- PC Gamer Show: Early Access pros and cons - 4 April 2015
Last week's PC Gamer Show featured an Early Access game, which prompted a larger discussion around the PC Gamer office: how do we feel about the rise of paid pre-release? Since Minecraft made us more comfortable with the idea of selling incomplete games, we've seen dozens of PC games embrace paid alphas and betas as part of their development process—everything from MechWarrior Online to H1Z1 and Heroes of the Storm. But as studios benefit from early feedback and funding, are they giving back enough in return? Tom and Evan sat down to talk it over. Share your thoughts on Early Access with us in the comments. The PC Gamer Show appears every Friday. Hit us with PC gaming questions in the comments, and we might answer them in next week's episode! Or tweet @pcgamer with a question using the hashtag #AskPCGamer.
- Spacebase DF-9 1.06 released - 14 November 2014
Mods can now be loaded via ZIP files from the Mods\ subdirectory of the game's install directory. Each ZIP is loaded as a simple virtual file system which can contain directories that mirror the main game scripts and override their behavior. A file called "init.lua" in the top level of each ZIP's directory structure will run when the mod is loaded, allowing you to perform any needed initialization. See the MyDemoObject.zip there for a simple example mod, which adds a new buildable object with its own artwork. Arrow keys now pan view same as WASD keys. "show_hints" flag added to bootconfig.cfg, set it false to disable the Hint system entirely. Fixed: Unsuited citizens in a vacuum don't enter "sucked into space" immediately. Fixed: Turrets don't spawn in derelicts and docking ships as intended. Fixed: Various UI issues when resizing game window. Fixed: Held weapons don't appear correctly…
- Spacebase DF-9 1.06 released - 14 November 2014
Mods can now be loaded via ZIP files from the Mods\ subdirectory of the game's install directory. Each ZIP is loaded as a simple virtual file system which can contain directories that mirror the main game scripts and override their behavior. A file called "init.lua" in the top level of each ZIP's directory structure will run when the mod is loaded, allowing you to perform any needed initialization. See the MyDemoObject.zip there for a simple example mod, which adds a new buildable object with its own artwork. Arrow keys now pan view same as WASD keys. "show_hints" flag added to bootconfig.cfg, set it false to disable the Hint system entirely. Fixed: Unsuited citizens in a vacuum don't enter "sucked into space" immediately. Fixed: Turrets don't spawn in derelicts and docking ships as intended. Fixed: Various UI issues when resizing game window. Fixed: Held weapons don't appear correctly…
- Spacebase DF-9 1.05 released - 7 November 2014
Fixed: Citizens no longer place stuff on shelves, always have "stuff" need unsatisfied. Fixed: Dropped ore disappears. Fixed: Various rare crashes.
- Spacebase DF-9 1.05 released - 7 November 2014
Fixed: Citizens no longer place stuff on shelves, always have "stuff" need unsatisfied. Fixed: Dropped ore disappears. Fixed: Various rare crashes.
- Spacebase DF-9 1.04 released - 7 November 2014
Completely rebalanced the galaxy map. Where you choose to build a new base matters a lot more now. Raiders will no longer attack and destroy Airlock Suit Lockers - leads to too many obnoxious situations. Tuned hint message priority and visibility durations. Each entry in EnvObjectData.lua can now specify a sprite sheet, making it possible to create custom objects with new sprite sheets. Fixed: Visible doors in unexplored derelicts always appear as broken airlock doors. Fixed: Goals and base stats aren't wiped when starting a new game. Fixed: Incapacitated hostiles prevent room claiming. Fixed: Alerts display for hidden non-citizen illnesses, allowing you to select them in unknown territory. Fixed: Player can drag camera while dragging new construction in Construct mode. 1.03 Character limit on character/room/object renaming. Fixed: After ~45 minutes of play, events stop occuring for lon…
- Spacebase DF-9 1.04 released - 7 November 2014
Completely rebalanced the galaxy map. Where you choose to build a new base matters a lot more now. Raiders will no longer attack and destroy Airlock Suit Lockers - leads to too many obnoxious situations. Tuned hint message priority and visibility durations. Each entry in EnvObjectData.lua can now specify a sprite sheet, making it possible to create custom objects with new sprite sheets. Fixed: Visible doors in unexplored derelicts always appear as broken airlock doors. Fixed: Goals and base stats aren't wiped when starting a new game. Fixed: Incapacitated hostiles prevent room claiming. Fixed: Alerts display for hidden non-citizen illnesses, allowing you to select them in unknown territory. Fixed: Player can drag camera while dragging new construction in Construct mode. 1.03 Character limit on character/room/object renaming. Fixed: After ~45 minutes of play, events stop occuring for lon…
- Spacebase DF-9 1.02 released - 31 October 2014
