Topics

1: Release / Status
2: Purchasing Info
3: Help / Bugs
4: Future Development / Features
5: Other Games
6: Misc

Release / Status

Is Rodina Out? Where can I buy it?

Yes- Rodina has been released! Try it / buy it on Steam or here at elliptic-games.com!

What is the state of Rodina? Is it in Alpha or Early Access?

Rodina is in Ongoing Development. This means that new features will be added to Rodina over time and it will continue to grow. On Steam Rodina is in the “Early Access” section.

This is semantics, but I don’t prefer the terms “Alpha” or “Early Access” because they imply that Rodina will eventually have some kind of final release date when it will be finished. I even heard a friend of Elliptic, after playing the game, mention in a video that he “wasn’t sure when Rodina will be out”. Well- it’s out now! You can play it! If I can swing it, my goal is to just kind of keep working on it as long as I can. I’m not sure it will ever be complete.

With that said, Rodina is a small-time operation. There can be are crashes. Some people have bad performance. Please try the demo before buying!

What features does the game contain?

• Full-scale, procedural solar system
  4 full-size planets, 50 randomized major asteroids, and something like 45,000 minor asteroids.
• Seamless planet landings
  Fly straight down to a planet surface from orbit, get out, and walk around
• Combat with alien ships
  Several different alien ship types, and 5 different weapon types, including heat-seeking missiles
• Customizable ship interiors
  Easily personalize your ship’s layout and share your design with other players
• A Story and Background fiction
  As told through books, emails, and logs

The game is going to be updated continually. Those who buy the game at the Bossypants tier have the option of voting on what I work on next!

What is the current version like?

For specific information about the current version, please check the Readme.

What are the system requirements?

Minimum specs:
* Windows Vista+ (apologies to XP users!)
* DirectX 10+
* Graphics Card with 512MB VRAM (Approximate – Try the demo!)
* Dual Core Processor

Recommended:
* Graphics Card with 1024MB VRAM
* Quad-Core processor

Problem Areas:
* Some users have reported bad performance with Intel video cards

Purchasing Info

Is there a free demo?

Yes! I can’t stand the idea of someone buying my game without knowing what they are getting! How can anyone live with the forcing people to buy on faith? What has our industry come to? I digress- you can play Rodina for 60 minutes free of charge. If you like it, you can buy the game and unlock the demo (and your savegames) into the full game.

The demo has the time limit, and does not allow you to load savegames, but otherwise there is no difference between the demo version and the full game.

How can I buy the game?

You can purchase Rodina on Steam, or here on Elliptic-Games.com using either your credit card (via Stripe) or with Paypal. We are also considering other payment methods.

How much does Rodina cost?

Rodina is $15 on Steam. On my site, I sell the game on a pay-what-you-want model, with tiers similar to Kickstarter. The “base price” of the game is $15, but customers can buy for as low as $2 if they like. I chose this model for several reasons:

• With Rodina being in Ongoing Development, I don’t want to charge a set price.
  Due to the early nature of the game, I believe it’s only fair that the customer should decide what the game is worth to them.
• With tiers, customers who wish to support Rodina’s development can do so.
  I received many questions about Kickstarter when I first announced the game. At the time, I was extremely humbled that folks were willing and interesting in donating money to Rodina’s development. However, I didn’t like the idea of taking someone’s money while only being able to offer promises in return. Now that Rodina is finally out I can offer the game along with additional rewards as a thank you for those people who wish to do something more.
• Customers can donate more over time.
  As Rodina develops, Patrons are invited to further support the game as they please. This means that there’s no pressure to buy at a certain price all at once. They are welcome to try the game now, and donate more in the future if Rodina advances in direction they like!

A fan recently said that, between the demo and the flexible pay-what-you-want model, Elliptic has “the most consumer friendly business model [they've] ever seen in gaming industry”. I hope that’s true- my #1 goal is to do business in a manner I would like to be done business with.

Will I get a Steam Key if I buy the game here on your site?

Yes. Everyone who is in the Buffet tier gets a complimentary Steam key.

Help

Please visit the dedicated Help Page in order to fix problems with the game.

Future Development

What is your plan for Rodina’s future?

My long-term, pie-in-the-sky goal is Daggerfall in Space, with fun gameplay. Now, this is frankly a little crazy, but it’s not impossible- the only thing standing in my way is money / opportunity. Until I hit it big, the game will proceed slowly with incremental advancements that will be each fun in their own regard.

