Colony Survival News

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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The next update, 0.7.0, is still on schedule for release during the end of June or July. We hope to release an open beta before the end of the month!

Thanks to Pantouflee for letting us use his world

Hartelijk bedankt voor het lezen van de honderdste Friday Blog!

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