Dev Blog #54 (Mini) - Extended Demo (Patreon)

Good day everyone,

This blog post will be a short one. Like, really, really short. I am hard at work to get the Patreon Exclusive Extended Demo ready to go and that is pretty much where all of my time is spent these past couple of days! While other aspects of the game are still actively being developed by the team, there is not a whole lot to show because I have not been able to incorporate the new additions to the game properly yet.

This blog post will be about the Extended Demo.

Test Lab: Extended Demo

Emails with an NDA have been sent to Admirals! If you have already signed one in the past (e.g Pre-Demo Testing), you are already participating! We will send an email with the password when the build is live.

Before the Extended Demo goes live to all Tier 2 backers and above, we’re doing some tests with a small group of backers beforehand to ensure everything works. If you are an Admiral (you have pledged a total of $80 (cumulative), and are still actively pledging), you are eligible to join us for the Extended Demo Testing phase and should have received an email from us. We are beginning our Admiral Tests (AKA Test Lab) this Friday.

This is a beta version of the Extended Demo that is going to need a few test runs from people outside the team. If you have been with us for a while, it’s the same approach we did before the Nextfest Demo went live on Steam, where we did extensive testing with backers in a private environment. This has proven to be a very effective way of bug squishing and polishing, as some of you were very observant back then!

If you have not received an email from us, please comment below or email us at contact@alteredorbitstudios.com

How long is this beta (Test Lab) going to take?

Nobody knows! If all goes well we might be able to launch it much earlier for all backers, that all depends on if any major issues are found during the Beta and if we can finish the final few bells & whistles sooner rather than later. Our current target is to get the demo ready by the end of August. But it could very well be earlier (though not later!)

You should have received an email last week that contains an NDA.. If you want to participate, please sign it! We are sending out keys and super-secret passwords this week!

Is the Extended Demo timed? Will I lose access eventually?
Eww, no! Unless something really bad happens that forces us to get rid of it ASAP, we have no plans to make it timed. You will always have access to this build provided you have the password for it. Just like every other build we’ve published!

What does the Extended Demo include?

The Extended Demo contains Level 2-2 and Level 2-3. The original demo level is not included in this build, it only contains the new content. We unfortunately had to cut the original demo level for this one, the game has undergone significant changes, to the extent that the Hospital Level is no longer functioning as intended.. It’s going to need a drastic clean up and if we want to manage our development time effectively, it’s much easier to wait until things are more finalized before we do that.

Any other updates?

There’s plenty to talk about, but as usual with these blog posts, I much prefer to show them instead. With a lot of finalized assets waiting for me to add them to the game, I cannot show anything until the Test Lab for Admirals is live. I promise we will do a chunky blog post at the end of the month!

Conclusion

I wasn't joking when I said it would be a very short one! We’re already at the end of this blog post! Please keep an eye out on either your Email or your Patreon Direct Messages as it won't be long until we start sending keys.

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below.

Have a great day <3

Wesley de Waart