This update is mainly aimed at improving performance in some key areas, which should result in increased framerates and faster load times for most players.

NEW: improved average framerates on most systems
NEW: time taken to generate new level significantly reduced
MOD: darkened fog of war shadows
FIX: bug with log messages when destroying walls etc
FIX: scout drone not sorting in inventory

A few minor fixes:

FIX: bug with unintended motion of player direction indicator
FIX: wall tiles at the edge of the map made indestructible
FIX: added plural to log message when trying to push group of alien eggs
FIX: confusing log message when trying to use antipack to cure incorrect status
MOD: minor adjustment to responsivity when holding down movement keys

Apologies to those who bought or updated the game and tried to get past level 3 between 11pm on the 14th and 11am on the 15th (Pacific time), you would have been blocked by a message telling you this was the Demo version. This was due to a bug introduced in Beta 0.91, itself a hotfix for a minor problem with the Steam leaderboards. As of 11am Pacific Time on the 15th this bug has been fixed (but to be safe, check the version number on the splash screen and make sure you are not playing 0.91).

Beta 0.91

FIX: bug with leaderboard entries being made for zero kills/levels reached

Beta: 0.92

FIX: bug limiting the game to the first three levels (introduced in Beta 0.91)

Xenomarine is now at Beta! The game is now complete in terms of having all the content and features originally planned (as well as a whole lot that was not originally planned but was added on the way!).

It's not yet transitioning to full Steam release for three main reasons:

1) While the game is basically stable and all known bugs have been fixed, a further period of testing and player feedback is expected to reveal additional harder-to-find bugs
2) Similarly, during Beta further testing and player feedback is expected to lead to minor game difficulty and balance adjustments
3) Finally, during Beta, further Steam achievements will be added

So if you'd like to help shape the final product please do use this opportunity to give feedback - the best place for this is the discussions section right here on the Steam community.



Xenomarine Beta includes improved highscore stats, Steam leaderboards and some significant changes requested by players, such as a 'bestiary' and the ability to continue 'adventure mode' games without restarting the level. Here's a full list of changes:


IMPROVED MORGUE FILES:

NEW: description of how player died added to morguefile
NEW: number of drones/turrets hacked to morguefiles
NEW: enemy kills screen now shows detailed Xenobiology info
MOD: improved alien kills and general morguefile layout
FIX: some incorrect alien images on alien kills screen

BESTIARY

NEW: can now access all Xenobiology info learned in each run via special Xenobiology ('bestiary') screen (using 'x' key)

STEAM LEADERBOARDS

NEW: Steam leaderboards added for highest number of kills and highest level reached

BALANCE:

MOD: increase hit points for medium and heavy turrets
MOD: experience gain for destroying drones and turrets increased if unit is hostile
MOD: no experience gain when player controlled drone or turret is killed
MOD: night vision goggles battery life tripled
MOD: further tweaks to difficulty progression
FIX: advanced rocket launcher no longer has 20 ammo capacity!

UI:

NEW: added 3 new tips relating to xenobiology
NEW: more detailed skill info on character screen including new perks
NEW: push back chance shown with block info in inventory screen
NEW: log messages now describe turrets as neutral or hostile

SOUND:

NEW: sound effects for alien plants and slicers
MOD: improved railgun sound
FIX: sound effect for large reaper fixed

OTHER FIXES/IMPROVEMENTS:

MOD: can now continue adventure mode games without restarting level
MOD: aliens no longer not attack scout drones unless blocking path to another target
FIX: movement controls improved to avoid accidentally moving two tiles with a keypress
FIX: bug with pathfinding causing paths to be traced through turrets, causing infinite loop
FIX: bug where flamethrower cannot be fired with mouse from targeting mode
FIX: bug where flamethrower cannot be used to attack eggs when targeting an adjacent square
FIX: bug allowing placement of turrets in odd locations e.g. pit tiles
FIX: bug where not able to set traps on certain floor tiles
FIX: bug where hidden mechanism detecter fails to reveal secret doors if player has already
failed a spot throw for that door
FIX: removed irrelevant xenobiology log messages for drones and turrets
FIX: bug causing log messages which say damage type has been resisted despite 0% resistance

This is a pretty significant patch: with the new armor types and alien tech in this release, Xenomarine is now complete with respect to equipment (weapons, armor, items), at least in terms of having all items originally planned (I may actually add one or two more things yet, but these will be a bonus rather than part of the original plan).

