Alien Grounds News

[p]Monthly competition is now live in Alien Grounds.[/p][p]January 2026 board is open now (starts Jan 8 UTC) and will reset on Feb 1 (UTC).[/p][p]How to join:[/p]

• [p]Complete missions to submit an Overall Score[/p]
• [p]Open Leaderboard in-game and switch boards on the left:[/p]
  • [p]All-time[/p]
  • [p]Jan 2026[/p]

[p]If you want a fresh start and a real shot at the top spot, this is the best time to jump in.[/p][p]Good luck - and congrats to anyone who takes #1 this month.[/p][p][/p][p]Early month = easiest time to grab a top rank.

In-game: Leaderboards -> Jan 2026
View it on the Community Hub:
https://steamcommunity.com//stats/3351550/leaderboards/18757387[/p]

[p]A small quality-of-life + polish update.[/p][p]Added[/p]

• [p]New Portal option: Headshot Indicator (unlocks at 50,000 Overall Score)[/p]

[p]Leaderboard[/p]

• [p]Removed zero-score entries[/p]
• [p]All-Time Overall Score leaderboard is now visible on the Community Hub[/p]

[p]Fixes[/p]

• [p]Beam weapon visual misalignment caused by weapon sway[/p]
• [p]Latent tails in Enemy BP[/p]
• [p]Settings UI: gamepad navigation now reaches all buttons[/p]

[p]Optimization[/p]

• [p]Player IK foot updates only when looking down[/p]

[p]A quality-of-life update to start the year.[/p][p]Gameplay[/p]

• [p]Reduced spawn time when firing the Freeze weapon.[/p]

[p]Mission Start[/p]

• [p]Simplified the Mission Start UI - scores are no longer shown there.[/p]

[p]Portal - Crosshair (available from the start)[/p]

• [p]Small (Dot)[/p]
• [p]Small (No Dot)[/p]
• [p]Large (Dot)[/p]
• [p]Large (No Dot)[/p]
• [p]Dot Only[/p]
• [p]Off[/p]

[p]Portal - HUD Type options[/p]

• [p]Default[/p]
• [p]Minimal[/p]
• [p]Crosshair Only[/p]

[p]Portal - HUD Color options[/p]

• [p]Default[/p]
• [p]Cyan[/p]
• [p]Yellow[/p]
• [p]Lime[/p]
• [p]Orange[/p]

• [p]Violet[/p]
• [p]Teal[/p]
• [p]Red[/p]

[p]Progression[/p]

• [p]Updated Portal unlock scores for smoother progression.[/p]

[p]Adjusted revive penalties to better match difficulty and mission progression:[/p][p]Missions 1-5[/p]

• [p]Easy: Revive penalty 0%[/p]
• [p]Medium: Revive penalty 10%[/p]
• [p]Hard: Revive penalty 30%[/p]

[p]Mission 6+[/p]

• [p]Easy: Revive penalty 10%[/p]
• [p]Medium: Revive penalty 20%[/p]
• [p]Hard: Restart Mission on death (no revive)[/p]

[p]This keeps early missions more forgiving while preserving the high-stakes feel of Hard in later missions.[/p]