We're pleased to announce that Patch 1.0250 is live now!
Once again, this patch came together thanks to all of your feedback and bug reports following the launch, so thank you!
The full notes are below for your reading pleasure!
Patch 1.0250 Changelog
Bug Fixes
Overlays no longer colour ships or airships
Research institute no longer produces research colours that the player hasn't discovered elsewhere
(In new games) Sunken Ruins only produce colours of research that are/were available on islands of that planet
The "..." buttons in Shipping Lane view now go in front of the Port cards
Key settings headings now get correctly translated if you change languages
Spaceship no longer glitches if you move it off the revealed land area when choosing where to land on a new planet
Moved Info Pin for Skyports up higher
Fixed an issue where Peeps don't fetch Power correctly in a building that has been upgraded then had a lower level recipe selected
Fixed an issue where the Tutorial dialog would get stuck open if you visited the pause menu after choosing to exit the Tutorial
Fixed an issue where Hangars would interact strangely with adjacent Bridges
Fixed some issues where roads wouldn't be rendered joining up properly
Fixed an issue where demolishing a building wouldn't correctly update the Power Lines data
Fixed a text issue on Colony Spaceships when moving from one unknown planet to another
Added settings to change or invert camera Zoom or Spin speeds
Fixed an issue where loading a game with the camera pointing at an uninhabited island would show some incorrect buttons
Fixed an issue where if a game was loaded with a Peep heading to Explore an Ancient Ruin, they would forget and another Peep would be sent instead
Fixed the Idle Ship button not selecting most Ships after an Airship is constructed
Fixed an issue where some buildings were frozen on load
Fixed up a few internal issues
That wraps up today's patch notes!
Once again thank you all for your patience, feedback and bug reports - they really go a long way.
We'll see you again soon Peeps! - Chief
Updated roadmap and studio news!
Hey peeps! It’s already been a month since Steam launch (somehow?!) so I wanted to give you all an idea of what we’ve been up to since then.
The four of us have been trying to take things a little slower, since the tail end of 2020 and all of 2021 has involved a tonne of work getting Before We Leave ready for Steam. We’re still working on bug fixes and improvements to BWL, of course (see below Roadmap), but it’s been nice going a little slower and figuring out what our next steps for the game and the studio are!
The highlight of our Steam launch was seeing BWL on the front page of Steam. I don’t think any of us really expected it, and what it would feel like. It still doesn’t feel real sometimes.
Thanks to everyone who gave us feedback here by the way. It’s super helpful :D
Also there’s a longer form version of this post on our website if you wanna check it out here.
On new platforms -
BWL is coming to MacOS! The approximate date for that is still TBA - stay tuned for more info. And, for those of you who use GeForce NOW, BWL is available there now too.
Award nominations -
We’ve been nominated for an award at an Australian indie games festival called Freeplay! There’s a special category for Kiwis like us, appropriately called Across the Ditch. We’re in there nestled amongst some other great games. Check them out, if you’re keen. :)
That's it for now! Talk to you all again soon <3
Emily, Community Manager
UPDATE:
WE WON THE AWARD!!!
We're so humbled and chuffed! Thank you Freeplay for choosing us! We were also able to celebrate our victory together, which is really rare for us. You can watch our Acceptance Speech here, on YouTube. Make sure you hang around and watch the other finalists too!
Patch 1.0241 - Now Live!
Hey everyone,
We're pleased to announce that Patch 1.0241 is live now!
This patch came together thanks to all of your feedback and bug reports following the launch, so thank you!
The full notes are below for your reading pleasure!
