Progress Update
Hi there, I wanted to bring you news of what we have been up to since the release just over a week ago. We worked long and hard to bolt in as many of the mechanics of the game before the release. Knowing we were going 'Early Access' gave us some leeway though on expanding the Galaxy and its content.
Our early tester group seems to have nailed down all the 'major' bugs and issues that might otherwise have plagued an early access release, so thanks, guys! Much appreciated...
So since release, we have been working on a number of main elements. The largest of these has been nailing down the 'Phoenix Galaxy'. It comprises some 60+ systems (on the office wall here) and we have been working on adding more of these to the development game as we can.
I suspect come the weekend we will be in a position to push out this new build to the Live Early access for you to enjoy.
Understanding Factions
Hannon has a Galaxy made up of Four Main Factions. These Factions control large swathes of the game's systems. Captain Hannon finds himself initially stuck in the Feris system which is part of the Galactic Federation. Depending on which viewpoint you want to stand on these can be classified as 'Good Guys'.
You can read the partially 'recovered history' in the game via the Galactic Database. But to cut a long story short the Melar race sponsored Humanity into the Galactic Federation. Of course, being Human we eventually had enough of being told what to do and split off and formed our own Faction called the Colonial Union.
The other major Factions that control the space lanes are the Galactic Federation, Common Wealth of planets and the Foreen Alliance.
On the scale of friendliest to scary space Monsters, you can think of the Gal-Fed and C.O.P as our allies. The Foreen Alliance on the other hand... Well, let's just say they 'like' Humans...
Preferably served on a platter with other delicacies.
So designing and bringing these systems and factions to life is our overall task at the moment. But, this last week we have looked at expanding the current systems to connect up from Gal-Fed territory to the Colonial Union and the Commonwealth of planets.
We will be populating these new systems with more Asteroid Fields, Planets and of course starbases.
The next phase will be the additions of lots more NPC's and expanding the central mission line for those playing it.
Expanding Cargo Systems
Currently, you only have access to the single Ashar cargo freight company. These are limited cargo runs based on the current in-game systems available to you. As we expand the Galaxy with new systems this will exponentially grow. Giving you access to a wide network of cargo missions to earn credits and faction. Also giving you access to more freight companies.
We are also looking at upgrading / changing how freight missions are offered and taken then displayed. More on that when we get it nailed down.
Internal location Maps
I've been looking into the possibility of creating maps for the locations in-game, certainly, in space, it would be handy to know at a glance where the Jump Gates and planets are. After all there is a lot of pirates out there with your name on their hit list... I'll get back to you on this one.
Bug Tracking
We have also been busy fixing the small issues or quirks that the beta testers are reporting to us. If you have a copy of Hannon don't forget the whole point of Early Access (for us) is to get feedback and suggestions so please feel free to take part in our community forums.
Looking for Participation
Do you have a creative flair when it comes to writing, long or short prose? We are in need of the communities support. There are plenty of things that we need to pad out and add to in the game, so we thought why not give the community the chance to feed into that, (if they want).
Live and play in a Galaxy 'you' helped create!
Drop us a line or check out the forums for posts on these topics and join in.
I'm back off to the pit of creation.... have fun folks
Coops