KickStarter Space Haven - spaceship colony sim inspired by RimWorld - now available on Early Access

[Zombra]

Game is out in Early Access.



Looking not bad. Anyone tried it yet? Belegarsson?

 

[Kuattro]

I've tried it only for a couple minutes, and I can tell I'll be spending A LOT of time with it (although most of it will be starting again and again because I'm a compulsive restarter. It's a disease and a burden).

From what little I've seen the game is... hard to describe. People are comparing it (for the better) with DF9, a game I know nothing about other than it was a horrible abortion born from the perennial ineptitude of Tim Schafer with anything involving management of a project.

I can tell you right now a game they took inspiration from: The inventory screen comes straight from X-COM (and I mean X-COM, not XCOM) so at least their hearts are in the right place, although we more or less could tell that already from their previous projects.

As for the game itself, it's a cross between Oxygen not Included, Dwarf Fortress, Rimworld, FTL, X-COM (I've still yet to test the combat, but from the videos, the at least aesthetic inspiration is once more clear, although I think it might be RTWP) and a game that has a very special place in my heart, Unclaimed World (oh what (unclaimed, heh) promise ). And if that makes it sound like it's a strange chimera, is because it is, hence why I said it's difficult to describe.

You start with a crew (they all have different skills, and you can prioritize what they do and their workhours, like in DF or Rimworld) and a limited ship/shipyard, you need to manage resources ("blocks", tools, water/ice, CO2, metals, food... you know the drill), and basically build a ship to jump around space looking for asteroids to mine, derelict ships to scrap and (I expect, I still haven't seen that part of the game) other space factions. I expect you will be able to recruit new crew members, and I know that you'll get to fight space bugs, who can capture your crew and, and I quote straight from the steam page "cocoon them against walls in their base" so that you can "see them suffer in the alien lair and decide if you want to save them or not". That sounds like something people at loverslab would come up in a feverish night.

You can also have multiple ships, and assign different crew to all of them, where they work, where they rest, where they spend their free time. I don't know if that means you can actually specialize your ships, create a factory-ship, and a resort-ship, or they need to be self-contained.

And... that is all I've been able to see in the 71 minutes I've played. I quite liked everything I saw, in case it wasn't clear

Something I need to mention is that the game, in my opinion, seems pretty honest and up-front. If you have misgivings about trying it and not knowing if you'll like it before the 2 hours time of refund are up, I'd say give it a go, because I think the first hour will show you the basic gameplay loop, and you'll immediately be able to tell if it is something you'll enjoy or not. The game might get more complex, or more open, but I do not thing it will fundamentally change, so I think even if I've played a little over an hour, I have a good idea of what it is about.

One warning though, I haven't checked any gameplay videos so I don't know if it's like this, but the gif in the store makes it look like, indeed, the combat is RTWP (like Rimworld). I know that might be a deal breaker for some people, so I would check if that is really the case before making a decision.

But as I say, if you enjoy the type of games I've mentioned, then I really don't see a reason you wouldn't enjoy this one.

 

[Zombra]

Thanks for the rundown, Kuattro! Sounds pretty good.

I watched some of the release day Steam stream and can confirm that combat is RTWP. I didn't follow the quick clicking of the player but it reminds me more of real-time X-Com: Apocalypse than anything else, or maybe Rimworld, which is fine with me; I don't need this game to be the next great turn-based tactics of my life, I have plenty of those.

I am especially curious about characterization, quirks, personalities, levelling up, skill development, things like this. Kuattro if you have anything to say on this particular subject I would read it with great interest.

 

[Alienman]

Bought it, been playing for almost 2 hours now and I can't decide if I want to keep it or not. I know it's EA so stuff will be missing, and while the game looks nice... I don't know. I got the impression that it's a bit on the boring side. Not sure how much stuff you can do, but the raiding and combat felt very simplistic. It was like X-com Apocalypse real time but without any of the cool stuff. You can't go prone, take cover etc, your dudes just stand there and shoots.

The problem is the 2 hour limit frankly... will it get more involved after the 2 hour mark, or will it remain as it is, but maybe with the difficulty spiking a bit ..?

 

[Kuattro]

I've played a little more, and still haven't been able to discover whether or not your characters develop their skills. I've seen it mentioned as planned in road maps from the devs about a year ago, but I don't know if it's implemented. I haven't seen any percentage or experience bar or whatever that indicates your crew is getting better at something by doing it, but I also haven't played a single game long enough to say that it's not happening. Will investigate more and report back.

As for quirks and personalities: Every crew member had a job before the apocalypse. The thumbnail doesn't clarify it's effects, but it stands to reason that one of my crew members having 3 points in medical skill and having been a doctor, or another having 3 in weapons and 2 in piloting having been a fighter pilot, have something to do with each other.

They also have traits (or trait, right now each crew member has only one from the start, I don't know if they can acquire more). These do have a thumbnail that tells you their effect: My ex-pilot is talkative, and gets in a better mood by speaking with other crew; my ex-doctor is nyctophilic, so he works better in the dark and doesn't get negative effects from it (yes, you need to care for lightning); and my other two crew are smart, they learn faster and are less inclined to surrender in combat.

The crew can establish relations between them by speaking with each other, and they can be positive or negative. Right now, my crew is not getting along very well, probably because they keep crapping their pants (apparently one toilet is not enough for 4 people, which makes me think that if there's a lot of crew you can get in your voyages, we might end up with ships full of nothing but toilets) and walking around with dirty pants obviously makes everyone else not like you that much. Again, I don't know how that is going to affect my crew in the future (whether or not there's going to be infighting or things like that), and the relations don't have a thumbnail like in Rimworld telling you why they are not getting along with each other. The game tells you, though, when something has just happened: One of my crew has, right now, a +15 in social need because someone thanked them (it also increases their overall mood by 5), and a -5 in social needs because someone was mean to him, which also affects their overall mood by -10 (you're walking around with crap in your pants mate, what did you expect). This crew member is feeling lonely (he hasn't established any stable social relationship yet), and again that affects his moods: -2 comfort, -2 safety, -5 social and -5 overall mood.

The crew needs are fairly complex: There's food, divided in the overall fullness and four nutrients (proteins, vitamins, carbs and fats); there's energy (they need to rest); comfort (affected by the rooms they spend time in); safety; social and health. All of them are affected by rooms and furniture, relations with other crew, equipment (if they spend a lot of time in a space suit, they feel bad), work they're doing, etc. I have seen someone get a boost because they "did something they enjoyed", but I still don't know how it really works.

