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So I’ve spent 10-15 hours on Space Haven this weekend and had a blast. Asked and answered a few things on Discord. Watched this space. Filed about a half dozen bugs. Tossed in some suggestions.
There’s no doubt that the team is getting inundated with feedback, bugs, requests, misunderstandings, etc. And I know that this stage of the creative process feels super negative from the creators’ side. So let me balance this out with an bunch of things I really liked and why.
You actually delivered something right after the campaign. What the what?? That doesn’t happen in KS enough. Honestly when I saw you had an alpha to deliver just a few weeks after KS, that pushed me from $20 to $30. And you delivered while I was still excited about my purchase. Great job.
Artwork. I really dig this aesthetic. There’s a ton of detail captured in that pixel art and it fits together really nicely. My favorite thing is the shuttle.
Character AI. I was expecting a lot more micro-management as I have from Rimworld, but the behavior of the characters fit my expectations really well. That character AI is HARD to get right. And you’ll be tweaking and iterating a lot on it moving forward. Probably even overhaul it once or twice. That’s to be expected. But I felt like it was in good shape for this alpha.
High priority button. Holy crap that button works! That was super handy. I missed Rimworld’s “prioritize” button at first, but then I felt like i could get everything done I needed to after I got used to this system. Actually, I spent a lot less time futzing with the character priorities anyway, which was nice for a change.
Stations vs areas. Compared to Rimworld, this game has a lot of discrete stations and not a lot of “painting” areas. I think that helps the task management system. Interesting choice and I think it works well. Optimizing space on the ship is already pretty non-trivial.
The bug reporting tool. Wow that was slick. Hit f11, type a few things and you’re done. That will hopefully help you a lot - if you can keep up with the noise.
Trading. Ok, took me a bit to figure out... then I loved it. Works like in the real world where you actually have to transport goods. Limiting the transactions to 10 things makes the problem interesting too. I like that approach.
Jumping. I like how it’s like a “live” call to the crew that you’re making a jump and they have to all do their thing. I would imagine that there will be times we need to jump to hyperspace in a crisis and I look forward to the drama of that moment.
Power system. I love the concept of having to link but with only 3 links. That will make planning for disasters really interesting.
Hull building animations. My 6-year old son kept asking to watch that again and again. He loves the game by the way.
There’s more but that’s what I can think of.
So overall, I’m glad I spent $30 for the alpha. Like Rimworld back in the day, I’ll patiently await every update. You’ve made great choices in game design, in art direction, in writing, and calibrating my expectations during the campaign.
Obviously, you’ve got a ways to go. But this was waaayy better than I expected.
Ok, time for some unsolicited advice. Personally, Feb 2020 may not be achievable for what you had in the KS. And honestly that’s fine by me. Some projects can’t be rushed. As long as you stay in touch with your community you’ll be fine. Short videos or streams that demo new features are awesome for this. Monthly updates are ideal, but I also know that coding is hard. Pace yourselves. This genre of game is tough to get right. Don’t be ashamed to tell us you need a break every once in a while - burnout is a real thing in this industry.
Anyway, congrats on a great start. Can’t wait for next month!
For those who comment on this... what did you like from playing the alpha?
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