KickStarter Xenonauts 2 - now available on Early Access

[ArchAngel]

The whole base issue is kind of tricky.

If there are multiple bases, there should be a significant risk of losing them. But then you'd have to design your game around that. Base losses should be recoverable and building bases and managing staff should be simple, not tedious.

But in the end, only a small minority would suffer through a base loss, most would simply reload their game.

On the other hand, most players tend to heavily invest into a single base (design and resource wise). So if you make the lives of base-splitters easier, you end up reducing the fun for those that like to play Sims with their "megabase".

Now, if you only have one massive base, that base might never be exposed to any risk. Your game becomes making sure aliens never figure out where you are coming from. Realistic, once your base is exposed, it should be under constant attack (and basically force a game over). Which is again, not much fun.

What I would try:

- expose the main base to different kinds of threats. Think Lobotomy Corporation. You have managed to contain an unknown alien. Before you can manage to figure out what kind abilities it has, maybe it can escape or influence your base. Works really well in a single campaign, but repetitiveness becomes an issue. Basically have base missions and events that don't stem from full blown alien attack (and without revealing the location to aliens)

- make satellite locations necessary for specific purposes. Maybe some facilities need to be built at specific locations, maybe some research needs to be done outside of the main base. Maybe the first crashed large UFO need to have a research facility built around it (one which the aliens will try to actively destroy before you finish the site). This way you can diversify the base building and still let the players try figure out clever defensive strategies, while keeping the main base as the priority for normal base building.

- put a bit more emphasis on your key scientists and engineers. If they have to occasionally leave the safety of the main base to do research at satellites, that'd give opportunities for new mission types. Could your support staff get injured? Tired? Go insane under the pressure (of you pushing the research intensity slider to max)? Maybe to simplify it, limit it to having generic staff and then appointed specialists/department heads that become requirements for unlocking certain tech trees.

- if you can't have more than one real base, that one base must have something special to it. Some layer to build upon / explore, and preferably one that can carry through several playthroughs.

But yeah, not a simple thing to balance. Definitely plenty of opportunities there. Opportunities to do interesting things and opportunities to go all X-Com Apocalypse.

Now this is more like what one would expect from a game that has #2 in its name. These are all nice ideas, especially the one about needing to make research bases around crashed UFOs.

 

[norolim]

So, a question for you guys - one I thought I'd ask here because this forum tends to cater to the more hardcore side of the strategy community.

When you guys play Xenonauts and / or 1994 X-Com, to what extent and for what purpose do you make use of secondary bases in both games? Do you set up secondary teams of soldiers when you play, or was that something you experimented with a couple of times and then stopped doing, or never tried? Do you build up secondary manufacturing bases in X-Com to fund your entire organisation by mass-producing Laser Cannons and not do that in Xenonauts? Are they just interceptor bases? Do you station troops at them to defend them, or use defence batteries? Anything else you can think of that might be relevant too.

I always build the main and secondary base rather quickly to increase interception chance. I have one full team in each base to be able to act simultaneously and gather resources faster. Then, I build additional small bases for radars, interceptors and potentially research/production, if I need more space. They usually have a small defensive force stationed there. It's more fun this way.

 

[Goldhawk]

Yeah, there's a number of ways you can play out having a multiple base or a single base, but that's a much larger discussion to be honest. I was mostly interested in an informal poll of what people did with their bases and why, and it's been helpful to hear how people use them.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

I will add that being able to respond simultaneous UFO threats was part of the strategic challenge.

That's why the way that Firaxis XCOM handled mission generation was so aggravating.

 

[Haba]

Yeah, there's a number of ways you can play out having a multiple base or a single base, but that's a much larger discussion to be honest. I was mostly interested in an informal poll of what people did with their bases and why, and it's been helpful to hear how people use them.

Personally I usually have second base with Inteceptors and b-team and few satellite bases for just radar cover (and more interceptors later). If the game is going well, the B-team tends to get sidelined. Usually if things escalate to the level where I need to rely on the B-team, the game is most probably lost anyway.

