Just a quick update so everyone knows what's going on with the progress of v8.0.
The alpha tests we have had (and that you've been a part of!) have been great! The tests have shown us a few places where we need to improve and refine the mechanics.
Most importantly, it has shown us that we are definitely on the right track. Some of the team have been developing Darkest Hour for 5 years, and we have never seen near-unanimous approval of any changes we've made to the game until now. The new mechanics create a dynamic, player-driven battlefield on top of the rock-solid and exciting combined arms combat that Darkest Hour is best known for. v8.0 is clearly the update that the game needs to stay fun, exciting, and relevant in 2017 and beyond.
Excitement and motivation is at an all-time high as we hunker down to finalize the first beta (feature-complete) build for public testing. The next public play-test is likely to be in mid-to-late August. Assuming all goes well in that test and no game-breaking bugs are discovered, we will pivot towards creating a build for eventual public release of 8.0 in early Q4 of 2017.
Thank you to everyone who has supported the game and our efforts in all ways, large and small. The best days are ahead of us.