Colony Survival News

This Sunday, Father's Day, the Early Access release of Colony Survival will be two years ago! The game was a lot simpler back then. There was a handful of jobs and items and the progression was very shallow. The game was meant to be played with a couple of dozen of colonists.

To introduce some much needed depth and complexity, we quickly added the current science system. It has served us well, and a similar system will always be in Colony Survival.

But the current version has quite a lot of drawbacks. On one hand, it's the center of the game. It constantly needs new resources and items, encouraging players to expand. But in 0.7.0, with the happiness system and the exotic biomes, expansion itself is way more complex than it was in the past. Colonists now need an ever increasing variety of items instead of merely bread and ammo.

So science has become less central to the game. In the past, producing hundreds of science bags was one of the most complex things you could do. In 0.7.0, you'll be producing thousands of happiness items per day for large colonies. But the game ignored that. It only rewarded you for the science items you made.

This felt wrong. We wanted to reward players for expanding, despite its challenges. We'd like to recognize and reward players when they recruit hundreds of colonists, distribute thousands of happiness items and fire tens of thousands of missile projectiles.

The current science system purely relies on items in the stockpile. The scientist grabs and consumes them for his science cycles. It's very difficult to add statistics like "# of colonists in the colony", "# of luxury meals distributed" and "# of crossbow bolts fired" to that system.

We considered replacing the science system with a system that relies more on "counters". Instead of your scientist consuming 10 flax, you'll have to harvest 100 of it - but you can keep the flax and use it for other purposes. That shouldn't change gameplay much in the early game, except for preventing people from accidentally starving their colony by consuming food as science items.

For the end game, instead of asking players to make "science bags" with arbitrary end-game items, the focus will lie on distributing large amounts of end-game happiness items. Fundamentally, the system is not very different, but we feel it fits 0.7.0 a lot better. One final improvement is the fact that it allows us to use stats like "# of bronze arrows fired". We'd like to add some of these requirements where they're appropriate. It would be weird to skip bows and go straight from slings to crossbows without ever having fired an arrow.

It's a very big decision, and we did not want to implement it without asking feedback from the community. We didn't want to wait a week before working on it either, so we posted this message. We received a lot of feedback! Over 400 people voted in the poll. Thanks a lot :D

Here are the results:



A majority of the voters supports adding the new system, but a large minority is still skeptical.



The ratings for the old system are pretty low. A rating of roughly 5 to 7 is most popular.



The new system does a lot better! The rating seems improved to 7 to 9.



Nearly half of the community is unreservedly in favor of the new system. More than a quarter leaves the choice to us. The last 23% wants us to leave the science system alone or at least think of a better alternative.

Lastly, we asked about the priority of potential new features. Here are those results:



The priorities of the community seem to align pretty strongly with our plans for post-0.7.0-content! I'm very excited about industrial content, new guards and new monsters. The new save system was made with Steam Workshop in mind. Better animations and PVP certainly have benefits, but other things currently have a higher priority for us. We were just surprised about the lack of enthusiasm for splitscreen. We love that feature, but that might be the result of being brothers :)



We've decided to go ahead with the new progression system! Zun has worked very hard in the past couple of days and we think we've now got a pretty functional build with the new version. When the blog is released, I'll go test it and later in the weekend it should be available for all open beta testers.

It was a busy week, but we feel like the new changes mitigate most of the issues described in last week's Friday Blog. This is the last big feature change planned for 0.7.0. For the next couple of weeks, we'll mostly focus on polishing, balancing and fixing smaller issues, and then we'll be ready for the full public release!

Bedankt voor het lezen :)

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In last Friday's blog we describe the biggest problem we've encountered. It can be hard to get 'into the flow' of the game, and it ends pretty abruptly when you've unlocked most of the tech tree.

We've done a lot of thinking and discussing. We're thinking of replacing the current science system with a lot of "counters". For example:

• Gather 100 berries - Unlock bread production
  
• Gather 50 copper ore - Unlock bronze anvil
  
• Kill 100 monsters - Unlock archers
  
• Reach 100 colonists - Unlock banner range increase I
  
• Fire 5000 bronze arrows - Unlock crossbow bolts
  
• Reach 500 colonists - Unlock banner range increase III
  
• Produce 3 gliders - Unlock colony starter kit
  
• Consume 100 tea - Unlock health upgrade IV

We needed the science system to add diversity and complexity to the game nearly two years ago, but all of the new items, features and jobs in 0.7.0 make running a colony complex enough without the necessity to produce hundreds of science bags.

We feel the new "counter-system" has many benefits over the old science system:

1. The old system indirectly encouraged colony growth, the new system directly counts, displays and rewards colony growth
   
2. The old system consumed resources, which could disrupt the balance of your colony. The new system merely counts them. We feel this is more realistic. In real life, we got better at making spears and arrows because we made a lot of them and used them for hunting and warfare, not because we sent some to a scientist where they just disappeared.
   
