Welcome to the second devblog for Anvil Empires. During Pre-Alpha, we will be developing new systems and features very rapidly and as a result will be delivering devblogs regularly for some time. For those of you that were around during the Foxhole Pre-Alpha, you might have an idea of what to expect as that project also went through the same process. If you haven't read our first devblog we recommend you start there.
How Anvil Empires will be developed
Developing an expansive game like Anvil Empires will require a process that's very different from how conventional games are made. It will require many building blocks that are developed over a long period of time. There is no game design template to follow so many of the game's systems will require a high degree of experimentation to get right. This means a lot of testing and a lot of failures along the way.
While we'd love to do this behind closed doors and release the game to the world when it's ready, this simply isn't feasible for a game that requires thousands of players to function as intended. So we have to be ok with releasing very early builds of the game that contain lots of flaws and incomplete systems and to have it all being very public. This combined with a tight feedback loop with the community will be the only way to validate features for the expansive game design we have in mind.
To put things into perspective, it took Siege Camp's other game Foxhole over 6 years to go from a small experience of 64 players fighting over a small patch of land over a few hours to thousands of players fighting in a war that unfolds over many weeks. Even today, we are still working to improve and expand Foxhole every day. While we're confident this process won't take 6 years for Anvil Empires, it will still be a long journey but one that we hope many of you will be a part of.
What to expect from Pre-Alpha development
The Pre-Alpha will initially be a very early demo containing a small subset of foundational features. It is a bare bones build designed as scaffolding for us to develop more comprehensive features in the foreseeable future. The best way to look at the Pre-Alpha is to see it as a platform for development rather than a complete game experience.
Before signing up for the Pre-Alpha you should be asking yourself which of the following categories you fall under:
1) I am joining the Pre-Alpha to get a first glimpse of what Anvil Empires will be like
2) I am joining the Pre-Alpha to have a new "fun" game to play regularly
3) I am joining the Pre-Alpha to help the development team test out new ideas and provide feedback
If you fall under 1) or 2), then you should not join the Pre-Alpha at this stage or you will be significantly disappointed in the experience and you will not be a productive tester. If you fall under 3), then it's appropriate for you to join the Pre-Alpha as your contributions will be valuable.
Tests will be run roughly once every two weeks but this schedule may change as development evolves. It's important to note that not every test will follow the same format. Some tests will be more focused on building while others on PvP. At times, we may want to simply run a technical test or evaluate a specific part of the game. Initially, the server will only be open for limited time frames, but we over time the sessions will last longer and longer.
What to expect from the first few tests
The first test will essentially be a technical test to ensure that players can all connect to the server and perform essential tasks and activities. The gameplay will be very thin. The image below serves as a rough outline on what to expect out of the current Pre-Alpha build. Please pay extra attention to completely unimplemented features like Mining and Smithing, which only have temporary "stand-in" activities that serve as scaffolding until more of the game can be developed. For example, the temporary activity for producing a sword now involves the single click of a button, but when the proper system is implemented there will be a series of steps for a blacksmith to perform, along with ways to progress and improve the process.
If there is one single takeaway from this blog, it's for the community to understand that basic tasks now will require a lot more steps later. This isn't to make the game unnecessarily complex, but it's to fulfill the goal of thousands of players working together to build an empire in a persistent world that needs to play out over weeks at a time. You can't have that if the empire building part can be done with a couple of mouse clicks over the span of a few hours. The goal is to add meaningful depth and progression to these activities and make them relevant over multiple play sessions within an age.
A warning will appear in certain parts of the UI to indicate when a certain activity is going to be replaced with a more in-depth system in the future. This doesn't appear for every such activity but we tried to highlight the areas that will change the most. For example, procuring water may be as simple as building a Well right now but in the future players will have to consider the aquatic ecosystem of the world and erect aqueducts and other infrastructure to provide water for their settlements.
How to sign up for the Pre-Alpha
The Pre-Alpha will begin next week. Anyone will be free to sign up to participate in the Pre-Alpha, but entrance will be granted based on random selection. The initial group of testers will be small, but it will be expanded on over time. We will be regularly admitting new testers so if you don't gain access immediately do not worry.
To sign up, join the official Discord server, where instructions will be provided later today on how to sign up. The window of time for signing up will be limited so be sure to monitor the Discord announcement channels for details over the next few days.
Seasons Sneak Peak
We are working towards having climate and weather be foundational part of Anvil from the start. Seasons will be simulated in full and have a long term impact on settlement gameplay, with tree leaves changing colour and withering away in the fall, snow accumulating in winter, and flowers blooming in the spring. We'll have a lot more to say about seasons in the near future, but for now the image below gives you a sneak peak of things to come. Stay tuned!
Be sure to add Anvil Empires to your wish list on Steam. If you want to join the community, head over the to official Discord server or Subreddit.