Also, apart from their skills, each crew member has attributes (Bravery, Zest, Intelligence and Perception), and they affect different things although, once more, the game lacks a thumbnail that tells you exactly what they affect, instead you need to look around for it. For example, next to the attributes there's some probabilities for your crew member: Accuracy (affected by Perception), Accident (affected by Perception and the working environment), Working Speed (affected by Perception, Intelligence and how comfortable they feel), Recovery (affected by environment), Learning (affected by intelligence, and I suspect it's the one that helps your crew skill up, but again, the game doesn't tell you), and Surrender (affected by bravery, and, as I said before, some traits). Zest also affects health and energy levels, at least.

I know I'm writing in a very scatterbrained way, but that is exactly how you feel when you play the game: there's a plan here, but the devs haven't given you all the information necessary to understand it, so you are going in quite blind.

... the raiding and combat felt very simplistic. It was like X-com Apocalypse real time but without any of the cool stuff. You can't go prone, take cover etc, your dudes just stand there and shoots.

You actually can go prone. If you right click on your crew members when they are drafted, there are options like drawing your weapon, or going prone. Although I don't know how much that affects your accuracy, if at all.

I was thinking that what this game dearly needs is documentation, and it turns out there is a wiki, but it's outdated. You can see here there's quite a bit more in the character screen now that what the wiki talks about. I can understand that the game is still growing, but they really need to go back and put info on all of these things, so that not only the people who have been playing their alphas for months know how things like skill progression and attributes work.

Anyway, as I said, will report back if I find more information on these things.

 

[Alienman]

You actually can go prone. If you right click on your crew members when they are drafted, there are options like drawing your weapon, or going prone. Although I don't know how much that affects your accuracy, if at all.

Yeah I noticed that. Not prone but crouch. But could be because they were in space suits. Not sure it changed anything.

By the way, is there a way to get any graphs on power usage, food etc? I'm having a hard time telling how much power etc I got.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Do you get to customise the crew or is just a grab bag of neuroses?

 

[Alienman]

Do you get to customise the crew or is just a grab bag of neuroses?

Didn't notice any customization except picking colors on clothes. But you can randomize until you find something you like I guess.

 

[Kuattro]

By the way, is there a way to get any graphs on power usage, food etc? I'm having a hard time telling how much power etc I got.

As far as I've seen, no graphs at all, for now at least. Though I find the power distribution screen that we have right now not that bad, specially if you are going to use separate power lines (one for weapons, one for systems...). If you get a big ship with a lot of things pulling power, it will probably become a mess, but I have the feeling the game is not designed with the idea to have massive ships.

 

[thesecret1]

It's ok for EA I guess. Felt like I reached the end of content extremely quickly though – get your rust bucket to be somewhat self-sustainable, and you've likely seen all the game has to offer already. Here's hoping the game increases in content during the early access.

 

[Alpharius]

Played it for like 8 hours or something. Seems like it could be pretty good on release, but it has a long way to go to reach Rimworld level.

Things i didn't like:
The game is pretty thin on the survival stuff right now. Never had any shortages of oxygen, food or water or reactor fuel for generators. And reaction mass for shuttles and suits should be a major drain on resources imo instead of being free, perhaps the devs should make them consume oxygen and water. Also the heat management is kinda meh, you just sprinkle some "temperature regulators" here and there and thats it, they consume next to no power too. Unless i've failed a physics knowledge roll, passive radiators should take forever to cool down anything and active ones should also consume some reaction mass, like eject overheated gas or something.

The only shortages i've had were of "tech blocks", that is untill i've bought 20 of them from random trader for dirt cheap.

Also there seems to be no negative random events right now, like micometeorite strikes or solar flares or gamma ray bursts or whatever. There are pirates but they are easy to evade by jumping to the next secor.

Saw a bit of space combat. Didn't jump away from pirates once (even though my ship had no weapons). Managed to board the pirate ship and make them surrender with no losses. The pirate ship's single pea shooter energy turret delivered like 40% hull stability damage to my ship, which regenerated later with no need to spend any resources on repairs. Got to be a reason to not do that every time, as weapon turrets are pretty expensive and consume energy cells. Like, idk, don't open the airlock for enemy boarders? Seems like a no brainer seeing as its already possible to enter derelict ships through hull breaches.

 

[thesecret1]

Yeah, that was pretty much my experience as well, down to boarding a pirate ship and effortlessly taking it over. Another thing I was missing was that it felt like there wasn't really much to strive for – like after you manage to get all the basic utilities down on your ship, that's it. The ship's done. I'd expect some upgrade trees and late-game techs etc. to gradually work towards and strive for, but here you plop down all the necessities and you may as well start building the next ship for you fleet.

 

[Blaine]

The game does still seem to be in alpha testing. The time to worry about glaring omissions will be after it enters beta testing. The developers correctly focused on stability before releasing it to the public, because that is what Steam Early Access demands; the hoi polloi have little to no tolerance for bug-testing or stability issues.

If you read the Steam discussion forums for Space Haven, you'll find a lot of people complaining that it's too hard to get resources, keep their crew alive, or deal with pirates. Big surprise, there.

Space Haven does clearly need more features in order to be a compelling game. Research, technological upgrades, and their concomitant accessories (laboratories, databases, specialist sensors, sample analysis, Mysterious Alien Artifacts, and the time-honored theft of scientific secrets from enemy polities) are an obvious starting point. Also rather important in my opinion is the possibility of having more than one deck/tile layer per ship, and systems and structures that span or occupy multiple decks. Being limited to flat planes, while perhaps understandable for gameplay purposes, is already restrictive enough. Further limitation to just the one flat plane borders on ridiculous.

Non-micromanaged automation of your additional ships (to trade and haul goods and materiel back to your space station(s), for example) and in-depth faction interaction (join them, found your own, etc.) should take care of the rest. In all great space games, the goal is to euthanize or assimilate all enemy races and factions, have all of the real estate and resources to yourself, and to have built so many space stations and ships that there's no way anyone but a computer can possibly keep track of them all.

