"Despite the darkness and deepening gloom... We could see something heading towards us...
We stopped at the verge of a wide and deep ravine, marveling at the steel bridge spanning it and above all at the huge automaton sweeping snow from the roadway..."
Hello there, everyone!
We've been quiet for some time - focused on developing the game itself - but the time has come! Time to show you something brand new. Something that we are really excited about - because it fully basks in well-oiled steampunk-y glory: THE AUTOMATONS!
An automaton heading to a mine to replace manual labour crews.
Full animation loop of an automaton working in Charcoal Kiln.
--- THE AUTOMATONS AND FUTURE UPDATES ---
Lifting the curtain on Frostpunk's lore and the development progress is the game’s Art Director, Przemyslaw Marszal:
It’s been a long journey, and I’m happy to see Frostpunk reaching its final stages. The game evolved into an unprecedented mixture of survival, city-builder, and society simulator. In the upcoming weeks we'll be releasing a new gameplay trailer intriguingly named “Irreversible”, and unveil more details about the game, including release date. Before that happens, let me tease you with these new sneak-peek images presenting the automatons - huge, steam-powered machines that are the pinnacle of human engineering, used to ease the burden of hard labor from your wearied citizens. They’re an example of pragmatic and authentic steampunk technology, used to endure cold and ensure humanity’s chances of survival. Of course, automatons are just one of many features you may encounter in your city - there’s plenty more to see in the upcoming trailer!
Watch Frostpunk's Lead Designer Kuba Stokalski introducing the automatons in The Cogs of Progress video:
https://youtu.be/EQgJeLskhmo
--- WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THE GAMEPLAY ITSELF? ---
Automatons are mankind's greatest creation! They will help your economy greatly by replacing entire manual labour crews. They work around the clock, caring not about the overwhelming cold, with only short breaks to refuel at the Generator. You can also research upgrades to raise their efficiency and capability. Besides that - they are automatons - so they look freakin' cool!
We will be showing more details about the automatons and other features in future updates. There is PLENTY of stuff that you haven't seen, yet - and we want to show you everything as soon as we're ready. There's more where that came from - so stay tuned! In the meantime, here are some screenshots, concepts and work in progress designs of the automatons that we have never shown before:
Click here to view full size
Click here to view full size
Click here to view full size
--- Q&A ---
We've received a lot of questions and feedback from you - be it on Steam Discussions, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube - and we are VERY thankful for all of it! With that said, we've already addressed some of concerns - but we want to be sure that our answers reach all of you, so here it is:
1. Is this game DEAD?
Nope. :) It is very much alive and kicking.
2. Have we seen all the choices available in the Book of Laws?
Not at all! There are A LOT more choices to make later on in the game. We didn't even show half of it, yet.
3. What happens when I finish the campaign? Are there any other game modes?
We plan to implement more modes besides the main campaign, yes. We already hinted before that there are going to be different modes in Frostpunk. We don't want to get into details right now. Be it sandbox/endless mode or some scenarios - we can't tell you that, yet - but we have a lot stuff hidden in the shadows. Stay tuned for future updates!
4. I want to fiddle with the in-game camera. What are the limitations?
We're still tweaking the camera. The graphics in the final game will be better that you've seen in the demo. It already looks better and different in the current build that we are working on and testing internally. So the limit for the zoom-in will be dictated by a simple question "does the game still looks good when zoomed in so close?".
5. What threats/enemies are there in Frostpunk?
This is a society survival game set in a frozen, post-apocalyptic world. So the overwhelming cold, hunger, lack of supplies, civil unrest - are your main "enemies". You will have to face a lot of tough moral decisions - and that's another roadblock that Frostpunk will throw in your way. Again, there are some decisions and parts of the game that we didn't show, yet - so we can't tell you everything in this update. :)
6. Is Frostpunk first game in some kind of bigger series?
Yup, the general idea was that Frostpunk will be starting a brand new world for us - a world that we can explore in other games in the future. This is something we knew and talked about from the start. But how will it develop, what ideas do we really have in mind - our lips are sealed, it's totally too soon to say anything. :) But yes - there is room here for other Frostpunk-related games, for sure.
7. What's the price of the game?
We can't give you the exact price (but we want to announce it as soon as it gets set in stone) - but we can give you a hint. It's not going to be priced as small indie game, our team is quite big at the moment - and it's not an AAA game either. Think about it as a Premium Indie title or an AA project - that might give you some ideas. ;)
8. When can I preorder the game?
We don't have a specific date in mind, yet. But we are most definitely thinking about preorders and we'll announce it as soon as we're ready.
9. Can you tell us something about the release date?
The game is scheduled to be released by the end of Q1 and we are right on track to make this happen. Starting from February we are bringing out the big guns, so in upcoming weeks you can expect a lot of news about the game, which should shed some light on the premiere date.
10. What platforms can we expect?
Frostpunk will be available on Steam, Humble Store, GOG and other digital stores for Windows. For the time being be sure to follow it on Steam and add it to your Wishlist, though!
That's all the stuff we've planned for this update - more info coming in following weeks! In the meantime, be sure to follow our social channels:
Have a good one and see you next time!