Search the Community

Steam allows multiple branches of a single game, so we have set up an Experimental branch of Xenonauts. This sits alongside the Stable branch, and changing between the two only takes a few clicks. Stable Branch: This is the standard branch of the game you get when you install Xenonauts. It will have few bugs in it so can be played for extended periods, but will only be updated every couple of months. Experimental Branch: This branch will be updated most weeks and contains all of the latest features and balancing. However, it will also contain all of the latest bugs so will likely crash much more than the Stable branch. Also, new features generally do not work properly immediately so you'll likely see some strange behaviour with them until they've gone through a few iterations. Therefore, if you just want to drop in and play the game for a bit every few months to see how we're doing, you should definitely stick to the Stable Branch. If you want the bleeding edge and don't mind that you might get a random crash at any point, then by all means opt in to the Experimental Branch. All the changes in the Experimental branch will make their way into the Stable branch, but this takes time - an update to the Stable branch is a set of features that have gone through enough iterations on the Experimental branch for them to be stable enough for general release. Important things to know about the Experimental Branch: Your save games may not be compatible between the different branches (though if not you can switch back to the default branch and continue playing them) You may not be able to play an extended session without being affected by a bug / problem! You can always switch back to the Stable branch if you want. How to opt in / out of the Experimental Branch: Go to your Steam Library Right click on Xenonauts >> Properties >> "Betas" tab Type the password XenoExperiment into the "Enter Beta access code" box and press Check Code Select "Experimental - latest changes, unstable" from the drop-down box above Click Close To opt back into the Stable branch, just select "NONE" in the drop-down box. Have fun!

Is it possible to revert back to a previous Beta Build? I assume the answer is no. I could try to just back up my game files for each build but I think that could end up being overcomplicated due to steam, and could introduce errors, which is not great for beta feedback. I also doubt most players have the technical expertise to do this successfully. It seemed like 19-1 was mostly unplayable, 19-2 was very playable, and 19-3 is mostly unplayable. --------- Would it be possible to start a Poll for each build asking the testers how stable it was, and if found to be mostly unplayable roll back the steam version? --------- I dont know what the future brings or how you do things, but if we ended up with back to back unplayable builds it could be difficult to determine if a bug was fixed in the previous build or introduced in the following build. (Again I dont know your process so maybe this isnt a possibility) Another issue being people may decide to take a break and play another game for awhile, reducing your pool of testers and feedback if the worst case scenario happened and we had several unplayable builds in a row. I think a trend may arise as well where people sit back, read the forums and wait to find out if the newest beta build is stable enough to play before they update. Which leads to the problem of less people testing, and people that wait to determine if is playable based on initial feedback wont be making it as far into the game, and thereby the amount of feedback on end and mid game will be greatly reduced.

Hi. I tried getting access on Steam to the experimental beta (via the Properties > Beta screen), but the pull down Opt menu isn't responding. I've entered the code, verified it successfully, but the pull down menu only has Opt Out. What could I be doing wrong?

Hi, I'd like to try the latest development version but I don't know how to download it using steam. I tried right clicking the game and going in the properties menu but I couldn't find any beta or switch version option.

(TL;DR: Can I have a Mac version of the Experimental build?) So, here's my dilemma, gents: I run OS X, and so far have simply been taking the standalone Windows version and putting it in a wine wrapper to get it to work. I do this because the Mac build has never been up to date, and because putting the Windows build in Wine works just fine, never had problems. Until now. See, the Experimental build will only be available through Steam, correct? And unless it suddenly got a lot easier to port a game from Windows to Mac, it'll be Windows only? From what I understand, the Stable build will be Win/Mac/Linux, but the Experimental will only be Windows. Since it's Steam, and it tries to be helpful, it won't install a game that you can't run on your OS. Generally, this is appreciated, but now it's simply annoying, because this means that I won't be able to download and play the Experimental build and continue helping the game, because I don't run Windows anymore (not enough disk space to dual boot anymore). Does anyone know how to download a Windows game on Steam while running a different OS? Or will there be a way for me to have a Mac version of the experimental? One recommendation, whoever uploads the game (I believe it's Chris, but I could be wrong) could upload the Experimental build plopped into a wine wrapper. I can write up instructions for how to do that, and even build the wrapper itself so you simply have to place the folder into the wrapper. I just don't want to become useless and only be able to play the (still much appreciated) Stable build, and have to watch from the sidelines. Thanks everyone!