Testing update

The new developer has had some computer problem that's holding up further bug fixing at the moment.

The beta testers are still play testing. Apparently there's still lots of things we've not found.

Hopefully when the next version gets a bigger release, and more people playing, you can help us track these secrets down!

And make sense of the cryptic hints we're teased with.

Play testing

Chapter VII is now being play tested.

The wait has been worth it, the new chapter is a huge addition to the game: lots of new heroes, new villains and countless events.

I can guarantee you will not expect one of the new heroes playable in the game. Good news is the secret character from the current version is much more easily recruited.

The villains are a great mix, one of whom sent chills down my spine when I saw my hero would have to battle that nasty character.

The battles are in the familiar classic X-Assault style, but with a new look interface, and a very different way to recruit characters.

More news to come!

More art

A few more new bits of art from the game I just noticed in my inbox.

A group of Avengers (including Iron Man and Wasp)



And a familiar looking wheelchair.

The bad guys

Chapter VII is now being tested and some more tidbits of information are coming through on the villains.

There are more villains in this chapter (17-18 depending on how you count) than the 12 in the original release of X-Assault.

New villains include Dragon-Man and Sandman. Returning villains include Toad and Blob, (and one would presume the Kick-fuelled Magneto!).

Just call for four

New screenshot! These are:

Avengers Assemble!

As well as the Fantastic Four there's a lot of Avengers as playable characters in Chapter VII.

Namor and Ant-Man are both Avengers. And so were Mr Fantastic, Invisible Woman and The Thing for a very short time.

I'm pretty sure Johnny Storm has never been an Avenger.

There are however other heroes who have been both members of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers: Luke Cage, She-Hulk, Crystal, and Black Panther are all examples.

Captain America, Thor and Firestar could all be back as well in an easier to recruit method.

Heroes ready

Some interesting tidbits about the new additions in Chapter VII.

There are at least 6 common characters, 6 uncommon characters, 4 rare characters, and some more that are rarer and harder to find.

The previously revealed new characters, Namor and Ant-Man, are both common, but the Fantastic Four are actually uncommon.

Exactly how a character can be common or uncommon is not yet known, but the recruitment method will be different (as Cerebro has a nasty run in with a villain at the end of Chapter VI).

There are 10 teams in the Chapter VII, including "Sue's Four" based on the team she led around 375-390 (when she also wore that hideous skimpy outfit and Thing wore a helmet!). I assume this would be the regular team with Ant-Man instead of Reed.

I also wonder if every previous member of the Fantastic Four might make it in to the game. Unlike the X-Men or Avengers, the roll call of all past and present Fantastic Four members isn't very long.

Chapter VII coming soon

Good news for those waiting to play Chapter VII, initial bug testing is about to start. Release of the next version should be soon afterwards.

At the end of Chapter VI the villains have conquered Manhattan, defeated all the X-Men who were recovered from their latest mindwipe, destroyed Cerebro.

But the Fantastic Four and their allies are coming to the rescue. Chapter VII promises new types of game play, new recruitment methods, many new characters and multiple endings.

It should be a lot of fun to play!

Keep watching this blog, Comixfan and the Wiki for more information.

More hints about Chapter VII

Over on the Comixfan forum there's more hints to what Chapter VII will feature (plus a few false statements to keep us guessing!) Check them out!

Three new villains

According to the developer creating Chapter 7, three of these villains have made it in to the game, but three haven't.

Absorbing Man, Nefaria, Carnage, Taskmaster, Sandman, Whirlwind.



(Note: this is not actual game art)

Which three would you hope made it?

Looking for a few new heroes

Over at the Comixfan forum they are discussing new villains and new heroes for the game. The villains are well catered for, but which non X-Men related hero would you want to see added to the game?

Post your suggestions there, or add them here and I'll pass them on.

