It's a little early, but I haven't made a blog post in a while, and figured it was about time I did another yearly review!
2024 has been a strange year - in some ways, a TON has happened, but in other ways, it's been a quiet year. We're still working on Aground Zero and Stardander, and they are both still in Early Access.
Aground Zero
Aground Zero entered Early Access in January 2024, and there have been a ton of updates during this time, including:
- Reaching the Surface
Fun fact: this was our original end-game in our design document (plus the com station questline/contacting the Peacemaker). However, due to feedback and interest in the Early Access, we decided to expand it much further! - Building Spaceships
- Going to other Planets
- Adding a Magic Path
- Adding Online Multiplayer
You can see more of our progress on our youtube playlist and steam news.
I'm getting close to my new end-game for both the magic and science path, and I'm hoping to be feature complete around the end of this year, and release the game Q2 2025 (as long as we don't add any more major additions or expansions). I really think Aground Zero has come out well, and I'm excited to be approaching the full release!
Overall players seem to like Aground Zero a lot - and it has also brought in new players who never considered the original Aground because of the 2D pixel art style. While having such different games and styles fragments the audience, I think it's fun to try out new gameplay styles and to see the Aground universe come alive in 3D.
Is it a space station, or a space ship?
It's been interesting seeing all the crazy bases and space stations players have been creating, and all the strange issues that occur when the bases get far bigger than I ever expected. I even decided to let the submarine fly around in orbit, as it was too fun of a bug to remove!
This base is huge, all it really needs is a vantage point to see how many structures it truly has!
Stardander: School for Witches
Stardander's 2024 story is less positive. Due to many reasons, this entire year has been spent working on the next chapter of the game, and that chapter is still not done (although it's getting close now). We also had to come to terms with the fact that, financially at least, Stardander will never be successful. From a purely business perspective, the smart thing to do would be to drop Stardander altogether, and that's a pretty disheartening realization. However, we decided that we want to finish Stardander as well as Aground Zero - as we are making it for reasons beyond just money and we want to see the game to completion (not just for the few hundred players who are already playing the Early Access version, but for ourselves as well). With this decision, we've been taking it easy with development and been more free with our design decisions, which may ultimately lead to a more fresh and unique game. It might never get popular, but at least it will be really special to us.
We are kind of hoping for a fall 2025 release of Stardander, but we aren't pushing ourselves or making any firm deadlines. Like the game, the development has turned into a sort of whimsical journey, and I hope you're interested in seeing where it goes!
The Three Year Limit
Work began on Aground Zero early 2021, and we started on Stardander even before that (depending how you count, as it went through many revisions). I noticed while working on the original Aground that around the 3 year mark I get mentally "done" with a project and want to move on to something new. I have great respect for people who can stick it out for 10 years, I don't know how they do it. Both Aground Zero and Stardander took longer than I expected - neither was supposed to take more than 3 years, but here we are. However, with both games potentially releasing next year, I'm really glad I pushed through and got to the finish line, even as I'm also really looking forward to our next project.
Every time I make a 3+ year game, I always say I never want to make another 3+ year game. However, our next project (which has already started light development, of course) I expect to take 3 years to finish - and given that games always take longer than I expect, it'll almost certainly take over 3 years. I guess I never learn!
What's Next?
Our next project is still a secret for now - I will probably formally announce it (perhaps with a demo or playable prototype) in 2025. While our focus is still Aground Zero and Stardander, the new game is currently in development (so there won't be a large gap like after the original Aground). However, what I can tell you is that it's a top down 2D pixel art game, with a whole load of features and exploration a little like the original Aground (but not based in the same universe). I always like to do something different and new, and while I'm sure some of you wont be happy that it's not in the Aground universe, it does have similarities to Aground and I hope you'll give it a try and enjoy the parts that make it different and unique!
