At the start of the week, we finished updating our storepage with the new 0.7.0 content. We had already updated the text, and we've now added new images and a new video.
After that was finished, Steam decided to overhaul how storepages work as well, especially the announcements - the thing you're currently reading! It looks different, doesn't it? Well, we're also trying to figure out how this works exactly. We noticed we're now able to distinguish between different categories of announcements: more mundane blogs like this one, patch notes for smaller updates, releases of big new updates and more. That could be very useful.
The biggest change to the game this week occured in the diplomacy/trading interface. It was reorganized, with a clear separation between rules for different colonies. We also added icons to make it clearer. It looks like this now:
Apart from the update that reworks this menu, there were two other updates this week. They're a bit more technical so I'll just share the full changelog right here:
Fullscreen
In last week's blog, we shared our plans for the future. We've thought and discussed the subject more this week and realized we probably forgot a large group of players. We came up with three different groups of players that are all important but have distinct needs and preferences.
[olist]
Players who just can't get the hang of the game, who believe it's too complex and frustrating, and who drop it after a couple of hours or less of trying
Those who play the game for 10-20 hours but don't reach the endgame
Last but not least, those who've reached and/or finished the endgame[/olist]Making group 1 happy is important for growth, and we think 0.7.0 has made learning the game harder for them.
Group 2 is probably the majority of those who've tried 0.7.0. We don't have exact numbers for playtime, but we do know that less than 1 in 10 of those who've unlocked the easiest 0.7.0-achievements actually reach the endgame-achievements.
This makes group 3 a relatively small minority, but that doesn't make them less important: they are the ones who have invested the most time and energy in the game, and who are probably most excited for future updates.
The plans in the previous blog focused on making the game easier to understand for new players, and adding industrial content that is unlocked after the current endgame. Both are not that relevant for group 2 (although plenty of people from all groups have asked for things like statistics and a better UI!).
So we've updated our outline for the future: industrial content will be pushed from 0.8.0 to 0.9.0, and it's replaced by better guards and monsters! We've been thinking about them for a while, but totally forgot to mention them in last week's blog.
This list is far from final, but these ideas seem fun and worthwhile:
Guards with special effects like area-of-effect damage, poison, speed reduction, armor penetration
Boss monsters with lots of HP, monsters that spawn other monsters to incentivize killing them ASAP, armored monsters, monsters that can do ranged attacks
Display range of different guards when hovering over them in top-down view
Better effects for projectiles/hits/damage
We'd think this would be a fun update that does more than extend the endgame, it would actually improve the early and mid-game as well.
This would mean that the next updates can be summarized like this:
0.7.X-updates will hopefully make the game easier to understand for group 1 (while simultaneously improving QoL for group 2 and 3)
0.8.0 will add more fun for primarily group 2 (which will hopefully have grown with a lot of players who were previously in group 1)
0.9.0 will serve group 3 by extending the end-game with industrial content
In what group would you categorize yourself? What do you think of these ideas? Let us know in the comments or on Discord!
Reddit // Twitter // YouTube // Website // Discord [ 2019-09-06 12:52:53 CET ][ Original post ]
Build your own village, castle or city and populate it with colonists! Let guards, farmers, miners, foresters, bakers, smelters and artisans work for you. After the sun has set, most colonists will go to bed, but the enemy awakens. A horde of monsters will assault your colony and try to slaughter you and your villagers. Defend your colony with walls, moats and guards!
Multiplayer support: play with friends and strangers!
Advanced pathfinding: colonists and zombies will find their way in the world you've build. They will dynamically navigate stairs, bridges and tunnels.
Explore a world with realistically placed biomes. A giant jungle in the center of the world, surrounded by savannas, deserts and temperate biomes. Two polar regions in the far north and south.
Support for textures and language packs created by players
Dynamic lighting and eye adaptation
Voice your suggestions and be part of the development of Colony Survival!