May 2, 2023

Xenonauts 2 - DigitalEccentric

Now that April is behind us, it's time for another monthly update. There's been good progress in some areas this month, but also some areas of frustration.

Cleaner Cells

The main new mission we've been working on this past month are the Cleaner Cells. These are VIP Elimination missions where you're tasked with attacking a hidden Cleaner command post and killing / capturing the leader in charge. If you're successful, all Cleaner activity in that region will stop and Panic will stop rising there.

The other part of the mission is capturing data from the various computers around the map (the same way as in the Intel Hub mission). This is an optional activity, but any data captured will increase the player's progress towards revealing the Cleaner Headquarters - and once that is revealed and destroyed, all Cleaner activity everywhere will stop. Capturing the VIP rather than killing them also provides a bonus to Cleaner HQ progress.

This means these missions are another example of a mission where you can choose how much you want to push your luck. Enemy reinforcements start spawning after seven turns, so most players will have enough time to fight their way in and kill the VIP without needing to fight off the reinforcements - but you can take a risk and try to grab more of the computer data either by staying and fighting the reinforcements for a few turns, or just by spreading your team out more in the early stages of the mission.

Although obviously this isn't that different from the Abduction missions or the Cleaner Intel Hub mission, I personally feel it still makes a nice change of pace from the standard crash site / elimination missions, so hopefully everyone else enjoys them too!

Translation part deux

The other big feature we've been working on is still the translation, which has sucked away a lot of our time and delayed pretty much everything else we've been working on. Frustratingly, it's still not done - although we're a lot closer than we were last month.

I wrote out several long paragraphs of explanation here in my previous draft of this post, but honestly I won't bore you with the details. There's just a lot of work to be done to set up support across a variety of different languages (including non-Latin languages like Russian or Chinese and Japanese), and this is a big and complex game with lots of text in it. Lots of text needs to be loaded or displayed differently in very specific circumstances, so there's been a lot of unpleasant surprises.

We're hoping we'll be done with our end of the translation work next week, but ultimately it's difficult to know what further problems we'll encounter.

Other Work

We have done a few other things though. I've spent a bit of time this past month adding more 'character conversations' to the game, which are a nice way to sprinkle a little more flavour into the game beyond the research text. I think they're a nice addition in terms of immersion.

We changed Combat Shields back to working like they did in X1 based on all the player feedback we got on the topic. There's also been quite a lot of bugfixes and small UI updates on the strategy layer too, which are collectively useful but there's nothing individually worth picking out.

That's everything for this update - see you next time!

May 2, 2023

April Steam Update

The Darkside Detective - Amber [Spooky Doorway]

Fixed the following bugs:

Black screen on Baits Motel
No Transition In Between Screens
if you give emily the milk out of order, the candy shop is closed and you cannot add floss to fountain, breaking case
Dialogue not refreshing correctly
Achievements not triggering reliably
load music carries into cases
Tape hotspot on table in cave in Loch Mess remains after picking up tape
Unity splash screen at the start
Case summary for Tomb Alone is cut short
Resizing issues going in and out of Windowed Mode
Issue clicking through Item dialogue while your Cursor is still on the Item
Various visual and SFX glitches being caused by Save/Load
You can interact with the Case 1 Minigame when Paused
You can't click on McQueen for their usual dialogue when in the Shooting Range Screen
You can interact with the Minigame when clicking through dialogue in the Case 4 Water Pipe Minigame
You can interact with the final Minigame (Tinfoil Hat) of Case 5 while Paused
You can interact with the Minigame when clicking through dialogue in the Case 5 Computer Minigame
There are 2 Screens McQueen will still have Shoes on after the point he takes them off
You can't click on McQueen for his usual dialogue when in the Spooky Doorway Screen in Case 8
Can't click on McQueen for dialogue on one of the Screens in Case 2
The End of Case Music doesn't loop in Case 3
McQueen's Head does some weird quick movement in Case 4
The Corridor Hotspot in Holding Cell One not low enough in Case 4
You can interact with the Wire Minigame while the Game is Paused at the Carpark Screen in Case 4
Issue when holding down the Mouse to light up all the Arrows at once on the Computer Minigame in Case 5
SFX Issue after making the Tinfoil Hat in Case 5
Layering issue with the Lockpick Minigame in Case 6
You can't click on McQueen when looking in the Dumpster in Case 6
McQueen's Hotspot doesn't adjust when he is using the Stilts in Case 6
You can't click on McQueen on any of the outside Graveyard Screens when he is disguised as a Zombie
There is no Notebook on the Screen during the Final Minigame of Case 6
You can sometimes get 2 Glyphs to go onto the same section of the Life Ring on the Final Minigame of Case 6
Using the Mouse to control the Zombie Munch Arcade Game in Case 7 can feel really bad and unresponsive a lot of the time.
The Zombie Munch Results Screen can get in the way of the Notebook in Case 7
Faith Invaders issue in Case 7
Cursor will stay Greyed out if you Pause during the Faith Invaders and Zombie Munch Arcade Games in Case 7
You can interact with the Faith Invaders and Zombie Munch Arcade Games in Case 7 when Paused
Another small issue with the Faith Invaders Arcade Game
2 small issues with the Jump Rope in the Toy Store Screen in Case 7
One of the Vent Hotspots takes you to the wrong part of the Vent in Case 7
The Loading Screen doesn't resize to Windowed mode like everything else does
Another issue with not hearing the traffic SFX on the Carpark Screen in Case 7
Issue if you Quit Game while in the Space Cutscene in Case 9
The Cursor disappears for a second or two when clicking on the Used Circuit Breaker in Case 9
Strange behaviour on the How To Play Menu after completing Case 9
Shooting Range Gremlin Gunfire Audio kept looping even when they weren't shooting and even when they were knocked out
The "White Board" Hotspot should be "Whiteboard" on the first Screen of Case 6
Issue with the Electricity and the 2 Green Lights for a brief second when you enter the Electricity Minigame in Case 2
Possible tweak to the Computer Puzzle in Case 2
You can make the Train SFX carry over to other Screens on the Darkside in Case 3
Delay before the Cursor appears again after progressing the dialogue you get after dropping the Vent on McKing's Car in Case 4
SFX Issue when you enter Nigel's Cave in Case 5
On rare instances the Screen can sometimes be half way too high
Wrong sound plays when going through one of the Church Doors in Case 6
Weird Head movement in the Zombie Munch Arcade Game in Case 7
Cursor doesn't stay Greyed out if you replay the Faith Invaders Minigame
Opening the Pause Menu or Clicking on the Quit Button will start the Zombie Munch Minigame
If you complete the Zombie Munch game while one of the people are Blue then they will be Blue briefly if you Replay in Case 7
Using the D-Pad on Controller highlights the Notebook
Minor adjustment to the Waitress Hotspot in Case 9
McQueen's Hotspot is mostly unclickable on the Case 6 Mafia Car Screen
Issue when opening the Options Menu when Dialogue is on the Screen
You can bring up the Pause Menu in the Quit Game Menu via the Main Menu and get a little blocked

May 2, 2023

Dev Diary #7: Upgrades and Customizing your Campaign

The Lamplighters League - Pdx_Tauriel

Hello again! By now I hope you’re starting to get a sense of what The Lamplighters League is all about… You’ve heard about some of the Agents you’ll recruit and send on missions. You’ve learned about Real-time infiltration and takedowns. You’ve read about the Banished Court and their otherworldly monsters, as well as the tools and mechanics you’ll use to fight them.

This is all part of the core experience, and your choices about what Agents you recruit and which ones you choose to upgrade are at the core of how you grow and shape your campaign with your time and investment.

However, all this is just a baseline, the first coat of paint on a set of miniatures you’re building for your adventure. Yet to come are the fine details, the metallic paint and drybrushing… additional choices and systems that make your campaign different each time. These options let you focus on the different strengths of your agent and help you build your own playstyle… And maybe, just maybe you’ll give your agents new capabilities you never expected.

Hi, I’m Patrick Lipo, Lead Designer on The Lamplighters League and with me again is Senior Designer and combat master Campbell Tran. We’re here to talk about the advancement arcs you’ll experience over the course of your search for The Tower at the End of the World.

