Between the Stars News

Greetings, Captains!

We have exciting news to share! The beta of the next major update for Between the Stars is now available!

[h3]What does the new update beta add?[/h3]
This beta adds 50 new missions to the Between the Stars main campaign. These missions finish the main story.

During these missions you will also be able to get a new and unique ship only available to the player.

Mercenary ships now level up as they fight alongside you, improving their strengths and reducing their weaknesses with each battle.

We have added over 800 new voice lines for Chapter 6 events.


[h3]What still needs to be added?[/h3]
It's important to keep in mind that we've released this update in beta state, which means it's not completely finished yet. Therefore, you may find missing content and some bugs.

Some of the things that are pending are:

• The voice lines of some characters is missing.
  
• We still need to improve the synchronization or shots of some cinematics, they will be finished during the beta.
  
• We are preparing new songs to enrich the experience. You can expect at least one new general combat song, as well as specific songs for events and final cinematics.
  
• We plan to add some new weapons and/or skills.
  
• We are working on translating the texts into Chinese. Also, please note that the Russian and French languages may contain some English texts, but we'll make sure to fix this before the official release.
  
• There is a point in the final part of the game where it is no longer possible to save, we still need to add checkpoints so that if the player dies they can continue the game in a nearby place instead of having to restart the final events from the beginning.
  
• Many of the illustrations that appear in the window during text events still need to be made and you may find illustrations that are not related to the event. During beta we'll create new illustrations for all missions.
  

During the beta, we'll keep an eye out for bug reports from players and make sure to fix them.

We would have preferred to release this beta a little later to showcase a more polished update, but we understand that many of you are eager to try it out. That's why we've decided to make it public so that anyone who wants to can play it now!


[h3]How can I play the beta?[/h3]
To join the beta, search for Between the Stars in your Steam library and access the game properties. Once inside the game properties, select the "Betas" tab and in the "Participation in Betas" section select the "beta - beta" branch. The name of the game will appear in the Steam listing as "Between the Stars [beta]". Once this is done, you are now in the beta branch and will be able to play the new version.


[h3]Risks of the beta for your saved game[/h3]
In theory, there should be no risks to your saved games. However, as a precaution, we recommend that you make a backup of your save file before you start playing the beta.

To do so, find the SaveFile.es3 file in the folder C:\Users\YOUR USERNAME\AppData\LocalLow\Isolated Games\Between the Stars, copy it and paste it in another folder to have a backup copy in case you need to restore your game.


[h3]When will the final version of this update be released?[/h3]
Setting an exact date is complicated, as the timing may vary depending on the number and complexity of bugs that arise. However, we are aiming to release the final version of the Chapter 6 update within two months at the latest. We are working hard to bring you a great endgame!

Once again, thank you all for your trust and patience.

Greetings, captains!

We know that these last few months have been complicated, and that many of you are unhappy with the pace of development of Between the Stars. In this announcement, we want to update you and give you explanations about the future of the game. We will try to answer the doubts you have had during this time.

[h3]1 - Is the game abandoned?[/h3]

The answer is a categorical no. The pace of development has slowed down due to issues that we will explain below, but the game is going to be finished. During all this time, we have continued working on the final chapter, which closes the main story line and ends the campaign. In addition, there will be secondary content to be implemented, such as Kickstarter rewards.


[h3]2 - When will we get the end of the story?[/h3]

Although we don't want to give a closed date, we expect it to be ready in about four or five months. The story is already completely written, and we are currently programming the events and working on the English translation, and soon we will start recording the dubbing. As soon as it is playable, we will launch a beta version, so you can all try it out before the official release.


[h3]3 - Why has development slowed down for so long?[/h3]

As many of you know, Isolated Games is now working on two projects: Between the Stars and Travellers Rest, this has caused us to have less time for Between the Stars. We know that many of you are unhappy, and that having two games in development at the same time is not an ideal situation, but there is an explanation for this.


[h3]4 - Why have you produced another game if you haven't finished the first one?[/h3]

This is the core of the matter. Travellers Rest is not an original game from our studio. The game was created by another developer who for personal reasons had to abandon the development and offered us the opportunity to take it over without any upfront payment.

At that time we were looking for a way to finance the final chapter since we were dangerously close to bankruptcy, and although we knew that another game would add to the workload, it seemed like a good opportunity to keep the production going. Our plan was to use the revenue Travellers Rest was generating to hire an independent team, while Shovah and I (The Bullet) continued to work on Between the Stars and sporadically lead the Travellers team with the basic guidelines, but in practice it was impossible to accomplish.


