Happy new year and we wanted to shoot a quick note to share our excitement -- Alpha Phase 0 launched last night on January 4th as planned. We wanted to post a quick update in case anyone missed the email.

Check Your Email for the Invites!

If you are in the alpha team, you should have received both an invitation email from App Center and an email with instructions at the email address you used for Kickstarter. If you do not see them in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If you have questions or didnt get the email, reach out to us here on Kickstarter or in our Discord (run the max!addrole command and then check out the #alpha channels.) This initial phase is a tech demo build -- it is NOT the game. It contains and tests everything required (graphics, sound & music, game engine player, all the code libraries, bug reporting, analytics) to play the game on your computer. Starting with this allows us to find any critical bugs in our new game engine on your platforms immediately while we can still focus solely on fixing these issues. It will also allow us to give priority to supporting everyone through sign up and download before we are also supporting the game. Please take a few minutes today to at least:

• find your invite email and sign up through App Center.
• join the Discord - its our hub for all alpha feedback!
• use the max!addrole command in Discord to make sure you can get access to the #alpha channels.

Weve already had over 200 of you run the tech build; more is helpful but if we could at least get everyone set up in the App Center and Discord it will help us get a playable version to you sooner and keep things running smoothly while everyones playtesting.

Alpha Phases and Duration

The Alpha is a series of Phases and the first is Phase 0, a tech demo which is currently available for download to help us identify bugs on different hardware combinations. Next, well move on to Phase 1 which will start with a limited version of the game that is completely focused on the core player experience (tactical missions). We will provide prompts and seek feedback on this core gameplay loop, then start the process of expanding the available content and systems in the game with new Alpha Phases. With each new Phase, we will provide new prompts and gameplay areas where we are specifically seeking feedback. From our previous alpha experiences, this entire process will take 6-12 months, will include many Alpha Phases and possibly 100+ updates. This is a marathon process that includes you in the games development, not a quick sprint or stress test. Your feedback shapes the game as it grows from the central kernel of tactical missions to the full game experience by the end of the alpha.

Reward and Stretch Goal Progress

For completeness, we have included the progress bar infographic in this update even though nothing much in it has changed. If you have any questions about rewards or stretch goals, check out the graphic or reach out to us.
Thanks, Trese Brothers Team