ArkCo News - 3/17/15: PAX, Unity 5 and More!

Hey ArkCoNauts! Been awhile since we did a newsletter and caught you all up on what's been going on, and what's still to come. We've kept the patches coming, and the majority of our focus as been in that direction, and rather than just news, we wanted to be cranking out patch notes. With the latest patches coming to opt-in, players may be wondering what's going on, so I felt it was time to sit down and give you guys a lot more insight into the current development of the game. So, what IS going on with the game, you ask? Last weekend, the team headed out to PAX to show Edge of Space, and it was awesome. We got more media showing up, and more player engagement than any of our previous PAX showings. Overall, everyone enjoyed the game, and we were able to pinpoint a few of the things that were making hitches in the early game experience. Here are a couple of great articles from some of those who played at PAX: http://armedgamer.com/2015/03/edge-of-space-more-than-terraria-in-space/ www.gamecrate.com/edge-of-space-interview-pax-east-2015/ (http://www.gamecrate.com/edge-of-space-interview-pax-east-2015/) On the development side of things, we've turned an eagle eye to the beginning of the game. We watched players at PAX, and have heard the community talk about the beginning of the game being slow and difficult to get into. With that feedback in mind, we're going back and looking at ways to remove grind, and to smooth and enhance the beginning part of the game. To that end, we have eliminated the extra step of having to craft data to advance research. Instead of being mandatory, it will just become an option for those who are crafting it to share. You can now directly spend your research points, which we agree with the community will bring a much more simplified and streamlined feeling to the research system. It should definitely cut down on wasted materials, especially for those playing single player or not interested in leveling friends. Along with this, we are exploring ways to bring more objectives into the early game, to help shed that feeling of bewilderment after first spawning on the planet. Edge of Space is, and always will remain a game where the player is writing their own story, and has the option to play in the style that best suits them. While embracing that fundamental freedom in the game experience though, we want to incorporate new ways to give the player something to do. Looking for a material that's rare and hard to find? The goal is to keep you busy while you search, so that even while carrying out routine tasks you can accomplish more in that time. Our thoughts are that we can bring in more ways for a player to earn those materials as well, so that random chance isn't your only chance. Coming back to the big question, why the opt-in, there is good news on that front. Edge of Space is making the change to Unity 5! During the upgrade, we've chosen to keep updates on the opt-in branch, to allow us to transition the main branch first. Once that's done we'll bring over the new updates to the main branch, and continue to smooth them out. Still not enough going on? Don't worry, we've got you covered! The wheels are turning and we're planning something fun for a Spring event. We won't spoil too much just yet on what we're up to this time around, but keep your eyes on the social sites for news