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Bring on the Xenos!


Thorondor

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That's what we say. And, apparently, the good folks over at Goldhawk Interactive are of a mind to bring us back to the fray for a second time, eyeing an ambitious return in 3D for a potential Xenonauts 2.

 

A recent thread at their forums has encouraging developments to report:

 

 

 

 

(...) the chances of us making Xenonauts 2 as our next game are better than even. The response to and feedback given on a potential sequel by the community has been remarkable and has gone a long way to convincing us that it would be a good idea.

 

 

 

Our biggest concern regarding Xenonauts 2 is whether we can create a workable 3D art style - this not only has to look good in 3D but ideally will also reference the 2D sprite style of Xenonauts 1.

 

 

 

(...) we're going to run some tests over the next few weeks on how we can try to make the art style look a bit more 2D and hand-painted.

 

 

 

(...)

 

 

 

We're working on redesigning the aliens from Xenonauts 1 to make them more interesting, both visually and in terms of the core mechanic for each race. We've got some new ideas for all of the races and we've got some concepts done for the updated Sebillian and Caesan designs that look quite a bit more "alien" than before.

 

 

 

We're playing with the idea of making the Caesans a hive consciousness, with weak drones (above) and more threatening officers. The officers get significant bonuses in combat for each nearby drone, and there is a single collective psionic power attack performed each turn. This might lose power as more Caesans are killed, or perhaps it just gets stronger each turn to encourage the player not to turtle when fighting Caesans (or possibly both).

 

 

 

The Sebillians might have their regeneration turned up to eleven to make them more interesting to play against. At the end of each alien turn, all Sebillians will return to full health ... but in exchange, every time they take damage their maximum health falls by, say, 25% of the damage sustained.

 

 

 

(...)

 

 

 

Xenonauts 2 is looking more likely than not and we're actively designing and prototyping it at the moment, but it'll probably take a month or two until we're ready to make a final decision.

 

 

 

 

Awesome news in our book!

 

 

 

If you want some more intel, an older thread has a few extra thoughts on the way the're looking to approach the new instalment, so check it out as well.

 

 

 

Our special thanks to Zombie at our forums for bringing this to our attention.

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Although I could look it up, I'll ask someone here to fill me in. And correct me if I'm wrong. Didn't they start this game awhile back but it wasn't until their kickstarter that they finally got it finished? I hope the best for Goldhawk, but man this game was boring. It's like the poor man's XCOM.
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Personally I'm hoping for a game that would change the battle system dramatically. X-COM system just does not cut it for me any more. There were many better to date and I just can't force myself to start the originals again. XCOM stretched my attention to detail to the fullest and remained fun. If you go for a small number of soldiers, that is one way to go. If you go for more, far more extreme optimization would be needed - like group orders and so forth. I skipped Xenonanuts and most likely, I'll skip this one, too. Even if I could get it to run on my comp...
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I'm not sure. There's so many enjoyable games from a bygone era. Anything and everything recently is all about graphics and pressing your hardware to the next level. The market is all for kids who can't think and want things now. Like a good shovel to the head! I dunno dude. Play Arcanum.
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  • 4 months later...
  • 11 months later...

https://www.xenonauts.com/wp-content/uploads/freshizer/112359b9d493f10b6f443d48599bad9d_slider_dockyard-940-470-c.jpg

 

::

 

The Xenonauts site is back online and a free build of Xenonauts 2 featuring an early version of a single combat mission is now available (GOG Galaxy required). Learn all about it and future plans for early access here. :cool:

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  • 5 weeks later...
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Cool stuff, though it looks like there's a lot of work left to bring it up to "playable". Still have my fingers crossed. (BTW, did you see the "Large Scout" in that thread? It almost reminds me of Danial's 3D renderings of it). smile.png

 

- Zombie

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Yep, Zombie, that UFO is a definite throwback.

 

The leap in graphical quality is already starting to shine through and it's a noticeable improvement. Still, and as you say, there's little doubt that a lot of ground has yet to be covered in terms of development.

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  • 8 months later...

You're certainly not alone in that, SV.

 

Regrettably, many games these days are not properly and truly finished even well over a year after their so-called release date.

 

::

 

Still, developers do need some willing victims of progressive design torment to puzzle through what works and what doesn't, so I salute the daring. ;)

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https://www.xenonauts.com/wp-content/uploads/freshizer/62fee98ae1e69ca51f600d4a69733bed_logo_header-940.png

 

::

 

Xenonauts 2's development is coming along rather nicely so plans for Kickstarter and Early Access are finally being outlined here.

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