Development Update

Version 0.65 just went live to add a long requested feature. Mouse input for datapad screens. There are two ways to use the mouse controls. First, you can just hold down the datapad key (E by default) and the UI will switch to fullscreen with mouse input enabled as long as you have the datapad key held down. It will close the datapad when you release the key. The second way is to open the datapad normally by just tapping the datapad button instead of holding it. This will bring up the datapad like you are used to and then you can press R to switch between keyboard controls and mouse controls.

Since the launch of Lacuna Passage on Steam Early Access I have put out 25 updates adding a wide variety of new features and improvements. Dust storms, rovers, scientific research, and more. This has all been done in an attempt to expand on the features that would support the eventual story mode. During this time, I have been the only full time employee working on Lacuna Passage.

I love this game. It has been a cornerstone of my life for the last few years. Since I started on this project my wife and I have moved three times, adopted a puppy, said goodbye to that puppy due to terminal health issues, said goodbye to two grandparents taken by cancer, had our first child, adopted another healthy puppy, and bought our first house. I can link back all of these events, happy and sad, to what stage of development the game was in at the time. They are inextricably linked in my memory.

When I started on this game I didn’t even know how to program. I’ve taught myself more and more over the course of development. And in that time, the indie game landscape has shifted substantially. The floodgates for selling on Steam burst open and everyone is on an even playing field. Unfortunately, that means my inexperience and lack of resources makes it extremely difficult to remain competitive enough to support continued development. The game is taking longer than I ever could have imagined it would take, and it isn’t selling near well enough for me to assist in supporting my family. No one wants this game to be finished more than I do, but at the end of 2018 I had to ask myself some hard questions. Would I continue to string along development while asking my family to make more sacrifices for me? Or was it time to move on?

I’m sure you can tell where this is going. Development of the story mode is now on indefinite hold. It’s unlikely that any major new feature additions will be worked on either. At the beginning of January I accepted a position as a Junior Programmer for a software development company. A moment that was more bitter than sweet for me and my family. I had to give up my dream of finishing this game, but I also wouldn’t have gotten the job without the experience I gained while making it. Now I have a more stable and secure source of income and my money-related stress and anxiety have greatly decreased.

Despite this new path ahead of me, I’m still devastated. I feel like I’m killing something that never got a real chance to live. And it’s my fault. I was naive, inexperienced, overzealous, and short-sighted. I want to apologize to everyone who is disappointed by this news. Especially to you, my original Kickstarter backers, who put their trust in me to deliver on the concept of a story-based Mars survival game, but also to everyone who has helped me along the way by providing feedback and suggestions that have dramatically improved the game from where it started. I literally would not be where I am today without you. I’m truly humbled.

So what happens now? Lacuna Passage will remain in the Steam Early Access program indefinitely. It’s true that I could make a dishonest cash grab by calling the game “finished” and take advantage of the “Version 1.0” launch window visibility on Steam. But I’m not going to do that. I have removed all references to the story mode from the store page and the game itself. I have clarified that development has halted in the description text on the store page, but it will remain available at its current price for those that understand what the game is and are still interested in playing. I will also be shutting down the official feedback forums. They incur a cost every month and from now on I will use the official Steam forums for bug reports. If serious bugs are found I will do my best to address them, but beyond that I can’t make any promises.

I’m not going to let this experience stop me from making games in the future. But from now on it will be much smaller hobbyist projects. Games like Lacuna Passage are just too big for someone like me to tackle. I’m sad that I didn’t reach my planned destination, but I don’t regret the journey it took me on. I hope that you have gotten something out of your investment in Lacuna Passage and in me.

Thank you,
Tyler Owen
Random Seed Games