Posted December 11, 2014
Well they've made the fourth release candidate for this major update to the game, which the developer expects to release this week or the next.
I'm very happy with the game as it is, I'm having a blast playing it, but seeing the list of upcoming quality of life features and gameplay refinement makes me kinda excited!
It's always great to see good games get extra love after release :)
To quote the developer:
Xenonauts V1.5 Stable CANDIDATE 4 (8th December) Released!
If there's no further serious bugs uncovered, I expect to push this to the main Steam branch (and other sites) on Wednesday.
http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/12474-Xenonauts-V1-5-Stable-CANDIDATE-4-%288th-December%29-Released%21
Here is a thread that highlights the biggest changes:
http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/12291-Xenonauts-V1-5-Experimental-Released%21
I'm very happy with the game as it is, I'm having a blast playing it, but seeing the list of upcoming quality of life features and gameplay refinement makes me kinda excited!
It's always great to see good games get extra love after release :)
To quote the developer:
Xenonauts V1.5 Stable CANDIDATE 4 (8th December) Released!
If there's no further serious bugs uncovered, I expect to push this to the main Steam branch (and other sites) on Wednesday.
Here is a thread that highlights the biggest changes:
http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/12291-Xenonauts-V1-5-Experimental-Released%21
SHORT CHANGELOG:
General:
The launcher now supports "modular" mods, allowing multiple compatible mods to be run simultaneously.
We are testing Steam Workshop integration, but it is not functional yet as it's not downloading to the correct directory.
We've aggressively archived files to reduce the filecount from 65k to 40k to try and fix some Steam download issues - specifically, we've archived UFO floors and civilian / friendly AI sprites. Let us know if this causes issues like invisible floors / units.
Geoscape:
Additional notification feed information on aircraft readiness ("Condor-1 Repaired" etc)
Autoresolve calculation has been tweaked to more closely match combat results. Let us know if this has an unexpectedly large effect on game balance.
There are now speed buttons in the air combat. I'm currently debating whether to remove them from V1.5 as they don't match the rest of the UI.
Ground Combat:
F5 can now be used to Quicksave the game.
The line-of-sight system has been improved, so there should be less situations where it gets screwy with building corners / verticality.
The projectile tracking system has been improved, so "miss" shots behave less strangely.
Walls and props now fade out when you mouseover them.
There is also an additional "Hide Roof" button mode that turns all walls / props on a level semi-transparent.
Directional cover indicators have been added.
Berserking Xenonauts no longer always target your own soldiers (this was due to a bug).
Soldiers now have their national flag next to their name in combat.
Balance:
Player feedback suggested alien Mind Control really wasn't very much fun to play against; there was no real counter to it. Therefore it now takes effect after a turn delay: i.e. the controlled soldier can't act until the next alien turn, after you've had a turn to flee / stun him / shoot him.
Morale regeneration is now applied at the end rather than the beginning of a turn. This has no gameplay effect but will stop the perceived issue of units on high health panicking for no reason - what is actually happening is a low-morale unit would panic and then immediately regenerate 40 morale (to stop them panicking for multiple turns)...making it appear like the panic occurred at high morale.
:)General:
The launcher now supports "modular" mods, allowing multiple compatible mods to be run simultaneously.
We are testing Steam Workshop integration, but it is not functional yet as it's not downloading to the correct directory.
We've aggressively archived files to reduce the filecount from 65k to 40k to try and fix some Steam download issues - specifically, we've archived UFO floors and civilian / friendly AI sprites. Let us know if this causes issues like invisible floors / units.
Geoscape:
Additional notification feed information on aircraft readiness ("Condor-1 Repaired" etc)
Autoresolve calculation has been tweaked to more closely match combat results. Let us know if this has an unexpectedly large effect on game balance.
There are now speed buttons in the air combat. I'm currently debating whether to remove them from V1.5 as they don't match the rest of the UI.
Ground Combat:
F5 can now be used to Quicksave the game.
The line-of-sight system has been improved, so there should be less situations where it gets screwy with building corners / verticality.
The projectile tracking system has been improved, so "miss" shots behave less strangely.
Walls and props now fade out when you mouseover them.
There is also an additional "Hide Roof" button mode that turns all walls / props on a level semi-transparent.
Directional cover indicators have been added.
Berserking Xenonauts no longer always target your own soldiers (this was due to a bug).
Soldiers now have their national flag next to their name in combat.
Balance:
Player feedback suggested alien Mind Control really wasn't very much fun to play against; there was no real counter to it. Therefore it now takes effect after a turn delay: i.e. the controlled soldier can't act until the next alien turn, after you've had a turn to flee / stun him / shoot him.
Morale regeneration is now applied at the end rather than the beginning of a turn. This has no gameplay effect but will stop the perceived issue of units on high health panicking for no reason - what is actually happening is a low-morale unit would panic and then immediately regenerate 40 morale (to stop them panicking for multiple turns)...making it appear like the panic occurred at high morale.
