V19 Experimental Build 6 hotfix 1

[Aaron]

I just released a quick hotfix for the last experimental build which fixes a critical game hang; Steam will update with it automatically IF you have opted in to experimental builds. As the fix is so simple this build does have saved game compatibility with the base experimental build 6.

Changes

- Fixed game hanging when a UFO attacks a Xenonaut base

- Fixed medical kits not working in certain situations

Also good news everyone, there is a better work around for the hidden movement screen "always on" bug: instead of running the main game executable, go to the Xenonauts folder and run the debug version of the game (Xenonauts_gc_editor.exe) and the hidden movement screen should now work properly! Remember when running the debug version that certain keyboard commands in ground combat will do unexpected things, so double check anything you think is a bug in the release executable before posting it please. I expect to have a proper hotfix for this out in the next day or so.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Aaron

[RawCode]

what with 3 unit aircombat CTDs (reported multiple times in proper branch), it's hard to play when you just can't attack some geos units due CTD penalty for it.

[Aaron]

I am aware of that one too - unfortunately our coder for that part of the game is on holiday right now, so fixes in that area are slow.

[smoitessier]

Any chance to have a link to the HF? to avoid using steams auto update, and having to copy the whole game again for people who are not on PCs?

[Chris]

Giovanni should be back middle of next week, hopefully. Might have to chain him to his keyboard next time we try to release a Stable build.

EDIT - smoitessier, I'd wait for the next hotfix in a day or two if you're doing something arcane to get hold of it. It won't be the latest version for long.

[Ol' Stinky]

Thanks for doing this. It felt really cheesy modding out base attacks, especially since the very first corvette in my 19.6 playthrough gunned straight for my main base like an angel of retribution.

[xcomnaut]

Remember when running the debug version that certain keyboard commands in ground combat will do unexpected things

Would be nice to know exactly what keyboard commands do what.

[Ishantil]

Thanks so much for putting this together for us. I have an Angel of Retribution myself on its way. And my dropship is on it's way back from fighting my very first medium. 2 Soldiers at the base.

[PRiME]

At which build will you be looking at implementing all the new GUI stuff that has been in the works? V20?

[Waladil]

Well, I remember X or V (Not sure which, but I accidentally hit it while ordering a soldier to 'C'rouch) instantly ends the battle you're in, counting it as a victory. There were various point deductions (surviving aliens, not securing the UFO) and I don't recall how much loot I got.

Gameplay/balance notes:

Accuracy buffs seem to dramatically favor Xenonauts, at least up to where I am. (I think aliens use low-accuracy shots).

Weapon accuracy feels like it has an overlarge impact on aiming: Going from 20 to 30 TUs will take me from around 30% hit chance to around 90% hit chance (versus an uncovered target in range). Maybe use some different mathemagic so that weapon accuracy isn't so incredibly important?

Ticker seems to increment very slowly -- I've only seen about four Cruisers and nothing bigger up till now and it's mid-January.

Love the new alien base designs.

Andron bases are much much harder than Sebillian (haven't fought Caesan). Probably because Andron cannon fodder is tougher than Sebillian cannon fodder (Androns bring Guards with plasma rifles: Sebillians bring non-combatants with plasma pistols).

Keeping scouts and light scouts in the air much longer makes the game more boring. You end up fighting a lot more missions but a lot of those missions are curb-stomp runs where the aliens provide almost no threat, and there's barely any paycheck.

Slower stat gain is a pain in the ass, even with the added easy missions. As I play I'm getting more and more convinced that a simple XP system would be better primarily because that means bigger missions give bigger training rewards.

Accuracy and TUs both cap out at 101, not 99 as gameconfig.xml indicates. Strength caps out at 99 properly (Don't know about the other three stats).

Alenium is much harder to come by, but I am swimming in alloys. Intentional?

Androns forget they can't crouch if you load mid-battle.

Feels like all non-rifles have been nerfed into meaninglessness. Running with 8x plasma rifles now and kicking ass.

Burst fire still ought to become standard attack tactic.

[Ol' Stinky]

I imagine snap shot being that much worse than other firing options is deliberate, so that reaction fire and fire from suppressed targets isn't as good as normal/aimed shots. I wouldn't object to reaction/suppressed fire suffering a specific accuracy or damage penalty and snap shots getting an accuracy boost, though.

[Chris]

Waladil - as a genuine question, what is it that makes you feel you should still do Scout and Light Scout missions when you basically said you aren't getting any in-game reward from doing so any more?

Do you feel that the game would penalise you for not attacking them? Does it? One of the things I find astonishing is that people will do literally every mission that they generate even though they really don't need to (or aren't supposed to need to).

I've tried to think up ways to communicate it to people but a lot of people seem to think that doing every mission is the only viable way to play.

[StellarRat]

Waladil - as a genuine question, what is it that makes you feel you should still do Scout and Light Scout missions when you basically said you aren't getting any in-game reward from doing so any more?

Do you feel that the game would penalise you for not attacking them? Does it? One of the things I find astonishing is that people will do literally every mission that they generate even though they really don't need to (or aren't supposed to need to).

