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As long as the governors residence is secure from lightning strkes and allows extra abilities i really have no problem how it looks. Maybe as you increase the poulation of your colony to a specific level (50, 500, 1000, 2500 etc.) you are granted an extension or improvement to your residence that not only allows the social improvements already in-game, but can introduce new options too. Perhaps another moon base or asteroid field mining station in the Aven planetary system can be additionally exploited on the later campaigns due to your advanced tech researched from alien artifacts or the subterranean level previously mentioned?

Anyway, I keep checking everyday for a new update with the hope that It can be tested out to the max. I've found and reported a few graphics glitches, but no issues apart from that.

I guess you can say I enjoy playing the game!

I asked the same question and was given this link in response.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/pressreleases/292848/TEAM17_REVEALS_NEW_GDC_TRAILERS_AND_INFO_FOR_AVEN_COLONY_ANDTHE_ESCAPISTS_2.php

It's a great episode and yet another i recommend viewing. I'm not alone in that opinion and here's a link to give you a better idea.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708460/

The monorail is a great idea as i previously said. Perhaps it can be a 10 tunnel stretch for each time you construct a piece and the drone boost that can be researched can solve that issue for you enabling aquick construct? A nice to have and also a possible way for connecting other bases you have established across Aven.

What I want is a governors residence and an upgrade ability for it to be able to do extra things. Maybe that will be coming with the extra landing platforms for the expenditionary ships or transporters?

Did you check out the new video and update material on the Gamasutra - Press Release that mothership mentioned a day ago?

Okay, all previous beta games I had participated in I unfortunately did lose the saves each and everytime for a new update. You have managed to put my mind at rest for my existing saved games and it is a welcome surprise.

I would like to think that we had some influence in your descision for the new Expedition system, but probably what is more appropriate is great minds think alike.

I look forward to your next upgrade and thanks for the heads up.

How soon is soon?

Do I have time to finish the game saves that I have accrued, also are they going to be lost in any future upgrade? My thoughts are that they will be lost, unless you have a way of being able to introduce the upgrades without doing so.

Maybe you can give us a sniff of what to expect or possibly comment on what has been discussed to date? Feedback can be a nice thing to receive and we are certainly fans of the game as you can tell. Does it break protocol?

Nice ideas.

They could even introduce subterranean farming or an industrial mining complex simialr to one of the episodes in Star Trek where the rock eating mother alien that lays her spherical eggs everywhere, but the miners keep destroying them without realising and she defends her future babies the only way she can. Spock mind melds with her and they resolve the conflict with both parties involved benefitting from the new arangement.

A fast track monorail system set in their own tunnel above the existing tunnel network or straight and parallel to a station departure lounge in desired locations. That would give more significance for a marine outfit to move quickly where needed if any infestation occurs.

Hope you enjoy the reading, but please don't let it distract you from the serious matter of playing this game. Mothership values your input i'm pretty sure.

Have you tried a block or a line of four Apartments together? You can monitor the specific side that is the heaviest burdened and replace them with a Habitat if necessary, especially as they only take up the same area as a footprint and allowing for more people per square. Can't think of anything else to suggest other than decent city planning for the future. You know that already by the sounds of things anyway. I'm sure they'll tweak it up in the mothership if it becomes necessary.

There are several good quotes that come from Frank Herbert's Dune and I recommend reading or seeing the film again but here are just few for now:

A beginning is a time of taking the most delicate of care that the balances are correct.

Never sit with your back to an open or unlocked door.

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."

The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it.

He who controls the spice controls the universe!

Good to hear you managed to keep your old saves and can continue where you left off.

Which type of housing are you having problems with? If it is the Apartments that are doing it and you have no way of correcting the negative by building other housing near it, then destroy it and make sure you build something larger or upgrade an existing Habitat or Skyscraper that can compensate. Remove the negatives as much as possible and overcome the native adversaries in the process.

Seeing as we have sand worms and we are set only a few hundred years or so in the future, perhaps they are predecessors of Shai-Hulud? Perhaps this planet will be later known as the desert planet Arrakis or Dune? Especially, if they allow us to go find all the nests and kill the native wildlife off except for the worms of course. Maybe quori spice evolves and is used by the Sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit in an attempt to find the kwisatz haderach and also by the spacing guild to fold space? One can only imagine.

That is a shame. You weren't able to send the info to mothership then?

The housing issue is down to sphere of influence and access for your workers to get places. I found leaving enough tunnels and plenty of housing of all types dotted around so no-one is over extended does the trick. All comes down to enough power generated to be able to do so and enough nanites to build everything to keep them happy and employed, else the VR center seems to keep them happy.

On second thoughts I think I may have been mistaken saying 'Imperium Romanum', i should have said 'Dune battle for arrakis' where it definitely had the Atreides Palace sending out uncontrollable fremen for the player. The Ordos had a useless saboteur and the Harkonnen had an inaccurate ballistic missile called the Death Hand. In priciple the fremen and saboteur were uncontrollable when you activated them whereas the Death Hand was directed by the player, but was as accurate as trying to hit a barn door from 10 miles away with a air rifle, bloody useless.

