Space pioneering sim RimWorld went into beta back in November, and nearly five years after its original Kickstarter it seems the game’s finally about to have its full release. The “next version will be 1.0,” says creator Tynan Sylvester on Reddit.
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The same post outlines what’s coming in the new version, including a full redesign around the systems and interface for caravans, which Sylvester says “was pretty broken and obscure.” Rivers become more of a factor with watermill power generators and underwater cables. Mod loading is getting far more optimized, animal trading is getting rebalanced, doctor’s will prioritize dying patients over grabbing dinner, cooks will now refuel stoves on their own, and the blight’s now bright orange so it’s easier to see.
Those aren’t everything, just a few among “hundreds of other changes wrought by watching dozens of hours of play videos and reading thousand of suggestions. There are so many things to refine in a game like this; it’s almost unbelievable! Still working on it.”
This news actually comes as part of a pretty lengthy message from Sylvester on the nature of developing a game like RimWorld, and how to satisfy the never-ending demands of players. Where do you end development on a game as expansive as this, which can be so open to new features?
For Sylvester, that answer is five years. “I figure five years is a decent enough place. Five years are enough for $30. Five years are enough to call a game finished.” If you track back to the close of the Kickstarter in October 2013, we’re closing in on that half-decade mark. “It won’t be perfect, of course,” says Sylvester. “Nothing ever is. And I won’t even be finished with it. But – it’ll be finished.”