Hey everyone, today our quick update will present what we’re working on right now in preparation for the next release. The team is working hard on all development fronts. We finished adding all the colony events. When a colony event is generated, sometimes it triggers immediately after colonization, other times a few turns later. Next, we'll be adding the galactic events. We're also working on the starmap revamp activities, fine tuning all the map objects and adding animations and other effects. The zoom and pan features are already in. The starmap is looking good and should help provide a good immersion feeling when it's finished. The system view is also different now, more realistic. All the objects are now in orbit around the star, including the fleets present in the system, monsters and even survey ships shall hang around when they're surveying the system. About the music, we are working with strong names in the video game industry. We have a brand new main menu theme and one new starmap theme completed. They sound great! We will give some fresh exciting news soon! Ships are currently being re-textured with PBR textures, which will provide a more realistic feeling. We think they will become great! Characters are being animated to help with the experience when dealing with other races or with game events like research breakthroughs. We'll also be designing in-game cutscenes to provide unique footage according with the context of each game. The current plan is to finish the gameplay, improve the AI and keep working on the graphics, animations and music in preparation for the Alpha release. Then, we'll see what happens. We may decide to do Steam Early Access or we may go into a "closed-beta" stage until we're ready for the final release. In the meantime, if you want to have a look at the game at its current state, and haven't pre-ordered yet, you can do so here. Feel free to open threads and discuss any topic you'd like in the forums. We're making the most complete and comprehensive Turn Based Space 4X ever developed, and we count with your support to make it happen! So, please pre-order and play Interstellar Space: Genesis today, and soon you will Discover the Unknown.
Any hints as to when we can expect the next alpha update? I only ask because I pre-purchased recently and I’ve been debating trying out the game in its current state versus waiting for the next update to give me a better first impression.
First of all, thanks a lot for pre-ordering as that helps us make a better a game in the end. The more funds we have, the better the music, graphics and other art will be. As for the next release, it should not happen very soon. Just now I've ended my first playtesting session on the first internal build that contains the new starmap with the zoom and pan features and the new system screen with the planets orbiting the star, among many other things. Things are looking good but there's still a lot to polish and fix before it will be ready for you guys. It's important for us that you receive a stable and polished enough build so that you can play, have fun and be able to provide good quality feedback so that we can improve the game further. So, we don't have an estimate for the next pre-alpha build. We definitely plan to have a new release by October. However, we may have an "unstable" release sooner. It's hard to predict, as it depends on how well this current integration will pan out. The current build (Pre-Alpha 10) is very stable and should allow you to have good fun playing it already at this stage. However, the new build will be much prettier, have way better music and better graphics across the board, so your first impression will probably be much better playing the next one. If you're uncertain, I'd probably hold on playing until we have the next build out. However, if you're not afraid to try something not final but solid, I assure you that you should have some fun already, and we could definitely use your feedback to improve the game further. Thanks again for pre-ordering.
Some really good stuff there Adam, while already serviceable, there is no denying that the star map has room for improvements. I'm also very glad to hear that you will be paying attention to the system map, it is another area that could use an upgrade or two, what you describe as regards objects in orbit around their star should make that aspect of the game more immersive. All in all, a very welcome update as it appears you are attempting to take many aspects of ISG to the next level.
Thanks for the update, Adam. And, yeah, I bought the game and have played it some. It's OK, but as you and others have said, it still needs work. I'm really looking forward to the Beta and beyond. Take the following comments with a bit of salt, they are just my personal reflections. I don't pretend to speak for anyone else. The way the game plays out - its ability to hold my interest - is really the most important factor for me. That's why, to this day, I still play MOO2, poor graphics nothwithstanding. I do appreciate really good graphics but that's secondary to game play. I turn off the music because for me it's not important and in fact it's a distraction. (Speaking only for myself, remember!) So my hope is that your team will continue to improve game-play and the "immersion" factor. I think you've made a good start. Thanks very much for all the time and hard work you've put into it.
