- Dev Status Update August ‘25 - 3 August 2025
From the dusty edges of K'Tharsis – a dispatch from the team behind the frontier...Howdy, space cowboys!It’s been a while since our last major update — and if you’ve been wondering what’s going on behind the scenes, let me reassure you: the silence isn’t a bad sign. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.We've been riding hard, heads down, working on bringing our game closer to the finish line. The good news? We’ve recently crossed a major internal milestone. Most of the core content is now in its final stage, and we’re shifting gears into polishing, balancing, and rigorous testing.Why It Takes TimeOne of the most ambitious and rewarding aspects of our game is the focus on handcrafted, meaningful quests — many of them branching, interconnected, and full of consequence. Our aim is to deliver something memorable, something that sticks with you long after you log off. But designing non-linear qu…
- Build 0.75 is live! - 19 April 2025
We’re currently working on major content upgrades, like updated quest lines, but progress isn’t ready to share yet. As a result, Build 75 is primarily a maintenance update. In this patch, we’ve improved sound design, polished new areas, added fresh assets, and enhanced NPC daily routines and AI. These changes lay the groundwork for new and updated quests coming in future builds. As always, our scripting team has tackled a ton of work, fixing numerous bugs and quest/game logic issues—many thanks to your feedback! Art assets New Animals: Added Meat Slugs and Flying Jellyfish (with variations). Gym Equipment: Introduced a basic workout gear set. Colonist Dishware: Added basic tableware to the game’s assets. New Characters: Included a full Meat Slug set (larvae, juvenile, ripe). Crystals: Converted all crystals to a palette-based system. Bugfix: Fixed visual glitches tied to the huge 3D mod…
- 0.74.2 Hotfix - 25 July 2024
Hi all! This is a small update with the fixes of the issues that were identified as most annoying for players over the recent weeks. And fixable quickly! Meanwhile, we are already working on the next big update, which will include some exciting improvements! Bug Fixes and Improvements Fix module sub-icons not clearing from inventory slots. Fix items in gifting not triggering item info on hover. Add travel menu controller navigation. Add a waiting UI to the travel time skip. Previously, fast forward was initiated for the travel time depending on the distance, and the acceleration could continue even after teleportation. Fix the item modification error when holstering a weapon that will be stacked with the one being modified. Fix issues with the quest "Lost Friend". As always, let us know if anything prevents you from enjoying the game, and we will try to address it ASAP! Thanks for you s…
- Hotfix 0.74.1.0 - 6 July 2024
We are excited to announce the release of Hotfix 0.74.1.0, which includes several improvements and critical fixes based on recent feedback to enhance your gaming experience. Here’s a detailed list of what has been addressed in this update: Bug Fixes and Improvements Fixed camera direction affecting dodge velocity Improved animal basic melee animation interruption Fixed delimiter buttons repeating actions indefinitely Corrected max delimiter count when removing items from gifting Fixed characters without stagger animations collapsing Moved holster to RB hold for controller, fixing its hold activation conflict Ensured doors close after the player too Addressed issues in the quest "Lost Friend" Fixed minor drone navigation issue Fixed consume not overriding dialog animation Corrected curious dialog logic exiting upon smoke gifting Fixed wrong combobox sizes upon screen resize Ensured butto…
- Build 0.74 is Live! - 2 July 2024
Greetings, space cowboys! It's been some time, and we're thrilled to bring you news about the latest Exoplanet: First Contact update. This update is all about enhancing gameplay features, level design, and optimization, with less focus on the narrative. Additionally, we've included a much-anticipated feature—gamepad support! Let's get started. For those still playing Build 0.73: With the release of 0.74, all saves from 0.73 will no longer be compatible. To accommodate players who want to continue using their existing savegames, we have created an additional branch on Steam. To access it, right-click on the game in your library, select "Properties," go to the "Betas" tab, and choose "update_073_compatible." No password is required. This way, you can continue your previous savegame. Take Full Control One of the most anticipated features is gamepad support. We know many players find this m…
- Hotfix 0.73.5 - 7 March 2024
Hello everyone! First off, we want to share a big thank you for your feedback on our recent update. We've been truly inspired by your positive comments and we're buzzing with excitement to tackle the new issues you've helped us uncover. They're opportunities for us to make the game even better. We're always amazed at the many nuances and unique ways to play the game. Even with our small team, we're giving our all to cover as many scenarios as possible. To keep the development ball rolling while ensuring a constant rise in quality with each iteration, we've teamed up with external partners to help us with the QA process. On another note, our team is fully immersed in working on the next update, which is set to introduce some thrilling features that we're sure you'll love. However, we don't want any existing issues to hang around until that major update. So, we've whipped up a new hotfix…
- BUILD 0.73 - 2 February 2024
