Oct 18, 2023

Xenonauts 2 - Goldhawk

This update is also only accessible by switching to our Experimental branches (instructions on how to do so here) - although note they have slower load times and worse performance than normal builds due to the extra logging they contain!

Milestone 2 has now been released onto our Experimental branches for testing. This is a significant update that includes new content, new features, and many usability improvements and bugfixes - but we're awaiting several pieces of updated art / some new research text / additional maps, and the game balance may be worse than Milestone 1 right now!

Community feedback is important in making sure this build is stable, balanced and suitably polished when we release it onto the default Steam branches - so please let us know about any thoughts you have on the new mechanics, or about any gameplay issues you encounter!

Key Improvements:

Early Game Rework:

The opening phase of the game has been expanded to increase the role of the Cleaners, and you now spend a bit more time battling them before the aliens begin to show up in force. This increaes the playable campaign duration from 180 days to 200 days.
The new Probe UFO appears in the very early stages of the game. This is unmanned and does not create crash sites, but provides some early-game air combat practice and some research unlocks. As the invasion progresses it finds a new role as an early-game escort UFO that is eventually replaced by the Fighter UFO.
The game story has been reworked to fit the new opening phase (which means it's worth replaying the tutorial). The player character is now a silent protagonist, and we've introduced a new character in the early game called The General that uses the previous Commander portrait.
We've added several entirely new types of tactical mission to the game - Rescue Soldiers, Convoy Ambush, and Rescue VIP. We've also removed the standalone Cleaner Intel Hub and Cleaner Cell missions from Milestone 1 and turned them into generic Data Raid and Eliminate VIP missions that you may (or may not) encounter as part of the Cleaner activity on the Geoscape.

Aircraft Weight System:

Interceptors in Xenonauts 2 no longer have fixed weapon slots that can only take particular weapon types. Instead, we've introduced a more flexible system where they have several slots that can contain various different types of weapon or equipment. However, the aircraft now has an overall equipment weight limit that cannot be exceeded.

Heavy Armour Variants:

Each type of soldier armour in the game now has a "heavy" variant that can be enabled via a checkbox, which provides the wearer with improved protection at the cost of increased weight (and usually a small Accuracy reduction). This gives the player more choice when equipping their troops, particularly when using low-Strength soldiers. This system replaces the armour plate modules from Milestone 1.

New Maps:

The Dockyard and Jungle biomes have now been split apart, and we've created 5 new Crash Site maps for the Dockyard so we can support UFOs crashing in these regions.
We've also started creating additional map variants for the new map types. The opening mission (ATLAS Base Reclaim) has two entirely new maps, and we're working on additional variants for the Cleaner Intel Hub mission (now called the Data Raid mission).

Mod Management:

We now have a Mod Management panel accessible on the title screen, as we've completed the backend systems that allow the game to load and prioritise mods. We're therefore now at the point where it's technically possible to create mods for the game - but I wouldn't recommend trying it yet, because it's very complex and we're working on some tools that will make the process much easier.

Gameplay Changes:

Economy:

Money is generally a little tighter than before. It's now cheaper to build additional bases, but aircraft are more expensive - the idea is that the player shouldn't need a full squadron of 3 planes in a base until the midgame at the earliest!
Funding is no longer dependent on Panic level (unless the region is actually lost).
The starting base has one less Hangar and one less Angel interceptor.
Aircraft are more expensive to build, and you now have to pay for their equipment items indvidually.
Cost for constructing new bases has been reduced from $750k to $500k.
Soldier cost increased from $10k to $20k.
Upkeep on base structures and aircraft increased by 50%.
Upkeep costs for upgraded buildings (e.g. Alenium Generators) reduced to match those of their basic equivalent.

Alien Invasion:

Panic now falls by 10% of the current total in each region at the end of the month.
Shooting down a UFO now reduces Panic by -1, rather than -2.
The Cleaner Base no longer continually spawns Panic-raising anomalies on the Geoscape until destroyed. Instead, the Cleaners generate regular tactical missions on the Geoscape that will raise Panic if you do not complete them (these stop when the Cleaner Base is destroyed).
Most alien activity now occurs a couple of weeks later than it did in Milestone 1, as this makes space for the extra Cleaner missions. There's a couple of extra early-game research projects to fill this space.
The new Probe UFO is the first type of UFO to spawn. It is unmanned and so does not generate crash sites, and is weak enough that even a basic Angel can take it down relatively easily. Because the player only starts with one Angel and missiles / torpedoes now need to be researched, Scout UFOs are quite a lot more dangerous than they were in Milestone 1.

