Hi everyone,
Merry Christmas! I finally managed to upload a preview of 0.8 to the experimental branch today, so I will talk you through that today.
First of all: How can you access the preview?
To access the preview, you need to right click on the game on steam, and hit “properties”. In the properties window, find the “betas” tab. Here, you have to enter the password “NotEnoughCoin”. This should give you access to the environmental branch in the dropdown above, where you can now select experimental.
Once that’s done, the update should download, and you’ll be able to try it out!
Secondly: What’s new in this 0.8 preview?
Frankly, there are too many changes for me to state them all here. The major ones, however, are: The new island, Pirates Peak, which was designed for a completely different progression through the game - and with that, the new biomes. The new default game mode, artefact mode, replaces the still existing score victory, and means that fighting the pirates is now a much more important part of winning the game. Two new units of soldiers, including our first melee unit. Strategic and tactical maps, meaning you can get an overview of the island from your port or scout’s hut, and you can order your soldiers to move without requiring line of sight. Five completely new buildings, which are created in the redesigned, new style. Particle effects, more sounds, better optimisation, etc, etc, etc.
I will try to get a full changelog done when 0.8 is finished - but there is a lot to it.
Thirdly: What isn't in this preview?
This is a preview primarily because there are still a few things missing from the full version. First of all, we want to improve again on the military units, and add another 3. With that comes a much stricter difference between melee and ranged units, which we will try to make into a soft counter based on terrain. Additionally, the current game logistics make advancing along the island slower than it should be, so I am hoping to put in a pioneer wagon (as discussed before) before the full 0.8 release. General balance is also something still missing from the game at this stage, and while I am fully aware of lots of problems, I will welcome your input on how things should be changed.
Finally, and maybe this should have gone under what “is” in the preview: there will be lots and lots of bugs. So as with all other feedback, I am hoping for your many reports on what is wrong so I can improve it.
I am hoping that you will enjoy what’s been done on the game over the past year, and I’m looking forward to fixing all of the issues you’ll find.
Until next week!