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Xenonauts 2 November 2023 Update!


Chris

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Hello everyone - we've reached the end of November, so it's time for our monthly development update. This month has been fairly intense but once again the project has made good progress.

Milestone 2:
The biggest news this month has been the official release of Milestone 2, our first major update since our Early Access launch. I discussed the many upgrades made in Milestone 2 in our previous update so I won't cover them again, but getting everything ready for this release took up most of the month.

Our thanks go out to all the testers who were reporting bugs and giving gameplay feedback on the Experimental branches over the past couple of months, as it has been incredibly valuable!

Broadly speaking, all this testing meant Milestone 2 launched in pretty good shape - but we've already patched a few major bugs and put out a fix for the funding situation being overly restrictive on the easier difficulty settings. We're continuing to monitor stability and balance issues, so please do let us know if you're encountering problems and we'll consider further patches!

Milestone 3:
Although Milestone 2 is barely out the door, we're already hard at work on Milestone 3. This update contains the alien Cruiser UFO, which is crewed by aliens carrying deadly Fusion weapons. If you can successfully capture one of these Cruisers, you can unlock the final interceptor and dropship aircraft, plus another tier of infantry weapons and an upgrade for the MARS that turns it into a hovertank.

We'll also be continuing to work on the alien AI and the air combat, and we're hoping to add various minor community-requested features into this update too (e.g. the ability to autosell "junk" items after combat). Finally, we're expecting Milestone 3 will have significantly improved loading times compared to earlier versions of the game!

Unity 2022 Upgrade:
These faster load times will be happening partly because we're in the process of upgrading from Unity 5.5 to Unity 2022. We've already done the necessary technical work for this, but there's always teething issues with a major engine upgrade, so I expect we'll have to spend a couple more weeks fixing things up before things are fully back to normal.

Players should see faster load times and better performance when this work is complete, along with proper support for multiple monitors and borderless windowed mode etc. It will also make development work more efficient, as the codebase compiles much more quickly etc. Finally, it'll also bring us one step closer to mod tools - as some of the work we'll be doing upgrading our internal editor tools could be re-used to create a more effective mod editor.

I think I'll wrap things up there. If all goes well, we might have an early prototype of Milestone 3 ready for people to play on the Experimental branch by mid-December (if not, it'll be early January). Thanks for reading!

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I finished X1 three times over the years. I haven't bought X2 yet because I want to experience the full game. Also, some games are in Early Access hell for 5 years or so, that's why I don't buy Early Access games anymore.

Is there an ETA when we can play a full campaign from start to finish? Will that only be at actual release (v1.0), or before?
Also, is there any ballpark timeline for full release?

Edited by Sander Bouwhuis
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I think that let  people play longer on current stable version can bring consistent feedback.

Chrismas  are gaming peak so it would be wise let all the player base share tactic and develop some meta.

I would rather see some hotfix of milestone 2 then new period of development start by release on Friday 5th  January,  just before weekend.

 

Happy Chrimass to Chriss

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Nice Chris, that´s an big Step forward.

Yeah, there are some Parts which need more Refit, Rework and / or Upgrades (and that are important communtiy-questet Features like an longer Gameplay then it´s originaly planed in the final Game, on the Airforce and similar). With the new Game-Designer-Version it will be much easyer, which make Sense too.

If Milestone 3 comes out in December I will take an look. If not, then I personaly can wait longer. I looked too in the 1.12.-Versions and find them an very good Step in the right direction. Keep up the Good work.

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If this has been addressed elsewhere and I missed it, I apologize and please just link me:

Will GI and X2 be affected by the Unity licensing fuckery they're trying to pull? I know they retreated in the face of overwhelming criticism, but we can be certain they will try something again in the future...

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2 hours ago, Drew said:

If this has been addressed elsewhere and I missed it, I apologize and please just link me:

Will GI and X2 be affected by the Unity licensing fuckery they're trying to pull? I know they retreated in the face of overwhelming criticism, but we can be certain they will try something again in the future...

We should be fine - as part of their attempts to calm the situation they made a very public promise you could keep using the terms of service of the current version you're using if you wanted (and tbh legally it'd be difficult for them to change that even if they wanted to).

Unity 2022 is the last version before their revenue share model kicks in so X2 is fine.

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  • 5 weeks later...

The November 2023 update showcases the team's dedication to delivering an immersive gaming experience. The progress is impressive, and the attention to detail is commendable . Kudos to Goldhawk Interactive for their hard work and commitment to creating a fantastic sequel. Anticipating an epic release.

Edited by jassica15
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  • 3 weeks later...

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