Improvements:

- Game files are now split into several packages, which results in faster download and patching times;
- Added new turret animations;
- Character creation screen design tweaks;
- Localization system is established, several parts of the game are now exposed for translation;
- Implemented energy melee weapons;
- Double-clicking local location in map screen now starts travel;
- AI now uses stims;
- Added a variety of panic animations;
- Implemented skins for inventory items;
- Added new location: The Shuttle Bay.
- Added exploration reputation rewards on the factory.

Changes

- Mastermind extra feats start at level 3.
- Regen stim now reduces stats by 1 instead of 2.
- Tweaked DR of armor pieces.

Fixes:

- Electric shock effect is now displayed on frogs;
- Fixed a rotation bug that could skew characters along the wrong axis;
- Frogs hitbox got smaller, meaning it's not blocking line of fire for characters behind it anymore;
- Fixed zap attack granting energy rifle skill XP;
- Fixed barnacles not staying in death poses after reload;
- Outlines are now red for hostile frogs;
- Fixed usable items consuming the whole stack when used from inventory screen;
- The number of meds in the inventory screen is now properly updated;
- Attack selection buttons now fit all attacks;
- Disabled point-blank for Aimed Burst;
- Gadgets now can't be activated during the interrupted turn;
- Fixed some cases when stealth was not ending properly;
- Fixed bullets sometimes missing target's shield;
- Fixed second double shot bullet using full shield DR even if the first bullet has depleted it;
- Fixed collisions on some doors;
- Frogs now can't open doors;
- Fixed frogs bumping into things mid-jump;
- Fixed a case when gadgets couldn't be enabled in the placement phase;
- Fixed characters not spawning with full HP while having certain implants or feats;
- Fixed cloak visual effect in the inventory screen;
- Fixed turrets spawning with 1HP;
- Fixed NPCs becoming invisible after teleporting from buildings.
- You can no longer ask Sarah to heal you if you are not hurt.
- Fixed issue with party member lockpick check to escape the Black Hand prison.
- Fixed lack of sneak skill gain from Black Hand fort stealth.
- Fixes to Black Hand fort layout.
- Fixed PC getting the skill for a party member opening the trap door.
- Fixed lack of backup weapon on one of Hargrave's thugs.
- Fixed typos.

Fixed turrets freezing the combat when you disable them with the pulse grenade, then attack.

Improvements

- New map screen with lore snippets;
- New stimulant: Zen - Removes Panic and increases neural resistance by 50;
- New area: Mission control;
- New enemy: Mind worms;
- Added Num1-9 keyboard shortcuts to dialogue answers;
- Key rebinding screen now detects bindings that are already used and offers to erase them;
- Added special cursor and text for characters that can't be taken down;
- Added combat queue item highlighting when pointing at the character in the world;
- Added "electric shock" visual effect for some attacks;
- Implemented small versions of main panel ally boxes (no portraits) for combat;
- Limiting object outlines to current floor only if PC is in a building;
- Limiting object outlines by distance;

Changes

- Increased helmet DR;
- Increased enery weapons cell consumption. Pistols use 3, rifles use 4. Magazine size increased to 12;
- Energy pistols damage reduced to 15-17 (standard), energy rifles to 20-22;
- Prices rebalance. You can sell for 20% now, prices for common loot items is lower;
- Cloaking field gadget now replaces sneak ability, doesn't add to it. This means it's 100 on the first turn, then starts going down depending on the gadget stats. If your skill is higher than the cloak value, it's used instead;
- Re-arranged the map list in the Pit, separating them in Main Street and Camptown locations, and adding indents and alphabetical listing for more clarity;
- Creeper is not draining HP anymore if it didn't do any damage;
- Turrets now prioritize targets by THC, then range;

