Coloniser News

Coloniser Lore: Keepers Tribe

[p]Salutations, colonisers!
[/p][p]We’re continuing our lore introduction and dissecting the Keepers tribe. It is the only tribe you can play right now via playtest, so some of you might have familiarity with them.
[/p][p]So, the colony ship Ulysses crashed and broke apart over an unfamiliar world. The original survivors were lucky enough to crash in a relatively peaceful, resource-rich part of Hastaris. As such, they were able to band together quickly and form a tight knit community. Many were from military backgrounds, bound by chain of command and protocols that had guided them through deep space. The crash was never part of the plan. For some, it was seen as a curse. For others, it became the moment to dig in and honor what was left of their mission.
[/p][p]Facing impossible odds of rescue in an unknown part of the galaxy, they embraced a new purpose: to guard the remnants of the ship and everything it stood for. They became the Keepers of the Site - order dedicated to maintaining watch over the crash site and any scattered remains of their once-great vessel.[/p][p][/p][p]Over generations, this watch turned into doctrine. Their society is built on strict hierarchies and military codes, where leadership flows directly from those most prepared to defend their way of life.
[/p][p]All of these will be reflected in their gameplay, at some capacity.[/p][p][/p][p]The Keepers prefer to fortify, hold ground, and outlast. Their expansions are slow but secure, building layer upon layer of walls and outposts.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Their armies are slow to mobilize but devastating when in position. Expect heavily armored infantry that can absorb punishment, backed by siege engines that can level enemy defenses.[/p][p]

Of all the tribes on Hastaris, the Keepers have preserved some knowledge and understanding of their ancestors. This means they can construct imposing structures and unlock powerful upgrades no one else can match.[/p][p][/p][p]To the Keepers, the crash sites are holy ground. They are always on the look out for remnants of the ship to claim and believe it’s their divine trial to guard it. Exploring far beyond those borders is seen as reckless, even heretical, unless done to secure or reclaim parts of the ship scattered across Hastaris.
[/p][p]Their ultimate goal is ascension. Whether that means one day returning to the stars or proving themselves worthy in the eyes of their gods is a question hotly debated in their councils. What is never debated is their unwavering commitment to the Site.
[/p][p]Wishlist Coloniser on Steam to stay updated on more tribe spotlights, gameplay reveals, and the other news. If you want to join the playtest, request it on Steam and join our Discord so you can let us know that you want to play the game.[/p][p]
Cantos Games [/p][p][/p][p]Discord Youtube Reddit X/Twitter Bluesky Instagram Facebook
[/p]

Coloniser Lore: The Beginning

[p]Salutations, Colonisers!

By the time you set foot on the young, untamed world of the planet Hastaris, generations have lived and died here. But how did they get here? And why are they so divided? Here’s a look at how everything began, and why the planet now teeters on the edge of war.
[/p][p]By the year 2500, humanity had mastered space travel. Different groups and movements on Earth could now send their own ships into the stars. One such group, driven by a new religious belief, had grown disillusioned with the state of life back home. They believed humanity had become too dependent on technology, straying far from nature and their god. Seeking a simple, purer existence, they raised funds, gathered followers, and launched into space aboard the colony ship Ulysses.
[/p][p]Life aboard the ship was seen as a necessary burden. For over forty years, they searched for a new home. They explored planet after planet but found none that felt right. Then, they encountered a strange phenomenon - a swirl of warped light surrounding a planet. Interpreting this as a divine sign, they approached. The ship was violently pulled through the anomaly, damaged, and deposited in a new part of the galaxy. Ulysses broke apart upon reentry, scattering escape pods, supplies, and people across the surface of this new world. Most of the main vessel sank into the ocean. Many escape pods crash landed in different parts of the planet.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Survivors began setting up camps, foraging for food and searching for other escapees. One such group called themselves the Keepers. They saw themselves as guardians of the crash site and the remnants of their old world. They hoarded whatever technology survived, even though most of it was rendered useless by the anomaly.
[/p][p]Over the decades, the Keepers fortified their territory around the crash, turning it into a sprawling settlement. In their eyes, despite being thrown wildly off course, they will one day be saved and return to the stars and being close to the ship will somehow help that. To them, the further they stray from the ship, the further they stray from rescue.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]That’s what caused the clash with others - while they saw themselves as the true inheritors of civilization, other tribes were viewed as fragmented, chaotic, or barbaric.[/p][p][/p][p]Centuries passed. The true story of the journey faded into myth. Survival took priority. The Keepers evolved into a deeply religious and militaristic society. But that’s a story for another blog post. We’ll see you next week when we’ll deep dive into Keepers tribe.
[/p][p]And yes, Coloniser is primarily a multiplayer game, but we plan to have a singleplayer campaign that will introduce you to the current lore, tribe differences and guide you through the game’s progression. You know, something to warm you up for the multiplayer experience.
[/p][p]Stay tuned, wishlist Coloniser, join our playtest and talk to you more next time.[/p][p]
Cantos Games [/p][p][/p][p]Discord Youtube Reddit X/Twitter Bluesky Instagram Facebook
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Patch Notes (0.3.16.21.1.1018)