 

[Kuattro]

Also rather important in my opinion is the possibility of having more than one deck/tile layer per ship, and systems and structures that span or occupy multiple decks. Being limited to flat planes, while perhaps understandable for gameplay purposes, is already restrictive enough. Further limitation to just the one flat plane borders on ridiculous.

According to the developers, this is not going to happen. Amongst other reasons, because it could make combat a mess with lines of sight through multiple levels, something they don't see themselves capable of managing.

Other than that I agree completely, the gameplay loop is there, it works and seems rather interesting, and the game seems certainly stable and free of bugs. They only need to worry now about the "easy" part of developing a game, populating it with new content and adding peripheral features. Like skills from your crew developing, which I can now confirm is still not in, what you get from the beginning is what you'll be keeping through your game (plus anyone you manage to "recruit", of course). And MORE INFO ON THE UI, I want numbers, how much food is my crew consuming, how much energy rods are my generators consuming (and is it really just more efficient to build the bigger one?), what actions do the skills affect, and in which way, etc...

And yes, Steam's audience stupidity is a danger ("it's taken me 30 minutes to figure out how to move a character after extensive button mashing and clicking around, and I still can't work out how to equip the weapon in the Equip Your Crew Members objective", I'm quoting literally, to say nothing of the bloke who managed to play 20 hours this "unplayable game" and then wanted a refund) but the developers don't seem to care too much about them. If you need to take an additional step to have more steady access to them (joining their discord), there's still hope, probably.

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

And MORE INFO ON THE UI, I want numbers, how much food is my crew consuming, how much energy rods are my generators consuming (and is it really just more efficient to build the bigger one?)

Agree. For the generators, when you click them you can see how much is produced/consumed in their info window. Efficiency you can work out from the build panel. From what I remember the small and medium have same efficiency, while the big one is slightly more effective per energy rod consumed, but takes more space than two mediums.

 

[Space Satan]

Spoiler

Space Haven Alpha 9 - Now Released!

Alpha 9 is now Released! Below is a recap of the new main features included in Alpha 9, along with a full list of patch notes. Enjoy this new update and let us know if you stumble upon any big problems!

Faction Interactions

So far all the communication requests have come from the player, whether it is the want to trade or have a simple discussion otherwise. We've spent some time and implemented these interactions further, allowing other factions to contact you in case there's something they need or want.

These additions will give more life to your encounters with other faction spaceships, as they can now signal their want to communicate with you too. Currently other faction spaceships may contact you if you happen to have prisoners or refugees belonging to them, asking for the possibility to get them back. Sometimes they might need some resource and ask for it, or simply push their luck by asking for a gift.

Signaling

A small problem with communicating is that it is tied to the operations console, and the player doesn't necessarily have someone there at all times. This could make it problematic to establish a communication channel, or for the player to know some faction ship wants to communicate.

We decided to implement signaling to help with this. Signaling can be seen as some form of Morse code signaling, which allows spaceships to communicate simple intents, like "we want to communicate", "we want to surrender", "we want to establish a cease fire and communicate".

Other spaceships can signal back their intent to accept or decline this request, thus making both parties aware of communication intentions and to get a crew member to the operations console.

Distress state

When a faction spaceship gets destroyed the crew members of that spaceship will look to evacuate and abandon their ship. If there's another spaceship belonging to their faction, they will flee to that spaceship and continue their journey with their faction.

However, if there's no other spaceship belonging to their faction present in the sector, they will look towards other faction spaceships with whom they are in a ally/neutral stance relationship wise. They will seek out to ask for help and become a refugee in hopes of being reunited with their faction one day. Since they activate their distress beacon other factions are allowed to enter their spaceship and help them.

Refugees

There's a big hole in our ship, can we come with you?

We've created a new character status in addition to the prisoner status, we're introducing the refugee status. Refugees are crew members, who have lost their home spaceship in a battle or otherwise, and are now looking to be reunited with one of their other faction spaceships somewhere in the galaxy.

If a pirate is with you in a sector bombarding a civilian spaceship and that spaceship gets destroyed, the civilians will want to reach out to you and ask for help. You can then decide if you want to take them with you, offer them sanctuary and a chance to be reunited with another of their faction spaceships one day.

Refugees are willing to help in some way. However, they do not work as long hours as your main crew members do during a day, as they want to save their strength. They are willing to help by carrying out logistics jobs, but are currently limited to that since they do not want to interfere with your crew and their specialized tasks you have set for them. Their priorities and schedules cannot be changed to keep a good balance. They yearn to be reunited with their faction one day, and will grow restless with time if this doesn't happen.

Refugee Conditions, Mood and Satisfaction

Keeping the refugees happy is important if you want to keep them working for you. Keep them satisfied by creating a nice area for the refugees to spend time and sleep in, keep them well fed to increase their mood.

Refugees of a faction will react to seeing another member of their faction be a prisoner instead of a refugee. This will have a negative effect on their mood and could lead to them refusing to work for you.

Lying, Suspicion and Scanning

One of the most important things for a faction are their crew members, and once one is lost they usually want them back, unless it's that irritating Bob guy, whom nobody wants. (If your name is Bob please know we did not mean you but another Bob!)

When you encounter a faction spaceship they might contact you and ask if you've seen some of their lost crew members somewhere. If you have some on board as refugees or prisoners, you will have the options to tell the truth or lie.

Civilians scan some random areas of your ship and find out you have some of their faction crew members as refugees.

Lying is not nice. But hey, those refugees can be a good work force and you're not ready to give them up just yet. When you lie the other party might grow suspicious, or just want to check to be sure. If this happens they might do a scan of one of your ships.

They will randomly scan some parts of your ship revealing what's there, and if they happen to reveal a captive crew member belonging to them they will know you've lied. You can expect to get a hail request after this with someone quite angry on the other side.

Relationships with Factions

These new additions will give some first opportunities for your relationship towards another faction changing over time. Your decisions to help or not to help will affect how the faction sees you, and if you disregard calls for help often enough your relationship with a faction will dwindle to hostility.

Space Hazards

• Solar Flares
  
• Micrometeoroids
  
• Siren Worlds
  
• Nebulae

Space Hazards are represented with icons on top of sectors in the starmap. This will allow you to see what you are getting yourself in to =)

Solar Flares

Holy crap! What's going on here.

Solar flares overload your power nodes, possibly damaging them and cutting your power transfer short to a part of your ship. Fires can also break out, which means it is important to have some crew members on board the ship at all times.

