With the world in an upheaval we try to stay the course but there is no doubt that there is an impact. More on that later...
Since the last progress summary from Christmas we have had seven updates with changelogs of our ongoing progress.
The progress has been ongoing, albeit not at any blistering speed. Important improvements and fixes have been introduced, and here we will go over a highlight-summary of some of the them from the most recent Alpha builds:
Projectile penetration mechanics
All projectile-based weapons now have penetration-mechanics, where the velocity of the impact against a Monster matters and the momentum that a projectile keep as it passes through it depends on the ammo used. As an example, the AX338 sniper rifle can penetrate several normal Monsters, the assault-rifles may penetrate a Monster, while a submachine gun and shotguns normally do not.
Operator Overview Info Window
Operator overview info window allows a full overview of attributes, skills and their current levels due to Applied Effects; such as being Hurt, Frightened, or having any buffs or de-buffs applied. Being able to quickly view your selected Operator at a glance is important when evaluating your strategy during the planning phase, so this is an important addition.
Movement and Special Ability targeting tiles
The display of movement tiles of valid destinations has been remodeled to not only show the maximum distance the Operator can move in a turn (based on their Agility and applied effects) but also the distance they can move and still retain the ability to go into Overwatch or perform a standard attack.
Another thing also introduced is a visual indicator of valid targets (be it monsters or locations of tile) when using a Special Ability, such as throwing out a Light Flare, Motion Mine or casting a spell. This also includes, when applicable, to indicate only those tiles that can be seen using Line of Sight, to make it clear where the ability can be used.
Overall progress towards Early Access
While regular Alpha-builds is being built and delivered to a handful of testers, as can be seen from the list of announcements regarding this, but being a micro-Indie studio there is a limitation to the bandwidth of development that can be done during any given time-period. It also means that external factors can have a bigger impact on the progress, even if temporary.
The challenge is finding a spot where a Early Access is ready to be released, without being overwelmed by disappointed players that expect an virtually finished product - having misunderstood what Early Access stands for. But one also want to not wait with the release to too late, removing any of the purpose of the Early Access process' benefits when things goes right. There is some genre-titles out there that has benefited greatly from player feedback during it's multi-year time spent as an Early Access - but it may also require that all current players are aware where the product is currently. And some style of games suffer less from having a minor slice of the final content, while others require more of the content to offer any replayability before the game is actually fully finished.
Sadly, there is no magical formula to finding any sweet-spot. And whatever is the correct answer will be wrong months later when other current games will once again have changed the espectations that will be set upon an EA game.
As such, the current plan as of now, is to prepare to open up for Early Access in the near future, knowing that finished content (read: levels) is very limited. We will however also put up a large warning that the game is not yet 'near ready' for Gold (v1.0), it *is* an Early Access title, and non-dedicated fans should wait. In fact, unless one really want to be part of the development in some form, stay away until the game is finished.
This info will be re-stated soon again in a follow-up post.
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