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[Texashawk]

I need to get back to this. Am I still a tester?

Yes! We're resetting our alpha tester program so look for the update on our forums in about a week!

[Texashawk]

Hey RP!

Thanks for the thoughts. That's exactly what we are trying to figure out. This is a pretty unique game and one thing that I've said since day 1 is that EA needs to be a viable product - that's one reason why I'm not generally a fan. Since we've been so open with our development, we finally thought 'Let's ask the people following the game and hear their voice!' So we did, and we are. Your points are well-taken, and you're right; the Xyl are an important part of the game! They provide the impetus to act proactively instead of just hang on for dear life if you're not going for the Lazarus victory.

-Steve

I can definitely imagine that, and I think that's an important driver to have. That sort of outside pressure pushes you out of your comfort zone and also forces you to take risks/make decisions you wouldn't normally do.

I definitely think it's fine (and can be helpful) to release it at beta when all the major mechanics are in place. The insight/balancing you get from players can be useful, especially when you're dealing with a game that can quickly become overwhelming, so I wouldn't leave it too long, but I'd definitely recommend getting all the major stuff in place.

Yeah, I think we're going to be pretty feature-complete before we launch an EA product. I still want something that's playable and fun for people to use, not the feeling that they are essentially pay-to-play alpha testers. At the point I'd like to release, the main stuff to check should be balance, not major code or huge holes in the features.

Thanks!

[Retropunch]

Hey RP!

Thanks for the thoughts. That's exactly what we are trying to figure out. This is a pretty unique game and one thing that I've said since day 1 is that EA needs to be a viable product - that's one reason why I'm not generally a fan. Since we've been so open with our development, we finally thought 'Let's ask the people following the game and hear their voice!' So we did, and we are. Your points are well-taken, and you're right; the Xyl are an important part of the game! They provide the impetus to act proactively instead of just hang on for dear life if you're not going for the Lazarus victory.

-Steve

I can definitely imagine that, and I think that's an important driver to have. That sort of outside pressure pushes you out of your comfort zone and also forces you to take risks/make decisions you wouldn't normally do.

I definitely think it's fine (and can be helpful) to release it at beta when all the major mechanics are in place. The insight/balancing you get from players can be useful, especially when you're dealing with a game that can quickly become overwhelming, so I wouldn't leave it too long, but I'd definitely recommend getting all the major stuff in place.

Yeah, I think we're going to be pretty feature-complete before we launch an EA product. I still want something that's playable and fun for people to use, not the feeling that they are essentially pay-to-play alpha testers. At the point I'd like to release, the main stuff to check should be balance, not major code or huge holes in the features.

Thanks!

Great to hear - I think that balance for this kinda game is actually better to be crowd sourced as it can be easy as a developer/long time tester to be a bit to close to it and overlook some crucial issues. I'll definitely be getting in on it as soon as it launches!!

[Texashawk]

OK, folks, .3 is out on time and under budget (ha!) Here's the blog post with the details, and what's coming up for .4!

https://imperiagame.wordpress.com/2016/05/02/3-has-been-released-overview-and-plan-for-4/

Enjoy, and look forward to a video posted on the blog/YouTube channel soon!

-Steve

[Retropunch]

OK, folks, .3 is out on time and under budget (ha!) Here's the blog post with the details, and what's coming up for .4!

https://imperiagame.wordpress.com/2016/05/02/3-has-been-released-overview-and-plan-for-4/

Enjoy, and look forward to a video posted on the blog/YouTube channel soon!

-Steve

Sounds fantastic!! I love the idea of 'command modes' - that's something I've never seen before and a great way to make things more manageable. There gets to be a point in some grand strategy games where a 'what do I do next' feeling can come about from info overload. Everything seems to be going 'about ok' but you're unsure where you need to start focusing efforts, or how to do so. I imagine this will solve it quite well!

[Zireael]

I need to stop deving my own stuff and get back to this!

[Texashawk]

Hey everyone, snuck in a WIP video today before knocking off for the day. Not comprehensive by any means, but does talk about the command and trade systems in some detail.

Check it out here! https://youtu.be/IaLunW37ibU

-Steve

[Texashawk]

OK, folks, .3 is out on time and under budget (ha!) Here's the blog post with the details, and what's coming up for .4!

https://imperiagame.wordpress.com/2016/05/02/3-has-been-released-overview-and-plan-for-4/

Enjoy, and look forward to a video posted on the blog/YouTube channel soon!

