Astro Colony cover
Astro Colony screenshot
PC Steam
Genre: Simulator, Strategy, Adventure, Indie

Astro Colony

Developer stream

Nominate Astro Colony for the Steam Awards 2024
Hey, Colonists!

Nominations for this year’s Steam Awards are now open! If you’ve enjoyed your time as an Colonist and would like to show your love for the game, I would be so happy if you could nominate Astro Colony for the “Labor of Love” category.

You guys are amazing! Without you, the last two years of Astro Colony development wouldn't be possible!


PS. The next Major update comes December 9th.
The game is now 50% OFF on Steam!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1614550/Astro_Colony/

Thank you for your support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

TWO YEARS of ASTRO COLONY
Hey Colonists!
This month we celebrated the two years of Early Access!
The next Major Update Life of a Colonist is around the corner and comes December 9th!

I would love to share some info about it:

LIFE OF A COLONIST comes December 9th


Last month new devices were introduced, such as elevators to allow vertical movement of astronauts and robots and cable cars to transport goods over long distances and multiple stations.
With the upcoming update, to make astronauts more "human" and less NPC, more effort is required to provide for them. Together with the already-existing needs, oxygen consumption and fulfilling comfort are added.

OXYGEN


Providing oxygen to the astronauts is now mandatory to make them able to live on the colony.
Without it, humans will simply lay down on the floor and notify need of assistance.

But no worry! You can share your own oxygen or build the oxygen barrier to rescue them.

Moreover, the barrier will now turn red if not enough oxygen tanks are provided.

COMFORT


As an additional need, it won't punish the player, but rather help to increase efficiency.
When the level of comfort is high, all other needs are consumed slower. Now astronauts are checking if there are enough decorations placed nearby.

Improvements


As always, every update brings more improvements overall:
1. Hearing many complaints, I decided that the starting hotkey layout has to be reworked, making it more similar to other established games.



  • Q - construction menu
  • Tab - Inventory
  • H - hide hand / selection mode

2. UI elements got reworked with more round backgrounds and icons.


3. The interaction panel will appear hovering objects to let players know when unique interaction is possible.

2 years of Astro Colony on Steam


It's incredible how fast time flies by and how the game development is progressing.


The game since the Early Access launch has received over 260 patches and at least 5 major updates, such as:

  • ARCHITECTURE - hundreds of architectural elements and themes to customize them
  • PERFORMANCE - huge performance boost together with shader movement system for stations
  • TERRAFORMING - animals and plants collected on planets, new environments in universes II, III, IV
  • SANDBOX - new game modes giving freedom of construction
  • MULTIPLAYER 3.0 - with more reliable experience and solutions for default engine problems

We are not stopping there! On the way to release 1.0 I foresee additional updates, as illustrated in the current roadmap.

Techtonica released


Our friends from Techtonica recently released their title!
It's a game about building factories and exploring procedurally generated voxel underground worlds.
Don' t forget to check it out as you like the genre!

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/43157/Techtonica__Astro_Colony/

Please don't forget to join Our Discord community to let me know about your Astro Colony wishes ;)



Thank you for your support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

Astro Colony - MODKIT 2.0
Hey Colonists!

The MODKIT just got big update to support all recent project changes related to Transport & Locomotion major update. Prepare yourself to unleash your creative side!

Gettings Started


All you need for modding is Unreal Engine 4.27 downloaded from Epic Games:
https://www.epicgames.com/

and on the same hard drive the AstroColonyMOD project, which you can download here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_a7RrhsYSqnMV-JhTC6RtUcS5hPwbkI9/




All example mods are updated:

  • Racing
  • Menu Music
  • Cheat Console
  • NewRecipe
and more examples will come soon!

Documentation


The documentation is now updated, showing new functionality. Please check this useful guide that shows step by step how to create a mod for the game, zip it and then share it with the community
https://bit.ly/AstroColonyDoc

I would love to post a tutorial about modding and simplicity of using Modkit 2.0.


Sharing your creations


To share your creations or find Mods, you can use two platforms Steam Workshop or Curseforge in the modkit!

MODS can be uploaded from Editor


In the modkit there are now 3 possible actions (buttons) located in the toolbar menu:

  • Create MOD
  • Package MOD - creates zip which can be tested and uploaded
  • Upload MOD (new) - uses Steam authentication to upload mods to CurseForge

Uploading mods becomes extremely easy. It only requires running Steam in the background, which will let you send mods directly to your Steam Workshop & CF library, at the same time sharing them with Astro Colony community!



Modkit has 100% functionality of the game, so you can do crazy stuff with it, like:

  • designing new voxel planets
  • creating space stations
  • defining new recipes
  • adding new devices
  • overriding game rules

Please join Discord modding channel where you can share your thoughts and get modding advises.
Expect more announcements soon regarding modding contests.

I cannot wait to see your creations!
See you soon Colonists!

Dev Broadcast Transport & Locomotion
Hello Colonists!

Today I am going to stream Astro Colony, showcasing the newest update about Transport & Locomotion!
Please come and say hello and share your feedback during the stream. I will answer all of your questions!

WHEN?



  • 20:00 CET
  • 18:00 UTC
  • 14:00 EST

WHERE?



  • STEAM
  • TWITCH

It may happen that we will get interrupted by my newborn son crying (obviously due to bugs) :D

For people who have Steam broadcasting issues, I am also streaming on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/Tefel




The game also yesterday received the hotfix update, which fixed all remaining reported issues.