Ant-Man

Interestingly, the wiki article on Ant-Man reveals that this is Scott Lang, not Hank Pym. As someone who was a fan of Scott Lang, and unhappy that he was used as fodder in Avengers Disassembled, I'm very happy with this.

X-Assault wiki

The X-Assault Wiki is developing into a very useful resource. Well worth checking out for gameplay tips and tricks. You might find out about characters you didn't even know were in the game!

Five things you don't know about the new X-Assault #5

It's about 65% done.


Partial Screenshot

Five things you don't know about the new X-Assault #4

Depending on how you play, a full chapter playthrough will include one mini-game and from three to five 'levels' or 'rounds', depending on how you play.

Five things you don't know about the new X-Assault #3

Chapter 7 introduces heroes that specialize in team support, rather than just beating the snot out of your opponent. Ant-Man is one of three.

Five things you don't know about the new X-Assault #2

Eight villains from the current X-Assault are in the new chapter, although not all of them are still villains.

This could be nine, since another can do a cameo during the mini-game.

Five things you don't know about the new X-Assault #1

Not counting the Fantastic Four themselves, five characters from the latest X-A are fully playable in Chapter 7, or possibly six depending on exactly how you count. Most of them are currently playable.

Wanna play?

Play the most recent version.

Your comments (good, bad, bugs) are appreciated. Please add comments to this post.

Release notes:

X-Assault Release Notes (abridged) from the people working on the game (I'm just sharing!)

Updates and changes in version 0.96 charlie:

- One new hidden playable character.
- Updated one mega-event to include new character.
- New Cerebro "Advanced Functionality" buttons - five in all.
- New "Recruit Survivors" function - allows you to recruit the surviving heroes used in your last mission. Not all characters are recruitable via this method.
- Updated artwork for some characters.
- Added more event and leader text for Thor and new character.
- Adjusted Sunspot's energy absorption to be more useful.
- Adjusted the odds of the Morph and Braddock Manor events activating.
- Ability to save games after successfully completing a mission added. NOTE: Loading a game ERASES the savegame data!!! Data stored includes chapter progress, Angel status, Juggernaut status, Cerebro energy, last used heroes (survivors), and some character stat information.
- Several bugfixes, including:
- Fixed a bug causing the game to freeze during the Beast's Dark Phoenix event
- Fixed a bug causing the Beast's Dark Phoenix event text not to show
- Fixed several instances of the wrong character picture appearing
- Fixed a bug causing the game to crash when a character took a very small amount of damage (such as Bishop while absorbing energy). PLEASE NOTE that I am not 100% convinced that the damage function is completely stable, it's better than it was, though. Let me know if you still encounter bugs.
- Fixed a bug causing the Dark Phoenix transformation events to be harder to trigger
- Fixed a bug causing the game to forget Juggernaut's status
- Fixed a bug causing the game to freeze when encountering Chapter 4's first hidden villain
- Fixed a bug causing Quicksilver to refuse to fight Chapter 4's first hidden villain
- Fixed a bug causing incorrect passwords to show after mission completion
- Fixed a bug that reversed Lady Deathstrike's INT and FIT stats during battle
- Other bug-fixes.




** Release notes from this point taken from the old Nixonvision.com website **


Updates and changes in version 0.96 beta:

- The X-Assault Chapter System - Content divided into six progressive chapters, with story elements.

- The Exiles - Six Exiles, four playable, appear.

- The Exiles Chapter - Accessible through a hidden entry point in Chapter 4. A separate plot, five new villains, five new playable heroes, several new guest appearances and events, and interlinking battles.

- Seven New Regular Playable Characters - Several new playable characters for you to recruit - including a New Mutant, Sage, and Xorn. Yes, Xorn.

- New Villains - Pyro, Spiral... and several others....

- Characters Switch Sides - A total of three of the game's villains could cross over and fight for your side. Yes, Juggy's one of them. Yes, Magneto's another. But the other...?

- Somebody Dies - And when this character dies, that's the last time you'll see 'em... well, at least until you shut down the game.