Air Combat:

Most weapon damage values have been changed to take into account the new slot system on the interceptors.
All aircraft equipment now has to be built individually for your aircraft, rather than being unlocked as a global upgrade.
Added two new equippable items for aircraft - Armour and Fuel Pods.
Missiles and Torpedoes are no longer starting items and need to be researched.
Updated the stats on various UFOs, and equipped some with new weapons. Certain UFOs now use a "hunter-killer missile" which is slow and can be dodged but contains enough fuel to loop back around and attempt to hit your aircraft a second time.
All UFOs now use a dynamic battlefield in the air combat, where it moves based on the position of the main UFO. This prevents them flying off the map entirely.
When an interceptor runs out of fuel and chooses to retreat from combat, it now does the updated Retreat action where it escapes after 3 seconds (rather than the old retreat action where they need to fly to the edge of the map).

Heavy Armour:

All soldier armours now have a "Heavy Armour" checkbox that increases the protection offered at the cost of additional weight and a small Accuracy reduction.
Defender Armour has been removed, as it is now the heavy variant of the starting Tactical Armour.
Armour Plate modules have been removed, as this new system makes them redundant.

Tech Tree:

Autopsies are no longer autocomplete missions, and can be researched after completing Xenobiology.
Completing an autopsy research unlocks "Corpse Analysis" engineering projects for that alien species. This consumes corpses to provide a 10% and eventually a 20% damage bonus against that type of alien.
Added a new research project called Aerial Warfare that unlocks missiles / torpedoes for your aircraft.
Added new artwork for Reaper Interrogation research project.

Weapons & Equipment:

Ammo loaded into weapons now has weight. We have therefore also reduced the weight of all weapons by roughly the weight of their default ammo clip.
Stun Baton and Combat Knife are now 3x1 items rather than 3x2.
Rebreather module added as a starting item. This makes units smoke immune.
Stun Baton and Stun Gun are now starting items.
Machineguns now require 51% TU to fire the 3-round burst, not 50%.
HEVY now uses %-based fire modes, like all other weapon types.
HEVY has been reduced in weight.
HEVY grenades no longer inflict reduced damage if they miss the target and detonate beyond the maximum range of the gun.
HEVY Smoke Rounds no longer destroy enemy armour.

Tactical Combat:

Crouching now provides a 10% Accuracy bonus.
Units have their Accuracy reduced by 0.25% for each 1% of missing Health. This also includes soldiers who are sent into battle not fully healed!
Increased all alien HP by 20% to counterbalance them appearing later and the corpse analysis projects. (this has now been hotfixed to be a tiered increase, with early-game aliens getting no HP increase, the midgame aliens getting 10% extra HP, and late game aliens getting the full 20% increase)
On Xenonaut Base Defence missions, the player is now given vision on all alien units after 10 turns.
Units will now automatically path to the intended location if using a melee weapon or placing C4 from more than one tile away.
Time Units costs for fire modes now have a minimum of 1 Time Unit, as hugely overloaded soldiers were able to fire their weapons an unlimited number of times.
Time Units are no longer refunded if an overweight soldier drops an item to reduce their TU penalty, as this permitted an exploit where units could use multiple 51%+ TU actions per turn. However, overweight TU penalties are only applied when you close the inventory screen so you're free to shuffle items about as long as the weight is at acceptable limits when you close the screen.
Fleeing units now drop their Secondary weapon in addition to their Primary.
Berserking will now always choose a random inanimate object as a target if no alien is nearby, and the soldier may recieve some bonus TU that allows them to fire more than normal if they berserk.
Grenades now always damage shields if the unit carring the shield is in the blast radius.
Shields will offer protection from grenade damage, but only if they're facing towards the tile where the grenade exploded.
Jetpack move costs have been increased slightly, which means soldiers will now only use the jetpack if they cannot walk the path instead.

Usability / Visual Changes:

Strategy:

The icon for the Skyhawk dropship has been updated so it doesn't look like it is flying backwards.
Mission briefings now accurately display the turn limits / reinforcement timers for timed missions, even when this value is modified by the difficulty setting.
The "Items Arrived" popup will now split the list by base if items simultaneously arrive at multiple bases.
The Damage value for weapons on their tooltip is now modified by the ammo loaded (e.g. the HEVY shows 0 damage if loaded with smoke rounds).
The equipment selection menus on the Aircraft screen have been updated so they size themselves dynamically, which means they can display more weapons without having issues.
Tactical Soldier Inventory:
You can now scroll through soldiers using the left / right arrows, or by pressing the number hotkeys.
Scrolling past a vehicle without an inventory (e.g. MARS) now simply skips past it, rather than closing the inventory screen.
Added a "Reset Item Moves" button that resets all item moves and refunds all TU spent.
Added a new line that shows the current TU of the soldier.
Improved the way items stack when dropped on the ground (usually by a dead combatant).

