The alpha has been with the testers for a couple of days now and we've started getting some feedback... There have been quite a few bugs and whatnot, all which is pretty normal and expected during testing (it's why the testing is there!) and we have a very dedicated test team working hard on getting it done.
But amongst the flurry of bug reports, there has been some feedback finding its way through as well, which is fair enough, since these poor souls are stuck playing the game over and over again! However, the feedback they've been giving has sort of left us doing a bit of a re-think of a few things, and we want to know what you all think of them as well, and how important they are to you.
First of all, they have found that the loot situation isn't as grand as they'd hoped. In our defense, the loot situation isn't entirely linked to the procedural system in the demo as we didn't want to give away too much before the full version comes out, you know? But if people are disappointed with the demo then they aren't going to want to buy the full version... So it's a bit of a pickle... So what are your thoughts on that? How important is mountains of loot to you? And also, what types of loot are your favourite? Weapons? Armour? Treasures? Ingredients for alchemy? Magical kit? Let us know!
The other major concern is lack of direction for the player. The full game DOES have a storyline, but it's not very evident in the demo, so we're aiming to make it more evident and pressing. If you've been keeping up with things, we've just finished adding in an achievement system, which helps a bit, but isn't story based at all. The quest system (which is yet to be implemented) is going to help with that quite a lot though. But, yet another question, how important to you is direction and story? Or are you the type that plays open world games like Oblivion and just wanders while totally ignoring the main quest? Let us know!
We HAVE also gotten some rather good feedback. It's been pretty much unanimously said to us that the graphics are fantastic, and that the sound design and music are top notch. One of our testers had the crap scared out of them by our procedural ambient sound generator which played a ghostly voice DIRECTLY behind him as he was examining part of the dungeon. This feedback makes us feel good, but a beautiful game is not necessarily a content rich game.
So my final question is a biggie, and it's one that has been weighing on me all day. I've asked some other team members and gotten mixed responses, so I thought I'd ask you, our potential players, to see what you all think.
As you all know, we're launching the full version of the game on December 21st, 2012 (or aiming to, at least) which is just over a year away. Would you prefer that we push through and get you a limited demo to play by the end of this year, and then let you just wait it out a year for the full version to come? Or would you prefer to hang out for a few more months, and have us chunk a heap more content into the demo, making it much more packed, and then release it around April/May next year so there's only about 6 months to wait for the full version, but a more content-rich demo? To be honest, we're quite humble about this project, and we don't really have a clear indication of just how much you guys want to get your hands on the game!
So let us know how you feel about those issues. This is, after all, an indie project, and as such you can talk to us and tell us what is important to you to be in this game! We really would like to know!
Also, here's the usual plug for our social networking sites!
"But if people are disappointed with the demo then they aren't going to want to buy the full version..." I think it would be nice if you could use the actual loot generation system in the demo, because in games like this loot plays a pretty important role and like you said: if people are disappoined with the demo they won't be interested in the full game. Obviously it's important for a demo to correctly represent the full game.
I personally like good amounts of loot, as long as I can sell the useless stuff. About direction and story: I love The Elder Scrolls for the open worlds, I spent hours and hours just exploring and killing random bandits. It is nice to follow a story every now and then though, so I definitely need a story in my games. To add variety in gameplay so to speak, and of course to get some nice rewards ;)
I think I'll rather wait for a 'larger' demo in April/May. I'm looking forward to give this game a try, but if the April/May demo will give a better impression of the game that would obviously be the better choice. I think that people might lose interest in the game too, if they have to wait a whole year for the full game to release.
All very good responses, Metalspy, thanks. Yeah, we know that a heap of people are desperate to get their hands on this really soon, but if they get it after being so keen and it feels unfinished then they'll be more disappointed than if they had to wait another 6 months... It's a hard decision all around, but we really want to give you guys the best RPG experience you can possibly get.
If it helps (in terms of the delay) our alpha test team are gearing up to "leak" some play-through videos of the alpha build! So that might whet some appetites!
Sending you an email on this later on, Alex. Props to you and the team for being so willing and eager to take feedback!
I always look forward to emails from you! Yeah, we really want everyone else to love this game as much as we do!
Because the comment I would've posted here goes beyond the 2,000 characters limit for newspost comments, I've instead sent it as a PM to the "Malevolence: The Sword of Ahkranox" development team via ModDB. I hope you guys and gals find it useful!
I see it! Thanks! Will respond soon!
Okay just from the pictures this is how I viewed it.
It looks great! But the side bar bit kind of makes it look as if it doesn't match the game.
But that's about it! :)
The HUD you see in those screenshots is an optional HUD for old-school RPG players. It can be turned off to show a more modern looking one in the options :D glad you like the look of the game!
I realize you are trying to give it a particular retro look, but imo you don't need to take up so much screen space with that UI. Most of the information that's on there could be displayed at a fraction the size, and without the elaborate borders / backgrounds.
The HUD you see in those screenshots is an optional HUD for old-school RPG players. It can be turned off to show a more modern looking one in the options.
Congrats on an Alpha demo and the feedback!
Looting and story are both very important issues when it comes to enjoying a game... I don't have super high expectations of a demo and really just play them to see the graphics & mechanics. If it seems competitive enough with professional games, then I'll buy it.
As for Loot, I think it great to have 3-4 items that can be picked up off of corps's, inside treasure chests or even off of enemies you have killed. We will never use all the items, but it gives us options to use them or sell them. So, the more loot the better...
As for Story, a GRAND storyline would be great, but not required. I would at least expect several "missions" or "quests" in each level so we have a purpose being there. Missions will also tie together the enemies and environments. So maybe a few missions to get us from point A to point B, then we move on to another location.
Keep up the hard work, looking forward to a beta release!
Thanks for the feedback! Currently the demo has 8 weapons, 28 ingredients, two fixed potions, about 30 procedural potions, 6 spell books, 8 scrolls and 25 armour pieces and a few other misc items, but apparently people want more, so we're going to link it in with the procedural engine and give people as many as they can find instead :) we thought what we put in there would be enough, but apparently not lol
Sounds like you guys did a lot of work already, I don't expect a "demo" to feature all the complexities of the full game. Sounds like a lot of great features already... Keep up the hard work!
Rest assured that it will be AWESOME! :-D