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Astro Colony News

TWO YEARS of ASTRO COLONY

Hey Colonists!
This month we celebrated the two years of Early Access!
The next Major Update Life of a Colonist is around the corner and comes December 9th!

I would love to share some info about it:

[h2]LIFE OF A COLONIST comes December 9th[/h2]
Last month new devices were introduced, such as elevators to allow vertical movement of astronauts and robots and cable cars to transport goods over long distances and multiple stations.
With the upcoming update, to make astronauts more "human" and less NPC, more effort is required to provide for them. Together with the already-existing needs, oxygen consumption and fulfilling comfort are added.

[h2]OXYGEN[/h2]
Providing oxygen to the astronauts is now mandatory to make them able to live on the colony.
Without it, humans will simply lay down on the floor and notify need of assistance.

But no worry! You can share your own oxygen or build the oxygen barrier to rescue them.

Moreover, the barrier will now turn red if not enough oxygen tanks are provided.

[h2]COMFORT[/h2]
As an additional need, it won't punish the player, but rather help to increase efficiency.
When the level of comfort is high, all other needs are consumed slower. Now astronauts are checking if there are enough decorations placed nearby.

[h2]Improvements[/h2]
As always, every update brings more improvements overall:
1. Hearing many complaints, I decided that the starting hotkey layout has to be reworked, making it more similar to other established games.

  • Q - construction menu
  • Tab - Inventory
  • H - hide hand / selection mode

2. UI elements got reworked with more round backgrounds and icons.


3. The interaction panel will appear hovering objects to let players know when unique interaction is possible.

[h2]2 years of Astro Colony on Steam[/h2]
It's incredible how fast time flies by and how the game development is progressing.


The game since the Early Access launch has received over 260 patches and at least 5 major updates, such as:
  • ARCHITECTURE - hundreds of architectural elements and themes to customize them
  • PERFORMANCE - huge performance boost together with shader movement system for stations
  • TERRAFORMING - animals and plants collected on planets, new environments in universes II, III, IV
  • SANDBOX - new game modes giving freedom of construction
  • MULTIPLAYER 3.0 - with more reliable experience and solutions for default engine problems

We are not stopping there! On the way to release 1.0 I foresee additional updates, as illustrated in the current roadmap.

[h2]Techtonica released[/h2]
Our friends from Techtonica recently released their title!
It's a game about building factories and exploring voxel underground worlds.
Don' t forget to check it out as you like the genre!

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/43157/Techtonica__Astro_Colony/

Please don't forget to join Our Discord community to let me know about your Astro Colony wishes ;)



Thank you for your support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

Astro Colony - MODKIT 2.0

Hey Colonists!

The MODKIT just got big update to support all recent project changes related to Transport & Locomotion major update. Prepare yourself to unleash your creative side!

Gettings Started

All you need for modding is Unreal Engine 4.27 downloaded from Epic Games:
https://www.epicgames.com/

and on the same hard drive the AstroColonyMOD project, which you can download here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_a7RrhsYSqnMV-JhTC6RtUcS5hPwbkI9/




All example mods are updated:
  • Racing
  • Menu Music
  • Cheat Console
  • NewRecipe
and more examples will come soon!

Documentation

The documentation is now updated, showing new functionality. Please check this useful guide that shows step by step how to create a mod for the game, zip it and then share it with the community
https://bit.ly/AstroColonyDoc

I would love to post a tutorial about modding and simplicity of using Modkit 2.0.


Sharing your creations

To share your creations or find Mods, you can use two platforms Steam Workshop or Curseforge in the modkit!
MODS can be uploaded from Editor

In the modkit there are now 3 possible actions (buttons) located in the toolbar menu:
  • Create MOD
  • Package MOD - creates zip which can be tested and uploaded
  • Upload MOD (new) - uses Steam authentication to upload mods to CurseForge

Uploading mods becomes extremely easy. It only requires running Steam in the background, which will let you send mods directly to your Steam Workshop & CF library, at the same time sharing them with Astro Colony community!



Modkit has 100% functionality of the game, so you can do crazy stuff with it, like:
  • designing new voxel planets
  • creating space stations
  • defining new recipes
  • adding new devices
  • overriding game rules

Please join Discord modding channel where you can share your thoughts and get modding advises.
Expect more announcements soon regarding modding contests.