The video is old in comparison to the latest versions, but is still pretty good and informative none the less.

Oh i do think from your statement that that means my saves are going to be gone too.

Exciting times ahead!

Having all your saves gone gives you more room to fill up now. I jest!

Only had one failure which was recently on the the Hyla's crescent map. Run out of nanites on hard mode, no matter how i tried to fix it either not enough space for people in housing or not enough people to be able to produce enough nanites, ore and feed them. I will try a different strategy than just follow the instructions next time.

Did you take a look at the inset video for the game by Smash Look!? 10 missions apart from the two Holo SIM starters and the last few have been renamed or missing at present. The Tempest and The Unification must be in production.

Well I still look forward to the next instalment and a possible input from the mothership, it seems to be on silent running mode atm.

I do agree, but don't shout too loud or they may implement more than you bargained for as this is only the beta version and game mechanics invariably will be tweaked or squashed so as to introduce something new or for general balance.

Have you tried playing on hard or insane level?

I haven't manged to succeed on the later missions on hard level and not even tried insane as yet. Normal is a breeze and challenging is not too difficult. As you can guess i skipped Beginner and easy.

Glad you understood what i meant. I just remember playing a building game of old 'Imperium Romanum' which had the game mechanics similar to what i suggest. The legionary gaurd would defend the settlement from raids and even go out hunting the enemy encampments nearby destroying them, but only if you built the barracks in the first place. I think it was just a button activation on the barracks for them to go sally forth and you could watch the fighting whilst merrily carrying on waiting for a building to be finished. Great fun.

Perhaps they can have a game freeze similar to the onset of winter or a spawn if you have chosen to go for the survey team and barracks as a secondary option allowing for a short clip of the action whether good or bad for the science or military squad, especially small artifacts that enhance the storyline. Probably some sort of conversation would occur at that point with the mothership crew or just the dancing gorilla specialist and the survey team, who knows. Your guess is as good as mine.

Great ideas you have, but i'm not sure if the developers would agree as you already have a mothership in orbit don't forget. No need to build what is already there, just adapt what you have and do it in half the time.

Operational control of the base marines or the archaeological survey team can be an auto function with no need for the player to be involved. You would just need to build a barracks or upgrade the scrubber drones locally to a new level and have some way of having the science team assembled in the first place through an upgrade or a seperate building, Interplanetary research and expeditions I suggest.

This would be a truly optional quest secondary to overall mission and does not detract from the original gameplay for building your settlement, in fact it improves it in some ways. Besides, it would be great to see the marines in action against the plague spores that infiltrate your colony, before they get the chance to infect anyone in their path. Can you imagine what sort of conversation would be had between the survey team and our illustrious science guy onboard the mothership? I can with a wry smile!

Maybe they have already thought of military drones that can be offensive rather than only defensive?

I look forward to seeing what they release on the next update. As you said, regardless i'm having fun playing it!

I think an initial topographical survey for your base area at start had been performed from the mothership in orbit revealing all the mineral deposits. Beyond the original base site (set up area for campaign mode) they could make it a fog of war and your ideas about the survey team abilities would be a wonderful enhancement for the sandbox mode for sure.

However, what the initial survey had missed was the locations of the nests or spawn points for the known native lifeforms and the potential archaeological sites referring to the original Aliens. Little clues or trinkets about those aliens and their way of life would enhance the game and maybe your team might get lucky for you whilst you concentrate on building your setllement.

All missions are optional according to command and you are free to build as you see fit as the governor. What about discovering beyond what is known in the good old fashioned way of exploration? It is in our human nature for the want to discover new things and sometimes that can be a good thing, but equally sometimes it can be a bad thing. We learn from our experiences and move on.

An archaeological or scientific survey team could search out those sites or stumble across one of the native nests and maybe get overwhelmed resulting in them been captured or succumbing to infection. Perhaps you can send a rescue squad to save them or just simply kill the infestation at source after finding your science team all dead?

Let's hope the mothership reads all the chatter going on at some point and gets back to us on snype.

PS. Not saying you have not, but be careful on what you do send over snype as you could be breaking regulations and put on charge for inappropriate behaviour and consequentially having your privilages reduced or worse still removed. I heard about it somewhere.

I do like the enhancement ideas you have for the science vehicles too, but not sure about the fog of war as I like the map as it is. The animated vehicles go off screen eventually, but where?

If there were a change I would prefer that idea to be an autonomous function and build a single marine droid barracks or have advanced scrubber droids upto level four that extends the range aswell as an additional drone and have them deployed to fight any nest found within range, thereby stopping the critters at source.

Perhaps your ideas are more suited to the sandbox mode where you could be tasked with destroying all the nests in the areas surrounding your base. Along with setting up camp in another potential location for expansion and doing the same there. Just a thought.

I noticed at the begning of the missions an animated Rover vehicle.

Any chance of a vehicle factory to allow a research team (Both advanced research and/or advanced nana factory or the likes for manufacture) to wander around the map finding goodies or other associated smaller alien artifacts that are not a necessity as a secondary mission? Something for the player to monitor for extra awards explaining the story line and venturing into areas having them possibly triggering native spawns?