A couple of weeks ago, Haemimont Games released their latest update to survival base-building game ‘Stranded: Alien Dawn‘. The “Tame and Train Update” brings a range of new features for prospective survivalists to play with, and we had a chance to pose some questions to the developer about the update, and the game in general.
For those of you who have not yet picked up a copy, ‘Stranded: Alien Dawn‘ is a planet survival sim where the fate of a small group hinges on your every choice. Make vital decisions to protect survivors from starvation, disease, extreme weather and more. From basic camps to fortified bases, create a stronghold to defend against hostile alien wildlife that roam an expansive 3D landscape. Devise innovative solutions to problems and manage multiple unforeseen crises at the same time, ensure the survivors live to see another sunrise while on this epic and unpredictable journey.
The “Tame and Train” update adds the ability to tame, train, and breed a vibrant array of alien wildlife., along with introducing three new dog breeds that can be tamed and trained to provide your survivors’ protection and companionship. You can read our review of the update here, but below we had the chance to get some more specific answers about the update, and the game in general from the devs… or at least try to… They can be, understandably, a little evasive when it comes to talking about future content!
Do pets/tamed animals have their own schedules and activities, or does the player have to manage them?
HG: Pets and tamed animals rely on the care of the survivors. While tamed animals don’t have separate schedules, survivors now have a new activity called “Ranching”. This provides them with dedicated time for taming animals, taking care of their basic needs, and training them. The player’s main task will be keeping the tamed animals happy and fed in order to benefit from them. This might be more challenging than expected depending on the species and the skillset of the survivors!
Whilst this is the introduction of taming, do you see the possibility of expanding the animal’s usage in the future, based on its unique properties? i.e. Ulfen pulling wagons, digging-animals ability to mine, flying animals used as air defence etc… That sort of thing?
HG: We’re currently focused on the release of the Tame and Train update, and are looking forward to hearing the community’s thoughts as they get stuck in. The latest update brings a completely new way for players approach to the game – we are excited to see if players manage to figure out all possible ways to utilize the fauna of the planet and their specific attributes. For example, there are many new resources, even stones, which survivors can unearth with the help of their tamed animals. Many species will be able to protect against hostile wildlife as well.
The new content update adds animal taming & ranching, where animals can be used for food and combat. Are there any plans to expand this further with things like wearable armour and weapons for your animal companions?
HG: There are no plans to add animal weapons or armour; we think that the survivors would prefer to invest their scarce resources in defence and weapons for the whole base! That said, when tamed animals are trained and well taken care of they will grow stronger and will try to protect the survivors, so they can certainly prove useful during attacks.
One question which comes up a lot from players is about transportation. Some of the maps are huge (which is great!), but it would be wonderful to be able to use animals to pull carts to carry supplies (or be even ridable). Is this a possibility?
HG: The resources on the map are located in a way to pose a challenge for the players, encouraging them to make tricky decisions in terms of the time and effort their survivors would take to search further afield, versus careful storage and stockpile planning nearby. It means players must focus on balancing their survivors’ tasks. It’s always interesting to hear feedback and ideas, however, we don’t have anything to share in relation to transportation.
On the issue of the long mining/gathering trips, are there improvements coming to the AI? Ones that will take into account the travel distance, time of day, and hunger/tiredness meter before walking to some distant location, swinging their pickaxe once, and suddenly heading home to eat? Early Rimworld had this issue.
HG: As part of ongoing development for Stranded: Alien Dawn, we are continuing to fine-tune the game’s systems alongside our major early access content updates as our community of players provides us with valuable feedback. The Tame and Train update brings with it a range of enhancements, for example to the minimum time survivors spend performing observation tasks. Players can expect further adjustments as part of future early access updates.
How does temperature work exactly? Does the foundation material type affect the transmission or loss of heat? Specifically, the outer ring vs the internal.
HG: Different building materials in the game provide different degrees of insulation, so foundation material type does matter when players are building your base, along with walls and roof material type. The better the insulation a room has, the better the maintaining of the temperature inside the room. This is something players will need to take into consideration to raise the survivors’ chances of making it through winters and cold nights.
Will there be any lore elements? Maybe tidbits as you unlock research or pass certain milestones? There is also only the “crash landing” option in the scenario selector at the moment. Can you give any hint about some other scenarios that are in the works?
HG: While there are a wealth of different stories surrounding our survivors that players may uncover, our goal is for Stranded: Alien Dawn to provide a world within which players can craft their own stories with their survivors. So far we’ve seen some pretty cool character diaries created by our players – our community has so much imagination. The team are currently focused on the release of the Tame and Train update, and don’t have anything to share in relation to additional scenarios.
Are there any plans to add more radio stations like Surviving Mars?
HG: This is an interesting thought, however, we don’t have anything to share regarding radio stations.
Are there any plans for a mac or console release at some point?
HG: We are currently focused on providing the best early access experience for PC players and have nothing to announce regarding consoles.
Will you be releasing a roadmap with planned major features down the road?
HG: We will have more to share with everyone soon, so keep an eye out for our next update.
Published by Frontier (‘Jurassic World: Evolution 1 & 2’, ‘Planet Zoo’, ‘Planet Coaster’), and developed by Haemimont Games (‘Surviving Mars’, ‘Tropico’ series), ‘Stranded: Alien Dawn’ is available to play in early access now on PC via Steam for a suggested retail price of £24.99/$29.99/€29.99.
