We are launching a separate optional branch of the game, available to the public for testing purposes. This Experimental Branch (EB) can be accessed by anyone, but can be completely ignored in favour of playing the more polished main versions of the game. Versions available on the EB will contain experimental features and content and will likely be unpolished and buggy. As a result, we do not recommend using these versions as your go-to version of the game for playing and competing. They do, however, allow us to test faster and get you as the player even more involved with the development of Liftoff.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- The Experimental Branch (EB) should be used for testing purposes only.
- At any time you can switch back to the main version of the game. We recommend doing this after testing.
- Versions on the game on the EB can be expected to be unpolished, buggy and unbalanced.
- It is to be expected that not all game features work on the EB.
- Features and updates available on the EB are not guaranteed to make it to the main branch of the game.
- The dev team is not expected to give dedicated support for experimental game versions available on the EB.
- By participating on the EB you are expected to share feedback (not feature requests) with the developers on dedicated forums.
- Each version of the game on the EB has specific goals and focuses. These will be outlined on the dedicated EB forums.
- Content and features in the EB should not be used for review or promo purposes.
GOALS OF EB
While the Early Access status allows us to release regular updates to expand and improve the game, it does not allows us to experiment on a large scale. We always have to make sure that each update leaves the game in a functional, playable and enjoyable state. We also can’t introduce experimental content and features and remove them later if they prove not to meet our requirements. While Liftoff is still considered a game in development, each version should function as a finished product. This puts a lot of extra pressure on our development team. It means we have to work on polish before we can test out a feature or content on a large scale. Considering we have had an update out on average every 10 days, it’s not wrong to think that 5 of those days are spent on adding features and content, and 5 on polishing to get everything to a product-worthy state.
The Experimental Branch allows us to release experimental features and content much faster for testing, without having to worry too much about polish yet. It also allows us to break the game to a certain extent if needed, and try out features that we are not sure should make it to the final game yet. For the dev team it means we have more freedom, for the player it means they can have an even bigger impact on the development and progress of the game.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
To get access to the Experimental Branch you have to change some “Properties” settings on Steam. To do this, follow these steps:
- Right click on “Liftoff” in your Steam Library
- Click “Properties”
- In the “Properties” menu, click the “BETAS” tab
- Select “Experimental Branch” in the dropdown menu
- Check the EB forums for information about the latest version
- Happy testing!