Micrometeoroids

Watch your head, Charley!

Micrometeoroids rain down on your ship constantly while you're in a sector where they are present. Shields will mitigate their negative effects to a degree as long as they stay up. Mining pods can be struck by the meteoroids, causing a concussion condition for the crew member inside and possibly damaging the mining pod.

Micro breaches

We have also implemented so called micro breaches. Micro breaches are smaller hull breaches, not fully tearing the hull open but causing small cracks which cause depressurization. Micrometeoroids and certain turrets may cause these as they hit the ship hull. These micro hull breaches can be repaired by your crew members with their construction guns.

Siren Worlds

Jet has lost his mind, or really hates his bed.

Siren Worlds are peculiar planets whose strange signals mess with the mind. These signals will periodically cause your crew members to act in a strange manner, ranging from aggressive behavior to staring at walls. Be alert when staying in these sectors, as your crew members might do something you don't want them to do.

The signals from the Siren World may result in crew members getting conditions like the urge for destruction, effectively making them a saboteur starting fires on board your ship. Other examples are insomnia and loss of appetite, causing tiredness and hunger among your crew members. Aggressive behavior might also occur and your crew members might start fighting each other.

Nebulae

The fourth space hazard is the nebula. An interstellar cloud of ionized gases, which has a draining effect on shields. The nebula itself is not very dangerous, but it can lead to interesting and dangerous situations if ship-to-ship battles take place in a sector with a nebula.

Note on Space Hazards

The presence and frequency of the Space Hazards in the galaxy can be tweaked at will in the game customization menu, even individually. This comes handy if these hazards are something that you don't find a desirable feature. Furthermore, at the moment there's nothing forcing the player to enter theses systems unless a pirate happens to be in the same system interrupting the player fleet.

Some of you our players have voiced concerns that the aim of the hazards is just to punish players. That's not the aim at all =) The aim of the hazards is to create more variation to the stories emerging from the features in the game, more strategy to the starmap as one ponders the risk and the rewards of a sector, and interesting situations emerging within a sector with hazards impacting both your crew and the crew of other faction spaceships.

We've gotten feedback praising the new hazards, stating they add a ton to the game, but we've also gotten feedback that some of you might not enjoy these challenges, which is why we made sure to allow for disabling the hazards individually simply by clicking a toggle in the game customization menu. Alpha 9 contains other new features beyond the hazards, and this update is just one update among many to come. =)

Crew fights

Crew members can now start fights among each other if they get irritated enough. The chance for a fight to occur is based on various factors, such as overall mood and food status. If the crew member has a low overall mood and is also hungry on top of that they are more prone to become really irritated at someone.

Fighting causes some health damage, but crew members do not aim to kill each other. However, this could happen in some very rare instances where one of the crew members just happens to have very low health to begin with when the fight starts. Once they've let out enough steam they stop and go about their business.

Upcoming plans

Summer is short in Finland and the three of us need a break after what has been a very stressful year. We'll be taking some weeks off as a summer vacation and recharge our batteries for the upcoming Alpha 10 update.

Don't worry, we'll stick around to ensure there are no game breaking bugs with Alpha 9! =) After Alpha 9 looks stable we'll take that much needed break. We will return after the vacation and immediately start on Alpha 10, and we will post news of what's next with Alpha 10, once we have something to show!

Full list of Patch Notes - Alpha 9

• Environment hazards Implemented - Solar flares, Micrometeoroids, Nebulae and Siren Worlds.
  
• New Faction Interactions Implemented - Signaling, NPC Hailing, Distress State and Refugees.
  
• Signaling - Allows spaceships to communicate simple intents directly, like "we want to communicate", "we want to surrender", "we want to establish a cease fire and communicate".
  
• Distress state - Allows a spaceship and its crew to turn on a distress beacon and call for help.
  
• Refugees - A new character status in addition to the prisoner status, saved crew members from destroyed spaceships who are looking to be reunited with their faction.
  
• Suspicion - A new faction status, whereby another faction can be suspicious towards you that you are hiding something from them.
  
• Implemented a lot of new communication dialogue related to the new faction interaction implementations.
  
• NPC spaceships now signal and hail the player at times, asking if the player has seen their crew members who sent out a distress call.
  
• The player can now try to lie in certain dialogue scenarios.
  
• NPC factions can now help each other in distress situations as well.
  
• Solar flares - Overload your power nodes and may cause fires aboard your ships.
  
• Micrometeoroids - Rain down on your ships and strike your mining pods. Shields mitigate to a degree.
  
• Microbreaches - Small cracks which cause depressurization.
  
• Siren Worlds - Peculiar planets whose strange signals mess with the mind.
  
• Nebulae - An interstellar cloud of ionized gases, which has a draining effect on shields.
  
• Added Space Hazards individually to the game customization screen - Tweak their presence and make them non-existent if you so desire.
  
• Ability to set the resource amounts for derelicts added to the game customization screen.
  
• Harsh game difficulty is now rebalanced to be harder.
  
• Shuttles and miners can now become broken if hit by micrometeoroid.
  
• Broken crafts can't work and leak oxygen.
  
• Many Siren World character conditions added: Disorientation, Psychotic, Schizophrenia, Lost Appetite, Insomnia, Aggressivity, Urge to Destroy.
  
• New Character conditions and behavior possibilities: Committing suicide, poisoning, seeing a captive crew member.
  
• Implemented an improved way to override crew member schedules for a set amount of hours, for situations needing quick action.
  
• Crew member schedule overriding can be done by selecting a crew member and from the crew management screen.
  
• Tweaked Character conditions.
  
• Tweaked energium to energy rod ratio lower.
  
• Rebalanced trading prices of resources.
  
• Made the game log more selective of which conditions and events are listed.
  
• Hangars can be paused/unpaused to prevent craft from doing work.
  
• Crew members can fight each other if they get irritated enough.
  
• Added additional information for grow beds, to easily see if conditions are optimal for plant growth.
  
• Graphic assets Improvements and Polish: Toilet, Hypersleep chamber, Operations console, Power capacitor, Airlock, Assembler.
  
• Fixed in-floor power node restrictions to a degree.
  
• Tweaked the surrender trigger from bullet hits to function in a better way.
  
