Hi Folks, Alpha 10 is out now! It comes with many new features such as the new competition game mode that adds competing ai colonists. They are still behaving a bit experimental. There are different fossil resource deposits now which will run out over time. We started adding steam achievements – claim your victories by starting the game. A redesign of the info panel now keeps the ground conditions visible even with a building on top. The warehouse is available as from Lorian and can store your overproduced energy, food and goods. In addition we have updated the demo version.
If you appreciate our work and like the game please consider writing a short review to push it on steam!
Competition Mode
The competition mode is available for all campaign planets and also for every planet you generate in the sandbox.
In this mode you have to reach a certain population goal and can choose up to 4 AI players. The screenshot above shows a game against 3 opponents. How fast they grow depends on the amount of resources available and the difficulty you choose. You can also steal their land and buildings with watchtowers. In this first version of the AI they wont defend themselves.
The navigation (space key) helps to maintain an overview and the stats menu allows you to compare in detail.
Fossil Resources & Info Panel
The info panel received a new look and some additional functionality:
- The information of building and field are now separated, so it’s always possible to see all details.
- When focusing a building in the development menu or in the build ring you can now see the production range of the building.
E.g. a fishery will produce between 8 and 20 food depending on where you place it. Putting it onto fishing ground is essential. In addition you should make sure to leave some free fields between fisheries. - For fossil fields the gray bar shows the amount of resource left in the field. The energy produced by fossil power plants will go down over time. This will make buildings like coal power plants much more powerful, but you will have to be careful to use them the right way. Fossil resources are limited…
Warehouse
The warehouse is a new building in the goods category. It can store up to 3000 goods and its upgrades add the ability to store energy and food. Storing resources is a solution to deal with overproduction and to build a buffer for bad times or fast expansion. The stored resources can also be sold to the space merchant (a new unit that will be introduced in Alpha 11).
Steam Achievements
For now we only added 5 achievements. We are currently collecting things that are worth receiving an achievement for.
What didn’t make it?
- Mission Bora
Again. Because we can’t stop discussing and adding gameplay elements instead of focusing on the mission 😉 - Volcanoes
In fact we already built them, but they will have their first appearance on Bora. So they are not included in the release. - Steam Workshops for sharing Sandbox planets
We currently aren’t sure whether this is a great feature or not.
What is planned guessed for Alpha 11?
- The final mission on Bora. Really!
- Volcanoes
- Space Merchant
- Laser canon against meteorites
- Steam Trading Cards
- Planet Tehra
- Geothermal Power Plant
- Waterworks
- Complete Research
We wish you a lot of fun with the new version and happy Easter days.