Update on Objects in Space

[leigh]

Objects in Space has been a huge project for a very small team. We've put all our hearts and souls into it for many years to get it to 1.0, implementing as many changes as we could between Early Access launch and now, both from fans and our own list of features we wanted for the game.

The community, while limited in size, has shown a deep passion and love for our creation, and we've done our best in putting out the eight updates we've released since launch. The sad side is that, as per any other project - especially from an indie perspective where there's been just the two of us working on it for most of the last year of development - we can't keep up updating the game for an unlimited time. Being such a small team has its drawbacks, and we've had to balance the passion we've had and still do have for Objects with other demands in our own lives.

So having Objects in Space in our hearts, it's really sad to say that we've had to move on, and both of us have been focusing on work aside from Flat Earth Games, at least for now.

That said, we've spoken about trying to find time to come back to it and Elissa and I would both very much like to come back at least to do one final update in the next few months to address the most pressing issues.

We want to send our deepest thanks to all the people who ever boarded a Ceres-class ship and discovered the world of Objects in Space. And we would like to send our appreciation to all of those who expressed their feedback - negative or positive - allowing us, with all the limits we had, to refine this project as much as we did.

We do very much apologise for not having written this sooner, but it's required us finding out how much time we still have for the game and of course making sure our publisher and investors are all ok with us putting out this message.

We really love you all, and hope you'll keep good memories of your time in Apollo.

Sincerely,

Elissa and Leigh

[Asid]

Thank you for a wonderful game :)

[Rannepear]

You guys released an unfinished game. No one was asking for unlimited updates... just a finished $30 game. Your 8 updates were to fix up things that should have already been taken care of for a 1.0 release - then RADIO SILENCE. I appreciated the game and wish y'all luck... but sincerely feel ♥♥♥♥♥♥ over by you and your team. Damn shame, too as we likely won't get modding unlocks to save this wonderful foundation. Hope we all learn from this. Take care.

[IndusRobot]

I discovered this game well after 1.0 was released and I picked it up while it was on sale. Sure, the game was a bit broken at times, but I feel I got a fair share of enjoyment out of it. I think I was luckier than other players in that aspect. It was cool to see my actions reflect on the public news broadcast, like that time I smuggled a fugitive out of a military sector (and died trying). Not sure if there was a main story line, but there was still lots of places to explore if the game didn't crash.

I had even considered creating an Arduino controller with WiFi capability so I could sort of, share the controls with someone else online using a virtual interface. Maybe by using screen share. Sadly I couldn't find the spare time to do it.

Here's to hoping the modding possibilities open up more for other creators!

[dogtarget]

Pretty much what everyone else is saying: You failed to provide a finished product. The genius of this game is wasted because it's unfinished. Please, finish it. Don't start something new until you finish this. It should sell well if it was finished and be well worth your price.

[i_nive]

Originally posted by dogtarget:

Pretty much what everyone else is saying: You failed to provide a finished product. The genius of this game is wasted because it's unfinished. Please, finish it. Don't start something new until you finish this. It should sell well if it was finished and be well worth your price.

What is missing? Bugs, features?
[Devs] Is there a priority-ordered backlog???
/I bought the game from elsewhere. Never played it, waiting for a finished product. So I do care/

[Falnos]

As a developer I can understand this, sometimes you have to move on. Even if a project may not be perfect, and even if some vocal community members may be complaining about bugs. This has been a niche project so I am not surprised that long term development on it is not feasible. Glad for the game you guys made, I enjoy in its current state, and will tell others about it.

[Kondiq]

I bought the game on Humble Store, played like almost 30 hours and stopped cause it fell unfinished with bugs etc. I wanted to give it another go, starting new game after 1.0, but I read that it was still not perfect and I hoped it will reach finished state one day. Everyone have life and got to pay bills, but if you promise something and people pay many expecting you to deliver, abandoning game without a word is not acceptable.

I hope you'll redeem yourself, but if not, people will know in comments under your new project, if you'll ever make one.

[jester]

Originally posted by i_nive:

Originally posted by dogtarget:

Pretty much what everyone else is saying: You failed to provide a finished product. The genius of this game is wasted because it's unfinished. Please, finish it. Don't start something new until you finish this. It should sell well if it was finished and be well worth your price.

What is missing? Bugs, features?
[Devs] Is there a priority-ordered backlog???
/I bought the game from elsewhere. Never played it, waiting for a finished product. So I do care/

That's too bad. Game is abandoned, unfinished, buggy as ♥♥♥♥, and lacking any substantial content.

[SystemInShock]

Sigh. Another indy game not finished and abandoned. Not even surprised. It's how things are done these days. I didn't pay attention when I saw complaining about their other games. Nope. Didn't think they would do it again. So I wish you both well. Not the type to hold a grudge or not forgive. Won't be buying from you again. Want to go ahead and authorize a refund? That would be the right thing to do.

[Zaphod]

I sympathize with your situation. It's easy to underestimate the work involved with this type of project. Especially when you lose key people. It's an underappreciated job to stay behind.

However, I don't think it is reasonable to say that the community demands "unlimited updates". The product remains unfinished. Both in quality and content.

[ExisT]

Such negative entitled groupthink going on here.

I for one greatly enjoyed this game. I am happy with the game that was delivered, and enjoyed all the time I spent playing it. The submarine style gameplay is such a fresh and unique take on a space game.

[Sunshine]

Originally posted by ExisT:

Such negative entitled groupthink going on here.

People sharing an opinion does not necessarily mean "groupthink" or "unjustified" (which this implies). I don't care what anyone else thinks, and I am utterly disappointed.

Originally posted by ExisT:

I for one greatly enjoyed this game.

Aha, so... everyone else is wrong and just "groupthinking"... you however, you got it down, your opinion is valid... for some reason

Originally posted by ExisT:

I am happy with the game that was delivered, and enjoyed all the time I spent playing it. The submarine style gameplay is such a fresh and unique take on a space game.

A buddhist monk is also happy about a bowl of rice a day, that doesn't mean everyone has to be or that one opinion/experience trumps the other.
The game's premise was brilliant, the execution and what we got so far is absolutely not. It's like buying a car without a windshield, mirrors and seat cushions. You can drive it, but its neither fun nor comfortable, nor safe.

[Hugo Drax]

I just didn't really like it. The premise and gameplay were ok, but the graphics got to me. I got started on stuff like that, that's not retro to me, that's something I hoped I'd never see again. I gave it a try in spite because I liked the idea but in the end the primitive graphics were too intrusive.

[Kondiq]

The graphics are great. You really got the feeling of retro spaceship. I liked everything about the game but the bugs and I would recommend it to people, but only in a finished state. I was saying to my friends that there's such game, but it'd be better to wait with buying until bugs are fixed. Some told me that it looks great and they'll keep watch on this until it's bugs-free. Well, it didn't happen, so no friends bought it and rightly so.

[deMangler]

Thanks for the update.Wonderful game, wonderful concept. No need for constant updates or new features, thanks for being committed to fixing this I would love to go back to playing it when it is fixed. :)