Month: August 2017

Brief Alpha 4 update: on schedule

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up on the project… almost all of the Mrrshan artwork has been incorporated, some bugs have been fixed, and we are still on schedule for the Alpha 4 to be ready to go on September 1st.

There are 13 days/nights between now and then, and 4 of them are reserved for driving northward and back to see the solar eclipse on Monday. There’s another 1-2 days reserved for unavoidable family business, leaving a solid 7 nights of work (and 1 weekend day) for finishing up any remaining bugs and polish. That’s the life of a part-time indie developer!

I’ll try to make a video late next week of everything that’s changed since the last Alpha.

Discuss on Reddit:

Brief Alpha 4 update: on schedule from rotp

 

What remains before the Alpha on Sept 1st.

All of the Mrrshan artwork has been handed off to me and I am in the process of integrating it all into the game. Here’s what’s left to do by September 1st when Alpha 4 starts:

  • Integration of remaining, completed Mrrshan artwork: Council, GNN, Transport Ship, Colony, Ground Combat Animations and misc… Time: 1 week, max.
  • Fixing some recently reported bugs from the Alpha 3.20 version: Cloning issue, Tech problem, recapturing rebelling bug, ship production bug… Time: 5 days, max
  • Integrate any updated translator text files… Time: 2 days, max, but occurs at the end of the month
  • Some necessary polish & “alpha disclaimers” on the interim ship combat UI… Time: 5 days, but can actually run past the alpha release date

That’s it! Then we can start the Alpha 4 test process, get it stabilized, and then start thinking about Alpha 5.

What you can do to help

There are three things and they are both critical;

  1. Test the Alpha – you guys are the testers! While I would love to deliver an alpha version that has gone through some sort of QA testing first, the reality is that I don’t have a QA department. We are in the Alpha phase, so you guys are the QA! When you download the game, expect to find some dumb bugs early on and expect me to be working long nights for a solid week to fix everything you find. That’s how it works.
  2. Subscribe to the Remnants subreddit at www.reddit.com/r/rotp – This subreddit is moderated by me (I’m nice, honest) and is intended to serve as a central point of discussion for the game. If you have questions for me or anyone else playing, that’s the place to ask. If you find bugs in the alpha, that’s the place to report them. All of the blog posts here are automatically posted to the subreddit as well, meaning that you can see them on your reddit feed. It’s honestly the best way to have your opinions about the game heard by the people who can do something about them.
  3. Consider making a translation to your native language – I’ve always asked for translation volunteers because I want them done by gamers rather than non-gamers, so here is another request. I will also point out that no one is expected to do anything on this project for free (except me). I know that a lot of people might laugh when I say that Remnants will be the most-played space 4X game on the planet when it’s complete, but it is going to happen and language translations are a vital part of that plan. We already have 7 translators (French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, and Spanish) and I would like to add at least another dozen over the next year.

 

Discuss this on the Remnants subreddit:

What remains before the Alpha on Sept 1st. from rotp

[2.0 Discussion] Antarans and Wormholes

 

Introducing the Antarans into the eventual 2.0 version of the game is a foregone conclusion, but a lot of thought has gone into the mechanics and lore surrounding this mechanic. The hope is that the Antarans will not only be challenging, but that they will enhance the narrative of the game as well.

Please join the discussion on the Remnants subreddit:

[2.0 Discussion] Antarans and Wormholes from rotp