName_ufoType_modder E.g. Town_UberTown_Corvette_scout_flash Submaps Tileset_submapName_Width&Height_modder E.g. Farm_Crumblingbarn_8x10_flash 2) Custom Submaps should be placed in a folder that says Tileset_submaptype_modder E.g. Soviet_KGB_flash 3) Size and spawns must follow Aarons map guidelines Read here *edited by Gauddlike, changed link to the new mapping guidelines by Aaron, hope you don't mind flash* 4) All maps must be tested in game or in quick battle before submission. 5) All maps must include all custom submaps in the correct folder structure. This also includes fixed spectres. 6) If your map is put into the game it will be removed from the map pack. 7) If you create a submap based on an in game version, ensure it is in the matching submap folder. If it is a new submap type see above 8) The map must allow for troops and vehicles to get around. 9) Maps should be of a good standard. 10) By joining this map pack you give permission for other Xenonauts to use your submaps.
  3. Download Stinky Maps 2 here which contains 71 maps as of the 2nd of September. Map pack 2 contains: 17 farm maps (12 60x60s: 6 for Lightscout, 6 for Scout/Corvette; 5 70x70s, Cruiser/Landingship) 15 arctic maps (10 60x60s: 5 for Lightscout, 5 for Scout/Corvette; 5 70x70s, Cruiser/Landingship) 5 town maps (60x60, Corvette/Landingship) 4 industrial maps (1 40x50 and 1 40x80, Lightscout; 1 85x40 and 1 60x75, Scout/Corvette) 30 desert maps (6 Lightscout, 6 Scout/Corvette, 6 Landingship/Cruiser, 6 Carrier, 6 Battleship) (Original post follows.) ----- I'm having a go at making maps. Today's the first time I've even looked at the level editor. I'm not very good at it. But if you want more maps, you might as well give these a try. Note that I haven't extensively tested them. What I'm doing is making one map, then altering it rather than completely redoing it. As a result, the area around the dropship is the same on all maps. However, the alien's ship moves around (it's always at the top, though), and buildings/scenery changes. Alien spawn points are also different on each map. This is to try and make encounters feel a bit more random than they are at the moment, even if the not-random-placement bug is a major factor in that. It's also to try and prevent the "learning" of levels. It's certainly not because I'm a lazy git. If you see any muckups, please post about it here. A screenshot would be great! Also, the ground is boring, yes. I'm naff at making it look good. Sorry about that.
  4. First let me say after playing Xcom: ufo defense, Open Xcom, Xcom:Enemy Unknown, and Xcom:Enemy within I find the detail and fidelity to the player outstanding in this game. While not as flashy as Xcom:EU it is far less buggy and provides a lot of control and information to the player. I really enjoy this game and hope for a squeal or at least another game of the same design. There were some things I found my self missing from the other games though. 1. Rotatable maps. This is my the second biggest annoyance after playing Xcom:EU is that I really want to be able to spin the maps so I can see the from back side. I know there is a big issue with design to change this but I don't need to be able to spin to all 4 directions like EU, I would just love a north and south few if possible. The mouse cursor provides a lot more information than any other game like this but I still like seeing it more than feeling out behind walls to figure out where I am going to move the unit running down the back of the building. 2. A movement grid around cursor. Similar to the first issue I find some places where I feel like should be able to move but can't. Most notably around ship entrances and at the corners hedges dividing areas were the movement spaces are not as easily seen because the art would suffer from filling the whole square so it looks wider than it is. Xcom: EU lets you hold shift and see the grid with open movement areas. While this is used for "shield" scanning if this were applied with the "?" block used when entering unknown areas and only base on the map not unit obstructions (other than your units) it would greatly reduce some confusing moving problems with soldiers and vehicles. 