You're welcome, and thanks a lot for your feedback. We believe that PA10 (the last build from March) already shows that the game is on the right track to become something truly special, and be able to hold one's interest. As you say, it is a good start. The feedback we obtained from the community was very positive and we're confident that we will deliver a great game in the end. In this regard, we consider the pre-alpha of ISG to have been a great success. That being said, it's clear that we're not there yet, in terms of gameplay, graphics, immersion and the overall experience. This is a pre-alpha still after all. We've been improving gameplay considerably since PA10, and not all is yet in place to this date. Since March of this year we've added: race abilities, race customization, a new empire status UI, more buildings, more depth to the leaders system, more leaders, did a starmap revamp, system view revamp, added events, among many other things. Speaking of immersion, events are now transforming the experience and bringing the game to a completely new level, with lots of meaningful decisions to make many times in context with the player's actions. I know I'm having a lot of fun adding the events and can see them making wonders for the game. Graphics-wise, and while you say not to give that as much importance as gameplay (and I agree with you personally), of course others will probably think differentely. So, we've been doing a lot of work on that front as well, as everything counts to help improve the experience. The ships, buildings, characters, images, music, animations, etc, all that is being taken care of, and soon you will see the fruits of all of that. Tomorrow, it will be one year since we've opened pre-orders with instant access to the game, with the PA7 build. We've been using the money from the pre-orders judiciously. Art takes a chunk, then regular expenses and company duties (taxes, accountant, etc), but also other future services like marketing, all this will benefit from the pre-orders money. We will forever be in debt to all of you who have pre-ordered so far, in a time where many feel burned and refuse to pre-order any game. We can't thank people like you enough, and we'll be making sure to treat you specially in every way we can. So, thanks again for your feedback, it's always helpful to know your opinion on the game as that helps us improve it further. We're still in pre-alpha and making big strides towards alpha, which should happen not too long from now. If we keep up this rhythm, and pre-orders can keep coming in, I'm sure that we're all heading to losing many hours of sleep in a not too distant future As we've said above, we're committed on making the most complete and comprehensive turn-based space 4X game ever developed. We mean it, we believe we can achieve that in a reasonable time-frame, and we count with your support to make it happen. So, please tell your friends about ISG, people who loved Master of Orion but also space 4X games or strategy games in general. We're not there yet and we'll be needing all the support we can get in the meantime. Thanks!
You're welcome, Adam. And thank you a bunch for the additional information! I think I'm going to play it some more; perhaps I can then come up with some specific suggestion, dislikes, comments, etc. And yes, I've told all my friends about the game. That is, I've told the very, very few who like turn-based games. Sometimes I feel like the Lone Ranger, in that regard. Anyway, THANKS!!!
Sehr geehrte Entwickler von ISG wie ich feststelle arbeitet Ihr intensiv an der Verbesserung des Spieles. Gerade auf die Verbesserungen im Bereich der Sternen-Karte freue ich mich sehr. Da ich eher Abenteurer als Stratege bin, freue ich mich auch auf die grafischen , und Musik-technischen Verbesserungen. Wenn man zur Entspannung spielt tragen diese Faktoren mit zu einer stimmungsvolle Atmosphäre bei. (Wie man so sagt : Das Auge ist mit.)Noch ein Hinweis an dieser Stelle ein großes sich seit 6 Jahren in Entwicklung befindendes polnisches Projekt kündigt sein Erscheinen im 4.Quartal 2018 an . Man hat sich zum Ziel gesetzt Moo2 vom Thron zu stoßen.
Good to see you again @Wanderer You write about being more of an adventurer rather than a strategist, that is good, ISG will allow you to seek adventure with the new components that are being implemented, the game is now growing up, and it is becoming one of the most inclusive games ever conceived, I think the next release will show you what I mean better than my words. You also write about a Polish team looking to knock MoO2 off its pedestal, Nothing wrong with that but I have often thought that MoO2 was a product of its time. One of the reasons why it made such a mark on history, is that we had nothing like it back then, it was a pioneer. Now it is harder to amaze the players, but I have faith that ISG is taking all the right steps to achieve that. Adam is driven, like a Mozart composing his symphony, I'm amazed at the attention he pays to detail and the passion he has for his work. I have faith in the final product, we just need to spread the word, and I am sure he actually welcomes and respects his competitors.
Entschuldigung das ich mich so lange nicht gemeldet habe aber wir bereiten die Abschaltung eines Industriebetriebes für drei Wochen vor , aber jetzt habe ich ein wenig Luft und wollte mal sehen wie es Euch geht. Leider habe ich in der Eile vergessen den Übersetzer zurückzustellen hoffentlich wurde nicht alles doppelt Übersetzt wie in meiner letzten Antwort auf das erste Quick update welche ich morgen noch einmal schreiben werde. Ich habe vor heute noch von einer Idee zu schreiben aber gib mir etwas Zeit.