Loading out with The Supplier

Let’s start simply… Loot! In addition to the Consumables you can bring on your missions and collect in the field, you may also gain pieces of Equipment as rewards for missions… including armor and special mods for your weapons.

These will increase your combat survivability, but can also enhance your chosen playstyle, whether it is a Speed Suit to give you higher mobility or a Power Talisman for added crit damage. You may even acquire gear during your runs on specific Houses, from fireproof Strum Garments to a poison-inflicting Nicastro Talisman… both of these will come in handy if you face off against a Strum Infernal who wields fire and is weak to Toxic attacks…

Still, there are times where you need items now and you can’t wait to find a mission that will award you what you need. Lucky for you, you’ll have some friends in your corner.

One of the first companions you’ll meet in the course of the story is Captain Nicky Konstantaras, Locke’s personal pilot. His trusty seaplane is a vital lifeline that delivers you to the remotest corners of the globe… and can transport a variety of items back to the hideout.

A skilled smuggler and purveyor of goods, he brings in equipment from locations far and wide. If you give him supplies and he can use them to barter for items and equipment from his sources. This starts with handy items like sterile Bandages and Molotovs, but with the help of other allies in the hideout he can eventually acquire tougher armors, military explosives, unique healing concoctions, and special weapon mods.

He’s basically a one-stop shop that lets you shore up any areas where your capabilities might be lacking. Having trouble with the stress that House Nicastro dishes out against you? Get yourself some Stress Remedies to avoid breaking during your mission. Is Fedir’s movement not fast enough for your needs? Get him a Speed Suit. Gear up!

Refining Your Team with the Help of Allies

As the campaign progresses, you will have the opportunity to send extra agents on Search Expeditions to track down new Agents to recruit… but sometimes you will instead locate a new Ally, a non-combatant who (if you can deliver them from the clutches of the Banished Court) will offer support back at the Hideout.

For example, take the Weaponsmith, Danys Belfort. An ingenious inventor with a knack for blending mechanical and alchemical processes, he can make potent use of Aether, a mysterious substance that you can acquire during your team's excursions. Danys and other allies can work this material into useful perks for the League. These upgrades can affect all Agents in your team, and allow you to refine your playstyle: take advantage of your team’s high number of attacks by adding armor shredding, enhance their melee combat capabilities... the more Aether you apply, the more they can create.

Your Allies can also craft Accessories, unique mystical items that you can equip on your Agents to even more potent effect such as the Bombadier’s Brace, a Weaponsmith invention which lets you toss grenades and other offensive items without expending AP. Or keep an Agent flush with ammo with the regenerating capabilities of the Endless Bandolier.

Danys is only one of the Allies you can rescue. The Cartomancer, Madame Mei, is another. A scholar of The Undrawn Hand, Madame Mei will prove instrumental in the effective use of the Lamplighters' most powerful weapon.

By funneling Aether into the Cartomancer's upgrade tree, you can increase the number of cards you will gain, expand the size of your Agents' Tableaus, and improve the variety of cards that you have access to. Madame Mei can also improve the League's mastery of Stress —both resisting its effects, and inflicting it on others.

The Undrawn Hand, or This is Not a Card Game

So to recap, every one of your characters has their own suite of abilities and their own upgrade path. You can also unlock perks and equip gear and consumables from your allies and Captain Nicky. Now, beyond all that you have The Undrawn Hand, your ace in the hole for fine-tuning how you’ll take on the Court.

The Undrawn Hand is a deck of cards that has the uncanny ability to change a person’s fate. It is the signature relic of the Lamplighters, filled with cards that look blank when drawn but show themselves for Lamplighters that tempt fate in service of the fight against evil. With it, you will create builds unique to your friends playing Lamplighters, with opportunities to unlock the most potent of combinations.

If it needed to be said, this is still a classic turn-based tactical game with movement and combat mechanics in the style that you are familiar with. Here’s how the Undrawn Hand comes into play:

When you complete a mission, you will return with new blank cards: some are acquired in the field, and some are granted as perks from the Cartomancer’s upgrades. These cards will reveal their contents to you once they are drawn, after which it’s up to you to choose how to play them on the Tableaus of the Agents who were present in the mission.

