Hi all! Mark here.
Since this is my first ever post on Steam, and on Survivesmith, I'll keep it simple yet detailed enough. Let's look at what this game is all about, how it's any similar/different to other bullet-heavens, and the plan for its releases.
What is Survivesmith?
If you found this game, you're most likely familiar with the Bullet-heaven genre, and already knows the deal. But for those who are not (skip to the next paragraph if you know the deal), it's a type of game where you shoots hails of bullets (and other things) at massive hordes of enemies in order to survive a set amount of time and win. This genre comes in many sizes, with many twists, perspectives and dimensions. It's a fun genre to explore, with limitless possibilities.
Why is Survivesmith similar/different to other similar games?
I won't brag about how the game has this and that feature that "no other game has done before" because it most likely would be a lie. But the game has several features integrated into the rogue-lite loop of survive, collect, upgrade and survive longer to make it feel different. For one, Survivesmith has "survival" element where you need to actively hunt for resources in order to craft new things and save enough to get to the endgame boss. No food or hunger bar though (yet). Another cool thing is a modular smithing system (WIP). This would allow players to experiment with a ton of combinations to forge the weapon they desire. It's also worth mentioning the loadout system where you pick the weapon combinations BEFORE the next run. I'll be going into more details on these systems on a different post.
The rest of the gameplay loop is pretty similar (sort of). You teleport into a world, start shooting at everything at sight, collect XP, level up, upgrade your weapons, unlock new stuff, build a powerful build, and defeat the final boss.
How is Survivesmith going with the development?
We're a team of 2 people who barely scratched the surface of gamedev, so it's going at a pretty slow pace. But within the 1-year of development, we have managed to create a decent game already. Survivesmith is currently at a playable state but requires a bit more bug fixing and a lot more polishing on the existing systems and the overall look and feel of the game. It's still not Steam-worthy, and that's why we keep a separate playable 'Alpha' build going over on itch.io (itch.io - Survivesmith (Alpha)).
The game currently features one level (or biome, as we call it), 15 enemy waves (with a variety of enemies), 2 mini-bosses, 1 final boss, 1 playable character, 5 primary weapons (the modular weapon system is still only an idea), 5 secondary weapons, 4 armor modules, 3 gadgets, a weapon attachment system with unlockable and upgradeable attachments, a combo meter, random events, several different power-ups, and a complete menu and UI navigation system with mouse and keyboard controls (controller navigation is on the TODO list). I will go more in-depth on most of these on a separate post.
When can you play Survivesmith?
You can play the current alpha build on itch.io right now from here. But the first steam release is planned to be a playtest, which could come out anytime between the next 2-6 weeks. This is intended to be a final test on the playability and compatibility on different systems and for different player before we release the game as a Demo.
Talking about the demo, after collecting enough feedback from the playtest, we will release a playable demo featuring most of the initial gameplay loop, just for anyone to have a feel for the game. The demo won't include all the fun and weird features planned on the final version of the game. The demo will release roughly 2-4 weeks after the Playtest.
Before a final release, we will release the game in Early-access. We want to release this one as soon as possible after the demo so that we can start gathering feedback and improve the game along with the players, rather than taking another half-a-year making a game that nobody enjoys. The early access version will include all the nifty features such as smithing, achievements, weapon evolutions, permanent character/weapon upgrades, etc. with 2 playable characters and 2 levels/biomes. The 2nd biome and the character won't be completed on release since that will be the first time they will be released to the public. We intend to start improving from that point onwards until a 1.0 release of 4 playable characters with 4 different biomes, different game modes and a ton of different weapon options, skin customization options, etc. I won't predict a release window for the 1.0 release since it could vary a lot based on the previous steps.
That was a long and an exhausting read without any pretty pictures to look at (sorry!). I will try to include some in my next posts. Thank you for reading!
Stay tuned!