Hi everyone!
In the previous sneak peek I said that the next patch will be released in a couple of weeks, and... it was a bit of a miscalculation on my part. While working on the project, I realized that the upcoming update should include pretty big changes and drastically push the development of Colony 37 forward, so... I kind of went into this rabbit hole and started to do quite a lot of changes (that is pretty much the reason why the patch is delayed). BUT, in all honesty, it will be a really big patch, so I've decided to write another sneak peek just to inform you that I'm doing my best to make it happen.
Main Theme
First and foremost, Colony 37 now has a main theme (huge thanks to Anton Orsher for creating this beautiful soundtrack). Currently it's the only song in the game, although more will come in future updates. You can listen to it (as well as check out the main menu rework) in the YT video down below:
New Biomes
I've added a couple of new biomes into the game, each with its own threats. Some of them will contain dangerous spores that will drastically reduce your oxygen level, some of them will have extremely dangerous winds that will push you around, and some of the biomes will contain... something more sinister that you personally will have to find out. Each biome, as always, will contain its own set of ores and items.
New Items & Instruments Rework
With the addition of new biomes, I had to fully rework the current economy and game balance (still working on it; it's a really tough thing to do right). Lots of items have been rebalanced, and a huge number of unique ones have been added. I tried my best to make at least half of them completely unique (some of them will increase your health based on the amount of cash, some of them allow you to teleport, etc.).
Additionally, almost all of the instrument models have been reworked. I'll still have to tweak them just right, but hopefully it should add more variety for each tier/biome.
Perks Rework Update
Like I said in a previous sneak peek, all of the perks are now upgradable. But, personally for me, I thought that the number of perks that are currently in the game is a bit low. So I've decided to add a whole "Upgrades Shop" as well as add over 30 new perks. They should help players with the progress on deeper levels as well as provide even more options on how to improve your miner.
Laboratories Update
Just a small update about laboratories. I've been working really hard to make them unique and memorable. They will be a bit small, although they should contain a puzzle or two. I'll improve them even more in the next updates.
Roadmap & Patch Release date
In all honesty this is a pretty big patch in terms of content, and still there is quite a bit more I'll need to do, such as finish up items, playtest the new balance, and finish the laboratories.
I've decided to split the "road to 1.0 release" into two separate patches.
The upcoming patch will not be final and will not contain "everything" for the full release, so I've decided that story elements (such as the main quest line as well as terminal notes and lore), achievements, and a couple of other features will come in the update after this one (otherwise I'll literally go crazy from the sheer volume of the things I'll have to do, considering that I want to release this patch ASAP).
So, about the release date, I'll release the upcoming patch on February 24; (UPD: Need to finish up translations and playtest it more, so it'll be february 23 instead of 20) this should hopefully give me enough time to double-check everything and finish up the remaining additions. Honestly, this is taking WAY too long, but hopefully it will be worth the wait, considering how much is already in there. Doing my best here to make Colony 37 into one of the good mining games, and hopefully you guys will enjoy it.
Thanks for reading this sneak peek.
Valen.