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[Farmerbob]

Simulation me wants to do this.  Project management me thinks this way lies madness.  We've discussed it a few times at length, and it's currently in the "someday" pile.  I have heard rumor that the game system is extremely easy to mod, but since I don't want to be the guy that ruins the compatibility of your food rotting mod, I'm declining to comment officially.

Also there was a new blog post today!  And I have had absolutely no time to spend here right now and i feel bad, i miss the low ceilings and abundance of mushroom beer.

Edit: the link: http://www.gaslampgames.com/2014/07/02/technical-status-update-a-young-lads-message/

Beware gifts of levers...

[Xinvoker]

What is the target date for early access? This summer or not this summer?

[Citizen Daniel]

Still this summer.  Very much this summer. 

We were waiting until we hit that exponential rate of content submission, and we're there.  We've got a good roadmap for where we're going, and we finally have a great technology base to be able to take advantage of early access player input. 

At this point, we're just making sure that the initial content is deep enough, and the gameplay is smooth enough, that you'll feel like you bought a real game that you can play and have a good time with as soon as you buy it, in addition to the early access benefits of helping us test, suggest, and vote on features.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

At this point, we're just making sure that the initial content is deep enough, and the gameplay is smooth enough, that you'll feel like you bought a real game that you can play and have a good time with as soon as you buy it, in addition to the early access benefits of helping us test, suggest, and vote on features.

I love you.

[Xinvoker]

That's great to hear. Both parts.

[Citizen Daniel]

I'm just hoping we succeed at that in as many peoples' eyes as we can!  It's hard not to over-promise when you're really excited about a game you're making

We've started adding changelogs to the blog posts as proof that we can and will provide constant, substantive additions and balances to the game once early access is out, so even for the people who buy the game and are disappointed in the current status (which we'll do our best to explicitly outline), they'll know that we're working very hard on it, and they can point us at the parts of our roadmap that they want to see first.

(Edit: clarity)

[The_Fool76]

If the game turns out to be as easy to mod as it has been implied, I think that will also help with those who are less than satisfied with the initial state of things. Nothing like a group of Madboys/Madgirls creating engines of despair mods to help keep the common worker enslaved enthralled.

[Citizen Daniel]

Well, the art team is now writing code for the game, which is usually a good sign for the state of such things.

[The_Fool76]

Well, the art team is now writing code for the game, which is usually a good sign for the state of such things.

This statement fills me with both glee and a sense of creeping doom. I'd be concerned as to the sanity of your art team if I wasn't fairly sure they didn't have any left to lose. (I have SEEN the Forbidden Geometries of the Vorpal Axe and the Chicken of Madness and they cannot be Unseen. To have taken part in the creation of such Things from Beyond... my frontal lobes quiver at the mere thought of what that must Do to a mind.)

Seriously though, that level of accessibility is a very good sign indeed. 

[Retropunch]

Mod support is something that I absolutely, 115%, more-than-yes, very much like and am thrilled to hear you've put it in.

If I may humbly suggest one thing, it's that you give a quick push to being able to reskin/modify both the GUI and menu/'other' screens and elements (such as splash, settings, icons and so forth) in an easy enough manner. There are countless mods that I've played across various games which have really done great work in creating an alternative atmosphere 'in game', but that immersion is quickly broken when the menus look all 1940's when you're supposed to be in the late 3400's.

Just a thought!

[Citizen Daniel]

That may already exist.  Unofficially.

[Niveras]

On the same vein, what options do you have available for hotkey configuration?

I expect this game to be large mouse-driven, but if you have any hotkeys at all (and especially if you have deep trees for accessing build constructions), please allow them to be rebound at the player's preference. You wouldn't necessarily have to go DF-level with everything bound to a key (well, DF's is keyboard-driven so it has to have everything) and everything allowing an unlimited number of hotkeys (although I have a hard time understanding why a limited number of keybinds per key would be easier than an unlimited number), but at least allow more than 2 keys per command.

This is likely something that can go in when you either have time or at the end of a polish phase before official release, but I wanted to get your thoughts on the matter.

[The_Fool76]

On the same vein, what options do you have available for hotkey configuration?

I expect this game to be large mouse-driven, but if you have any hotkeys at all (and especially if you have deep trees for accessing build constructions), please allow them to be rebound at the player's preference. You wouldn't necessarily have to go DF-level with everything bound to a key (well, DF's is keyboard-driven so it has to have everything) and everything allowing an unlimited number of hotkeys (although I have a hard time understanding why a limited number of keybinds per key would be easier than an unlimited number), but at least allow more than 2 keys per command.

This is likely something that can go in when you either have time or at the end of a polish phase before official release, but I wanted to get your thoughts on the matter.

Given the amount of flack Starbound kept getting for not having the option to rebind keys at it's EA launch, it might be wise to put a fairly high priority on keybinds being in at the start.

[Retropunch]

That may already exist.  Unofficially.

I am unofficially excited by that!!

keybindings

I'd agree that reconfigging them is rather necessary from both an ease of access point of view and also for people with disabilities.

[Citizen Daniel]

Good point on the key bindings!  Shouldn't be terribly hard to get that in.... *jots down a note*

As you supposed, most of the control is handled with the mouse, so the options will be pretty sparse at the start and we'll add them as we go.