Author: Sarah Northway

  • Exocolonist Demo in the Steam Game Festival

    Exocolonist Demo in the Steam Game Festival

    For a limited time (June 16-22 2020) you can play a free demo version of I Was a Teenage Exocolonist here on Steam! Don’t miss it!

    Whoo!!

    This is the first publicly playable version of Exocolonist, a 1~2 hour cut-down version of the first tenth (one year) of the game. It’s rough but gives you an idea of what the game will be like when it comes out next year. I’m so excited (and scared) to share it with you!

    We’re also doing a Developer Q&A Chat on the afternoon of Wednesday June 17th. Come join us on Discord and have your questions answered!

    We’d planned to show Exocolonist at real life games festivals like PAX West this year, but with the trials and tragedies of 2020, large gatherings were one of the first things to be cancelled and will probably be one of the last things reinstated. PAX West just announced they’ll be hosted online this year.

    Rebuild 3 & Deep Under the Sky at Pax West 2014

    I’ve been thinking about the booths we’ve run in the past, like showing two games at once in the Indie Megabooth, or the time we paved our booth with astroturf at GDC, and all the challenges of showing a VR game in crowded public spaces.

    I miss the energy of the players and the excitement of seeing something we made in a physical space (we’ve kept all the signs we ever printed – one wall of our apartment is covered in them).

    Fantastic Contraption at the Tokyo Game Show 2016

    But to be honest, there’s something nerve wracking about watching people play my games. And I’ve never felt so close to dropping dead from pure exhaustion as I did after 4 days showing at PAX (parties every night instead of sleeping, as you do). So going digital this year is a bit of a relief. Plus this way you get to take your time and play a longer demo without people queued up behind you.

    The biggest downside is that I won’t get to meet you in person… But we can get partway there if you join the Exocolonist Discord server.

    If you get a chance to play the demo, please come tell me & the team what you thought!

    See you there!

    – Sarah (Northway)

  • The Skillful Exocolonist

    Like any good life sim, Exocolonist has a variety of life skills. They affect which options you can choose during events, and how hard battles of that type will be.

    Primary Skills

    Skills are organized into social, mental, and physical suits, which matter mainly for card battles.

    It was hard to narrow it down to only 12, so some are a bit overloaded – most knowledge is shoehorned into Engineering (the dry sciences) or Biology (the wet ones), while social sciences, arts and humanities are absorbed into your Creativity skill.

    With survival on the line, some skills will come up more than others, like your ability to recognize and and interact with alien species (Animals skill).


    SkillSuitWazzit for
    EmpathySocialUnderstanding other people
    PersuasionSocialCharisma to command people and speak in public
    CreativitySocialArtistic ability and capacity for novel ideas
    BraverySocialFor both social and dangerous situations
    ReasoningMentalProblem solving and general knowledge
    OrganizationMentalDedication to neatness, management
    EngineeringMentalStudy of machines, physics, math, and programming
    BiologyMentalStudy of plants, chemistry, and the human body
    ToughnessPhysicalPhysical strength and stamina
    PerceptionPhysicalAbility to find things and sneak past things
    CombatPhysicalTactics and weapons
    AnimalsPhysicalFamiliarity with xenofauna, hunting, ranching

    Battles and Perks

    Battles can challenge any skill, and are played out the same way whether your Combat skill is being tested (eg during sparring practice) or your Engineering skill (eg fixing a robot or taking a math test). Yes, you can even have an Empathy battle! More on battles later…

    Once a skill reaches 30%, 60%, or 100%, it will unlock perks which grant permanent effects. Creativity unlocks crafting recipes, Organization lets you equip more gear, Perception makes collectible resources easier to find. Some unlock new career choices, shop items or give you a boost in battles.

    I’m still ironing the perks out but they’re going to be cool and help make every playthrough different.

    Kudos, Happiness and Rebellion

    Three skills are different:

    Kudos is the game’s currency – a virtual coin used mainly to reward children. For the most part the colonists don’t use money and instead share resources according to need (yeah… they’re Space Commies). But when someone goes the extra mile, or your kid finally cleans up their bedroom without having to be asked, it’s customary to say thanks with a few kudos. They can be spent in the supply depot on small luxuries like candy and fancy clothes.

    Stress increases when you work, battle, explore, do just about anything. Too much and your performance suffers. It can be reduced by spending time relaxing.

    Rebellion and Loyalty are at opposite ends of the same dial. It starts in the middle, and is affected by how you deal with authority. Neither rebellion or loyalty is inherently good or bad, but if the dial swings far to one side or the other it will close some event options and special endings and open others.

    Colony Stats

    The colony itself has hidden stats like Food, Defense, and Morale. These are directly affected by your actions – every time you forage for a new edible plant, or help repair an automated turret, or perform a particularly beautiful song on your photophonor. But you’re just one child and I don’t want to overstate your importance, so they’ll either be tucked away or hidden completely.

    Although your actions may affect whether your colony survives, thrives, or fails, Exocolonist isn’t a colony simulator so much as an RPG. You’ll have your hands full managing one teenager’s skills, equipment, and future.

  • Energetic and loyal Anemone

    Energetic and loyal Anemone

    In I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, only 100 other colonists made the 20 year journey from Earth, so you know all the other kids who were born on the ship with you. Scrappy, athletic Anemone always wins at sportsball, and once the ship touches down on Vertumna she spends all her time playing outside.

