Greetings, tactics fans! Some of you know the story behind Telepath Tactics Liberated, but I imagine that many of you don't.
I started working on Telepath Tactics all the way back in 2011 as an experiment in creating my "dream combat engine" as I put the finishing touches on Telepath RPG: Servants of God. Once TRPG:SoG released, I went through two separate Kickstarter campaigns to get Telepath Tactics funded--one failed, one successful--and then spent years more finishing the game even as I continued working a full-time job.
I finally released Telepath Tactics in 2015, only to realize that the game had some major flaws baked into the engine. I spent roughly half a year laboring day and night trying to fix all of the issues, but some were just too difficult for me to pin down.
I wasn't satisfied leaving things like that. So I began to remake Telepath Tactics from the ground up in a brand-new engine.
This March, just shy of 7 years after the release of the original Telepath Tactics, I released Telepath Tactics Liberated. I gave the remake away for free to all owners of the original game, too. In the eight months since, I've continued to push dozens of free updates to TTL, adding new skills, new items, two full new game modes, gamepad support, Steam Deck support, AI improvements, and loads of quality-of-life features.
"Fine, Craig," you might say, "that's great that you worked hard for many years to make this game reach its full potential: but what does this have to do with the Steam Awards?" Good question! I happened to take a look at the Steam Awards categories earlier and noticed that there is one called "Labor of Love," described as follows:
"This game has been out for a while. The team is well past the debut of their creative baby, but being the good parents they are, these devs continue to nurture and support their creation. This game, to this day, is still getting new content after all these years."
Well! That sure does sound a bit like Telepath Tactics, doesn't it? I'll leave it up to you whether you think Telepath Tactics Liberated deserves the nom--but if you do, I'd certainly be honored if you chose to nominate it for an award. Thanks for reading, and have a great Thanksgiving (or regional equivalent, if any)!
Yours in tactics,
Craig