Colony Sim Ascent of Ashes Is Coming To Early Access Next Month

Vivid Storm Interactive, developers of the Combat Extended mod for RimWorld, have been working on a colony sim game called Ascent of Ashes for a while now. 

The game is set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia where you take on the role of leader of a team of survivors, busy with various tasks. "Build and defend your base. Manage your survivors. Engage raiders, aliens, Remnant soldiers and other factions in real-time-with-pause combat. Or use stealth to outwit them. Explore the massive world. Survive at all costs," reads the game description. 

Unlike other games in the genre, in Ascent of Ashes, you are capable of restoring and driving vehicles, which are helpful tools to help you move faster and explore more efficiently in the expansive, procedurally generated world, filled with rich biomes and points of interest. 

The enemies in the game, powered by dynamic AI, will have different levels of intelligence. "Taking on a disorganized band of raiders will play very differently from fighting a squad of well-trained Remnant soldiers." 

Your role not only tests your ability to win in deep tactical combats, but also to properly find and recruit survivors who can strengthen your team to deal with challenges, and remember to keep everyone happy, secure, and motivated along the way. 

As a team that "has its roots in mod-making," they've created the game with an engine that’s highly extendable and mod-friendly to provide the support that modders need. "Ascent of Ashes is a game developed by modders, for modders."

The developers have been synchronizing development progress through monthly updated dev logs on Steam, so if you're curious about what's going on in the game and what to expect next, don't hesitate to check it out.

Ascent of Ashes will be released in Early Access on July 21. To learn more about the game and watch more gameplay footage, check it out on Steam and the official account on X/Twitter.