Colony Ship: A Post-Earth Role-playing Game New Location - The Heart

Iron Tower Studio brings us a new early access update for their Colony Ship RPG that expands it with a new area - the ship's Heart where the majority of its mutants dwell. There, you'll be able to continue your futuristic adventure, recruit a mutant companion, and get yourself ready for the endgame.

Speaking of which, the Steam announcement linked above also brings us a roadmap of sorts that lists a couple of quick milestones that need to be reached before the developers can start working on assorted endgame quests and challenges.

Here's more on that:

You can now travel to the mutant town known as the Heart in search of a reactor-grade fuel cell and recruit a mutant companion (one of two mutually exclusive party members) to your cause . Your adventure continues and we take one step closer to the release.

Living and working in the radioactive umbra of the damaged reactor greatly increased mortality rates for the outcasts, but many generations of shortened lives, afflicted with mutations both minor and severe, have resulted in a people fully adapted to the toxic environment.

In the mutants’ earliest days labor was by necessity divided, the men tending to the engines while the women tended to the men as they inevitably sickened and died. Much was asked of these mothers and sisters, and from the beginning they adopted the faith to augment their strength.

Many mutants credit their people's survival on this belief, that another world awaits them after death, a counter to the hellish reality of the reactor. Due to the inescapable radiation poisoning of engine work, only the females lived long enough to take on the role of elder, and to run those aspects of life beyond the perimeter of the engines.

Thus did necessity evolve into tradition, and tradition into law. The females sustain the priesthood and all the sacred duties of religion, while the engine work and protection of the enclave have fallen to the males. Those who aren’t happy with such an arrangement leave the enclave, becoming true outcasts, welcome in neither the Habitat nor the Heart.

What's left to do:
  • Hydroponics, Yellow and Red Zones (simulated Proxima environments).
  • Mission Control lower levels (that you couldn't explore before). There are two ways in, one's the eye you stole from the Church's vault, the other involves baiting a giant worm known as Ol' Bub as in Beelzebub.
  • The Ship's Bridge
  • The Endgame
Hydroponics and Mission Control are easy to do as we'll be expanding the existing locations. The Bridge is small by definition, so the hard part is behind us now. Once these locations are done, the level design (a major chunk of work) will be finally done as well and we'll be able to fully focus on the endgame events.

Here's to light at the end of the 6-year long tunnel.