December 1st, 2018
First I have great news. AreaZ game is now available to Pre-order. And all players with pre-order will have instant access to the DEMO version of the game.
By making pre-order, you will become a "backer" with possibility to test the game. A Steam key will be delivered to you. After that AreaZ game will become available in your Steam Games Library and will automatically download and install. The installation requires about 9 GB of your hard drive. And you are ready to test the demo version.
Feel free to contact us, if you have any questions.
Please note this is not yet the final version of game or even early access. This is a demo where we currently test core features. Soon we will add some gameplay as currently the player is mostly in “god mode” except drowning and predator attack. All feedback and reports are welcomed and much appreciated. Please use forum for reports.
Also check regularly our changelog available in game menu for important changes and updates.
Next week we are going to present the AreaZ game demo officially on Game Developers Session in Prague as part of Indie Expo.
Development
For last two month we have focused to create first working demo version from existing prototypes. Also first invite only test were done to check the core functionality. Most of the mechanics was plugged in and partially polished. Starting from character mechanics, up to environment and map. We have replaced the swamp water and achieved very nice result:
Also we have been testing the loot economy, added loot items, and filled the crafting recipes. Here is a overview of items which can be crafted from bamboo.
The next mechanics we have focused on was basebulding. Here are several stages of shelter construction.
As survival simulation is important for us – we have added night sky based on real star position and brightness, so you can see existing star constellations. This will also help players to navigate at night. For gameplay reason we have enabled the possibility to speed up the night up to 4X. This means if daylight takes 20 minutes – the night will last for 5 minutes only.
Also we were working on our Steam presence. After being approved by Steam and solved tax and legislative issues, we have established our Steam Store Page available here, where you can add the game to your Steam Wishlist.
Please note – for those who have already Pre-ordered our game – you have it already in your Steam game library.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/935490/AreaZ/
For upcoming weeks we plan to rework the design of menu, which is currently basic one only. Afterward we plan an important update to our Character, which will enable us to add new animations and game mechanics and fix some current issues. Also to include bow and firearms. This update is needed, so we can start to implement sounds in the game as well. Currently there are only two ambient sounds present.
Of course we will check and fix reported bugs and issues.
Thank you for your kind support.
Duro Bulo
AreaZ game Developer