Genre: Shooter, Real Time Strategy (RTS), Strategy, Indie
Executive Assault 2
Version 0.433.24
Greetings executives, today you are getting some really cool features.
Thanks to all the feedback I have been getting through the game and on the Discord channel I have implemented the following changes, if you familiar with the game please pay close attention to the concept changes.
New tech levels
A lot of feedback I was getting was that the tech tree was a bit confusing and also despite its size was very much unused. Generally people would go for the laser weapons, a few key buildings and that was it, the new tech level system should help rebalance this and also give a better understanding to how to progress down the tree, this will also stop people reaching higher tier weapons very quickly
In order to upgrade to the next level you need to build and upgrade a research outpost costing money, this important change makes manufacturing goods and trading so much more vital to the game now and also makes it important to defend such a key structure, loosing a research outpost will not lower your tech rating, however if it is captured it will upgrade the tech rating of who ever gets it.
New faction system
Factions were always a bit confusing as to what exactly they did so this has now been streamlined. A faction will now blow up a deployed outpost if you don’t pay them rent for use of their space with either a planetary defence laser or another type of weapon, so make sure you keep them happy.
New crate system
All robots, Executrons and CEOs can now pick up and carry crates around, these crates contain either goods such as Ironite and coolant or a deployable object such as a turret. This new content will now give Executrons more to do such as setting up kill zones with traps and turrets, installing new efficiency modules and I’m sure in the future many more things.
To deploy crates you now have a multi tool which when fired at a deployable crate will unpack it, using the right mouse button you can repack it again, the multi tool will also scan crates to show its contents.
Crates can either be found in space floating around, on derelict space stations or processed out of your goods factory in the new packing machine which will turn anything in your cargo hold into a crate, crates can also be inserted back into the cargo hold too from the same factory.
New delivery system
Can now order placeables directly from a delivery company at a much higher price than the trader.
New upgrades
You can now upgrade the efficiency of buildings like the robot factory by buying an upgrade module from a trader and manually inserting it into a slot in the building. This does the same thing as over charging the reactor but on a permanent basis.
New units
Dauntless class ship - This is a new fast attack starship is great for initially expanding your empire with 4 weapon points and overcharged engines for quick turns and zooming around the cosmos.
Battlecruiser class ship - Not quite as big as the battleship but an excellent cheaper alternative to it.
Z12 Bot - Z11 bots not quite cutting it? Try the new and improved Z12 with extra armour.
New weapons
Starship machine guns weapons have been adjusted and re balanced as well as graphically altered to look more exciting.
Robot now have Oulsator guns and super heated laser beams which can vaporise robots.
New corridors
You can now build long glass corridors to help with base design and also for simply enjoying the view, there is a limit to how many you can make to help with game mechanics
New formation system
By holding down the right mouse button when telling ships to move you can now make them move into formation, also telling a group of ships to move somewhere will now keep them in that formation
New encounter
Make sure you have defences in your home star system as you never know when you might be hit by a giant asteroid.
Fixes and changes
Along with these new features there are the usual fixes and changes including:
New graphics for the raider ships.
Overview screen has been replaced with building controls screen
Can now self destruct segments to help with base design
RTS camera now zooms to the mouse pointer correctly
New music has been added included winning/loosing music
You can now simply click on an outposts roof to bring up its options.
Ships and turrets will no longer try and shoot through shields or your own ships to try and attack another target.
Beam weapons now correctly damage shields over multiplayer correctly.
Level 3 machine guns on spaceships now only launch 3 shots instead of 5
The number of audio sources in the game has been reduced which should help it randomly cutting out
The Ion cloud no longer causes damage to ships but simply drains shields and coolant reserves.
Can now press and hold on certain plus and negative buttons on console to help with manufacturing
Lights on derelict outposts now start off.
You can now stop a ship attacking a derelict
Pressing ‘ when typing will no longer bring up the bug submission form
Improved accuracy on turrets a little.
The unit fabrication screen will now remember your last layout
Health bars are now under the building UI
Can no longer build ships/robots on other people stations
Collisions with other robots is now removed, should help stability.
