Closed Beta Build V7 is now available for Xenonauts 2 for Steam and GOG.
More information.Closed Beta Build V7 has now been released on Steam and GOG. Note that this build is only available on our new Experimental branch so you'll need to switch over to get this update (instructions on how to do that here).
As this is still a highly experimental build (see below) we're not releasing it on Xsolla, because Xsolla doesn't support opt-in branches like Steam and GOG do and this build is definitely not ready to be pushed out to all of our backers yet. Hopefully it'll be on Xsolla within a week or so.
This build is defintely an Experimental build and comes with lots of features but also lots of caveats - basically, a lot of these systems aren't fully finished. I'd stay on the Stable branch for now if that's going to bother you. The changes we've made to various important systems have probably introduced some fairly significant bugs too. So don't say you weren't warned!
That said, there's a lot of big upgrades and improvements in here. We've appreciate people checking the build out and spotting any obvious issues, and also giving your thoughts on how we should set up some game systems to make the player experience as smooth as possible. You can read a more detailed general progress update and see the linked threads in the development update here: (EDIT - coming tomorrow!)
Key Features:
[...]
- New Dropship Layout: we're testing a new layout for the starting dropship that carries 10 soldiers, has side walls and a tail ramp. The art is currently placeholder but if community feedback is good then we'll get a proper model and 2D artwork done.
- "Classic" Base Mechanics: we've now reverted the base mechanics back to the classic X1 sytem where you can build multiple bases and their radar ranges are driven by the radar structures at that base. The art is placeholder (it is literally just the X1 art right now) but please test out the functionality!
- Updated Aircraft Mechanics: aircraft are now stationed at Hangars built in the new base system, and we've had to add some new UI to allow you to buy new aircraft in an empty Hangar (on the Aircraft screen). Dropships also now fly around the map again rather than teleporting to mission sites, but at present the game still only supports a single dropship.
- Improved Shot Path Sensitivity: The shot paths in the game now subdivide tiles into 9 smaller cells so it can trace a more accurate path for the shot. This is basically the X1 system now but with some further upgrades that fix some of the X1 problems related to corners and walls incorrectly getting in the way of shots.
- X1 Camera / Fog of War / Shroud: We're now using a true orthographic camera and have switched the fog of war / shroud back to being purely tile-based rather than having a fadeout gradient around the edge, which looks uglier but is necessary to support night missions. Please report any problems you see with the vision!
- This also fixes the issue where you can see the far side of a wall (e.g. a building interior) once you see the exterior side of the wall.
- Autosaves: The game now autosaves far more regularly, including at the end of every turn of combat and before each mission. Please attach saves to bug reports where possible!
- Tooltips: We've added the first set of tooltips to the game that explain the functionality of the various buttons on the screen, and give stats / details on the various items in the game. We only finished this system yesterday so only a few of them are set up so far, but the remainder will follow in upcoming builds. One nice feature is that these tooltips are linked to the actual weapon values, so they'll always be up-to-date no matter what balance changes I (or modders!) make.
- Iron Man / Save Upgrades: we've implemented Iron Man mode, and also set the game up to autosave MUCH more frequently than before. These changes require you to name each new campaign (so the autosaves don't overwrite each other) so we've added a new UI panel when you start a new campaign; this will be rolled into the difficulty settings panel when that is implemented in the next major build but for now it has its own pop-up!