• In the near term
  Currently I’m working on the items in the Rodina Roadmap, which is driving towards a big medium-term goal: Ship Boarding! This means that I’m working on NPCs, NPC combat, Procedural Interiors, etc. I’d like to allow the player to engage in gunfights with aliens, and explore caves on the planet surfaces. It would also be amazing to also have bases on the planets to invade. Big job! It will probably take a while.
• Further out
  After the NPC combat stuff is in the game, I’d like to focus on adding more depth to the world. Hacking. Lots of simulated ship elements, simulated gameworld stuff. I’d like the ship to be a living place rather than just a static background, and I’d like the game to borrow some of the flavor of Prison Architect / Dwarf Fortress style games, where you know that there’s lots of simulation happening under the hood
• Finally, over the very long run
  I would add onto the existing features by adding settlements to the planets, and transition to adding more RPG features. As I say elsewhere, the long-term direction I want to take the game is “Daggerfall in Space”.

Obviously this is a stupid, crazy set of goals. How long will it take- 5 years? 10? Who knows, but I’m ready and able to do my part! It is up to the gaming community to see how far Rodina will go!

What are you going to work on next?

I have a general plan for what I want to do with the game, but customers (specifically, those in the Bossypants tier) choose what I work on next. I will regularly present a list of possible features to work on next. I leave it up to the community to pick which they feel is the highest priority.

Mac / Linux port?

I’d just love to do this, but unfortunately for the moment Rodina just hasn’t been successful enough to devote the resources required towards something like that. I’ll keep Mac/Linux gamers in mind if Rodina ever hits it big.

Cockpit Mode?

Yes, this was a highly requested feature, and was the winner of the 2nd Bossypants vote. Cockpit mode is in the game as of version 1.1.6!

Mod Support?

Yes. The game already supports modification- it comes with a Blender plugin that modders can use to export new art, and all of the gameplay scripts in Rodina have been exposed for editing. In the future, I will release better support to make managing mods easier and more functional.

Will the game have Multiplayer / Infinite Star Systems / Graphics Feature X / The Kitchen Sink?

Elliptic has a wish list of features that is about a mile long. However, with a team and budget this small, realistically the best approach is to defer features, rather than pile them on. Slow and steady wins the race. I can say that the possibilities will grow along with the success of the game. If Rodina makes a lot of money, then the rate at which “crazy dreams” become “development plans” will grow as well.

Multiplayer, in particular, is probably out of the question for a while, but would obviously be a great addition to the game. We’ll have to wait and see if things like that become possible.

Are you going to upgrade the visuals?

The focus in Rodina isn’t on graphics, it’s on features and gameplay. As a small studio with limited funding, if I focus on getting Rodina to look like a AAA game, there won’t be any time left over to make it fun. One of the lessons from Minecraft is that great gameplay can make up for simple art, and that’s an approach that I endorse. I’m trying to make Rodina beautiful and immersive, but I have no interest in competing on a AAA level.

That said, MAN is it hard not to just continually work on the planet generator / renderer. I have so much that I want to do with it- so many fixes and improvements to make. I have some things I *have* to do, but in general I try to limit myself. It’s addicting.

Other Games

Is the game inspired by No Man’s Sky / 0x10c / Star Citizen / Elite: Dangerous?

No. Rodina was unveiled with a working prototype in April 2012, and I had begun work on Rodina well before each of those games were announced.

Are you aware that Notch is already making a very similar game?

UPDATE: It appears now that Notch has cancelled 0x10c. This is quite a surprise and, while I can’t deny that I feel a little bit of relief over not competing with THE Notch, I’m disappointed that I won’t see his take on this genre. Too bad for the folks who were looking forward to it :(

Yes. Imagine my surprise when, after years of thinking about this game and months of working on it, after investing money and time, the most famous independent developer alive announces that his next game sounds very similar to mine. Great minds think alike!

Unfortunately, it turned out that many of the features I thought would differentiate my game (ship interiors, seamless planet landings, emulated computers for hacking and programming) are features that Notch is also putting into his game. In particular, the fact that he was including simulated computers was very difficult to read. I had hoped that the ability to hack and reprogram the computers in Rodina would make it truly unique. I knew after that moment that my game wasn’t going to be innovative, as I’d hoped. Rather, it was going to be derivative.