Ironite now added to unit fabrication screen
Tooltip shouldn’t get stuck any more
Can now bring up main menu when in fighter as CEO or execution
Fixed shields and railings in repair facility
Outpost ships now have a fleet cost of 1
Control panels now update when the research is done
Function keys now work for Executrons when in Excecudisplay
Ships now move fire at structures from a distance
Dragging a box over units will no longer select civilian ships unless they are the only thing in the box
Auto buy Ironite and coolant now off by default
Ships come out of the warp tunnel at the correct y axis
Bribing factions as now been removed as no longer needed
Lighting weapon now works better against shielded units
Feedback from factions no longer needs 2 separate windows
Notification system is now colour coded to help with priority
Mining ships now group up in sensors
Monolith now fires correctly over multiplayer
Ships no longer attack other ships when their health is 0
Health bar graphics now scale according to the zoom
System information bars are now easier to understand
Defence platforms now remember their state after loading
No longer inundated with diplomatic messages after loading
Can now see dropped cargo in the RTS screen easier
Key mapping has been updated
As you would expect with some big changes to the game there will be some balancing issues so please let me know your thoughts on this. Also the new crate system is fairly new so expect even more exciting additions to it.
Thank you all again for your continued support and help in the development of the game, as always please submit bugs through the game.
Cheers, Rob
Version 0.433.02
Hi executives, small fixes today.
Improved script efficiency to speed things up even more.
Shields on robots now work.
Added limit to the amount of robots you can build, this is to keep the game running smoothly.
Lights switch off when structure is being made in FPS
Buying tech from a trader should finally work!
Infestors and mechanoids can no longer capture stations.
Star fighters now turn at the correct speeds when things are getting a little intense.
May have fixed not respawning as an Executron
All ships will now aim at gateway probes better.
Hit box around railings on bridge has been improved
Defence outposts will no longer attack probes that are already docked
Explosions area of effect now includes internal turrets
Turning off random encounters now works
Torch will no longer switch on when you are typing
AI CEO now reacts faster to you sending troops through gateway
If the forums are looking a little empty these days its because all the action is now on our official discord server (I sense the death of the steam forums)
https://discord.gg/ranDWCU
Next will be working on a system for Executrons so that turrets can be placed down along with other defensive tech to create kill zones etc.
Goods will also be able to be removed from the cargo hold of one station and transferred to the other in the form of a package so this will be great for things like stealing or scavenging Ironite/tech on abandoned stations.
Eventually this will lead to efficiency enhancements for stations to help boost speed where a module is brought/scavenged and installed into the station.
All this of course while I will be bug fixing.
Cheers,
Rob
Version 0.433.00
Hello executives, today's patch has quite a few things fixed and added focusing on improving the direct control experience on stations.
New features
Added fighter bay to Executron facility
Rearming stations now heal units.
More obvious where the capture terminal is on outposts
Added green bar to show rearm time of weapons
Weapons now have heat glow.
Added sequential mode in scenario editor.
Tracer fire has been added to weapons so easier to see where shots are coming from
Added hit effect so you know when you have been shot
Added hit direction effect so you know which direction you have been hit from.
Location based damage with headshots doing 3x more
Internal turrets now have a new look
Executrons now have a death camera
Telling a gateway probe to dock will now show a little arrow
Docking bay has now been given more controls such as recalling ships, opening/closing outer doors and preventing takeoff, these controls can be found from the internal subsystem panel (same as turrets and doors)
Changes
Z11 bots and turrets aim has been more relaxed to increase enjoyment of the game in First person mode.
Grouping units is now done with the left control like the manual says.
Hit areas on bots/mechs/executives have all been improved.
Ducking and hiding behind crates now actually helps
Bullet weapon graphics have been improved.
Smaller ships now have flames come out the back when damaged
Ion cloud will no longer damage docked ships when the docking bay doors are closed
Reduced Ion Cloud chance and increased Meteorite for now.
Crates added to ore refinery.