Hello, space cowboys! We are excited to tell you that update 0.73 is ready! We have put in a ton of work and made numerous changes to make your gaming experience even better. As usual, we're eager to hear your thoughts in the comments and on Discord. Now let's take a look at the changes awaiting you in the game. GAMEPLAY We've already told you about the changes in the combat system, the introduction of new opponents with updated sounds, and improvements in daily routines. But, of course, we have more to share besides the new ability system, adding levels to Jack's enemies, character reactions, and effects. The role-playing system underwent a significant overhaul — we've invested a lot of effort into adding systems that will diversify the ways to solve quests, increase replayability, and give you the chance to personalize your character. Thanks to numerous skills and the new perks system…
- PLANET K’THARSIS - 10 November 2023
Hello folks! We continue to tell you more about the world of the game and now we’d like to pay more attention to the planet K’Tharsis. In the previous post dedicated to the setting we deepened a bit into the history of the planet, and this time we want to share how exactly it was discovered and why it has such a motley population. https://i.imgur.com/WcR3iQJ.gif A bit of history K’Tharsis would remain a wild planet forever but for captain Brennigan who had to make an emergency landing on an unfriendly looking planet. A precious mineral called antigravium brought fabulous riches to the captain, but he hardly managed to use them. Very soon the poor guy was found tortured to death in his new villa. And the news about antigravium Klondike spread across the galaxy with the speed of light. K’Tharsis became the most desired aim of adventurers of all kinds including criminals and outcasts. Righ…
- CUTSCENES - 22 October 2023
https://i.imgur.com/PeBx1Xp.jpg Hello, space cowboys! Today, we'll talk about one of our most vibrant storytelling elements — cutscenes. We'll also discuss what guides us in creating them, the tools we use, and the challenges we face. When designing cutscenes for the game, we adhered to several principles, with the first being the principle of necessity. The primary goal is to simplify the player's understanding of what's happening — conveying information without lengthy dialogues, helping to assess the situation, or finding a secret passage. https://i.imgur.com/HO1LCXd.gif Secondly, it's often easiest to reveal the personality, motives, and emotions of characters in cutscenes. They allow us to showcase the seriousness of a situation or emphasize the dramatic nature of a moment — as seen, for example, in the escape of Scalphunters leader’s favourite arphant. https://i.imgur.com/MbXekOJ.…
- SETTING - 15 September 2023
Hello, friends! Previously, we focused on gameplay, level design, and quests, but now we're redirecting more efforts towards exploring the game's setting, which is planned for upcoming updates. So, we would like to tell you more about the world of Exoplanet, the planet Jack finds himself on, and the laws that govern it. What does the planet K'Tharsis look like? Exoplanet is a game set in a space western setting, where the action takes place on an abandoned planet ravaged by corporations. Here, you can find both high technology, like on a crashed spaceship, and makeshift tents made of hides and bones, as in the Scalphanter camp. We faced numerous challenges regarding the balance of future technologies and elements that depict K'Tarsis as a backward planet. This was a crucial process to recreate the atmosphere of the frontier, where gray morality and lawlessness prevail. At the same time,…
- NEW MONSTERS - 19 August 2023
https://i.imgur.com/8nc76ov.png Hello friends! While the final touches are being made in update 0.73, we would like to introduce you to two new enemies! Previously, we filled the desert and the Edge with the few mobs that were completed. Due to this, the uniqueness of the species might not have been as apparent. However, now that we have more models, we can distribute them according to habitat zones, making the fauna of K'Tarsis look much more logical. Here's what we can tell you about the behaviors and characteristics of the two new animals. WILD DOG https://i.imgur.com/EQcQkLM.jpg You can encounter this mob both in the desert and in the savanna, and it will take some effort to deal with them! https://i.imgur.com/tISa5au.gif The dog is a pack animal, very agile, fast, and maneuverable. Due to the peculiarities of its body structure — especially its long jointed legs — animating it was…
- DAILY ROUTINES - 22 July 2023
Hey friends! Today we would like to explore another complex topic that significantly enriches the world of Exoplanet — NPC daily routines. We were inspired to give characters daily activities by Gothic, one of the first games to create a world where many characters have minor daily tasks. These tasks correspond to the roles of NPCs on The Edge — guards secure their locations, patrols monitor the territory, and traders scavenge for scraps. At first glance, it may seem simple, but in reality, there are many nuances in designing daily activities that we will discuss further. Before realizing the need to develop a separate subsystem to handle NPC daily routines, we used quest logic. However, this approach led to many problems — we had to manually consider whether a character is alive or not, whether they are in combat, or if they have moved to another location to participate in a more impor…
- COMBAT SYSTEM UPDATE - 23 June 2023
Greetings, space cowboys! Today, we’d like to talk to you about one of the most essential aspects of space western — the combat system. It's quite an extensive and complex topic, but we're steadily approaching the final version. Today we'll tell you how we've improved the impact effects for both melee and ranged and share our plans on diversifying fights with a new system of perks. Character reactions https://i.imgur.com/1UwLRTU.gif We want to make character reactions to damage visually impressive and appealing. Therefore, we dedicate a lot of time to achieving believable combat visuals. In previous updates, we introduced hit animations for different body parts. Now we want to enhance character reactions to damage and associated negative effects. To create the right impression, we have replaced some animations and continue refining the "status effects" system. We are also gradually incr…
- PREDEFINED PROTAGONIST - 19 May 2023
