We’re about a week away from the BB2 release and I’m really interested in what’s in store for us in the next build. I’ve searched around a little, but couldn’t find anything, so I’m wondering if anyone has more information?
We generally don’t release information about what will be included in the Backer Build ahead of time. We always have a list of features we’d like to include, but it doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes you can add one simple thing to an already stable build that causes some major bugs. There’s only a 2 month cycle between builds, and we usually content lock about 2 weeks before release. If those bugs can’t be found and fixed in those two weeks, then that feature may have to go on hold until the next release.
For this reason, we don’t list what we plan to add, as people tend to raise their expectations and then get disappointed.
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You’ve got the official answer, and it’s clear as day.
If you’re up for a bit of conversation, what are hoping to see?
Technically build 3; build 2 was a quick bug-fix that allowed us to loot weapons off of dead comrades 
Only if you count in this way that different download has different file checksum. Real build number you have in main menu.
@UnstableVoltage That’s a shame, but it makes sense. (would you do it for a scooby snack? 
)
@MarkRichards Well, given the state of things, I am hoping we get to see the NJ technician, fog of war, a fully working queen and a reworked inventory. Maybe even Phoenix Project becomes a playable faction in this build? Further on, I would really like to see the Geoscape by the time BB3 is released, or BB4 at the latest.
I would shot for addition of (pick 5 from these):
- technician
- some NPCs (maybe from other factions)
- some different objective than “kill everything that moves and have different colour than you”
- new skills connected with new equipment (maybe armour sets?)
- maybe more advanced inventory management and/or mission briefing with choosing loadout for soldiers
- more mutations on crabmen and queen
- maybe some additional mechanic in combat (like different damage on different range, randomization of explosive accuracy)
- not likely but maybe interactive (not necessarily moving) Armadillo?
- new type of alien like Chiron?
- more randomized elements on procedural map (maybe with new hardness system)
EDIT. Bolded what is supposed to be true - hah 5 elements!. 
I hope this doesn’t freak out unstable voltage as this is more like enthusiastic chatter than entitled gamer demands 101 but I’d like to see a first take of the mist and/or fog of war sooner than later as it sounds like a key mechanic.
i don’t expect Fog of war to be different from other games since Warcraft 2, but the mist is supposed to be another matter entirely.
Please don’t bring back my roly-poly queen fantasies! (If this sentence was taken out of context anywhere else I dread to think of what it could be interpreted as)
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So how do you feel with recent news about ramming Armadillo and adapting queen? 
It would be nice if original backers could finally upgrade their pledge to get in on the backer build. Starting to frustrate me that people backing over a YEAR later seem to have more priority…
It is being worked on and should be available very soon. It’s something we’ve always wanted to offer and we dropped the ball on this one and take responsibility. However, you make it sound like Fig backers were denied the opportunity to get in on the pre-alpha, which is not the case. All backers were able to back at a level including pre-alpha access during the campaign.
Wrong choice at the start of your campaign, commander. Remember we’ll be watching.
Hi I’m new and I just backed the game. I’m still figuring out how I could have missed this game all this time. This thread made me just curious though, is there some kind of user input list that the devs tap into? If so, where can I find it?
How did you get that from my post? At no point said or even alluded to that. Simply frustrated that instead of using what money I had at the time to support development I could of just saved it and backed a year later and been in the Alpha/Beta…
Xsolla are working on it right now. We’ve been told it should be ready to go live along with our new store. We’re expecting it any day now. It’s unfortunate that it wasn’t in place before the Backer Build was launched, but nature of the beast I’m afraid. We’ve had to wait for our 3rd party vendor to redesign their system to allow it.
What do you mean by that?
I’m just glad it’s finally getting done. Only time its been mentioned before it was always “yes it’s something we’d like to do but we have no idea if we actually will.” Just hoping it’ll happen between now / during the next build.
don’t worry, current build is still far from complete product so you don’t loose too much. 2 maps with the same (little randomized) enemies and 4 fixed soldiers is interesting for a week. After that you start to write poems what would you want to see in final game and why current mechanics are piece of… cake (or at least some try to complain in such way).
