Press release

Beyond These Stars development update - pathfinding, compost, and tutorials - oh my!

Progress on the upcoming city-building game continues, with new features taking shape as the studio travels the stars toward early access

June 2, 2023 - Hooded Horse is excited to shed more light on recent developments for Balancing Monkey Games’ upcoming science-fantasy city-builder Beyond These Stars. New additions include tutorial improvements, better pathfinding, overlays, and everything in between.


Specific focuses of development over the past few months include:

Pathfinding
Navigating the back of a giant space whale is trickier than it sounds, which is why the pathfinding for the “peeps” will need to be rock-solid.

Kewa glow-up
The art team has been making Kewa - the space whale on whose back players build a new settlement - look as visually striking as possible while also improving visual fidelity at different scales.



It’s not just about the wide angles - the close-ups are just as important:




Tutorial

The team has been hard at work writing (and re-writing) the tutorial for Beyond These Stars, leaning heavily on feedback from the onboarding process from the previous game. It’s now fully armed and operational.

UI, Quality of Life, and More!

There are plenty more recent developments as well. The starting spaceship can now take off again, not just land as was seen in the announcement trailer. Compost can be used to revitalize tiles, and there are now new overlays and production-chain diagrams.


You can read more about the developer’s antics both in and outside the game in development blogs #11, #12, and most recently the May development update.

Beyond These Stars will release into early access for PC via Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store. A press kit is available.


Press inquiries: press@hoodedhorse.com
Creator inquiries: influencers@hoodedhorse.com

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About Hooded Horse™
Hooded Horse is a publisher of deep strategic and tactical games with people and partners worldwide. Starting in 2019 with a single title, Hooded Horse’s portfolio has grown to 21 games and counting. Our goal is to empower and support developers in doing what they love so that they can create world-class experiences for their audiences. From the distant past of Manor Lords and the haunted woods of Against the Storm, to the depths of space in Terra Invicta and Falling Frontier.

You can find out more about us on our Steam publisher page, as well as our social channels; Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Discord, and website.

About Balancing Monkey Games™

Balancing Monkey Games is an independent game developer based in New Zealand (Aotearoa), that specializes in non-violent games that aim to relax and entertain players. It is the studio’s mission to build a positive and thoughtful community, as well as create peaceful, accessible, and culturally relevant experiences that enable the team to support their local community in Dunedin (Ōtepoti).

You can find out more via the studio’s official website and social channels, such as Discord, Twitter, and YouTube.