Having to micro manage multiple interceptors is already bad enough, so for me the micro for third team (or fully functional base) is a bit too much.

 

[Goldhawk]

Personally I usually have second base with Inteceptors and b-team and few satellite bases for just radar cover (and more interceptors later). If the game is going well, the B-team tends to get sidelined. Usually if things escalate to the level where I need to rely on the B-team, the game is most probably lost anyway.

Having to micro manage multiple interceptors is already bad enough, so for me the micro for third team (or fully functional base) is a bit too much.

Yeah, you've got a similar playstyle to my own then. The key point for me is really that the X1 system allows people to make bare-bones interceptor bases if they can't be bothered to micromanage multiple bases, but it means that people that DO want to build a sprawling organisation can do it. I've been surprised by the sheer number of people who do like to do that sort of thing (not just on this forum) so I need to take a second look at the issue and see if there's a way of giving them what they want whilst also doing what I want.

I always build the main and secondary base rather quickly to increase interception chance. I have one full team in each base to be able to act simultaneously and gather resources faster. Then, I build additional small bases for radars, interceptors and potentially research/production, if I need more space. They usually have a small defensive force stationed there. It's more fun this way.

I've seen a few people say things to this effect earlier in the post too, so would you (or others) mind explain a little further with regards to the whole two teams thing? In base X-Com the Skyranger had global range and soldiers didn't have fatigue, right? Was there actually anything having 15 soldiers at two bases could do better than having 30 soldiers in one base, other than provide a defensive garrison at the second base? I'm assuming you fight every UFO crash site mission you generate in this setup?

I will add that being able to respond simultaneous UFO threats was part of the strategic challenge. That's why the way that Firaxis XCOM handled mission generation was so aggravating.

Yup, that just entails building multiple interceptor bases though, right? Or do you mean something else?

 

[ArchAngel]

I always build the main and secondary base rather quickly to increase interception chance. I have one full team in each base to be able to act simultaneously and gather resources faster. Then, I build additional small bases for radars, interceptors and potentially research/production, if I need more space. They usually have a small defensive force stationed there. It's more fun this way.

I've seen a few people say things to this effect earlier in the post too, so would you (or others) mind explain a little further with regards to the whole two teams thing? In base X-Com the Skyranger had global range and soldiers didn't have fatigue, right? Was there actually anything having 15 soldiers at two bases could do better than having 30 soldiers in one base, other than provide a defensive garrison at the second base? I'm assuming you fight every UFO crash site mission you generate in this setup?

Skyranger was slow and missions could expire (most noticeable with Terror missions). Flying all the way somewhere and all the way back took too long. Time you waited also was not time soldiers spent healing, training for PSI or your researchers studying new items.

Also with closer base you could control more easily if it would be a day or night mission (this was less important in Open Xcom as you could give new orders to craft during flight and could kind of wait for day again).

 

[norolim]

I always build the main and secondary base rather quickly to increase interception chance. I have one full team in each base to be able to act simultaneously and gather resources faster. Then, I build additional small bases for radars, interceptors and potentially research/production, if I need more space. They usually have a small defensive force stationed there. It's more fun this way.

I've seen a few people say things to this effect earlier in the post too, so would you (or others) mind explain a little further with regards to the whole two teams thing? In base X-Com the Skyranger had global range and soldiers didn't have fatigue, right? Was there actually anything having 15 soldiers at two bases could do better than having 30 soldiers in one base, other than provide a defensive garrison at the second base? I'm assuming you fight every UFO crash site mission you generate in this setup?

Yes, I fight every mission, cause more missions equals more resources. In X-Com it was possible to accumulate enough resources, like elerium and alloys, to be able to sell some without the fear of running out when needed for research or production. But in order to do that, you needed high interception rate and you needed to act on all missions (some could expire).

You could of course have 30 soldiers in one base, but you still normally had one Skyranger (hangars take a lot of space). And if you got soldiers killed or wounded during one mission, you would have to return to base, take new troops and restock before going back. That's very time consuming. So, with at least a couple of bases with active mobile teams, you can tackle multiple missions at the same time. I found this approach more efficient, but I didn't really make in-depth analyses. I just preferred this approach. And of course the Skayranger team in every base doubled as a defensive force.

