"The Final Alpha" Will Be Released In March - Period. (Patreon)

We are very fortunate to have many patient supporters who repeatedly assure us that they are willing to wait "as long as it takes" for us to release The Final Alpha.  My goodness, I wish I had their patience...

The fact is that Peace Island has not released an alpha in almost 11 months, and we cannot afford any more delays.  Indie game projects are judged on their ability to show progress - and no matter how many screenshots or videos a particular project provides its backers, it doesn't really mean much, unless they get the chance to PLAY THE GAME.

Now- before anyone quotes the time-honored mantra of stalled projects everywhere:

"A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad."

Understand: We're not rushing.  Out of the 16 criteria we set for the release of "The Final Alpha," 15 have been met or exceeded.  Every system from the ocean, to the biomes, to the NPCs, to the character controller has been improved, and new systems have been added.

With the exception of a possible nuclear war, or a meteor strike a la "Don't Look Up," I cannot conceive of any obstacle that can prevent the Final Alpha from being available to contributors within the next 3-4 weeks.

NOW THAT WE HAVE THAT OUT OF THE WAY, LET'S TAKE ALOOK AT A FEW IMPROVEMENTS WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO ADDRESS, OVER THE PAST WEEK.

First, Lance's progress on the character controller continues to amaze.  Over the past week, he's been able to not only finalize climbing on a flat surface, he's also added the ability to strafe while climbing - which allows the player to rotate their position on a curved surface such as a telephone pole, or tree.  

The dismount when the cat reaches the top of a climbable surface is as smooth as silk, and when Lance showed me that you could leap from one climbable surface to another - well, I believe that is the only time I've ever given anyone a standing ovation over a Discord chat. 

Secondly, Arjuna finished remodelling the second-largest downtown sector, which is now waiting for a final bake.  I believe that we will continue to consolidate the architecture in other sectors, but none will be so heavy as the two we have finished.  As a reminder: this replaces dozens of textures and scores of meshes with one single mesh, and one single material - which significantly reduces processor load when you are wandering the more populated quarter of the island.  When this is done, downtown might actually stream FASTER than some parts of the "back shore."

Thirdly, I know I mentioned doing this last spring, but I FINALLY got around to adding the strips of grass one usually finds in the median of more rural dirt roads.  It's a minor aesthetic detail, but it serves two necessary purposes:

     A: Before, every dirt road looked the same.  Now the player can better orient themselves after emerging from the forest onto a given road, without having to consult the map.

     B:  These roads convey a sense of place that was essential to the setting.  "Downtown" has paved roads, and the better-maintained dirt roads are where the tourists stay and the richer folks live.  When you see the bedrock peeping through the ruts in the road and the grass in the center, you'll know you're in "The Boonies," where people might want a bit less intrusion and/or attention...

And as always, Laura's work on the cat furs continues!  We were also able to get the entirety of the initial training level into Articy, and remove any dead-ends, hiccups, or loops.  This work is for the public beta, which we will release later this year, or die trying.

See ya'll next week!  And BTW: if you have submitted your choices for name inclusion within the game, and we have yet to respond - we will by the end of the weekend - we appreciate your patience!