It’s time for the Aven Colony BETA!

We’re live on itch.io!

> The Aven Colony beta is here! <<

EDIT: If installing from the itch.io launcher, please make sure you have the latest version of the launcher installed (18.7.0 or later), as this fixes some installation issues.

See our FAQ and our forums for answers to common questions, such as why we chose itch.io for the initial beta and why this does not include a Steam key.

You can see a terrific preview of the game below, and there are also many more previews and Let’s Plays linked from our YouTube channel.

We highly recommend starting with the 2 tutorials (“Holo-Sim 1” and “Holo-Sim 2”) and then playing the campaign missions in the order they are listed (Vanaar, Sandy Gulch, …) before attempting Sandbox maps.

This will help you ease into the game and learn the gameplay concepts gradually, and the story will also make much more sense that way.  The game currently lets you play the 5 available campaign maps in any order, but this will change for the final version of the game.

Be advised that purchasing this beta does buy the full game upon release via itch.io but does not grant a Steam key.  We are unable to offer Steam keys as the game is not yet available for purchase via Steam (for the reasons explained in our FAQ).

The game will be launched at a higher price point on both Steam and itch.io in early 2017.

We also want to be very clear that the game isn’t finished.  Here’s what isn’t in the beta yet:

  • We have 5 campaign missions available out of the 10 we expect to have when we launch in 2017.
  • We have 5 sandbox missions available out of the 10 we expect to have when we launch in 2017.
  • Plague spores aren’t in the game yet.
  • We’ll add more buildings during the beta.  We already have art almost finished for a lightning tower and a defensive turret but they aren’t in the game yet.
  • We’ll be improving performance further during the beta.
  • We’ll be tweaking and tuning almost everything during the beta, so this means we’ll be making particularly large changes to things like:
    • social policies
    • research formulas
    • user interface
    • the various colonist morale factors
    • mission setup and the various mission objectives
    • enhancers and the addiction / withdrawal game mechanic
    • how much buildings cost to build and what they do

Also, please also be advised that there are also some bugs we currently fixing:

  • Scrubber Drones do not currently fix Apartments, so if these get infected, they’re lost.
  • You can currently play any of the first 5 campaign missions in any order (although we do recommend playing them in the order they appear in the list!)
  • There’s currently no way to advance past Colony Governor; player ranks will be granted for every 2 campaign missions completed
  • There are some issues when switching to windowed mode on some systems, where the window get stuck in the upper-left corner.  We are investigating this, but in the meantime, here is a workaround for affected users:
    • After changing to Windowed mode, save your game, quit, and start up the game again.
    • In the game, hit ALT+Space and then hit ‘M’. You can then use the cursor keys (or mouse, once you’ve hit a cursor key) to move the window.
  • Sandworms do not yet damage the colony and their timing is incorrect (they pop up X seconds after you load or start a game)
  • The Tenari Glacier mission does not currently advise you properly that having 1-2 “Bar & Grill” buildings set to “Bar mode” will help you achieve the objective of getting your colonists addicted
  • Many performance optimizations are still in progress; we recommend turning down the graphics options if you experience frame rate issues
  • Colonists can currently “commute” any distance, which causes overly-long commutes on some maps, like Hyla’s Crescent
  • There are some issues with varying audio volumes, and SHIPE calls do not have their own audio slider yet.
  • Sandy Gulch is missing a bit of its scripting
  • The building count will increase for the final game. We currently have Lightning Towers and Defense Turrets nearly completed but they are not
  • The key bindings UI has not yet been implemented
  • Toxic gas emissions can go through mountains
  • The looping video used for the front-end main menu scene is a work-in-progress
  • The building “shattering”/”implosion” effect is placeholder
  • There are a few missing sound effects

System Requirements:

Operating System:  Windows 7/8 64-bit
Processor:  Quad-core Intel or AMD, 2.5 GHz or faster
Memory:  8 GB RAM
Video Card/DirectX Version:  DirectX 11 compatible graphics card

Recommended spec:
  • Intel Core i5-4430S 2.73 GHz or higher
  • GeForce GTX 580 or higher
Minimum spec:
  • Intel Core i3-3220 3.3 GHz or higher
  • AMD Athlon II X3 455 or higher

Note that you may need to reduce the graphics options (in particular, turning off shadows) if your system is closer to the minimum spec than the recommended spec.

 

Paul Tozour Updates

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Comments (18)

  • Avatar

    SugeBearX

    |

    I take it the game isn’t up for sale quite yet? Lol…I’m a night owl and when I saw this I got all excited. Then the link took me to a 404 error… 🙁

    Reply

  • Avatar

    Hargir

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    It is 🙂 Just bought it. Now go buy yourselves a burger. You’ve earned it 🙂

    Reply

  • Avatar

    Tatsu

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    I wanted to buy the beta, but I won’t be paying 27% extra VAT just because I’m not in the US where itch.io is registered…
    This is one point why Steam would have been better. 🙁

    Reply

    • Avatar

      Paul Tozour

      |

      I understand, and I respect your decision. We are looking forward to making the full version of the game available on Steam as soon as we’re able.

      Reply

      • Avatar

        Tatsu

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        Looking forward for it’s release on Steam. This game will be great! 🙂

        Reply

      • Avatar

        TheGamerDoug

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        Just as a question, I am interested in purchasing this game. However, i trust Steam and only that. So, with that said, do you have a release date or a set time when you think that this will be released on steam? Thanks!

        -TheGamerDoug

        Reply

        • Avatar

          Paul Tozour

          |

          Hi Doug! Yes, that’s completely understandable. We expect to release on Steam in early 2017.

          Reply

          • Avatar

            TheGamerDoug

            |

            Thank you for such a quick reply. I will be sure to purchase this game when it becomes availible in early 2017. It looks like a great city (can hardly call it a city) builder game. Thanks for your time.

            -TheGamerDoug

          • Avatar

            Tryst

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            Pity it’s going to take so long. Is there no way to release it as EA before that?

          • Avatar

            Paul Tozour

            |

            We could, but we’ve decided against Steam Early Access. Our FAQ explains some of the reasons.

  • Avatar

    musicman215

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    unable to purchase using paypal. Whats up with that. It wont let me log into my paypal account just spins. Used chrome firefox and edge. Help please

    Reply

    • Avatar

      Paul Tozour

      |

      Sorry to hear you’re having this problem. I’d contact itch.io support; the backend is fully handled by itch.io and we have no control over it on our end. It should also be possible to purchase it with a credit card if that’s an option for you.

      Reply

  • Avatar

    medric0341

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    If i buy the game now will i have the option to merge it with steam later or would i have to buy it all over again?

    Reply

    • Avatar

      Paul Tozour

      |

      Heya Medric — we’re not currently able to promise Steam keys to our itch.io customers, so if you want to play it on Steam, I’d wait for launch.

      Reply

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