3. Strait line of site while in full cover. The cover system in this game is any many ways superior to all the other games of this type. I do have 2 complains. The first is full cover is almost more of a hindrance than a help because it blocks strait forward line of site. Xcom: EU fixes this by acting as if the unit is standing one square out side of the the cover for view and then they actually step out to shoot, then step back in. This is functional but also has issues. Firstly stepping out to shoot should always trigger reaction fire which would get you slaughtered in both games and it would require a lot of work for AI as well. I recommend a "Turkey peek" button. Which adds an animation to lean out for 1/4 reduced cover benefit and 1/5 reduced aim at the cost of 10 time units for out and in like kneeling and can't be done while kneeling. so kneeling be comes standard for half cover and open areas but you have an expensive but safer way to check around corners. I also believe it should still set off reflex fire but since you keep 3/4 of full cover defense its worth the risk but if you have to guys better to not use it and play as is one on each side if possible. I don't think this is at all game breaking. 4. Line of site over two half cover blocks in a row is my second complaint with the cover system and my is the number 1 complaint of all. during base defense or moving on maps with crates I often end up behind behind two pieces of cover in a row. I under stand it having a blocking present when your one block away but if it is "attached" to the cover you are behind and not at least 3 blocks away it should not provide cover for targets unless they are using the cover directly. I am a former Marine and a southerner who grew up with shooting all types of guns and if I have a berm, sand bag barricade, or and old deep freezer (yes I am southern enough that I have done that, we keep are ammo in it to protect it from the rain... also sometimes our lunch)and I am shooting off of it long ways I use it as support and I am not dumb enough to aim low and hit the it! Especially if the target is any distance away and would not require me to aim much lower. It makes me more mad when my veteran sniper does it... oh so irritated. 5. Equipping soldiers. This is really to very miner things. First The abbreviations for the skills should say what they are when you hover the mouse over them. I know it seems obvious and I figured it out quickly but I did not pick up on reflex right away and immediately tried to mouse over to see what it was to no avail and actually saw a few lets plays where they did the same thing. As fine tuned as this game is it seems like a small detail missed but it is important to know when ordering and equipping units. I for example don't want my heavy gunners or rocket soldiers with high reflexes... it can end badly. The other thing equipping soldiers is gear management. I would like an unequip unassigned personnel button so I can more easily refit my drop ship soldiers and I would like it to that the set role default gear button did not remove all gear when I am short something like armor or rifles. If it would instead equip everything I have and if no weapon then the equivalent ballistic weapon so that I could at least setup the armor and equipment and have them armed. Then I can fix weapons later if I need to. If I am short armor at least give them the weapon and equipment so that they don't accidentally go into combat unarmed.
  5. Hi, would it be possible to add button to the Xenonauts opening screen which will download and extract community map pack(s)? This possibility (map pack) is hidden to many people and for example one review I have read said "few repetitive maps" and lowered final score because of that. If this community map pack would be validated & frozen (so next maps will go to second map pack) then it should be safe to use this approach. Pretty please
  6. Another Company failing big time doing a real xcom Remake. I played my 5th Ufo Mission and had to play the same map the 3rd time in a row. same landing position, same Ufo position, and even the same location for the aliens. I was like WTF and registered here and learned they did not implement random maps! WTF? Last time I visited here half a year ago they stated that they will have random maps! And now AFTER I bought the game I find out that I got cheated! They bullshited me! I am so pissed now! I want my money back!