• Added a scaling system to the presence of space hazards within star systems, giving the player a bit more time to build up a ship with necessary systems ready. Space Hazards can still be encountered early on, but it is much less likely than in later systems.
  
• Added auto-toggling repair for micro-breaches, making crew members react to them more quickly. If auto-maintenance is toggled on (As it is by default) crew members will prioritize
  micro-breaches even during their free time and sleep.
  
• Tweaked the solar flare event occurrence interval range to be a bit longer within a sector with a solar flare, this gives the player a bit more time to repair their ship before another
  solar flare hits.
  
• Adjusted crew members with the Suicidal trait to not get a mental break so easily.
  
• Fixed bugs.

 

[Zombra]

In case you were wondering if this is still going on ... geez look at the size of this update.

Space Haven Alpha 10 - Now Released!

Spacefarers!

We have arrived, the Alpha 10 update has been released! Alpha 10 is one of the biggest and most exciting updates to Space Haven so far, and it is now available for you to experience. Alpha 10 brings in a lot of new features and additions, and many tweaks and modifications to existing ones. Let's take a look into all the new features and what Alpha 10 has to offer.

Some of the most exciting additions include:

1. A new modified starmap with a new layer showing star system clusters and faction presence
   
2. Space Stations and derelict space stations have been added to the game
   
3. Crew combat can now take place on asteroids in addition to spaceships and stations
   
4. A Research Tree has been implemented along with a research lab facility
   
5. IRS Mary Shelley (The alien base) and a pirate hideout base have been added to the game
   
6. The Food System got an overhaul and crew members are now affected by what they eat

Let's go over all of the new additions in more detail below.

A New Modified Starmap

We wanted to venture out and try something new with the starmap, something that would give you more meaningful choices when planning your route.

The new starmap combines a set of star systems into clusters, and gives you some information of what type of cluster it is. This will give you an idea of what type of faction presence you will encounter in a specific cluster.

Our idea is to present a choice between paths that are riskier but which could result in more bountiful treasures and paths that are safer but already scavenged by other factions to some degree. The starmap keeps evolving as we keep implementing more. We're eager to have you try it out!

Spoiler

Space Stations

You will now also encounter various space stations in addition to spaceships on your journey towards Eden, various specialized space stations will be scattered throughout the galaxy awaiting you.

The stations can be general outposts or specialized in some way. Some examples:

• Farming stations - Stations specialized in farming and guaranteed to have a good amount of various foods for trade.
  
• Repair stations - Stations specialized in repairs, giving you the opportunity to purchase a hull expansion service (Expanding the hull with drones) with credits.
  
• Faction bases - Fight your way through the pirates and destroy their hideout base to deal a killing blow to the pirate presence in a part of the galaxy.
  
• Mining stations - Stations specialized in mining and offering a good variety of various ore for trade.
  
• Trading outposts - Stations specialized in general trade, offering a wide variety of resources for trade.
  
• And more!

A pirate hideout base buried deep within the cluster of pirate systems.

A station specialized in farming built on top of an asteroid somewhere in the galaxy.

A station specialized in repairs, capable of helping you on your travels!

Derelict Space Stations

Enter the darkness with your crew and explore old abandoned derelict stations. This addition gives some nice variety to exploring derelicts. Derelict stations can be salvaged just like derelict ships with one main difference, derelict stations generally give out less hull scrap since hull can only be salvaged where the asteroid itself is not blocking mining pods from salvaging the station hull.

A New Way to Acquire New Crew Members

Leisure stations offer a place for visitors to rest and have a relaxing time. This is also a good place to seek out and see if someone would be willing to join your crew!

Someone might catch your interest when walking around at the leisure station. An interactable NPC is often present, this time it is Valentino. Someone's chasing Valentino it seems, and they would be willing to join your crew for 5000. Couldn't afford it this time, dang!

Engage in Crew Combat on Asteroids

Crew combat can now take place on asteroids. Seek out the pirate hideout base and engage in fierce crew combat, remember to bring your spacesuits. This gives an entirely new setting for crew combat compared to the cramped up spaces in spaceships and stations.

IRS Mary Shelley

IRS Mary Shelley (The alien base) has been added to the game. This independent research ship ventured out into the galaxy to find alien life forms, but something bad happened and the ship was never heard from again...

Throughout the game you will find data logs on board derelict ships, giving clues as to what happened to IRS Mary Shelley. Now the ship itself is in the game, and you can go find out for yourself! =)

Research

We have worked on research and the research tree and implemented the needed tech for it to allow us to create the first version of the tech tree and add new in-game tech items in the future. A Research skill as well as a research lab facility has been added to the mix and crew members can research new tech by spending some time sitting at the research lab.

We decided to go with a visual presentation seen in the screenshot, a research tree from left to right with various branches taking their own paths in the tree. The modules currently require certain amounts of research points, classed into three different tiers. These research point tiers represent how hard it is to unlock a research item, these are tied to a character research skill.

Improved and deeper food system

While working on the research tree and thinking about modules related to botany we found a good opportunity to dive deeper into the food system and make some further implementations to take nutrients into account and have consequences related to them.

The Kitchen

The Kitchen has received an overhaul to enable more freedom for you to create your own specialized meals for your crew members. The kitchen now allows you to mix various crates of food together, and even specifying the amount of some ingredient crate to use.

Now you can spice up your fruit and root vegetable mix with some monster meat, just enough so that your crew members won't notice any really bad side effects. How about some monster meat and human meat with peanuts on the side? No problem! Coming right up. Put all of that food into good use.

You are what you eat

Up until now your crew members have not cared much about what they eat, or more specifically what kind of nutrients they are actually putting in their system. The crew members are now affected by what kind of nutrients they consume on a long-term basis. Proteins, Carbs, Fat and vitamins are all important. A fifth are toxins, which have a negative effect if consumed too much too fast.

A balanced diet with enough proteins, carbs, fat and vitamins keep your crew members working at an optimal level. Deficiencies can result in a lower recovery rate, learning rate, health, mood and so on.

Throwing up

Your crew members can now get nausea from consuming too many toxins, this in turn will lead to them throwing up and losing their stomach contents on the spaceship floor. There goes my lunch, what a bummer!

Throwing up essentially means the nutrients from the stomach are lost, so be careful with giving too much monster meat to crew members all at once.

