Colony Ship - Major Update

[HiddenX]

Iron Tower Studios released a major update for Colony Ship:

New Content & Second System Update

You can finally return to the Pit to continue the story and deal with new problems, while enjoying new system improvements, most notably:

• A death timer. Now when a party member goes down in combat, you have 3 turns to end the fight to save the fallen comrade. There are minor side effects that slowly add up, so don't take the dirt nap too often,
• Improved combat AI
• Extensive balance changes (feats, implants, attacks, weapons, gadgets, grenades, enemies)
• Improved looting mechanics
• New weapons, improved icons
• Improved visuals

To see the full changelog, click here

While we're very happy with the overall state (grazes work all throughout the game, critical chance and damage depend more on your builds, evasion works as we envisioned, reactions work better, item progression and feats are improved, etc), the numbers will still need some work and we'll continue monitoring your feedback.

Since it's already December, we'd like to use this opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year and thank you for your support.

Thanks Redglyph!

More information.

 

[Elwro]

Awesome stuff!

 

[ikbenrichard]

Awesome stuff!

certainly, too bad it will take years for a final release :-(

 

[Couchpotato]

Wasn't 2024 instead of 2022 the closest possible release date based on the updates? If it takes longer it wouldn't surprise me as The Age of Decadence took a while as well.

 

[Redglyph]

Wasn't 2024 instead of 2022 the closest possible release date based on the updates? If it takes longer it wouldn't surprise me as The Age of Decadence took a while as well.

Wasn't TAoD developed part-time on top of a demanding job, by someone who couldn't let people know he was also developing a game? And who's developing full time now? Maybe I'm mixing things up, I don't know their history too well.

 

[Couchpotato]

Wasn't TAoD developed part-time on top of a demanding job, by someone who couldn't let people know he was also developing a game? And who's developing full time now? Maybe I'm mixing things up, I don't know their history too well.

No your correct the developer used to be more active on the forums and the updates are still available to read on his website. He's very candid with estimates and funding.

Here was the original roadmap from 2020.

• June 2021 - Factory
• August 2021 - Mission Control
• October 2021 - Shuttle Bay
• February 2022 - Habitat and the end of chapter 2
• April 2022 - ECLSS
• June 2022 - Heart (the mutant town)
• August 2022 - Bridge and the end of chapter 3, all locations are done.
• November 2022 - Endgame (chapter 4)”

Project ran into some delays and the old roadmap was changed though.

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We're looking at Jun 2023 right now. Here's what's left to do:

End of Jan - Heart (the mutant town)
End of Mar - Hydroponics (the Yellow and Red Zones), Mission Control (the lower levels)
End of May - The Armory (level 3), Bridge and the end of chapter 3
End of Jul - Endgame (chapter 4)”

 

[Stingray]

Wasn't TAoD developed part-time on top of a demanding job, by someone who couldn't let people know he was also developing a game? And who's developing full time now? Maybe I'm mixing things up, I don't know their history too well.

That's right, and Age of Decadence took 11.5 years. Colony Ship has been in the works for 6 years (I'm basing that off Dungeon Rats' release date), so even if it slips to 2024, it'll still have taken a whole lot less time than AoD.

 

[Redglyph]

That's right, and Age of Decadence took 11.5 years. Colony Ship has been in the works for 6 years (I'm basing that off Dungeon Rats' release date), so even if it slips to 2024, it'll still have taken a whole lot less time than AoD.

6 years already! I didn't know the game had already been in development for so long. And 11.5 years for a game, this guy must be persistent, I would be completely demotivated after even half that time.

 

[Stingray]

6 years already! I didn't know the game had already been in development for so long.

For CS, they scrapped their old engine and moved to Unreal. Their future games should happen a lot more quickly, since they'll presumably just use Unreal from here on out. VD has said that their next game is going to be Colony Ship 2, assuming Colony Ship 1 sells well enough for them to even stay in business. He said he thinks Colony Ship 2 can be done in 4 years.

 

[JDR13]

VD has said that their next game is going to be Colony Ship 2, assuming Colony Ship 1 sells well enough for them to even stay in business. He said he thinks Colony Ship 2 can be done in 4 years.

So no plans to do a sequel to Age of Decadence?

 

[Stingray]

I don't remember ever seeing him comment on that, but I found these on a quick Codex search just now:

There will be Age of Decadence 2?

I know that Vault Dweller and his team are probably very, very busy in the making of Colony Ship, yet I can't but ask myself is there will be a second part to the good game that was Age of Decadence. The setting and the general atmosphere caught me. And maybe the idea is floating somewhere.

rpgcodex.net

There will be Age of Decadence 2?

Now it's 240k copies. Waiting for that quarter million celebration party.

rpgcodex.net

Sounds good to me...

 

[JDR13]

Idk. I guess if you're already sold on Colony Ship and a sequel to that. It doesn't sound very promising as far as a sequel to AoD is concerned.

 

[Pladio]

@VDweller said that he would like to do Age of Decadence on the 'aliens' world potentially discovering more about them at some point, I believe. But that was a long time ago.

 

[Morrandir]

Project ran into some delays and the old roadmap was changed though.

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We're looking at Jun 2023 right now. Here's what's left to do:

End of Jan - Heart (the mutant town)
End of Mar - Hydroponics (the Yellow and Red Zones), Mission Control (the lower levels)
End of May - The Armory (level 3), Bridge and the end of chapter 3
End of Jul - Endgame (chapter 4)”

The FAQ on the Steam page says July 2023 btw.

 

[Couchpotato]

The FAQ on the Steam page says July 2023 btw.

Thanks there were three different dates in different places and it always changes.

 

[VDweller]

certainly, too bad it will take years for a final release :-(

There's not that much left (see the schedule posted above). While July 2023 can easily become Aug or Sep, I don't see it slipping into 2024.

So no plans to do a sequel to Age of Decadence?

Not as our next project. Going back to Torque (the engine) isn't an option, rebuilding everything (systems, animations, weapons and armor, various assets) will take a long time. So one way or another, a Colony Ship sequel is our best and only bet right now.

 

[ikbenrichard]

There's not that much left (see the schedule posted above). While July 2023 can easily become Aug or Sep, I don't see it slipping into 2024.

That is good news, cannot wait to play it !

 

[Farflame]

Not as our next project. Going back to Torque (the engine) isn't an option, rebuilding everything (systems, animations, weapons and armor, various assets) will take a long time. So one way or another, a Colony Ship sequel is our best and only bet right now.

What about doing Kickstarter for CS 2? You could use first game as a proof of concept and quality.
Or is KS much less interesting option nowadays?

 

[VDweller]

The problem with KS is that it doesn't fund games but gives you a bit of money (tied to the studio's existing audience and media support). Then you're on your own and have to use your own resources (Obsidian got 4 mil to make PoE but the game ended up costing 8 mil) or forced to seek a publisher, which is a very common tale.

 

[Stingray]

The problem with KS is that it doesn't fund games but gives you a bit of money (tied to the studio's existing audience and media support). Then you're on your own and have to use your own resources (Obsidian got 4 mil to make PoE but the game ended up costing 8 mil) or forced to seek a publisher, which is a very common tale.

What about using KS when you're a year or two away from release, as essentially just a pre-order and publicity-generating thing? Basically what Spiderweb has been doing. You get a much higher % of the revenue from KS than you would from Steam. Does the amount of time you'd have to sink into it negate the benefits?