Devblog #24 - Early Access and Updates!

Welcome Constructors!

As time goes by, we’re slowly approaching the day of the Celestial Empire’s release. Hard to believe how much time has passed and how many things have changed since we started, isn’t it? But we’re finally getting there, so it’s about time to talk about it more.

The game will come out first in early access. But what is it and why is that – you might ask. EA is a solution thanks to which you will be getting a fully playable version with the promised content of the game, while helping us on our game-making journey. We are really looking forward to including our community in the process of improving the game to its fullest potential. With all the basics covered, our focus will be on adding new exciting content, balancing mechanics and polishing already existing features with you guiding us on the right path. Expect lots of updates coming! More details about early access will be available soon on the FAQ on our Steam store page.

It’s been a busy time for our developers, who are working hard like bees. Lots of different things have changed since last time, so let us show you what we have been up to.

Now an altar is not a thing that is already placed in the world, once you start the game. An altar is a special place where you can make offerings to the godly powers, but you have to unlock and build it first. That also means that you are the one to decide its placement, which gives you more creative freedom in constructing your city. Once the player builds an altar, he gets to choose his godly patron. Each one of them (Ao Guang, Wukong, Nüwa) provides different changes and bonuses to the game’s mechanics and will lead a player further on his journey. After choosing a patron, there's no way to change it, so choose carefully.

The new and the first monument to construct is called Weeping Fountain, representing the moon goddess Chang’e. Once the player meets requirements, he can unlock the monument and build a base for it in a place of his choice and start delivering offerings to the altar. This process can be paused at any moment. The monument no longer emerges in one moment, but it slowly appears piece by piece, according to the offerings' progression. At the end, the monument’s construction must be finalized to advance your city.

To make your game even more enjoyable, we decided to add a helpful feature - highlights. When a player hovers over an icon of a building on the lower bar, all the buildings of its type light up, which makes it easier to keep track of them. There’s also a road’s highlight. It shows you the operation range of some of the buildings, once you click on them. And, while placing a building that requires a warehouse to function, highlights will let you know about all the warehouses in range of a chosen place. Decoratives, just like religious buildings, work only for the social class assigned to them.

Is that all? Ha, of course not. We are currently working on new maps, new tutorials, improvements and many many different things are being developed at the time we speak. All to meet not only our expectations, but yours. Here's a little new map's teaser!

Do you like new changes? Or more importantly... are you as excited for Celestial Empire as we are? Hop on discord and feel free to share your thoughts with us!

See ya
The Devs