14th Jan Dev Update

OK - we're still busy at work. I was going to try and release a new build today which fixed all the major crashes in the last one but some of the upgrades to the ground combat have introduced a new bug that is causing issues with the aliens spawning. So that's not going to happen until that is fixed.

We are planning to release a new build on Friday too, or perhaps over this weekend. It's the continuation of our last build, hopefully having all of the aliens in it by then and having a few extra maps. It will also have quite a lot more of the research tree in it (with research descriptions, but probably not much game balance), and hopefully an AI update.

If we don't have a major update for the AI this week, I'll ask GJ to write a post explaining what's going on on that front and explain why it's taking so long (I imagine the post would involve the word "engine" followed by a lot of rude words).

Over the past few days I've been working on the Research tree, writing research descriptions. This takes a LONG time; each one is 3-5 paragraphs of semi-plausible technobabble and it takes me up to two hours to get it right. There's a lot of them too, sadly. I think I've done about a third of them so far. I'll be working on this for the next few days too and hopefully can make good progress on it. It's one of the last missing things in the game.

Today I was working on the new UI Stores screen - this screen is now about 75% finished, and looks very much like the concept. It's rather cool seeing the first of the new UI screens nearing completion, as I think they'll add a lot to the game. This is in a separate branch of the code, though, so you won't see any new screens for a while yet. But work is moving ahead on that. Same with the new launcher too, which should be done in the next couple of weeks.

Aaron's been busy working on the Middle East tileset, and we're doing a few more ground tiles for that. It turned out that it wasn't that interesting with the existing tiles but we've got a few new props for it too now, so it should have a proper map in the update this weekend. We're now turning our attention to the Alien Base tileset, and once we have a stable enough build to test the UFO layouts in, we'll finalise them and start work on the final art for those too.

So, should be an interesting week. Sorry for the ongoing stability issues, hopefully there'll be a big payoff this Friday / weekend.

no problem with the stability issues. that's what alphas are for. Always good to hear what's going on behind the curtain.

cool good luck

Over the past few days I've been working on the Research tree, writing research descriptions. This takes a LONG time; each one is 3-5 paragraphs of semi-plausible technobabble and it takes me up to two hours to get it right. There's a lot of them too, sadly. I think I've done about a third of them so far. I'll be working on this for the next few days too and hopefully can make good progress on it. It's one of the last missing things in the game.

Why not ask the community for help?

I am sure some of the veterans on our forum would be willing to help with writing research descriptions.

Why not ask the community for help?

That might be a good idea. One would have to know what the thing is supposed to do and roughly how it supposed to work first though. Even if they weren't perfect it might be good starting point for Chris to "refine" to the final verbiage.

I'd be more then happy to help as much as my time irl allows it. I am a PhD student in Chemistry after all, got enough scientific babble in me for this game and 2 sequels at least

There are a couple of problems with persons other than a designer writing up the research topics. Firstly, if more than one person writes topics, then they can fall out of sync with each other (as a simple, and yes, easily fixable example but an example nonetheless, one person writing the description for an alien autospy might vary strongly from how another writes the live alien examination). Secondly, in a game like this, the bulk of the narrative of the game is wrapped up in the research topics and the ideas of Persons X, Y and Z wwon't necessarily jibe with the designer's idea of what the narrative should be.

Thank you for the updates. Things may be going slower than expected, but the updates take out the sting. Other games that I've pre-purchased (Prison Architect, Towns, Project Zomboid) fail miserably at keeping their supporters in the loop. The fact that you provide us with regular and honest news, even if it's not the news we want, makes a world of difference.

...if more than one person writes topics, then they can fall out of sync with each other ... the ideas of Persons X, Y and Z won't necessarily jibe with the designer's idea of what the narrative should be.

Across so many research topics, the results may well be uneven. Also, as well wishing as we all are, our submissions may not meet the criteria needed for the finished game, or as Max says, for Chris' ideas behind the game. With the amount of editing and rewriting required, it actually take less time for Chris to write them by himself

just realised that this "14th Jan" update was released on the 15th. Just as well we take no notice of release dates round these parts

ok so it crashes...but it still gets fixed and gets better with each couple weeks (loved new farm set tiles even with crash)

so dont sweat it....its thumbs up from me and its...

from him....

Edited January 14, 2013 by mordenkien

Thanks for the update!

Chris,

That's excellent news. Keep the updates coming. I know it is hard postponing a release, but in the end I think it works best for all concerned.

Why not ask the community for help?

I am sure some of the veterans on our forum would be willing to help with writing research descriptions.

Would be a good idea only if there is a disclaimer saying that any and all submissions may be changed or rejected on the developers' whim. Basically make it known that Chris has his own idea of how things should look and that people are potentially wasting time on their own responsibility. This kind of thing can't get bogged down in a democratic process or making sure peoples' feelings don't get hurt.

Been playing x-com recently and was surprised to be reminded just how bare bones the ufopedia descriptions are (except for the aliens). Oftentimes it's just a couple of sentences. Hope Chris can come up with some good technobabble.

It's better for all concerned if I write it all, basically because it's mcuh more cohesive that way and most of the narrative comes from it. It's also meant to include gameplay tips; sorta explaining how things should be used without resorting to talking about the rules of the game.

Plus it's one of the things I really wanted to do when I started the project. The fact it's significantly less fun than I thought it would be is neither here nor there

It's one of those things you have to do in bits and pieces. Like anything else, once it builds up, it's a chore. I can't believe you had other things to occupy your attention.

Plus it's one of the things I really wanted to do when I started the project. The fact it's significantly less fun than I thought it would be is neither here nor there

"And the Award for Best Writing in a Computer Game goes to..."

Secrets of the Xenopaedia:-

2:00am: Einstein Rosen Drive - Using the captured willpower of terrified victims.... opens up a portal into n-dimensional space...

... enabling dislocation outside of spacetime..... resulting in near instantaneous transportation to the alien homeworld.

3:00am:Tesla Death Cannon - Captured alien EM plasma binding techniques coupled with the classified secrets of Nikolai Tesla... have resulted in a breakthrough of unparalleled lethality... systematically attacking both neural and electronic...

4:00am: Alien Laboratory: uh, it has lots of glowy, bright shiny things... erm... like Bride of Frankenstein meets Metropolis >cut n paste couple of pictures< ...

5:00am Alien Biology: oh gods...um... what have I said already? "It's y'know alien.". Well, it is. Unspeakably alien, so I can't talk about it...

5:30am: Zzzzzzzzzzzzz...

just realised that this "14th Jan" update was released on the 15th. Just as well we take no notice of release dates round these parts

Depends on where you are mate. For me in Sweden (1 hour earlier than UK) it was posted 14th.

Edited January 15, 2013 by Gorlom

Perhaps it's the display. The way mine is set up and working it out for UK & SWE would have been 19:19 and 20:19 on the 15th. Clearly the squinty ziggurat where I live is experiencing temporal interference.

It's 20:19 on the 14th for me. It just became the 15th nearly 2 hours ago.

bloody tardis settings...

another Chris thread with amazing news, thank you guys! Keep up the good work like always!

Thanks for the update, continue the good work!

Chris and dev-team: Thanx for the hard work and update.

Thotkins: Does your computer have the correct date settings?

thothkins lives in his own world and only transist to ours for xenonauts ..think he suffers from dimensional lag...