Chris, I was always under the impression that letting an alien ship of any size do as it pleased would cost you relationship points with the funding nations. So, I try to at least shoot down every ship I possibly can even if I can't pursue a recovery mission. If that is not true how would a player know that?

[Lightzy]

I take all the missions because they are the main source of income, the only way to train soldiers, and give me good relations which is also mandatory

Edited August 6, 2013 by Lightzy

[Ishantil]

Exactly, I do as many missions as I can because that's the only other way to make any money.

I'm not necessarily saying that that's the only way to play, but I wouldn't be able to keep up with the aggressive timeline without the money that missions bring in. A huge part of that cost is the number of is the number of aircraft that I personally have to pay for.

It would be cool if countries would occasionally launch interceptors at UFOs. Perhaps the could be flights in blue.

Nevertheless, I kind of like the desperation you feel from never having quite enough resources.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Ishantil

[Ol' Stinky]

Even a lightscout tends to be 60k. That's a plasma rifle. It's hard to pass that up.

[Ishantil]

I think the cost of some of the production item costs and manufacturing times need to be looked at. I can buy a shiny new interceptor for 100K and it costs me 128K to make a scatter laser. I know we're talking prototypes versus production items, but...

[xcomnaut]

Dudes, we are defenders of the earth, how can we skip even a tiny light scout? NO WAY!

Btw, light scout is a good source of xp for 2nd or 3rd base personnel.

[Rebel44]

I feel that cost of new bases + building aircraft + (IMO too expensive) equipment for soldiers make it necessary to use every opportunity to get more money (both directly from loot and from improved score with nations).

[Max_Caine]

To reinforce what other people have said, the game doesn't explicitly tell you "go and shoot alien ufos", but if a player shoots down a ufo and investgates the crash, he's rewarded with power, loot, money, and the admiration of his peers. In contrast, if said player lets a UFO go, he doesn't get anything, looses money and stands lower in the view of the funding nations. The game reinforces certain behaviours (shoot UFOs, do ground combat) without having to explicitly tell the player what to do. Furthermore, there's nothing else the player can do. The game revolves around shooting UFOs. That's it. If I don't shoot down UFOs, the game becomes BORING. If there were GC missions that weren't initated by UFOs then the player has less reason to do nothing except shoot down UFOs. But there isn't. So we do.

EDIT: The PA Report invited the developers of Klei Entertainment to talk about their game "Don't Strave". One of the things that they noticed is that rewards can get in the way of gaming: the link is in this thread. I think if you find people going after every UFO undesirable behaviour, then you'll have to find ways to incentivise other behaviours.

However.

I've seen suggestions that funding blocs should send up interceptors to shoot down ufos. This has the effect of making funding blocs competitors for alien resources, as every UFO a funding bloc shoots down is a UFO that the Xenonauts can't get any good stuff from. This would then have a knock on effect of making the air war as important as it is now but in a different way. I forsee that base building and aircraft making would be as frantic as ever, but it would be a race to get an airforce up in the sky quick enough to beat funding blocs to the punch.

What might be a solution is to make funding bloc interceptors the equivalent of cruise missiles. If a FB interceptor did damage without actually destroying the target, the pressure to perform is less than if the target was at full strength and there is no pressure to beat the FB interceptor to the target. As Xenonauts now has the auto-resolve function it might be worthwhile making FB interceptors another class of UFO, with an air interdiction mission, whose target is alien UFOs.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Max_Caine

[blubberdiblub]

Accuracy and TUs both cap out at 101, not 99 as gameconfig.xml indicates. Strength caps out at 99 properly (Don't know about the other three stats).

That's because internally those stats (I believe all apart from Strength) are lower by 2 (as seen in the savegame), so they actually cap out at 99 and then the 2 points are added on top of them.

Why that is like this, tho, is beyond me.

[Stinkspray]

ofc i also shoot down/ground attack everything that moves - for the exp, for the money and just for the sake of beeing pr0 roflmao...

for me the biggest problem with 19.6 for now is aliens not reaction-firing through ufo doors, makes ufo assaults feel too easy

[Chris]

Just to clarify, my question was about why people feel the need to launch a ground combat mission after they've shot the UFO down. I'm not advocating letting them all escape, but at the same time not every crash site needs to be attacked (there's no penalty for not attacking a crash site, but obviously you don't get the rewards for doing them).

It's just an observation really, I'm interested in the thinking behind it. Even in the original game I didn't use to do all the missions.

[Jean-Luc]

It's just an observation really, I'm interested in the thinking behind it. Even in the original game I didn't use to do all the missions.

More missions, more money. Gamers tend to strive for optimization and "maximum output" so to speak.

[Max_Caine]

I would disagree that there's no penalty. The penalty is the opportunity cost of the UFO. It's like you're sitting in a casino, being smart and betting small. However, each time you win, you think about the money you could have won if you had bet more. That's the same with UFOs. Each UFO a player lets go carries the penalty of things that could-have-been, and it's a big risk to let a pot of cash, loot and exp go when that cash, loot and exp go towards fighting the next UFO.