Removed repair button from internal turrets so has to be done now during the upgrade/repair sequence.
Fixes
Weapon damage will no longer multiply depending on how many players there are
Starting a new skirmish game after loading an old one no longer breaks the game
Victory conditions are now correctly applied to skirmish saves.
Defence upgrades are now better synced over the network
Fixed robots stopping while trying to move a lot of them.
Navigation stability has been improved.
Text colour in tutorial progression now correct
Shotgun spread has been fixed
Reduced audio issues a little
Brought tech is now properly applied if you have the correct amount to buy it
Cockpit should vanish now when the CEO crashes into something while inside a star fighter
Fixed gateway teleporting into space issues.
Lights now start off on all derelict outposts
Long range load out will now only become available when missles/railgun is researched.
AI now builds better tech
Hovering over and selecting units now showing correct tech
Executrons respawning now get correct system fog.
Ion cloud position now synced over multiplayer
Cockpit now vanishes when game is over
No longer dock rolled over
Fixed issue where direct controlling a robot would cause the hands to vanish.
Adding an executive fighter to the Executron facility really opens up space flight and gives Executrons something to do early on the in the game rather than just waiting for a star fighter to be built, let me know what you think. If you decide to take one out of a spin as the CEO please make sure you have a docking bay built as its a one way launch system.
I will be continuing to improve the Executron experience which will include new buildings to improve defence such as a garrison, an inventory system so that turrets and other devices can be placed down, facility upgrade tech which needs to be installed, damaged systems which need repairing, new models for smaller ships and eventually bring back laser weapons.
A lot of people have been asking for an official discord channel so one has been setup so that you can all chat about the game, organise matches, see where its going and start the formation of an active community. I will also be using it to bounce ideas off you or show any new cool features I am working on.
https://discord.gg/ranDWCU
Thanks for continuing to support the game and thank you for all the bug reports.
Cheers,
Rob
Patch 0.432.28
Hello Executives,
Seems the Scenario editor is stable enough to release onto the main branch of the game so if you are on the Experimental branch please switch back to the main one by opting out else you will not get this update.
Along with the release I have also fixed a fair few major bugs.
Can no longer buy tech for free.
Buying new tech should update the tech tree.
AI now shoots rocket launchers again.
Fighters now shoot at gateway probes.
Tech which you have already researched is no longer applied when purchased.
Light levels on all stations have been increased.
Economy stability has been improved.
Multiple of the same outpost has been fixed on the economy screen, especially when loading from save.
Mining outposts on economy screen now show how many ships are assigned to it so you can see if it needs more cargo/mining ships.
Right clicking on a quick nav system with a mining outpost present while a cargo ship is selected will now make that mining outpost the cargo ships new home base.
Correct amount of ships constructed when taking over an outpost in multiplayer.
Deploying a monolith will now tell you if you have hit your fleet cap and not start constructing
Out of bounds warning system radius has been increased when flying ships
A bug where ships would continue to fly forward after exiting direct piloting mode has been fixed.
Improved AI on stuck robots so they will try and unstuck them selves.
Giant green reflection in defence outpost has been removed.
Wall collides have been thickened to help improve glitching through walls.
Error in outfit screen showing wrong weapon has been fixed.
Factions no longer ask for money twice.
FXAA is now being applied to the game.
I noticed that some of you were constructing extra bits of your base to the side of Research facilities, this was not an intended feature therefor it has been removed. However I actually really like the idea of being able to construct to the side of an outpost especially ship yards as this allowed you to bring your ship construction closer to the front lines. I am going to investigate this and look at bringing it back into the game in a better state.
Thank you again for all the testing help, as mentioned in a few posts I am looking at improving the first person experience of the game next by giving Executrons more things to do as well as looking at adding a fighter bay to the Executron facility so that they don't have to wait for the docking bay to clear and can just dive into a fighter and explore space from the get go.
Enjoy!
Rob
Version 0.432.24 (Experimental)
Greetings executives,
Today I have uploaded a copy of the game featuring the scenario editor allowing you to make your own single player campaigns.
