Astrobase Command Newsletter – October 2017

Hail Astrobasers!

Welcome to the launch of the Monthly Newsletter! We’re very excited to talk about Astrobase Command and everything that’s in store for the future.

 

Exploding modules set the seasonal mood for Halloween.

 

In September 2017, we launched the Closed Alpha on itch.io giving our biggest fans and supporters of the May 2017 Kickstarter the opportunity to play the earliest possible version of the game. It was a great feeling to both exceed the funding goal, and then make our first deliverable milestone. Thank you to all who travelled with us on that leg of the journey!

  • If you are a Kickstarter backer at a non-alpha tier, and would like to upgrade to participate in the Alpha community, Stardust backers can go here and Meteor backers can go here.
  • If you are playing the Alpha and want some pro-tips about how to play (since there is not yet a tutorial, and many GUIs are placeholder), you can check out our narrated gameplay video.

Since the Closed Alpha launch, we’ve been hard at work fixing bugs, stabilizing the build, improving performance, and generally making the quality-of-life improvements indicated by those of you on our Discord channel. The strategy is to have a solid foundation for the next phase of development: Open Alpha.

We welcome everyone to join the community on Discord if you haven’t done so already. We’re aiming for weekly Wednesday builds, so if you want put in your two credits to the developers in real-time, that’s the place to do so!

We also ninja’d in an asteroid shooter on the in-game Datapad, for those Space Station Administrators who want to take a break by staying at their desk and blowing up some asteroids. This fits with the game not only being a full space station life simulator for the characters, but also a project manager simulator for the player!

On a personal note, our programmer and CEO Adam Blahuta had a new recruit into his family, which in the game industry is called a “production baby.” If you see him around, wish him congratulations!

 

Crewman Nolan is a BAMF looking for pumpkins in burning modules.

What is Open Alpha?

Open Alpha means not only can anyone share media they record or capture in game, but we also send keys to streamers who can give Astrobase Command exposure to their community. Exposure is crucial to selling copies, but the game has to be at a certain quality level before we’re comfortable showing it off to a wider audience!

There are two major features we’d like implemented before open these doors: Save Game, and the Construction Job.

Currently in the build, you design and then place each module as you grow the Astrobase. With the Construction Job, characters will take over that duty, getting assigned and executing tasks to pack and transport the resources to the construction site, and then building the Hull, the Components, and each Section as specified by the player’s design. This fits with the other jobs that characters can perform in the line of duty.

Because Construction will greatly impact the pacing and progression by adding another layer of work/life balance to the Character Simulation and A.I. Lifecycle, you’ll want to be able to save the game state.

In parallel, we’ll also be making smaller fixes and updates on our Wednesday schedule, but those two are the big features coming down the pipeline.

Help Us Spread the Word

Now that Astrobase Command is shaping up to be a terrific game, if you would like to contribute to the efforts, please post about us on your favorite sci-fi or gaming forum, twitter, facebook, reddit, imgur, the chans, or wherever on the wide Internets that you hang out!

It’s much better karma if the fans of Astrobase Command spread the word then we developers being shills for own game. Plus, it frees up our time so we can focus on expanding the universe and breathing more life into the characters their stories.

Finally, in our quest to find new ways to modernize the industry, we’ve started a Patreon. We’ve got longer term plans for it, but in the meantime, your support will give you access to some Patreon-only rewards.

Thank you for reading, and see you next month!

  • The Astrobase Command Development Team

 

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