 

[Haba]

I think the absolute best quality of life feature in X1 was the fact that you could nuke downed UFOs from the orbit. Not having to fight every battle was such a godsend.

 

[Jaedar]

For multiple bases:
Never really did it in ufo defense or X1 except as a fun diversion, there's never really a reason to have a B-team (mostly they just steal xp and resources).

I remember it being good in Apocalypse though, because your bases had limited slots for the larger facilities. And if you didn't keep hoverbikes constantly on vigil, having more tubes to launch interceptors (and proximity) was very good too.

The idea of "building a base over downed alien craft" seems really cool to me. Although it works just as well to justify multiple bases (one for every ship type you want to dissect thoroughly) or just one (a downed ufo recovered before the game began).

I think the absolute best quality of life feature in X1 was the fact that you could nuke downed UFOs from the orbit. Not having to fight every battle was such a godsend.

It was, but at the same time it was a trap: Nuking lategame craft would mean losing more than half of the cash in them.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

I've seen a few people say things to this effect earlier in the post too, so would you (or others) mind explain a little further with regards to the whole two teams thing? In base X-Com the Skyranger had global range and soldiers didn't have fatigue, right? Was there actually anything having 15 soldiers at two bases could do better than having 30 soldiers in one base, other than provide a defensive garrison at the second base? I'm assuming you fight every UFO crash site mission you generate in this setup?

Yup, that just entails building multiple interceptor bases though, right? Or do you mean something else?

I've found that it is good to have second base that could deploy b-team. Interceptors can't do anything to landed UFO's, there's change that terror ship manages sneak into its destination while A-team is unavailable and besides it is easier to avoid night missions when you have secondary base situated on different part of the globe.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

xenonauts doesn't really need a b team because of the bombard system and because teams are limited in numbers. you can manage plenty teams from your main base. in both xenonauts and x-com i built multiple bases, mainly just for air superiority and sometimes to have spare hangars and workshops ready to build more planes because there wasn't enough space on only one base. i'd gladly settle for base rooms too big to properly all fit in a single base, which alone would rapidly evolve in a larper heaven "i'll specialize these bases even if it's not really necessary".
my point of balance would be: let aliens fully invade bases and take them but don't let them raze the bases. instead, clearly state that the base can and will be retaken. once retaken, give it a cooldown to become operative again, justify it with restocking or repairing because the aliens were still dismantling and repurposing. still too punishing? "commander, we found these alien tools into the base! [add new research/help already existing research]. damn, i would bait the aliens onto taking this small, isolated base only for the chance to strike back again and again.
exploitative? make alien defenses and tools finding chance proportionate with number of rooms. game in a game, people would start planning bases not only on how easy they're to defend but also how they want to infiltrate back into them.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

Usually played with a primary base + radar & interceptor satellite bases. Never kinda had a B team

 

[ArchAngel]

Usually played with a primary base + radar & interceptor satellite bases. Never kinda had a B team

On what difficulty?
Did you save scum?

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

I always play on the highest difficulty, i usually do not save scum but i do reload if i lose a base

 

[ArchAngel]

I always play on the highest difficulty, i usually do not save scum but i do reload if i lose a base

Well that explains why you never needed another base :D

I think it is fairly important that people say on what difficulty they are playing and if they savescum before sharing how they play. Both UFO and Xenonauts are not same games on easy or hard or with or without save scumming.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

:D true

 

[PhantasmaNL]

Update #6

Jul 4 2018

Halfway There - New Reward Tiers, Updated Portrait Editor!
0 Comments

9 likes

As we reach the halfway mark of the Kickstarter we've hit £135,500 in pledges and we're quickly closing in on the MARS / Sentry Gun vehicles stretch goal at £150,000!

If current trends continue we should hit the £150k stretch goal in about a week, and then the question becomes whether we get a late surge that will allow us to hit the Additional Modding Support at £200k and the Weather effects at £250k!