-Steve

Sounds fantastic!! I love the idea of 'command modes' - that's something I've never seen before and a great way to make things more manageable. There gets to be a point in some grand strategy games where a 'what do I do next' feeling can come about from info overload. Everything seems to be going 'about ok' but you're unsure where you need to start focusing efforts, or how to do so. I imagine this will solve it quite well!

Yeah, I'm stunned more games haven't had this. It makes doing 'tasks' much easier. The video I just posted goes into a little more detail into the concept!

-Steve

[Retropunch]

Yeah, I'm stunned more games haven't had this. It makes doing 'tasks' much easier. The video I just posted goes into a little more detail into the concept!

-Steve

That looks great! Awesome to see how it's coming along.

I'd really suggest adding an 'overview' mode as well though, as without it you get the opposite effect happening, where you're too focused on one thing and miss the bigger picture stuff. Whilst that's sort of the users fault for not checking, it's tedious to make sure you check every tab every turn to make sure nothing surprises you.

More than that though, it'll be a bit overwhelming for newer/casual players who might not know what they should be looking for or where. As you've got all the solar system actions divided up between 'modes', it'll mean continually clicking through tabs till you get to the one with the action you want. This can get frustrating until you learn, so an overview that just lets you see all of them would be good.

 

[Texashawk]

Hey everyone,

Hey everyone!

Wanted to post here since a lot of people know about Imperia from Bay 12 games. As we prepare to launch .4 and as we are making significant progress towards an alpha build, we have decided to change the name before we start significant marketing pushes. Imperia will now be known as Alliance of the Sacred Suns!

There's a blog post at https://imperiagame.wordpress.com/2016/07/29/introducing-alliance-of-the-sacred-suns/ that explains in more detail why we made the change, but basically it boiled down to 2 things: there's a game called Imperia Online that's been around for almost 12 years and dominates any SEO we might want to use for the name Imperia, and to avoid misunderstandings with that game (or people think that we're an online game) we decided to rebrand to a name that actually hits closer to what the game's goal is: as a new emperor, your ultimate ambition is to reform the shattered Celestial Empire in order to prepare it for mankind’s final test: the Xyl.

Changing the name we feel more accurately reflects this, and sets the stage for what we feel is a huge strength of the game: the universe behind it.

So be on the lookout for a new video this weekend (link posted here of course!) that will show off the new .4 build and the new Project and Action systems, as well as the new UI and cosmic graphics.

Also, we will be featured on Space Game Junkie on August 23rd to show .4 and the early work on .5! Thanks to Brian for continuing to support our project, even in new clothing!

We will be gradually changing over our links to one unified website at www.allianceofthesacredsuns.com but any previous links will redirect as we make the transition.

Thank you for sticking with us, if you've continued to follow us - it's only 2 people working on this game, along with artists, but the UI redesign took a long time to finalize and we are continuing to refine it with our testers! Stay tuned!

-Steve

[forsaken1111]

Can't wait to see the new video and take a look at the changes. New name sounds good as well. Will certain systems be handled differently in the game, as they are considered 'sacred' or holy worlds of some sort?

[Zireael]

Steve, I completely missed your reply because I have a job now. Right now I am not at home, but I would love to test Alliance of the Sacred Suns after 5th Aug!

Is it still possible to rejoin the testers?

[Frumple]

... I don't want to harsh on anything, and I'm not going to suggest changing it or anything like that, but... was it noticed that one of the obvious acronyms for the new title is ASS? Usually the lower case stuff isn't left out, but it's not unknown either, and, well... *coughs*

[forsaken1111]

... I don't want to harsh on anything, and I'm not going to suggest changing it or anything like that, but... was it noticed that one of the obvious acronyms for the new title is ASS? Usually the lower case stuff isn't left out, but it's not unknown either, and, well... *coughs*

Just make sure to put AOTSS somewhere on the website as the 'official' acronym and call anyone who uses ASS childish

[ndkid]

So, based on the dates in
https://imperiagame.wordpress.com/2016/04/04/the-updated-roadmap-when-will-the-first-playable-release-be-and-ea-notes/
it sounds like 0.4 is a couple of months behind target, and 0.7, which was the proposed early access release, was targeted for 10/1? Does that mean that Early Access is most likely to be in Q1 2017?