The Algae Dispenser

Nobody likes eating algae, but it's marginally better than starving to death. It keeps the crew alive but can affect their health and mood due to an unpleasant texture and sub-optimal nutrient levels.

We are introducing a new facility called the algae dispenser. This facility is intended to be a basic food source, using bio matter and water to grow algae, which are then scooped for some delicious (Or not) green porridge type of food. It will keep your crew alive but if this is the only food eaten it will cause nutrient deficiencies and even nausea.

Hyperium Hyperdrive and Energium Power Generator

The hyperium hyperdrive is less efficient than more advanced hyperdrives but can use hyperium as fuel directly without having to refine it.

The energium power generator is less efficient than more advanced power generators but can use energium as an energy source directly without having to refine it.

We have added these two new facilities to help power up your ship and jump to hyperspace. These facilities will be basic technology facilities, with the ability to use raw resources directly as an energy resource and fuel.

As these facilities use raw resources instead of refined resources they are not quite as efficient, but on the other hand it is a bit easier to supply them as they can use raw resources directly.

Introducing new NPC ships

This new civilian ship will join the civilian fleet and meet you on your adventures!

Military Alliance receives a new addition to their fleet, you'll meet this ship in your future adventures in space.

Cult of New Haven gets a new ship added to their fleet, you'll meet this ship on your future adventures.

Androids also receive a new ship to their fleet. You will meet this ship on your space adventures.

If you want a chance to get your own ship in the updates post them in our Discord server #screenshots-and-videos channel, or here on Steam! =)

Space Haven Alpha 10 - Full Patch Notes

• Saved games are not supported from previous Alpha versions.
  
• A new modified starmap, with a new layer showing star system clusters as jump destinations.
  
• Space Stations added to the game - You can now visit various farming stations, repair stations, faction bases and more.
  
• Derelict stations have been added to the game - Enter the darkness with your crew and explore old abandoned derelict stations.
  
• A service tab has been added, which is now available at the repair station. The service tab can be used to purchase services (Like hull construction) with credits.
  
• You can recruit new crew members by visiting a leisure station and seeing if someone would be willing to join your crew, for a fee of course.
  
• Crew combat can now take place on asteroids - Seek out the pirate hideout base and engage in fierce crew combat, remember to bring your spacesuits.
  
• IRS Mary Shelley (The alien base) has been added to the game. This independent research ship ventured out into the galaxy to find alien life forms, but something bad happened and the ship was never heard from again...
  
• A Research Tree has been implemented along with a research lab facility - Build a Research Lab and start researching new technology.
  
• A New character skill has been added: Research.
  
• A New turret added to the research tree: Missile turret. The missile turret is capable of creating new holes for crew members to enter in derelict ships.
  
• Many of the facilities in the game have been moved to the research tree, while basic and critical facilities remain open from the beginning.
  
• Added research start technology settings to game customization - You can modify research modules to be open from the start if you want.
  
• Lowered research points requirements for research modules in the research tree by 10-20%.
  Character backstories and occupations now affect the likelyhood of having a higher research skill.
  
• New special technology: The Targeting Jammer - An electronic countermeasure that confuses all turret targeting systems within its range of effect. So long as the jammer is online, the ship can neither be targeted by hostiles, nor target them in turn.
  
• The Food System got an overhaul, crew members are now affected by what they eat and require a balanced diet for optimal performance in the long run.
  
• Added a new system for the Kitchen to allow players to create their own meal compositions of various raw ingredients.
  
• Modified the plant growth rates and outputs to balance the change with the Kitchen requiring less overall resources to create meals.
  
• Created an Algae dispenser facility for producing basic nutrient.
  
• Added a nausious condition, which can be caused by toxins accumulating in the body from foods.
• Concussions and other conditions might also cause nausea.
  
• Micrometeroids and solar flares have been changed to be hidden events, their severity in terms of negative effects have also been lowered.
  
• New basic facilities: Hyperium Hyperdrive and Energium Power Generator - This basic hyperdrive and power generator can use raw resources mined from asteroids, but are less effective than their more advanced versions.
  
• New AI behavior: Another friendly faction can now help and rescue your cocooned crew members if their ship is in the same sector.
  
• Improved UI: Added a mechanism to see which sectors have been visited by the player in the starmap.
  
• Factions with a neutral or allied stance towards the player now have more of their crew movements visible to the player.
  
• Electronic fabricator and cell fuser facilities have been removed from the game. Electronic components can now be created with the metal refinery and energy cells with optronics fabricator.
  
• Rebalanced start scenarios.
  
• Modified scenario hints to support the new changes.
  
• Rebalanced resource trading values.
  
• Shotgun and SMG have been nerfed slightly.
  
• Hauler alien has received a slight buff to damage.
  
• Modified some space hazards to be a step lower in frequency on harsh difficulty.
  
• Added an increased risk for accidents for industry facilities, which are damaged. The risk is increased with the amount of damage.
  
• Created new NPC ships for many of the factions you meet on your adventures.
  Modified also many of the old NPC ship designs.
  
• Created new resource crate graphics for a set of resources.
  
• Improved various graphics assets.
  
• Improved graphics indicators on some facilities.
  
• Moved Music and Sound volume settings to gameplay tab in options.
  
• A new music track has been added to the game.
  
• Fixed problem with some uppercase letters missing in some locales.
  
• Added a note with information when trying to load an outdated alpha version save.
  
• Fixed bugs.

Join Space Haven Discord: http://discord.gg/spacehaven
Space Haven subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceHaven/

Report bugs here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/4/
Discuss Space Haven here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/0/
Technical Support: https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/1/

It is time to experience Alpha 10 for yourself, Spacefarers! Do join some of our channels above and come chat with us and give us feedback. If something needs tweaking rest assured we will modify as needed =)

 

[fuzz]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/979110/view/5363189319886192777

Upcoming Update

Now for the fun part. A report on what we've been working on for the past month for the upcoming update! We've been working on a bigger update, which will expand on your interactions with factions and also introduces slaves as a mechanic related to the Slaver's Guild faction. We shall see what other additions make it into the upcoming update, but read on below to see what we have coming so far.

Slaves

Mark and Cooper are slaves, not amused by their Algae Dispenser as their only nutrition.

You will be able to enslave crew members you capture from other factions, but you can also choose to be a force of good and seek out to rid the universe of slavery. The choice is yours.

