Why Early Access?

“The Astro: Dock & Diner is a co-op game, and co-op games get better when real crews play them. The diner, the outpost and the space around it are playable now, from your first shift to buying out your franchise contract.

What we need now is to see how crews of 1 to 6 actually play: which emergencies are fun and which just get in the way, whether the money lasts, and how far out people dare to fly. Early Access lets us build the drift zone's dangers and the late game around that feedback instead of guessing.
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Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We expect about 12 months+. That's enough time to finish the drift zone, give independent diners a late game, and run a few rounds of balance changes based on what crews tell us. Then its really getting into asset design and replacement before a launch.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“This is what we plan to add. Feedback may change the list, and nothing on it is final until it ships.
• More to find in the drift zone: new kinds of sites (rock clusters with something wedged inside, small abandoned stations, ship graveyards), gravity generators to repair, and better salvage the farther out you go.
• The storm: an electrical storm at the edge of the drift zone. It warns you, then sends you home without what's in your pockets.
• Finding your way back: a tracker helmet that points home through the fog, beacons you can carry or set down, and scans shared between crewmates.
• Atmosphere: more weather and effects out in the nebula.
• A story: what the nebula is, who left the wrecks, and what Old Mo knew, told through logs in the wrecks and stations.
• A late game for independent diners: bigger upgrades and goals to save up for, so a crew that has bought everything still has something to aim at.
• Balance and polish: prices, emergencies and difficulty tuned to how crews really play.
• Asset updates: more hand-made assets instead of a bought pack”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“• Co-op for 1 to 6 players: friends-only Steam lobbies and invites, or LAN. The host's PC keeps the world, and friends can drop in any time.
• The diner: a grill, fryer, microwave, prep board and assembly counter, and 13 dishes. Customers fly in on 18 kinds of ship. There's a daily menu board and special, promotions, tips, ratings and food critics, plus washing up, bussing and taking out the trash.
• Two ways to run it: independent, with your own menu and recipes, or as a D&D Corp. franchise that sets your menu, ships your stock and takes a cut until you buy out the contract.
• Things going wrong: breakdowns, power cuts, gravity failures, a comms tower that gets knocked out, and meteor showers you shoot down from roof turrets.
• Growing the outpost: 20 upgrades, 13 goals, 18 pieces of decor, a floor-sweeping robot, and a crew wardrobe of looks and hats.
• Outside: zero-g spacewalks on a jet pack, with air you have to manage. There's a Ring Run time trial, two airless wrecks to salvage, Meridian Station, and Old Mo's shack with a cavern garden under it.
• The drift zone: past your clear pocket of the nebula, a field of fog about 2.5 km deep, with generated wrecks to salvage that change every day.
• Controls: mouse and keyboard or a controller, on every screen.

What's missing or rough:
• English only, Windows only.
• The late game is thin: a successful independent diner can run out of things to buy.
• For now, the drift zone's outer edge just pushes you back. The storm comes later.
• The story is only hinted at.
• Worlds are saved on the host's PC. We'll keep them working across updates where we can. If an update can't, its notes will say so before it goes out.
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Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“Yes. The Early Access price is lower than the full release will be, and it may go up as major content lands. If you buy in Early Access, every update through the full release as usual. ”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“So far, playtest crews' notes have shaped the game, and Early Access opens that up to everyone.
• Steam Discussions: where we read bug reports, ideas and balance notes, and answer them.
• Patch notes: a Steam news post with every update, saying what changed and which feedback led to it.
• A test branch: anyone who wants to can try updates on Steam before they reach everyone.
The biggest open questions are balance and the late game: how hard emergencies should hit, whether the money lasts, and what crews want to save up for. Players' answers to those will decide what we build next. Any complaints also good feedback. Basically player driven feedback is important, how to extract it is always hard.
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