Shoothouse Alpha is now on Steam Playtest for an entire week!
The alpha test for Shoothouse will run from March 24th to March 31st.
Join our discord for more information!
Steam Playtest Details
As announced in our February 19th Beta test, we are now using the Steam Playtest. This is a new feature added to Steam in 2021 that allows us to create a Playtest button on our Steam page. This allows people to easily apply to test our game and allows us to easily manage access.
What is Game Developer Con (GDC)?
GDC is a game dev convention. It takes place over a week in San Francisco, CA. There are a lot of talks regarding various areas of game development as well as an expo. It's more of a developer convention than a gaming convention, however we've been working hard to get something new out for GDC. We don't have a booth at GDC and we aren't presenting (maybe one day!) but we used it as a time mark for us to get some new cool stuff in the game - which brings us to our Shoothouse Alpha.
Shoothouse Alpha and AI/Bots
A lot of feedback we received from players new to top-down shooters was that it took awhile to get used to the game. This is something we've heard before, we just didn't have the time to truly focus on building something to help new player integration.
The Shoothouse and AI/bots are very work in progress. This is what we have predominantly been focused on since our February 19th beta. You'll notice some areas you shouldn't be able to vault in and some audio being off, that will get fixed in the coming weeks.
The AI/Bots are very new and we know they need some work in terms of their behavior and difficulty. This is a very work in progress system and should be considered alpha work. We will make them harder and more realistic as time goes on - but we also will be split working on other things as well (like maps!).
Replay System
As a reminder we do have a replay system and these replays are stored locally. You will need to bind the key in your keybinds!
To record a replay you must hit the Start Recording keybind and then the Stop Recording keybind (check the keybinds!). Once the recording is started you will see a little camera icon bottom left.
The replays are saved locally and can be transferred from one user to another via file transfer. The replays will remain on your computer and available for you to go back and watch even after the Beta closes. We have various spectator controls to hide UI, etc. This is how we filmed our trailers, you will also have access to the spectator controls.
And more!
Be sure to fill out the survey regarding the Shoothouse alpha and please wishlist us if you want. The survey helps us keep track of all our feedback in an organized manner and wishlisting us on Steam really helps our discoverability.💖