Hello friends! You have asked us if there would be an option to create your own character. In this article we’d like to explain why we can’t give such an option to the players and why we made such decisions. Of course, it's great to be able to create a character based entirely on your own preferences - to define his appearance parameters, like in Skyrim, or even choose a backstory, like in Mass Effect. And many players will feel a strong attachment to such a custom character.However, fully predefined characters also have many advantages - remember Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2 or Geralt from the Withcer. So what can be said about our hero? Jack Sharp — the one and only? When thinking about what our main character would be like, we considered many factors, such as the technical and production complexity of implementing full-scale character customization. And by designing a pre…
- DEATH PROBLEM - 5 May 2023
Hello friends! As you know we work hard for our game to become as convincing as possible, that’s why we’ve put a lot of effort into adding one of the most important features — total mortality. This mechanic is a real challenge for us because if any character can die, there will be so many scenarios that it will be impossible to control them! Besides, in our game there are quite a number of spectacular cutscenes. If a character dies and then appears in one of the videos, the logic of the narrative will be broken. It put even more difficulties into the search of the solution and even made us think of giving up this feature. And yet we wanted our players to have an opportunity to considerably influence the storyline. That’s why we’ve made a serious research on how mortality looks in other games. For example, if you kill an important character in Divinity 2, there will be a note on his body…
- KILL, STEAL, TALK! - 13 April 2023
Hello friends! While we’re working on the next build, we’re excited to share some details about our roleplay approaches in the game and how we're implementing them. You may know about the three pillars of a roleplay system: killing, stealing and talking. All of them are performed in our game. Let’s have a look at how you can solve problems and do quests using them! Killing As a space western Exoplanet has a variety of weapons — and don’t hesitate to give them a try! Force is the most popular way of solving problems on K’Tharsis. And to give them a more cowboy look in future updates we’re planning to add new animations! https://i.imgur.com/7SAKTL7.gif K’Tharsis is a cruel planet, so sometimes it may be much easier to intimidate NPCs, and if it doesn't work — be ready to face consequences! Some quests lead you to places where negotiations are not an option, so the choice is either stealth…
- BUILD 0.72 - 9 March 2023
Hello, friends! We hope your year started really well — and we’re excited to tell you all about the new update. This year we’re planning to show more progress in the improvement of the game — we’ve analyzed the experience of the previous year and expect to considerably speed up the process of development. And now let’s see what improvements and changes await us in the update 0.72! FOR THOSE WHO STILL PLAYING BUILD 0.71 Important reminder: with 0.72 all the saves from 0.71 might be broken, that's why we made an additional branch on Steam for those who still want to play 0.71. Right click on the game in your library, Properties, go to Betas tab and then choose update_071, no password required. This way you can continue your previous game if you want to. GAMEPLAY https://i.imgur.com/k7yVhFT.gif We keep working on the fighting system and have added a knockdown animation into the game. Now J…
- Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! - 26 December 2022
Hello, friends! Merry Christmas from Alersteam! We want to thank you all for being so supportive, for your thorough feedback and motivating words. We wish you all the best moments and the most wonderful games in 2023! By the way, Steam Winter Sale is still on so you can get our game with a 20% discount, the highest possible one up to the release. And we'll try to come up with new updates as soon as possible. Cheers!
- BUILD 0.71 - 23 December 2022
https://i.imgur.com/wc7dXdv.jpg Hello, friends! Our new update is right here for the Steam Winter Sale! But before telling you about it, we want to thank you for being so active and supportive. Thanks to your prompt feedback we managed to correct a lot of bugs and flaws and also planned future improvements. We hope build 0.71 will make your gaming experience much better. FOR THOSE WHO STILL PLAYING BUILD 0.70 Important reminder: with 0.71 all the saves from 0.70 might be broken, that's why we made an additional branch on Steam for those who still want to play 0.70. Right click on the game in your library, Properties, go to Betas tab and then choose update_070, no password required. This way you can continue your previous game if you want to. GAMEPLAY https://i.imgur.com/duLUHgd.gif First of all, according to your requests, we’ve improved the system of stealth. Earlier Jack could only cr…
- MAJOR UPDATE 0.70 - 30 November 2022
Hello, friends! The Major Update 0.70 is already here and we’re waiting impatiently for your reviews. This is the biggest update in the entire history of the game, we have added a lot of absolutely different content, that’s why your feedback will be extremely useful. Don’t hesitate to inform us about bugs, we’ll try to fix them as fast as we can. You can do it in our Discord — we read all the comments attentively and are always willing to talk to players. Join in! We have already told you a lot about some big changes in separate articles (you can find all the links below), but there are more of them. That’s why we’ll gladly tell you about everything you can see in the new version of the game. Are you ready? 0.70 CHANGELOG INTRO CINEMATIC https://i.imgur.com/cI348a9.gif First of all, we’ve finally added a proper cinematic introducing the character and telling about an unfortunate deal wh…
