Chris Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 About the last few days: So this is pretty much the first time I've been able to sit down and draw breath since Xenonauts was released on Monday, and I figured I'd give everyone an update. I've not actually posted anything on the forum saying "Xenonauts has been released!" yet, but I'm kinda assuming that you've noticed that it happened The reason why I suddenly have some spare time is that the Steam Summer Sale has started and we're no longer being promoted on the Steam front page - so I'm no longer being buried under a deluge of emails every time I open my inbox. It's been a great ride, though: we were in the Top 10 Steam sellers for quite a while, peaking at #8, and had 1,250+ people playing the game simultaneously. That's pretty mad. We've sold a lot of copies since we released V1.0 at the start of the month and the critical reception to the game has been generally good. We're still waiting on the big sites to review us, if they do (I'm hopeful on Polygon, PC Gamer and IGN at least), but the reviews we've had so far have been higher than I was expecting and a lot of people seem to be very pleased with the game. I'm feeling pretty drained right now so the overwhelming feeling is more one of relief than it is of triumph, but I think in a couple of days I'll be able to reflect on it and appreciate it a lot more. It's gone better than I was expecting. About the future: So, onto our plans for the future. This isn't the thread where I announce what we're working on next (maybe I'll do that next week), but I do have some other good news. As well as starting work on integrating Steam workshop (and continuing to work on these damn Mac / Linux ports), we're also going to open our codebase up to some selected community programmers. There's a lot of little things in the game that the dev team just did not have time to add, and we've been consistently surprised by how capable the community has been at creating new content for the game. This will open the game up to a whole new level of modding that what it already has. The first candidate is Solver, who kindly hosts our forums and has been prodding around in our code for a few days now. This will benefit modders in general, as he'll be able to make moddable areas of the game that were not previously moddable (starting soldier loadouts etc). However, he's also implementing some cool features of his own - for instance, he's put a control in the air combat that allows you to speed up / slow down time. We'll consider pretty much anyone who has a professional coding background for code access - we'll post up some more details on that over the next few days. I really hope that this keeps Xenonauts alive and improving long into the future...and you guys can finally see what the game would look like if I wasn't shooting down all your ideas! In all seriousness, though, I think after five years I can honestly say that we've succeeded in our development of Xenonauts. I feel that we've made a good game that will always be available for people to play - and now we should get out of the way and empower the community to improve it on it where you guys see fit. (Yes, we'll still be fixing bugs if we need to.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinHann Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 (edited) This is great news and the pressure is now on the good lads around here who have been great so far to produce even better in depth mods - let the golden times roll! Additionally I'd like to express a big thank you to Chris for deciding to offer code access to the modding community so quickly. I can only wish more of my favorite games devs were so insightful and brave in providing extra lifespan for their product. I am literally buzzing with the prospect of seeing what Xenonauts could look like in a few months. Bring on the new alien races, mission types, tilesets and underwater battles! Edited June 19, 2014 by KevinHann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TacticalDragon Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 We'r pretty happy that the game prosper, and I personally think that Workshop and your effort to share coding with community is the best way to go. Congratulations and thank you so much, we'll be giving the best of us to this game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selgald Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Chris one simple question: Was it worth it? (Or would you do it again if you know what happened the last years) Also I hope you have some T shirts for us modders/translators Soon™ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Congratulations Chris. When I fist encountered Xenonauts it appeared to me that it was an abandoned fan project of sorts but it looked so interesting I kept tabs on it and I'm glad I did. This game really has a great feel and atmosphere worthy of X-Com and is more than merely mechanically sound. I know it makes your stomach churn but I'm looking forward to either a conceptual or proper sequel years down the road that will enable you to put to use all you've learned so far and, with a proper engine, realize your vision of a strategic planetary defense simulator to the utmost extent. And I totally forgot about Solver's involvement with the forum, much respect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kabill Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I'll be honest: I never expected to get as involved with Xenonauts as has ended up being the case. I'm very impressed with how the game has panned out, especially given the circumstances of its production. And the post-release mod support is icing on the cake. Congratulations, then, on making an excellent game. X-Com is dead; long live Xenonauts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skitso Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Congratulations, Chris... and thanks for doing this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solver Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I am very grateful to Chris for allowing me source code access, and for being so open to the idea of community support for the game. While the game itself is excellent, it's a separate pleasure to see the same kind of attitude from developers. To give you guys a teaser of what I've developed so far, here are the little tweaks that I have made: - Game starting date (01/09/1979) now moddable. - Default soldier loadouts moved to a new XML file where they can be modded. - Added tooltips to soldier stats in the equip screen. - Fixed a bug with uncrouching and reserved TUs. - Slightly sped up saving of the game in Geoscape, though it will probably go unnoticed. - Added speed buttons to air combat. I'll be focusing on doing things that enable other modders to mod features that they now can't. Currently coming up is some work on funding/relations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StellarRat Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 (edited) I have bunch of ideas about improvements that can only be made in the code (IMO.) I do have a question though about opening the code to other programmers and I think it's fairly important to address right away: Will all community coding be in a separate "unofficial" branch(s) of the