Fixes

- Fixed lack of Biotech reward on the stimlab machine;
- Fixed lack of XP from turret fight;
- Fixed collisions creating an invisible wall on barnacle fight;
- Fixed combat not starting when killing a scav in MCT and then being found;
- Stealth now ends when killing all scavs;
- Fixed some prices being higher than intended (energy weapons, energy cells, light riot armor);
- Fixed Manny not taking your money;
- Caleb properly gives ammo;
- Fixed being able to start combat while sneaking inside Camp Reid Room;
- Fixed being able to repeat regulators and Camp Reid room sneak over and over;
- Specialist is now checked when trying to remove the targeting control module to repair the turret;
- Fixed typos;
- Fixed AI spending incorrect amount of AP for opening a door;
- Fixed melee fighters skipping turn if they're supposed to attack from closed door's tile, and you stand right behind the door;
- Fixed characters sometimes walking through doors;
- Fixed key rebinding window sometimes becoming unresponsive;
- Fixed stealth info panel not being updated with active character's stats;
- Fixed animation-related AI freeze;
- Fixed weapon not being set as activate when unequipping both weapons, then equipping one;
- Fixed items not usable from the inventory screen's inventory grid;
- Fixed an inability to switch back to PC via combat queue item, when double-clicking on it in placement phase;
- Fixed wrong specialist character being selected in dialogue actions;
- Now can't equip an item if it blocks the slots that are already blocked;
- Fixed larger initiative penalty shown as green in item comparison;
- Added Creeper grab attack textbox reports;
- Fixed displayed reaction values and tooltips in several UI screens;
- Fixed incorrect implants value in HP tooltip;
- Fixed Chance quest crash;
- Pulse grenade now affects turrets;
- Fixed lost focus in dialogue screen when you click away into game viewport;
- Fixed turret MaxAP reset to 0 after reloading;
- Fixed character creation screen layout slightly moving when player changes stat values;
- Fixed character creation screen showing "unspent points" message only if there was > 1 point (should be > 0);
- Accuracy from wearable items (helmets, goggles, etc) now stacks with accuracy from implants;

We proudly present another important location - Mission Control ruins:



The century-old wreckage of the Ship Authority government complex that once controlled every aspect of life on the Ship.

The mutineers’ attack was months in the making, a decisive, disabling strike at the electronic heart of their world. It should have been over in less than an hour, but such things rarely go as planned. The Ship Authority was made of harder stuff than anticipated and the first assault was driven back.

In the following months of attack and counterattack, the mutineers’ failure to quickly secure the complex cost them much in lost lives and spent firepower. When forced to surrender ground, both sides adopted a policy of destroying anything not of immediate use, so as to deny it to the enemy.

Decades later, deteriorating conditions at home began to drive explorers and treasure seekers farther and farther afield, until a lucky group wandered into the fringes of that fabled battlefield. When the first news trickled back of decks littered with the technological marvels of Old Earth, the scavengers swarmed like maggots devouring a carcass.



Here the focus is on exploring the complex rather than fighting or dealing with factions. Only the first 5 levels (including the topside and mostly atmospheric General Assembly) are available in this chapter. To go deeper you'll need information and special items requiring a trip to the Habitat.

You'd meet two potential future companions here: Romeo (a riot control robot) and Knurl (a mutant you were asked to kill), plus several prominent 'divers':







You'll be able to repair the robot (you'll need some armor plates, a gyroscope stabilizer, and a new head) in this update, but finding weapons (if you notice the robot's model doesn't have any at the moment) will be a bigger problem to solve. Energy cannons' ammo isn't easy to come by, so you might have to order some old-fashioned machine guns or supplement them with a grenade launcher.

We look forward to your feedback. Now on to the Shuttle Bay:



* * *

If you're just discovering the game and would like to know more, here's the features overview:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/648410/view/3019074494734257463

And if you're wondering if the game is for you, read this first:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/648410/view/4461354274028263845

Improvements:

- 3 pre-made characters
- Improved visuals and level design
- Lots of exploration, skill checks, looting, etc
- More party banter and NPC comments
- A proper stealth run when thrown in jail
- A new energy pistol, upgradable in the future
- Key rebinding

Fixes:

- Fixed stealth turn ending if it's dead character's turn;
- Quest items can't be dropped now;
- Fixed allies not selectable in placement phase if Swing attack is selected;
- Fixed CC's turn added if player's action canceled 10 times (like 10 "unable to reach" clicks);
- Fixed frogs not hopping when the next path tile fails line of fire check;
- Fixes to party teleportation;
- Double clicking combat queue item in placement phase now allows ally selection;
- Disabled opening char screen for temp allies;
- Fixed human chars sometimes being stuck when reacting to frog attacks;
- Fixed a bug when you could fire bursts from a shotgun (and do other attacks from inappropriate weapons);
- Fixed regeneration working in stasis;
- Fixed weapon switching while in stasis;
- Fixed outlines disappearing when switching levels;
- Added overhead text to different map objects, not just characters;

- Fixed freeze after killing in stealth mode
- A Keeper in the Black Hand fight has correct ammo type now
- Added a Perception check to warn you there's a frog in one of the modules in Hydroponics
- You can save Hank with diplomacy now

After two months of work we proudly present the next location - the Factory, an abandoned industrial complex sitting between the Pit and the Habitat (your current destination).

