Sneak a peek – development log #167

An improved company set-up process and restrictions to company liquidations have been among the most requested updates to the game. Guess what we’ve been working on this week!

Michi (molp)

Last week I showed you the first screen of the new company creation flow:

This week I worked on the second one:

Here you can select your starting location. Besides the usual information about the planet, like available plots, fertility and resources, we also included the planet map. Although not showing in the screenshot, the map will show all the details that are visible in the game as well: plots, infrastructure, ships in orbit and so on.

Selecting the starting location will also determine to which faction you belong. We show some basic information about the faction in the lower left area.

The controls on the lower right side are still work in progress. Here we want to present some market information to help finding the right start location. The players will be able to cycle through the nearest commodity exchanges and it will show current prices, demand and supply of a handful relevant commodities. The commodities shown depend on the starting package selection earlier.

Last but not least I implemented the first COLIQ restrictions. Company liquidations now have a cooldown, so they cannot be abused indefinitely. The first liquidation will be possible right after the start (in case someone made an error in the company setup), the second after 3 days, the third after 21 days and every subsequent one after 60 days. That way an honest player has the chance to start over basically whenever she wants, but abusing the feature is harder.

We know that this won’t solve the problem once and for all, but it is a step in the right direction. If players report suspicious activity we will look into it and close accounts if necessary.

As always: we’d love to hear what you think: join us on the forums!