Hi, dungeon-crawling fans!
another month has passed and it's time for another update! This one will be a bit shorter, for reasons I will get into in a moment, so let's start.
Current Progress
Monomyth is now in Beta Phase 1. The beta is basically split into six phases, where the first five are mostly content updates and the last is about polishing.
So the first content update was released in August and it contained demo content ported to the new codebase, as well as some extra areas and level mechanics. Beta testers have already provided useful feedback which I will integrate in the coming weeks.
The Serpent's Bastion has been reworked and patched back into the beta.
Following this update, I originally wanted to work on the game's main hub and trading system. However, I decided to switch beta phases 2 and 3 around. I did this because beta 3 contains a major quest area that existed only as a gray blockout so far. I was concerned about this area and wanted to get to work on it as soon as possible because I felt that much of the original blockout would require a major overhaul. In fact, I decided that a large portion of it was a) not particularly interesting and b) not within the scope of the project. So I restructured the entire thing and now it is more manageable and still becoming one of the more complex areas in the game. It contains the part of your journey that leads you truly into the depths of the earth and verticality is a major aspect of it.
Unfortunately, I cannot show much of the work so far. As expected, this update is probably the most labor-intensive update out of the entire beta and I am in the middle of creating its content. The area's base geometry is almost complete and it should be fully traversable within the coming week.
Verticality in Beta 2 (WIP)
This beta update will probably be released sometime next month. After that, I will continue working on the game's main hub, which is already significantly further along in development.
A good amount of work has already gone into the game's main hub
Open Backer Beta
At the moment, testers are already providing great and in-depth reports on various issues they find in the closed beta. However, as more content is added to the game, the current amount of testers will likely not be enough to properly cover all problems that may still persist.
That is why I have decided, that once most of the main quest has been fully patched into the game (roughly beta phase 5) I will open the beta for all backers of the "Pilgrim" level and above (that's everyone who will receive a digital copy of the game).
Like all other beta testers, these backers will receive a dedicated test key, which will be locked before the release of the full game (i.e., this is not the fulfillment of your pledge, and you will receive a separate key at release). I will provide more information on this in the coming updates.
Until then!
Michael