Colony Ship: A Post-Earth Role Playing Game News

Welcome to the first system update. The game was released on Early Access in April and until now our focus was on new locations and content. After releasing the Shuttle Bay we took a 3-week 'break' and worked on nothing but the systems.

These changes and improvements reflect the feedback we received over the last 7 months and we'd like to thank everyone who posted suggestions, shared builds, and participated in discussions. That's what Early Access is all about.

Thematically we can split the changes into 7 categories:



Despite our best efforts to keep the difficulty manageable and engage players who struggle, some players find the game frustrating and unplayable rather than challenging. Needless to say, frustrating people was never our goal, so we added Easy difficulty mode and a tutorial explaining key concepts.

Coincidentally, now that we don't have to worry about first-time players, we can make the Hard difficulty a bit more challenging.



Charisma now adds Neural Resistance (see Psi Overhaul below). We added 3 new feats (Master Trader, Frog Hunter, Slow Metabolism) and 3 new mutually exclusive mutation feats as quest rewards. Plus balance changes to the existing feats as suggested by the players.



- Extensive balance changes, added new armguards and leg armor.

- We added Old (-1DR) and Damaged (-3DR) armor sets to boost variety on the visual side. Most enemies will be wearing old and damaged armor. New armor will be sold in stores. Unique (custom-made) – looted from notable enemies.

- New weapons: long requested laser cutter, two energy 'shotguns' (a close range energy gun, Earth-made and Ship-made) and 'SMG' (a rapid-fire energy gun), a Ship-made energy club, a clawhammer for the bashers, and a bunch of firearms: a revolver, shotguns, rifles, etc.



Improved enemies behavior in combat and stealth: target and attack selection, grenade and stim use, reaction to sound and dead bodies, alert levels, etc.



- PSI attacks always hit (as they don't rely on sight), but the effect can be resisted and damage reduced by Neural Resistance (NR).
- You can't be faster than a thought so PSI enemies have a much higher initiative
- Charisma boosts your NR, which can be increased further with implants, helmets, feats, and stims.
- Zen stim increases NR by 40 for 2 turns
- Improved Mindworms' attacks


Some fights were way too easy and we apologize to everyone affected.



- Implants: you can extract them from dead bodies and repair them if they get damaged during extraction due to low skills.
- Gadgets: new tier and rebalance
- Expanded dialogues and quest improvements
- Attack effects' balance changes

To see the full list of changes, click here

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Please note that while your save games will work just fine, it is strongly recommended to start a new game to properly experience the changes.

It wasn't easy to pick the best category as the game easily qualifies for them all, even VR, but it's an undeniable fact that most people play it to relax and unwind after a hard day of work. After all, what do your enemies have that you don't? Sure, they outnumber you five to one, and they're armed to the teeth when all you've got is moxie and a pipe gun, but ... what, you're dead already? Ok, reload.

Yeah, courage, determination, that's what wins fights! Hmm, dead again... That was fast. Up and at 'em, I say! Show them what you're made of! If Keanu can do it, so can you! Death screen again? What in the fucking fuck?

Five against one, how is it even fair? You know what, I need a new character. And guns, lots of guns. And a cool name like Revenger or Terrorizer...

"Terrorizer lies motionless, still living but only barely, as the digestive enzymes that have been pumped down his throat do their agonizing work. Death is too long in coming, and the slurry left of his body can hardly even be called a corpse."

Seriously? This is how you gonna do me? Oh it's on! It's fucking on now. Never been so 'relaxed' in my life!

This update adds another location - the Shuttle Bay. Now you can explore 6 locations out of 12, roughly 40% of the game. The next stop is the Habitat, the home of the three main factions and a major quest hub. It will require twice as much work as any other location and won't be released until Feb. In the meantime we'll focus on the systems and balance, a tutorial, and difficulty modes, so if you find the default mode too overwhelming, wait another month.



