Huge thanks to everyone that has tried the game, it's been amazing, and we have received really great feedback! The key takeaway from the demo is that players are really enjoying the game, but pacing is a bit too slow. Which is great news, as we already have plans to speed up pacing.
Below are some notes on our plans, and also some of the amusing stats we have on playthroughs. Just a quick reminder, the best way you can currently support the game is:
Wishlist it.
Let your favorite YouTuber/Streamer know about the game.
Plans!
Firstly,.. Yes! We will be speeding up the pacing of the game. In feedback players said either "pacing is fine" or "pacing is too slow", no one has said it's "too fast". This means we need to speed it up! We came to the same conclusion already while testing the full game and have started tweaking things there.
Secondly, we are planning significantly more (optional) automation in the game for those that want to fiddle with all the dials. This all needs to work on top of the direct control you have over characters, as players love that aspect. Lot's planned here, stay tuned.
Everything is on track and headed in the right direction, we have a heap of players really looking forward to full release which we have been hard at work on. It's been fun implementing and testing the new features that no one has seen yet (fishing, crops, smelting), as well as expanding the later stages of the game. The demo really does only scratch the surface! (But, that's kinda the point of a demo).
We are happy with the demo at the moment, though once we have tuned pacing more, we will roll out an update for the demo.
STAATS!
More than 5,000 players have played the demo, amazing!
Here's an infographic of some stats!
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More Languages
We are planning to add more languages further into development. The game text is still evolving and we made the decision to keep it English only for now to allow us to focus on faster development and updates. In addition to this, the game has a pretty quirky and sometimes comedic tone (with the occasional pop culture reference), which adds some challenge to localization.
You can show us if you are interested in a language by:
Wishlisting the game (we see wishlists per region)
Let us know via forums/discord.
The number of wishlists and interest shown for each region heavily influences the languages we will localize into.
Controller & Steam Deck Support
Some players have already played on the Steam Deck, but we don't have official support just yet. We do plan to have it fully playable on the Steam Deck further into development (and we have our Steam Deck ready to test!)
Controller support is challenging for this type of game that has this much depth, and we don't want the gameplay to be limited by controller inputs. Our plan is to look into this once we have all of our features in to see what is possible. We have good experience implementing controllers and it is on our mind during development, but we are also aware of the limitations.
Found a Bug?
Please report them! Whether it's a typo or something more significant please let us know via the forums or via Discord.
Help & Guides
This genre of game naturally comes with a lot of freedom, and this includes freedom to make mistakes (e.g. not building water production for your colony). Figuring things out is a big part of the fun for these types of games!
Having said that, if you struggle to survive you can follow the progression guide shown on the side of the screen and there is a bunch of tutorials in the handbook.
If Somethings Needs Better Tutorials
There is a lot of depth in the game and we already have a heap of tutorials shown in the handbook. We do have more tutorials planned so if you find something is not explained well enough or are still confused about anything, be sure to let us know.
"What game is it like"
We like to ask players what game it reminds them of, and, "oh buoy", we have seen just about every game under the sun mentioned by now!
It's been really interesting to see what type of games players have brought up - obviously this depends a lot on which games payers have played in the past. In no particular order:
Don't Starve and Paper Mario (in relation to the art style).
Oxygen Not Included, Rimworld, The Survivalist, Cult of the Lamb.
Raft (and open world survival crafting games in general).
The Flame in The Flood, Flotsam, Frostpunk & Sheltered.
A hint of Fallout/Fallout Shelter.
Monkey Island, The Sims, Craft the World, Clanfolk.
We knew there would be comparisons to similar looking games (like Don't Starve and Oxygen Not Included), so we were extremely pleased to see players add comments to this comparison that Oceaneers is still very different and innovative, it's very much doing its own thing.
What's Next!?
We are hard at work on the full game! Recently we have been improving crop farming, fishing rods and smelting metals - then tying all of the survival progression into the story/objective progression.
Come have a chat!
Our community is growing, and everyone has been amazing and really friendly. Come chat with the devs and other players in our Discord
Leaving Feedback
If you encounter any bugs, or would love to discuss features please do so via the Steam forums or our Discord. It's really helpful to know about the parts of the game you enjoy, as well as anything you don't.
You can also check discord for a list of known bugs, community suggestions and upcoming plans!
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⚡ Be sure to Wishlist Oceaneers, and stay tuned for the next dev diary and more announcements. ❤️
Join Us!
Join our discord to discuss the game and share your ideas!
Join discord here
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Some recent Dev Diaries in case you missed them:
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