Now that the Goblin Camp demo is out in Next Fest, it’s time to update our roadmap!
Our roadmap is, simply put, our current plan for Goblin Camp. We published our first roadmap in February, and now that we’re updating it, we’re going to start with the same disclaimer as last time: while we want to be as transparent as possible about our goals and schedules, the size of our team and the unpredictable nature of game development means we can’t make binding commitments to specific dates. This roadmap represents our aims for the future, but we also need to be clear that plans can and do change.
Looking at our previous roadmap, we’ve met the goals we set ourselves for the demo. Spear fishing is in the game, and we launched the improved farming interface. We introduced more wood components for buildings and an entire additional structure tier. You can dig ditches and moats, the shaman is in the game, and so are cranes and death-folk.
In addition, we’ve also implemented quite a few things we only had planned for later. Dwarven metal and mud are in the game, and so are several features we had originally planned to do after our early access launch: the demo already has everything you need to farm rye and bake your own bread, and your goblins can gather food from the forest as well as gain traits and experience. We’ve even scattered some ruins across the forest, even though those were only meant to show up much later.
This is what we mean by the unpredictable nature of game development. It wouldn’t make any sense for us to lay down a plan and then implement it religiously. Instead, as the game evolves and especially as we get feedback from our players, our priorities change. On that note, we’d like to remind everyone to join our Discord so we can hear from you!
Like we said last time, our goal is to be in Early Access later this year, and have the game ready for a full release a year or two later. We hope we’ll be able to support it well beyond that.
From here on, our current plan is to add features to the game in bigger updates that will have a central theme. For example, we have a really cool water simulation that we’re very proud of. So our next big update is going to be the Water Update. We hope to introduce bridges, waterworks and spring floods, among other things! And the whole fiber production chain, so you can make rope. This doesn’t mean other updates and new features won’t show up, since all of us are constantly tinkering with so many aspects of the game, but we’ll be concentrating our energies on the thematic updates.
Once we have the Water Update in play, we’re going to get to work on the Combat Update. Building palisades and watch towers is already pretty cool, and they do keep the wolves out, but the Combat Update will give you a very good reason to work on your defenses! As for those of you who enjoy a more mellow and relaxing game, don’t worry: we’ll give you the choice to opt out of combat encounters entirely by playing in peaceful mode.
Because we want to focus on these themes, we’re also moving some features back in the schedule. Storms are definitely coming, but we’ll probably be looking at them as part of a broader weather update, and sadly the sauna probably won’t make it into the game quite yet. So they’ve been moved back to Next Steps.
After the Water and Combat updates, we hope to be ready for Early Access. We’ll lay out a more detailed update schedule as it approaches, but again, we don’t want to commit to too many specific items and timetables. We’re just three guys working very hard to get all these features to you! Meanwhile, we hope you’re enjoying the demo, and we’ll be back soon with more.