The Shuttle Bay survived the Mutiny intact but like everything else it's been looted in the interim, the life support systems and emergency supplies stripped, and the shuttle interiors used by generations of squatters.

Moses Jackson's Riflemen, a small mercenary outfit, claimed the Shuttle Bay a few years ago, cleaning up and doing their best to make it a permanent home. Their efforts quickly drew the attention of discontented folks from the Habitat, and even the Pit. Soon, scores of people were heading for this small island of safety and stability. The Habitat's higher-ups look less favorably on the Shuttle Bay's new status, and have been eyeing the growing numbers on their border with great concern.

Notable characters:



You also get the first glimpse of the Habitat in this update, the rooftop level:



Before the Mutiny, the rooftops of the Habitat's four mega-structures supported a sprawling amusement park. There, the people of the Ship could experience at least a few of the novelties they would never enjoy on Earth or Proxima: walk barefoot on real green grass –courtesy of Hydroponics–  or soft, red-tinted 'Proxima' sand; sit under tall, artificial trees; and watch the sunrise on gigantic screens suspended all around. This last was said to be indistinguishable from the real thing, not that anyone aboard had ever seen it.

Nowadays, the three remaining rooftops are heavily fortified platforms, patrolled by armed guards. The sky-screens went dark long ago, a frivolous luxury in a decaying world. The grass underfoot and simulations of golden fields have likewise vanished, replaced by watchtowers and checkpoints. With enemies on all sides, cheap entertainment is a useless distraction from reality and its harsh demands.

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If you're just discovering the game and would like to know more, here's the features overview:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/648410/view/3019074494734257463

And if you're wondering if the game is for you, read this first:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/648410/view/4461354274028263845

Improvements:

- Game files are now split into several packages, which results in faster download and patching times;
- Added new turret animations;
- Character creation screen design tweaks;
- Localization system is established, several parts of the game are now exposed for translation;
- Implemented energy melee weapons;
- Double-clicking local location in map screen now starts travel;
- AI now uses stims;
- Added a variety of panic animations;
- Implemented skins for inventory items;
- Added new location: The Shuttle Bay.
- Added exploration reputation rewards on the factory.

Changes

- Mastermind extra feats start at level 3.
- Regen stim now reduces stats by 1 instead of 2.
- Tweaked DR of armor pieces.

Fixes:

- Electric shock effect is now displayed on frogs;
- Fixed a rotation bug that could skew characters along the wrong axis;
- Frogs hitbox got smaller, meaning it's not blocking line of fire for characters behind it anymore;
- Fixed zap attack granting energy rifle skill XP;
- Fixed barnacles not staying in death poses after reload;
- Outlines are now red for hostile frogs;
- Fixed usable items consuming the whole stack when used from inventory screen;
- The number of meds in the inventory screen is now properly updated;
- Attack selection buttons now fit all attacks;
- Disabled point-blank for Aimed Burst;
- Gadgets now can't be activated during the interrupted turn;
- Fixed some cases when stealth was not ending properly;
- Fixed bullets sometimes missing target's shield;
- Fixed second double shot bullet using full shield DR even if the first bullet has depleted it;
- Fixed collisions on some doors;
- Frogs now can't open doors;
- Fixed frogs bumping into things mid-jump;
- Fixed a case when gadgets couldn't be enabled in the placement phase;
- Fixed characters not spawning with full HP while having certain implants or feats;
- Fixed cloak visual effect in the inventory screen;
- Fixed turrets spawning with 1HP;
- Fixed NPCs becoming invisible after teleporting from buildings.
- You can no longer ask Sarah to heal you if you are not hurt.
- Fixed issue with party member lockpick check to escape the Black Hand prison.
- Fixed lack of sneak skill gain from Black Hand fort stealth.
- Fixes to Black Hand fort layout.
- Fixed PC getting the skill for a party member opening the trap door.
- Fixed lack of backup weapon on one of Hargrave's thugs.
- Fixed typos.

Fixed turrets freezing the combat when you disable them with the pulse grenade, then attack.