Astra Exodus - Dev Diary #16 - Post Launch

Hey everyone. I am Fernando from Atomic Kaiser. Its been a couple of weeks since the release of Astra Exodus now and we felt it was a good time to go over the launch, what went wrong and what went right, and talk about the future of the game, the updates we have released so far and a small hindsight over what we have in mind for the the future of the game, based on the feedback we have got since then.

Launch Summary

Sadly we didnt have the best of launches for the game, as not only a couple of nasty bugs slipped by us, but on top of it all many people at launch were expecting something quite different to what Astra Exodus actually is. All of this showed on the reviews we got to the game and of course it was a major concern for us. As I mentioned then in our first status post in the Steam forums, bugs can and were squashed. We did the same with improvements and features added / implemented as they were reported / suggested by the community. But please bear in mind that fundamental parts of the game like the art, graphics and aesthetics of the game are something we are not changing even if we could. This would go against the 90's theme we are going for with the game, something we have shown with pride in all marketing material. On the expectations front, which were as per the reviews totally different in some cases to what the game actually is, we frankly dont know what we could have done differently as pretty much all marketing material was quite upfront with how the game looked, felt and played as.

Updates so far

Ever since release we have been updating the game with bug fixes, improvements and even new features, responding to the concerns to the community as fast as possible. At the time of writing this post, with version 04 out to everyone now, we have no known bugs left and the following improvements and features added to the game since release:

Improvements

Enable colonization of planets which were previously used for one of the player outposts
The game now remembers the position and zoom level the camera was, when going from and to the galactic view
Added info on starship's health (hull / armour) on it's tooltip and improved the related UI object
Reduced the RNG factor in auto-combat battles to make them more predictable
Reduced the frequency of AI offers through diplomacy to make it less annoying
Changed auto-retreat of fleets to not have any punishment at all
Added an additional speed setting to space battles in order to speed them up
Now space battles start out paused instead of in a slow time setting
Decreased the base turns required to achieve victory conditions to speed up games
Removed advice to lower/increase taxes when you cant do so
Enabled faction customization in modded games

Features

Added a Visual Styles setting to the game, which adjust the color / contrast / brightness and several effects options for the starmap and battles
Added an autosaves option to the game with several settings
Added an option to disable edge panning of the camera
Added a new ship attack stance for long range attack called Siege
Added an option to use hardware cursor instead of software

You can compare the looks of the old Colourful visual style with the new Darkened visual style

Future Plans

We dont have like a year long road map with specific dates or anything like that, as not only longer we dont think its necessary, but also we find that in many cases its impossible to live by it. What we do have is some big features on the horizon that we will be working towards, in parallel to smaller patches and updates. We dont want to reveal anything at this stage as we are defining how to implement certain major features and new content that we have in mind, but be assured: Astra Exodus will expand, and will keep improving. As mentioned, we have plans for the game, and we are sure that many of you will find what is coming rather intriguing. In the meantime, if you are enjoying the game (or not!), why not leave a review telling us what you like and dont like about the game? We certainly would appreciate it, as would the rest of the community. Until next time! https://store.steampowered.com/app/880750/Astra_Exodus/

[ 2020-02-19 20:26:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Astra Exodus

Atomic Kaiser Developer

Atomic Kaiser Publisher

2020-01-30 Release

Strategy Singleplayer Tags

Game News Posts: 52

🎹🖱️Keyboard + Mouse

Mostly Negative (39 reviews)

http://www.astraexodus.com/

Steam Store

Astra Exodus is a retro inspired, single player turn based sci fi 4x strategy game, with a multiple choice narrative driven epic campaign, top down real time tactical battles and an extensive semi randomized research grid; developed by Atomic Kaiser, a one gamedev army from Uruguay.

Take the chance to lead humanity back home, while uncovering the mysteries behind the Exodus, across a choice driven narrative campaign the Campaign. Or challenge yourself in the Sandbox mode, by leading any of the various alien factions, to several possible victory conditions.

Features:

Epic Story Campaign
Lead the Earth Legacy Task Force through 9 arduous missions, in their Campaign for discovering the lost heritage of Earth, and make decisions that alter the story and gameplay in significant ways; for which you can be rewarded with exclusive and diverse abilities only found in this mode.
Dynamic Sandbox Mode
Take charge of one out of 8 different main factions, or create your own in the Sandbox Mode, as you thrive to enslave, exterminate, seduce or right out beat all and any competition. Survive a host of events and menaces, that will surely challenge your empire and all others.
Battle in Space and on the Ground
Fight in space and in the ground, with real time tactical space battles, where positioning and heading matters as much as weaponry. And initiative based top down ground battles, with hosts of infantry, armour, strike craft and even mechs. Or just nuke them from orbit, that works just as well.
Explore captivating Galaxies
Colonize or conquer a vibrantly diverse galaxy of your choosing, full of wonderful stars, planets, asteroid belts, etc, all inspired by true astronomical phenomena. Maneuver your ships around black holes and supernovas, to either use or avoid their effects, in your conquests.
Semi-random Research Grid
Research over 300 technologies, in an exclusive and randomized tech grid, which forces you to choose wisely what you research and guarantees that no two games will be the same. React to events in the galaxy by researching about them and obtaining unique advantages over your enemies.
Lead through amazing Heroes
Encounter and recruit amazing galactic heroes, to lead your fleets, govern your colonies or even spy on your enemies! Make havok without firing a single blast, by conducting Sabotage and Revolt, among other operations; deep behind enemy lines.
Design your own Starships
Design you own starships, by deciding not only what weapons they carry and in which configuration, but also their Core and Support systems. Overwhelm your opponent with hosts of agile Frigates, swarms of Strike Craft or just with the immense firepower of a single huge Titan.
Open files for modding
Tinker, change and customize the game to your heart's content. Adding new or modifying existing starships, factions, troops, technologies, etc to the game. Maybe reenacting then, some of your favourite scifi tv shows and movies moments, right in the game.

MINIMAL SETUPOS: Ubuntu 12.04 (64-bit)
Processor: 2.5 Ghz Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 or equivalent
Graphics: 1 GB nVidia Geforce GT460 or equivalent. 500 MB ATI HD4850 or equivalent
Storage: 4 GB available spaceAdditional Notes: Minimum Resolution: 1366 x 768
RECOMMENDED SETUPOS: Ubuntu 14.04 (64-bit)
Processor: 3.5 Ghz Intel Core i5 or equivalentMemory: 8 GB RAM
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: 1 GB nVidia Geforce GTX660 or equivalent. 1 GB ATI HD7850 or equivalent
Storage: 4 GB available spaceAdditional Notes: Minimum Resolution: 1366 x 768

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