ArkCo News #19 -WE DID IT!! 

This has been an incredible week for us here at Handyman. We did it!! We got through Greenlight! To say that we were all completely shocked by the announcement is an understatement, it's still just sinking in for the team. Needless to say, we've been busier than ever, but it's an amazing feeling! We want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone that voted for Edge of Space and supported us, we owe this all to you. The best is still yet to come, and it's wonderful to see the even more rapid growth in the community now! 

Our celebrations haven't slowed us down, and we are working hard to complete work on the Rebirth patch and get it out to our players. We will be showing plenty of it on tonight's Livestream, so if you aren't around at 7PM EDT, be sure to catch the recording of it! We can honestly say this takes Edge of Space to a whole new level. There is very little we've left untouched, and we are very excited to hear the community's thoughts on what we've done. This is a tiny glimpse of just one of MANY exciting changes to the game: 



As long as we don't blow up the labs, everyone will be exploring the new patch in the next week or two. We know it's been a long wait, but it will be well worth it. We very much appreciate everyone's patience over this last month. It's awesome to have such a supportive community! 

On the community side of things, we definitely want to encourage everyone to come to the forums and get involved. Come and hang out in the IRC and meet us! We are always happy to see new faces, and answer questions about the game. Stay awesome you guys, and we'll see you next time for the ArkCo Weekly News!

ArkCo News #17 - We're Doing Science, and We're Still Alive!

This last couple of weeks, we've talked a bit about the game undergoing massive changes. This week, we bring you an exclusive look at where some of those changes are being made, and we think players will be quite astonished to see it! Without going in depth and giving TOO many spoilers while things are still changing, we'll just leave you with a brand new screenshot, showcasing quite a few things for the keen observer. Get your speculation caps on, ladies and gentlemen, and have a look at this:




If any of our readers are still with us, and haven't been TOO completely spellbound by the screenie, we want to give a couple of reminders this week. The first of those is about Greenlight. We know many of our fans and players were pretty bummed out that we didn't get picked, but things are far from dismal. 18 games were selected, and that means a HUGE jump up the ranks for Edge of Space. We're close enough to taste it, guys, please keep up the amazing support and keep those votes coming in!

Secondly we want to remind everyone to get in and sign up for the Spring gaming event. We will have PvP Minecraft, Terraria, Edge of Space building contests, plenty of giveaways and an IRC quiz. It's gonna be a blast, and we have great prizes just waiting to be won. We even tossed 5 Edge of Space keys into the prize pool! If you've been waiting for a chance to score a copy, sharpen your
favorite sword and get in on the fun. We're looking forward to hanging out with everyone and seeing who comes out on top! You can get all the info and sign up here:

http://www.playedgeofspace.com/community/index.php?threads/arkco-spring-showdown-sign-up-now.1678/


The next couple of weeks are going to be pretty exciting around here, and we hope that we'll see more new faces around the community. Stay awesome, ArkCoNauts, and we'll see you next week with the ArkCo Weekly news!

Hey ArkCoNauts! Another busy week is behind us, and we continue to work on the next big patch to the game. So much work is going into it, but it will definitely pay off, and we look forward to getting it into the hands of players in a few weeks. We want the game to look at feel a lot more polished, and be set up for more of the upcoming features, even if it means a couple more quiet weeks on the development side of things. It will be one of our longer patch cycles, but the community is always wonderfully patient, and eager to see what's next for the game. We are very excited about the features we are getting in this time as well! The response to the current build has been very positive, and it is definitely starting to show more balance for new players. Making early crafting easier was absolutely the way to go, and players seem pleased with that, as well as the addition of basic torches and a tutorial in game.

We are 4 days from the next Greenlight pull on April 17th, so we really want to encourage supporters to get out there and vote, and get others to vote! We need to keep the pressure on so we can make it through. Once we're on Steam, we have a special surprise planned for the community to thank everyone for their ongoing help and getting us to where we are today. We're almost there, just keep up the good work! To get people even more excited, we have released a brand new teaser trailer. Get out there and share it, it's awesome!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-TxCEw_bYE&list=FLkvWr4axxM9f8R2M-5TnFSA&index=1



On the community side things are quite the opposite of quiet. We have already announced our big Spring Showdown gaming event, and opened signups! Get in there and join the fun! That's not all we've got up our sleeves. We have also just revealed a massive expansion to the Divisions experience and we can't wait to see the reaction to that. Ever want to level up in a community, and
earn special rewards and privileges? Ever want to JOIN the corporations involved in the game's back story? Then you've come to the right place! Things are definitely going to get interesting around here. Show us what you've got, ArkCoNauts!

We are looking forward to a busy but rewarding rest of the month, and we hope everyone will be
along for the ride. Stay awesome, and we'll see you next week for the ArkCo Weekly News!

With PAX in the rearview mirror, it's back to business here at ArkCo. We had an amazing time, met so many great people, and most importantly, it was a tremendous learning experience. The most important lesson a developer can learn, is that you can never be afraid to go back and rework something to make it even better. Watching people interact with the game, and enjoy it was awesome, one of those moments where it really hits you that you've made a GAME. Since getting home, we already deployed another massive patch to the game. While a bit later than we had hoped, it is already proving popular with the community.