It also features a proper single player tutorial for new people to follow so by all means let me know what you think.
I felt that now would be a good time to get feedback about the new features from the community and make sure its going in the right direction, be sure these are not their final versions.
There is also new battle music for you to enjoy.
Since its experimental I highly recommend not putting a too much effort into making campaign just at this moment in time due to the fact that you might loose it if I update certain variables (which I will try and avoid doing)
However the files it outputs are in JSON format so they are most likely fixable if worse comes to worse.
Once out of the experimental phase I will enable workshop support so you can share your campaign with your friends.
This update will be going into a special experimental branch and not onto the main one to make sure its all working first
To access the experimental branch you need to:
Right click on the game in the library and click properties
Click on the betas tab
Type in iloveexecutiveassault and the click check code
Select experimental from the list and the special version should download.
Remember to switch back when the patch comes out officially.
A few bugs have been fixed as been spending most of my time working on this however the game should no longer crash when playing as an Executron in single player mode and taking control of a derelict station, rockets will now fire in the right direction and the monolith should be better synced over multiplayer.
While I await your feedback I will be working on bug fixing again which judging by the bug reports I have been getting mostly happens in multiplayer games especially with Executrons.
If you haven't seen it already here is the road map for the game.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/510500/discussions/0/1639789306558917877/
Thank you again for all the help and I hope you enjoy the new features.
Cheers,
Rob
Patch notes v0.432.14
Evening executives,
The experimental branch is now live for everyone as it fixes a few important issues.
In addition to adding the map editor and everything announced in the last announcement, this patch also fixes the following:
Infestors should no longer go under the station and crawling around in space.
The spawning of hundreds of protester ships when a faction declares war with you.
When a CEO has been assassinated, all of their assets will self destruct with the station blowing up 2 minutes afterwards.
Buying tech will now instantly be applied rather than having to click a separate button, tech trade will be added at a later date.
Mechanoid navigation has been improved.
The fabrication should no longer break when buying tech from the trader when you already have it researched.
Tier 2 and 3 rocket launchers have been removed from the tech tree.
Please remember if you have been testing the game on the experimental branch to revert back to the standard one else you will not get this update.
Thank you again for all the testing and help.
Cheers
Rob
EXP Patch notes v0.432.12
Hi Executives,
I would like to present the beginnings of the map editor for you all to try out.
It can be accessed from the main menu and it will generate a seed which can be shared around or saved/loaded from a game creation screen.
Later more control will be added along with the ability to make scenarios.
This update will be going into a special experimental branch and not onto the main one to make sure its all working first as I had to rewrite most of the map generation code to get it working, testing has shown it works in both single and multiplayer but I want to be extra sure.
To access the experimental branch you need to:
Right click on the game in the library and click properties
Click on the betas tab
Type in iloveexecutiveassault and the click check code
Select experimental from the list and the special version should download.
Remember to switch back when the patch comes out officially.
I also wont be giving any instructions on how to use it and want to see how you all get on first and see how intuitive it is.
Also fixed in this patch is:
Mechanoids hack bug has been fixed by removing the ability to hack doors, this was never meant to happen and is a game play mechanic to encourage players to bring along bots.
Coolant countdown removed from Executron menu.
Ships no long continue to shoot outposts which you have just captured.
Research bugs have been fixed which caused the design menu to break.
Save bug which caused outposts not to spawn correctly has been fixed.
Enjoy and let me know how you get on with it.
Cheers
Rob
Patch 0.432.10
Hi executives, been working hard on this new patch which I hope you will enjoy with plenty fixed and some new features and a second significant optimisation upgrade meaning higher frame rates:
New features
Mechanoids now have access to heavy weapons.
Executrons now have access to heavy weapons.
Added new point defence weapon to the support load out which attempts to shoot down incoming long range missiles.
Defence platforms have now been added to the support group for extra strategies to emerge.
Mining ships, cargo ships and star fighters now add to the population cap.
Direct controlled units and Executrons get dealt 50% less damage.