[h3]5 - How has the development of a second game affected Between the Stars?[/h3]

With the extra revenue Travellers Rest generates, we have been able to keep the studio afloat and maintain both productions. But on the other hand, our plan to stay completely focused on Between the Stars has been too optimistic.

When we were given the Travellers Rest project, we found an alpha version with a lot of potential. We knew that with the change of studio, many players would be upset, so we needed to make visible improvements in the shortest possible time. New art, design, mechanics, interface change... These modifications were not easy to implement, and we had to spend much more time than we would like helping and managing the development of Travellers Rest. It was very important not to fail with Travellers Rest, because if it didn't succeed, the next step would be to close Isolated Games, abandon both games and leave us all unemployed.

After more than a year of hard work combining our time on the two games, we reached a solid foundation. The Travellers Rest community had grown, and we finally had enough time and budget to finish Between the Stars. Now, Shovah3D has already finished writing the final chapter and I am already revising and integrating the new missions. We have to keep in mind that, despite having freed us from part of the workload of Travellers Rest, it still demands a lot of time: management, meetings, design, recruitment, marketing, publishing, translation... This obviously still slows down the development of Between the Stars.


[h3]6 - It's not fair that Between the Stars players have to wait because of another game[/h3]

No, it is not. We understand the general anger about the delay that Between the Stars has suffered, but the reality is that we had no alternatives. We underestimated Between the Stars development time and production costs.

Some of you already know this, but Between the Stars was born as a personal project in which I (The Bullet) worked for 4 years alone, later Shovah joined the project and we worked together on the game, while I financed everything with my personal funds. When the time came, the money ran out, and we were very close to being able to release a playable version.

That's when we decided to launch the Kickstarter. Although the goal we were asking for was low, it was enough to be able to launch the prologue and the first chapters. The plan was to use the revenue from the launch to finish the project, but we were soon overwhelmed.

Although the initial launch was good, sales dropped off. In addition, the launch content was less than 25% of the final game, which meant that there was a high percentage of work to be done. We pushed forward as long as we could, until, at the critical moment, we managed to save the production thanks to Travellers Rest, although this has delayed the development.


[h3]7 - About criticism and our silence[/h3]

During this time we have not missed the forums and the painful criticisms that have come in because of the delay of the game. Once again, we understand the general anger, but we want to reiterate that, if it wasn't because Travellers Rest has allowed us to keep the studio afloat, Isolated Games would be closed by now, and Between the Stars would be really abandoned.

Despite negative comments, financial problems or accusations of abandonment, we have never stopped working to give Between the Stars the ending it deserves. We have put years of effort and risked a lot to make the game a reality, and moreover we love the game, and we are going to finish it no matter what it takes.


[h3]8 - What can we expect from the final chapter?[/h3]

Another of the most frequently read comments is that if we release an update it will be to finish it poorly and quickly, but that is not true. The final chapter has 45 missions and will be the longest so far, and will finish the story without leaving loose ends. Although you know that our resources are limited (we are only two developers), we assure you that the quality will be in line with the rest of the game, and it will probably be the best chapter of the whole game.


[h3]9 - About Kickstarter rewards[/h3]

Once we have launched the final chapter, we will work to implement the backer rewards. Thanks to all the people who trusted us when we needed it the most, the game was able to see the light of day. We are really grateful to them, and we will make sure we honor their trust.


[h3]10 - Finally...[/h3]

We have tried to calm the community on several occasions, assuring that we are working on the game and that soon you will have the final chapter. In spite of this, some people have assured that the game is abandoned, that it will never be finished, that we are scammers, that we have run away with the money...

As we have said before, all this is false. The game is going to be finished and is not abandoned. If we wanted to abandon the game, it wouldn't make sense to write this announcement or keep replying on the forum, but we keep doing it because we are committed to finish Between the Stars.

To those of you who have supported us during this time, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. To everyone who has been disappointed by the delay, we are extremely sorry. We hope that, despite everything that has happened, you will be able to enjoy the end of the game that we have been working on for so many years and that you will be happy with the final product.

Greetings, Spacefarers!

We're glad to announce that Between the Stars is now fully compatible with Steam Deck!

We leave you a small gameplay that we have recorded ourselves, so you can see how Between the Stars runs on the Steam Deck.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]