It taught me one thing : Ramming attacks are a thing in Phoenix Point. IF the NJ APC can do it, I don’t see why a Queen wouldn’t ram it in return. I can also picture smaller aliens doing a juggernaut charge.
Nothing about one curling into an armored ball and using your troopers as bowling pins … yet.
But… but… you just did. 
Thinking about it some more, the way you handled it is the way to go forward, I think. As long as you inform people that things may change every time there’s a new build, it shouldn’t be a problem. It seems to me that people are mostly reasonable in this forum, so even if something is changed and people don’t like it, they will accept it when you explain the reasons behind the decision.
Anyway, keep up the good work.
Now, onto the blog post, I have a number of questions.
Technician
You’ve talked about the Technician’s abilities a lot. He seems powerful and versatile.What I’m wondering is what’s the catch? What are his downsides in comparison to other classes?
- Can he climb ladders?
- Is it possible for a soldier to still sustain limb damage that the Technician couldn’t fix, like an arm getting completely destroyed?
- Can he have different builds where he could come with a different turret (e.g. grenade launcher) or maybe Mech Arms which serve a different purpose? So you could, for example, trade heal/repair for Mech Arms which can grip walls/floors allowing you to climb a level without having to seek out a ladder.
- Does the Technician replace one of the Assaults in BB2?
Armadillo
- Does moving even just one tile cause the ram attack or does it need to each a certain speed before it will work?
- Reading the blog post again, you wrote that the path for the ram attack should be chosen carefully. Does this mean hitting objects or walls can cause damage to it? Are there other unintended consequences for the player?
- You’ve mentioned one downside to using it is that it can’t reach some places. Are there any other downsides to using vehicles to shield the soldiers from damage? Do they explode when destroyed? Possible high production costs of the Armadillo come to mind. OK, we’re not playing New Jericho in the full game so this doesn’t matter, but I assume this reflects on Phoenix Project vehicles, too.
Queen
Other than the new variant, have any other abilities been implemented?
New maps
New maps are mentioned in the blog post, but it looks like the same map in the blog post?
Question and comments not directly related to BB2
Seeing how much New Jericho has been implemented, I have to wonder, have you entertained the possibility of making the other factions playable as some sort of future DLC, provided that you had the funds?
One thing I have to complain about are the health and ammo indicators. For units that have a lot of health I can’t immediately tell how much they have without counting. Just adding a number alongside the pips would help a lot.
Similar to this, I’ve had situations where I had one shot left in the clip. I would then proceed to move into an exposed position to get a better shot at the alien which I thought I could kill or disable its arms or weapons, only to realize that I only had half of a shot. Again, just adding a number indicating the ammo count would solve this. Even just adding a striped pip for half-shot would be helpful.
One more thing that I would really like to see changed is the health status UI, both for the good guys and the bad guys. Right now, the only way for me to see the status of mutants’ health is to aim at them. Often what happens is that I will shoot a mutant trying to damage its arm or weapon, but not destroy it. Now, I may have done some damage to the limb or weapon, but I can’t see detailed information on that, unless someone was able to aim at the mutant. If I had that information, I could better assess what kind of a risk a certain action on my side would pose (e.g. running out of cover). Sometimes it’s also really hard to see the status of health of certain enemy limbs, when they’re being covered. Again, I could run to a different position to shoot at a limb, if I could only see its state beforehand.
Another problem like this is the health of my own soldiers, and especially weapons. I’ve noticed there are times when my soldiers get hit, but no information is displayed, not even “0 damage”. I assume it’s weapons get hit, but again, I can’t see the status of the weapons’ health. This would be useful information because if I saw that my main weapon is one pip away from being destroyed, I might decide to pull the soldier back a little or run away in search of a crate with a weapon.
Both of these could be solved with a paper doll for your soldiers and mutants, e.g. like the aiming interface of Fallout 1 and 2.
All in all, good work and I’m really looking forward to BB2.