(1.01 was released shortly after 1.0 and contained a few crash fixes.) Hide back walls in construct mode when cutaway view is enabled. Clearer visuals for Tear Down vs Vaporize wall tile orders. If user tries to save during an event, save happens once event has run. Prevents various event state bugs. Balance: Difficulty ramps up over slower time, final siege takes longer to happen. Fixed: Security sometimes doesn't respond to Beacon in correct numbers. Fixed: Tutorial conditions aren't completed when keyboard shortcuts are used. Fixed: Final siege goal triggers prematurely. Fixed: "Ghost helmets" appear on citizens during certain animations. Fixed: Turrets don't attack hostiles in some cases. Fixed: Some AI issues relating to survival situations. Fixed: WASD keys function in full-screen menus. Fixed: Pathfinding crash. Fixed: Can't place weight benches. Fixed: Crash building or hovering…
- Spacebase DF-9 1.02 released - 31 October 2014
(1.01 was released shortly after 1.0 and contained a few crash fixes.) Hide back walls in construct mode when cutaway view is enabled. Clearer visuals for Tear Down vs Vaporize wall tile orders. If user tries to save during an event, save happens once event has run. Prevents various event state bugs. Balance: Difficulty ramps up over slower time, final siege takes longer to happen. Fixed: Security sometimes doesn't respond to Beacon in correct numbers. Fixed: Tutorial conditions aren't completed when keyboard shortcuts are used. Fixed: Final siege goal triggers prematurely. Fixed: "Ghost helmets" appear on citizens during certain animations. Fixed: Turrets don't attack hostiles in some cases. Fixed: Some AI issues relating to survival situations. Fixed: WASD keys function in full-screen menus. Fixed: Pathfinding crash. Fixed: Can't place weight benches. Fixed: Crash building or hovering…
- Sad Space Party: Spacebase DF-9 Leaves Early Access - 29 October 2014
A game’s launch is usually such a happy affair, all streamers and balloons and fruit punch and jelly and ice cream and cartwheeling clowns, but it’s a little bittersweet for Spacebase DF-9 . It’s not the game Double Fine wanted it to be, nor the game advertised to Early Access purchasers. DF scaled plans down last month as announced they couldn’t afford to keep making the sim space station, and would simply get it to a stable, finished-ish state then release the source code. Spacebase DF-9 version 1.0 launched this week, also bringing players a virtual party bag containing the source and a free copy of Hack ‘n’ Slash . HnS owners were given a copy of Spacebase too. …
- Spacebase DF-9 hits v1.0, free copy of Hack 'n' Slash for current owners - 28 October 2014
As of yesterday, Spacebase DF-9 is now in version 1.0, and while it's not quite as feature-packed as many were expecting , developers Double Fine have thrown in a little treat for current owners that might help to smooth things over a bit. If you bought the sci-fi base construction management sim during its Early Access phase, you should have just received a copy of Double Fine's Zelda-like Hack 'n' Slash on the house. The same is true in reverse, meaning that owners of Hack 'n' Slash have just been given Spacebase for free on Steam as well. Moreover, the two games are now available in a double-pack, if you want both and have neither, and you can live with DF-9's dialled down ambition. There's a healthy 40% discount in place for Spacebase on Steam over the next week, and this applies to the double-pack as well. We weren't too fussed on Hack 'n' Slash in our review , stating that it "sta…
- 1.0! - 27 October 2014
In addition to hundreds of bug fixes and polish items, this release adds a Tutorial Mode for newcomers and a Goals screen that gives players objectives to work toward. These and many smaller improvements knit the game together into a more complete experience for 1.0. The game’s Lua source code is now available in the game’s install directory on all platforms. Usually this will be in your Steam directory, under SteamApps\common\SpacebaseDF9\Data\Scripts. If you own the game you can modify these files and distribute your modifications to other users as you like. A large portion of Spacebase is written in Lua, so there are relatively few limits on what you can do with this. The 1.0 release also sees the game’s price drop to the science-fictionally appropriate price of $20.01 US. In addition we’re introducing a new bundle of our two community-voted Amnesia Fortnight turned Indie Funded proj…
- 1.0! - 27 October 2014
In addition to hundreds of bug fixes and polish items, this release adds a Tutorial Mode for newcomers and a Goals screen that gives players objectives to work toward. These and many smaller improvements knit the game together into a more complete experience for 1.0. The game’s Lua source code is now available in the game’s install directory on all platforms. Usually this will be in your Steam directory, under SteamApps\common\SpacebaseDF9\Data\Scripts. If you own the game you can modify these files and distribute your modifications to other users as you like. A large portion of Spacebase is written in Lua, so there are relatively few limits on what you can do with this. The 1.0 release also sees the game’s price drop to the science-fictionally appropriate price of $20.01 US. In addition we’re introducing a new bundle of our two community-voted Amnesia Fortnight turned Indie Funded proj…