  7. Hi everybody My first post here. I pre-ordered the game a few weeks ago and think the game has a HUGE potential. I didn’t play it a very long time yet, so I know my opinion is sometimes just impressions and not facts. I’m an UFO-Enemy Unknow fan and have played most remake-followers, so please bear with my typicall « it was better in the old time » First, the good points: « TU » mechanism intact (greatest disapointment with Firaxis XCOM). HD graphics (already tried to play XCOM 94 on a 1920x1080 screen ?). User-Interface is clean and neat, not the « sexiest » thing I have ever seen, but functional and easy to learn. A game for the fan by the fan. Crowdfunded. No producers/publisher(?), no console downgrading (interface). One word to sumarise it : « passion ». Now, the things that could be improved (IMHO) No 3D ? I’m not asking for CryEngine implementation, I love the « old » Isometric 3D, but with the possibility to see the battlefield from north, east, south and west. Same isometric/sprite principle as already in the game now. I find it very disturbing sometimes not to see aliens and soldiers when behind some walls/objects. Manipulating them (med., grenade) is also very hard in those situations. The maps are very boring : empty and always the same, especially buildings and alien spaceships ! Is a user map editor planned ? This way the community could create a huge amount of original maps and share them with other players. Is there a « giant » final mission ? Must have too (also a great disapointment in Firaxis XCOM) ! Probably only a difficulty balance problem, but my guys need about 20 shots to hit something… this is frustrating. I would prefer them to hit 80-90% of the time, but with less damage if you really need this to balance the game difficulty against a weak AI. Aliens are very static. Mostly they do nothing, just stand around (and shoot at you when you come near them). It would be more interesting to have them do something, going from A to B, scanning buildings, hunting you... like the human player. Interception : Foxtrot has 2 torpedo (or sidewinder) and nothing more ? Both missile will nearly always miss even the slowest smallest alien ship. I don’t like this kind of difficuly. In autoresolve mode a Foxtrot has no chance against even the smallest alien ship. Is this normal ?? Screens graphic style (for example « enemy movement » picture or initial main game menu) are … not very nice. The overall feeling is weird and kind of childish. I found the original UFO had much more « graphical personality and harmony ». Too late to change that ? Perhaps at least a few « enemy movement/turn » pictures (displayed randomly) ? I can’t watch this picture anymore. I hate it. Sorry. Sounds (and music) are not good (yet ?). Not enough ambiance music , not enough immersion and tension. The alien screams (and sounds) are laughable… at best. Another very personal opinion here : I always find it quit dissapointing when seeing the mission end summary screen. Don’t know why, but I remember this screen was much more rewarding after a very difficult mission in the original game. Need perhaps more info, more « loot » ? You are developping the game way too slowly !! Just kidding, take your time, do it right ! I understand this is not a AAA product with billions $ funding and unlimited talent resources. Just saying what I think, IMHO, should/could be improved to make this game the best possible. I pre-ordered Xenonauts knowing it was not perfect (and it won’t be at release). No complain here, just constructive thinking/sharing ! P.S. No, I’m not a 7 year old dyslexic, english is just not my mother tongue.
  8. Seeing as the update maps for the farm tileset have now been out in the wild for some time, I would like to ask for some feedback on the experiences people have had playing on them. I am currently in the process of working through all the other maps in the game, which is an enormous job, so any feedback you guys can give me now about glaring omissions or problems would be very helpful. In particular (and keep in the mind this has only been applied to FARM MAPS thus far): Size - are the sizes of the maps fitting for the scale of battles you find yourself fighting at each tier of UFO? The sizes of the maps are as follows: Small maps are 60x60 (and they can spawn with light scouts, scout and corvettes), medium maps are 60x80 (corvettes, landing ships and cruisers) and large maps are 40x100 (cruisers, carriers and battleships). The large maps are that odd shape because much of the action in those maps is intended to happen inside the UFO, with only a (relatively) minor skirmish happening outside. Randomisation - I have tried in all the maps to define a set of at least 2, sometimes 3, positions that the UFOs and dropships can spawn at. The hope is that even playing on the same map repeatedly should not be the same experience if both the player and the UFO start in different relative positions from each other. This means some spawn configurations might encourage quick missions, while some longer. How do you guys find this? Is it effective? Submaps - as with randomisation above, I have also made a determination that each building submap should have at least 2 and more often 3 randomly chosen configurations, with as significant a difference between each as possible. This is quite a bit of work, even with the farm buildings which are fairly simple (I am working on industrial buildings now and they are complicated and so take even longer) but again I hope the effect of never being able to predict what buildings might be like, even if you have seen the map before, makes it worth it. Realism - I feel that some of my new farm maps are probably less "realistic" looking than the older revisions of them, but as a result they are probably also more interesting tactical spaces. How do people feel about this? I get the impression we perhaps worry about realism in the maps too much, and once you are actually playing the game you don't notice these inconsistencies in how things are placed in the game vs. how you might expect in the real world. So basically, any and all feedback on the farm maps greatly appreciated. If you want to have your say about maps now is the time because, as I said, I am just about to start working my way through all the other sets and it will be much more likely for me to incorporate feedback as I go, rather than once they are all finished.
