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AColony News

July News: Upcoming Animal Taming System

Hi everyone,

I'm fully working on the new update and I wanted to give you some quick news about the new upcoming animal taming & pets system!

I have to say, a lot here is still work in progress so there might be some changes when the final update will be released.

[h2]Animal Taming[/h2]
The next update will finally introduce the animal taming and pet mechanics to the game.

Of course, since this game is AColony, you will be able to tame any animal. This means that you can not only have chickens, foxes, cats or dogs as pets - you can also make bees, darkflies and centipedes of any level your favorites. (that includes queens and kings too!)



[h3]Trust Value[/h3]
The taming system will come together with a trust system which allows you to unlock different options / commands for your pets the higher their trust in you. Some of these option will be:

  • Follow owner
  • Execute non-combat commands
  • Execute melee attack commands
  • Execute ranged attack commands
  • Special commands which are only available for certain animals / insects


Pets can also be related to a colonist which is his owner. (one colonist can also own more than 1 pet)



[h3]New Job Section & Pet Display[/h3]
Since the mechanic for pets will later be extended to farm animals, I've added a new job section that will allow you to more easily prioritize colonist tasks in relation to animal care. (A new trait, called animal whisperer, is connected with this section too)

Additionally I have also implemented the option to show your pets at the bottom of the colonist overview menu.



[h3]New Items, Tables & Constructions[/h3]
In connection with the pets and animal taming system, there will also come new constructions, items and technologies. At the moment I'm working on the first parts which will also be available from the start of the technology tree.

  • Crafting table for animal feed
  • Basic animal feeder (gives higher trust value when used by pets)
  • Animal feed (plants)
  • Animal feed (meat)
  • Animal feed (human meat)


On the todo list there are also sleeping places and other various constructions for the pets.



[h3]New Animals[/h3]
Of course, the next update will also contain some new animals and insects and I have already designed a few of them:

  • Wild boars
    Wild boars will become a default animal in the world (like chickens or foxes) and will provide far more meat and clothing if your colonists butcher them (but they will also be more dangerous to hunt).
  • Carrion snails (or scavenger snails)
    These new and slow insects will appear in the world if you have many corpses (fresh or decomposing) lying around near to each other. They are usually not hostile and will try to eat the mentioned corpses.


There are also other animals in work, like cats, dogs, creatures living inside the mountains & more, but I will say more about them when the update is finally released! :)



[h3]Additional Points for next Update[/h3]
I'm constantly working on side mechanics based on your feedback and suggestions, and here are a few that should probably come in the next update as well:

  • Squad / multi-select manager for colonists
  • New mysterious wanderer event
  • Some new events regarding animals & very rare ones
  • Option to call wanderers via the radio station
  • Some improvements regarding the prisoner system
  • Some improvements regarding the building system
  • And much more


I hope you enjoyed this short news and are already looking forward to the next update,
Cheers!

v0.2.020

Hi everyone,
a new quick patch is out with some fixes (v0.2.020):

  • fixed transport meals to prisoners idle bug in online coop
  • fixed that traders sometimes didn't leave market table
  • fixed items where not able to be placed on zones with a mining job under it
  • fixed sleep by exhaustion could be forced on colonist death
  • fixed timestamp in status controller wrong loaded


Already fully working on the animal taming update,
Cheers!

v0.2.018

Hi everyone,
a new patch is out with some fixes (v0.2.018):

  • added forbid function to farming / plant zones
  • added forbid buttons to priority overview menu
  • colonist menu control settings buttons are visible if immobilized now
  • fixed job priority sometimes not taken of prison guards selected from prison board
  • fixed try re-equip lost weapon in near has highest priority (~12m)
  • fixed re-equip weapon wrong background ID chosen
  • trait appealing aura has now +10 relationship influence on other colonists
  • fixed that sometimes if a prisoners starves to death it was seen as execute action


Cheers!

Steam Summer Sale!

Hi everyone,

AColony jumped today into the Steam Summer Sale with a -30% discount!



I have to say, today is a really nice and scorching summer day here, but I'm already working on the new animal taming mechanic. In addition, I have also already started designing some new animals for the next update.

I hope you all have some hot and awesome summer holidays,
Cheers!

v0.2.017

Hi everyone,
a new patch is out with some fixes (v0.2.017):

  • added missing japanese translations for prisoners & faction system
  • added missing simplified chinese translations for prisoners & faction system
  • added missing french translations for prisoners & faction system
  • your colonists can re-equip lost weapons now (must be enabled in colonist menu)
  • updated room info panels for prisoners when pressing y or z
  • updated modern crossbow blood textures
  • fixed radioantenna access points for turn on or off
  • increased size of radioantenna by 10%
  • fixed tutorial arrows for widescreen & other size formats
  • network should accept p2p connection now on first try after closing active game in coop
  • fixed feed immobilized colonists of other factions bug
  • fixed feed immobilized colonists of otherfaction automatic job search bug
  • added visualizer to power switch connector block
  • neutral colonists no longer try to equip lost weapons again when enemies in near
  • you can go to event location by double clicking eventslot now
  • added faction banners to marking menu


Cheers!