Venerable Knights of the Valley,
We're close to the Alpha 3 release and I'd like to keep you updated about the latest developments.
I'm now finishing up the last changes to the completely overhauled tactical combat system, and will then focus on adding new quests and recording a new trailer for the remaining few weeks.
The Alpha 3 change list is long (see below), and the game is a massive step up from Alpha 2. Still, I am not quite satisfied. There's just something missing before it's ready for a wider release, and that something is simply more content.
The game mechanics are really mature at this point, and the NPC behavior is already quite complex and is getting more and more refined. The game is also pretty stable and performs well. But those things are not all that important... the one question that really matters is: "Is it fun?"
Yes, sort of. It's mostly fun. But it's not yet the game it is supposed to be, simply because there just isn't enough to do yet. There aren't enough enemies to fight. There isn't all that much loot to plunder yet.
Knowing that more content will make the game so much more interesting, releasing it now to a large number of players seems like a mistake, a wasted opportunity for a really great first impression.
Consequently, I made an adjustment to the release plan - Alpha 3 will go out as planned (next month), but this version will not participate in any Steam events, meaning the demo will not become universally available just yet.
Instead, I created a new milestone dubbed "Alpha 3.fun", for which I will purely focus on adding more content to the game and making it more entertaining. I have a release date in mind, but it's a bit too early for sharing as it could still change.
If you've been looking forward to trying out the game, rest assured it will be worth the wait. Some of you, and myself too, have been looking forward to this moment for years, and we don't want to make the mistake of releasing just a tiny bit too early now.
That said, I am comfortable with increasing the number of testers in a limited scope, so if you really would like to try it out, please send me a DM and I'll add you to the list of Alpha 3 testers (please write quickly - spots are limited).
You might have noticed that the Steam page is also going through an overhaul. This is a gradual process which will be finished soon. The screenshots are all new, and a new trailer is in the works; the old one was no longer representative for today's gameplay experience, so I took it off the Steam page. You can also expect new capsule art to arrive soon.
Here's the (final) list of Alpha 3 changes:
Version Alpha 3
New Features
- Added mechanics for trading
- Added a new type of dungeon
- Added new content to the travel map
- Added new characters and NPC professions
- Added new objects and items
- Added the concept of item ownership
- Added new ways of interacting with the environment
- Added mechanics for new interactive objects like switches
- Added new quests
- Added new tutorials
- Added new music and sound effects
Improvements and more
- Massively improved the tactical combat system
- Improved the NPC behavior
- Improved pathfinding
- Improved the fog of war
- Improved character handling
- Improved the UI
- Improved the performance
- Improved handling of criminal actions
- Overhauled the monetary system and added mechanics for handling coins (drop, offer, etc)
- Many other improvements and bug fixes
- Created a new gameplay trailer
- Overhauled the Steam page and localized it to several languages
Until next time,
Martin