These cards have unique properties, rarity and power level, and you can play them (or not play them!) as you will. Some provide special abilities, such as The Shieldmaiden, which allows an agent to target an ally and give them a temporary resistance to damage. Others can fill gaps in an Agent's capabilities. The Rogue, for example, can grant a holdout pistol to any Agent—even a melee character like Ingrid. Cards can grant passive perks as well. See The Changeling, which grants its wielder Invisibility whenever they complete a Sprint movement, or The Sadist, which reduces its Agent's Stress whenever they make an enemy suffer a Stress Break. There are even some Devil’s Bargains in there, such as The Reaper, which heals its wielder on each enemy kill, but also ticks down their health slightly on each turn.

These all feed into playstyles, where you can make your version of Eddie or Celestine your own. Place The Leech on an agent that outputs a lot of attacks in a turn like Eddie, and its ability to inflict bleeding and heal you for each attack will seem that much more enticing. Tired of waiting for your favorite ability's cooldown to elapse? Drop in The Sage to reduce cooldowns on crit (and if you happen to have an Assassination Talisman Weapon Mod to equip, you can pump up your crit chance for an added benefit!)

These cards remain on your Agents’ Tableaus for the duration of the campaign, providing their active or passive effects consistently until overwritten or replaced. Cards can increase in level and potency if you manage to play a duplicate of the same card on top of it, or you can play a new card on top of it, removing the previous one for a payout of Ink. Ink is another mystical currency that can be accumulated from discards and other sources, which can then be used to upgrade cards you already have on your Tableaus.

You can raise your Agent’s card to as high as Level 5, but it can be difficult to build your cards to that level of power! It can take luck, or a lot of focus and a lot of Ink and enhancements from the Cartomancer to get up there. It’ll be even harder to reach those high levels with the rarer cards.

You’ll find that adapting your strategy to the opportunities that present themselves through the Undrawn Hand can lead to unique and unexpected experiences… Plus, when a mission goes south and you think you’re in trouble, often an unexpected combination of Undrawn Hand abilities can get you out. Remember that when a horde of Tidespawn try to close with you, and you realize that combining The Salamander and The Weaver lets you lay down areas of fire and let them burn as you slow them in their tracks.

Stress Breaks and Breaking Cards

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, though! Remember a couple of weeks ago when you were introduced to Stress Breaks? When it happens to an enemy it can be cause for celebration, but when your own Agents break there is a special effect that you should keep in mind.

In these cases your Agent will be dealt a Breaking Card at the end of the mission. A Breaking Card applies a negative effect on your character that lingers as long as it remains on the Agent’s Tableau. Perhaps your Crit Chance is 0 because you drew The Misfortunate. Maybe you gain extra stress if you are attacked while in cover, thanks to The Highwayman.

A Breaking Card is played on that Agent’s Tableau, and it may even cover one of your good cards, negating its effect! When this happens, you’ll have a couple of choices... You can take the Agent out of mission rotation for a couple weeks and let them rest (the Break will disappear after a couple of weeks). Or, if you’d like, you can play through that limitation… adjust your playstyle and adapt! If you complete a mission successfully with a Breaking Card, you will complete a Breakthrough, removing the offending card and granting you a windfall of Ink you can use to upgrade other cards. The choice is yours.

Plot your Path, but Adapt to the Unexpected

There you have it. With equipment, Allies and the Supplier, you’ll have a number of ways to lay out, plan and advance the campaign in the directions you choose. You can take your destiny in your hands. However, you must heed the voice of fate from the Undrawn Hand… There will be times when you must adapt to new situations as well as times when unexpected luck presents you with an advantage you did not expect. It is in those moments that we hope you will be surprised and delighted by experiences in The Lamplighters League… Each session can be very different from the last, even if you start from the same place. Enjoy.

Want to keep the conversation going? People in our alternate take on the 1930s communicated via letters, telegrams and psychic visions, but most of you only have access to two out of the three, so you can drop by the Forum or the Discord to talk to Harebrained Schemes developers and other fans about The Lamplighters League. The bravest among you may even venture to follow us on Twitter.

Patrick Lipo
Lead Designer

Discord: Patrick#5015
Paradox Forum: PatrickLipo

Campbell Tran
Senior Designer

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1167750/The_Lamplighters_League/