Colony Ship Early Access Release Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Alphons]

As for master trader, ive picked it very late and couldnt find any 'unique deals'. For sure it doesnt mean cool stuff in merchants stock

Picked it early and didn't see any either.
Would be great if it allowed you to pay your way through some quests or unlocked some extra options. Paying squatters to leave Hydroponics, buying an extra head from Jimmy in medbay quest, actually buying Faythe's key etc.
I can only think of one instance where you can use your money in dialogue- junkies next to your apartment.

 

[lukaszek]

Well, I decided to go against my usual principle of not playing beta releases on account of how promising the game looked, and the testing just came to an end as I hit a showstopper bug - after siding with Jonas I was told to stop some reinforcements, but to actually stop them you need Computer 3, which you cannot possibly get in the starting area, even tagged, it seems (I'm pretty sure that I had done everything outside of resolving the Braxton/Jonas conflict). This results in a fight that cannot be resolved because there's a closed vault door/bulkhead in the way, and you cannot leave the area, despite "leave the town to its fate" being an option.

you are supposed to do this at the end of demo, where you would be able to raise your computers

There's also poor feedback; I was "caught" several times but I still have absolutely no idea why that tile was a no-go zone (it wasn't red)

Perhaps you ran onto enemy you couldnt see due to obstacles? Those color markings are based on what your character sees. Hence its required to scout carefully before you jump out of the obstacle

The "journal" is ass. It reminds me of the journal of games that depend on a quest compass, except somehow worse. It gives no indication of why you're doing something, and nothing to contextualize it, so unless you have a very clear memory, you'll soon find yourself wondering why you're doing this or that, or what the logic behind the decision was. All it does is point you in a vague direction using names of things you may have completely forgotten about or may have slipped your mind when reading.

Yeah many times I had objective like 'return to carlos' with me wondering who that was. Also its annoying when all the objectives are displayed on the screen. If you grab everything you can early on, list will ran out of space and cant be scrolled.

Also I wanted to give praise on how you handled AoD teleporting. Having you click on map for fast travel is so much better

 

[jackofshadows]

There're a few. Intelligence during your first conversation with Braxton, Strength and Dexterity in Hydroponics, Strength and Dexterity in Armory.

There's also few charisma checks: vs Mercy and vs Sharpface (one more maybe?)

Persuasion and streetwise both had tag and starting point. Might be doable to do this without tags

With mastermind and tendency to resolve every issue peaceful if possible - absolutely.

Computers had tag and no starting point. I do wonder what would happen if I went without tag.

In addition to this (woman scientist means MC training 40 base xp after you bringing her psyke frog brain and the token located in the tower behind str/electronics check)

2 armory pc to open implatnbody
2 armory sharpface talk
2 armory bunker training computer
3 armory bunker invis sphere
3 hydro terminal for bridge
? hydro 2nd floor woman scienctist
token

There's also one of the two possible computers(2)/electronics(3) check with Zeke after you bringing him override module from Depot A2 if you do not delegate that to Faithe. So it should be possible to reach 3 even w/o mastermind and the tag although I cba to test that at this point. But definitely reachable with mastermind w/o a tag.

As for master trader, ive picked it very late and couldnt find any 'unique deals'. For sure it doesnt mean cool stuff in merchants stock

I've picked it on lvl2 and also have no idea what it does, probably nothing yet. I wonder what devs have in mind regarding this feat: vendors stuff, additional dialogue options or both.

there is only one and its sneak + electronics

One could say Mercy herself qualifies but INT/CHA isn't mandatory with her.

but to actually stop them you need Computer 3, which you cannot possibly get in the starting area, even tagged, it seems

see above

I was "caught" several times but I still have absolutely no idea why that tile was a no-go zone (it wasn't red)

You were probably on yellow square which means combat at the end of the turn. But the game is lacking feedback in that regard for sure, indeed.

I think there was a *single* time when anyone in the party had anything to say, and that was Evans after I had taken a mission for the Church.

There's more after resolving faction quest and also Faithe making very meaningful comment after talking with Carlos, you're probably took his quest w/o her. I wonder if Jed has something to say outside of his own quest tho.

