Hello again Survivors,
It's been over a month since we launched Early Access, and during this time, we were able
to present the first update.
As we were gearing up for updates to improve UI/UX and convenience, we took a step back
to go over player feedback related to the core fun factors of the game and shared our
analysis and some questions over the last three dev notes.
After all those discussions, we've decided that, even if it means taking on some risks with
changes to the development plan, we must tackle the fundamental linearity issue.
Growing the dev team and starting fresh!
The current linear structure brings about issues beyond just the satisfaction with the game
volume. It also raises problems like controlling the learning curve and being unable to feel
the results of weapon and character growth.
Even if we were to introduce even more powerful Infested and stages with enhanced tactical
elements, those who have positively rated the current game direction might still perceive the
learning curve or difficulty level as too excessive.
However, as mentioned in the initial post about linearity, we believe that with the existing
composition of the dev team alone, we won’t be able to reach the level of non-linearity and
meta-game development that we originally wanted.
So, over the past month, in addition to analyzing the game, we've been actively looking for
teammates who resonate with the direction of our game. If we couldn't find the right team
members, we had planned to finish development as scheduled to the best of our abilities.
But... luckily, some fantastic developers who had a connection with us gladly joined the
team! We spent a really intense month sharing our plans with the new teammates, and at
the same time, verifying if their skills align with the new direction.
We've been thinking about team expansion for some time, but it was challenging to make
any decisions before confirming the core fun of the game. Thanks to the positive reviews
from many players during Early Access regarding the game's foundational potential, we
gained the courage to move forward. The new teammates also recognized that potential and
decided to join us.
Everyone we've brought on board is highly skilled and proven, but now the challenge is to
truly sync up with the existing members and start performing as a true team. With the
development team growing by around 150%, there's also a need to establish new processes
for team role assignments and communication.
However, all the new members deeply resonate with the current direction of the game and
future plans. They have a strong desire to create and showcase an enjoyable game, so we
know we can overcome any challenges.
Goals of the new development and schedule
Our long-term aim is to release it by 2025. After redesigning the game foundation by the end
of 2024, we plan to create a meta-game-focused core system based on it. In the remaining
time, we'll concentrate on leveraging the capabilities of the expanded team to generate
content.
To achieve this goal, we're considering adjustments to the schedule mentioned in the
existing Early Access FAQ.
The most ideal scenario is to create all the initially planned content within the set time frame
at a level of completeness that allows for an official release. However, even if the quality at
that point isn't entirely satisfactory, we aim to at least have a build available by 2025 that lets
all players experience a completely transformed game.
Our goals that we aim to achieve are as follows. These are aspects that many of you have
requested through feedback and are elements that we originally wanted to create.
- Improved Map Structure: Changing to allow for a more diverse range of stages than currently
- Additional Characters: Ensuring at least twice as the current 3 types.
- Reworking the Meta-Game according to the changes above.
To achieve these goals, practically everything in the foundational game design, aside from
the base content like combat systems and weapons, needs to be reconstructed from the
ground up. Systems tailored to the “fixed character/linear” progression must be individually
modified or new systems developed to align with these goals. The existing artwork may also
need to be modified to fit the new environment or even created over from scratch.
We are confident that the introduction of “strategic” elements to a game that previously only
had “tactical” aspects will make it even more enjoyable. Therefore, there is no worry about
the direction of development, just eagerness to complete the goals as quickly as possible.
Currently, each development team is reviewing “what needs to be changed” and “what should
not be changed” in each area. The goal is to preserve the “fun points” of the game that were
pointed out in Early Access, and various prototyping and resetting of design intentions are
already underway.
Management of the live build and sharing of the development process
The new long-term goals require a fairly extensive planning/technical R&D process and
preparation of artwork, making it difficult to present large updates on the live version in a
short time.
Applying incomplete systems to the live version hastily not only makes it challenging to
ensure technical stability but also slows down the development speed for new systems as
more time is invested in continuous live updates.
However, we aim to maintain the core combat system even in the new development
version. If changes are needed in the combat system, we want to find the best solutions
possible and to gather feedback from current players.
For example, we are currently contemplating the question, "Should the logic where all
enemies immediately track and engage allies upon detection be maintained to preserve the
intended tactical depth?”
When we shared the last dev note, many expressed concern that the depth of the game and
the appropriate level of danger within the apocalyptic narrative might decrease.
While we will certainly maintain the existing identity, we are experimenting with various
prototypes, believing that the goals can be achieved in less complex ways than now...
Apart from that, we believe it's essential to continuously update and improve convenience
without excessively delaying the pace of long-term development or addressing obvious
design flaws. This allows us to receive feedback and gain insights for the new development
version.
However, given the current situation where all development teams are fully committed to
directly improving the current version, we seek your understanding that the pace and volume
of updates may not be satisfactory for a while. Demonstrating our commitment to swiftly
improve the foundation and fulfill promises is the only way to make waiting worthwhile.
As always, we will share the progress of game design and ongoing long-term development
through weekly dev note updates, allowing you to directly or indirectly witness the process.
We sincerely appreciate your continuous support and will be back with more exciting news
next week!
Best Regards,
REMORE