  9. How many maps are there in the game? I play it, but cant get far into it because I keep getting the same maps and it gets boring really fast. This problem I never had with the Original X-Com because it was always randomized.
  10. I posted this on the bugs forum but Stinky thought it was one of the community maps and I thought I'd post it here in case the creator wants to fix it. In the image below, there's a door which opens into a wall and therefore is impassible, possibly because the two hangers are placed next to one another (Stinky's hypothesis):
  11. MAPS MAPS MAPS All Flashman's new maps and submaps are now included in the COMMUNITY MAP REVIEW PACK This is so that Chris can track them in an easier way
  12. Hi all I have just put together my new military compound map. it uses custom submaps for all the different parts. It is a very rough picture because it is made from about 30 screenshots. They can be found and commented on in this thread Currently this is the 80x80 version for battleships and carriers. If it works OK I will downscale it for the different craft. Any feedback +/_ please have at it and i will adjust accordingly before final release in the map pack. Direct Link
  13. Hi, IMO during the night missions lamps in the street should provide some illumination (terror missions especially, since they are within populated areas). That's all
  14. I'm just wondering if you have any plans in the pipeline towards integrating the steam workshop into your great game (or vice versa, I don't really know the process of doing so^^), so it would be really comfortable for everyone to keep track of new mods and maps (and as a nice side effect to keep them actualized with zero effort) and for everyone to be able to upload Maps and Mods? Just my 2 cents.
  15. Hey, with the real beta coming closer and closer every day there are more people who start doing maps now. At the latest when Xenonauts is finished there will be a lot of maps from different people. I assume that most of you will do it like me: Download all the map packs and install them at once. How many maps will that be? Probably enough to make me not want to look at each to see if they are good/not bad. But if I encounter a map ingame, that is bugged or just no fun, because I don't like the style the creator has: How do I find out which XML to delete? I suggest an option or a parameter to the desktop shortcut, that displays the map-name unobtrusive somewhere on the loading screen right before and after a mission.
  16. Hi,i watched this game on youtube and this game have become interesting for me. But it is possible to have BattleMaps without black points but without NPC and UFO aircraft ? Just like in Fallout Tactic for example, where you can see terrain,buildings but no NPC.It looks like really odd with black points. With this i will not be able to see where UFO is so but i will se terrain like in real life. It will be nice to see only terrain and big buildings (Soldiers have maps ets.) But no vehicles ets.
  17. Having just spent some time sending my Xenonauts through pine forests, Arctic slopes and lush jungles, the expanding use of terrain in the game has been on my mind. Are there any plans to implement differing AP requirements based on the terrain the soldier is going to be moving through? In EU1994 this was:- [table=width: 600, class: grid, align: left] [tr] [td]Move One Space (Normal Terrain)[/td] [td]4 TUs[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Move One Space (Medium grass)[/td] [td]5 TUs[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Move One Space (Tall Grass)[/td] [td]6 TUs[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Climb or Descend One Space (Hill/Ramp/Stairs)[/td] [td]8 TUs[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Impassable[/td] [td]N/A[/td] [/tr] [/table] Extrapolating this you could have:- [table=width: 600, class: grid, align: left] [tr] [td]Move One Space (Normal Terrain)[/td] [td]4 APs[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Move One Space (Difficult Terrain)[/td] [td]5 APs[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Move One Space (Very Difficult Terrain)[/td] [td]6 APs[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Climb or Descend One Space (Hill/Ramp/Stairs)[/td] [td]8 APs[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Impassable[/td] [td]N/A[/td] [/tr] [/table] Where the terrain types could be:- [table=width: 600, class: grid, align: left] [tr] [td]Normal - 4[/td] [td]Road, Street, Grass, Puddles, Light Snowfall[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Difficult - 5[/td] [td]Mud, Medium Grass, Light Brush, Snow, Stream, Sand, Trail, Low Wall[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Very Difficult - 6[/td] [td]Marsh, Tall Grass, Brush/Bocage, Uneven Rocks, Deep Snow, Deep Stream, Rickety Bridge, Wall[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Slopes - 8[/td] [td]Hill, Ramp, Stairs, Swamp, Wheatfield, Dense Foliage, Wreckage, Drift, Shallow River, Dune, Slanted Roof, Crater Ridge/ Shellhole[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Impassable[/td] [td]Bogs, Cliffs, Deep Woods, Impenetrable Forest, Dense Wreckage, Lake/ Deep River, Cliff[/td] [/tr] [/table] As I enjoy the odd skirmish game, I know this is one area a number of players of such things would look at and say “well, that’s pants then,” or phrases along those lines. Not in a purist way, but as it’s really one of the basics. So, I really do hope it’s something that has been planned and was just awaiting some maps to be in place first. Extensions of this would be the use of weather affecting some of the tiles during the course of a mission, or altering it slightly as you get there. This was discussed in this thread It looks to be beyond the current scope, but deserves a mention and a reread. It also mentions the appropriate effects of elevation within the game.