 

[lukaszek]

There's also one of the two possible computers(2)/electronics(3) check with Zeke after you bringing him override module from Depot A2 if you do not delegate that to Faithe. So it should be possible to reach 3 even w/o mastermind and the tag although I cba to test that at this point. But definitely reachable with mastermind w/o a tag.

there is also one if you side with jonas and tell him that you are weakling. You will be able to use computers to kill enemies, it was difficulty 3 I think. For the sake of list completion


EDIT:
so I guess with 10 int mastermind, one can go after all the checks with following points assigned at chargen:
CS, electronics, streetwise, persuasion

5 tags:
only sneak required!

 

[Trans-Financial-Man]

Is combat more of a focus this time? I liked how in AoD whilst combat was possible it wasn't always the most desired outcome. But it seems like combat is more unavoidable this time round.

 

[lukaszek]

Is combat more of a focus this time? I liked how in AoD whilst combat was possible it wasn't always the most desired outcome. But it seems like combat is more unavoidable this time round.

its optional

 

[Jaedar]

Is combat more of a focus this time? I liked how in AoD whilst combat was possible it wasn't always the most desired outcome. But it seems like combat is more unavoidable this time round.

It is mostly avoidable, but I'd argue it is also a bigger focus. Arguably the primary benefit if high cha is getting to have more followers, and followers are mostly a combat boost. Playing some kind of hybrid character is more viable then in AoD imo since it is fairly easy to do everything in the ea with a hybrid.

Devs are saying future content will be restricted based on your rep in future chapters though, so it might be that if you do 50/50 talk/fight you won't get any of the cool lategame quests.

 

[Luckmann]

see above

As far as I'm aware, Depot A2 isn't in the starting area - but I could be wrong.

 

[lukaszek]

Is combat more of a focus this time? I liked how in AoD whilst combat was possible it wasn't always the most desired outcome. But it seems like combat is more unavoidable this time round.

It is mostly avoidable, but I'd argue it is also a bigger focus. Arguably the primary benefit if high cha is getting to have more followers, and followers are mostly a combat boost. Playing some kind of hybrid character is more viable then in AoD imo since it is fairly easy to do everything in the ea with a hybrid.

Devs are saying future content will be restricted based on your rep in future chapters though, so it might be that if you do 50/50 talk/fight you won't get any of the cool lategame quests.

cha doesnt seem important for those interested in passing checks alone. Sure there are some checks but they can be passed with talking skills alone. Disposition bonus penalty is quite minimal too

So far with early access, there are 3 reps of focus: combat, sneak, talking.
As far as combat goes, choosing sneak/talking options hurts it badly.
On other hand talking and sneaking doesnt appear to be interfering with each other too much? My latest run was 15 talking, 12 stealth. I could reverse those in either favor in 3 locations, went 2 talking 1 stealth.
My run without talking skills was 17 or 20 stealth rep, depending on who I sided with.

Hard to judge based on EA, might be doable to reach rep tresholds of both sneakery and talking.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Is combat more of a focus this time? I liked how in AoD whilst combat was possible it wasn't always the most desired outcome. But it seems like combat is more unavoidable this time round.

You can easily avoid most combat. There's only one quest, iirc, that's combat only; the final fight can be avoided by saying you aren't a fighter and getting another task. The arena is combat only too, of course.

Devs are saying future content will be restricted based on your rep in future chapters though, so it might be that if you do 50/50 talk/fight you won't get any of the cool lategame quests.

Not fully restricted but some quests will require high rep.

 

[jackofshadows]

As far as I'm aware, Depot A2 isn't in the starting area - but I could be wrong.

It's not, I thought you mean starting areas after reading this

I'm pretty sure that I had done everything outside of resolving the Braxton/Jonas conflict

Did you travel to the other two areas? Or did you deliberately tried to finish as much as possible whithin the first one to prevent more spoiling? In that case - sure, it'd be a dead end.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Little to no party input. Not just mechanically, but narratively, too. I think there was a *single* time when anyone in the party had anything to say, and that was Evans after I had taken a mission for the Church.