The modding support is a stretch goal that many in the community feel very passionately about so I hope we are able to reach it - but to be clear, the game will still be moddable even if we don't. The £200k stretch goal will allow us to make modding the game a slightly less hardcore experience, which should lead to a wider variety of mods - but there's a lot of talented modders out there who I'm sure will do some great work even without the extra assistance.

To help us on our way towards these stretch goals, we've taken a look at what we can add to the reward tiers!

New Reward Tiers:
Our higher tier rewards at £200 and £500 sold out in a matter of hours and left our highest remaining tier at £50. If you feel like you missed out, we will be making available another two £500 tier spots and another ten £200 tier spots in the final 48 hours of the Kickstarter.

If you'd like to increase your pledge but don't want to go as high as £200, we're also adding two new unlimited "Sergeant-Major" reward tiers at £85 and £100 that offer players the chance to display their custom soldiers more prominently within Xenonauts-2!

With the Geoscape Situations stretch goal having been reached, the player will sometimes now be faced with multiple-choice events on the strategy layer. At least two of these random events will revolve around individual soldiers. They haven't been written yet, but a quick example would be: "Commander, we're receiving a distress call from one of our soldiers. No idea how they made it out of CENTRAL, but they seem to be alive..."

This would show the portrait of an experienced soldier drawn from the pool of custom soldiers of £85+ backers. The player could choose whether they wish to attempt to rescue the soldier and how they go about doing so, with the chance of triggering various negative and positive outcomes occurring if they decide to risk the rescue attempt.

The final events will probably be a bit more complex than that - we're doing some concepts for them at the moment that we'll hopefully be able to share soon - but I'm sure you get the idea!

Any custom soldier has a chance of being hired whenever a player recruits new soldiers (provided they have been named sensibly), but having your soldier appear in the Geoscape Situations will make your soldier far more likely to appear in any given game.

This reward is available at the new £85 tier, which includes everything in previous tiers except the additional Early Access copy of Xenonauts-2. It can also be purchased at the £100 tier which does include the additional copy of the game.

Anyone who has already backed at £200 or £500 will receive this additional reward automatically!

Portrait Editor Update:
The updated Portrait Editor (V3) has been released and uploaded to the same link as before, and can be downloaded here. What's new?

• New eyewear - there's some new glasses, sunglasses and tactical goggles available for everyone
• New facial hair - we've added "designer stubble" and "short beard" facial hair for people who found the old stubble too short and the old facial hairs too long
• New hair - we've given the men a new short hairstyle, two new long hairstyles (including a ponytail), and about five new variants of receding and bald hairstyles
• We will be fixing stubble going off the sides of medium / narrow faces shortly!

This has been far more work than we were expecting, but it's done now and I'm pleased to see how much extra variation has been added as a result.

If you have further suggestions feel free to make them in the comments below - although unfortunately scars and greying hair (which have been requested several times) are going to be difficult to do!

 

[Doktor Best]

Any way to back this with paypal?

 

[PhantasmaNL]

Jul 13 2018

One Week Left: MARS / Sentry Gun Achieved!
1 Comment
5 likes

With one week left of the Xenonauts-2 Kickstarter, we've just blown past 300% funding and hit our fourth stretch goal! Huge thanks to all of you!

This means the MARS Support Platform & Sentry Gun single-tile vehicles will now both be included in the final game for everyone.

MARS & Sentry Guns:
The MARS is a small robotic tank manufactured in the workshop that can accompany the Xenonaut soldiers on a ground missions. It has relatively high TU and HP, making it good for scouting and crushing fences / other obstacles to make a path for the rest of your team - but it has a relatively low Accuracy. It is smaller than the 3x3 armoured vehicles in Xenonauts 1 and therefore can enter buildings and UFOs, but can only carry infantry weapons (by default it carries the machinegun).

The Sentry Gun is a defensive unit that can only be deployed on Xenonaut Base Defence missions and can be manufactured relatively cheaply in the Workshop. These immobile units are placed during the deployment phase, but have limited rotation range - making them a good way of defending choke points but leaving them very vulnerable to flanking if left unprotected!

We've now started work on both of these units, and if all goes well we might be able to show off some early progress with them next week.