Patch 1.0241 Changelog
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue that meant Submarines could get stuck if two of them were exploring the same Sunken Ruin
Fixed an issue causing Airships to disappear if they headed out over unexplored tiles
Fixed an issue where Passenger Airships were reporting when they finished loading passengers on a shipping lane, spamming too many notifications
To finish off a fix from our previous patch, planets that have been badly affected by a Space Whale attack before they had a chance to get established (by building a Space Port or colonising a second island) now get some Peeps and resources added back into them
Pausing the game now pauses the autosave timer. If the timer was close to autosaving, the next autosave will trigger like normal, and then it won't trigger more after that
Changed tutorial text from "middle mouse button" to "mouse scroll wheel"
The Idle Ship button now counts and cycles through Airships
Fixed the localization of the Filtering upgrade using the wrong languages
Fixed a couple of it's/its issues
The Music technology now lists the correct Happiness effect of Musicians
Submarines that are automatically delivering to a Port, on finding the Port is full, will now drop to Manual mode
Musicians now correctly hide in Shelters on a Space Whale attack
Fields and Forests affected by weather now return to their proper speed when the weather leaves, rather than after finishing their next production cycle
Sound output now correctly switches when changed in Windows
Added the ability to select 1/2 and 1/4 game speeds (by using the '-' button or Ctrl-Clicking the 1x speed button)
Updated the Move Ship sfx to be less annoying
Key bindings menu is now correctly translated on changing languages
Fixed the Expansionist achievement (colonise 7 planets in one game)
Fixed the layout of research on the Technology panel, when you've got 5 types of research
Fixed an issue with starting the tutorial on a new install, quitting to the menu and then clicking the Continue button
Fixed a bunch of issues reported by the Unity Diagnostics
Fixed Apocalypse Soon forgetting about a bunch of advanced resources stored in the initial Shelter on Save/Load
Stop changing in-game language to the Steam configured language once a different language has been selected
Fixed a couple of translation issues
Added an option to allow players to cancel the tutorial once they’ve reached the end of the Shipping section
Fixed the speed of scrolling in the Shipping Manifest
Rendering optimisations
That wraps up today's patch notes!
Once again thank you all for your patience, feedback and bug reports - they really go a long way.
We'll see you again soon Peeps! - Chief
Patch 1.0238 - Now Live!
Hey everyone,
We're pleased to announce that Patch 1.0238 is live now!
This patch came together thanks to all of your feedback and bug reports following the launch, so thank you!
The full notes are below for your reading pleasure!
Patch 1.0238 Changelog
Bug Fixes
[Fixed] Added a variety of things that will hopefully fix the missing Spaceship bug that a bunch of people have been reporting [Fixed] Issue where running Getting Busy then Seed Hunter would make the Seed Hunter peeps increase using the Getting Busy rules [Fixed] #113182 Blacksmith achievement no longer fires when opening a Stasis box containing Tools [Fixed] In Getting Busy, Large Colony Ships no longer call themselves Submarines when reporting their crews happiness [Fixed] When selecting resources in the Shipping Manifest, resources that aren't available on the island are slightly greyed out [Fixed] #112079 Added something that should make the in-game language match the selected language in Steam [Fixed] In Hut-Owners Association, you can now explore Ancient Ruins without building a hut directly next to it [Fixed] If multiple weather effects cancel each other out, we no longer show a 0% adjacency bonus [Fixed] In Shipping Manifest, dropdown to select which planet/Space you're working on is now removed until you've reached space [Fixed] Issue that could cause a single separated tile of the starting island to not get explored initially [Fixed] A bug preventing canceling resolution changes while in-game [Fixed] Prevented getting Spaceflight (and other removed tech) from ancient ruins in Getting Busy [Fixed] Autosaves taken at the end of the game use the end-game images for the save game thumbnail [Fixed] Removed some more tech from the Getting Busy scenario that doesn't make sense - Filtering, Museum, Training Ground etc [Fixed] Issue where an accommodation building containing only Children showed up as unhappy in the Happiness Overlay [Fixed] Issue where libraries in Getting Busy would indicate there was more technology to research even when you'd done it all [Fixed] Issue where Airships could get stuck above Stepped Warehouses [Fixed] Issue where the Weather overlay didn't properly disappear when switching to another overlay [Fixed] Issue where "{[INCOMING]}" could appear in a tooltop in the Top Bar dropdown [Fixed] Changing the keybinding for construction buttons to Function keys no longer makes them wordwrap [Fixed] Scenarios now start paused while you're reading the initial instructions [Fixed] Camera can't be moved while Scenario dialogs are displayed [Fixed] Issue where the whole planet wouldn't become fully explored when colonising all the main islands [Fixed] Light towers now switch on when any of the tiles in their range are in darkness, instead of when their tile is in darkness [Fixed] (or added code to help narrow the cause down of) a whole bunch of minor things only revealed by the Unity Diagnostics
That wraps up today's patch notes!