program OR will Goldhawk review and incorporate the changes into the official version? How will any community programmers work be coordinated? Will there be a shared code library to prevent one person overwriting another person changes? What will prevent the game code from becoming fragmented with a bunch of different versions floating around out there? Edited June 19, 2014 by StellarRat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpelectric Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 What I'd most like to say is I sure hope you and all the guys at GH made enough financially to compensate you for your untold thousands of hours of effort and innumerable headaches. Yes, I know you do it because you enjoy it (which is what has made me such a huge fan) but everybody has bills to pay and often families to feed, and I sure hope you didn't take a loss and can all afford a first-class vacation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giovanni Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I really like the idea of opening up the code to others, so that they can see the inner beauty of xenonauts as I've seen it for the major part of the last 2 years and half! Jokes aside, will be a great opportunity to add some deeper mods, as well as fixing minor bugs and adding new things to the game.. Good luck to anyone who will try and go down that road! (I'll be available if someone needs any help or will have the urge to insult one of the coders!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StellarRat Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 (I'll be available if someone needs any help or will have the urge to insult one of the coders!)I will not insult you, but I will congratulate you on being part of a successful game launch. Not that many of us computer guys can claim that one. My friends and I wrote a game that sold exactly three copies, of course it was shareware and required a Novell network at a time when those were rare and there was no internet. We were probably to far ahead of our time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aklyon Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 I have bunch of ideas about improvements that can only be made in the code (IMO.) I do have a question though about opening the code to other programmers and I think it's fairly important to address right away: Will all community coding be in a separate "unofficial" branch(s) of the program OR will Goldhawk review and incorporate the changes into the official version? How will any community programmers work be coordinated? Will there be a shared code library to prevent one person overwriting another person changes? What will prevent the game code from becoming fragmented with a bunch of different versions floating around out there? This sounds like a pretty important question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solver Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 That will probably depend in part on the amount of programmers who get the code. Thus far, I am going to release my source code changes as a mod, and I expect further mods will be built branching off of it. The hope is also that Goldhawk would accept most of those changes into a future official patch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpelectric Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 I'm kinda laughing here, because I wonder if Solver realizes that he's going to be inundated with a bazillion pet peeve requests now that he's been duly empowered. Here's hoping he's a zen master Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavinrad Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 we've been consistently surprised by how capable the community has been at creating new content for the game. This will open the game up to a whole new level of modding that what it already has. Yeah it's frequently amazing what people who don't have time and budget constraints can do :-p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chefsbrian Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Moddable start date? WW2 Xenonaut paratroopers on the way . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theSovereign Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Congratulations! Will Unity be your next engine, I wonder. I'm by no means a professional, but starting learning/working with it about a year ago. I love it, and it seems very solid (except a few physics issues or if you want to make a game on the higher end of the fidelity spectrum). I'm a fan of top-down 2d... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikhail Ragulin Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 - Game starting date (01/09/1979) now moddable. Hello cowboys vs aliens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dix Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Chris: I've always been a lurker rather than a cornerstone of the community, but as one of the way back early backers: "If you were one of the really early backers: I’m sorry that you had to wait so long." Don't be - it's been well worth it. You and your team took the time and our money, but you did the job, and then some. So: thank-you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russonc Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Chris: I've always been a lurker rather than a cornerstone of the community, but as one of the way back early backers: "If you were one of the really early backers: I’m sorry that you had to wait so long."Don't be - it's been well worth it. You and your team took the time and our money, but you did the job, and then some. So: thank-you! I agree....I got my money's worth well before the game's final release. I am glad it is getting good reviews.... I am also glad my damn soldiers keep dying because I expect this to be easier then that other XCOM (firaxis version). I can't wait to hear what's in store for the future! Thanks to all who worked so hard on this project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartborne Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 (edited) Congratulations on the release! I've had many hours of fun since 2011; thank you! Just a quick question; I've noticed it has been released on GOG.com about 4 days ago. This really is great news since this was the main distribution platform where I, actually, wanted to get it from in the first place. Are we (people who preordered with Desura/Steam ) supposed to get access to the GOG.com version as well? I apologize if you mentioned this before but I can't seem to find any info on this subject. Awesome job with Xenonauts, a round of applause to GoldHawk! *crosses fingers for Linux version* Edited June 20, 2014 by heartborne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinHann Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 If you email Chris he will provide a GOG key for you, mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betuor Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 This was surprising to hear: Skip to #4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinHann Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Skip to 12:25, who gets an honorable mention? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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