    NameAnemone
    NicknameNemmie, Annie, Nem
    EnhancementArmor plated lizard skin
    BirthdayFirst week of Dust
    LocationGarrison / Sportsball pitch
    Dialog colorRed

    Anemone’s design is loosely inspired by Little Orphan Annie and her beautiful sea-creature-like curls. Her energy and smile can melt any old curmudgeon’s heart, even Chief of Security Rhett who finds himself in charge of a new sportsball pitch and a team of wild young things led by Anemone.

    As she ages, her mop of red hair grows out to an unruly lion’s mane of curls.

    Anemone, age 14-16
    Kom, Anemone (age 10-13), and Aunty Seedent

    Anemone idolizes her older brother Kom, who’s training to join the security force and helps coach the kids’ sportsball team. Her mother is Chief Steward Anne, in charge of the quarters and galley, who the kids fondly call “Aunty Seedent”. She’s often concerned for her daughter’s safety, as Anemone ignores her advice and fearlessly faces down whatever comes her way.

    Her mom has reason to be worried! Throughout the 10 years of the game, time and tragedy will shape Anemone’s teenage personality, and she’ll go through some drastic changes. In her late teens she’ll eventually trade in her sportsball for a plasma gun and join the colony’s defense force.

    You’ll miss her innocent smile, but when the going gets tough you can count on Anemone to defend her friends.

    Anemone with Vace, age 17-19

    Her genetic enhancement is tough, armor-plated skin and protective bone spurs. Character artist Mei and I considered giving her feline characteristics like claws and a tail, but instead extended her scales all the way from her jawline down her back and sides a little like a Trill’s spots.

    Sometimes her scales itch… but with her active life Anemone needs the added protection.

  • Sol was a Teenage Exocolonist

    Sol was a Teenage Exocolonist

    Sol, aged 17-19

    Sol – full name Solanaceae – is the default name of your character in I Was a Teenage Exocolonist.

    Your parents are farmers, and they named you after their favorite taxonomic family, the nightshades, which contains potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and tobacco.

    Flulu and Geranium, your parents

    You are your father’s Little Tomatillo, his Brave Gooseberry, his Spunky Petunia, and his Busy Aubergine. Your dad’s a sweetheart… but a little embarrassing.

    Your mom’s the realist of the family, always trying to get you to work hard and toughen up. You may butt heads with her, but it’s usually for your own good. It’s your choice whether you take her advice, or roll your eyes and fidget like a proper teenager.

    Sol, age 14-16

    Exocolonist starts with a short character generation which takes place during the first ten years of your life on the colony ship Stratospheric before it lands. You choose your name, your gender (two sliders for appearance and pronouns) and a genetic modification.

    Before the colonists left Earth, they “acquired” valuable gene editing tech to give themselves an edge on their new planet. All the colony children have one augmentation. You can pick:

    PerkSkillEffect
    Extra fingerscreativity + 10Increase Creativity and Organization faster
    Eagle eyesperception + 10Increase Perception faster, events while exploring
    Absorbent brainreasoning + 10Increase Reasoning, Biology, Physics faster
    Super strengthcombat + 10Increase Toughness and Combat faster
    Calm temperamentempathy + 1025% less Stress
    Nothing at allkudos + 3025% more Kudos because you tried your best

    Through a series of other choices you pick your childhood best friend, starting skills, and early childhood memories. These memories take the form of cards.

    A child’s first memories (temporary art)

    More about these cards and Sol’s list of skills in future posts!

  • Growing Up in Exocolonist

    Growing Up in Exocolonist

    When you get down to it, the point of I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is to grow up.

    It’s how you win the game, or, depending on your goals, how you lose it. The game starts shortly after your 10th birthday. The colony ship you’ve lived on your whole life has finally landed and you step out to breathe real air for the first time.

    It ends on your 20th birthday, or earlier if you’re less fortunate. When this happens, The question is not just what have you accomplished but who have you become?

    You age 10 with your parents

    Many games ask this question. Particularly RPGs, but really anything involving stats or leveling or equipment is fundamentally about becoming something more than you were. Exocolonist isn’t just about picking one path and excelling at it, but about discovering all the different paths and ways to grow up on a strange and dangerous alien planet.

    Every choice you make in Exocolonist advances time by one week. On the planet Vertumna there are 4 (very long) weeks per season, and 5 seasons per year.

    Seasons: Quiet, Pollen, Dust, Wet, and Glow

    The name Vertumna comes from the Roman god Vertumnus; the god of seasons, change, and growth. His name comes from the Latin verb vertere – “to change” – which is the root of words like diverge, weird, universe, and wormhole.

    See? I thought about it.

    Marz and Cal age 10-13, 14-16, 17-20

    In Exocolonist, you won’t be the only one who ages over the course of the game. Your childhood friends (or not-so-friends) from the ship will grow and change along with you. Anemone, Cal, Tammy, Marz, Dys and his sister Tangent. Their own dramas play out over those 10 years whether you witness them or not. Your involvement may change the course of their lives for better or worse, but you won’t have time to befriend everyone.

    This is how it usually goes with dating sims. Yes, you can hook up with a bunch of different people. But finding every ending won’t be that trivial. There are disasters to prevent (or cause), mysteries to unravel, and a large number of career paths to follow. Your skills factor into these, so which activities you spend your time on are as important as the decisions you’ll make.

    Rebuild 3 has some very difficult to get events, and Exocolonist will too.

    In the tradition of Rebuild 3, there will be a hard to get “good” ending that requires not just the right balance of skills and “right place, right time”, but the combined knowledge of many past lives.

    Because each time you reach age 20 and start a new game, you’ll remember certain things that happened before. In the code I call these memories “groundhogs”, a reference to everyone’s favorite bill Murray movie. They manifest as premonitions or memories of things that will happen… or at least could happen if you don’t act to change them.

    More on this to come!