3. The requirements of the old system changed haphazardly from one research to the next, the new system will have more requirements that grow along with the colony in a more stable and predictable way, like "reach X colonists", "kill X monsters".

The new system also has drawbacks:

1. The old system had specific in-game colonists (scientist, technologist) with their own job blocks, the new system will probably be a more abstract interface element
   
2. The old system was more active [select research, gather items, do science] while the new system is more passive [watch counter, click "complete" when done]
3. The old system had specific ingredient requirements matching the ingredients required to craft the unlocked item, the new system will have less specific requirements
   
4. It will probably delay the definitive release of 0.7.0 by ~two weeks

We believe the new "counter-system" to be a significant improvement, that will both make the game more intuitive for new players, and provide longer lasting rewards and entertainment for large colonies. It also makes the core gameplay of 0.7.0 feel different from earlier versions.

But before implementing such a drastic change, we'd love to have your feedback! Here's a form where you can leave your opinion about the proposed changes. And while we're busy, we'd love to ask you some other questions about the future of Colony Survival!

Bedankt voor het lezen :)

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The response to the Open Beta has been overwhelming! We're currently at 662 663 testers - only counting the ones who've joined since the last blog.

It has been extremely useful. 0.7.0 contains many new features, recipes and UI elements. Playing the game from start to the last science unlock without using cheats literally takes days. It's very different from the game we released nearly two years ago. We could playtest that version in it's entirety in 90 minutes.

We've received an immense amount of feedback. Small bugs, typos, glitches, inconsistensies in the tech tree, balance problems. The testers are doing a great job, despite many features lacking explanation and the quick-start-menu not being updated.

We immediately took care of many of the smaller problems. But there are some larger issues that will probably only be solved in later updates. The issues are best explained by dividing the game in three stages:



You've just bought Colony Survival, and perhaps you aren't very experienced in (voxel / strategy) games. Now you've got to figure out how the game works. You need to learn about the command tool, the banner tool, recruiting colonists, placing jobs, adjusting recipes. With some experience, seriously reading the quick-start-menu and persistent experimenting, you'll probably get a colony up to speed, but it's not intuitive and smooth.



You've mastered the basics. You understand how to recruit colonists, give them jobs, feed them, make them happy and defend them from monsters. You've unlocked the first steps of the tech tree.

For your next science unlock, you need that new crop or ore, so you place some new jobs and recruit more colonists. You need a new building for your beds. The monsters are overwhelming your defenders! More guards. Now they're unhappy. More happiness items!

I think this is the best stage of Colony Survival. It's immersive and engaging.



You've got most of the important science unlocked. You could gather some extra happiness items, but happiness is stable and you don't need more colonists. Perhaps you decide to build something beautiful, or you want to recruit as many colonists as possible, and you're motivated by your own goals. Or you're a bit disappointed and bored and decide to quit the game.



We think we can improve the Stage-1-issues by adding some kind of "Mission System". Imagine a new tabbed menu with a series of missions.

• Place the banner
  
• Place three beds
  
• Recruit three colonists
  
• Recruit a berry gatherer
  
• [...]
  
• Unlock matchlock guns
  
• Build a colony in the tropics

Each mission can be clicked on for a more detailed description of how to accomplish the task exactly. It would introduce each of the mechanics to new players, without hindering experienced players in any way. I doubt we've got enough time to polish 0.7.0 ánd add this new feature, but I think it would be a great addition in 0.7.1 or 0.7.2.

Fixing the Stage-3-issue is a lot more complex and time-consuming. We're thinking of industrial content, more diverse weapons and monsters, and special monster waves that can be triggered for a unique reward. If you've got ideas how we can encourage people to recruit thousands of colonists, and both reward them ánd keep the game challenging, please let us know! We'd love to hear your ideas.

Bedankt voor het lezen!

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After nearly a year of work, we've finally got a relatively playable version of the dev branch! Here's a list of some of the new features and content:

• Happiness mechanic - As your colony grows from a quiet farming village to a bustling city, their demands increase. Feed them well and give them luxury items to keep them happy. Or don't, and watch your science speed & productivity plummet while recruitment costs dramatically rise.
  
• Co-op - It's now possible to share a colony with friends!
  
• Dozens and dozens of new items and jobs - fishermen, cooks, diamonds, tea, coffee, silk, and last but not least, potatoes!
  
• Entirely new world generation - It uses a combination of temperature and "rainfall" (not visible, but a lush forest obviously has more rainfall than a desert) to determine what the area should look like.

• Three exotic regions - There's now a Far East, Tropics and New World, each with their own unique science, jobs and research!
  
• Multiple colonies mechanic - Craft a Colony Starter Kit and start new colonies.
  
• Glider - Research and craft a glider and take to the skies for rapid exploration and travel!
  