Firing rate on fighters, drones and star ships doubled when direct controlling.
Carriers now rebuild fighters every 10 seconds once all fighters have been recalled.
CTRL + K now self destruct all selected units.
CTRL + K also kills the currently possessed unit except CEO.
Added GUI showing weapons firing on star ships.
Balancing and adjustments
Long range missiles now fire less frequently.
Monolith now costs 35000 Ironite and takes 10 minutes to research.
Flak explosive range increased from 20 to 40.
AI will now build better units against outposts.
Traders will now carry up to 5000 Ironite.
A game against 3 AI companies has been removed by default however this can be re enabled in the options screen. Some of you may wonder why this has happened but I have come to the conclusion that most peoples computers based on the logs I have been receiving cannot handle 3 AI's.
Bug fixes
Cargo operations screen no longer causes slow down.
Weapons on ships now uses a lot less CPU power to fire to help speed up the game.
Audio priority has changed so that important sounds like announcements don’t get cut off.
Game menu size reduced.
Defences were sometimes not spawning in multiplayer.
Gateway ships should no longer dock with doorways after a building is added to the point.
Executons can no longer access the stations operations using the F keys.
Mining outpost ship fab screen now works over multiplayer.
Mining outpost capturing team now works correctly over multiplayer.
Manually constructed mining ships should now auto take off when idle.
Cargoships now assign outpost when right clicked on.
Monolith construction cap now displays when trying to deploy.
Removed the words tracking from missiles.
Missile 4 was missing from the tech tree.
Ai should build ships with the latest researched weapons.
Defence outpost missiles no longer go mad attacking gateway probes.
Reduced the size of pilot UI.
Telling long range ships to attack a structure should not make them move.
Weapons and specials on defence platform now only activate once deployed.
Flak gun now working.
Lightning weapons now visually work against shields.
No longer kicked out of turrets by the AI.
Subsystem icons sometimes not appearing has been fixed.
Support class should no longer randomly disable.
Fleet cost of a ship shown in the design screen.
Hacked doors will now stay open for 30 seconds when the AI is controlling the building.
Mechnaoids can now open unlocked doors.
Rockets are now more accurate in the direction they fire.
Goods production info now available on resource control screen.
3rd person view removed from Mechanoid due to camera issues.
Fixed robots trying to hack unlocked open doors.
As with all new patches please let me know if it broke something and I will try and fix it ASAP.
One problem that occasionally crops up is finding a Z11 bot or Infestor floating about outside the station, if this happens I would be very interested in a bug report as I am having a hard time trying to locate how this is happening.
Next I will be working on improving the siege mechanics and internal defences and also want to start progressing towards creating a scenario editor in preparation for starting work on the single player campaign.
Have a great week!
Cheers
Rob
Version 0.432.05
Another tiny but important one today.
Docking bay construction panel now works for executrons on an AI base.
Research outposts now give you high tech when constructed.
May have fixed getting stuck in Direct control mode, I could see roughly where the error was in the code but couldn't recreate so I added extras to stop you getting stuck.
Rearranged some of the doors on the mining outpost so the buttons aren't submerged into the walls
Star fighters now have the correct shields
Star fighters should now turn off shields when docked to allow entry
Missiles are no longer tracking except on the defence outpost.
Defence outpost missiles now fire in multiplayer.
Defence outpost missiles have now been upgraded to level 2
Main menu should now work with ultra wide screen monitors.
Thank you again for all the bug submissions and ideas, please remember the more information included in a bug report the more likely it will be fixed.
Cheers
Rob
Version 0.432.04
Some changes today to make things more stable
Second sniper and flame thrower removed from tech tree as the tech hadn't actually been made yet but would cause major issues if researched.
Single player games will no longer sometimes start as a multiplayer game
Loading a game will no longer sometimes start as a multiplayer game
Fixed gap in Ore Processing facility where robots could walk into space.
Fixed portal sending troops waiting at the ring before the gateway had fully opened which sometimes caused troops to appear in space.
Added more turrets to the gateway room to help combat coming in that way.
