Colony Ship Early Access Release Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Vault Dweller]

The YTers we contacted (over 100 people) got Steam keys so they can access it whenever they please (which explains SplatterCat's and Mortismal's second videos). We don't do exclusive content; when a new location or update is ready, it goes to the players first, not the media.

Overall, I wouldn't describe the situation as bad or dire. RPGs in Early Access are a very hard sell (megahits like BG3 are an exceptions, of course), so we'll wait until release and see what happens. We got into Steam festivals like TurnBasedFest and the upcoming TactiCon, which is a big plus. We still have all 'visibility rounds' (we spent all AoD's rounds in EA, which was a mistake), planned post-release updates, etc.

 

[Jaedar]

. Or even worse, encouraging having skill monkeys for your solo character going back and forth when exploring an area.

What is the benefit of dumping your party while exploring? Or do you mean swapping in each of the party members as needed for checks, while pc is a murderhobo?

We still have all 'visibility rounds' (we spent all AoD's rounds in EA, which was a mistake), planned post-release updates, etc.

What are visibility rounds?

 

[just]

look at all these armchair marketers
just put something controversial about jews in the game and you'll have all the publicity you want

 

[Butter]

look at all these armchair marketers
just put something controversial about jews in the game and you'll have all the publicity you want

Nothing wrong with this approach.

 

[agris]

Overall, I wouldn't describe the situation as bad or dire. RPGs in Early Access are a very hard sell (megahits like BG3 are an exceptions, of course), so we'll wait until release and see what happens. We got into Steam festivals like TurnBasedFest and the upcoming TactiCon, which is a big plus. We still have all 'visibility rounds' (we spent all AoD's rounds in EA, which was a mistake), planned post-release updates, etc.

I know we’ve spoken about this before, but I still think you’re leaving the lowest hanging fruit on the table: publishing all the beta and non-beta updates to the Steam updates channel. People who have jammed “follow” on CS’s landing page, or just casual perusers, will see the steady flow of work that is actually being done.

You may think it’s trivial, or self aggrandizing, or just noise; yet, every game I’ve ever seen where the devs were diligent about this was both met with widespread appreciation by the owners (you have this already in most CS owners id imagine) *as well as* new people who had just found the game. Especially when it’s in EA, prospective buyers like to see steady progress.

The most recent update shown is from 2 months ago.

You and the team do a good job of communicating and being available to owners / ITS fans. A bit more communication to the uncommitted could not hurt, especially when I know y’all are writing detailed patch logs / notes.

Personally, I think every beta and non-beta update should be reflected there. It’s free, zero cost reminders to potential customers that the game is steadily improving.

 

[Vault Dweller]

What are visibility rounds?

Front page highlights tied to recent updates. Basically, a temporary front page visibility booster you can activate after an update. Limited to five, so choose wisely.

Personally, I think every beta and non-beta update should be reflected there. It’s free, zero cost reminders to potential customers that the game is steadily improving.

It would spam the update section but won't make any difference. Yes, someone might glance at the front page (or heavens forbid our site's front page, last update April 6, 2021) and assume that we're barely working on anything, but that's a very casual level of interest, one step above boredom. When it comes to games in EA, the forums are the the best and probably only reliable indicator of the state of these games.

 

[agris]

Vault Dweller to be clear, I’m speaking about the Steam page, not ITS’s.

Would it hurt to try updating it at the actual frequency you release beta/non-beta updates?

 

[Jaedar]

Yes, someone might glance at the front page (or heavens forbid our site's front page, last update April 6, 2021) and assume that we're barely working on anything

To be fair: if I saw this on an EA game, I'd assume it was vaporware and likely look elsewhere. But of course, one usually sticks to steam and you do update there.

 

[notpl]

What are visibility rounds?

Front page highlights tied to recent updates. Basically, a temporary front page visibility booster you can activate after an update. Limited to five, so choose wisely.

Personally, I think every beta and non-beta update should be reflected there. It’s free, zero cost reminders to potential customers that the game is steadily improving.

It would spam the update section but won't make any difference. Yes, someone might glance at the front page (or heavens forbid our site's front page, last update April 6, 2021) and assume that we're barely working on anything, but that's a very casual level of interest, one step above boredom. When it comes to games in EA, the forums are the the best and probably only reliable indicator of the state of these games.

I pass by games for exactly the reason you're describing all the time.

 

[agris]

As do i.

 

[norolim]

It would spam the update section but won't make any difference. Yes, someone might glance at the front page (or heavens forbid our site's front page, last update April 6, 2021) and assume that we're barely working on anything, but that's a very casual level of interest, one step above boredom. When it comes to games in EA, the forums are the the best and probably only reliable indicator of the state of these games.

You are in error here. There is too much noise, too many games to follow. When people come back to your various channels, they will not devote too much effort to check whether your game is still actively developed or not. If they see recent updates, a few will read them, some will skim through and most will just remember to return in a while. But if they see no updates for a year or more, they'll immediately move on and will likely never return. Potential customers lost.