  18. Now so far into xenonauts I have seen quite a few missions where there is no cover to approach the ufo from. At first I wasnt bothered by this then I realized the ai is currently dipstick stupid. Then I was terrified I foresaw plasma bolts cutting my squad to ribbons and was going to complain. Then I started thinking about how to approach the ufo with MININAL losses. Pop smoke, pop some flash if they become viable, thoose 250 hp riotsheilds I heard about, taking cover behind my ferret Big Bertha, approaching the ufo from the back. I fekt this same way in ufo defense the FEW tiem the times a ufo was in a field. Now I am filled with terror "What about if they land next to buuilding?!?!" I have missed this terror so much. Questions Will the ufos be able to land in a cluster of buildings? Are the riotshields 250hp? IS anyone else filled with fear? Onto the aircraft Scout The scout is real easy to murderize. Firing one shot slowly after the other. 2 sidewinds make it crash. Fighters REALLY REALLY annoying due to current bug or whathaveyou. attack poor ac 130 transports and things that move Corvettes Yeah I cannot deal with them.... If I get one really well equiped base i could but then my funding would drop globaly (ufos nosing around america, while im comffortably based in africa. I hate them with a deep passion...
  19. I've decided that we need to take a more scientific approach to designing the maps in Xenonauts. There's a variety of reasons for this; we're in a good place to do it with Aaron joining full-time, we've put together all of the buildings we plan to use in the game and can start on the props properly now, extended experience with the new XCOM has taught me a lot of lessons about map design, etc. This thread will contain some spoilers about the tech tree for humans and the abilities of a couple of alien races. It's nothing particularly different to the original Enemy Unknown, but if you really don't want to know then you should stop reading now. Firstly, the current situation. Our maps in Xenonauts are currently designed with no particular rhyme or reason beyond what I personally think looks good. I've tried to create realistic looking buildings and the new level designer has tried to emphasise more tight and claustrophobic maps where there is scope for aliens to sneak up and get the jump on you. However, there's a few problems - the lack of props can leave maps quite devoid of cover in various areas (like the roads), and the buildings are probably too crammed together in the other areas. It's a bit weird, and it doesn't scale well as the maps get larger. I want to put together a series of principles that I and other users can use when generating maps for Xenonauts which will ensure our maps are visually coherent, tactically interesting and fun to play. I think the result of this would be more spacious maps overall; the towns etc in things like Day-Z / Arma 2 (or here) have more space between the buildings and look a lot more natural for it. I'm open to suggestions on new things we should consider for design rules, or suggestions for how we can apply these rules to our existing maps. Basically, comments of all kinds welcome - I'm grappling with the theory of level design for the first time! HIGH-LEVEL: - Purpose: I guess the different mission types need to have a different feel. This is partly drawn from the AI behaviour but the level design would affect this a lot: Crash Site: A cautious search-and-destroy mission where you are hunting a limited number of aliens. Maps should be relatively open with fewer buildings (only one or two), with less dense waist-high cover but various walls / hedges to to block LOS (so the map is divided into "sections" that you comb through). Aliens generally skulk about and attack your troops when they get into firing range. Terror Mission: Much more like open warfare in feel, with the aliens being highly aggressive and destructive. There should be more buildings than on the Crash Sites, with relatively flimsy waist-high cover filling the space between them and inside them. Line of sight is only really blocked by buildings. Alien Base Attack: Intended to be frightening and claustrophobic in feel. Narrow (3 tile) corridors connect larger rooms together; walls of rooms / corridors are made of earth and are invulnerable. Lots of strange / exotic machinery in the rooms, hopefully the props can tell part of the story of the aliens and their intentions visually. Take place in darkness, with the corridors being lit but the actual rooms only lit when they have glowing equipment. Naturally, lights will be destructible so using explosives will throw an area in darkness afterwards too. Aliens will be both scattered through the map and clustered in the command room and