Tactical:

Move paths for jetpack-equipped soldiers now display properly.
Fixed various issues with the TU reserve system (which can be accessed by right-clicking the various weapon fire modes).
Combat Shields now play an appropriate impact sound if hit by enemy fire, and a destruction sound if destroyed. They also play a spark visuel effect if they absorb all the damage, rather than a blood splatter.
C4 now shows its blast radius once laid if you hover over the detonator, and will display a "Are you sure?" popup if you try to detonate it with a unit in the blast radius.
Using Tab or Next Soldier to cycle through your soldiers now works correctly with soldier number 10 (who was previously being placed last).
The combat camera zoom now switches between five preset distances, and the alt+scrollwheel zoom shortcut should now work correctly.
The 3D models of dropped items are now placed within the tile to look like they are laying on the ground. Weapons in the hands of dead bodies are now also hidden (as those weapons are being shown as an item on the ground).
Healing stun damage with a medikit now displays "Stun: -X" rather than "Stun: X", as some people thought the medikit was causing stun damage.
Fixed several visual issues with the Alenium Generator objects in the Xenonaut Base defence missions.

Bugfixes:

Strategy / General:

Fixed a cursor offset bug that could occur if you tried to switch Xenonauts 2 between multiple monitors with different screen resolutions.
Fixed various issues with the following achievements: First Contact, Counterfire, Unfriendly Fire, Welcome To Earth, Future Warfare.
Fixed various visual issues with the hair / jaw of certain soldiers and the collars of certain types of armour.
Removed the "do you want to save?" popup on quit if the player is playing Iron Man mode.
Fixed an incorrect error message when trying to build the Gauss Blaster without completing Accelerated Cannon first.
Fixed the visual highlight when hovering over the names of unassigned wounded soldiers.

Tactical Combat:

Fixed smoke and suppression damage incorrect passing through undamaged solid walls or closed doors.
Fixed Combat Shields not functioning correctly or displaying correctly if picked up off the ground.
Fixed the Secton glowing eyes that indicate Psionic Triangulation being active not triggering correctly.
Fixed aliens and humans being revealed if they are stunned when the player does not have line of sight on them.
Fixed dead soldiers sometimes surviving even when the player has a 0% survival chance.
Fixed moving items around the inventory incorrectly not deducting TU in some cases.
Fixed units being able to shoot themselves when using Ctrl+Shift to preview move & shoot actions.
Fixed various issues that would occur when you pick up and drop corpse items, as sometimes the game was not properly reflecting the new location of the body (both visually and mechanically).
Fixed units not playing their death animation correctly if they are stunned, then revived, then stunned / killed again.
Fixed fleeing units dropping their weapons but their 3D model not updating to show they are now unarmed.
Fixed revived units still visually holding the weapon they were carrying when they were stunned, despite them being unarmed and the gun being on the floor.
Fixed HEVY soldiers incorrectly using 1-handed weapon animations if they switch to a pistol and then back to the HEVY.
Fixed the 3D models of items on the ground not being removed if an explosion destroys those items.
Fixed a misleading error message about uncrouching.
Fixed blood puddles not correctly hiding when you changed camera level.
Fixed camera incorrectly snapping to an alien the player cannot see going through a teleporter.
Fixed an issue where an unloaded weapon would display 0/0 ammo, rather than 0/X.
Fixed melee weapons causing the target to play their injury sound twice.
Fixed the player gaining 50 Alenium simply by visiting an Alien Base and aborting the mission.
Fixed hitbox issues with the main door on some of the larger UFOs (from Observer up).
Fixed an issue with the Observer UFO sometimes having invisible terrain objects near its front door.
Fixed destroyed doors in the Alien Base maps still showing the open / close door icon.
Fixed the Electroshock Rifle having the incorrect silhouette in the minitabs at the top of the screen.
Fixed melee attacks not causing units to rotate to face the attacker.
Fixed AI units that are able to crush objects by walking through them absolutely trashing the interior of their UFO / base as they patrol around.