In addition this patch adds 7 new perks (special abilities gained through skill progression) to the earlier 5, including such things as auto-reload, and 'push back' abilities - as well as a perk that introduces 'critical hits' to the combat mechanics. There's also a major overhaul of the way knowledge of aliens is gained and used, including new log messages to make this part of the game more accessible to players.

Finally this patch brings a significant adjustment to the difficulty curve that should be directly noticeable by players. While Xenomarine is still very much intended to be a 'hard' and intensely tactical game, the aim of this balance adjustment is to make the ability to get past levels 3-6 less dependent on lucky equipment finds. Instead you should experience a more gradual increase in difficulty as levels progress. However I would welcome further feedback from players on the new difficulty curve!

Overall Xenomarine is now close to being ready to ship: look out for the first 'Beta' release in the coming weeks!



NEW WEAPONS AND ARMOR:

NEW: 'superheavy' armor types
NEW: 'heavy' and 'superheavy' helmet types
NEW: high-level alien tech including 'singularity globe'

XENOBIOLOGY:

NEW: log messages for when knowledge gained about alien species
NEW: +5 to hit bonus for a species earned after killing 20 aliens of same species
NEW: ability to predict presence of aliens after killing 10 of same species

PERKS:

NEW: 7 new perks to be gained through skill progression

GAME BALANCE:

MOD: set trap should be on player square
MOD: replaced 'throwing knife' with '10 powerpacks' in workbench
MOD: number of shells/fuel gained at workbench increased to 10
MOD: minor reduction of number/difficulty of aliens in early levels, minor increase in later levels
MOD: number of alien eggs reduced for early levels, increasing with level number
MOD: limit (skill-dependent) on number of simultaneous drones

BUGFIXES AND MINOR CHANGES:

FIX: bug where neutral combat drones/turrets sometimes attack player at close range
FIX: bug where unable to block when alien attacks from the right
MOD: alien ammo renamed 'alien powerpacks'

Smallish patch with a few useful bugfixes:

FIX: bug where new enemy types prevented from spawning in levels 18-25
FIX: bug with advanced hacking kit not working and showing zero power
FIX: bug where aliens keep attacking after death
FIX: gun turret health not shown in mousehover info after kill of same type
FIX: auto-movement no longer stopped by neutral turrets
FIX: atomic vaporiser can now fire at walls/doors with ‘f’ key
FIX: bug where aliens sometimes not revealed by bioscanner
MOD: weight of medium boots increased to 3

Smallish patch with a few useful bugfixes:

FIX: bug where new enemy types prevented from spawning in levels 18-25
FIX: bug with advanced hacking kit not working and showing zero power
FIX: bug where aliens keep attacking after death
FIX: gun turret health not shown in mousehover info after kill of same type
FIX: auto-movement no longer stopped by neutral turrets
FIX: atomic vaporiser can now fire at walls/doors with ‘f’ key
FIX: bug where aliens sometimes not revealed by bioscanner
MOD: weight of medium boots increased to 3

It's a pretty big one! The 'Drones and Turrets' release add gun turrets to the game for the first time. Turrets can be either neutral or hostile and can be hacked in the same way as drones, and basic ones can also be found as placeable inventory items. This release also finally adds player move animation to the game! More details below.



DRONES AND TURRETS:

NEW: 3 types of gun turrets
NEW: scout drones and gun turrets can now be found as equipment
NEW: drones can now have weapons with incendiary or electric damage
MOD: 'fire at nearest' command now ignores neutral drones/turrets as targets
FIX: sound effect for combat drones
FIX: bug where drones do not turn to face player when making ranged attack
FIX: drones are now resistant to poison
FIX: bug with mouseover info for drone resistances

GRAPHICS:

NEW: smooth movement animation for player
MOD: 'key repeat delay' option changed to 'move speed'

NEW ITEMS:

NEW: power tool that can cut through walls/doors
NEW: new hacking devices variants including hacking bonuses

