"Confirmed" Features in Alpha 2

[TronPrime1]

So, I've been scouring the forums to make a compilation of all of the things that have official word of being in Alpha 2. Note that none of this is 100% confirmed, it's just all of the things that Tynan has talked about in a post, and publicly liked, or stated that it was already working in Alpha 2

Combat

Non-Lethal Weapons (Stun Gun? Gas Grenade? Dart Gun?):
Tynan stated on the famous Cheap Weapons topic that one of the best ideas yet was Non-Lethal weapons. These would be primarily used for capturing raiders instead of killing them.  NOTE: Confirmed to not be in Alpha 2

Quote: "Nonlethal weapons is one of the best ideas in this thread so far "

Deeper Shooting Mechanics:
This one is a bit more difficult. Basically it means that higher-level soldiers will be more accurate, and less 'nooby' with their shooting. I'll let Tynan explain. NOTE: Confirmed to not be in Alpha 2

Quote: "I would like to deepen the shooting timing mechanics. You'd get things like controlled bursts
from skilled shooters, wild sprays from amateurs, varying load times, and so on. It just hasn't been essential enough to do yet."

Less OP Blasting Charges, or NO Blasting Charges

This one I'm a little sentimental about... I just got to know the blasting charges, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME. All emotional breakdown aside, Tynan has given two possibilities to the fate of the blasting charges. Fate 1: They're gone. Kaput. Dead. Taken from existence. Fate 2: Raiders given AI to shoot and detonate Blasting Charges prematurely.

Quote:  "I was thinking I'd just either cut [Blasting Charges] (they're not that interesting, really, and don't make much sense in the simulation since none of your colonists are setting them off), or make it so some percentage of raiders are smart enough to stop and shoot them on sight."

Food

More Growable Plants

Tynan has specifically given us details about more plants, and has even told us it's coming in Alpha 2 (Or the next build, I'm assuming that's Alpha 2)

Quote: "This is actually coming in next build. I'm going to add some varied crops, you can set what grows in each zone, growing zones can be shaped any way you like (like stockpiles), you'll be able to grow decorative/dangerous plants as well as food..."

Hunting/Cooking

This one is actually one of the most anticipated features in Alpha 2, and the most confirmed out of all that I've looked through. Basically, you're going to be able to hunt and kill muffalos and possibly squirrels. It's also been "confirmed" that cooking and eating raider meat is going to be a thing. Bleagh.

Quote: "That's the beauty of a game like this. When you put in a game system, you just let it run to completion. So for a meat eating system, you'd have to artificially prevent it from producing human meat. And why would I do extra work to prevent that? Though I will have to do some work to create the proper psychological effects. But hey, it'll be worth it."

User Interface

Noticeable Messages
Yet another awesome idea from the Cheap Ideas topic. Basically, this guy told Tynan that he misses messages quite a bit (understandable, I do too ), so, he asked for a toggleable setting to make the messages more clear. Like it'll pause the game when you get a notification and automatically open it. Personally I like this idea. Link: http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=174.msg17808#msg17808

Quote: "...I'll look into it."

Construction

Walls Without a Roof
Hold on to your pants, we're about to get Roofless Walls!

Quote: No-roof regions have been programmed and are working well for Alpha 2.

Gathering Area (Bar? Pub?)
Oh, how I love this idea. Basically you have some sort of object or zone that you can define as a "Gathering Zone" or maybe a "Bar." It's a place where your idling colonists can hang out, relieve stress, and possibly take a nap. This one needs a link because Tynan's response is somewhat generic. Link: http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=2024.msg18827#msg18827

Quote: It's such a good idea that I put it on my short range to do list just a few days ago! Hopefully in Alpha 2.

Modding

Modding Support

Yes, there is going to be fully functional modding content in Alpha 2. Can't wait to see all of the things you guys come up with!

Quote: "...modding will be pretty fully supported in Alpha 2..."

So that's the list so far. Be sure to shout at me down below if I missed something important.

[Semmy]

No blasting charges in alpha 2 for now.
And no melee weapons.