 

[Lagi]

i buy CS on gog. Can I help anyhow?

 

[Technomancer]

i buy CS on gog. Can I help anyhow?

Spread the word

 

[norolim]

t h e w o r d

 

[Kamaz]

RPGs in Early Access are a very hard sell (megahits like BG3 are an exceptions, of course), so we'll wait until release and see what happens.

Professional curiosity - in your experience, is the actual release - for RPGs - bigger than the EA release? I am doing it - EA/full release - for the first time so I have no idea what to expect.

 

[Tyranicon]

RPGs in Early Access are a very hard sell (megahits like BG3 are an exceptions, of course), so we'll wait until release and see what happens.

Professional curiosity - in your experience, is the actual release - for RPGs - bigger than the EA release? I am doing it - EA/full release - for the first time so I have no idea what to expect.

Not who you asked but I'll add my experience in here too. For me it was about 40% (EA) - 60% (full release) split. But I did very little marketing and my game is very small.

 

[Technomancer]

This game release will be somewhat new experience for Iron Tower. Unlike Colony Ship, Age of Decadence had some mainstream media coverage.

 

[Vault Dweller]

RPGs in Early Access are a very hard sell (megahits like BG3 are an exceptions, of course), so we'll wait until release and see what happens.

Professional curiosity - in your experience, is the actual release - for RPGs - bigger than the EA release? I am doing it - EA/full release - for the first time so I have no idea what to expect.

Yes. You can track it with the number of reviews as they correspond to sales.

Vagrus:

King Arthur:

AoD:

 

[Elhoim]

Or even worse, encouraging having skill monkeys for your solo character going back and forth when exploring an area.

What is the benefit of dumping your party while exploring? Or do you mean swapping in each of the party members as needed for checks, while pc is a murderhobo?

Not only as needed but to "maximize" progression, especially for combat, by giving the LP to the skill monkey character that has the skill with higher level while at the same time getting the full XP from combat for the murderhobo. I was watching a player stream when we released the hydro update, had a solo character. Every time there was a check that wasn't a combat alternative, he went back to the armory, picked Harbinger, did the check, went back to Armory, dumped her. So it was a back and forth all the time. He hated doing it, as we talked later, but at the same time, it was profitable. I know some might say "It's up to the player to not do that", but I think that we have a responsibility as designers regarding the actions we encourage via the systems we create. Kinda similar to what was happening with looting in combat, in which in some cases you weren't supposed to get the loot afterwards (big faction fights), so the system encouraged the player to try and loot enemies and dead allies while combat was still going. Again, annoying, players hated us for it, but too profitable to pass up. So we cut the snake by the head, disabling the looting, as it didn't add a really interesting gameplay consideration, was silly (taking all the armor from dead people in the middle of combat) and cluttered up the combat area creating issues with movement selection in some cases.

 

[Daedalos]

Honestly you should get COHcarnage on board, and you'd be set lol.

Guy is great, and plays alot of cRPGS, and have a huge audience.

Time to lick his ass till its cleaner than Donalds Trumps tax returns.

 

[Jaedar]

picked Harbinger

Somehow, I've done several "complete" playthroughs of this, and never once realized Harbinger was even an option to recruit in chapter 1.

I know some might say "It's up to the player to not do that", but I think that we have a responsibility as designers regarding the actions we encourage via the systems we create.

I agree, especially for games like colony ship where high difficulty is intended. It's a bit rude to say "here's a hard game where you'll have to get creative to win, but if you get creative in a tedious way it's your own fault". Seems like a pretty hard problem to fix though, unless you just allow adding/removing party members everywhere, which seems degenerate. Maybe make the npcs get upset at being jerked around and refuse to join again if the player has removed them from the party more than 10 times?

 

[Elhoim]

Somehow, I've done several "complete" playthroughs of this, and never once realized Harbinger was even an option to recruit in chapter 1.

She's not, I was talking about the hydro yellow and red locations =)

I agree, especially for games like colony ship where high difficulty is intended. It's a bit rude to say "here's a hard game where you'll have to get creative to win, but if you get creative in a tedious way it's your own fault". Seems like a pretty hard problem to fix though, unless you just allow adding/removing party members everywhere, which seems degenerate. Maybe make the npcs get upset at being jerked around and refuse to join again if the player has removed them from the party more than 10 times?

Yes, that's a point that's brought up quite a bit as a logical solution, meaning them as a person would react to it.

 

[Bester]

I had left a negative review, but I'll change it to positive temporarily until way after release. Wish I could help more.

 

[Bester]

Ongoing discussion on russian reddit about the game https://dtf.ru/games/1764573-prodazhi-colony-ship-ostavlyayut-zhelat-luchshego

 

[agris]

Ongoing discussion on russian reddit about the game https://dtf.ru/games/1764573-prodazhi-colony-ship-ostavlyayut-zhelat-luchshego

What's the takeaway here, that 1200 r is too much for many and they don't know about the ongoing RU localization effort?