Simon Roth’s sci-fi survival game Maia [official site] has been in deep development for a while now – the last time we mentioned it was 2014 and it had already been in Early Access for the better part of a year. Roth has continued toiling away at his Dungeon Keeper In Space, releasing videos now and again of its status.
For those counting at home, we are now up to Update 0.50. It’s a doozy – among other things it takes a giant whack at critical gameplay issues.
Simon Roth is taken by a fey mood!
Simon Roth screams "I must have Kickstarter funds!"
Thankfully the fortress contains more than the funds required, saving Simon Roth from a slow descent towards insanity.
Simon Roth works furiously!
But what is he building in there, locked away inside his room? Something terrible, forged in bone?
Simon Roth, Programmer has created Maia, an in-development, Dungeon Keeper-like space colony management game available in Early Access. Update 0.46 is out and there's a video and details below.
Maia, the Dungeon-Keeper-in-space game from Simon Roth that’s been forging through Early Access for the best part of a year, is utterly fascinating. It’s dedicated to accurate simulation to the point of internal bodily functions governing whether a colonist lives or dies, and it’s full of future tech based upon real world science extrapolated to logical outcomes.
Each new update brings more systems, and another level of complexity to tinker with. 0.45 adds a bunch of research options which provide perks to help survival – which is a lot more practical than the last update, which brought procedural haikus to the mailing system colonists used to communicate. Simon’s put together a video showing off the new features.
The Maian Prophecy came true after all! Just as was foretold by a news post I wrote a couple months ago, so shall it be. Maia is now available on Steam Early Access, and I’m aching to worm my futuristically gloved hands into its steaming, ropey gut pile of systems and AIs. The Dungeon Keeper and Dwarf Fortress-inspired colony sim is, however, currently not working for me, as it launches at a weird, choppy resolution and I can’t find any way to fix it. Boo. Maybe you’ll have better luck, though?
Maia really does sound insanely marvelous, doesn’t it? It’s got all the complexity of a whirring, churning management simulation paired with the more down-to-earth-space personal side of something like The Sims or even Dwarf Fortress. The game’s planet is a harsh, unwelcoming place, but it greeted Adam with a brain-warming embrace. He quickly fell in love, and – via the ropey spinal strands of our official hivemind apparatus – so did the rest of RPS. But when can you pluck your own bendy straw into Maia’s thick systemic stew? Well, you’ve still got a bit of a wait ahead of you, but December’s not that far off.
Philosophy would be so much easier if we could use console commands. Here’s a conundrum people in the new Maia alpha are asking: “What comes first? The door, or the workshop that you need to build to build the workshop door?” It’s actually a trick question, and the answer is that you need to build the workshop first, then use debug commands to place a door. So technically the workshop. As the video shows, the door to the workshop is the first step on the space colony’s sodden road to self-sufficiency, with the systemic strategy game’s colonists using the workshop to build a table to use the table to get to work. If you add lights to the workshop, the people will be able to build things in a more efficient manner. Brilliant!
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Questioning crowds about their commitment to Maia caused one of the most tense Kickstarters ever. It eventually cleared the goal with room to spare, but for a time the future was not so certain for the space colony management simulator. With the game on firmer footing, and the alpha in the hands of backers, developer Simon Roth has taken the next and inevitable step of dropping it on Steam Greenlight and hoping for a positive community reaction. He’s even rustled up a new trailer for the very purpose. Let’s look.
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