May 24, 2024

Milestone 4.0.0 PROTOTYPE released! (Experimental)

Xenonauts 2 - Goldhawk

We've now released the first "prototype" build for Milestone 4 on our Experimental branch (instructions on how to access it here).

Please be aware this is a rough and potentially unstable build that does not contain the full Milestone 4 content (as we're still working on some of it), and it mostly exists so we can start tracking down bugs and get feedback on problem areas in the game balance. If you want a fun and polished gameplay experience you're better off waiting until the final Stable release of Milestone 4 on the standard Steam branches!

If you are interested in testing this version, we've added a new bug reporter tool which you can access by pressing F11 - this automatically creates a zip file containing the game logs and recent saves so you can easily attach it to a bug report, ensuring we always have all the information we need.

Summary of Changes:

This update has added content to the end of the campaign (which we're still working on), and made a number of improvements to usability and game balance based on player feedback from Milestone 3.

As you can see from the changelog below, there's been quite a few changes - and I'm in the process of testing and revising the new game balance. Please let us know what you think so far - in general money should be more plentiful, and I think things should feel smoother and better balanced up until when Abductors start spawning. The strategy layer has had more testing than the tactical combat so far so please let us know about any difficulty spikes you encounter.

We've created dedicated feedback threads for the game balance, and also for stupid AI behaviour. If you see the AI doing any clearly suboptimal moves, please post a save file and a quick description of the issue in that thread so we can adjust it to behave better.

New Gameplay Content:

Harvester UFOs now appear at the end of the campaign. These are large and heavily-armoured transport UFOs with two different interior layouts and sizeable crews, but contains significant amounts of Alloys and Alenium. Only the Battleship (due in Milestone 5) is larger and more powerful!
Androns have been re-introduced into the game with new models and animations. These formidable robotic alien soldiers have very high armour but relatively low HP, and appear as support units for Wraiths on Terror missions and inside larger UFOs.
The Colossus Battlesuit is now available for the player to build. This is unlocked from the Harvester, and provides the highest Armour level in the game as well as a Strength boost and the ability to walk through walls. However, it has several disadvantages - it cannot use modules, is limited to carrying only machineguns, and has shorter sight ranges compared to other armours. It is therefore very powerful in an assault role, but needs to be accompanied by soldiers with different equipment that can make up for its shortcomings.
At present this armour is relatively similar to the Predator from the first Xenonauts (except it has shorter sight range, rather than a narrower vision cone), and we'll be considering how we can make it more distinct - community suggestions on this topic are welcome!
We've added a large number of new maps, including:
- 30 large Crashsite maps across all biomes that will be used the new Harvester UFO
- 5 new Alien Base maps (2 small, 3 medium)
- 1 new map for the Cleaner Base mission
- 1 new map for the Cleaner Data Raid missions
We're testing a new escort UFO called the Defender which is similar in strength to the Interceptor UFO, but behaves differently as it is designed to engage at long range. We're currently unsure if we're going to keep it or not, so let us know what you think of it.
Added Heavy Mentarch, Heavy Servitor, Heavy Cyberdrone, and Reaper Alpha variants of existing units to the later stages of the campaign. These have improved stats. but only the Reaper Alpha currently has a unique model (we're working on the others).
Added a new "Sentinel Module" that soldiers can equip (unlocked from Harvesters), which gives them 180-degree vision cones.
Added the Reinforced Shield, which is the final upgrade for the Combat Shield and Assault Shield.
Added the Energy Knife weapon, which is an upgraded version of the Combat Knife (unlocked from Alien Electronics).
Added new Corpse Analysis engineering projects for the Servitor and Andron enemies.

