It's a perfect opportunity to ask me anything before the game is released tomorrow! Please wish me good luck and don't forget to come over to say hello!
See you tomorrow!
Astro Colony Early Access Roadmap
Hello Colonizers!
As You know, the game is coming on Monday to Early Access. This is a huge milestone for us, but obviously is just a beginning of the journey!
In the roadmap, you can quickly check what features are planned in the upcoming months!
LINUX & MAC
The first important update will be dedicated to finalizing versions for Mac and Linux. I've been testing them, but I want to deliver the best experience possible, without cutting any features or sacrificing visuals!
Tests for playable version will be shared on Discord soon, so please join and check channels:
iOS
Linux
Dedicated servers
To improve multiplayer experience, dedicated servers will be provided to guarantee stability of the gameplay.
3+ players
Two players mode is currently the most enjoyable and stable configuration. This update will improve greatly, 3 and more players mode!
Controller support + Steam Deck
The game allows already to use controller for navigation. This update will bring controller support to another level, detecting both PS and XBox controllers and adding needed features for a great Steam Deck experience.
Next big updates
The vision for the game is including more exciting features in Q1 and Q2 2023 including planets terraforming and detailed customization of the space station.
Please stay tuned and have faith in Astro Colony!
AC releases in 5 days, Developer Broadcast #1
Hey Colonizers! It's only 5 days left until EA release NOVEMBER 7!
I would love to invite you for the short Early Access celebration stream!
It's a perfect opportunity to ask me anything before the game is released in just 5 days! Please wish me good luck and don't forget to come over to say hello!
See you tomorrow!
Upcoming release, demo available until end of the month!
Hello STEAM friends!
We are getting closer to the Early Access release (7 November)!
Everyone who supported the project with Steam Key is going to receive it soon. You will be able to activate the key on Steam, but the game won't let you download it until 7 November, when the game is released!
The BETA version
If you have access to the current beta version, it will remain how it is, but won't be anymore updated in the future.
The DEMO version
The demo which is still available on the Steam page:
Hello Colonists! We are extremely happy to announce that Astro Colony was awarded by Epic Mega Grant! It's a great honor to us! We would like to thank Epic Games for this award!
This additional help gives us extra confidence for our Early Access release in just about three weeks! Save the date: November 7th!
Add Astro Colony to your wishlist, so you will get reminded about upcoming release!
Get ready to explore the Universe in less than a month!
ASTRO COLONY RELEASE DATE!
Hello Colonists! We are extremely happy to announce that Astro Colony is going to be released in about a month! It took our small team a year from the Kickstarter to get where we are now.
7 November 2022
EA release is scheduled for 7th of November. There is already a counter on the website and Steam page shows it too! Let's look closer into additional features we squeezed before the game release!
Animated Cinematic is Our way to tell you the story about first colonists exploring the universe!
A voxel exploration game could not exist without a variety of biomes and hundreds of plants!
Play the game in the co-op mode with your friends or join other hosted lobbies.
There are currently cosmic events available. They will surprise you! Use the new redar system to detect them!
Browse, install and unistall mods directly from the game!
New astronauts are joining the crew! We managed to add all faces sent to us by Our Kickstarter supporters.
We found very talented music composer (Casper) who is helping us to create best matching sci-fi music for Astro Colony! There is about 10 min of unique soundtrack composed and more is still coming!
Optimization was always a strong Astro Colony point, especially now just before the game release!
CPU - many small systems got converted into very performant global systems, like asteroid catchers into one global catcher system. Number of components created got reduced to absolute minimum. Important change for empty (not visited by player) planets.
GPU - although plenty of new models got added to the game like trees, plants, rocks etc, they all got greatly optimized with many level of details.
Other expensive effect are disabled automatically based on CPU / GPU benchmark scores. This allows to reduce significantly minimum specs.
MEMORY - Loading times got greatly improved due to memory cleanup. There are fewer references (elements loaded) into the memory and 90% of assets are loaded in the background!
There are obviously more things to come. We have a Roadmap which we would love to share soon. So you know what is going to happen with the game after the release on Steam November 7.
For example, we want to add controller support and versions for Linux/Mac before end of 2022.
Expect plenty of interesting updates like terraforming, new devices and tools, architecture, single player and multiplayer mods!
Add Astro Colony to your wishlist, so you will get reminded about upcoming release!
Multiplayer has finally arrived and is fully playable! You can try guys playing with your friends on Steam!
MULTIPLAYER FEATURES: - full steam integration showing friends, avatars, allowing for invites and join - hosting and searching for public servers - Steam Presence tell you if your friends are playing, are in lobby or the main menu - lobby functionality, chat, kick, ready, countdown - multiplayer savegame system allowing to save and create a new game from the savegame
GAME MECHANICS ADAPTED FOR MULTIPLAYER: - grid mechanics - construction, destruction, rotation, turning devices off, recycling - separate technology tree for each player - shared technology points - third person characters look with new animations - characters movement, position, tools are replicated and saved - water networks - electric networks - conveyor and resource movement - AI and movement - asteroids - are fully replicated - players know when asteroids are hit and destroyed - interaction - asteroid catcher, harpoon, docking systems - voxels - adding and removing - Vehicles and more!
Harpoon connector & Chinese language
Update is adding Chinese language, which can be selected in the Interface settings. The game is now spawning planetoids (fragmented planets) which can be attracted by a Harpoon Connector.
Additional QOL and bug fixes:
Toasts are not anymore staying on the screen when moving to the Pause Menu or Map
Fixed tutorial with astronauts training
QOL - tutorials for drill and harpoon docking
QOL - tutorial step to teach player how to use mouse (opening a guide) ːsteamhappyː
Drills, windows stay open, recyclables used for construction!
In this update drills are added to Astro Colony. It's a new exciting way of extracting resources from the ground! Use them to mine Quartz, Stone or any other resource!
Meanwhile we are experimenting with balance and tech tree changes. For example Chemistry is now required to reaseach Advanced Mining (Miners). It creates a need of having Astronauts sooner!
Opened menus from devices and inventory (like crafting) will stay open and remember it's state.
You can now destroy devices and use recyclables back to construct them again!
In addition many fixes and small QOL improvements:
Each device by default has maximum workers assigned
Fixed issue with multiple drones assigned to the workplace at the same time
Fixed issue with surface details (planet foliage) not being generated or generated in wrong places (other space station)
Fixed some visuals not updated after device rotation
Fixed crafting issue, where saving was pushing progress by few %
Docking station easier to construct on the planet - clear space in front when constructed
Astro Colony Steam Next Developer Broadcast #2
Hey Astro Colonists! It's time to announce a second Developer stream during the ongoing Steam Festival!
This Saturday 15 CET (6:00am PDT) I will be streaming live Astro Colony demo! It's a great opportunity to find out more about this base building game, where you need to automate your colony while exploring an endless procedurally generated voxel Universe!
Don't forget to try the demo, as long as it's available during the Festival!
This time I will be playing the game longer, trying two different approaches:
First - starting again from the tutorial and explaining game mechanics
Second - speedrunning it, focusing on automation part and growing colony as fast as possible
Please wish me good luck and don't forget to come over to say hello!
