Executive Assault 2 News

Hi executives, this patch today should help make multiplayer more stable and the game memory leak less along with a few other fixes, it also adds the Invader ship too which helps the Industrial faction land troops onto stations without the need of troop transports and the docking bay.

- [x] Added start game lobby screen
- [x] Can now choose the AI faction
- [x] Can now choose your team colour (wohoo!)
- [x] New Invader ship added and replaces long range ship for Industrial
- [x] Upgraded multiplayer scripts to handle disconnections/intermittent internet connections better.
- [x] Updated Unity.
- [x] Optimised scripts to help improve frame rate.
- [x] More control given to cargo ships
- [x] Cargo ships can now pickup cargo pods
- [x] Leaving system destruction radius increased
- [x] Protestors can now invade any of your star systems and not just the home system
- [x] Crates are now placed onto your back
- [x] An error where base upgrades went past 0 has been fixed
- [x] Trader team should no longer turn black
- [x] Removed telling a cargo ship to goto a system and assigning it to the station there, need to physically specify which station now
- [x] Radius graphics have been altered
- [x] Exit buttons added to all screens if you need to exit such as Executron construction
- [x] Popup messages no longer appear for executrons
- [x] Ai will send ships to help guard its outpost ships if needed
- [x] Can no longer bring up menus using the F keys if in Executron mode
- [x] AI attacking has been tweaked
- [x] Fixed AI doing a bouncing ship between system effect
- [x] Tellinging a docked ship will now make it undock and then move to the destination
- [x] All ships with cargo bays now have maximum capacities.
- [x] Fixed a selling of radioactive waste bug where it would do 100 when you only sold 5
- [x] Fixed a gap in the deflector array wall
- [x] Fixed a gap in the research facility
- [x] Removed _MainTex error from logs
- [x] Fixed docking issue with ships sometimes pausing outside if they come in from the wrong direction
- [x] Missile damage reduced to 100
- [x] Swarm missile reduced to 500
- [x] Number of drones carried on carriers reduced
- [x] Drone health increased
- [x] Sorted out crash if you made a custom map with just 3 systems.

As always improvements are continuous and please submit bugs within the game so that I get a log.
Also this update has changed a few core multiplayer and game scripts so as much as I have tested there might still be some issues.

Cheers,
Rob

Hello Executives,

I am excited to finally release the Faction patch for everyone to enjoy, it has been a very long and trying few months but it has been well worth the wait.

The new patch includes loads of new ships, tech, buildings, music and play styles including:

Industrial: Cannons, nuclear power, clones, large powerful ships, these are for the companies who like to crush anyone standing in their way.

High Tech: Lasers, fusion power, robots, sleek expensive ships for those who prefer a balanced clean way of winning.

Spy: Pulse energy, solar power, cyborgs, stealthy ships, spy plants, teleportation, for those who prefer to undermine from the inside rather than full out assaults.

The patch also adjusts some of the gameplay mechanics such as how the power works, how to assault stations, patrols, shields etc so please read the in game help and tool tips too although no need to do the tutorial again as that only shows the very basic concepts of the game.

The reason for the patch was to not only to open up the tech tree as there didn’t seem to be much point for example having 3 different versions of the same weapon if everyone just went for the lasers or missiles, but also it opens up so many possibilities in terms of gameplay, ideas and not having everything look the same.

There is of course a lot more to do and plenty of balancing with the new tech which I hope you will continue to help me with not to mention the bugs that need fixing. Current known issues are the loading and saving is still experimental, some buildings still need updating to the new look, handling low quality network connections during multiplayer games,some path finding issues in regard to sending units around the base and the AI doing some strange things, all of which I will address in the near future.

Once things are settled again I hope to give Executrons more things to do, an in-game encyclopaedia of all the units and buildings, continue work on the protester mode, add even more tech and hope to eventually add a single campaign if people still want one.

Please feel free to join the Discord channel which is a great place to chat about the game, find people to play with and make new friends, the full change log can be found there in the Announcements section.
Join Executive Assault 2 Discord

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Thank you again for choosing to support the game and its continual development.

Cheers,
Rob

Hi executives,
Just an update on how things are getting on:

• Most of the buildings have been updated to now match the faction you play.
  
• Construction animations have been added.
  
• Dynamic backgrounds have been added.
  
• AI strategies have been improved and use the faction play styles.
  
• All new units including the Z11, Z12, Cyborg, Infiltrator, spy plants and clones have been added.All new spaceships for the Industrial and spy factions.
  
• All the new faction updates now work over multiplayer.
  
• New music.
  
• Mass teleporter super weapon is in the game.
  

Still to be done:

• Super weapons need to be added in, so far the Monolith and Decimator ships are in, but the building versions still need to be added. I have made the Transgalactic laser and Nuclear missile, but still need to add the asteroid nudger.
  