Visual / Audio Updates:

The Probe UFO now has unique artwork both in the air combat and on the associated Research projects.
The unarmoured Sectons that appear in the first mission (and subsequently inside UFOs) have been retextured.
Wraith noncombatants have been retextured, and now have a basic jumpsuit uniform rather than being naked.
The command room in the ATLAS Base mission has been visually improved, with a proper command table and wall screens that better resemble those on the main menu artwork.
Added new models for the human Fusion Shotgun and Fusion Sniper Rifle weapons.
Added art for the Nanofabrication research project.
Added improved weapon silhouettes for ballistic / accelerated weapons (these are used in the little minitabs at the top of the tactical UI).
Added new art for the Servitor wreckage item.
Abduction tubes now play the teleport animation and teleport sound when they disappear midway through an Abduction mission due to the timer expiring.
Added a number of new sounds to the game:
- Complete refresh of the existing strategy UI sounds
- Added pick up / drop sounds for different item types that are used when you are moving items around in soldier inventories, or switching weapons in the tactical combat
- Added heal sounds for when various healing items are used (medikit, automed unit, servitor auto-heal ray)
- Added sounds for a melee weapon miss

Balance Changes - Strategy:

The invasion has been tweaked so that the player needs to run fewer missions in the first couple of months of the campaign. The appearance of Scout UFOs and Destroyer UFOs has been moved forward slightly, and the Cleaner storyline now takes a bit longer to resolve (over the same number of missions). This means the time spent using each equipment tech tier is more even, rather than having lots of missions fighting with the Warden and Accelerated weapons and then being rushed through the later equipment tiers.
Funding has been rebalanced so now 50% of your funding is modified by the Panic score in local regions, and shooting down UFOs now grants a small global Panic reduction in addition to the larger local Panic reduction. This restores the link between managing Panic levels and your funding, but ensures the player is not obliged to immediately rush interceptor coverage across the whole globe on higher difficulty settings.
Two additional plot objectives added to the campaign: capture an alien officer, and capture an alien leader. These unlock research projects that advance the plot and raise funding when complete.
Aircraft now take longer to build and are more expensive, and have reduced fuel range on the Geoscape. However, their equipment is cheaper (see below) and they now have a sell price of 50% of their construction cost when sold.
Aircraft equipment is no longer individually constructed in the workshop. Starting equipment and weapons are unlimited quantity, and these can be globally upgraded to higher tiers via engineering projects.
You no longer pay upkeep costs on aircraft that are still under construction, or queued in the engineering project list.
Air Combat - we've tweaked the stats of several UFOs downwards to account for the fact they appear a little earlier in the game. We've also fixed two bugs that will change the balance of the air combat:
- The difficulty modifier (set on the Campaign Settings) was previously broken, but will now correctly increase / decrease the damage inflicted by UFO weapons.
- Autoresolved air combat was previously still using the UFO HP / Armour modifiers based on the number of interceptors used (making UFOs easier if you had 1 plane, and harder if you had 3).

Gameplay Changes - Strategy:

We've added a new "bug reporter" tool which you can access by pressing F11. This will create a .zip file which contains all recent logs and saves, and can easily be attached to any bug report on the Discord or our forums to ensure we have all the information we need (it'll also prompt you about this after a crash).
Several updates to make soldier planned loadouts on the Soldier Equip screen (i.e. the loadouts of soldiers that aren't in the dropship) more intuitive and useful:
- A pop-up message is now generated if you assign new soldiers to the dropship and the base stores does not have enough items to fill their planned loadout (which leads to soldiers not having some items equipped).
- Item quantities on the Soldier Equip screen now display as "X / Y" where X is the number currently in the base stores, and Y is the total number you own (including any equipped on your soldiers).
- You can now drag items into planned loadouts even if the base stores contains 0 of those items.
If players attempt a second mission without returning to base, equipment is now re-issued to all surviving soldiers in the squad in a round robin method (using everything recovered from the mission site). Previously the first soldier would take all items set in their loadout, then the second, etc - which would lead to issues where there weren't enough ammo magazines for later soldiers to load their weapons, while the first soldier had several extra in their belt.
The generic soldier icons on the dropship soldier arrangement screen have now been replaced by soldier role icons, which should make it much easier to tell your soldiers apart.
Injured soldiers and wounded soldiers now use different colours in the Soldier Equip screen, making the two states easier to distinguish between.
Added the building tooltip to the Main Base screen building list.
After completing a Corpse Analysis engineering project which unlocks further engineering projects, the popup now offers to take you to the Engineering screen rather than the Research screen.
Added a black background to the strategy UI that will be revealed if people play on ultra-ultra-widescreen monitors (i.e. anything more than 21:9 aspect ratio).
The "Choose Aircraft Name" panel now has a cancel button, and can be closed by pressing Esc.
Updated the tooltip on the Select Soldier button shown on empty dropship slots on Soldier Equip screen.
Updated the tooltip on button confirming aircraft relocation.
Air Combat - the first interceptor is now automatically selected when you begin a battle.
Air Combat - the rotation arc for UFO weapons that are capable of rotating is now displayed.
Air Combat - hovering over either Evasive Roll button now displays a "ghost" plane that shows where the interceptor will end up.
Air Combat - different UFOs / aircraft may now have different cooldowns for evasive roll.
Air Combat - the sizes of UFOs in the air combat has been updated to improve their relative scale is correct.
Air Combat - this now supports weapons that can shoot down missiles

