Xenonauts 2 News

[p]This update is also only accessible by switching to our Experimental branches (instructions on how to do so here) - although please be aware they have slower load times and worse performance than normal builds due to the extra logging they contain![/p][p]The minimum save version in this build has been increased, but it should not break save games created in the last couple of versions. This is intended to break campaigns started back in around 6.9 that did not survive the move to our more recent patches, as I'm not sure we can keep trying to patch those[/p][p]Please note that the next update we do (probably in a couple of days) will again break save game compatibility, so it's probably not a good idea to start a new campaign in this version![/p][p]Balance Changes:[/p]

• [p]Normal Security Supporters now only grant -1 Panic per month, as previously they gave -2 (which was the same as the Elite). However, there is a bug here that the supporters only grant local panic reduction, not in each region. This will be fixed in the next version (which will break save games).[/p]

[p]Changes:[/p]

• [p]Some more visual fixes for the Soviet Town factory building walls.[/p]

[p]Bugfixes:[/p]

• [p]Fixed shields not blocking shots at all.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the crash when you unassign one of the target soldiers in the Soldier Rescue mission from the dropship (should really be fixed this time).[/p]
• [p]Fixed a crash that could occur at end of turn on the Soviet Town maps.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a crash that could occur when destroying particular walls on the Soviet Town maps.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the weapon tooltip Armour Destruction value being broken.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some of the issues with unrevealed objects inside UFOs partially drawing above the shroud.[/p]

[p]This update is also only accessible by switching to our Experimental branches (instructions on how to do so here) - although please be aware they have slower load times and worse performance than normal builds due to the extra logging they contain![/p][p]Balance Changes:[/p]

• [p]Xenonaut Shields were previously a bit overpowered as they blocked all damage in the frontal 180-degree arc of the carrying soldier. They now only offer 100% protection in the frontal 90-degree arc, and the protection now linearly drops off from 100% down to a minimum of 20% as the angle approaches the edges of the frontal 180-degree arc.[/p]

[p]Changes:[/p]

• [p]Various visual updates to the new ARES model to reintroduce the engine glow and heat haze etc.[/p]
• [p]Soviet Town terror sites now have Alenium Bombs like the Western Town maps do.[/p]
• [p]Updated the "wingover" icon in the air combat interface.[/p]

[p]Bugfixes:[/p]

• [p]Fixed a crash that could occur at end of turn in the tactical combat on the Soviet Town biome.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a crash clicking the supporter regions / supporter icons on the Geoscape if you loaded an old save from 6.10.0.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a crash during the tutorial.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the Cleaners getting stuck while moving into position in the tutorial.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the ARES weapons being invisible.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the MARS tracks flickering during the fire animation, and if the vehicle moved more than one tile.[/p]
• [p]Fixed fire / smoke effects sometimes spawning in the very corner of the map, rather than their intended tile.[/p]
• [p]Another attempted fix for the camera sometimes incorrectly snapping to a moving unit after you've manually taken control of the camera (which should stop any attempted camera tracking).[/p]

Earlier today, we shared our monthly development update for Xenonauts 2, outlining everything we've worked on in the past month. From ongoing updates to the Milestone 6 Experimental branch and a new ending cinematic and to an air combat update and an alternate Soviet Town biome for terror missions, we've been busy!

