Chris Posted March 7, 2013 Posted March 7, 2013 OK, time for a quick update. We're still planning to make a release next week, though it's still up in the air as to whether it will be beta or not. If it is not beta, it will still probably be the biggest update we've made since we joined the Geoscape and Ground Combat together. The reason it may not be beta is I'm not sure we'll have time to get the final mission working properly and we probably won't have the final two UFOs in the game in time. Also there's a whole bunch of niggling things we need to do, but the coders are busy with more important things to do them. We'd like to have the following in the next build, whether it is beta or not: New launcher: will look much better and be platform independent (so it'll appear for Mac users too), have a built-in RSS feed for the forums, stat tracking disable, let you change save game location and will contain Crimson Dagger novella Improved AI: GJ should have another AI update for us. Wall Transparency: Humans and visible aliens should have an aura that turns nearby walls invisible so they no longer get "lost" behind them. Tile Rendering: This should fix those pesky rendering issues where things were incorrectly rendering on top of other things. UFOs: the UFO maps should be done for 2/3 of the UFOs, though this is just their undamaged landed state thus far. Research Tree: Most of the research descriptions (re)written, new research art added (including the first few autopsy images). Maps: I've added 2 new maps for the Light Scout for every tileset now, I'm hopefully going to add the same number for the Scout / Corvette by next week too. Usability Fixes: Too many of these to list here, but we've fixed a LOT of the little things that have been annoying people for months. Game Balancing: Again, too many to list here. The game will be heavily, heavily rebalanced in the next release. The meat of the update will be in the last two bullet points. The new features are all well and good, but from next release onwards we're going to be paying a lot of attention to the user experience rather than just saying "leave us alone, we'll fix that in beta". I'm not sure when the release will occur next week, but there will be one. Quote
StellarRat Posted March 7, 2013 Posted March 7, 2013 Wow! This is really starting to come together now. I'll be looking forward to next week! Quote
GizmoGomez Posted March 7, 2013 Posted March 7, 2013 AWESOME! This makes me happy (needless to say). Hey, so you mentioned the Mac release, does this mean that the texture bug (or whatever it was that was killing the game) has been resolved? Quote
flashman Posted March 7, 2013 Posted March 7, 2013 AWESOME!This makes me happy (needless to say). Hey, so you mentioned the Mac release, does this mean that the texture bug (or whatever it was that was killing the game) has been resolved? They fixed it about a week ago Quote
thothkins Posted March 7, 2013 Posted March 7, 2013 wow is that light at the end of the tunnel? Yup it's a plasma burst from a Caesian with an AI upgrade. Sounds really good, as always. Quote
KATAGARI Posted March 7, 2013 Posted March 7, 2013 Thanks for the the future Update... Thanks Chriss and all DEV Xenonauts team Quote
DamZe Posted March 7, 2013 Posted March 7, 2013 It is slowly but surely coming together, can't wait to play the release build! Quote
Assoonasitis Posted March 7, 2013 Posted March 7, 2013 Oh good, Beta just in time for HotS. Don't make me choose Quote
Max_Caine Posted March 7, 2013 Posted March 7, 2013 I wouldn't bother trying to cram it all in for next week. Just do what you can and call it alpha-deluxe or summat. Quote
Hairyscreech Posted March 7, 2013 Posted March 7, 2013 If the bits needed to finish the game off for beta release were not ready for next week how much extra time would be needed to finish them off? Eagerly awaiting any developments but would also be happy to wait a few more days if need be. Quote
radiorob Posted March 7, 2013 Posted March 7, 2013 Wall Transparency: Research Tree I am waiting, next week = new version to test and to describe new (old) bugs Quote
TNoyce Posted March 8, 2013 Posted March 8, 2013 Excellent update Chris. Hope that you're able to get all you want done for this update. Quote
raziel1981 Posted March 8, 2013 Posted March 8, 2013 Great news Chris, looking forward for the update! Quote
TrashMan Posted March 8, 2013 Posted March 8, 2013 I wouldn't bother trying to cram it all in for next week. Just do what you can and call it alpha-deluxe or summat. OR....we wait a bit longer and get a complete Beta. I really do appreciate you making these builds, but sometimes it feels like it's actually slowing the overall devlopment. Quote
Skvid Posted March 8, 2013 Posted March 8, 2013 Also,I thought that making walls transparent was impossible... Quote
Gauddlike Posted March 8, 2013 Posted March 8, 2013 It was impossible. Now it's not. Simple really Transparency of some walls has been around for a little while so the work was obviously being done behind the scenes. A method had to be found and I imagine this was less impossible than other suggestions. All in all the progress seems to be consistently good, I am especially looking forward to new AI improvements. Quote
raziel1981 Posted March 8, 2013 Posted March 8, 2013 Come to think of it , why bother with an alpha release . I for one think it would be better off to push forward into beta. Its been due for a while now.Can't say I mind waiting another 2 or even 4 weeks if it means getting the beta at last Quote
Gauddlike Posted March 8, 2013 Posted March 8, 2013 All of this content probably has to be added in for internal testing anyway so why not release it? Keep the wolves off their heels for a little longer if the beta release gets pushed back a little longer for some unforeseen reason. Quote
Chris Posted March 8, 2013 Author Posted March 8, 2013 Drawing a border around soldiers to show where they are behind walls is impossible, rather than transparency. Also, releases are useful because they give me a deadline stick to use to beat the rest of the team into working harder Quote
radiorob Posted March 8, 2013 Posted March 8, 2013 Work harder! Do not spare the whip We wait impatiently for this update Quote
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