We hope everyone enjoyed some good time with their family during the holidays!
Design and deveopment has continued meanwhile. It is now time to share with you some of our progress. Captains, you all know we have one priority today: COLONIZATION!
Target acquired. All hands on deck!
January is the era of King Cakes but for us, it is all about space planets. After prototyping new interface elements in December, we started working on the real test version.
This means instead of pitching early screen mockups we are actually programming the live version.
We regularly switch from prototyping to game design and then to actual development, so that all of you can enjoy it in our next alpha release!
So when is it coming?
All other tasks have been paused (aside from emergency maintenance) to make it possible to deliver it later this month.
But the exact 'when' is still not known because there are always a number of things to improve and debug before release and the whole development is not done yet. Evacuation, for instance, still lacks a few features (and we'll get back to it) but gets the job done while keeping the game vision and atmosphere. We want Colonization to do the same thing.
Although this means some nearly done updates (such as our Uniform and Medals Update) are waiting a bit, this also means the colonization experience will get even better!
So, what happens after evacuation and your hyperspace jump?
What is the status of your ship? and your crew?
How welcoming is the new galaxy?
The next version will allow you to see what happens next.
And this post... will help you get ready!
Make proper plans first
EXODE is all about your decisions.
But the game also lets you free to decide about how deep you want to explore things. You are free to take some decisions in a rich environment, and you should, but we also expect players to be able to just react to what the universe throws at them.
This combination of planning and facing the unexpected is part of the game flow and the game wants to be flexible in that, and to allow players to delve deeper whenever they want to.
You can try to be good in risk management and plan everything. You can estimate risks with every decision you have to take. Or you can just react on the spur of the moment and do what just sounds proper. (evacuation, however, is still more complex than what it will be with the game full release)
The game can be played without understanding much, but still allows you to perform better if you are more involved. This is part of the game vision. Evacuation is likes this. Colonization also begins like this.
But in this space adventure and in this game of strategy, another thing is present: every decision has long term consequences.
Good decisions can carry you further, and bad decisions... well, let's focus on the good, shall we? :D
So what did you decide to take with you?
Did you focus on some important items you know you will need in the new galaxy? Or are you relying on the randomness of crates you load in a moment of panic?
Both are valid options; new players with a starter have to discover what they take in their crates, and it can still be fun and even, valuable.
Also, are you making sure you leave with your fuel reserves filled? But how do you address the risk you have by taking more time, of having your ship damaged?
Good players will check that starfleet is strong enough to give them time; and click on LAUNCH the second starfleet gets weaker or their shields are not holding. But new players, or players trying to optimize, will certainly take more risks.
And with all there was already to evacuation, a new big decision is coming next: your planet. Because there are unknown parameters to your planet, but also some known things which can be found.
You already know, by now, that your planet will be your next big decision.
And maybe the last one to take... when you don't have a lot of time!
So, what should you do?
What errors must not be made?
Information is always key to your success
Picking a planet is the very last step of evacuation, and also the very first step of colonization. It makes the bridge and connects your evacuation game to your long and lasting colonization time.
You cannot create your own planet (of course!) but you can check more information about what is proposed to you and even look for another planet if the one proposed sounds too dangerous.
But know that every planet will have interesting items, and even more to discover during your game.
This month's update is focused on Scanning and Landing. So let's detail that a lot futher.
Available Scans
You can click on NEW SCAN and then select one of four possible scans to run:
A Primary Scan, or PRIMSCAN, will check the planet habitable and exploitable size and sectors. Later scans will also add landing sites and reduce the importance of damage when landing.
A CFR Scan, which stands for "Colonization for Research", will report the number of biomes on this planet and try to detect new lifeforms and minerals.
A CFP Scan, which stands for "Colonization for Profit", will report the variety, abundance, accessibility and reserves of exploitable nutriments, minerals and energy.
A CFH Scan, which stands for "Colonization for Humans" (or Habitability), will analyze how 'harsh' and dangerous this planet is to life and to the survival chances (and if they do survive, happiness chances) of settlers who land there. What is the air quality, the ground fertility, the life quality on this planet, but also the lethal risks of being there. Can your colony vanish in a sudden fire tornado, or do meteorites crash there every Sunday.
Some ships will also allow two additional options:
The ARKSCAN for more details about wildlife and vegetation.
The TACSCAN for more information about effective stealth and convertible 'firepower' on this planet, from sticks and iron to firearms and radioactive weapons.
Scanning is as simple as picking the type of scan and then the crew member who will complete it. After some time, the report will be ready.
Important numbers will be displayed and later you will also be allowed to click "Details" and read a text report.
Who should perform the Scan?
Any character can perform a planet scan but the best at it will be characters good in Signals, Science, Spaceships Expertise and Planetary Expertise. But Investigation will also help detect "harder to see and more original anomalies", and Speed will always makes things a bit faster.
Each scan may use a different set of skills but these will answer to most situations.
You can also launch up to two scans at the same time (although this feature is still to confirm in real version) so you can use two crew members to do it. You can even use the same crew member for both scans, with more risks and time.
Technically, you are scanning while still traveling at veilspeed.
Scanning can also be faster but more exhausting if you decide to 'wire' the person's brain to the computer (a process players sending crew members to manage shields already know about). It may be wise or not; it will be up to you to decide about it.
What other crew members are needed?
Every planet is detected at a given range. You can decide at any point to TRAVEL TO THIS PLANET and make the distance shorter and scans more effective. This will, also, make you start to burn fuel.
Traveling to a planet that you decide later to discard will not help you though, as it will make further travels longer. So, engage warp when ready... and with consequence!
- For that you will also need a Pilot. Piloting skill will reduce travel time and burned fuel. More importantly your pilot will be very important, your very own VIP, when landing on this planet!
You can also have a Navigator. A navigator will calculate better astropaths, thus shortening travel time and burned fuel. Which is always better.
Any person able to fix a ship would be good to have. The hypergalatic jump caused impressive damage to your ship and the more is hotfixed in space the better. This will be the job of the person you name as your Engineer, and optionally, you can even name two Engineers.
You can have an EVCM Expert. EVCM stands for Electronics and Veil Counter-Measures. He/she will be your Stealth Specialist and will help lessen the risks of aliens detecting you. Because, aliens are actually detecting you. Even as we speak!
Well, OK, maybe not right now when you are reading.
Stop looking behind your back.
But as soon as you will make the jump, they will actively look for your ship. And they are persistent.
So, your job is:
- to assign tasks to crew members.
- more specifically, to assign a person for every scan you run, and optionally to name a Pilot, a Navigator, Engineers and an EVCM expert.
- yes, the game will possibly evolve to auto-propose crew members to you (at some point later). So it will be as simple as clicking YES.
- the game even allows you to assign several tasks to the same person. It won't make it better, as multitasking will make everything not as good, but you are free to do so! After all, some ships do not allow the crew size to have the luxury of having one person for each task. So it's logical and expected.
More information soon!
This is all for today!
In our next post, we will reveal more about planet specifics. What should you look for to validate your choice?
Exploring sectors will be fun and look like this:
Dismissed!
Have fun pilots, thank you for your support, and see you later this month!
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More information about EXODE can also be found on our website, our Discord, or multiple posts such as this one about our epic characters, or this trailer made by a fan, or this review or this one . A summary of latest posts and events is also here.
Also running a witness node:
You can check the post about it here and if you like what this means you can:
See you soon in eXode!
