V0.3.0 Release
Hey all - Tom here!
We've been a little quiet on socials recently, but don't worry - we've had our heads down working hard to make ROVA the best it can be.
This Update marks a pretty significant milestone in development.
Most 'backend' systems are now finished, meaning we can soon fully focus on actual game content and building more fleshed-out planets - I'm very excited to get working on the next stage of development.
Before I ramble about what's in V0.3.0 I'd like to announce we'll be taking part in the 'Minimal and Chill Showcase', alongside a bunch of other great games. Massive shoutout to Unikat for organising the event!
Easter Content
With the event coinciding with Easter here in the UK, we thought it would be fun to include an Easter Egg hunt. You can access this special quest by speaking to one of the colonists.
Don't worry, we've added optional bunny ears and tails for the colonists too.
Colonist Customisation
After putting the colonists in fancy dress for the Halloween and Christmas updates, it didn't take long to realise that we needed to add the option to customise colonists.
Well.. Now you can!
You can access this feature at the terminal, by clicking 'Colonist Dress Up'.
We've also included a completely new Living Quarters for the colonists, with a bit more personality.
Saving + Loading
Need to stop playing the demo? No problem, you can now save your progress.
I appreciate how frustrating not being able to save the game was for some of you, and for that I apologise.
I can't promise saves will be fully compatible with all future updates, but we'll try our best to ensure they do.
Once the game is fully released, we plan to keep a demo out with saves that carry on into the full game (but this is future stuff).
Better Quest Systems + Dialogue
As mentioned, we've put a LOT of work into the game systems and the tools we have to make more content.
Quest systems have been completely re-made in a way which will allow us to quickly make more content. It's a win for everyone.
Currently, the main quests in this update are similar to previous versions of the demo.
We have included an additional 'Easter Egg Hunt' quest which can be found by speaking to one of the colonists.
This brings me to our next point - we finally have dialogue systems!
You can now speak to all of the colonists and they even have cute gibberish voices.
On the surface these new systems might not seem much different as you play, but you'll certainly see an increase in content from this point on.
Community Feedback
As always, community feedback has played a really important role in ROVA's development. Your support means the world to us🪐
If you do have any future feedback, the best place to share it is in the steam community forums.
Feel free to share your ingame photos with any of our socials - We'd love to see what you discover!
Changelog
Easter Content:
[+] Added an Easter Egg hunt quest (speak to one of the colonists to collect)
[+] Costumes for colonists
Colonist Customisation:
[+] Added a bunch of Costumes for colonists
[+] New Living area building added
Colonist AI:
[+] Added InDialogue state to colonists, so you can talk to them
Saving and Loading:
[+] Added load game button to the main menu
[+] Game now saves at regular intervals and when quitting to main menu
UI Changes:
[+] Added load button to main menu
[+] Added 'saving' popup when the game is saving
[+] Quests are now displayed in the Quests section in the pause menu
[-] Removed quest info from HUD (as it's now shown in its own section)
[+] Various Icon improvement
[+] Notification popups for quests pending upload and quests received
[+] Added virtual keyboard for use with controller
Rover:
[+] Reworked rover movement again, so that it doesn't climb walls and feels nicer to control
Additional Changes:
[+] Lots of back-end changes ready for the next update (we promise they're there!)
[+] Collision fixes
[+] Various bug fixes