That's one area where we're definitely seeking feedback on the right balance between party members driving you nuts with their banter and being zombies. At the moment the following events trigger conversations:

- talking to Braxton for the first time (Evans)
- ending the main conflict; the conversation differs based on whom you have with you and who ended up on top (Jonas, Braxton, or Mercy) - all party members
- taking that mission for the Church (Evans)
- Faythe kills Lazarus Foley herself (Faythe)
- accepting Carlos's quest to get rid of the scavs, Faythe leaves if you break your promise not to kill Morgan
- talking to the Harbinger (Jed)
- something else, can't remember now

Planning to add by the end of the month:

- conversations on the first arrival to a new location
- discussion about the machine when you first see it

 

[lukaszek]

There's only one quest, iirc, that's combat only

which one? Evans opening one(or whatever was name of that dude near outskirts entrance)

 

[Nm6k]

There's more after resolving faction quest and also Faithe making very meaningful comment after talking with Carlos, you're probably took his quest w/o her. I wonder if Jed has something to say outside of his own quest tho.

Beat all five fights in the arena

 

[Vault Dweller]

As much as I loved my playthrough, I worry that Colony Ship’s not frontloading its best qualities. I’m sure it was a huge pain in the ass to have six main quests in AoD right from the get-go, with lots of branching paths just through Teron, but at least that meant early access players got a real taste of one of the game’s biggest selling points. Then again, we also had to wait a decade to play it, so maybe streamlining the very beginning was the right call.

It's not that.

While the parallel questlines in AoD did a good job showing the events from different angles and helping the player understand different factions, they were perceived as linear despite many opportunities to stray from the beaten path. The critics did have a point that these opportunities didn't matter much because an avg merchant or assassin betraying his guild couldn't switch guilds easily or at all. Thus the most interesting example was the choice in the assassin guild in Maadoran but such choices were rare due to time constraints.

So now instead of mostly linear parallel questlines, we're going for true branching. Yes, chapter 1 is mostly linear but it ends with 3 possible paths depending on who sits in the big chair: Jonas, Braxton, or Mercy. As you probably noticed they all ask you for different things from different people, so right there, it's not one quest that could be solved in different ways, but 3 different paths with different outcomes. Add the main quest permutations (essentially you'll have to decide which faction to sell this machine to, a decision that will affect all 3 main factions) and you'll have all the choices and consequences you can handle and then some.

Basically, either parallel questlines or true branching but not both as that would take decades.

 

[Alphons]

Little to no party input. Not just mechanically, but narratively, too. I think there was a *single* time when anyone in the party had anything to say, and that was Evans after I had taken a mission for the Church.

That's one area where we're definitely seeking feedback on the right balance between party members driving you nuts with their banter and being zombies. At the moment the following events trigger conversations:

- talking to Braxton for the first time (Evans)
- ending the main conflict; the conversation differs based on whom you have with you and who ended up on top (Jonas, Braxton, or Mercy) - all party members
- taking that mission for the Church (Evans)
- Faythe kills Lazarus Foley herself (Faythe)
- accepting Carlos's quest to get rid of the scavs, Faythe leaves if you break your promise not to kill Morgan
- talking to the Harbinger (Jed)
- something else, can't remember now

Planning to add by the end of the month:

- conversations on the first arrival to a new location
- discussion about the machine when you first see it

Personally I would like to see some interactions between party members. It makes them seem less like PC's followers and more like team members.

 

[Savecummer]

i did skill monkey run after all. Plan was to recruit crowd and for my character to pass every single check thrown at me. It worked

not solo, not interesting
has to be a solo ultra chad that can do the arena and talk teen cyborg-grils into fugging

my current understand is that you would need to lean very heavy into reactions (since it allows you to exceed your allotted action points heavily)
and that would synergize with pistols best, probably... according to that pistol feat

 

[Vault Dweller]

So hows the initial haul been in terms of cash influx for the EA, Vault Dweller ?

Things looking good?