[p]Salutations, Colonisers![/p][p][/p][p]The new patch is ready for playtesters. It introduces new camera perspective, a new wall building tool, some rebalancing, quality of life improvements, and a lot of bugfixes. Read the log below for the full info:[/p][p][/p][h2]New Camera[/h2][p][/p][p]We’ve recently experimented with orthographic perspective in the game and loved it so much that we decided to implement it in the game. Our biggest inspirations use this type of camera and we can see why - it works so well. For this to work, we dabbled and tweaked some in-game lighting and you can see the result above. How about it?[/p][p][/p][h2]Diagonal Wall Placement[/h2][p][/p][p]One of the most frequent requests from the previous public demo was the ability to build diagonal walls. Good news - you can do that now, as our building wall/gate placement behavior has been rebuilt with drag & drop walls including diagonal placements. There is more to do here including updated diagonal wall visuals, but this is a good starting point. Let us know your impressions![/p][p][/p][h2]Quality of Life Improvements [/h2][p]Performance & Gameplay Improvements:[/p]

[p]Some performance optimizations were implemented, which should result in a slight FPS gain.[/p]
[p]Hostile NPC/player units will no longer follow your units if you get out of their view/range.[/p]
[p]When hitting buildings, catapult projectiles now impact more varied locations instead of the same spot repeatedly.[/p]
[p]Unit and building stats have been reduced downward, but should maintain the same overall balance.[/p]
[p]Keepers tribe now gets Valor Rewards for completing Walls, Gates and Towers.[/p]
[p]Gampha animals (those elephant like creatures) have lower armor, health and attack now. They should be easier to attack now.[/p]

[p] UI & Visual Improvement:[/p]

[p]We’ve removed how many colonists work on what resource from the top bar UI resulting in a better clarity.[/p]
[p]Resource outline size has been reduced for cleaner visuals.[/p]
[p]Health bars were updated for consistent display across resources, buildings, and units and state (if the units/buildings are enemy, ally or neutral).[/p]
[p]Some in-game text has been updated for clarity and consistency.[/p]

[p]Audio Improvements:[/p]

[p]SFX for repair actions have been added.[/p]
[p]Additional SFX for Gampha creatures have been added and existing sounds have been improved. [/p][p][/p]

[h3]Bug fixes[/h3]

[p]Fixed the crash caused by selection of an Armory building and/or any Armory recruitment icon.[/p]
[p]Fixed several minor crash occurrences.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where black health bars of depleted resources wouldn’t disappear from a screen.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where health bars of units, buildings and resources would be displayed as full despite the decreased health value of the assets.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where health bars of buildings, units and resources would not be visible on default camera zoom level, after joining a server.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where the Leave Game menu wouldn’t open anymore if you closed Diplomacy and Shortcuts by rapidly pressing the ESC button .[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where keyboard shortcuts for Diplomacy / Chat / Shortcuts would be enabled even while the Leave Game menu was opened.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where Chieftain related technologies would raise only maximum HP without expending the current HP.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where healers were able to target and heal units with full health.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where the selection panel of buildings would keep the same elements even if during that activity you achieved Era advancement/regression.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue that prevented you from selecting, using or ordering units and buildings while the Chat Panel was open.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue that made the game stutter/freeze for a moment while the gameplay music was changing to a different track.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where units would stay in the attack animation even after combat has ended.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where sfx for building wouldn’t work as intended.[/p]

[p][/p][p]And that would be all for this round of updates and improvements! Let us know how it goes and share your impressions in the comments and join our Discord server for the additional feedback and a chance to talk to the devs. If you have any questions, be sure to check our previous post, where we answered some frequently asked questions. We’ll have more improvements next week, so stay tuned!

Cantos Games [/p][p][/p][p]Discord Youtube Reddit X/Twitter Bluesky Instagram Facebook [/p]

How to playtest Coloniser and invite friends

[p]Salutations, colonisers![/p][p][/p][p]Have you had a chance to try Coloniser? You can request the playtest via the game’s page. Once you do that, join our Discord and let us know that you want to play the game and the country your account is in so we can allow it (that's the only visibility Steam gives us).[/p][p][/p][p]Joining our Discord will allow you to provide the feedback directly to the team and allow you to shape Coloniser into something great.[/p][p][/p][p]If you have acess to the playtest, you can invite friends to join you![/p][p][/p][h3]STEAM FRIEND INVITES[/h3][p]Colonisers are able to invite three (3) friends through the Steam client! They must have been friends with you on Steam for at least 30 days to be eligible to receive an invite. Please note: Friend Invites may be disabled during the playtest based on server capacity, but for now no such restrictions are planned.[/p][p]To invite friends, simply go to Coloniser Community Preview in your library. When this option is available, you’ll see a notification that you can grant your friends access to the playtest.[/p][p][/p][p]The Invites Remaining button will redirect you to the Gated Access Games on your account page (you can also access it here).[/p][p]
[/p][p]Open the dropdown button to access the Invite Friends button.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Your friend will need to accept the invite from their Steam notifications. This friend invite system is currently in beta, and invitations could take some time to arrive.[/p][p][/p][p]If you are using Friend Invite, your friends will be able to instantly download the game and play it, avoiding the need to be on the waiting list.[/p][p][/p][p]If you want to explain them what Coloniser is about, send them this video:
[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p] Let us know how it goes and share your impressions in the comments and join our Discord server for the additional feedback and a chance to talk to the devs.
[/p][p]We’ll have more improvements next week, so stay tuned[/p][p][/p][p]Cantos Games [/p][p][/p][p]Discord Youtube Reddit X/Twitter Bluesky Instagram Facebook
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Patch Notes (0.3.14.24.1.925)

