Post by ScottFarRoad on Jan 6, 2017 13:22:19 GMT
2017 will probably be the most dramatic year yet for our tiny team as we prepare Atomic Society for Steam at some point later in the year. The 3 main developers (me – designer/producer, Nick – programmer, and Mariana – artist) are still fully devoted to the game and seeing it through to the end, no matter what happens.
Our first goal is of course finishing version 0.0.6, which we’re working on right now but it still has quite a way to go. New features get added each week. I’d like to have this version out to our customers around March, but I’m an indie developer giving release dates, so take that with a huge chunk of salt. However, they’ll be monthly dev blogs between now and then keeping you informed on how the version is coming along and explaining what’s going into it. You won’t be kept in the dark.
After 0.0.6 is out, we’ll probably tackle another 1-2 big versions over the Spring before we’re ready for Early Access in the late summer or early autumn (depending on how smoothly things go.) At that point all existing customers will get their Steam versions of the game as well, and the game will considered in “alpha” state. The foundations for going alpha are there already, but we need to put in a lot more social outcomes (prison, encouraging acts, etc) and citizen behaviours (racism, drug use, prostitution, etc) before Atomic Society begins to reach this status truly.
What about after Early Access? The second half of 2017 will be business as usual, except you’ll have an easier way to get updates through Steam. We’ll keep working on the game as we have been for years now, with big updates every 2-3 months (or sooner in the unlikely case we can afford to hire more staff). It will be nice if we can get far enough along to start polishing elements and getting to secondary gameplay aspects (e.g. optional invasions) that some people want.
Work will carry on right up to Christmas 2017 and then onwards into next year. The only thing that could stop us is serious illness or death on the team and that’s what we have zombie virus syringes on standby for. By the end of 2017, we won’t be anywhere near “done” with Atomic Society. It won’t be until late 2018 that I imagine AS will be near complete, so we’ve got a long way to go. However, 2017 should be when the game really starts to deliver on its potential and possibly finds a wider audience out there in Steam land.
As always we're looking forward to sharing the journey with all who take an interest in the game. New dev blog will be out at the end of the month and of course, we check the forums regularly if there are any questions or comments.
Happy post-apocalyptic settlement building over 2017!
Our first goal is of course finishing version 0.0.6, which we’re working on right now but it still has quite a way to go. New features get added each week. I’d like to have this version out to our customers around March, but I’m an indie developer giving release dates, so take that with a huge chunk of salt. However, they’ll be monthly dev blogs between now and then keeping you informed on how the version is coming along and explaining what’s going into it. You won’t be kept in the dark.
After 0.0.6 is out, we’ll probably tackle another 1-2 big versions over the Spring before we’re ready for Early Access in the late summer or early autumn (depending on how smoothly things go.) At that point all existing customers will get their Steam versions of the game as well, and the game will considered in “alpha” state. The foundations for going alpha are there already, but we need to put in a lot more social outcomes (prison, encouraging acts, etc) and citizen behaviours (racism, drug use, prostitution, etc) before Atomic Society begins to reach this status truly.
What about after Early Access? The second half of 2017 will be business as usual, except you’ll have an easier way to get updates through Steam. We’ll keep working on the game as we have been for years now, with big updates every 2-3 months (or sooner in the unlikely case we can afford to hire more staff). It will be nice if we can get far enough along to start polishing elements and getting to secondary gameplay aspects (e.g. optional invasions) that some people want.
Work will carry on right up to Christmas 2017 and then onwards into next year. The only thing that could stop us is serious illness or death on the team and that’s what we have zombie virus syringes on standby for. By the end of 2017, we won’t be anywhere near “done” with Atomic Society. It won’t be until late 2018 that I imagine AS will be near complete, so we’ve got a long way to go. However, 2017 should be when the game really starts to deliver on its potential and possibly finds a wider audience out there in Steam land.
As always we're looking forward to sharing the journey with all who take an interest in the game. New dev blog will be out at the end of the month and of course, we check the forums regularly if there are any questions or comments.
Happy post-apocalyptic settlement building over 2017!
