Starcom: Unknown Space News

Last week I posted a survey on the game content, specifically the amount of content currently in the game and the kinds of content players would like to see more of.

I've received about 200 responses so far and overall most players said there's either enough or close to enough content currently. Still, almost 1 in 5 players said there was "way too little". Based on comments, I'm inferring most of these responses are mainly due to two reasons:

• Players love the game and want there to be as much content as possible
  
• There are particular kinds of content that players feel the game needs more of to feel complete (e.g., combat, void exploration, resolution to particular narratives, etc)
  

If you haven't yet, please take a moment to fill out the survey. And feel free to give details to your thoughts in the free response question.

Google Forms Survey Link

Also, as usual, here's an update of what I worked on this past week:

• Finished work on the weapon I mentioned last week
  
• Started work on a longer side quest
  

Until next week!
- Kevin

I've spent most of the past week working on some new content & features that I don't want to discuss for spoiler reasons, so I thought this would be a good time to conduct a player survey.

Specifically, I want to ask players how they're feeling about the current amount of content in game, and the types of content they'd like to see more of.

If you have finished playing either Icarus (the current default build) or Jupiter (the latest opt-in beta), please take a minute to answer this quick survey.

Google Forms Survey Link

Also, as usual, here's an update of what I worked on this past week:

• Finished work on the hidden side quest I mentioned last week
  
• Started refactoring a combat feature in anticipation of making it a player accessible weapon
  
• Continued work with Moritz on new tracks
  

Until next week!
- Kevin

I'm doing this week's update a day earlier than usual to coincide with Steam's Spring Sale. If you are about to start playing Starcom: Unknown Space for the first time, you may consider switching to the opt-in Jupiter beta branch. This is officially an "unstable" version but general feedback is that it is actually pretty stable and overall an improvement over Icarus (the current default). Since saves are not-compatible across named versions, if you want to try Jupiter you should switch before starting a new game.

Instruction for switching to the opt-in build here. The beta you want is unstable_jupiter.

Among other things, this is the first build to include an ending the game's main storyline. It also aims to address some of the areas where players report getting "stuck", so I'm very interested in hearing feedback from first time players.

Also, Jupiter enhances the shipyard with improvements like multi-module editing and setting design "goals" for trading.

A full list of changes in Jupiter can be found in this forum post.

What I've worked on in the past week:

• Changes to a late game mission to feel more "organic"
  
• Began work on a secret "side quest"
  
• Created 4 new anomalies
  
• FPS limiting option
  
• Altered ship log logic to show correct Anomaly images if the image changes during the course of interaction
  
• Worked with Mortiz on additional music tracks
  

As always, work mentioned in weekly updates are "in progress" and will not appear in game until the next build update and are subject to change.

Thanks playing!
- Kevin

As a bit of an experiment this week, I've created a video log entry. As I explain in it, sometimes there are topics I want to talk about that are better illustrated with video, like my process of creating anomaly images for the game. It's more time consuming that simple text updates, so they're not going to be a weekly thing, but if people find them interesting I'll probably do more, so please like & subscribe on YouTube:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

In other news, tasks from the past week:

• Bug investigations
  
• Work with Moritz and Hardy on new music, portraits
  
• Started planning work for the next named update, Kepler
  
• Misc. business stuff (taxes, etc.)
  

Until next week!
Kevin

After last week's update I pushed out a patch to the Jupiter opt-in which added "planning mode" to the ship yard. This will let players make changes to their ship without resource restrictions and then save these changes as a design goal. Then the player will be able to see in the Trade window how much resources they need for their goal.

This patch also added a mini-quest and five new anomalies, bringing the total of unique anomalies to over 200!



Speaking of anomalies, Steam Trading Cards have finally been added. For these, I had to re-render high-resolution images of ten anomalies. I picked a handful of my favorite anomaly images and then rounded those out with some different environments. I also added some space scenes composited in Photoshop from game environments. As I mentioned last week, one of these is now my desktop wallpaper:

Hi-res original here if anyone wants it.

This week I continued to work on some small bug fixes that have been reported in Jupiter. Overall, the feedback from players is that Jupiter is in very good shape. This is the first version to include an "ending". The number one complaint is that it feels a bit "on rails". While there's naturally going to be some guiding the player through specific end game events, I think there's room to open things up in some places.

There are also still some open narrative threads in the game. While I don't plan to explicitly answer all of the questions posed by the game's universe, there definitely are a few story lines that I agree feel incomplete. If there's a narrative that want to see developed further, let me know in the comments.

As a reminder, Jupiter is available as an opt-in build. It is not save compatible with Icarus, so you should only switch to it if you want to start a new game.

Thanks, until next week!

- Kevin