Bugfixes - Strategy:

Fixed the air combat maps sometimes containing aircraft deployment regions that don't disappear when the battle begins.
Fixed the flicker on the Soldier Equip screen that would occur in the bottom left list before you access the screen for the first time.
The Guardian "Heavy Armour" module now correctly remembers whether it was enabled or disabled when changing armour (like the heavy armour modules for other armours do).
Fixed the soldier HP bar that is shown on hover on the Dropship soldier arrangement screen showing inconsistent values when you switch between soldiers.
Fixed an issue where redirecting an aircraft in flight would not spawn the multi-select box if you clicked a target in close proximity to another possible target.
Aircraft icon no longer disappears if aircraft circumnavigates the map more than once in a single direction
Fixed wounded soldiers in the dropship visually having no armour while travelling back to base.
Fixed the mission information UI incorrectly displaying some dummy information if you have built a Quantum Array.
Fixed clicking-and-holding to move map while in Geoscape base construction mode acting placing the base when you release the mouse.
Fixed the Geoscape nightshadow not extending all the way to the bottom of the map.
Destroyed Xenonaut bases on the Geoscape no longer prevent the player building another base nearby.
Fixed there being spots in the Soldier list where the mouse scrollwheel would not allow you to scroll the list.
Fixed the inverted keybinds when scrolling through different aircraft on the Aircraft screen.
Fixed a bug where the Aircraft screen topbar would be hidden if you built a new base and then went directly to the Aircraft screen.
Fixed pressing Esc on the Transfer Items screen not returning to the Geoscape like it does on other strategy UI screens.
Fixed the Soldier Equip screen starting the the Equipment tab selected in the Armory, not the Weapons tab.
Fixed custom loadout names not having a maximum length (now limited to 20 characters).
Fixed a few strings that were not being correctly translated.
Fixed incorrect proportions on Canadian flag.

Balance Changes - Tactical Combat:

Melee weapon hit chances no longer 100% by default, and are now affected by Reflexes. The base accuracy of melee weapons is about 60%, and this is increased or decreased based on the difference between the attacker and defender's Reflexes (the Accuracy stat is not a factor in the calculation). This means attacking inanimate objects always has a 100% hit chance.
Most weapons now have an increased hit chance at very short range, as weapons now gain more of their accuracy from proximity rather than soldier Accuracy. Generally the hit chance is about +10% higher at point blank than it was previously, which should make burst fire more effective.
- Rifle / LMG - increased short range bonus by 0.5% per tile for 20 tiles, decreased Accuracy multiplier by 5% on each fire mode (-3% hit chance at 60% Accuracy)
- Shotgun - range reduced from 10 tiles to 9 tiles, short range bonus increased from 6.25% per tile to 7.5% per tile (makes it slightly more effective within 5 tiles, slightly less effective beyond 5 tiles - but relatively minor overall)
- Pistol - short range bonus increased from 2.25% to 3% over 12 tiles, and accuracy multuplier reduced by 5%
- Sniper - these weapons are unaffected.
Stunned Xenonaut soldiers equipped with an Automed Unit will now automatically revive themselves when it triggers at end of turn.
MARS and other robotic units no longer suffer Accuracy reduction due to injury.
VIPs no longer gain flares in night missions.
Various updates made to the alien invasion:
- The aliens in each UFOs / ground missions have been updated to improve consistency. There are now three main alien races (Psyons, Sebillians, Wraiths) with different supporting units for each species - although in Alien Base missions you can encounter enemies of any type.
- Abduction misisons now contain Cleaners as well as aliens until the Cleaner HQ is destroyed. The number of aliens is reduced if Cleaners are present, but overall the missions get slightly easier once the Cleaner HQ is destroyed.
- The aliens in the Cleaner HQ mission no longer have Plasma weapons unless it's past day 120, as this was unlocking the corresponding tech earlier than expected.
Various updates made to specific weapons:
- LMGs no longer lose accuracy after the soldier has moved for the first time each turn
- Reduced the weight of the knife so it is no longer heavier than the pistol.
- Reduced the suppression on the Stun Gun from 23 to 15
Various updates made to specific aliens:
- Wraith "Cloaking Field" ability now reduces the shooter's Accuracy, rather than inflicting a flat penalty on overall Hit Chance, and Hit Chance from close range bonus is not affected. This change means that weapons with a naturally low hit chance (e.g. burst fire weapons) are no longer affected much worse than high-accuracy weapons, and the player can still negate the effect by getting closer to the Wraith.
- Psyon Officers and Psyon Leaders are now equipped with a Psi-Amp weapon, which acts like a Plasma Pistol Pistol but completely ignores armour (which also means it does not damage armour). We'll likely expand this in Milestone 5 so Bravery or Morale offer some kind of defence against it.
Various updates made to specific missions, generally to improve the rewards offered or make time limits a bit less punishing:
- Alien Base missions are now treated as night missions.
- All Abduction missions now have a base duration of 7 turns (first mission previously had 6, all others had 8)
- Eliminate VIP missions now have 2 turns longer before enemy reinforcements arrive, and they now give a $200k rewards for victory.
- VIP Extraction missions now have 1 turn longer before enemy reinforcements arrive, and have 1 fewer enemy. They also now give a $200k reward for victory.
- The soldiers you are rescuing in the Rescue Soldier missions are now each also carrying a Briefcase of Money (value: $50,000).
- Cleaner Base now awards 50 Alloys and 50 Alenium on completion.

Gameplay Changes - Tactical Combat:

The Toggle Roof button is now functional and the visual behaviour of roofs has changed. Now roofs are shown by default, and will hide automatically when a soldier gains vision over any tile inside the building (previously roofs would always be hidden if you had the camera at level 1). After clicking the Toggle Roof button, the roof visibility will be forced on.
Moved the civilian / local forces turn to be before the alien turn, which means it's now possible for the local forces to save your troops from being killed by aliens.
Cover objects with walkable floor tiles on top (shipping containers, caravans, buses, etc) are now linked in terms of destruction, which means destroying the object will remove the walkable tiles. Units stood on these tiles will fall to the ground.
Updated the camera behaviour when enemy reinforcements arrive - it now scrolls through any newly spawned enemy units.
Updated the camera behaviour at end of turn when bleeding wounds, regeneration or the Automed Unit is being used - the camera will now scroll through all affected units in turn and show any healing or damage effects.
Updated the way mouse targeting works when units are on top of objects that you cannot go inside (e.g. cliffs, shipping containers) so that you don't have to move the camera up to their level to click on them.
Soldiers marked as "done" for the turn in the tactical combat now have a green tick below their minitab
Added a kill count for each soldier on the post-mission debrief screen (each kill shown as an alien skull)
The Valkyrie dropship now has side doors which automatically open as units pass through them (this does not cost TU). As they have windows, they do not block vision - but they do stop alien reaction fire hitting soldiers still inside the dropship!
Climbing a ladder now plays footstep sounds.
Melee attacks now occur more quickly after the player clicks the attack button.
Retextured all the various roller doors in the game, and removed all the static roller doors in the Western Town and replaced them with roller doors that can be opened.
Stopped open Xenonaut Base / ATLAS Base blast doors triggering the shut door icon, which blocks other click commands.
Fixed z-fighting issues with some of the ATLAS base corridor tiles and the fog of war shader.
Fixed some alignment issues for the wall corner tiles in the Xenonaut Base / ATLAS Base map
Sped up Mentarch firing animation.
Optimised the cabbage fields in the Farm maps.

