DEV BLOG 12 - PATCH 0.3 and Presentation of our roadmap!

Hello everyone! Today, we are going to talk to you about our "patch" program. This way, you will know exactly what we have planned and the order.
Also, before we go any further, I must announce the following:

-- The release date has been postponed to November 7th, and it will be an early access release! --

Before you cry, let me explain a bit about this. You will quickly understand that we are not delaying it for fun or just to disappoint you, but to bring you even more enjoyment! Firstly, we completely revamped biome 1 recently following playtests. This was unexpected work, and it took us quite some time. Next, we created the biome 5, which was initially planned as part of a free DLC. However, we thought it would be much better if you had it from the beginning since it's a very important area. Overall, we have reworked many things: monsters, bosses, balancing, level aesthetics, and more. We experienced delays due to unforeseen departures of partners working on the aesthetic aspects (cutscenes, monsters). As a result, it took us more time to find solutions. In short, as you may have gathered, we are not postponing it for fun but because we want the game to meet your expectations and be able to release the game with the best content from version 1.0. We want the game to be beautiful, grandiose, and not rushed out with lots of bugs.

Version 0.3 Content

With this "substantial" devblog comes the release of version 0.3. We've added a large gameplay area, the Abysses of the Citadel! This is a gameplay area partially shrouded in darkness. A few new monsters, a new skill, a new mini-boss, and of course, the guardian of the place: The Golden Widow. In total, this will add 1 to 2 hours of gameplay, depending on your level (potentially more). Enough blabla, here's a little preview.
Some of our "beta testers" have already found and explored these areas. So we fixed some bugs, but we are aware that more are hiding in the darkness.

New platforms !

This new patch also features the support of new platforms: Mac, Linux, and Steamdeck (not the same build as Linux). We might still have issues with Linux and Mac builds as there are many OS versions out there, so please send us a ticket/message if you have any issue.

About the Steamdeck:

As Steam have to make a manual review before setting the good build as default, right now you have to go into the settings cf: Go to the game page and go to Settings > Properties > Compatibility. In this menu you should have a check box which is "Force the use of compatibility tools". You need to check it, and then under the list which will appear, you'll need to choose the option "Steam Linux Runtime" (should be GE-Proton7-50). Then the game should redownload and everything should be great !

Beta Roadmap

Our beta program will rely on a series of major patches. Before we go any further, I want to clarify that ALL OUR BACKERS (who chosed the platform Steam) will have access to the beta version starting from Patch 0.5 (end of October/early November). Let me present you our "roadmap":
0.3 (The Abyss of the citadel) // DONE 0.4 (The East Belfry) 0.5 (The Fallen King) 0.6 (The Belfry's Twin) 0.7 "Karma zones" 0.8 "The Avarice" 0.9 Additional content / areas / LORE 1.0 The True Ending = THE COMPLETE GAME Its a total of 7 big patches, and let me tell you that most of those patches are nearly done.

Why does it take so much time?

We understand your concerns and frustration. Despite our efforts, some things take a lot of time:

• Level art (creating beautiful levels).
• World karma, which requires us to create two worlds and do a lot of back-and-forth to make sure it works (and as you've seen, there are quite a few bugs because of "these things").
• cutscenes / scenario (mostly because we had to find a solution, and now its ok)
• we want to improve more a lot of things and add content

Today, the two karma worlds are very similar, simply because we haven't "level-arted" the Light versions yet. So, most Light maps today are copies of the Gold versions. Also, "karma" is supposed to change existing routes and backtracking, a key element of the "metroidvania" genre. Finally, as we announced in the previous post, it is technically possible to face 7 of the game's bosses. However, in the beta, only 3 were accessible (now 5). In essence, each patch will give you access to 1 or even 2 new bosses.

Metroidvania games go rarely in Early-Access.

We want to take this opportunity to deliver the game "piece by piece" so we can polish and improve each area as much as possible without being overwhelmed by feedback and day one patch, we do not want to rush or enter a crunch which is terrible for the team. With this schedule, we believe we can make adjustments to each area as the patches roll out. Also, we will do our best to ensure that your save data is preserved across versions!

Steam Next Fest.

Next monday is the beginning of the Steam Next Fest, Noreya will join the events with the free demo. Please make sure you wishlist the game on Steam if you can, this is helpful to push the game as Valve is looking at the number of wishlist to promote or not a game. Thanks for reading, more news very soon.

[ 2023-10-06 19:21:10 CET ] [ Original post ]