- Spacebase DF-9 1.0 released - 27 October 2014
Major Features / Enhancements New Tutorial Mode teaches basic game concepts. Access Tutorial Mode by selecting “Learn to Play” from the pause menu or by picking Tutorial Outpost EZ-101 on the Galaxy Map. New Goals Screen tracks player progress towards persistent goals, such as “50 citizens on base”, “Researched all technologies”, etc. Later in the game hostile forces now show up in greater numbers and combinations, culminating in a visit from the Pirate Megafleet once your base becomes successful enough. Survive the onslaught to complete the game’s hardest goal. Minor Improvements / Bug Fixes All “Famous Citizen” tier customer names added to Credits and random citizen name pool. Disaster Menu can be enabled with a secret key combination and used to unleash disasters on your base. Many new sound effects, including crowd noises in rooms based on their current population. Many small UI pol…
- Spacebase DF-9 1.0 released - 27 October 2014
Major Features / Enhancements New Tutorial Mode teaches basic game concepts. Access Tutorial Mode by selecting “Learn to Play” from the pause menu or by picking Tutorial Outpost EZ-101 on the Galaxy Map. New Goals Screen tracks player progress towards persistent goals, such as “50 citizens on base”, “Researched all technologies”, etc. Later in the game hostile forces now show up in greater numbers and combinations, culminating in a visit from the Pirate Megafleet once your base becomes successful enough. Survive the onslaught to complete the game’s hardest goal. Minor Improvements / Bug Fixes All “Famous Citizen” tier customer names added to Credits and random citizen name pool. Disaster Menu can be enabled with a secret key combination and used to unleash disasters on your base. Many new sound effects, including crowd noises in rooms based on their current population. Many small UI pol…
- Tim Schafer On The End Of Spacebase DF-9 s Development - 22 September 2014
Last week Double Fine announced that Spacebase DF-9 development was coming to an end. The issue was that hundreds of features that had previously been listed as “maybe possibly” coming to the game were no longer to going to be delivered, replaced instead with the release of the game’s LUA codebase so the community could add content themselves. People are understandably peeved. Tim Schafer has now commented on the game’s Steam discussion forum in response to some of the common questions about what happened. …
- Spacebase DF-9 Development To Cease, Game To Release - 18 September 2014
Double Fine have announced that development of Spacebase DF-9 is coming to an end and the development plan listing planned features has been removed. The Steam Early Access page has been updated to state that version 1.0 is due for release. It “will be its final major update”, according to the recently updated development plans page . The previous version of that page contained hundreds of features that “might possibly” be implemented at some point. Today’s update makes it clear that any future implementation will be in the hands of the users rather than Double Fine themselves, thanks to a full source code release. …
- The Road to 1.0 - 17 September 2014
(Cross-posted from SpacebaseDF9.com) Big news everyone, Spacebase DF-9 1.0 will be released next month! It’s been a pleasure sharing this experience with those of you who picked the game up during Early Access and provided the feedback that helped shape it into what it has become. To those who were waiting until the final release to start building a base of your own, we put together this timeline-infographic to show how far we come since Early Access release and what new stuff you can expect: https://33.media.tumblr.com/b71124566d0bd35b8f863b0bdff50393/tumblr_nc0kdvNvdi1simmygo1_r1_1280.jpg As for what will be added between now and the 1.0 build, new features will be aimed at providing the complete experience you’d expect of a non-Early Access game: a Tutorial mode to smooth out the early game a bit and help new players learn the basics, and a Goal system that lets you work towards conc…
- The Road to 1.0 - 17 September 2014
(Cross-posted from SpacebaseDF9.com) Big news everyone, Spacebase DF-9 1.0 will be released next month! It’s been a pleasure sharing this experience with those of you who picked the game up during Early Access and provided the feedback that helped shape it into what it has become. To those who were waiting until the final release to start building a base of your own, we put together this timeline-infographic to show how far we come since Early Access release and what new stuff you can expect: https://33.media.tumblr.com/b71124566d0bd35b8f863b0bdff50393/tumblr_nc0kdvNvdi1simmygo1_r1_1280.jpg As for what will be added between now and the 1.0 build, new features will be aimed at providing the complete experience you’d expect of a non-Early Access game: a Tutorial mode to smooth out the early game a bit and help new players learn the basics, and a Goal system that lets you work towards conc…
- Spacebase DF-9 Alpha 6e released - 9 September 2014
Gourmand citizens are angered less by eating replicator food. Fixed: Various crashes.