I think the launch was successful overall (for an indie RPG in Early Access). We're overloaded at the moment, so I can't even think clearly, but we'll post a proper update after the dust settles.

 

[Jaedar]

So, why would one ever support Braxton? It's painfully obvious he set you and Jonas up, and his regulator goons have less combat skill than most gutter trash.
(this is not really an appeal to the devs, more to other players, what's the rp reason to betray the town you grew up in to this asshole?)

 

[Pink Eye]

So hows the initial haul been in terms of cash influx for the EA, Vault Dweller ?

Things looking good?

I think the launch was successful overall (for an indie RPG in Early Access). We're overloaded at the moment, so I can't even think clearly, but we'll post a proper update after the dust settles.

Good luck bro!

 

[Pink Eye]

So, why would one ever support Braxton? It's painfully obvious he set you and Jonas up, and his regulator goons have less combat skill than most gutter trash.
(this is not really an appeal to the devs, more to other players, what's the rp reason to betray the town you grew up in to this asshole?)

Because he gave me a shiny badge after I single handily punch Jonas and his men!

Spoiler

 

[Nm6k]

So, why would one ever support Braxton? It's painfully obvious he set you and Jonas up, and his regulator goons have less combat skill than most gutter trash.
(this is not really an appeal to the devs, more to other players, what's the rp reason to betray the town you grew up in to this asshole?)

I was trying to get in the good graces of the Protectors

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

So hows the initial haul been in terms of cash influx for the EA, Vault Dweller ?

Things looking good?

I think the launch was successful overall (for an indie RPG in Early Access). We're overloaded at the moment, so I can't even think clearly, but we'll post a proper update after the dust settles.

Great news!

 

[Trash Player]

So, why would one ever support Braxton? It's painfully obvious he set you and Jonas up, and his regulator goons have less combat skill than most gutter trash.
(this is not really an appeal to the devs, more to other players, what's the rp reason to betray the town you grew up in to this asshole?)

One up the Man? People often blame undesirable experiences on authority figures, justifiability not withstanding.

 

[Thal]

I've played through the Early Access content three times now, once as pistol/science guy, once as a bladed/sneak guy and once as CHA10/Rifle guy. Some thoughts:

The good:

• ITS has done away with the only real design flaw of AoD, which was the system that incentivised hoarding of learning points. I'm sure most of us did it at least in their early playthroughts.The current system works perfectly, doing away with the unnecessary metagame. Sure, you go back to locks that you couldn't open before, but that's entirely in the spirit of RPGs. Moreover, sometimes getting the stuff behind locked door early is a massive power up, which rewards specialisation.
  
• The system with tagged skills encourages building hybrid characters, because you can be reasonably confident that you're not overstretching. This is balanced by using the learning-by-doing system, which means that you cannot be good at everything. Same thing with party size, since you effectively draw exp from the same limited pool. I believe CHA builds with full party are going be the strongest based on my experience, but I assume that late game you'll really miss those extra levels. Numerous builds are viable, but they all have their liabilities.
  
• The economy works brilliantly. You really have to plan what to buy, and a single expensive consumable can make an impossible fight winnable. Different parties benefit from different gear, so you'll always have to think strategically with your investments.

The bad:

• Hydroponics is a very annoying area to navigate through due to constant fade-to-black faux loading screens. AoD did this too, but I assumed it had something to do with the outdated Torque engine. What's the deal here, why is this necessary?
  
• I had some issues with moving the full party through these sections. Sometimes only guy passed the foliage and the rest were left behind.
  
• Placing your guys before combat is unresponsive. You have to wait a bit before selecting your next dude, probably because numbers are still crunching under the hood. Moreover, AFAIK you can't switch places with two guys, but will have to move one away and then move the other to that now-emply place.

The ugly:

• I miss text quests from AoD. I understand that technical considerations were partly behind them, but damn they were just so comfy to play through. Colony Ship seems to be, for the lack of better word, a more "normal" CRPG in this regard.

Overall my impressions are highly positive. I wish I had the patience to wait for the full game, but I believe I'll play through each chapter as they are released. Well done!