Alien Grounds News

[p]I’ve been cooking up ideas for the next big weapon update, and the top three contenders are:[/p]

• [p]Black Hole Gun - Sucks enemies into oblivion (inspired by mechanics from my next horror sim project).[/p]
• [p]Sat Gun - Orbital strike goodness from above.[/p]
• [p]Tunnel Effect Gun - Creates deadly passages enemies won’t escape from.[/p]

[p]Each one could be tuned for mass kills (like the Chem Gun) or single-target power (like a Gravity Gun). Personally, I think mass-kill is more useful for higher missions - but I want to hear what you think.[/p][p]The Black Hole Gun can be done pretty quickly with some special effects, but since it’s an area weapon I’ll need to nail the balance so it doesn’t break the game.[/p][p]Expected release: ~30 days
In the meantime, please tell your friends about Alien Grounds - it’s still 100% free, and more players means more fun (and more crazy weapons).[/p]

[p]Hi everyone,[/p][p][/p][h3]🧪 Chem Gun - Powerful Weapon[/h3][p]A new reactive weapon is now available starting from Mission #10 (any difficulty).
The Chem Gun introduces emergent gameplay – a single enemy won’t die from it, but groups will.[/p][hr][/hr][h3]🏆 New Achievements[/h3][p]Added last week – now officially announced:[/p]

• [p]HARD 300 / HARD 1000[/p]
• [p]ALL FIREBALLS – Shoot down every fireball in a mission[/p]
• [p]ALL HEADSHOTS – Land only headshots in a mission[/p]
• [p]HARD ACCURACY – 100% accuracy in a Hard Mission[/p]
• [p]MEDIUM ACCURACY – 100% accuracy in a Medium Mission[/p]
• [p]EASY ACCURACY – 100% accuracy in an Easy Mission[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]🔧 Fixes[/h3]

• [p]Fireball stats now track correctly[/p]
• [p]Selected weapon is now saved between sessions[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]⚙️ Optimization[/h3]

• [p]Improved GPU performance for Laser and Gravity Guns[/p]
• [p]Cleaned up weapon switching logic[/p]
• [p]Faster Player Animation Blueprint[/p]
• [p]Replaced Rich Text with standard Text in UI (≈7.5 MiB memory saved)[/p][p][/p]

[p]— emagnetic[/p]

[p]Hi everyone, [/p][p][/p][p]Achievements are here to stay - more are coming over the next few months. Some are clearly favorites, others not so much. I think of them as mini-games in their own right, and each one deserves to be thoughtfully designed.[/p][p]So, what’s next?[/p][p]I’m working on adding more weapons. The gravity gun seems to be a step in the right direction - expect more sci-fi-punk-style tools with real physics and solid usability. Weird, fun, and grounded (literally).[/p][p]Also, I’m looking for an animator and asset designer to help move away from the “asset flip” look. If you or someone you know might be interested, feel free to reach out. It’s unpaid, being a hobby project for now - just being upfront.[/p][p]Thanks for playing and testing. You’re helping shape this thing.[/p][p]
— emagnetic[/p]

[p]🔵 New Achievements[/p]

• [p]EASY OFF – Make 3 enemies fall off the map in a single Easy Mission.[/p]
• [p]ALL OFF – Make every enemy fall off the map in a single Mission.[/p]

[p]✨ Improvements[/p]

• [p]New weapon is now yellow-highlighted on the Mission Start screen.[/p]
• [p]Steam Hub link added to Mission End screen (starting from Mission 10).[/p]
• [p]Removed on-screen message when weapon multiplier changes.[/p]

[p]🐞 Fixes[/p]

• [p]Fixed: Portal message disappeared too quickly when running past it.[/p]
• [p]Fixed: Rifle ammo was too high after weapon switching.[/p]
• [p]Fixed: Extra ammo and health dropped even when all enemies were already eliminated.[/p]

[p]Hi everyone, [/p][p] [/p][p]🆕 Replay Button Added
At the end of a mission, you can now hit Replay to retry the same mission and improve your score.[/p]

• [p]You can replay a mission as many times as you want before moving on to the next mission.[/p]
• [p]Your highest score is automatically saved.[/p]
• [p]Useful for earning achievements (like Hard 1 Blitz) or aiming for a higher leaderboard score (when leaderboards arrive).[/p]

[p]
🏅 Score Notifications[/p]

• [p]The Mission End screen now tells you when you've achieved your best score - marked as Saved.[/p]
• [p]Total Score is now also shown on both the Mission Start and Mission End screens.[/p]

[p]
⭐ Gold Stars for Strong Performance
High Accuracy, Headshots, and other stats now earn Gold Stars in the mission report - a quick visual way to spot great results.[/p][p][/p][p]🌀 Portal Functionality Updated[/p]

• [p]The Portal now restarts the current Mission if a new map is selected.[/p]
• [p]The Portal unlocks at Mission 15 (any difficulty).[/p]

[p]
🤖 Faster Start on Easy Mission 1
Bots now spawn closer to the player in Easy Mission 1 - better pacing, faster action.[/p][p]
🔄 Ammo & Health Reset Each Mission
Each mission now starts with default ammo and health instead of carrying them over. This ensures consistency for future leaderboards and makes mission logic more transparent.[/p][p][/p][p]This game is evolving if you notice bugs, have balance suggestions, or want to share your thoughts on the new features, let me know![/p][p][/p][p]—emagnetic[/p]