Hi folks, th\n\nWHERES THE GAME??\n\nHuh? Oh, right! Streets of Rogue 2!\n\n

The Short Version!

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• Streets of Rogue 2 remains in very active development!\n
• Its taking a bit longer than anticipated because SOR2 is a very complex game being programmed and largely designed by a single person (me).\n
• These factors led to my underestimating the time it would take to get the game into Early Access while meeting my quality standard, resulting in a couple of missed release dates last year.\n
• Well announce a release date only when Im 100% sure I can meet that date.\n
• I made a video devlog last year about this topic, and most of this still applies today. Actually, I watched it again after writing this news post, and I realized that I\'m mostly just reiterating what\'s in the video!\n

\n(if you have only a passing interest in any of this, out of respect for your time you can safely stop reading here!)\n\n

Q and A

\nNow, to address a few questions players have brought to my attention:\n\nWhy did the Steam page say 2025 if you werent going to release in 2025?\nWe should have always set the Steam page date to TBA, which is what its set to now. My apologies to anyone who found that misleading; it was never intended as anything other than a general when its done placeholder. Again, sorry for that; it straight-up shouldn\'t have happened.\n\nWhats the deal anyways? Overscoping? Scope creep? Mismanagement? Development hell? Cyberpunk? DUKE NUKEM FOREVER? STAR CITIZEN?? BATTLECRUISER 3000 AD???\nHeyyy relax guy, none of the above! Just a pile of work that needs to get done, and a finite number of hours in my day. My plans for the game havent changed significantly. I just suck at making time estimates.\n\nWhy not just release the game into Early Access? The game isnt finished, but isnt that what Early Access is for?\nThe game will initially be released into Early Access, just as SOR1 was. The question of whats appropriate for an Early Access launch is somewhat more vague than whats appropriate for a 1.0 release, and this is largely what led to the games delay last year. In my view, the game in its initial EA release should be a solid representation of what the final game is intended to be at 1.0 from a gameplay and technical standpoint, but with missing content and extra bugs. The overall gameplay loop and systems should be in good shape, with a bit of wiggle room to account for player feedback, but not to the degree that the overall flow of the game is being upended with each update. Once Im confident that Im at that point, the game will be released into Early Access.\n\nThe roadmap looks pretty similar to how it did last year. What have you even been working on??\nThere are certain aspects of the game particularly the super-technical ones that dont have a ton of representation on the roadmap, but have been very time-consuming.\n\nNotably, nearly a quarter of the year was spent on revamping how the games tilemapping system functions. I didn\'t expect that to come about, but this effort will result in a lot more flexibility when designing environments (and also more flexibility for in-game player-built structures), with a lot less jank, and also allow the game to look really good with minimal effort. This is exactly the sort of thing Id want to get out of the way before an Early Access release, so that I can focus more attention on stuff that excites players.\n\n\nIt used to be very time-consuming to construct a geometrically detailed environment like this. Now it\'s super-easy! As with SOR1, our level editing tools will also be available to players.\n\n\nWHOA look at that, I just transformed it into the world\'s most chaotically constructed arcade! (No we wouldn\'t actually add a building that looked like this to the game, I just wanted to demonstrate how flexible our tile sets are.)\n\nHow come this is taking so much longer to make than SOR1? Werent you using that game as a base for the sequel?\nYes I am, and theres no way I could have made SOR2 from the ground up without having that existing base not if I wanted to have the game out this decade. But, SOR2 is a much bigger game in every conceivable way. Theres a massive gulf between a game taking place in small, self-contained levels and a game taking place in a large persistent world. Just about every notable element of the game is affected, and plenty of existing systems needed to be rewritten or overhauled.\n\nLol this is never getting finished is it?\nIve said it before and Ill say it again: The only way thats going to happen is if I drop dead. I started working on Streets of Rogue 12 years ago. Taken in the grand scheme of things, a bit of extra development time doesnt phase me much. My enthusiasm hasnt dampened, Im every bit as excited for this game as I was when it was gestating as an idea in my head while I worked on SOR1.\n\nSo when is the game coming out?\nThe game will release into Early Access when I feel its ready, and around that point well announce an official release date. I really do wish I could say more than that, but experience tells me that would be unwise :)\n\nWill you be posting more updates before the release date is announced?\nMost likely, though I cant commit to any particular schedule. Proper updates like this one do take time, and thats time away from finishing the game! Also, be sure to check out the Roadmap, which I tend to (sometimes stealthily) update every month or two. I also post on the forums and in our Discord .\n\n

The SOR2 Demo

\nWeve decided to remove the demo from Steam for the time being, with the possibility of creating a new-and-improved demo at a later point.\n\nThe initial reasons for posting the demo were to give fans a small taste of the game in the wake of last years delay, and to collect feedback prior to release in order to help improve the game. The demo has definitely fulfilled its purpose, and it certainly has its fans I recently got an email from someone whod put 135 hours into it! However, I dont feel that the demo is a great representation of the game in its intended form. Many design elements had yet to be finalized in the demo, and while it functioned as something of a fun sandbox, the core gameplay loop wasnt really in place, and it lacked overall polish.\n\nGiven the drastic changes that will be seen in future builds, and in the interest of not creating a false impression for folks who might be interested in the game, removing the demo is probably in everyones best interest.\n\n[hr][/hr]\nAs always, we appreciate your support!\n\n- Matt\n\n\nWishlist/follow Streets of Rogue 2 to stay up to date with the news:\n\nhttps://store.steampowered.com/app/2165810/Streets_of_Rogue_2/\n Read dev blogs:\nDevblog I: Vehicles \nDevblog II: Chunks \nDevblog III: Misc. Dev Updates \n\nWatch video devlogs:\nDevlog 1: How I Approach World-Building? \nDevlog 2: Creating an Open World Solo \nDevlog 3: Games That Inspired SoR 2 \nDevlog 4: New Release ETA, Roadmap \n[hr][/hr]Join the community on Discord: \nDISCORD \n\nFollow Streets of Rogue 2 on social media:\nTWITTER (X) \nTIKTOK \nBLUESKY \nYOUTUBE \nREDDIT

[ 2025-12-05 19:11:04 CET ] [Original Post]