I cannot wait to see your creations!
See you soon Colonists!

Dev Broadcast Transport & Locomotion

Hello Colonists!

Today I am going to stream Astro Colony, showcasing the newest update about Transport & Locomotion!
Please come and say hello and share your feedback during the stream. I will answer all of your questions!

[h2]Next stream - WHEN (MONDAY 28.10)?[/h2]
  • 20:00 CET
  • 18:00 UTC
  • 14:00 EST

[h2]WHERE?[/h2]
  • STEAM
  • TWITCH

It may happen that we will get interrupted by my newborn son crying (obviously due to bugs) :D

For people who have Steam broadcasting issues, I am also streaming on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/Tefel




The game also yesterday received the hotfix update, which fixed all remaining reported issues.

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]
  • Fixed crash when picking up (MMB) twice the same thruster
  • Improved loading and cleanup when quitting the game. It's now faster and more reliable.
  • Fixed markers of Wagons to save their state

  • Starting cinematic is no longer showing HUD
  • Fixed issue where snap elements coulnd't be selected after loading planet of another universe
  • Fixed issue of rotating and moving snap elements in blueprint designer
  • Fixed issue of creating snap objects for walls
  • Improved construction of docking stations on the planet

  • Wagons that travel between stations have now correctly calculated relative coordinates
  • Loaded wagons are correctly loaded by finding a valid reference grid
  • Fixed issue with planet losing collisions due to using invalid voxel invoker
  • Fixed shader movement glitches such as jumping of space carrier when bringing astronauts to
  • station
  • Navigation points are now correctly calculated after using a hand drill
  • Barrier merging is improved to increase merge distance
  • Shader visuals have improved, and water is now more visible

Please don't forget to join Our Discord community to let me know about your Astro Colony wishes ;)


Thank you for your support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

TRANSPORT & LOCOMOTION UPDATE

Hey Astro Colonists!
The game just received the Major Update about transport and locomotion!
There are new systems in the game which improves astronauts, robots and resources movement.

[h2]CABLE CAR[/h2]

Cable car is the new advanced way to transport resources, water and gas between stations and planets. Its purpose is to cover great distances as you build a big space station docked together with other entities. This can replace the docking station's system of inside conveyor belts.


The system is composed of wagons (three typologies according to the resource to transport), depot (where wagons are built), ports (load-unload of resources), and poles in cases where the distance to cover is huge.

[h2]LIFT SYSTEM[/h2]

Elevator is an architectural addition to create faster vertical movement for astronauts and robots.
Build it next to the floor to make the entrance appears.
Two segments above the floor are enough to let astronaut to walk.

[h2]MERGING BARRIERS[/h2]

In addition to many other changes, long awaited barriers are now merged properly. Build as many barriers as you want, and they will be all merged into one big oxygen area.

[h2]NEW MUSIC[/h2]
🎵 Our composer Casper was recently busy working on Astro Colony music, there are already 2 more tracks composed. This update adds one of them to the game!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]What's next?[/h2]
This update was originally planned to introduce new human needs and ways to refill them. Some work was already begun. This means that you should expect another major update soon.
"Life of a Colonist" will come before Christmas.

In the meantime, you can also expect smaller patches improving stability and adding some missing elements like rotations of depots or the possibility for the player to use elevators as well!

Please share your feedback with me on Discord:
https://discord.com/invite/EFzAA3w


Thanks guys so much for support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

Astro Colony is part of the Space Exploration Fest!

Hello Colonists!

The next Major Update is just around the corner, it should come out next month.
In the meantime, I would love to invite you to celebrate Astro Colony
during the Steam Space Exploration Fest!



What makes Astro Colony a bit different from other automation / colony sim games is the exploration of the endless universe!

[h3]Space Exploration has never been cheaper[/h3]

You can get Astro Colony with a 50% discount during the Space Exploration Fest, until September 9th.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1614550/Astro_Colony/

Please share your feedback with me on Discord:
https://discord.com/invite/EFzAA3w

Thanks guys so much for your support!
Tefel (Terad Games)