“Before the Mutiny, a rail system suspended high in the Factory's metal canopy would deliver citizens to the dismal warehouses and distribution facilities where they spent their working days. Not surprisingly, that's where the revolt started, quickly spreading throughout the Ship. The factories were looted and stripped for parts, the railway blown up to cut off the Mission Control from the Habitat and prevent reinforcements from pouring in.

Within a few decades, the Factory had been mostly abandoned until growing trade between the Pit and the Habitat turned it into a new Silk Road...”

It features a fun three-way between Thy Brother's Keepers, The Black Hand, and Detroit City, which can end in five different ways.

Right now you can fight or talk your way through. A stealth path will be added in July (if you played our first game, think infiltrating Antidas' palace, only in turn-based stealth mode).






Notable changes:

Improvements

- Added reload animations to weapons during combat.

Changes

- Energy shield starting regen is 3.
- Opportunist reaction increased to 10.
- Gunfighter reaction reduced to 10.
- Dodge This graze mod increased to 20, damage reduced to 2.
- Tweaked SMG reaction stats.
- Aimed burst now has 10% penetration.
- Healing factor HP gain increased to 3.
- Tweaked the weapon skill gain system.

If you're just discovering the game and would like to know more, here's the features overview:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/648410/view/3019074494734257463

And if you're wondering if the game is for you, read this first:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/648410/view/4461354274028263845

Party Management:

- Click on the party icon to the left of the inventory icon to open the Party Management screen
- Set designated specialists to handle skill checks when clicking on objects (to avoid switching characters manually)
- Heal your characters with medkits (the amount healed is modified by your biotech skill)
- Set auto-heal after combat (using available medkits).
- Set auto-reload weapons after combat (starting a fight with an empty gun is a thing of the past now)

Improvements

- You can now give implants to your party members based on their preferences
- Added more party banter in the Armory and Hydroponics
- Added new interactions when exploring Hydroponics
- Added an option to steal a badge from the Regulators HQ
- Added a sneaking opportunity in Camp Reid in Hydroponics
- Added some loot in Zeke's backroom, plus a different way in
- Added two extra stashes in the Pit
- You can now train party members (for now the same trainers as before, will consider adding more based on the feedback)
- Can't see beyond the vault door in the Armory before you open it (limited 'fog of war')
- You can now use Streetwise to get a better reward from Abe
- You can now use Persuasion to get a reward for Zeke
- You can now squeeze some money from Braxton and Jonas for helping them
- You can now ask Sarah for a reward because helping someone for free doesn't sit well with some players

Changes:

General

- Improved traveling in Hydroponics
- Added check value to doors and containers.
- Tweaked Explorer reputation
- Sarah's price for healing is tied to how badly you're wounded

Items

- Cloaking field base thermal detection resistance is 10 (from 25)
- Cloaking field base detection chance is 35 (from 25)
- Thermal vision is now properly reduced by thermal detection resistance
- Distortion Field evasion is 30 (from 35). Energy damage is 1-3 (from 2-4)
- Super Soldier stim: removed evasion bonus, AP increased to 5, reaction increased to 15
- Smoke Grenades' (low and mid) ranged penalty is 50/75 (from 60/80)
- Bulldog II is a bit harder to get, but it's a bit more powerful
- Added +1 damage to shotguns
- Reduced melee damage by 1
- Tweaked armor stats
- Tweaked the prices of several items.
- Items now sell for 10% of the price.

Enemies

- Starfish now recovers 10 HP when draining
- Starfish DR is now 10/8/6 (from 6/4/3)
- Tweaked enemies' equipment: they have more weapon variety and extra thermal vision.

Feats

- Changed Faythe's Assassin feat. Bladed THC +10, CS Chance +5, Penetration +10, Takedown +15
- Changed Faythe's Thief feat. Noise -1 and stealth skills' increase
- Gunfighter: added "Grazes do +2 damage"
- Removed Master Trader feat and refunded 1 feat point to characters that had it

System

- Increased weight of misses on defense xp distribution.
- Slightly reduced skill gain from attack and defense XP
- Improved AI attack selection, especially for shotguns when the enemy is engaged in close combat

