The big green button has been pressed and with that the game is officially out of Early Access. Tell your friends, or perhaps tell your enemies too~
The big green button has been pressed and with that the game is officially out of Early Access.
Tell your friends, or perhaps tell your enemies too~
Okay, it took quite a bit longer than planned. Partly due to switching engine versions, which broke way more than expected, and partly due to health struggles. However finally managed to wrap up things, the Beta has already been updated for the last few tests and then we finally
Okay, it took quite a bit longer than planned. Partly due to switching engine versions, which broke way more than expected, and partly due to health struggles.
However finally managed to wrap up things, the Beta has already been updated for the last few tests and then we finally leave Early Access at the start of Steam Summer Sale, with a nice discount of course :)
There will probably be some minor updates after that, as no doubt some hard to find bug shows up, so make sure to give feedback if you want.
Thanks to everyone whom has helped get the game to this stage, sorry again for being so slow~
Hello factory workers, It's been a little too quiet here and I apologize profusely, Boss. Aside from game development I also worked as a mailman and due to explosively increased workload the past 6 months I've had no energy for gamedevvin' at all. Unfortunately due to lots of bad
Hello factory workers,
It's been a little too quiet here and I apologize profusely, Boss. Aside from game development I also worked as a mailman and due to explosively increased workload the past 6 months I've had no energy for gamedevvin' at all.
Unfortunately due to lots of bad changes in that job, plus that insane workload, I've decided to take my leave and focus on game development & personal health the coming months.
Fortunately for the games this means: progress is back! Now onto version 1.0!
My goal is to get the 1.0 patch released in February, or March at the very latest.
I'm currently working on updating to GodotSteam 4.6, there's been some breaking API changes so excessive testing is required to catch all the new bugs.
With this new version come rendering, performance and networking improvements.
Another important focus right now is quality-of-life improvements, getting interactions a bit more polished an small changes everywhere that make the gameplay experience nicer.
Of course the Deliveries section still needs more attention:
- Some assets are unfinished or missing,
- Missing some fun passive creatures & surprises,
- Competitors have a bug that prevents spawning most of the time,
- Clockwork Demons can see through things, making them chase players despite not having line-of-sight,
- Client-side Lorry jitters still happen and the client sync needs a small revamp to fix it,
- Improved level progression.
Once these things have all been properly addressed I can release the big 1.0 patch.
Of course there is one final thing that needs attention: outfits & rewards.
This feature has been the lowest on the list since it doesn't affect (core) gameplay and there are enough basic outfits at the moment. I do have a big pile of fun outfit and reward concepts that I really want to add to the game, these will be added slowly over time.
These will be the final few patches for the game, alongside final bugfixes.
The Lorry can now get damaged from collisions and its boiler can now over-pressure/explode. I've implemented the first basics for the Competitor and with that more Deliveries difficulties can be unlocked. This patch also features some important bugfixes. EARLY ACCESS 0.9.0.5 Fixe
The Lorry can now get damaged from collisions and its boiler can now over-pressure/explode.
I've implemented the first basics for the Competitor and with that more Deliveries difficulties can be unlocked.
This patch also features some important bugfixes.
EARLY ACCESS 0.9.0.5
Fixed crash when the Boiler explodes.
All Delivery difficulty levels are now unlockable, except for custom. However: here are still some missing things in the later levels. Such as new monsters and obstacles.
Added new parameters to Delivery difficulty levels and updated the difficulty progress.
Difficulty select menu will now default to the main selection screen instead of the Custom difficulty, when it is unlocked.
Competitor now spawns in the Town, grabbing at players from underground. Don't get caught!
New Competitor animations.
Demon now turns and flies smoothly.
Improved existing Demon animations.
New Demon animations for catching players.
Added timer to ensure Demon drops player after 30 seconds.
Demon now drops player on delivery end, so it doesn't mess up player movement.
Lorry boiler now has a safety valve with effects.
Lorry boiler can now explode when overpressured for too long.
Added crashing sounds for bumping the Lorry into things.
Lorry can now break down due to collisions when playing higher difficulties. Repairs can be done with the wrench.
Wrench now spawns in the Lorry.
Minor bugfixes.
Pushing this update because I improved some essentials in the Lorry driving behavior. The sounds and steering behavior now depends on the actual velocity, taking collisions into account i.e. no more turning on the spot whilst up against a wall and such shenanigans :) Makes it a l
Pushing this update because I improved some essentials in the Lorry driving behavior.
The sounds and steering behavior now depends on the actual velocity, taking collisions into account i.e. no more turning on the spot whilst up against a wall and such shenanigans :)
Makes it a lot more natural!
EARLY ACCESS 0.7.8.1: - Fixed resolution scaling settings being wrong on boot. - Possible fix for window misalignment on boot. - Removed red meshes at delivery goals, instead a white light beam will show on the current delivery target. This will be further expanded upon in future
EARLY ACCESS 0.7.8.1:
- Fixed resolution scaling settings being wrong on boot.
- Possible fix for window misalignment on boot.
- Removed red meshes at delivery goals, instead a white light beam will show on the current delivery target. This will be further expanded upon in future patches.
- Possible fix for horse/cart getting under the map.
- Added speed limits to Lorry for improved control, especially in reverse gear.
- Fixed Lorry brake not working properly in reverse.
KNOWN MAJOR BUGS:
- Lorry client-side jitter fix only works sometimes.
- Certain fullscreen resolutions can cause the game to have a black bar at the side(s), changing the resolution setting fixes it.
The Clockwork Demon is now in Deliveries. It will fly around looking for players to snatch up! Don't walk into its search light! This is still an early implementation, getting a feel for what works and what doesn't. The Lorry will be given a deterrent in the form of a big spotlig
The Clockwork Demon is now in Deliveries. It will fly around looking for players to snatch up! Don't walk into its search light!
This is still an early implementation, getting a feel for what works and what doesn't. The Lorry will be given a deterrent in the form of a big spotlight, but in the meantime you still have the lantern to help out.
EARLY ACCESS version 0.7.7.1:
- Fixed shift payout being wrong for client players, it is now properly synced.
- Fixed bug in Lorry that caused players to move erratically when standing in the Lorry whilst it was moving at speed.
- Fixed bug that caused Boss anger noises & music to start playing
- Fixed Boss monster being wrongly triggered client-side in for client players when it shouldn't in Deliveries.
- Fixed Boss monster spawning for client players when it shouldn't in Deliveries.
- Minor fix in Demon animation sync.
- Fixed Demon trigger having a wrong offset, causing the lantern to not work properly on it.
- Improved scanning of the Demon's red light as it would miss players sometimes.
- Gave the Demon wings and legs.
- Updated some of the Demon animations, partially still WIP.
- Clockwork Demon now spawns in the Town. It will scan for players using its red light beam and chase anyone it finds.
- Increased Lorry tailgate max angle so it's easier to hop on.
- Horses/Carts will now be placed back onto the road if they find themselves out of bounds or stuck somewhere off-road.
- Navigation improvements.
- Identified some areas where players can get stuck with the Lorry and blocked most of these off properly.
- Fixed some errors in town assets.
- Updated and added new town assets.
KNOWN MAJOR BUGS:
- Lorry client-side jitter fix only works sometimes, I'm working to improve this further.
- Sometimes an horse/cart can get stuck in scenery or under the map.
The game has seen several updates since the Early Access release. The Deliveries section of the game is seeing the most updates, primarily in gameplay and assets, as it is still unfinished. The Lorry has seen many improvements, polishing its controls and behavior. Falling out of
The game has seen several updates since the Early Access release. The Deliveries section of the game is seeing the most updates, primarily in gameplay and assets, as it is still unfinished.
The Lorry has seen many improvements, polishing its controls and behavior. Falling out of the Lorry no longer means losing it as it will auto-brake if there are no players inside it. I've seen new players struggle with it quite a bit and falling out often meant getting completely lost.
The steering requires much less turns now so it makes control easier. It accelerates slower so the driver has more time to react if it goes too fast, but it also brakes much faster allowing for easier correction. I'll still further improve the Lorry controls as I get feedback on it.
There's a clock and a deliveries counter in the Lorry cab now, so players can see how much they still need to do and the time they have left to do it.
The horses and their carriages have been improved quite a bit so they don't get lost and stuck so much, but they still need some further work. Penalties for hitting them have been added and you'll now hear both the horse as the driver complain about getting hit.
The Boss no longer runs around in the Town, this was confusing for players and also didn't add anything to gameplay. Instead he'll only show up to punish players for slacking on the job!
No other monsters besides the Boss just yet, but they are coming in the next updates! Expect a return of an updated Demon, with brand new legs to chase you with! Still iffy on the Competitors being in the town, but the Mine does have a closed of entrance there so... Best not get too close, hmm? ;)
The environments of the town have seen many improvements, with assets being added or improved every update. There's still quite a lot of work to be done though, so I expect at least two more updates before it's fully complete.
I've decided to add a lot of fences, trees and other things blocking players from going off-road too much. I do want to give some freedom, but not to a degree that it causes players to get stuck or lost. Any off-road action will be limited to dirt roads, besides the cobble ones.
Version 0.7.3.6:
- Fixed pause menu breaking player movement in the Lorry
causing the player to glitch through.
- Lorry will auto-brake if all players fall out.
- Experimental possible fix for Lorry client-side jitter.
- Reduced deliveries to 8 for better length and to allow players
to lose up to 2 boxes.
- Calmed the horses down, they should behave better now.
- Cart driver shouldn't flop around like a wet noodle now.
- Improved horse brain, it will now try to get un-stuck.
- Improved cart physics.
- Horses and carts will now get launched when hit by the Lorry.
- Added sounds for these collisions too.
- Improved navigation mesh in Town,
- Added more decoration to Town, especially fences and such
to make navigation over roads easier.
- Improved and added collission in the Town.
- Boss no longer moves to delivery goals, instead he only shows
up to eat players.
- Boss anger music now plays when he comes for you in Deliveries.
- Extended the player-lorry movement trigger on the Lorry a little
so it's not so easy to fall out of the cab anymore.
- Added clock to Lorry cabin, so players can see if they're on
time with deliveries.
- Lorry accelerates slower but brakes faster.
KNOWN MAJOR BUGS:
- Lorry is somewhat jittery and spazzy client-side, depending
on ping amount. Currently testing a fix.
EARLY ACCESS 0.7.2.1 - Game should now automatically re-connect if initial connection to a session fails due to the invalidation error. - Host should no longer leave the session when a client is kicked/disconnected. - Added testing code to further improve connection related thing
EARLY ACCESS 0.7.2.1
- Game should now automatically re-connect if initial connection
to a session fails due to the invalidation error.
- Host should no longer leave the session when a client is kicked/disconnected.
- Added testing code to further improve connection related things.
New popups may appear during connecting and disconnecting
to sessions.
- Added new decoration, collission and improvements to the
Deliveries town map.
- Improved Lorry steering.
- Improved repair QTE so it can no longer be spammed.
KNOWN MAJOR BUGS:
- Lorry is somewhat jittery and spazzy client-side, depending
on ping amount.
- Having the pause menu open will stop player movement
when inside the Lorry even if the Lorry is moving.
This patch fixes and improves things mainly for Deliveries, but also includes some fixes for Twitch and Shifts. EARLY ACCESS 0.7.1.7: - Improvements to night sky and lighting. - Fixed texture errors in town landscape. - Improved some of the town models and added more decorations.
This patch fixes and improves things mainly for Deliveries, but also includes some fixes for Twitch and Shifts.
EARLY ACCESS 0.7.1.7:
- Improvements to night sky and lighting.
- Fixed texture errors in town landscape.
- Improved some of the town models and added more decorations.
- Added collision to a lot of the town objects.
- Basic implementation of Boss in Deliveries.
- Boss will hunt players if the team is behind on delivery quota.
- Added quota counter to Lorry, so players can see how many boxes are left to be delivered.
- Improved navigation mesh in town map.
- Added Mine entrance to town map.
- Fixed error in Twitch commands cooldown code that would block the '!kircommands' command.
- Fixed Twitch command cooldown only running on Deliveries.
- Added rain & thunder to Deliveries.
- Fixed fog not covering entire town map.
- Box will now despawn when delivered.
- Improved visibility in Lorry by having less dirty driver-side windows and two extra small windows in the center.
KNOWN MAJOR BUGS:
- Sometimes joining a team fails because the Steam servers fail to validate the session. Simply joining again should work. I am testing a fix for this, which should be ready next patch.
- Sometimes kicking a player or a player leaving due to a connection issue also invalidates the session for the host.
- Lorry is somewhat jittery client-side, depending on ping amount. I've improved this somewhat but this needs further work.
- Having the pause menu open will also pause player movement when inside the Lorry even if the Lorry is moving, causing the player to clip through.
Hello factory workers, I've just pressed that big green "release" button. Scary! Exciting! Looking forward to hearing what you think of the game :) Of course, being Early Access, the game isn't entirely finished just yet. So what is there and what is not? Shifts: The main section
Hello factory workers,
I've just pressed that big green "release" button. Scary! Exciting! Looking forward to hearing what you think of the game :)
Of course, being Early Access, the game isn't entirely finished just yet. So what is there and what is not?
The main section of the game are the factory 'Shifts' and this section has been finished and tested a lot already thanks to the closed beta. My thanks go out to everyone whom participated, your feedback has been invaluable.
You can already play the Shifts entirely from beginning to end, including the Custom one. Of course there may be some minor bugs that we haven't caught during the beta yet, so please report it if anything goes awry.
There is however another section of the game that I decided to add somewhat... last-minute: the Deliveries. This section is based on the same steam-truck racing through a town chaos that the first Keep It Running game has. Originally I didn't plan on adding this to Together as I didn't know how to make it work in a multiplayer setting. As you can guess I eventually came up with some ideas and started implementing these.
I had hoped to get it in a more complete state before today's deadline. The Lorry (steam truck) is fully functional, there's a town map and there's even some very derpy horses pulling their carriages.
The main mechanic for navigation and delivering toy boxes also works and the entire delivery can be completed. You also get funds rewarded.
There are a few things missing though:
No functional Boss, though the basic framework is in place for him.
No other monsters such as the Clockwork Demons and Competitors.
Most buildings are still ugly placeholders and most of the extra decoration is missing.
There are no penalties etc yet.
I will be spending the coming month getting Deliveries to a completed stage. The month after I want to focus more on bugfixing and polishing everything. I also want to add more Achievements and rewards. Once everything is as perfect as can be I can take a look at implementing (the bigger) community suggestions. I will make further announcements about that by then.
I hope you enjoy my game. Feel free to ask me questions, give suggestions or invite me to streams! :)
Now with with the Demo released I can focus on adding the final things to the game and fixing the last couple things. I was a bit apprehensive about adding the Deliveries section, the part of the game where you drive a 6-ton steam lorry through the town to deliver the toys. Mainl
Now with with the Demo released I can focus on adding the final things to the game and fixing the last couple things.
I was a bit apprehensive about adding the Deliveries section, the part of the game where you drive a 6-ton steam lorry through the town to deliver the toys. Mainly due to it being mostly physics based and overall not very suited for a multiplayer scenario.
After some experimenting I've come up with a new approach from scratch so that there's no "physics jank", whilst keeping the core of the gameplay intact. I've also expanded upon the original concept, much like with the Factory.
Players can walk around inside the lorry whilst it's driving without issue and can hop in and out of it easily.
The boxes and coal are still fully physics based, but behave nicely with the new lorry system.
Steering and the overall controls are much more stable than in the original game. There's overall more interactivity too, such as opening/closing the tailgate.
As you can see there's an (untextured still) compass now that shows the direction of the next target of delivery. Players will have to manually unload a box from the lorry and place it into a designated spot, with a bell sounding on successful delivery. Navigation is no longer provided by the Boss, players will instead have to figure out the quickest route themselves with the compass to aid them.
Of course the monsters will also return in this section of the game, but I'm also going to redesign these concepts from scratch as the Boss is no longer present in the lorry itself. Instead I want to experiment further with the Clockwork Demons and Competitors. The Boss will surely make appearances too, especially when players fail to do the deliveries properly.
The difficulty selection board is now updated with all the difficulty stages for Deliveries:
The release date of the game is still 23th of June 2025. Since the core gameplay mechanics for Deliveries are already implemented I'm not worried that this section will be too unfinished for an Early Access release as I can now mostly focus on designing the town map and get a complete gameplay loop.
However there will likely still be some bugs and missing minor things in this section at the time of release. I will post more info about this during the release itself.
Don't forget to try out the free demo and let me know what you think about the Factory <3
Go check it out and let me know what you think! The tutorial and 2 special shifts are available. You can play alone or in a team of up to 4 players. Voice chat and everything works too but Achievements and Leaderboards are disabled for the demo. Have a gander and let me know what
Go check it out and let me know what you think!
The tutorial and 2 special shifts are available. You can play alone or in a team of up to 4 players. Voice chat and everything works too but Achievements and Leaderboards are disabled for the demo.
Have a gander and let me know what you think! :D
Of course this is in preparation for Steam Next Fest in June. The release of the game is now planned for June 23th 2025, with a discount extending into Summer Sale ;)
In the meantime I'm working hard on adding Deliveries to the game, which will feature an updated Lorry (two, even) and a brand new map!
Here's the WIP of the new Lorry:
It will feature enough space for 4 players: two in the cabin and two in the back with the boxes, or three in the back. it depends on your teamwork preference of course.
The new Lorry uses simulated (kinematic) physics that I'm coding from scratch, to make it more stable for networking and the fact that there will be players that need to stand and sit inside it.
This should make for much less physics jank.
More info on the Deliveries portion of the game coming soon.
Development on the game is still according to schedule and the Beta is nice and stable. There have been loads of small (and some big) improvements to the gameplay, tutorial and interfaces, based on the feedback I've gotten so far. Keep it coming! And thanks to everyone whom has h
Development on the game is still according to schedule and the Beta is nice and stable.
There have been loads of small (and some big) improvements to the gameplay, tutorial and interfaces, based on the feedback I've gotten so far.
Keep it coming! And thanks to everyone whom has helped beta test the game so far :)
I'm currently awaiting the approval of the current game build from Valve, after that I can set up a demo for Steam Next Fest in June. This will be a free demo that is playable during Next Fest, in which you'll be able to do the first 2 or 3 shifts in the game.
Release is still set for 23th of June 2025. There will be a launch discount too, going into Summer Sale.
So make sure to WISHLIST to get notified when the demo and launch go live!
Twitch Integration and Proximity Voice Chat:
I hadn't talked about these two things yet and after lots of rigorous (stress-)testing I can confidently say Twitch integration as well as the ingame voice chat work very well.
The voice chat holds up even with 4 players on bad internet connections and the quality stays good.
Twitch integration currently only consists of a bunch of chat commands, that can be (de)activated by the streamer in the main- and pause menu. I'm looking into support for Bits, Cheers and Subscriptions too. You know, to give streamers some extra support. I like giving back!
If you have any ideas or suggestions regarding these things do let me know in the comments, in Discussions or on the Discord.
I've been able to get a lot of implementation, testing and fixing done the past week. Even did a 4-player stress test of the game yesterday with great success. Now with the game in version 0.5.0.2 it is officially in Beta with all major features implemented. Some of these feature
I've been able to get a lot of implementation, testing and fixing done the past week. Even did a 4-player stress test of the game yesterday with great success.
Now with the game in version 0.5.0.2 it is officially in Beta with all major features implemented.
Some of these features require further polishing and expanding upon still, but I want to get more feedback on the core gameplay before I accidentally make any wrong changes. The basis has to be near perfect, so I can build all the extra stuff on a solid foundation :)
Let me know if you're a content creator and want access to the beta test!
Bug reports and suggestions can be made either in the game's Steam Discussions forum or on our Discord.
Discussions: https://steamcommunity.com/app/3448380/discussions/
Discord: https://discord.gg/vV7KDVMBZz
Update Panel:
For the beta test I've added a panel to the main- and pause menu's so you can see what changed in the current version. In this screenshot you can also see the first bit of the updated Guide, which (hopefully) helps players with understanding the game mechanics:
The Mine:
I'm also still working on the Mine, which has been completely revamped. Now it's more of a simple maze with multiple connections and exits. The actual exit is randomized with the others boarded off:
And the open exit, which spawns you back into the Factory:
I still need to implement the chase mechanic. The Competitor will start chasing you as soon as you leave the main area where you spawn in:
I also want to add some minigame to this main area, there is a reason the Competitor stole you away from the Boss after all! Perhaps a mining minigame which allows players to get a bucket extra coal? This could be a useful way to get more coal in case you run out of the coal that is in the Factory.
The Demon:
The Clockwork Demon is also mostly complete, I only need to add the final bit to its mechanic where it'll chase and kill the players after having destroyed all the lights in the Factory. Here you can see him mess with the Generator, it is possible to deter him from doing this with the lanterns, just like in the first game:
That's all for now!
Looking forward to your feedback and thanks in advance for helping improve the game <3
Work on the game progresses steadily and I'm preparing to start the Closed Beta. This means all major features are implemented and the Factory map is finished sans minor details. The Mine section of the game may require a bit more work but I want to see how people react to what I
Work on the game progresses steadily and I'm preparing to start the Closed Beta. This means all major features are implemented and the Factory map is finished sans minor details. The Mine section of the game may require a bit more work but I want to see how people react to what I currently have made and with that feedback I can take further steps to improving the game.
Closed Beta keys:
Beta keys are available to content creators that want to help promote, test and improve the game. You absolutely don't need to be a QA expert, but I do expect some feedback :)
Let me know if you're interested!
The game is stable currently as we've done a lot of testing and bug-fixing, though no doubt there are still many (minor) bugs to fix in the Beta.
I've also improved and expanded further upon many areas of the original game as well as the new game and a couple things I mentioned in my last news post have been improved further.
New Main Menu:
The main menu has been revamped and now looks like this:
You'll notice there's a 'Guide' section, which has scribbles made by the player character that explain the various mechanics of the game and give small hints on the various creatures that roam the Factory.
New Difficulty Stages:
The difficulty stages are no longer easy/medium/hard, but more stages much akin to the 6 days of the original game. The reason for this a smoother growing difficulty curve. During testing we found that the steps between easy/medium/hard were too big and jarring. Also didn't feel as rewarding.
The various difficulty stages are designed for 1 player, but the difficulty of certain elements in the game will increase if more players join the team so that the difficulty feels the same despite being with more people.
Speaking of rewards, when the shift ends with a completed quota, you will greeted with a list of rewards the Boss has granted you. You will unlock new difficulty stages, new things to do, new outfits and who knows what else in the future :)
I may add some fun challenges for extra special rewards too, but I'm still figuring that out. Ideas/suggestions, as always, are most welcome.
New Toys:
I've finished making the second toy: the cursed Teddy. These nasty critters, when awakened, will steal your tools and place them in various locations within the Factory:
Work on the final toy, the cursed Caterpillar, has begun so all three toy types will be in the Beta. Same for the Clockwork Demons.
New "QTE" Minigame:
One feedback I got from viewers of our testing session streams is that the repair mechanic was lacking and that a minigame may make it more fun. After some pondering I implemented a simple "QTE"-like mechanic for repairing machinery and it indeed makes it a lot more fun and stressful!
It looks a bit ugly still but works great.
Starting the minigame:
Succeeding makes the repair start, failing means you'll have to try again if you so choose:
Toy Parts and the Conveyor Belts:
I've made a change to the end of the conveyor belts so that any toy parts that reach the end will be moved into a separate container, instead of falling onto and messing up the boxes.
This fixes a rather frustrating physics issue with the boxes and the toy parts, making it really hard to properly place down a box. It also makes it easier to gather the toy parts to put them back onto the belt:
Development Progress: I'm making swift progress on developing the game and am happy to report that Alpha testing is going really well. I'm fleshing out features and gameplay mechanics from the first game so they work better in a co-op context and am improving them where needed. N
I'm making swift progress on developing the game and am happy to report that Alpha testing is going really well. I'm fleshing out features and gameplay mechanics from the first game so they work better in a co-op context and am improving them where needed. Needless to say Together will be a big upgrade from the first Keep It Running in many ways.
The Factory:
Of course the Factory is much bigger, now with 2 boilers, 2 engines and 7 machines on 3 production lines in total:
There's two steam engines: one to deliver power to the lights and machinery and the other to actually drive the machinery. These engines can actually break and will need fixing with the wrench, just like the production machines. Furthermore the Toys and Demons can mess things up, but players will be given ways to deter them.
Progression and Unlockables:
Now with a much bigger factory and more things to deal with I've pondered hard on overall gameplay progression:
There will be a "tutorial" difficulty mode in which there is no Boss or other monsters and you are given much more time to get to grip with the basics of the game.
Though most things are fairly easy to get to grips with, due to the overall improvements I've made, there will be instructions available at all times during gameplay: I'm planning to give players a little handbook which contains instructions on things like filling the boilers with coal, repairing machinery and completing the quotas. This book will possibly also contain notes the player character scribbles down on the various monsters and toys.
The "custom" difficulty also makes a return, allowing players that have unlocked it to fully customize the upcoming shift to their liking, make custom challenges etc.
With every successful shift, with completed quotas, the Boss will reward players with not just harder difficulties with newly unlocked challenges but also... new outfits!
Players will be able to personalize their character with various unlockable clothing items, faces and hairstyles. And yes: there will steampunk outfits too :)
I'm not sure how many outfit items there will be yet, but I'm planning on at least 4 per item type to allow for a good variation of character looks.
Aside from the unlockable difficulties, challenges and outfits I may also add some unlockable tools and such but I'm still pondering on that. Suggestions are welcome, of course.
The Competitor Mines:
There is a new area besides the Factory: the Mines. Once the Competitors start visiting the Factory to steal away players, one may find themselves kidnapped and taken deep underground.
Players will have to escape the Competitor, being chased down by it as you try to find your way out of the dark mine, with only a lantern to guide your way. if you escape you will find yourself back at the Factory so you can continue pleasing the Boss with your diligent work.
At the start of March I'm hoping to have all the major elements implemented and decently tested so we can move forward to... Closed Beta testing!
Though I can test a lot myself with the help of my partner and our main tester I want to do more extensive testing by having others play too.
I know from experience that multiplayer games tend to have a lot of edge cases, often caused by different hardware and internet connections as well as different play styles. Certain bugs we may simply not find until someone else does something very specific that we'd never think to do.
Now, because I want to release a demo for Steam Next Fest in June I do want to ensure a good experience. I am confident we can make this happen ourselves, but I like being thorough :)
Another reason is... promo! I think it would be awesome to get some content creators to get an exclusive early preview going. I already got a few on my list that helped in the past, but am more than willing to add more to said list.
So shoot me a message if you're interested, have an audience and most importantly have some experience with testing work-in-progress games!
Yep! Keep It Running: Together is registered for Steam Next Fest in June and thus will have a demo available. I will also do one or more livestreams during the event so you can ask me questions and have a chat. Of course this will be further announced with more details when we near June.
As for Early Access:
I've decided to have a 2 to 3 month period in which I can further polish the game based on community feedback and make sure the full release is as bug-free and smooth as it can be. I may also add some new content or features that have been suggested either during Next Fest or during Early Access.
If you have suggestions or thoughts you want to share, absolutely do so in the game's Discussions forum on Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/app/3448380/discussions/2/