• Executrons need to be added back in.
  
• Map editor needs to be added back in.
  
• Scenario editor needs to be added back in.
  
• Loading/Saving needs to work with the new factions.
  

Big thank you to all those testing the game on Discord, if you fancy giving it a go and help test please follow the link below, remember its still under heavy testing so features are still shaky and unbalanced, however with the excellent beta testing from the group it has been proceeding faster than anticipated so I can't imagine it will be too long before it comes onto the main branch.

Join Discord channel Discord faction beta update

Below are a selection of images from the latest update.
Cheers,
Rob.

Hi Executives , I hope everyone is saying safe and healthy during these difficult times?
Sorry this new update is taking so long so just thought I would keep you all updated on how I am getting on, the following has been done:

• Each factions differences has been defined and are in the game such as the the different ways they gather money and research.
  
• Research is now instantaneous using research points which are gathered differently based on the faction you are playing, they are also a commodity which can be sold or stolen.
  
• Each faction now have their own power station and way of boosting output.
  
• Each factions unique units in the game
  
• Each factions unique starships in the game.
  
• Each factions tech tree has been designed and is in the game such as new weapons and upgrades
  
• Each faction have a faction variant of their shipyard, robot factory and new power plant.
  

Still to be done

• Unit construction animations need to be added
  
• All buildings for a faction need their unique look added
  
• Super weapons and structures still need to be added
  
• Clouds and nebular need to be added (important for mining)
  
• The AI needs to be taught how to use the new faction system
  
• Weapons, armour, research points etc need all balancing out
  
• Needs testing over multiplayer - although there is very little new code, most of this is just concept, number and graphic changes.

 

Initially all this will appear in the beta branch and then once happy with it all I will then release onto the main branch.

Thank you for your continued patience and understanding, as you can imagine adding a whole new faction system to the game takes a bit of time, unfortunately I cant give an estimate as to when it will all be done however you can see that it is progressing well as I am working as the foundations were already laid down and tested well by everyone.

I am usually around in the discord chat if you fancy asking anything and I sometimes post teasers and update progress images in there.

Below are some selected pictures from the update (subject to change)

All the best to you all

Cheers,
Rob

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Hello Executives, a few fixes today to help make the game run smoother.

• Defence station missiles now do damage again.
  
• Rocket launchers should now fire forward more often.
  
• Door hacking over multiplayer should work better.
  
• Easier for AI to reach tech 3 and beyond.
  
• Defence platform opening animation now synced over multiplayer.
  
• Defence platform now generates turrets over multiplayer.
  
• The delivery ship now deducts money properly.
  
• Cargo dropped in space is now synced correctly especially when retrieving.
  
• Taking control of ships mid jumping no longer causes the background to go black.
  
• A problem where you could no longer click on units if you pressed ESC to exit a screen has bit fixed.
  
• Can no longer ask troops to follow you when they are sitting in the troop transport
  
• Will no longer break the game if the troop transport explodes just as you are getting into it
  
• Troop transporter now syncs better over multiplayer.
  
• Outpost missiles should no longer shoot docked gateways.
  
• More robot navigation fixes.
  
• AI no checks to make sure it doesn't build hundreds of troop transports.
  
• Fixed a camera error if crouching as an Executron and then switch back to 1st person mode.
  
• Can no longer self destruct your self when captain of star ship.
  
• Trading menu now scrolls.
  
• Fixed problems with ships trying to dock and opening/closing the docking bay doors.
  
• Fixed a problem with diplomatic messages going mad and freezing the game.
  

One thing that has been bugging me for a while is the current state of the tech tree which I am still not happy about. Even though I have tried to make the torpedoes and cannons do more damage against buildings I still don't use them and instead I just make a bigger fleet. Also it didn't make sense to me having both gateways and troop transports as they were very similar to each other.

After discussing the issues with the community I am going to look at implementing a faction system in the game which will really help bring the tech tree alive. It will also result in companies looking graphically different to one another and this will be determined by which branch of the tech tree you choose. This is a very similar concept to other games so it seems about time I bring it into mine.

So for example there will be a dirty tech faction who loves machine guns, bullets, mass drivers, nuclear power, missiles, rockets, troop transports with big rusty but functional ships and cloning vats for their cheap but weak troops. There could also be a more high tech faction who has shields, fusion power, lasers, gateways and robots with expensive but powerful ships and finally there could be a more sneaky faction who has stealth tech, stealing, spying, sabotage, solar power, assassination, cyborgs and teleportation, the sky's the limit really.

This will obviously take some time to make including planning it all out, hiring artists for all the new graphics and making sure the asymmetrical tech is balanced, however I will keep all this on a separate development branch while I keep the game maintained on the main branch so please don't stop playing and reporting issues/bugs.

Cheers,
Rob