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[p]Hello everyone - we're now into October, so here's our monthly development update covering everything we worked on over the past month.[/p][h3]Milestone 6[/h3][p]After releasing Milestone 6 onto the Experimental branches last month, we continued to release updates for it this month. Having completed all three of the remaining gameplay tasks on our Early Access roadmap, we're now focused on stability and bugfixes.[/p][p]We're still aiming to have the full release for Milestone 6 in the next two to three weeks - although estimating how many bugs our testers will find (and how long it'll take us to fix them) is tricky, so that date may move if we encounter a lot of problems![/p][h3]Ending Cinematic[/h3][p]The first completed item on our roadmap was the ending cinematic, which is a short epilogue cutscene in the same style as the opening cutscene. This has now been fully implemented in the game and plays after completion of the final mission. There's not really much more to say here, but I hope players feel it's a fitting way to close out a successful campaign.[/p][h3]Air Combat Tutorial & Gemini[/h3][p]Next was the "Air Combat Update" roadmap item, which contains all our previous work on the air combat interface refresh (plus the new side-on art for all the aircraft weapons) and now also contains the air combat tutorial. This has been integrated into the existing tutorial, and is aimed to be a brief explanation of the key interception combat mechanics, giving the player just enough information that they can figure out the rest by themselves.[/p][p]The Gemini interceptor has also had a bit of a refresh over the past couple of months, having morphed from a fighter that simply had better stats than its predecessors to a craft capable of performing some unique combat maneuvers. We recently added the "wingover" manevuer for that aircraft, which flips the plane through 180-degrees and can be rather helpful in a dogfight. This should help keep the tech progression interesting.[/p][p]We'll continue to tweak and refine the gameplay and balance of the air combat in Milestone 7, but we're now relatively happy with the overall state of the air combat.[/p][h3]Soviet Town Biome[/h3][p]The final completed item on our roadmap was the Soviet Town biome - an alternate biome for terror missions that is used in certain parts of the world. Adding a new "town" biome always takes a long time, but I'm pleased with the way it has come out. There's a nice contrast between the Western Town, which is mostly commercial buildings, and the Soviet Town being a mixture of residential, government and industrial buildings. That should help keep Terror missions feeling fresh.[/p][p]At present we've only added the five small Terror maps to the game, but the remaining three medium Terror maps are mostly complete and should be fully finished in the next week or so.[/p][h3]Miscellaneous[/h3][p]We've also added a few other smaller pieces of content this month. There's three extra strategy and three extra tactical music tracks (which almost doubles the amount of music in the game), plus updated models for the MARS and ARES vehicles, and some Xenopedia rewrites to reflect the new mechanics and gameplay changes added recently. And, as always, there's a long list of minor improvements that are too small to be worth mentioning.[/p][p]I think that's everything. Thanks for reading, and I'll be writing another post in a month's time![/p]

[p]This update is also only accessible by switching to our Experimental branches (instructions on how to do so here) - although please be aware they have slower load times and worse performance than normal builds due to the extra logging they contain![/p][p]We decided not to release 6.11.0 last night due to discovering another serious bug during our testing, so we fixed that and skipped straight to 6.12.0.[/p][p]Changes:[/p]

• [p]Added a new combat maneuver for the Gemini interceptor: the wingover (which is effectively an instant 180-degree spin).[/p]
• [p]Gemini now plays a little "teleport" visual effect when it performs any combat maneuver, as it performs them all instantly.[/p]
• [p]Added updated 3d visuals for the advanced MARS weapons. The upgraded rocket pods now have unique visuals that reflect the upgraded rockets too.[/p]
• [p]Slightly updated the air combat UI so it's more obvious which of the aircraft infopanels on the right is currently selected.[/p]
• [p]Added some new sound effects to the air combat cannon weapons.[/p]

[p]Balance Changes:[/p]

• [p]Upgraded vehicle armour now has scaling Hardness values in the same way infantry armour does, which should make vehicles much more resilient in the mid / late game.[/p]
• [p]Melee units are now more aggressive. This should make Reapers more likely to aggressively close, rather than passively milling around.[/p]
• [p]Improved the way that the AI handles burst fire weapons, which fixes various instances where Sebillians and enemy Sentry Guns would not fire their weapons despite having a relatively good shot available.[/p]

[p]Bugfixes:[/p]

• [p]Fixed a crash that would occur at the end of a combat mission if you loaded a save during that mission.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a crash that could occur if a terror site spawned in certain locations on the Geoscape.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where killing Infiltrators would not reduce the daily Doomsday gain.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where if a unit was given an attack order when moving, it would sometimes run back to the start of their move instead of attacking.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Psyons would sometimes shoot Xenonauts dead immediately after Mind Controlling them.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the aircraft weapon tooltip incorrectly displaying a "0" value for all missile Turn Rates.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a small timing issue at the end of the ending cinematic.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the MARS / ARES and the Mentarch movement animations sometimes taking too long to finish playing the movement sound and begin the next action.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some mis-set translation strings for the Chinese translations.[/p]