Howdy Folks!
It’s been a long and challenging year and I hope that everyone has been able to find some joy this Holiday season. I am very thankful for all of the support you’ve given me this year. As the year nears its end, I want to delve a bit into the past, the present and the future of Mercury Fallen.
The Past
In early 2016 I started prototyping a game idea. The gameplay focused around a primary character awakening from cryo-sleep long past due in a ruined facility. The game was tentatively called Crypod and would have the player repairing the facility.
The prototype continued to evolve into a colony management game which became the foundation for Mercury Fallen. By early 2017, I had cobbled together something that was starting to feel like a playable game.
Mercury Fallen was released to Itch.IO for some initial feedback in spring of 2017 and released on Steam later that year in Early Access.
The Present
There have been a whole lot of improvements, changes and additions in 2020.
The New Beginnings update added new power management, starting conditions and completely re-worked the colonists with new models, animations and outfits.
The Farming & Harming update added new farming mechanics and events such as cave ins and crop disease.
The tech tree was completely overhauled in the New Horizons update. Changes to surface visuals, expeditions and a whole lot more was also added.
Surface content was further expanded with new mining nodes and expeditions in the Traveler Update. This update also included various changes to starting colonists and game progression over all.
Most recently, the Spatial Awareness update added functional rooms, room-based effects, new furniture and more.
It’s been a great year for Mercury Fallen and I’m excited to continue this journey with you all as we head into 2021.
The Future
The recent Spatial Awareness update added new ways for colonists to get stressed out, but stress still doesn’t result in much of a positive or negative outcome.
The Stressed Out update is now in development and will include a re-work to colonist quirks as well as new colonist reactions to high and low stress.
Quirks currently only affect attributes, but the new quirk system will allow for more unique quirks. Some of the possible new quirks include:
- Charming – Can reduce stress of nearby colonists
- Annoying – Can increase stress of nearby colonists
- Light Sleeper – Negative stress from sleeping in a room with other colonists
- Green Thumb – Increased farming work speed
- Iron Stomach - Never gets a stomach ache
Additional quirks are being developed that will add more unique qualities to your colonists.
Some fun new ways of helping your colonists deal with stress are also in development.
There is still quite a bit of content planned after the Stressed Out update. Here are some of the things currently planned or in early development.
- New Expeditions
- Ability to train colonists to increase attributes and job skills
- Additional control over starting conditions
- A campaign story that will provide direction and more information about the planet and its inhabitants
- Trading
- More decoration objects
- More technology to unlock
- Additional mod support to include custom artwork and code
- Achievements
- Merch
Winter Sale
With the winter season upon us, at least in the northern hemisphere, and with it comes the Steam Winter Sale. Mercury Fallen is now 30% off. It’s a great time to grab a copy, or give the gift of colony management to a friend.
Thank You
A huge thank you to everyone who has played Mercury Fallen. Your feedback means a great deal to me. As a solo developer it’s great to hear that you’re enjoying the game. It’s also very helpful to know what you don’t like and what isn’t working. There is a lot in store for Mercury Fallen. Thank you!
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