The good news is- competition can be a good thing. Now I have to work that much harder to make my game the best it can be. Notch’s game looks great so far, and it looks pretty different from Rodina, though I’m trying to avoid following his progress too closely. Additionally, since learning about Rodina Notch has been extremely gracious about acknowledging the game. I’m sure that the games will each have their own approaches, and as we all know, implementation is everything. Either way, fans of the genre can only benefit from more games being made, and I for one am absolutely excited to play both!

Are you aware of Infinity: The Quest for Earth?

Yes! That team is great and their engine looks awesome. In fact, their development diaries and technical guides have on occasion been extremely helpful in the production of Rodina. Infinity has been a huge inspiration! The only problem with Infinity is that it hasn’t been released yet. Jonh Carmack once said that in a game development cycle, you can either make an engine or you can make a game. The Infinity team has made an incredible engine, but by perfecting that they seem to have deprioritized the opportunity to ship a product for people to enjoy. I’m focusing on making a game and getting it into people’s hands.

Have you heard of No Man’s Sky?

Yes! It looks great and I can’t wait to play it! Unfortunately, as with 0x10c, the hype surrounding No Man’s Sky has drowned out Rodina a little bit. This is unfortunate for me but I’ve been through it before so I’m used to just plowing ahead. In terms of the games, I think the same difference between Rodina and Infinity applies in this case as well: No Man’s Sky looks great and I’m sure it will be fun, but I’ll be spending the months before it is released improving Rodina’s simulation and gameplay rather than it’s visuals. When No Man’s Sky finally comes out, I’m sure both games will offer very different experiences.

I wish that these things could coexist, and that people wouldn’t form these weird loyalties to spite games that aren’t their chosen favorite. It kills me when I read people saying “I’m not interested in Rodina because I’d rather play [game that won't be out for years or is total vaporware]“. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. But I suppose that’s just the way of the world!

Misc

How do I access one of the beta branches?

In order to switch branches, do the following:

* Going to Rodina in your Steam Library
* Right Click -> Properties -> Betas Tab -> Choose a branch from the dropdown menu
* Steam will automatically download your new files

What are the beta branches?

With Steam, I can offer different versions, or “branches” of Rodina for those who are interested in helping test Rodina, or those who are interested in the current status of the game. For example, currently on Steam you can switch to the following branches:

Development: Stay on the cutting edge of Rodina development! This branch will be updated periodically with the broken, in progress, partially-complete version of Rodina I am currently developing. For the curious, only!

Beta: This branch is the final step before release. New builds will be put on the Beta branch in order that the community might help test them. Only switch to the Beta branch if you are willing to experience an untested build and to report any bugs you find! (Thank you for your help!!)

Main Branch: Also known as “None” or “Default’, this is the branch to choose if you just want the basic, normal version of the game. When the build in the Beta branch is deemed stable, it will be moved over to this default branch.

Do you allow Youtube video monetization?

Yes! Here’s an official notice:

Elliptic Games explicitly grants permission to anyone to make recordings of Rodina, and to monetize any videos of the game they produce.

Is the ship bigger on the inside than it is on the outside?

No. I’ve heard this dozens of times, as far back as the first demo video. The ship interior fits snugly within the exterior! No idea what the illusion is there.

Are you lying about Rodina being the first game with this kind of seamless freedom?

I get this complaint once in a while, and every time it comes up I try to inquire politely about which game actually did it first. So far I haven’t gotten a real answer. Elite 2 and Evochron Mercenary are great games, I’m sure, but as far as I know neither of them allow you to walk around your ship or anywhere on a planet surface. No Man’s Sky isn’t out yet, nor was it even announced until well after Rodina had been. Noctis had a cut when you travelled down to the planet surface.

The whole point of Rodina is to provide a 100% seamlessly immersive space experience. That’s literally the concept of the game, so each of those layers (space, ship, planet) are important to the overall game experience. I can understand if that’s not a selling point for people, or if they don’t understand why that would be important to others. But an appreciation for the feature is separate from the veracity of the claim itself, which to my knowledge absolutely stands.

Then again, if I’m actually wrong about this, I do want to know!

More questions?

Feel free to join the discussion on Rodina.reddit.com or Twitter or to email me directly at brendan@elliptic-games.com.