- Twelve New Hidden Characters - Counting the five new ones in the Exiles Chapter (did we mention you can bring one of your heroes from the regular game in to join the Exiles?), we've got a total of twelve new hidden playable characters. Mutants, heroes, villains, and more.

- Updated Art - Reload's coming... time to do an artistic revamp?

- Tweaked Battle Screen - A few new minor additions.

- More and Expanded Events - Get ready for over fifty new versus events!

- More and Expanded Dual-Techs - Like the Fastball Special? Ready for a few more events like it?

- MEGA-Events - Beat just about any opponent... instantly. Can you unlock the two mega-events?

- Defense Down - No more cheap victories with the Defend button - its effectiveness has been cut in half.

- Emma Frost - Significant stat boost for the White Queen. Look, Ma, now she's playable!

- Archangel - When Warren grows metal wings... the wings stay.

- Multiple Man - Don't get us wrong, we love Jamie... but he's just too powerful. So the first hit he takes will hurt him more. And we did something neat with his graphic, too....

- Age of Apocalypse Rogue - This incarnation of Rogue is much more likely to absorb her opponent's attributes in this version of X-Assault. And against Holocaust, that's no longer a bad thing....

- Dark Phoenix - Some hero powers will no longer work against Dark Phoenix.

- Juggernaut - We've redone the stats on the villainous Juggernaut. He's about as strong as he should be, now.

- Spider-Man - Fulfill the criteria, and Spidey's a LOT more likely to show up.

- The Sentinel - For some reason, the Sentinel wasn't always getting the bonus hit points it was supposed to have. Now it will. Oh, and a couple of characters have auto-kills on it.

- Doop - Doop can't lead.

- New Hidden Teams - They're in there, we assure you, straight from the winners of our Design Our Teams For US contest!

- Realigned Team Rosters - A bit more sensible... stuff like taking Beast off the X-Treme team, and Kitty off New Mutants.

- Random Hidden Team Data - Choosing the "Team Data" option on Cerebro will net you a different roster every time.

- Recruit Full Team - One-stop shopping for a full, official team roster.

- Free Credit - You're welcome, beginners... start the game with one unit of Cerebro energy, which you can use to automatically recruit any non-hidden character in the game, without having to stop the blinking light or answer the trivia questions! Or, of course, you could save it for some of the cool new stuff....

- The Avengers - You'll be able to recruit a full team of at least five Avengers for your squad. Spidey doesn't count. And you may also encounter several other Avengers during your quests....

- The Fantastic Four - You'll be able to recruit four team members who have all served as members of the Fantastic Four. And you'll also notice... those guys are up to something....

- Howard The Duck - The duck runs amuck.

- Special Guest Appearances - Hey... wasn't that...? And did I just see...?

- AI Improvement - The decent leaders may be a bit better now at suggesting how to attack... and the villains (well, the ones who aren't really dumb, anyway) also got a slight AI boost.

- Fall of the Clones - No more putting Professor X up against Onslaught... it ain't gonna happen. Oh, and we killed the dual Cyphers, too. And the twin Bamfs.

- Hulk-Team Supreme - Wanna fight the Hulk? If you set up to take on the Gamma Goliath, Onslaught won't periodically show up to spoil your fun anymore.

- Spider-Man Killed My Leader! - Fixed a bug where recruiting Spider-Man could sometimes make the game think that your team leader was dead.

- Omega Red Sucks! - Fixed the bug where Omega Red would sometimes absorb life from your character, even though the attack didn't penetrate.

- Not as Speedy - Slight bug we found, where some team leaders were giving an inordinately high bonus to speed, has been fixed.

- Bug-fixes - Seems like no matter how many we raid, there's always a few left. If we can find 'em, we can fix 'em.

- And More... - And after all that, we still haven't mentioned quite everything in the works....

The first mutant

Teaser

Back from the Dead?

If you'd like to help X-Assault "get better" check out the links to the right.

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