NEW ROOM LAYOUTS:

NEW: 1600 new extra-large vault layouts

BALANCE:

MOD: stealth field battery life increased by 500%
MOD: salvage mission targets now have minimum distance from player

JETPACK FIXES/IMPROVEMENTS:

MOD: jetpacks now come with enough fuel for two jumps
FIX: jetpacks no longer allow movement through walls/doors
FIX: jetpacks and field generators now sorted correctly in inventory
FIX: using jetpack no longer avoids terrain status effects

OTHER BUGFIXES:

FIX: various inventory items incorrectly set as stackable in inventory
FIX: incorrect number of unopened large equipment crates shown in data terminal

It's a pretty big one! The 'Drones and Turrets' release add gun turrets to the game for the first time. Turrets can be either neutral or hostile and can be hacked in the same way as drones, and basic ones can also be found as placeable inventory items. This release also finally adds player move animation to the game! More details below.



DRONES AND TURRETS:

NEW: 3 types of gun turrets
NEW: scout drones and gun turrets can now be found as equipment
NEW: drones can now have weapons with incendiary or electric damage
MOD: 'fire at nearest' command now ignores neutral drones/turrets as targets
FIX: sound effect for combat drones
FIX: bug where drones do not turn to face player when making ranged attack
FIX: drones are now resistant to poison
FIX: bug with mouseover info for drone resistances

GRAPHICS:

NEW: smooth movement animation for player
MOD: 'key repeat delay' option changed to 'move speed'

NEW ITEMS:

NEW: power tool that can cut through walls/doors
NEW: new hacking devices variants including hacking bonuses

NEW ROOM LAYOUTS:

NEW: 1600 new extra-large vault layouts

BALANCE:

MOD: stealth field battery life increased by 500%
MOD: salvage mission targets now have minimum distance from player

JETPACK FIXES/IMPROVEMENTS:

MOD: jetpacks now come with enough fuel for two jumps
FIX: jetpacks no longer allow movement through walls/doors
FIX: jetpacks and field generators now sorted correctly in inventory
FIX: using jetpack no longer avoids terrain status effects

OTHER BUGFIXES:

FIX: various inventory items incorrectly set as stackable in inventory
FIX: incorrect number of unopened large equipment crates shown in data terminal

This release adds 12 new base item types with new game mechanics, including some high-level alien tech and...jetpacks! Also some much-need bugfixes.

NEW ITEMS:

NEW: 3 new base stimpack types (each with many variants)
NEW: 4 jetpack types
NEW: Energy barrier
NEW: Hyper-teleporter
NEW: 3 new alien globe types (each with many variants)

QUALITY OF LIFE:

MOD: when right-clicking usable to add to quickslot last slot is selected by default rather than first
NEW: can now use 'enter' key from new game panel to start new game
NEW: improved size, look and location of inventory contextual menu
FIX: some annoyances relating to selection of inventory items

SOUND AND GRAPHICS:

NEW: sound effect for aliens pushing aside floor tile
MOD: Trilinear filtering added to player, alien and level sprites (less pixellation)

BUGFIXES:

FIX: bug with player armor resistances not protecting against enemy status effects
FIX: problem (in some resolutions) with overlapping text in link from controls screen to setting screen
FIX: total number of log messages shown reduced to ensure most recent log messages always fit in log
FIX: bug where log message not shown when using item from inventory
FIX: bug where batteries do not charge energy fields
MOD: it is no longer possible to target friendly mobs
FIX: auto-target no longer targets friendly units
FIX: bug causing occasional 'teleportation' when activating auto-mouse-movement by clicking on inaccessible square
FIX: error in probability for success when using mind globe
FIX: bug allowing enemies to move twice when pressing 'f' to attack with throwing weapon or other device
FIX: bug with inventory contextual menu for weapon enhancements and batteries
FIX: mousehover info for aliens now includes special powers (e.g. regeneration) where appropriate
FIX: bug where character screen does not show impact of 'weakness' status on 'to hit'
FIX: bug where combat drones ignore effects of player cover when firing from a distance
FIX: corrected description of dual-wielding skill in terminal screen