Work on the game progresses steadily and I'm preparing to start the Closed Beta. This means all major features are implemented and the Factory map is finished sans minor details. The Mine section of the game may require a bit more work but I want to see how people react to what I currently have made and with that feedback I can take further steps to improving the game.
Closed Beta keys:
Beta keys are available to content creators that want to help promote, test and improve the game. You absolutely don't need to be a QA expert, but I do expect some feedback :)
Let me know if you're interested!
The game is stable currently as we've done a lot of testing and bug-fixing, though no doubt there are still many (minor) bugs to fix in the Beta.
I've also improved and expanded further upon many areas of the original game as well as the new game and a couple things I mentioned in my last news post have been improved further.
New Main Menu:
The main menu has been revamped and now looks like this:
You'll notice there's a 'Guide' section, which has scribbles made by the player character that explain the various mechanics of the game and give small hints on the various creatures that roam the Factory.
New Difficulty Stages:
The difficulty stages are no longer easy/medium/hard, but more stages much akin to the 6 days of the original game. The reason for this a smoother growing difficulty curve. During testing we found that the steps between easy/medium/hard were too big and jarring. Also didn't feel as rewarding.
The various difficulty stages are designed for 1 player, but the difficulty of certain elements in the game will increase if more players join the team so that the difficulty feels the same despite being with more people.
Speaking of rewards, when the shift ends with a completed quota, you will greeted with a list of rewards the Boss has granted you. You will unlock new difficulty stages, new things to do, new outfits and who knows what else in the future :)
I may add some fun challenges for extra special rewards too, but I'm still figuring that out. Ideas/suggestions, as always, are most welcome.
New Toys:
I've finished making the second toy: the cursed Teddy. These nasty critters, when awakened, will steal your tools and place them in various locations within the Factory:
Work on the final toy, the cursed Caterpillar, has begun so all three toy types will be in the Beta. Same for the Clockwork Demons.
New "QTE" Minigame:
One feedback I got from viewers of our testing session streams is that the repair mechanic was lacking and that a minigame may make it more fun. After some pondering I implemented a simple "QTE"-like mechanic for repairing machinery and it indeed makes it a lot more fun and stressful!
It looks a bit ugly still but works great.
Starting the minigame:
Succeeding makes the repair start, failing means you'll have to try again if you so choose:
Toy Parts and the Conveyor Belts:
I've made a change to the end of the conveyor belts so that any toy parts that reach the end will be moved into a separate container, instead of falling onto and messing up the boxes.
This fixes a rather frustrating physics issue with the boxes and the toy parts, making it really hard to properly place down a box. It also makes it easier to gather the toy parts to put them back onto the belt:
