Venerable Knights,
The Playtest has been running for a month and will continue until the end of February - if you'd still like to participate, this is the time.
I wanted to share a few insights. Since this is the first time a larger number of players tried the game, it is really motivating to read the positive feedback and thoughful suggestions. Like every game ever made, of course this one cannot be for everyone either, but most players enjoy it quite a bit, and some really a lot.
Here the top 5 points of positive feedback:
Deep mechanics
Choices really matter
Towns feel alive
Good humor
Great playtime for a Playtest (~10 hours)
And here the negative ones:
No distinct saves (will change)
Tactical combat does not require acting very tactical (will change)
Enemies run away too often (will change)
Too hard to get out of prison (will not be a problem in the next version anymore)
Too hard to complete chapter 1, as the town near the final dungeon can't be entered (will change)
Some statistics:
~2400 players have registered, and counting
13% made it to the end of the tutorial adventure "Aldhelm's Path"
3.2% made it to chapter 2 of the main game
1% made it to chapter 3 of the main game
Our Discord channel gained quite a few new followers, too. Join here: https://discord.gg/BHbU2x6g
Here a 15-minute interview with Frazer from MicroProse about the Playtest:View game page
I was very impressed by how far some dedicated players got in this version. To be honest, I did not expect it to be possible and had to quickly implement a number of perks that I thought could not be learned yet - but they can.
A lot of changes were made over the last month. After the Playtest unlocked on January 15, updates were released almost daily.
128 bugs were fixed and many incoming requests have already been implemented (full list at the bottom).
Notable streams
Content creators have picked up on the Playtest and there are some great recordings out there. To name a few:
Nookrium (English):
Valandryl (French):
Denox (Russian):
The Mellow Mango (English):
Strategos Xenophon (German):
View game pageThis one was recorded before the Playtest and focuses on the main game. Includes an interview with me.
I'm looking forward to the remaining two weeks, and to what's next.
Next step: the official demo
The official demo, planned to be ready in a few months, will be the next big milestone. Currently you are able to proceed to chapter 3, the demo aims to raise the cap to chapter 5 (the final game will have 10 chapters).
Generally, the focus of the demo will be on adding more content: more quests to solve, more places to explore, more loot to find and more enemies to defeat!
Creating quests is a very laborsome process at the moment. To speed this up, my first big project after the Playtest will be to implement a tool that will help making quests faster. There is a long list of other things I want to add, too, but the scope is not yet finalized and I do not want to give everything away, so more details will follow once we're closer to the release.
Changes during the Playtest
The following features have been added since January 15:
Added ambient sound volume setting
Added "whistle for horse" feature
Added "key ring" feature
Added borderless fullscreen option
Added option for larger window size (fills most of the screen)
Added new Steam achievement for choosing a profession branch
Added portrait orientation recording guide
Added feature to end non-ironman-games at any time without saving
Added chance for a character to be instantly killed when attacked asleep (includes PC)
Added feature to modify skill by 5 points when holding Shift key
Added "attempt to escape" option in quick combat prompt when appropriate
Added "cancel attack" option in the quick combat prompt
Added permanent instructions to lockpicking mini-game, in addition to quick hints
Added building labels on the overview map
Added hover text for perks in the character sheet
Added warning when raising skill for which a status penalty applies to the related attribute
Added tutorial card for toggling the inventory view
Implemented perk "Devastating Blows"
Implemented perk "Fencing Master"
Implemented perk "Hot Blooded"
Implemented perk "Light Sleeper"
Implemented perk "Night Ranger" (more work needed)
Implemented perk "Talented"
Implemented perk "Fast Healer"
Implemented perk "Statute of Bravery"
Implemented perk "Forger"
Implemented perk "Master of the Bribe"
Implemented perk "Catlike Moves"
Implemented perk "Threatening Appearance"
Implemented perk "Compulsive Liar"
Implemented perk "Lock Cracker"
Implemented perk "Idol"
The following improvements were made:
Massively improved movement in tactical combat
Improved memory management
Improvement performance
Improved error reporting
Improved the NPC travel engine
Improved UI to better differentiate between hungry/thirsty and starving/parched
Improved text rendering quality for low resolutions
Verified and updated the weight of all items
Improved how persuasion and intimidation attempts get processed
Improved random NPC comments about the weather
Improved layout of the controls on the Settings screen
Improved prison hints
Improved conversation topics with priests
Improved horse's running speed
Improved handling when a spike trap triggers
Now pausing game when showing tutorial after entering the building in prison villa event
Now no longer clearing prison break door/window progress when going to the villa
Added resting and crafting option to more places
Improved some item description texts
Disabled disarming feature during quick combat (weapon might be lost)
Improved tutorial wording
Myram now accepts quest items outside working hours when using "Offer" at right place
Made specific item in quest "Of Cabbage and Corpses" a quest item
Increased the effect of leftover action points on evasion rolls (now +4% per AP)
Made chance to escape from quick combat 100% if no enemy wants to fight
Made NPCs slightly braver, now fleeing less often
NPCs are no longer "feeling brave" if they cannot even attack
Now outputting a message when NPCs are about to flee
Now hiding mouse cursor when cutscene is playing in fullscreen mode
Internal optimizations
Until next time,
Martin