[p]Salutations, Colonisers! The new patch is ready for playtesters. It has the reworked chat system, new server UI, some asset polishes and a lot of quality of life improvements. Read the log below for the full info:[/p][p][/p][h2]Chat System reworked [/h2][p][/p][p]The chat log provides real-time communication and system feedback to players. It is designed to be minimally invasive and fully customizable, allowing players to remain focused on gameplay while staying aware of key social and system events. It replaces previous toast and notification systems. [/p][p]With the Chat System Reworked: [/p]

[p]You can send messages - either public or private[/p]
[p]You’ll get in-game notifications.[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Quality of Life Improvements [/h2][p]Performance & Gameplay Improvements:[/p]

[p]Game initialization is further optimized for faster loading times.[/p]
[p]Units now stop gathering resources after you’ve logged off while the instance is still running. This is done for pacing and balancing purposes.[/p]
[p]Some trade and stat tweaks are implemented to impact the scenarios where you would build Marketplaces next to Bazaars and exploit trade that way.[/p]
[p]Cleric's description now clarifies that they can only heal your units and not anyone you allied with.[/p]
[p]Colonists' movement speed stat received some rebalancing. Now they are slower than cavalry.[/p]
[p]Fog of War edges should appear smoother now.[/p]
[p]A more appropriate popup text is displayed when you want to exit the match now.[/p]
[p]The lock icon (for buildings that can’t be used) is displayed above the building's HP bar now.[/p]

[p] Visual Improvements: [/p][p]Units:[/p]

[p]Death animation of units now lasts several seconds longer before they “decay” through the ground.[/p]

[p]Buildings:[/p]

[p]Wanderers Bazaar building received a redesign.[/p]
[p]We’ve removed some stray building elements from the map.[/p]

[p]Environment:[/p]

[p]All resources (ore, stone, food, trees) on the map are now 1x1 in size.[/p]

[p]UI :[/p]

[p]Mouse cursor has been replaced with a gauntlet.[/p]
[p]A new movement marker has been implemented (it appears when you select a unit and with right click direct it to a location).[/p]
[p]Speed stats of the unit will also be displayed upon that unit selection. [/p]
[p]Unit selection outline color has been improved.[/p]

[p][/p][p]The new server screen has been implemented (first iteration): [/p]

[p]Clearer navigation[/p]
[p]You can favorite servers[/p]
[p]You can see the people playing on certain servers[/p]

[p]Some things (like Ping) are placeholders. Many more things will be added in the future. [/p][p][/p][h3]Bug fixes[/h3]

[p]Fixed the issue that allowed you to see enemy siege units' VFX in the fog of war area.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where hovering mouse over units & resources would reveal their outlines.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where in some cases a spam of error messages would appear after you killed an animal.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where in some cases you had to press the ESC button multiple times to get the Leave Match menu.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue that prevented you from placing building blueprints on the ground in some cases.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue that prevented you from placing constructions after rejoining a persistent server in some scenarios. That usually occurred if you previously placed a couple of constructions on those spots before leaving the server.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where Buildings of the defeated player would still be visible to other players on the persistent server.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where buildings would be missing outline upon their selection.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where rejoining the server during a big fight would give 0HP to some units and those units couldn’t die nor be controlled.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where sometimes offensive units would not display attack animations during a fight.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue that made some players stuck at the loading screen during the joining server phase.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue that allowed your catapults to destroy neutral Wandering Bazaars with their area damage.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where if a ranged unit attacked an enemy target, sometimes their projectile would be displayed as flying across the whole map instead of going toward the target.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where all buildings would have their outline highlighted after rejoining the server.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where upon units death, they would clip with the ground, and parts of their models would be highlighted on their death animation.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where Supply Wagons would ignore the queued move orders.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where the map areas would appear as hidden after rejoining the server because those areas were previously revealed by ally's units and buildings.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where Supply Wagons were treated as the Civilian units for selection purposes. This would make them omitted during the click and drag selection of military units.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where resource gathering SXF would be missing from the game.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where units would keep Supply Wagon's buff even after leaving its range.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where in some cases resource tiles would remain visible after they are depleted.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where parts of spaceship wreckages allowed for building and walkability.[/p]