Yo!
The months I've spent working on the game since the release have revealed to me some important aspects of being a game developer. After hearing many opinions from my friends, I realized that I could make more profit off the game if I implemented online multiplayer. So, I set the game in Early Access mode and promised the ability to play with people from miles away. Freeze. This is where I messed up. Compromising.
I don't want my game to have online multiplayer in it. I don't want to make online multiplayer games. I don't want people to play miles apart from each other. I want them to play right next to one another. As uncomfortably and as irritatingly as possible.
I believe simplicity is the best approach towards game design and I would like to contribute to this idea with not just Battle Shapes, but every other game I intend on developing in the near future.
With that being said, here are a couple of the changes I will be implementing in the upcoming Official Release:
- Removing Multiplayer
- Removing Ship Levels (Gears)
- Removing Narrators
- Doubling Down on Battle Mode
Removing these aspects of the game will prevent the player's focus from being spread out across different features. The removals are a way of reducing the available buckets for the player's attention to fall into - bringing more spotlight to the best parts of the game and disintegrating the worsts. With these updates I will also include thematic reworking and many design changes to better encapsulate the vibe I want emanating from the game.
I hope these changes help dilute the complexity and saturate the depth of Battle Shapes making it an overall much more enjoyable experience to both play, and develop.
I want to apologize to those who have invested in the Early Access portion of this game in hopes of online multiplayer and I want to thank you. You're support has made me incredibly happy and has aided me in this decision. I believe you deserve the best I can give and I love you all. I hope you will continue to support, and enjoy, this game.
Cheers,
Ya Boi