Exoplanet: First Contact - Going to Early Access

The Steam page for Exoplanet: First Contact is now live to support their move to Early Access on the 9th of December.

Sure there is still a lot of work to do but we believe it's a good start. With your help and support we were able to improve our game and approached to release date. Since the end of KickStarter campaign Exoplanet has completely changed its appearance and this difference is clearly visible right away.

Your Steam keys will be ready in a few days, we will notify you about that. Please note, that currently the game has bugs and placeholders, and numerous game mechanics are implemented in part, or some not at all. Nevertheless, we are going to improve performance and add new features with regular updates so you can see progress of the game in real time.

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More information.

This one seems intriguing and I like the setting of western/space game firefly thingy.

I also like that you can join both sides ~ either work for the corps or against them. Will keep an eye on this one.

I backed this one. Almost forgot about it to be honest. I look forward to checking it out.

I remember not backing this for reasons:
- Episodic game? For god's sakes
- Season pass = $100
- DLC

If Early Access changed something, I might budge. If not… Well… Too many games, so little time for random dlc-o-rama.

You must be confusing this with a different game.

Silver said:

This one seems intriguing and I like the setting of western/space game firefly thingy.

I also like that you can join both sides ~ either work for the corps or against them. Will keep an eye on this one.

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Yep, I like that too.

JDR13 said:

I backed this one. Almost forgot about it to be honest. I look forward to checking it out.

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Same here.

Is there a roadmap?
As you can read on steam forums they're adding companions despite the stretch goal hadn't been reached. I think this will take at least 1 more year.

Morrandir said:

As you can read on steam forums they're adding companions despite the stretch goal hadn't been reached. I think this will take at least 1 more year.

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Idk, that seems somewhat ambiguous to me. I'm not sure if he means companions that actually explore and fight alongside you. I've asked him to clarify.

I'd rather not have companions in this game. I'm hoping he meant it's just a crew that stays in your base/ship.

*Edit* They are indeed implementing companions. I hope they're not biting off more than they can chew.
http://steamcommunity.com/app/531660/discussions/0/154642447922860094/

Not sure pushing companions is a good idea, unless the combat system is built for it. Usually leads to exploits, ruins stealth or even mood for exploring.

They have plans? To me that sounds like they're in a quite early development stage. My new guess is 2 more years until release.

Companions are fine for me though. I can wait.

I'll be pretty disappointed if it's that much longer, and if implementing the companions is the reason, I'd rather not have them.

I didn't want them to begin with though. I was hoping this was going to be similar to Gothic 1/2 since those games were mentioned as being a major influence. I'm now starting to get the feeling it might be more like a cross between Risen 2\3 and Mass Effect. I hope I'm wrong about that.

JDR13 said:

I'll be pretty disappointed if it's that much longer, and if implementing the companions is the reason, I'd rather not have them.

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I don't think companions will be the reason alone. But if they currently "have plans" in this context, then the game isn't even fully designed. The vision is not set yet. Finishing will take time.

I didn't want them to begin with though. I was hoping this was going to be similar to Gothic 1/2 since those games were mentioned as being a major influence. I'm now starting to get the feeling it might be more like a cross between Risen 2\3 and Mass Effect. I hope I'm wrong about that.

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I get what you mean. I'm more the ME guy and like strong companion involvement, so for me this change would be fine.

Well the KS project said they are Fallout inspired (real Fallout) so I would expect companions to be more like there instead of Bioware's romantic interests kind.

If you look at the EA video closely, you can see how there's already lots of repetition in such a short trailer. It looks a bit more colorful than the several years old alpha that I still have on my computer, and of course the whole "Western" theme plus that building hub is new. Also, the animations and animal models look improved. Let's just hope that it's more than just putting 4 different colorful plant models everywhere.

JDR13 said:

You must be confusing this with a different game.

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From the Steam game description:

"Exoplanet: First Contact will be the first part of the Exoplanet Universe. It will tell you the story of Jack Sharp, his appearance on the planet, and the discovery of one of the most extraordinary mysteries of K’Tharsis. Future parts will discover new adventures of Jack and his friends.

Each part contains a significant narrative sequence with clear goals, critical decisions and visible consequences. Exoplanet: First Contact represents approximately ten hours of gameplay, not including the side-quests or additional explorations."

This is part I of a series of 10 hour chunks.

Turjan said:

This is part I of a series of 10 hour chunks.

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That's not what it says.

Exoplanet: First Contact represents approximately ten hours of gameplay, not including the side-quests or additional explorations.

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The main quest by itself is going to be around 10 hours. Nowhere does it say that the game is episodic though. When they say "future parts", I get the impression they're simply referring to sequels.

JDR13 said:

The main quest by itself is going to be around 10 hours. Nowhere does it say that the game is episodic though. When they say "future parts", I get the impression they're simply referring to sequels.

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To be honest, that is how I read it too. The main reason I didn't back this KS was because it sounded episodic.

From the KickStarter page:

Exoplanet: First Contact will be the first Chapter, the major part of the Exoplanet’s Universe. It will tell you the story of Jack Sharp, his appearance on the planet and the discovery of one of the most extraordinary mysteries of K’Tharsis. Future Chapters will discover new adventures of Jack and his friends on this and other planets. Every backer of Exoplanet:First Contact will be provided with exclusive discounts for all future Chapters as they are the people who helped bring Exoplanet’s universe to life.

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They're referring to it themselves as "chapters", which I feel like you wouldn't do if you are talking about sequels. To me, chapters == episodes.

EDIT: Ahh, they address this in their first KS update.

I received my Steam key and just finished installing the alpha. I'll post some impressions later tonight if I have time to play it.

JDR13 said:

Nowhere does it say that the game is episodic though. When they say "future parts", I get the impression they're simply referring to sequels.

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I was just pointing out that the impression that this is an episodic game comes from the wording of the game's official description. It doesn't really matter if you want to read that differently, just saying where this idea comes from.

I'm looking forward to reading what you think of the - if I read that release blurb correctly - not really finished game.

I played for a short while last night. The game is still pretty raw, but you can see the potential. It definitely reminds me of Gothic, and the influence would be very obvious even if the devs hadn't mentioned it.

It needs a lot of refining at this point though. The textures are low-res by today's standards, and the only options that can currently be adjusted are the music volume and view distance. The music is good and fits the setting well imo, although it's way too loud by default. Not sure what resolution it's running at, but I think it's well below my monitor's native 1920x1200. The view seems a little skewed, probably because it's a different aspect ratio. I was able to walk through solid objects in a few places, but keep in mind that this is only an alpha.

I encountered 1 NPC in my brief time playing it. There is no voiced dialogue, but it seems decently written, and the English translation is solid so far.

The controls are pretty standard. Your default movement is running, and you can slow to a walk or sprint to go faster. There are meters for both health and stamina, and your character must also eat and drink. You have a journal for quests, but there are no markers or hand-holding. No map yet, or at least I haven't found it.