Release of Darkness Within : BOOK ONE news

The beta testing session initialized this summer is nearly completed and valuable feedback have decided us to change our plan concerning the release of Darkness Within.

We have decided that we won't release the campaign as a whole and completed product because this will take ages to do so, BUT we are aiming at a release of the first part of Darkness Within at the end of the year 2013.

Darkness Within: Book One, The Hunt will deliver the first act of this trilogy around Christmas... if everything goes as planned. It will also contain all the structure and code necessary for any modder to study, reproduce and make a campaign of his own.

We don't know if we will get a English version for the voice done around this time but it may be possible this depends on a lot of parameters and people goodwill and in such must be taken with a spoon of salt.
At this point of the development i would like to be able to release a Russian version of the ucs lines as well. given the high interest and support we received from the Russian players community i consider this a priority and will work hard for it to be possible.

i would like our beta tester to share their feelings and though about the campaign, so guys if any of you got five minute, would you be kind enough to relate your experience here, if not i'll just quote you from our private vault.

"Darkness Within Book One : The Hunt" is going to be a very different kind of game than the classic DoW gameplay, we have tried to be innovative and original, our main concenr is not about RTs but about storytelling, so do not expect it to be a storm of new toys to play with, but some kind of interactive rpg book playable via the DoW engine.
Gunfood point of view on this matter is relevant :

Someone wrote: So, I see it as a campaign for fluff and plot lovers. And the tactical side is not underdeveloped - you get to build bases, attack and defend, command squads and strike forces as well as lone heroes. But I was a bit irritated that it takes quite a while after mission start until you get to command units and fight, and you have to read all the character talk in order to make the decisions which divide the story branch.
I know that this project was initially created to make a campaign with an actual story, but I am missing a somewhat larger battle until now. Sometimes I have the feeling that this is a "computer game novel" (if that's a thing). If this is intended, it's OK of course. Personally, I find the lengthy plot spanning at the beginning of the missions a bit exhausting.
I would suggest to throw the player into the action at mission start, then after a sub-objective has been met, tell the story, and then continue with action and build-up story? It's still a RTS game, after all.
But of course, I have already learned to love the characters of this campaign ;)It really has some elements of an epic saga!

off course we are perfectly aware of this situation and we are expecting a lot of critics from the community (which would be a good thing, interest is always good) for not being "RTS" enough.
but we are sure some people will like it and will like the slow pace needed to reveal the truth hidden behind the lies of the dark gods.

thanks for your attention and support,

JL