Lack of Updates
We currently have not been making much progress on the game due to the end of the college year approaching and we all need to hand in work etc.
We have gotten our Alpha map completed though, which means once all the college stuff is done with we can get into pushing the alpha out.
Alpha Info
My first point of this post is the alpha itself. This isn't really an "alpha" release, its simply a large engine test, we do expect that many things will go wrong, many things won't work and lots of stuff will break easily.
The reason we are releasing this is because for us to test it ourselves would mean we spent more time trying to identify bugs than we would have fixing them. When we do release this engine test we will setup a bug tracker so that bugs can be posted etc. By doing this we can easily identify submitted bugs and zap them quicker, meaning the next release comes even quicker.
When we do release our engine test, we will be creating a launcher application which will check our servers for the latest update. If a newer update is available you will have to download it before you can play. This means you will always have the latest issue that will fix bugs (because some bugs could potentially make the game unplayable).
Online Play
We are planning to include an online multiplayer in the game, however, none of us has any network programming experience. Meaning we are setting this back in our priorities list, we would simply like to get the game built before we add online play. This will most likley come in a Beta release of the game.
We have however planned out our entire online structure.
We will have a maximum of 6 players in one "game", each player will have a different character. You will be prompted to choose your character in a lobby before the game begins, the host will have first choice.
Each character is very different and all will have backgrounds, which are yet to be decided.
More on the online will come later, but please be aware that any of this could change, this is just what I have planned.
Awards System + Accounts
The final things I have to say are about the awards system and accounts system we will be using for the game and its online.
You've seen the Xbox achievements and PSN trophies system, we think that the PC is missing this, but obviously, it can't be done like the consoles. Now, over at our site (Seventh-wave.net) we have our own online "awards" system. We plan to intergrate this into the game.
We're still deciding on if the info will display in the game itself, but all your stats will be collected and updated to our servers, then, when you visit the site, if you meet the criteria, you will gain awards from the game!
Note: We may include the awards in the game to pop up, but this will only be done in the late stages of the beta if it is to be done.
Lastly, accounts.
We plan to enable accounts at our site to be used for the login to the game and its online, this enables you to find buddies from the site quickly and easily and invite them to games. It also means your stats can be collected.
We also plan to use our site to distribute the builds of the game, we hope to use the accounts in the alpha for an "ingame" bug reporting system.
I'd also like to point out that we update our site much more than our Moddb account, if you want constant updates please do check it out, or follow us on Twitter!
Thank you.
~Foxx
cool