mostly just skulk about. Xenonaut Base Defence: Should feel familiar so you want to be careful not to blow things up (it's your base) and also tense about losing the base. Base should look lived in, and objects should look like they've been abandoned in a hurry. Rooms should be small but densely packed with props, so the mission should be a case of sweeping your base to find the wall breaches and then fierce short-range fighting in the rooms around the breaches. Cover should be designed to be easily flanked from adjacent rooms; it should provide protection only to one direction. Aliens should be relatively few in number but aggressive and well equipped, and should stick together (the number of wall breaches will increase as the UFOs get larger). - Map Size: This should be fixed based on the UFO type, irrespective of tileset. We want a progression from early in the game in two ways; firstly in raw size the maps should increase to take into account the larger Xenonaut squads and greater numbers of aliens, then secondly we want a visual progression from rural settings to more grandiose maps for terror missions and the larger UFOs. - Civilians / Friendly AI units: This should be updated so it is set for each individual level. Civilians and Friendly AI troops should be set to spawn in logical areas, generally around buildings. MAP-SPECIFIC: -Logical: The map should look authentic and have an internal logic to it. Buildings from other tilesets should not be used and the buildings / props used should be authentic. For example, if you are doing a rural Soviet Town map, don't put lamp-posts beside the road. If you fill a house with props, it should not have a bed in the living room or multiple televisions in one room etc. If you're doing an Arctic map, you only want one building or a small group of buildings on the map, no matter how large it is, etc. - Line of sight: All maps should use full-height walls or barriers to break up LOS (though it is harder in the Arctic / Desert tilesets). Having the map open and visible makes it dull and turns it into a sniping match, so you want plenty of opportunity to come face-to-face with an alien (not present in the current Farmyard maps, for example). Hedgerows, buildings, tall walls - just make sure you've got enough in there that there's plenty of potential places for aliens to hide. Those areas can be quite open and spacious; they just shouldn't be visible until you round the corner. - Open Areas: Once you enter an area of the map, you should be able to see most of it at a glance. Exploring lots of small rooms or nooks and crannies behind shelves etc is time consuming and boring. One or two walls or large items that block LOS should be used strategically if the space needs to be subdivided, the other items should offer cover but not block LOS. This means tall props should be placed around the outside of building interiors, with half-height cover in the middle of rooms. - Vehicles / Heavy: Vehicles and "Heavy" units are able to crush cover and walk through structural walls, so use thick barriers marked as uncrushable (hedgerows, rock formations, large props etc) in strategic to stop vehicles having a completely free rein across the map. Similarly, remember to include places where tactical use of a vehicle could be helpful (breaching a chain link fence etc). - Verticality: There are no ladders or sloped terrain in Xenonauts beyond stairs, but verticality is an important part of maps as height confers bonus sight distance and shot accuracy. Buildings should have stairs to their roofs where practical (ie. flat roof buildings) and there should also be otherwise-inaccessible spots where jetpack-equipped units can move to. The jetpack should be a major tactical advantage. -Building Levels: No buildings should have more than two levels (ie, no more than one extra floor beyond the ground floor and roof). Ideally, buildings that are more than one level tall should not have floors above the ground floor and should just be empty space on the the second level. This stops buildings taking too long to search and creating camera issues. - Destructibility: Most items on the battlefield will be destructible. Maps should allow players to use this to their advantage. Explosive props are a good example, or places where vehicles can destroy terrain blocking the movement of your infantry. There are a lot of ways that we could explore destructibility, but I don't think we've really found many of them yet. If you've got any ideas, then please post them in this thread. Those are the design rules and ideas I've come up with as I've been thinking about it for the last hour or two, so if anyone has suggestions for other things I should be considering or feedback I'd be interested in reading them.