Final Week & Upcoming Stretch Goals!
It's difficult to know how well the final week will go for us, but Kickstarters often finish strongly and it's definitely possible that we hit one or both of remaining stretch goals.

The next stretch goal is arriving at £200,000 - the Additional Community Edition / Modding Support. Of course, we'll do our best to leave the game open to modding (just as we did in X1) but it'd be great if we could afford to take some extra time to add additional features / tools that will allow modders to make things that fundamentally change the game. I know this is something many of you feel very strongly about; with your help we can get there!

We'll be doing more PR work after the weekend - hitting up our mailing list, journalists, Twitter, Reddit, etc. It'd be great if you could help us spread the word in any way you feel you can, as everything helps! To help things along, we'll be unlocking two extra £500 and ten extra £200 rewards with 48 hours left to go.

Finally, we're working on some more additions to the Portrait Editor to give you guys even more options for your custom soldiers. There's a bugfix and a few new hair variants in the most recent update, and the portrait artist also thinks he's figured out a way to support greying hair for any hair color (something a lot of people have been requesting). That'll all arrive next week.

Have a great weekend everyone - and let's hope next week brings more stretch goals!

 

[Arctrax]

It's nice they got to that stretch goal, but I hope they get to the modding one...

Even if they say they'll prepare the game to be moddable, I'd prefer if they had it like a must in their checklist...

 

[kyrub]

Come on!
50 hours to go. We need the full modding support for the few extra bucks.

Xenonauts 1 was a close miss. It was very good, but not quite as special, it lacked atmosphere, despite some very solid design decisions. The sequel tries to correct the formula rather than to make a NuXCOM revolution like everybody. They stick to TUs.
Xenos deserves that second shot.

 

[PhantasmaNL]

Tldr Kickstarter done, modding in even though goal not officially reached.


Posted by Goldhawk Interactive (Creator)
After thirty days our Kickstarter has come to a close, and what a journey it's been! We asked for £50,000 to help us develop the game and your generosity saw us raise a grand total of £191,057 / $250,000 from 6,826 backers - almost 400% our initial target!

All of us here at Goldhawk are hugely grateful for all the backing you have given us, and it's also been really nice to read all of the comments from people who enjoyed the first game. We want to say a massive thank you to all of our backers and we'll be working hard to repay your faith in us!

Stretch Goals:
We've unlocked a total of five stretch goals for the final game:

• #1 Modular Weapons
• #2 Geoscape Situations
• #3 Locational Injuries
• #4 MARS Weapon Platform & Sentry Guns
• #5 Additional Community Edition & Modding Support

The eagle-eyed among you will notice that the Community Edition & Modding Support stretch goal has been unlocked even though we didn't quite hit the £200,000 target. We had a quick chat within the team earlier today and we all feel that we should show our gratitude by unlocking the next stretch goal too!

Next Steps & Backer Surveys:
If you've backed our Kickstarter you will receive a Backer Survey from us in the next few days that will ask you to provide all the information needed for us to fulfill your rewards - this is where you specify whether you want a Steam key or a GOG key, provide the details and portrait code of your custom soldier, etc.

I don't know exactly when those will be sent out - we only get one chance to do a Backer Survey, so we have to be super-careful about making sure we don't miss out any questions the first time around. Expect them to arrive before the end of next week though!

The Steam / GOG keys will be emailed to you prior to the launch of the closed beta around October if you pledged at the £25+ tier or above, or before the Early Access launch in around January if you backed at the £18 tier.

We will of course be keeping you guys informed via Kickstarter Updates as we approach these two launch dates, so keep your eyes peeled for your keys when they arrive!

For one final time - a massive thanks for all of your generosity and I can tell you with certainty Xenonauts-2 will be a much better game as a result of it!

 

[Alienman]

Glad the kickstarter went well.

 

[kyrub]

They have it all to do, though. Let us see if they can tackle repetitiveness of the first game and bring more pace and suspension. Right now, X-piratez seem like a much better game then Xenonauts despite its crazy setting.

Hopefully, Xenos 2 will hit the right spot.