Hey Beekeepers!
So - it is time! I have now pressed the big green button to turn on the Playtest, so if you have requested access you should now get access ( i don't know how long it takes to process dont @ me). This playtest will run until this Sunday (28th November)
If you request access today don't worry, I'll release the rest of you into the Playtest tomorrow!
Rather than do it in batches I thought we'd just go for the full stress test and grant all 1000+ people access who are waiting - chances are not all these people will be playing, and definitely not at the same time so should be a good test!
Some things to note before we get started though...
It's just me!
In case somehow you missed this, it's just me working on the code development of this game! We haven't got a team of clever network engineers on hand to put out any fires - it's just me, in my pants, staring at Digital Ocean's dashboard and wondering why the fuck I agreed to adding this feature.
When the server inevitably crashes or has to go offline for changes please be patient! I will post any "maintenance" stuff in Guilded as it happens.
This is the full game!
Like the last playtest this is the actual full final finished game!! All features and functionality that we want in the finished game are in here.
The only additions since the last playtest if you played that is a shit tonne of fixes/bugs, achievements were added and all the localisation languages were added. For achievements, unfortunately you can't see the full list of achievements cos the game isn't out, and apparently getting an achievement in the Playtest DOESN'T carry over to the full game - so just worth noting. Also modding is deactivated from this version.
As it's the actual full game we're not really looking for any major feature suggestions or feedback on the overall game as that ship has sailed! What we're focusing on here is making super MP is stable and picking up any bugs found on the way.
For bugs, please use either the Guilded Forums or our Bug Report Form:
https://forms.gle/9v1T9q1DnkdLvDJ79
Disconnection
You can get disconnected for two reasons, each showing you a message saying as much before restarting the game.
1. Disconnected From Host - self explanatory, your host either lost connected, closed the game, or "kicked" you from the game.
2. Disconnected From Server - this means that either you connection timed out from the server, i.e. we didn't hear from you for 60s so the server killed your socket, OR you haven't received any callback from the server in 20s.
Every time you click something or move something you are sending a message to the server which relays to your friend, and every 5s you send a "heartbeat" to the server - so if you get disconnected from the server then chances are your internet connection was lost for too long and couldn't be reconnected.
Hosting
To host a game just click the magic "Host" button! You'll be given a code (also shown in-game so you don't need to remember it) and then told to pick a world to host. That's all you have to do! Once your world loads you can give people your code.
Currently you can have 3 different players join your world - for release we're probably capping this at 2 (host + 1 friend) but while we're stress testing might as well open the flood gates eh?
Joining
To join a game enter your friends host code into the join screen and press the magic "Join" button! While we download your world from your friend and pass it on to you you'll have the opportunity to give yourself a name and customise your character.
Your player progress is tied to your friend who is hosting, but is seperate from the actual hosts progress. IF you want to reset your own personal progress you can use the "Reset Progress" button in the MP menu.
I think thats everything for now! If you want to come chat with other players or find people to play with
you can join our Guilded @ https://apico.buzz/guilded - we have some voice channels for APICO players too if you need!
We'll be doing our stream on Wednesday but instead of working on Feed The Beasts we'll instead be doing some MP testing / fixing and let people join our game or something fun like that!
Love, Ell <3