  20. Hey, I tried to search this forum for my idea but was not successful (this doesn't mean I am not dump) Inspired how this is done in Rise of Flight with community skins - it would be great if there will be possibility of voting about integrating sub-maps created by community into game. This would greatly increase sub-maps library and thus levels would be more random. It should looks like following : there will be separate thread for each sub-map and creator of sub-map will post source code as well as screen shots and some justification of this map. And we will vote if we wants to have this in the game or not. If there will be at least 50 or 100 votes then result will be valid. These sub-maps could also be added in form of patches after release What do you think guys?
  21. Hello all. I have been watching this game for a while now. Still no pre-order though, but it will come! After the disappointing Firaxis X-com game, all my hope lies with Xenonauts Some questions. I have only played the kickstarter demo. 1. Will the maps be random or is it a set number of maps in the game? 2. In the demo I noticed that I could not change the name of the soldiers. Only the call sign. I have always named my characters after friends/family and sci-fi characters. I would miss that option. 3. I noticed some graphical bugs when trying the demo, like walls and such was "drawn" over the soldiers. I hope you understand. I'm wondering if that will be fixed or if it some kind of engine limitation? 4. Will diffrent weapons have diffrent death animations? Right now everyone dies the same. A nice added touch would be if plasma melted your poor soldiers and so on. 5. Will the game be big? Might be a strange question, because the original X-com could be completed fast. Just wondering if it's going to be on the same epic scale, if you are going for 100% research and so on. I think that was all. Might have more questions later Thanks /Thomas
  22. I heard about the game yesterday, checked out the WTF is....Xenonauts video on youtube, and decided to pledge on Kickstarter. Been playing the demo I got off Desura for a couple of hours, and I've got some questions. I apologise if these are asked all the time. I did search and read some threads, got some of my other questions answered already in fact. 1) During ground battles, I always ended up fighting in the same 2 locations. I assume this is because it's a demo, right? There will be more locations in the full game. 2) The "hidden movement" screen, will there be any way of toggling it off? I know it's similar to what X-COM had, but I'm not sure if it stayed so long on screen. Sometimes I miss an on screen action because the toggle between HM - action on screen - HM is too fast. 3) Some screens look a bit...off (on the world map section, when you can build buildings, research new technology etc), like the UI isn't finished yet. Am I right in this? Thank you. PS: I do realise this is still in its alpha stage.
  23. Hey folks i was just curius im taking a look at the kickstarter version of the game and im quite impressed to say the least i can see a diamond being cut and shaped. but one thing stabbed me in the eye its that every mission i participated in happend on the same map i remember Xcom´s most promising feature being random map generation is this just this demo that acts this way or hasn´t random map gen been implimented yet? also Do aliens do "terror" missions where they inhabit a larger map. anyways i closed the game and intend to play it once it has been finished keep up the good work.
  24. Currently, a map is seen as a collage of yellow rectangles (the submaps), all labeled with a more or less descriptive text. I suggest that someone who generates a submap can save a thumbnail of it's ingame looks (or a crayon drawing...) to the same folder. This would not 100 % represent the exact submap because obviously, that is chosen at random when a battle map is generated. It would, however, show a generic overview of the level because something barn-like would be some kind of barn, a N-S road would be some kind of N-S road... No true WYSIWYG editor but a huge step towards user-friendliness because you could "see" how the level fits together.
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