Once again thank you all for your patience, feedback and bug reports - they really go a long way.
We'll see you again soon Peeps! - Faye, Team17
Before We Leave - OUT NOW!
Set in a world rebuilding after an apocalypse and ripe for exploring and recivilising, Before We Leave launches on Steam with brand-new content, including scenarios and weather that affects fatigue, crop growth, and movement speed; in-game performance updates; as well as the multiple waves of content.
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The game’s Steam launch comes with a slew of incredible content updates that have been added to the game since it first launched a year ago. This includes:
The Kraken Comes: An update bringing submarines, trading ships, the Kraken guardian, and underground shelters.
Over & Under: An update rolling out new overlays for better experiences, new UI and UX, new languages, and more.
Paving the Way: A visual upgrade, new roads, new resources, new type of Warehouse, new effects, and more.
Biomes & Beasties: Three new island biomes, new visuals, inclusion of animals, discoverable secrets, and more.
Dive into a world full of wonder and help your Peeps discover the secrets that lie within the universe today!
In addition, there is a pre-order promotion of 25% off! Now is the perfect time to grab a copy, ready for you to visit your Peeps, and to help them rebuild their civilisation on the 13th May.
[previewyoutube="B0PogWl-ylQ;full"]
Before We Leave launches on Steam on the 13th May, and includes a huge content update which you can learn more about here.
We’re only days away from the release of Before We Leave on Steam, and what better way to celebrate than by sharing a glimpse into the shiny new content that will be available!
But before we do, let us look back at the story of Before We Leave’s development, and the three-year journey it took to get to where we are today!
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Now, without further ado, let’s look ahead at what’s coming in your new universe with Update 5, ushering in Scenarios just in time for the Steam launch!
Scenarios
There are now 4 scenarios, which alter the way Before We Leave plays:
First, we have “Apocalypse Soon”, which tells a story of how your Peeps ended up in the underground Shelter at the start of the game. It’s a race against time to try to save your Peeps!
Next, “Getting Busy” challenges you to keep all your Peeps happy, when the rules for how more Peeps are created get changed.
The “Planning Committee” scenario messes with the rules for placing buildings. It’s a must try for anyone looking for a challenge.
And last but not least, “Seed Hunter” gives you a game where you can’t build Fields for food until you’ve found new seeds to plant.
Weather
New weather systems that roam around planets will add unique challenges for your Peeps, and weather can be hot or cold, dry or wet, windy or calm.
Hot or Cold weather causes fatigue and affects how productive your fields are.
Desert and Snow islands now cause fatigue as a result of their default weather settings!
Wind affects movement of both Peeps and Ships, and also how productive Wind Power Generators are.
A new overlay will be added to display weather systems and effects.
For an added challenge, there's a new game difficulty setting to control weather in your games.
Airships
You can now invent and construct Airships!
Passenger airships allow you to set up trade routes for Peeps, either to quickly populate a new Island, or to continuously ship happy Peeps one way and sad Peeps back the other way, so you can cheer sad Peeps up on a nicer Island.
Trade and Colony Airships work about the same as their ocean counterparts, except that they can trade/colonise into the middle of islands.
In addition to this, we also have 56 achievements ready to tackle and Steam trading cards as well.
And with that, we can’t wait for you to join us on the 13th to try out the new challenges, but if you can’t wait until the 13th, feel free to join us on our other channels to talk all things Before We Leave:
In the meantime, keep an eye out for Space Whales!
-Faye, Team17
Before We Leave - Partnership Announcement
Calling all Peeps! Today we are excited to announce a partnership between Team17 and Balancing Monkey Games!
Team17 and Balancing Monkey Games are bringing non-violent city-building game, Before We Leave, to Steam players on 13th May 2021!
[previewyoutube="TWgQR_t5irg;full"]
Forge life-saving relationships! Set in a world that’s recovered from an apocalypse and ready for exploring and recivilising, Before We Leave sees players guide a group of surviving ‘Peeps’ as they chart new discoveries and lands.
Since its initial launch in 2020, a number of significant content additions have been made to the game, including new biomes such as the swamp, rainforest, and crystal isle; new vehicles and infrastructure, as well as the release of the Kraken!
