Hello Everyone!

I hope you are all doing well & staying safe as we head into those hot summer months. This post is just to inform everyone that v0.3 will be entering Closed Testing next week!

Due to the monumental size of this update, Ive divided it into incremental testing phases to make the process more manageable and effective. Each phase will introduce more content from the update and gradually expand the testing base to ensure everything is functioning as intended.

Here's how each phase breaks down...

[img src="https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images/43512720/925263249f6b5f71c984edcd1fe5d6ef1bbb4c57.png"][/img]

Phase 1: Closed Testing (starts next week)

The first group of testers will be selected from those opted into the v0.3 Beta Tester role over on our Discord at random. This first phase is heavily focused on bug fixing & functionality.

Specifically, this includes:

• Early Questlines

• Chunk Expansion

• New Research System

• New Cargo Drone System

• Enemies V2 (early-game units)

• Refined Control Scheme

• Altar OS (many new UI elements)

Want to opt into this phase? Head over to our Discord server (linked below) and select the "Sign me up!" option in the server channel & roles section. (note that testers are hand selected for this phase)

[img src="https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images/43512720/925263249f6b5f71c984edcd1fe5d6ef1bbb4c57.png"][/img]

Phase 2: Open Testing

Once the initial testing has completed and the major new gameplay systems have been tested, I will open it up to anyone over on our Discord who has opted into the v0.3 Beta Tester role. This phase of testing is heavily focused on refining new content based on player feedback.

Specifically, this includes:

• All previous testing focuses

• Abyss Questlines (up to Phantom Plains)

• Unit Production & Command

• Enemies V2 (more new unit types)

• Guardian Battles

• Chunk Expansion Balance

• New Content Balance

• Other New Systems (there's a lot)

Want to opt into this phase? Head over to our Discord server (linked below) and select the "Sign me up!" option in the server channel & roles section.

[img src="https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images/43512720/925263249f6b5f71c984edcd1fe5d6ef1bbb4c57.png"][/img]

Phase 3: Experimental

This will be the final testing phase and the largest one, with most of the update opening up to testers and allowing for those outside of the Discord to opt into tested through the public experimental branch. This portion of testing is focused on game balance & quality of life.

Specifically, this includes:

• All previous testing focuses,

• All Abyss & Phantom Plains Questlines,

• Multiplayer & New Social Features,

• Phantom Plains v2,

• Refined FOW Mechanic,

• Game Balance,

• Quality of Life,

• Performance Improvements,

Want to opt into this phase? Simply right click on Vectorio in your Steam library, navigate to the betas tab, and select experimental from the drop-down list!

[img src="https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images/43512720/925263249f6b5f71c984edcd1fe5d6ef1bbb4c57.png"][/img]

Phase 4: Live Release!

The full release of v0.3, including a major marketing cycle, and a return to regular game-updates! This will conclude the testing phase of the update, as we move onto v0.3.x updates and begin preparations for v0.4 which will follow closely behind!

[img src="https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images/43512720/925263249f6b5f71c984edcd1fe5d6ef1bbb4c57.png"][/img]

If you have any questions or concerns about any of these phases, please dont hesitate to ask!

I understand that not everyone is interested in joining our Discord, and while Id love to make the update publicly available right away, its crucial that we test all the new systems first. The best way to do that is through a direct line of communication like Discord.

With that said, Ill do my best to move through these early testing phases as quickly as possible, so we can open up the update to more players before the full live release.

Thanks for reading, ~ Ben

Discord: https://discord.gg/vectorio