Slaves are kept obedient with a slave collar, giving a slave an electric shock each time they try to wiggle themselves free of it. If you choose to you will be able to produce slave collars, once you have researched the tech. The slave collars will be charged with energy cells.

The surrender rate of a character will affect how often a slave will try to test the collar, and thus how much energy is used will depend on if the slave is an obedient personality (Like a Wimp) or someone who would rather try escaping (Like a Hero).

A base for the Slaver's Guild

A Slaver's Guild base, with special chambers to keep their slaves in order.

The Slaver's Guild is getting their own base, buried deep in the galaxy in an area controlled by the Slaver's Guild. Perhaps you aren't keen with the whole idea of slaves, and want to rid the universe of it. Seek out and enter this base, clear it out of any resistance you meet. Find the special chambers made to hold slaves captive and free them of their perilous fate... You will have their undying gratitude!

Faction Interactions

The Military Alliance is happy to see you have some Pirate Coalition crew members as prisoners.

We've implemented some new features, which expands and opens up some new possibilities on how your actions affect your relationship with various factions. We've also expanded the factions in a way where they have a bit more meaningful relationships between each other.

Some examples of these new interactions include:

• A faction finding out you are sheltering their enemies, keeping their allies captive or the Military Alliance finding out you have slaves.
• Faction spaceships/stations may contact you and ask for help if they run out of some resource they need.
• Factions now get frustrated if you keep bailing on paying settlements.
• You'll be able to claim bounties for certain captives factions are interested in. The Military Alliance is keen to get their hands on Pirate Coalition crew members.
• Refugees can now be forced into prisoners, but they will fight you for it.

Scanning

Fingers crossed the Military Alliance doesn't scan our room full of slaves and prisoners!

We've implemented a new UI element for scanning, which will show information on the scanning procedure done by a faction, and what you are at risk to be exposed for. Scanning can now produce more interesting results.

For example, the Military Alliance is meant to be a faction upholding the law, or whatever law there is left. The Military Alliance will now often scan your ships as a part of their routine inspection, looking for illegal activities, such as having slaves or contraband.

Another example: If a faction is allied with another faction, and they scan your ship and find out you have enslaved or taken their allied faction crew members captive, they will react negatively towards you.

Bounties

You can now claim a bounty by bringing prisoners back to the faction these captives belong to. This means you can find crew members imprisoned by the Military Alliance, and instead of making them part of your crew you can decide to ship them to a Military Alliance ship and claim a bounty for them.

Double doors

Sometimes two doors is better than one!

We're adding a double door (2 tile wide door) to appease your symmetry needs. =)

More? And when?

We will keep working more on this upcoming update after the holidays! We will see what more we can add to the package, as always we look forward to be able to bring you a solid update package once again. Stay tuned for more news early next year!

 

[fuzz]

Finding a functioning Hypersleep Chamber on a derelict ship is exciting. Not only you get to rescue some lucky sob, they'll also be more than happy to join the team and work on your vessel. More bodies = more shit done. This Prowler guy though..

Spoiler

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/979110/view/3051730031558610311

Space Haven Alpha 12 - The Anniversary Update - Now Released!

Spoiler

Greetings, Spacefarer!

May 2021 marks two very big milestones for us and Space Haven.
1 Year in Early Access and 5 Years Since the Start of Development.

To celebrate this event we have assembled a big package of some of the most requested features by you, our players.
We want to make this event special, and celebrate together with you. Thank you for being with us on this journey with Space Haven!

New Major Features

Bigger Ships

The Widowmaker is a 2x3 ship inspired by a ship created by one of our players, Lord H Vetinari. You will also be able to create these bigger ships in Alpha 12!


We are adding two types of larger ship canvases for you to build on, the 2x3 and the 3x2, with 24 system points in store for you to assemble your ship attack and defense systems.
To build on one of these bigger canvases you need to swap out the default 2x2 ship canvas in the abandoned mining station start scenario.

Note!
You need a large enough crew and/or logistics bot to have a ship this big run efficiently.
Distances start to become big and it takes lots of time for crew members to carry out their tasks.
Don't go too big too fast =)

Swap out the default canvas and build a bigger ship! (But don't build too big too fast or you run out of resources =) )


You can swap out the default ship canvas by clicking on the "+" button at the top left part of the user interface.
Note that you have 8 ship points in total and each grid on the canvas takes 1 point. So the 2x3 and the 3x2 will take 6 ship points.

Robots

Logistics Robots

Logistics overwhelmed!
That has really been a theme with Space Haven.
If one grabs everything there's bound to be a lot of crates, and while that should be the case (pun intended) it would be good to have some tools to try to ease it up a bit, too.

Logistics bots have certainly been one of the most wished for feature, and we're happy to announce we are including them for Alpha 12!
Logistics Robots need to be researched to be unlocked, and you'll get to build a logistics robot home station, which is capable of building such a robot. The logistics robot uses the home station to repair and recharge itself at.

Salvage Robots

Well, why stop at one robot!
We are also introducing the Salvage Robot, a hovering type of robot capable of venturing out into derelict ships and stations, dismantling facilities and hauling crates with the help of its two robotic arms.


The salvage robots also need to be researched and come with a home station, which they use to repair and recharge themselves at.

Windows

I had a dream that we found a habitable planet to live on. I don't think that planet is it...

Windows have been one of the most requested features by you, our players. There's just something about windows it seems!
Well, it is finally happening. We have windows available in Alpha 12, both for the ship hull and inside walls.

There's a few different widths to choose from, and you will be able to build windows side by side to have lots of light come in!
Windows are not only cosmetic, they will help light up the rooms to a degree.


Better Roofs and a Hull Paint Generator

Visible roofs and improved roof graphics

This pirate ship now travels the galaxy in more colors.


Roofs are now visible by default on ships, which have not yet been visited or explored by the player.
It always frustrated us a bit that ships would often just be black blobs in the sector, unless the player specifically presses a button to see the roofs.

Ships and stations actually look like such when the roofs are up,
so we created a system to allow roofs to be shown more, while keeping the needed visibility when exploring ships with your crew members.


Hull Paint Generator

Close up of the new roof styling and some hull paint.


We have also created a hull paint generator, which creates paint patterns on spaceship and station hulls.
We want to have some distinction between the various factions spaceships, to make it easier for you to see who you are dealing with. It also makes the visual aspects of spaceships more varied.

Tool to paint your own patterns

The fearsome Stickman clan ship on its way to cause havoc in the galaxy.

You can access the hull painter by going to the build menu, then edit and then roof.


We are including a tool to paint your very own patterns on the roofs and hull walls on your ships.
Let your imagination run free and make your ships look truly unique with your own patterns.

Statistical Graphs

We've created a menu for tracking production and consumption over time for all the resources in the game.
This is a tool, which has been long on our minds.

This tool will be very useful for things like water, energium, food and other resources
-
Displaying how much of the resources are consumed and produced on average over time so you can identify inefficiencies in your production.


No longer do you have to guess if your food production is keeping up with the consumption.
Let some time run and check the graphs! =)


How to Open the Statistical Menu

We're still planning to add an UI button for it, but there is a keybind for it in the game settings.
Bind a key for it and you will be able to access the menu!

Immersion - More Sounds

Oh, you guys make some real noise now. Neat!


Last of the new Major features, but certainly not least! More sounds have been another much requested feature.
We've added more sounds and we also modified the overall sound space to not be as quiet as before.


We have added more sounds to most facilities of the game
, such as consoles, industry facilities, power generators, power nodes and thermal regulators, and to many other facilities like the Kitchen and Arcade Machine.

We have also added some sounds to characters, which you can hear when you are zoomed in close enough.
The sound volume of various elements is dynamic, it is based on the current zoom level. We want to aim to avoid overwhelming the sound space with too many sounds all at once.


More Sounds Still to Come

There are still sounds missing from the game,
we look to add more with time as we keep developing the game towards an indie gem. So do not worry, they are on their way into the game. =)


Alpha 12 - The Anniversary Update - Is Now Released!

So go play already! =)
We hope you enjoy this major update for Space Haven, and we are still looking to implement some patches for Alpha 12 based on your feedback.

Join Space Haven Discord:
http://discord.gg/spacehaven
Space Haven subreddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceHaven/

Report bugs here:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/4/
Discuss Space Haven here:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/0/
Technical Support:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/1/

Full Patch Notes

• 2x3 and 3x2 grid sized ship canvases added to the game. You can start building on these bigger canvases by clicking the build new ship and switching out the default canvas.
  
• Logistics robots and a logistics robot station implemented.
  
• Salvage robots and a salvage robot station implemented.
  
• You can now build windows! These can be placed both on the ship hull and on walls inside your ship.
  
• Windows come in different variations, from 2 tile wide to 4 tile wide.
  
• Windows work as a source of light.
  
• Modified NPC ships, stations and derelict ships to have windows.
  
• Roofs are now visible by default on ships, which have not yet been visited or explored by the player.
  
• Created a hull paint generator, which creates color patterns on spaceships and station hulls.
  
• Created various tools for the hull painter to create your own color patterns on your ships.
  
• Added tile decorations to the roofs of ships and stations.
  
• Modified the sound space to not be as quiet as before. Note that the sound volume of elements is dynamic, it is based on the current zoom level.
  
• Added more sounds to the game: Industry facilities, power generators, power nodes and thermal regulators, Hyperdrives.
  
• Added some sounds for characters too, when they walk (zoom in to hear it), when they take a hit from an enemy, idle whistle and more. Some sounds are only played when
  zoomed in close enough, to not overwhelm the sound space with too many sounds all at once.
  
• User interface sounds and game sounds now have their own separate volume setting in the game options.
  
• Added a resource prioritization option to airlocks. You can use this to specify to which airlock certain resources should be transported.
  
• Added some history graphs to the various view modes, tracking values over a period of time and shows them in a graph.
  
• The vents view mode has two new buttons. One for opening all vents on a ship, and one for closing all of them.
  
• Implemented a statistics menu, with various graphs containing historical data on how one or more resources have been produced and consumed over a span of time.
  
• Added also miscellaneous data, like the average mood of crew members over time, or the amount of prisoners over time.
  
• Thrusters for shuttles, mining pods and crew members have been modified and improved visually, to better fit their respective graphics and to reflect the
  movement correctly.
  
• Improved and added more features to the user interface when using drafted shuttles to dock to ships/stations.
  
• Modified the link type UI section in the power view mode. Added an expert mode button to reveal the advanced link types. Added a new special type of link,
  which allows you to create a link, which only moves power when capacity is over a threshold.
  
• Added a tooltip showing what type of resources are in crates visible on the floor. This will make it easier to see what's actually in the crate piles on derelict ships for example.
  
• Created a new wide styled ship for: Android Collective, Civilians.
  
• Modified and improved in-game icons.
  
• Improved various graphics.
  
• Balancing: Increased the CO2 need for plants and decreased the CO2 generation of crew members, with the aim to make the CO2 producer actually needed for optimal plant growth.
  
• Balancing: Chemicals costs more raw chemicals to produce.
  
• Added prison areas for all Military NPC ships.
  
• Added nuts and seeds as an option in the composter facility.
  
• Fixed bugs.

 

[Snorkack]

This looks promising. Since it's on sale atm I think about buying it. How alpha is it currently?

 

[Jonathan "Zee Nekomimi]

It's alright.

 

[Beowulf]

Played it for an hour or so and refunded. Seems kinda boring, really. The spritework is top notch though.

 

[c u in da ballpit ashren]

This game is more or less like the Save My Ship 2 mod for Rimworld.

It's missing content, and it doesn't have that "oh sh-" factor that Rimworld throws at you through events, at least consistently. In other words, it's barebones. I do hope the devs put in Z-levels, because like someone here already mentioned, it would make more sense since they're in space. I personally like the game, but then again, I have an open mind unlike most codexians.

Keep at it if you're reading this devs. You've got a good foundation, now just make your game stand out and go crazy.

 

[Beowulf]

Yes, I think the foundation is there and looking at recent patches it seems like they are adding some decent (and much needed) content.
I've played one of their earlier games and Space Haven looks like a next iteration, where they try to make it more complex and interesting.

But I got the feeling, that everything is shallow and superficial at this stage. Sure, the shipbuilding has some nice touches (reminds me a little bit of Starship Corporation with different layers), but going from node to node to mine or engage in shallow combat feels boring.
Perhaps it's a good game to play in short sessions when you just want to relax and don't really care for deep mechanics.

I'm probably going to revisit it later anyway