In this announcement, I'd like to tease/announce some of the new content that's coming soon to Xenoterrestrial. Note that much of what is discussed here is ALREADY COMPLETED and just currently inaccessible within the game.
NEW LEVELS AND CHAPTER
This new chapter, like the previous one, will include 8 new levels (with the 8th being a boss) and one new secret level. At present, only one of these levels is completely configured, but this is one of the only things in this announcement to not already be complete!
NEW MUSIC
Chapter 2 will contain new music for the main course of levels and a new boss theme from a GUEST COMPOSER! I am very excited to show off the new music when the time comes.
NEW ENEMIES
Chapter 2 will also contain 5 new enemy types, each of which I'll give a little tease of here. There is also a new boss, but I'm gonna keep that a secret for now.
The new enemies include:
- Commander: A new stronger variant of the soldier
- Phantom: A weeping angel like enemy
- Biodrone: A new type of lighter enemy firing new parryable projectiles
- Bruiser: A beefy new enemy with a rocket launcher and meele attacks
- Kilnhead: A towering beast equipped with a devastating flamethrower
NEW WEAPONS AND GEAR
The new chapter will contain some new weapons and gear. While these have always been available in the sandbox, they will now be unlockable in the main course of the levels! Note that there are fewer new things than in chapter one as I am trying to space them out a bit more.
New items include:
- The Sniper Rifle: A heavy, long-range rifle with some interesting caveats.
- The Jackhammer: This piece of gear is used to push back enemies and temporarily delay their attacks.
- The Grenade Launcher: Launches explosive grenades that can bounce off walls and deal heavy splash damage.
NEW LEVEL MECHANICS
There are a number of new level mechanics in chapter 2. I won't show pictures of these because some of them are hard to show outside of screenshots, but I will offer a description.
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Updated Grapple Mechanics
The grapple has been updated with a number of improvements and new interactions including:- Improved clipping avoidance and fixes.
- Added Hookpoints, a new level object that allows the player to hook to a point with no collisions while automatically recharging their grapple.
- Added Kinetic Hookpoints, which are the same as hookpoints but catapult you through them on contact
- Added Pitfalls, which can only be crossed using the grapple or rocket ride. These have a lot of interesting interactions with Hookpoints.
- Knockback Mechanics which can launch the player in uncontrollable ways.
- Enemy Portals which continuously spawn enemies in certain areas.
- Teleporter level objects that require the player to hold down the interact button to charge up a one-way teleport.
RELEASE EXPECTATIONS
While I am not 100% confident, I would hazard to say to expect a May 2024 release for chapter 2. No promises though! I will work hard on this chapter to make sure that it is of a high quality and is more refined and complex than chapter one. Thank you for supporting Xenoterrestial, I am excited to work more on this game in the future.
And of course, there's another secret skin if you 100% complete the chapter (maybe even Xeno's first youtuber crossover???).