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Velociryx
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of Candle'Bre
Apr 1999
time: 05:29
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Okay folks, I may be jumping the gun slightly here, but I wanted to give everyone an update as to our progress, and here's the scoop.
We're verging on having the major elements in place, at least to the degree that running the program will give you a good sense of where we're going with it.
From the beginning, I said that I wouldn't be releasing ANYTHING to the wider public until it was playable from start to finish, and that's just about where we are now.
With the next alpha release, we should have all the major elements in place sufficiently that the game will be playable from beginning to end.
Specifically what that DOESN'T mean is that it's a finished product. It is not, and cannot be until we've heard from all of you, and I'm happy to announce that we are rapidly drawing the game's "development behind the curtain" to a close.
So, having said that, here's what will be happening soon:
We're going to make our last Alpha build a public release. This will be something of a "basic systems check" so you guys can have a look at what we've been doing, and help us make sure it works every time, all the time. This is absolutely essential before we start moving into the Beta program where we'll begin fleshing everything out with your input. There's no point in beginning to add meat to the basic framework if the basic framework isn't strong enough to support it, and that's what the upcoming public alpha release is all about. Getting your help and input to make sure that the skeleton is good, strong, and sturdy....helping us spot any weak places we might have missed, and so forth.
Warning!!! And I cannot stress this enough - If you are looking for the finished goods, the upcoming public alpha is not for you. It's playable from start to finish, and all the major ingredients are there and in place so that you can get a good feel for where we're headed, but this is not (by any means) the final product. As long as we're clear on that, everything should be just fine. 
Among the things you will not see in the public alpha are:
* No victory or attaboy screens at the end.....the game just sorta "ends" right now, and there's a good reason for that....we want to get your input on what should "go there." Not only the look and feel of it, but also how in-depth you want it to be.
* Not all of the spells, acts of fate, espionage, and diplomatic options have been enabled at this point. Enough of all that so that it's clear where we're heading, and still enough time for you who decide to help us along, to add your voice and ideas to the mix.
* Not sure if the tactical map will make an appearance in the alpha release or not, but right now, the plan is to have a toggle switch so you can shift from the "top level" view to the tiled view at will (right now, the game runs exclusively in tiled mode....we're working on getting the strategic map behaving)
* Sounds? Unknown at this point (they're not currently in, but it's high on the list)
So what will be included in the public alpha?
* The map itself (the tiled one), with our latest terrains from Busta
* Combat system fully implemented (those "canned strategies" we discussed here earlier)
* Province loyalty system in place (complete with rebellion chances if you let loyalty dip too low)
* Build limits and variable build points in provinces
* Tech trees/advances fully enabled
* Budgeting system fully enabled
* All provincial improvements enabled and buildable, provided the pre-requisites have been met
* Some espionage functions
* Some (a good many) spells
* Some (a good many) acts of fate
* Honor and Infamy system
* Influence (with the Church)
And others that I've prolly forgotten.
Anyway, just a heads' up to let you guys know that we've not been asleep over here....
-=Vel=-
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07-07-2003 18:52
Blimey!
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