Since the beginning, we have been adamant about spending time with the community, and listening to their feedback. This patch definitely shows that in action. Many players felt that the learning curve was too steep, and we came to realize that they were right. While still embracing how far we want people to be able to GO in our "scaling difficulty" systems, we brought the beginner level aspects down to a far more reasonable level. In crafting this means that early schematics now use raw materials, pushing the need to refine to tier 2 schematics. You now craft a refining kit when you need to start using it, rather than being confronted with refining and random stats right out of the gate. Our power system will be getting an overhaul as well, bringing in simple torches that people can use to explore, rather than the more advanced means of lighting. As you progress, you will find that there are added benefits to powering things through the grid, but those will be opt-in benefits to the player willing to go the extra mile and delve into what PIOS can do. Chests are now scattered through the world in place of the pet eggs, which offer not only pet drops, but also rare loot, cosmetic gear, and materials.



On the community side, we're gearing up for a Spring event in April, and will be releasing details on that very soon. We look forward to some great gaming, and the chance to toss some fun prizes at the winners! Additionally, our Divisions will be getting a big push, and the chance for community members to actually rank up on the forums and in the community! Dedicated members will be able to shoot for a coveted Division Leader title, which will gain them rights to helping select games for future events and much more! We're really excited to see where this goes, and we hope that it's something people have a great time with.

The upcoming month will be a busier and more quite one on the dev side of things, as the team implements the framework for many of the game's features. We found that some of the code we were pleased with before is now actually holding us back, so back to the drawing board we go. While the next patch will be several weeks away, we look forward to a much more stable and solid build for us to keep pouring in the features we have planned in the future.

We want to thank everyone again for the awesome support and the many Greenlight votes and comments that our fans have left. Please keep up the good work, keep spreading the word, and we will make it to Steam soon! We want to give a special shoutout this week to King Foom and the D-toid community, who have really embraced the game, and the team, and have shown tremendous support for us all around. We are truly blessed to have such a fantastic following! Stay awesome and we'll see you next week for the ArkCo Weekly News!

This week is all about PAX. The team is bordering on space madness as we enter the final 4 days before leaving. We are jamming tons of new content and features into the game, as well as preparing on the community side. We are so excited to meet fans in person, and we will have some goodies to hand out at the booth, so if you’re attending, be sure to come and find us! We do have a few things to share before diving back into work this week.

Tonight we will be livestreaming, after a 2 week hiatus. We’ve had to focus quite a bit harder, and so we want to be sure to bring fans up to date on the state of the game and what’s coming as we head off to PAX. We should have plenty of fun things to show, assuming nothing blows up before going live. If anyone spots a zombie on cam this evening, rest assured, it’s only Jake! We’ll be starting at 7PM EST, on our Twitch channel. You can find us here:

http://www.twitch.tv/edgeofspace/new

We are thrilled with how many votes are pouring into Greenlight now, and we want to thank everyone for the continued support. Please keep up the amazing work! We can make this happen, and Jake’s hair is on the line! Remember, if we make the next pull, he will be appearing on livestream with Destructoid to shave it all! Spread the word, haunt your family and friends, and help us make the next round.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=92913728

Lastly, this week we want to encourage everyone to keep a close eye on the forums and community as we bring out more exciting news. The community team is hard at work to bring more fun to the forum experience, and laying the groundwork for an upcoming event in the near future! Be sure to watch for details on that in the next couple of weeks. This is definitely an exciting time for us here at ArkCo, and we are happy that so many people are joining the community every day! As always, thanks for reading, and stay awesome!

ArkCo Weekly News #13 - Crunch Time!!





This week has been absolutely staggering in terms of growth for the community, and as a team we are tremendously grateful for the outpouring of support and love for the game! Starting with our brand new game trailer coming out this week, it has been a non-stop flood of new faces throughout the community, and all of our sites. It has been amazing to see so many rally behind Edge of Space and throw their support behind Greenlight. The madness hasn't stopped there! Earlier this week we also put out a new patch, which introduced a re-structuring of crafting including schematics that don't require refined materials. We felt that this would give new players a much more balanced and gradual introduction to how crafting works, and allow them to get established in the game world before moving on to higher tier schematics. We have also put in place the background systems for MANY new aspects of the game which will be implemented in the near future.

This weekend we are also launching the first test of our 3 day beta key system. Players can snag a 3 day test key, and enjoy the game for free for the weekend! Along with this comes a very much anticipated announcement: We WILL be offering Steam keys to our pre-order customers if and when we get through Greenlight! We are thrilled to let everyone know that it's safe to buy now, and that they don't have to worry about having to purchase again if/when Edge of Space goes to Steam.

There is already so much excitement here at ArkCo, and we have only scratched the surface in terms of how much is coming ahead of and during PAX! We are eagerly looking forward to meeting our fellow game devs, and tons of awesome fans. If all goes to plan, we hope to get in one final livestream next weekend before the team hits the road, and we promise it will be worth the 2 week hiatus! So much work is being poured into the game, and there will be more than plenty to show off.

We see this as just the beginning of great things to come, and once again we want to thank the many, many fans and supporters who have been pouring votes into Greenlight and bringing us that much closer to our goal. Please keep up the amazing work getting the word out! This is definitely a month to keep an eye on the forums and the community for the many upcoming announcements we will be sharing soon!