Ow and if you want to know what is added follow the patchnotes (-:
He updates them every time he finishes something on the game.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_rCdGYp3nbSUXFG4Ky96RZW1cJGt9g_6ANZZPOHyNsg/pub

[TronPrime1]

No blasting charges in alpha 2 for now.
And no melee weapons.

Well, there goes my minefield... Not having Melee weapons isn't really a feature as much as it's a lack of a feature. I didn't put melee weapons anywhere in the OP.

I'm trying not to put in what's already 100% confirmed as much as things that are speculated to be in Alpha 2 that aren't done yet. Thanks for the link though

[Semmy]

Sorry i was referring to the non-lethal weapons.
My mistake.

[bigwolf2101]

turrets looking week since thay week

[Tynan]

All correct except the first two. Mods are in and pretty full-featured, but they're still just content, there's no code API yet.

My daily changelog is public, so you can pretty easily see what's been changed: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_rCdGYp3nbSUXFG4Ky96RZW1cJGt9g_6ANZZPOHyNsg/pub

[TronPrime1]

My daily changelog is public, so you can pretty easily see what's been changed:

Well, I wanted to go through and put in the features that people would care about the most in a single place. I'm sure that  the new AI failure condition framework is fascinating to you devs, but it doesn't mean much to us. This is basically a list of anticipated, highly suggested features that you've made comments on that make it seem like a liable feature in the next update.

[Tynan]

My daily changelog is public, so you can pretty easily see what's been changed:

Well, I wanted to go through and put in the features that people would care about the most in a single place. I'm sure that  the new AI failure condition framework is fascinating to you devs, but it doesn't mean much to us. This is basically a list of anticipated, highly suggested features that you've made comments on that make it seem like a liable feature in the next update.

OK, well, I'm not suggesting that the changelog replaces your list, just that it may be a source of info for you.

[Hieronymous Alloy]

It's pretty awesome that the daily changelog is public, thanks!

That said, I'm a little worried about the removal of blasting caps. Without the addition of something else to give the settlers increased firepower, it's going to be *really* hard to keep a colony going for very long -- turrets just don't cut it after a certain point.

[thestalkinghead]

It's pretty awesome that the daily changelog is public, thanks!

That said, I'm a little worried about the removal of blasting caps. Without the addition of something else to give the settlers increased firepower, it's going to be *really* hard to keep a colony going for very long -- turrets just don't cut it after a certain point.

i have found that just a thin(ish) corridor maybe 5-7 squares wide made out of 2 overlapping walls (-) with debris (X) in the middle with sand bags (S) to cover your colonists (C) from Raiders (R) and maybe if you need it Turrets (T) like this:

-----------------------------
C S                       XXXXXX     RRR
C S                       ---------------------------
     
        T               T

is the best and cheapest defence to kill Raiders.

maybe add some single square walls every other tile with sand bags in between for extra cover as well like this:

SSSSSSSSS
-S-S-S-S-S-
C C C C C C

[Hieronymous Alloy]

Yeah, and you can amply that effectiveness by using wall/sandbag "crenelations" and a few other tricks. Still, after a certain point it seems like blasting caps are fairly critical. A significant improvement in colonist shooting/reloading ability could make up the difference I guess, or additional turret upgrades, or a number of other things.

[thestalkinghead]

Yeah, and you can amply that effectiveness by using wall/sandbag "crenelations" and a few other tricks. Still, after a certain point it seems like blasting caps are fairly critical. A significant improvement in colonist shooting/reloading ability could make up the difference I guess, or additional turret upgrades, or a number of other things.

lol i was just adding that bit , and with this technique the best weapons are actually the long range burst weapons rather than snipers because more bullets down the death corridor is just better, but a few snipers are good

[Tynan]

If you wish, you could mod the blasting charges back in. It would take like 90 seconds. I even left the xml data in, commented out.

[palandus]

Or modify the turrets / weapons as they are all modifiable now in XML form.

[Alandil]

I feel the love for the charges is rather a symptom of the underlying "limitless raiders" issue.

Maybe they can involve into mines someday, since no one triggers them anyway.
(Or in the very far future, maybe there will be different power-cables for separate circuits and a colonist actually triggers them with the push of a button.)