Sol Trader
New build: fix nasty missions bug
Restart your steam client to force it to grab the new build, and you should get some missions to complete!
I'm also aware of an occasional crash loading saved games on Windows which I'll figure out first thing in the morning.
Until next time,
Chris
New build: zoom, more options, re-show tutorial
- I've added a zoom in space mode to give you a clear idea of where you are. Press 'Z' to toggle zooming in and out.
- It's now clearer how to hire ships (you have to talk to someone in the organisation to do so.)
- There are now options to mute the music, hide the tutorial and speed up scroll. The side effect is that you'll have to redo your video preferences - sorry about that.
- You can now show any part of the tutorial at any time by clicking on the '?' top right during the game.
Thanks so much to everyone who has taken the time to play through the game onstream - it's been very helpful!
Not long to go now!
Until next time,
Chris
New build: life missions
This small feature has made all the difference to the purpose and drive of the player. Now that there's something concrete to shoot for, the early game is much clearer and intelligible. I've also spent a lot of time tweaking the tutorial to make it as clear and easy to follow as possible. There are also plenty of balance improvements to ships and components.
The video options are also much better now - besides running the game in a window, you're able to choose from the fullscreen resolutions your OS claims to support, along with 'desktop' full screen which matches your current resolution.
Enjoy the latest build! This will be one of the last before release next Monday!
Until next time,
Chris
Developer, Sol Trader
New build: video options + tons of balance improvements
- New video options screen allows a wider range of cards and displays
- Much improved tutorial system with more comprehensive coverage
- Ancestor backers names are now in the game
- Pre-generating asteroids removes a lot of complexity for the renderer
- Escape capsules on death option
- Peaceful mode option
- A myriad of balance changes
There will be another build or two next week as we gear up to launch, so please keep letting me know of any feedback or bugs that you find. Thanks!
Until next time,
Chris
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Developer, Sol Trader
Insiders now have a late beta on Steam
If possible, I'd love you to spend some time testing the game and making sure it all works ok!
If you have issues, please use the technical support forum here: http://forums.soltrader.net/?forum=472670. I'd appreciate hearing about anything, from technical and graphical issues to gameplay balance and how easy it is to figure things out.
Also feel free to post screenshots, videos and live steam the game! Do send me a link if possible or post it on the Steam community.
For those of you who are waiting until release: not long now... Here's a brand new never-seen-before picture of Neptune to whet your appetite.
(get a load of those random ship colours!)
Until next time,
Chris
Developer, Sol Trader
Ship customisation, Factions and Embassies
Getting the paint job right
Customising your ship
Trading ship components
This build is available here now (only Insider backers will have access to this link.)
Dev update: factions and embassies
Today is rather momentous: the final Sol Trader features are going in. I've spent the last week putting in the rest of the Solar System, and adding factions and embassies. Players can no longer travel freely through the system and will need to acquire visas at embassies to move beyond their home sector.
Time to go back and get a visa.
There are four main factions in the game: Pirate, Old Federation, Outer Alliance and New Order. These factions have diplomatic relations with each other that will be different every game. Doing missions for any faction will also affect your relationship with the other factions, depending on their various foreign policies.
This has also affected the history generation: characters will now only take jobs in their own faction, unless they have a visa to travel, which they might have got through their parents' work when they were children. They are also not allowed to take certain high powered jobs outside of their birth faction.
So that's all the features in! Everything else is polish, refinement, balance and necessary infrastructure: such as allowing the player to load/save, getting Steam builds working, adding achievements, polishing the AI, ensuring you can earn the right opinions and progress correctly, various Kickstarter rewards, a Linux port, graphics and driver compatibility checks: there's plenty to do in the final few weeks!
Thanks for all your support getting me this far: the game will be release in five weeks so everything now goes into getting the game ready for launch.
Until next time,
Chris
Developer, Sol Trader
How I'm ensuring the game stays fun
The end is in sight - we're well into the second 90% of development (although I harbour this hidden fear that there's a third 90% somewhere in here!)
Development update: game balance
I'm working on finalising ship customisation and game balance. I've spent today generating 38,000 possible money-making actions, comprising every possible combination of trade, mining action and mission that a player can do, to try and ensure that the game doesn't contain any exploits. I've utilised the AI to provide costs for trade routes and figured out profit per minute for each action:
Results for balance testing, with spoilers redacted. You didn't think I'd make it that easy, did you?
Balance testing isn't glamorous, and it's rather time-consuming, but it's super essential to make sure the game continues to be fun and interesting over time. It also ensures that any really high profit actions have a big barrier to entry, or a large risk attached.
I've already made mining harder, missions much more lucrative, ships more expensive and ship components cheaper as a result. Ships also now add wear and tear when you use them, which will affect your deposit and your reliability when you take a ship back after hiring or borrowing it.
What's next?
We need the final UI for ship customisation. I'm still waiting on artwork but that'll be done soon. As soon as the artwork is done, I'll release a new version to insider backers.
I also need to add passenger cabins, escape capsules, and add the ability to name everything and customise the colour of the ships you own. After than we have some more solar system content to add in, then a lot of housekeeping and polish ready for launch on the 6th June. Almost there!
Until next time,
Chris
Developer, Sol Trader
Sol Trader at EGX Rezzed this week!
Dev update: ships histories, customisation and the road to launch
One feature I've just added that I'm really excited about is that ships now have their own history. Ships get built at shipyards and get bought, sold, inherited and stolen by various characters. It's great to fun to track a ship through its whole story.
I'm also working hard on ship customisation, so that you can upgrade the weapons and engines on your ship and even change the paint job. That'll be coming in a build soon to insider backers!
After we're done with customising ships, we're into adding factions, the rest of the Solar System, balancing the gameplay and polishing like crazy before release on the 6th June. I'll post again when I have more news!
Chris
Developer, Sol Trader
Sol Trader at EGX Rezzed this week!
Dev update: ships histories, customisation and the road to launch
One feature I've just added that I'm really excited about is that ships now have their own history. Ships get built at shipyards and get bought, sold, inherited and stolen by various characters. It's great to fun to track a ship through its whole story.
I'm also working hard on ship customisation, so that you can upgrade the weapons and engines on your ship and even change the paint job. That'll be coming in a build soon to insider backers!
After we're done with customising ships, we're into adding factions, the rest of the Solar System, balancing the gameplay and polishing like crazy before release on the 6th June. I'll post again when I have more news!
Until next time,
Chris
Latest changes for beta and release date now set for June 6th
If you missed out on the Beta, you can still back the game on our website for instant access.
Release date now set for June 6th
We demo'ed the game at the PC Gamer Weekender earlier this month, which was a fantastic opportunity to get great player feedback and show off the game. During the play testing it became clear that I need to add an overarching goal the player can work towards, the opinions system needs further extension (including the ability to lie to other characters) and I need to deepen the gameplay surrounding the various factions in the game.
Therefore I'm now going to launch on 6th June 2016. However, I think this is the right decision: I'd rather release a finished game than push out something that isn't quite ready.
What's next?
I'm working hard on the ship customisation at the moment, so that players can change the configuration of the ships they own. They can buy new equipment from various people, such as freelance mechanics and mining engineers.
During history generation the other characters actually invent ship components of varying quality, and you have to go and see the inventor if you want a particular component on your ship. It's awesome to see the names that they come up with for their components, too!
That's all for now - until next time!
Chris
Developer, Sol Trader