Fixes

- Fixed a door in the Armory being usable in stealth but not in combat.
- Power Vest properly reduces initiative instead of increasing it
- Fixed issues with the Armory's elevator with a party member selected
- Fixed scav stealth dialogue coming up twice if you clicked repeatedly when interacting with it
- Removed infinite attack XP exploit on turret
- Fixed the character name text field caret bug
- Missed frog attacks now can trigger counter-attacks, reported properly in the textbox
- Fixed some cases when grenades could be thrown through the floor (from the first floor to the second)
- Fixed T-pose animations happening in some rare cases
- Starfish sounds are now affected by volume controls properly
- Fixed Swing attack becoming unusable after spending AP on other combat actions
- Fixed doors incorrectly executing opening/closing scripts on game start
- Gadgets don't stay active after ending/exiting stealth anymore
- Fixed incorrect combat rolls when attacking turrets
- Fixed shots sometimes missing starfish if it's displaced after the 'hug'
- Fixed graze being reduced more than intended when uncapped THC was lower than 5
- Fixed unreplaced tags in energy shield bullet miss message
- Fixed pressing R when grenade is selected replacing hand slot weapon with grenade
- Fixed incorrect items being sold when CC has 0 credits left
- Fixed Caleb's dialogue issues
- Fixed missing sounds on armory doors
- Fixed weapon hand resetting to 0 after spending last grenade in the belt

Colony Ship is a challenging game -- the game's setting and theme wouldn't work otherwise, and we think that, in the long run, players find challenging combat more rewarding than easy combat. Because some players have found combat too hard, however, this post is meant to (1) give fair warning of the game's difficulty; (2) explain our design philosophy; and (3) provide some tips for how to approach combat.

Combat is difficult. You’ll be outnumbered and outgunned, so you’ll have to figure out how to even the odds or avoid fights you can't win. If that's not your idea of having a good time, you should either make a non-combat character or find another game.

Instead of making combat easy, or offering difficulty modes, we have created alternative paths that offer robust, non-combat gameplay: diplomacy, stealth, and science skills. In fact, creating a diplomacy-and-science character is effectively a "Story mode," since you will still be able to explore the world, wheel and deal with factions, and complete the major areas of the game. But if you want to roleplay a fighter in a gritty, deadly world, you'll need to understand and to some extent master the combat system.

With that in mind, here is an introduction to the system and some tips:

There are 3 main factors determining the difficulty of any combat encounter and your character's life expectancy:

1. Accuracy
   
2. Evasion
   
3. Damage (both dealt and taken)

To succeed in combat, you must learn to control these factors. To start with, here are the formulas for accuracy and evasion.

Accuracy = 50 + bonuses from (stat + skill + feat + implant + helmet/goggles + weapon). You can easily neglect a couple of items from this list and still be a competent fighter, meaning you don't need to min/max your stats (or play the one true build that works) because it's only 1 item out of 6.

The attacker's accuracy is further modified by the attack type (different attacks have different pros and cons), the weapon's gun's effective range, and inflicted penalties.

Evasion = bonuses from (stat + skill + feat + implant + armor handling – armor penalty).

The defender's evasion is further modifier by cover (the exact bonus depends on the angle), gadget bonus (i.e., using a Disruptor Field), and smoke/spore cloud (smoke grenades and certain critters).

The bottom-line chance to hit is always shown before you attack. More detailed information can be found on the character and inventory screens (which show your accuracy and evasion), and in combat, where you can press ALT when targeting while targeting to learn what is affecting the accuracy of a particular attack.

If a shot hits, the damage it inflicts depends on both the weapon and the target's defense. Incoming damage is reduced by damage resistance (feat + implants + armor) and energy shield (gadget and/or energy armor). Weapons with good penetration and/or aimed attacks can reduce enemy's damage resistance, dealing more damage.





To get a sense of what things you can do in combat to improve your odds, pay attention to the Combat AI controlling the enemies. The enemies use the same system as you. They have similar stats, skills, weapons (which you can loot after the fight), and rolls. The AI doesn't cheat but it knows the system better and uses it more efficiently than the new player.

The combat log on the right will show you all the info you need: attack type, damage rolled and resisted, even to-hit ranges and rolls.

If you're torn on whether this kind of combat sounds appealing to you, try the combat demo first. It's harder than the game due to the narrow focus on combat, but if you can handle the demo, you won't have any problems with anything the game will throw at you. And if you have any questions, we’ll be more than happy to answer them.

Improvements

- Added a "map exit" area, click to call up the map screen

Changes

- Gave Jed more ammo and equipped a blunt weapon
- Increased Critical Thinker feat damage bonus per level to 0.03 from 0.02
- Reduced base critical damage to 1.2x from 1.25x
- Reduced critical damage from aimed: head (1.4x from 1.5x) and bullseye attacks (1.6x from 1.75x).

Fixes

- Fixed missing skills and feats of the Regulators allies in the assault on The Promised Land
- Fixed duplicated characters and missing skills of the Regulators in the assault on the Regulators HQ