• Trading - Set up traders to sent items and science from one colony to another, or to other players in multiplayer.
  
• New Unity Version - Includes a multitude of updates which solve common problems
  
• Dramatic optimization - Terrain should load a lot quicker, and you ought to be able to have a lot of extra colonists!
  
• New save system - Savegames are 10 times smaller, making saving and loading 10 times as quick. They're also 10 times less likely to corrupt! It's also prepared to deal with the Steam Workshop.
  
• Easy co-op hosting - It's no longer necessary to browse through the installation folder and find a separate server. Set up a multiplayer server with friends right from the main menu!
  
• LAN support - By popular demand.
  
• Plenty of other small optimizations - You can now recruit as many colonists as you've got unfilled jobs or beds in one click, or enter a custom number. A lot of old and ugly hand drawn icons have been replaced with rendered icons. Some job blocks have been replaced as well.
  

This is the most dramatic overhaul Colony Survival has ever had. 0.6.3 was highly polished and balanced - 0.7.0 is not like that. You should be able to have many hours of fun with the beta, but you will run into errors, missing content, highly unbalanced recipes and unfinished elements.

But if you understand that and are still looking forward to testing 0.7.0 and sharing your experiences with us, we'd love to have you on board! We're planning to keep the Open Beta live until the definitive release of 0.7.0. Make yourself invaluable by sharing good and detailed feedback, and you'll be invited to future internal testing as well.

Join the open beta by going to #introductions in our Discord and typing something like the following sentence with the appropriate info:

"@Developer @Admin I'm from [continent], I'm [rough description of age] and have played CS for [amount of hours played according to Steam Library] and I'd like to help!"

So it would look something like:

"@Developer @Admin I'm from Australia, I'm in my 20s and have played CS for 32 hours and I'd like to help!"

"@Developer @Admin I'm from Europe, I'm 19 and have played CS for 12 hours and I'd like to help!"

We'll check #introductions often and grant the Open Beta Tester role to anyone who posts the sentence there correctly. With the OB Tester role, you've got access to the Perpetual Testing Initiative category on Discord. Read #test-announcements to read how to get access to the 0.7.0-branch. You need to own the game on Steam to unlock it! We're all based in Europe, so there might be a gap in verifications somewhere between midnight and 9AM CET.

We hope you'll try all the new features and report back about your experience. Screenshots and videos are welcome. You're allowed to share videos outside of the Discord, but we'd appreciate it if you make clear that it's a highly unfinished beta.

Good luck testing and bedankt voor het lezen!

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The blog concerns changed to the 0.7.0 dev branch, which is not publicly released yet

A couple of blogs ago, we mentioned one of the last glaring holes in 0.7.0. Starting new colonies was possible, but it was pretty "cheaty" and there was no proper way to do it through normal gameplay. That has largely been fixed this week!

Players now need a "Colony Starter Kit" to start a second colony. There's currently only one in-game, but the UI has a drop-down menu that can be used to select a different one. Eventually, there will be multiple Colony Starter Kits, ranging from small to huge. Larger starter kits are more difficult to create, but they'll provide starting colonies with a larger amount of items.



There was another problem for later colonies. You had to unlock every technology all over again. That's very boring and annoying. We tested it by using cheats to complete all science, but that's not how 0.7.0 ought to be played. We had to add a system to transfer science from one colony to another.

Instead of using this system merely to unlock old science at the start of a new colony, Zun made this system in a way that allows players to "trade science"! When player A has unlocked something, he can send it to player B.

0.7.0 has also received a bunch of new rendered icons this week. We wanted to replace the old, pretty ugly, hand drawn crown icon that's used for the command tool.

I tried to make some kind of "Imperial Orb" (first image of the blog), but with some help of the people on our Discord server we decided it wasn't clear enough. If someone has a good idea for the icon for the command tool, we'd love to hear it!

Progress is going well. We still hope to release the open beta next week, and we feel like we're on track for a full release in June/July.

Interfaces are work-in-progress



[End of the professional game-related blog, start of a more personal part]

Last week's blog was a weird one. It was very short and barely contained any information.

I was distracted by horrific news. Thursday night I heard that a high school classmate of mine was murdered. It happened in broad daylight, in the city where I live, next to the University where I studied. Nobody saw this coming and we were shocked.

Friday Blog 100 was supposed to be a festive milestone. I was planning to write a happy, upbeat blog. Obviously, after the news I was in a very different mood.

We pondered what to do. Do we explain what happened? Is that professional and appropriate? Do we act like there's nothing wrong? Do we skip the blog entirely?

We're still not 100% sure what to do. It feels irreverent to talk about murder in a blog about a game, but it also feels irreverent to act like nothing happened. In the end, we believe it's best to be open about what has happened.

We're all human and mortal. Take care.

Bedankt voor het lezen!

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