Bugfixes



  • Fixed crash when picking up (MMB) twice the same thruster
  • Improved loading and cleanup when quitting the game. It's now faster and more reliable.
  • Fixed markers of Wagons to save their state

Please don't forget to join Our Discord community to let me know about your Astro Colony wishes ;)


Thank you for your support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

TRANSPORT & LOCOMOTION UPDATE
Hey Astro Colonists!
The game just received the Major Update about transport and locomotion!
There are new systems in the game which improves astronauts, robots and resources movement.

CABLE CAR



Cable car is the new advanced way to transport resources, water and gas between stations and planets. Its purpose is to cover great distances as you build a big space station docked together with other entities. This can replace the docking station's system of inside conveyor belts.


The system is composed of wagons (three typologies according to the resource to transport), depot (where wagons are built), ports (load-unload of resources), and poles in cases where the distance to cover is huge.

LIFT SYSTEM



Elevator is an architectural addition to create faster vertical movement for astronauts and robots.
Build it next to the floor to make the entrance appears.
Two segments above the floor are enough to let astronaut to walk.

MERGING BARRIERS



In addition to many other changes, long awaited barriers are now merged properly. Build as many barriers as you want, and they will be all merged into one big oxygen area.

NEW MUSIC


🎵 Our composer Casper was recently busy working on Astro Colony music, there are already 2 more tracks composed. This update adds one of them to the game!

What's next?


This update was originally planned to introduce new human needs and ways to refill them. Some work was already begun. This means that you should expect another major update soon.
"Life of a Colonist" will come before Christmas.

In the meantime, you can also expect smaller patches improving stability and adding some missing elements like rotations of depots or the possibility for the player to use elevators as well!

Please share your feedback with me on Discord:
https://discord.com/invite/EFzAA3w


Thanks guys so much for support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

Astro Colony is part of the Space Exploration Fest!
Hello Colonists!

The next Major Update is just around the corner, it should come out next month.
In the meantime, I would love to invite you to celebrate Astro Colony
during the Steam Space Exploration Fest!



What makes Astro Colony a bit different from other automation / colony sim games is the exploration of the endless universe!

Space Exploration has never been cheaper



You can get Astro Colony with a 50% discount during the Space Exploration Fest, until September 9th.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1614550/Astro_Colony/

Please share your feedback with me on Discord:
https://discord.com/invite/EFzAA3w

Thanks guys so much for your support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

Astro Colony Game Release Roadmap
Hello Colonists!
As You know, the game is coming OUT next year!

The development of the game is not slowing down. The first part of the year brought 5 Major updates, and 2 more are coming in 2024.

The first part of the year brought

  • ARCHITECTURE - hundreds of architectural elements and themes to customize them
  • PERFORMANCE - huge performance boost together with shader movement system for stations
  • TERRAFORMING - animals and plants collected on planets, new environments in universes II, III, IV
  • SANDBOX - new game modes giving freedom of construction
  • MULTIPLAYER 3.0 - with more reliable experience and solutions for default engine problems

We are not stopping there! On the way to release 1.0 I foresee additional updates, as illustrated in the current roadmap.



Speaking of content, here is a brief description of what they consist of:

LIFE OF A COLONIST


To make astronauts more "human" and less NPC, the idea is to require more effort to provide for them. Together with the already-existing needs, oxygen consumption and fulfilling comfort are required.
Besides, new devices are introduced, such as elevators to allow vertical movement of astronauts and robots, and cable cars to transport goods over long distances and multiple stations.

THREATS AND DEFENSE


Along with having some new cosmic events happen more often, you will need to use a defense shield to defend your colony. You will also train astronauts to control it, making it automated.

NEW ASTRONAUT ARRIVED!


As the last news, I want to share my personal joy with you! I just became a father, so there is a new member of the crew ;)

Please stay tuned and have faith in Astro Colony!

Improvements update - hitches gone, new vehicles behaviour
Hey Astro Colonists!

The new build with more improvements is here! It changes object collisions and eliminates hitches! Thanks to the M4D_4LI3N report, I was able to change physics and remove game stuttering.

ROVER FLIP



Since many physical collisions are now gone, the game needs to rely on optical (query) physics.
There is a new system in place to prevent the rover from clipping, going through planes and flipping over.

SMOOTH VEHICLES



Spacecraft is no longer using physical movement and default replication but instead custom movement similar to character movement with collision detection. I could turn spacecraft into another "character" type, but I preferred keeping it as a simple Pawn and making use of Smooth Sync technology, which precisely synchronizes positions between clients and a server.

ELIMINATING HITCHES



Reducing the number of physical collisions allowed for a great reduction in the number of hitches caused by physics when moving the station. Before the change, it was taking up the entire frame CPU budget (33ms). Right now, it's not even noticeable.

QOL



"Hold" interactions got improved and accurate. Arrows of box selections are no longer "jumping" and are very precise thanks to better collision plane tracking drag.


There are new levels of transferring electricity, water and gas. Expert docking is now capable of sending 5k electricity!

FIXES & IMPROVEMENTS


  • Fixed crash related to picking parking bot
  • Fixed construction rotation for walls - is now possible to rotate objects and change camera rotation
  • Fixed multiple hitches caused by physics calculations
  • Gas, water, and electricity now have different values for each docking level 1,2,3
  • Improved drag interactions
  • Fixed single player Colony Origin construction position
  • New, easier-to-construct drills and giant drills
  • Fixed scaling of animated decorations like FAN
  • Fixed scaling of snap elements like lamps
  • Changing decal colors is now supported in multiplayer
  • Copy/pasting of objects, snap, and decals are now previewing the correct rotation and scale


It was a very busy week, so I hope you will like the changes.
Please let me know if you encounter any issues on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/EFzAA3w

SALES


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1614550/Astro_Colony/

Thanks guys so much for your support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

Developer stream
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