This is the first post in a devlog series about ColonySim — my colony survival simulator built with Godot. Here's how I got to the first public release and what's inside.

Why another colony sim

I've wanted to try gamedev for a long time. Not just "make a game to check it off the list", but actually build interconnected systems: economy, survival, resource management. Colony survival is a genre where all of this comes together.

The idea is simple: you have a small colony, and you need to help your villagers survive through winter. Sounds easy enough, but there's a whole bunch of systems that need to work together behind the scenes.

What's inside v0.31.0

The first public release is already playable, though still early. Here's what I managed to implement:

• Villagers. Each character has hunger, thirst, and happiness. Neglect them — and they'll suffer or even leave the colony.

• Construction. Houses, warehouses, farms, taverns, and other buildings. Each requires resources and workers.

• Gathering and crafting. Classic production chain: gather raw materials, process them, get a product. Wood, stone, food, drinks.

• Four seasons. Each season creates different conditions. Summer is the time to stockpile, winter is the real test.

• Dynamic weather. Rain, thunderstorms, blizzards — not just visual effects, but real gameplay impact.

• Random events. Caravans, discoveries, fires — so each playthrough feels different.

• Population growth. Births and migration — new villagers can join your colony.

Why Godot

I simply liked Godot. It's open-source, versatile, and intuitive enough to pick up quickly. GDScript feels a lot like Python, which I'm comfortable with — it helps with rapid prototyping. At the same time, the language is powerful enough to build proper architecture with inheritance and write clean OOP code.

Releasing is scary

Putting an unfinished game out there is a whole experience 😅 Not all sprites are done, balance is rough, but at some point you realize: if you wait for perfection — you'll never release. So v0.31.0 went live on itch.io for Linux and Web.

What's next

Lots of plans. I want to add hunting and fishing — so forests and water offer more possibilities. Also need sound — playing in complete silence feels a bit sad 😄 And more buildings and resources, of course.

You can try ColonySim on itch.io — free, right in your browser.