Bugfixes - Tactical Combat:

Fixed the Western Town restaurant interior walls appearing black on some systems.
Fixed the alien base doors sometimes appearing open / shut when they are not.
Fixed an issue where the you would get vision into the UFO at the start of the turn if the door had started open, even though it then automatically closed itself.
Fixed the adjacent cover system not correctly disallowing other adjacent cover of similar stopping value.
Fixed unconscious civilians / local forces being treated as dead in the mission debrief.
Fixed unconscious soldiers with bleeding wounds not taking bleed damage.
Fixed being able to heal alien units (this allowed players to get into a few situations that could allow crashes).
Prevented the player from healing an unconscious unit if there is another unit stood on their tile, as that would lead to two units occupying the same tile.
Fixed another example of soldiers being able to occupy the same tile and get stuck inside each other.
Fixed an AI issue with Reapers preventing them from attacking in some circumstances.
Wraith active camo ability is no longer reset to being active when loading a saved game.
Secton Psionic Triangulation glowing eyes can no longer be seen in the shroud in some circumstances.
Secton Psionic triangulation no longer incorrectly triggers off other Sectons in some circumstances.
Fixed Psyon Mesmerize incorrectly triggering if a shot misses, hits an explosive object and kills the Psyon.
Fixed some mission types not generating autosaves on the first turn.
Fixed an AI hang that could occur when an alien unit capable of crushing walls encounters a unit on the other side of the wall
Fixed an issue where zooming in / out using the keyboard keys could be too fast if you held down the keys.
Fixed some ladders on some of the new Polar maps not being climbable.
Fixed the unpathable cliffs on the Polar extraction / ambush maps.
Fixed some misaligned road tiles in one of the Cleaner Data Raid missions.
Fixed several issues with the Ambush mission trucks having incorrect loot amounts in certain maps.
Fixed the large 4x2 oiltank not being correctly removed when destroyed.
Fixed being able to see dead bodies inside the crashed UFO in the shroud before the UFO itself becomes visible.
Fixed the abduction tubes on Abduction missions being visible in the shroud.
Fixed TU reserve mode being left enabled on a weapon after a panicking soldier drops it
Fixed TU reserve mode being visually disabled after enemy overwatch occurs
Fixed an issue where a teleporter doesn't trigger due to enemy reaction fire occuring as a unit steps onto a teleporter, but the camera still moved up to the higher level as if it had.
Fixed an issue where recovering the body of a dead soldier wouldn't also recover the equipped armour on that body (this only applies on lower difficulty settings where armour is not destroyed on death).
Fixed the Cleaner reinforcements coming one turn too early for the linked conversation on the Cleaner Data Raid missions.
Fixed an issue where the three "On Mission" soldiers would get permanently stuck in the dropship after returning to base if you flew to a Soldier Extraction mission site, then aborted the mission and returned to base.
Fixed the camera panning from the dropship objective to the spawn position of your squad on VIP extraction missions also incorrectly happening after loading a save game.
Fixed instances where units suffering TU penalties due to insufficient carrying capacity would also have their weapon TU fire costs reduced.
Fixed pressing Esc while hovering over an enemy in tactical combat not opening the game menu.
Fixed missions incorrectly ending immediately when spawned enemies still remain alive (e.g. Reapers spawned from Zombies).
Fixed some flickering on the Cruiser UFO's hull dropshadow.