Key Features:
Expand the Horizons: Going from a lowly settlement to a sprawling colony of Peeps, players will need to traverse mountains, forests, oceans and the depths of space to explore and settle
Tremendous Tech: As players progress they can research technology to better their civilisation, including sailing, industry, trade, and more
Keep the Peeps Happy: Running a colony is no small feat; in Before We Leave players will need to keep track of Peep happiness alongside pollution, food, and resources
Combat & Weapons: When negotiations fail, players will wield a huge variety of makeshift weaponry against hostile outsiders, fighting to the death in turn-based combat to win the critical resources needed to survive
A Whole New World: With a number of biomes filled with resources and mysterious relics to harvest from, it’s the players job to utilise the land and plan their colony
Award-winning Soundtrack: Benedict Nichols (Omno, The Falconeer) composes a soundtrack fit for any benevolent leader, winning a Pav ‘The Composed Segment’ award for excellence in audio for his score, working alongside James Dean of Akau Audio who provided in-game sound design
Howdy everyone! This blog post is coming to you a little later thanks to Easter (we had a great one, and we hope you did too!). March was also super busy with preparations for our Steam launch! Speaking of...
Steam launch date I posted about this here a few weeks ago, but I'll summarise the post here anyway - Before We Leave will be coming to Steam on the 13th of May (or the 14th, if you’re in a similar time zone to us here in NZ!). We’re also releasing a content update at the same time. The two biggest features are Scenarios, achievements, and weather effects like rain, snow and storms. More info on those closer to release.
Feedback sessions with the community We really love working with our communities to make Before We Leave the best version of itself. When we decided to add Scenarios and Achievements (and Trading Cards on Steam), we knew it was really important to get the community involved, so we ran three multi-day feedback sessions on Discord and Reddit, getting people's ideas about what achievements and scenarios and trading cards they want.
And they were an excellent success! We’ve had over a hundred suggestions, all of which have really helped shape what those features will look like on launch, so thank you again to everyone that contributed. <3
South Dunedin Street Festival We participated in the South Dunedin Street Festival! Our managing director Anna wrote a blog post about it on our website.
Twitch stream We have a Twitch stream now - twitch.tv/balancingmonkeygames. I've been streaming once a week, every Wednesday at 9.30am NZST (or Tuesday afternoon/evening, for many of you). I'm playing through Before We Leave right now, and I plan to play more Kiwi and peaceful/chill games in the future! You can also watch the VOD's on our YouTube channel.
It's been awesome hanging out with the community. When you're getting ready for a major feature to ship, or even a whole game launch, it's easy to neglect the very people that you make games for. Having two hours a week to simply talk to people has been wonderful so far, and I can't wait to do it more.
Kiwi Games Starter Winners Kiwi Games Starter is a programme here in NZ to help new studios access funding for their game, helping their dream projects come true. We won KGS all the way back in 2019, and it was really helpful for making development much more concrete. The opportunity arose to sponsor the second prize for the most recent round of it so we decided to help! Congratulations to the two prize winners - Battle Cruisers and Rose & Locket. Make sure you check them out, they’re already looking like fantastic games.
Aaaaand that's it for now! Thanks for reading, we’ll see you next month with more updates and news. - Emily, CM
Launch date news!
Hey everyone! I have a bunch of good news for you.
We have a launch date!
Before We Leave will be coming to Steam on May 13th 2021. Remember to wishlist so you get a notification about when we go live. [previewyoutube="fSm2cQ2B0Do;full"]
A New Content Update
We're also releasing a new content update at the same time - the two biggest features from the update are Scenarios (some of which were made using community ideas - thank you!) and weather effects like rain, snow and storms.
Yes but what are Scenarios, exactly?
Great question, so glad you asked. Scenarios are optional gameplay modes that take the normal mechanics and rules of Before We Leave and change them up - some scenarios will be easy, some will be challenging, and others will reveal backstory for the lore nerds out there. We ran a feedback session for them recently and got nearly 50 ideas from the community, so hopefully these scenarios will cater directly to what people want from Before We Leave!
If you're curious about further updates, check out our Roadmap I posted a little while ago. We've also been posting short videos of what we're working on each Saturday on our Twitter, so check that out too if Twitter is your thing.
That's all for now! I'll be posting again soon with our March newsletter <3 - Emily, Community Manager
