So, as September arrives, the kids are back to their academic struggles, and we too put down our sunglasses and prepare for a final push towards an Early Access release later this year (hopefully…).
First, I’m gonna share some stats and graphs from the survey we ran throughout the Beta testing and now the live Demo version of the game. To start off, we asked the key question: did you enjoy the game? The overall average sits at around 3.5/5.
So, are we happy with that? Well, of course we’d love it to be at least a 4, but for a WIP project we’re feeling pretty good about this score so far — and naturally, we want to keep improving it.
This second graph gives a clearer breakdown of the ‘troubled’ areas versus the ones where we’re doing well. It’s definitely sparked plenty of design discussions on our side. Combat and the deck system remain touchy subjects — and since they’re the game’s core mechanics, they’re a big focus for us going forward.
One change we’ll be addressing soon is the learning curve: some mechanics will be switched off at the start and only kick in after several turns, giving new players a chance to get their bearings. Another feature we’re looking to add is weapon-specific attack types — but more on that once we’ve actually made it work…
We were pleasantly surprised to see the tutorial getting more positive feedback lately — tutorials are always tough for us to nail down. Music also seems to be hitting the right notes, and the story elements are clearly being enjoyed by most players.
And now for a few more fun stats: here’s a breakdown of our fan base by age group, along with how players perceive the game’s difficulty (which will hopefully feel more accessible once we can implement difficulty levels in-game) and how long people play the demo.
After carefully considering all the feedback, we’re in the process of implementing a new exploration/crafting/camping system. The general feeling was that what we had so far lacked real depth. We’ll begin testing the new features this month, and then roll them out to the Demo. The aim is to make crafting and camping a more immersive experience. For example, you’ll now be able to assign party members to specific tasks, making them feel like useful contributors to your group. We’re also adding card crafting to deepen the complexity and fun of deck-building and adding more use for the crafting mechanics.
Alongside that, several smaller fixes and features are slowly making their way in — things like shifting the UI around for better clarity (finding the enemy icon before was a bit of a chore), or making it easier to equip your characters.
Here are a few WIP screenshots of the changes.
So, all in all, we’re definitely back to school here at MuHa — working hard to deliver the best Early Access we possibly can, adding content and features and hoping to nudge those feedback surveys closer to a solid 4. 😉