Posts Tagged ‘Beta’

Status Update

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

Just wanted to give a quick status update. The good news is that the next sidequest is over half done, the bad news is that I’m about to move and will be only intermittently available for a week or so.

I’ll try to keep up with bug reports while I’m out, which hasn’t been a problem before. Just wanted to give a head’s up about the new content.

Preparing for the move is why I was out for a week and why updates have been a bit slow. Once I’m done moving and things have calmed down, I should be back to my normal update schedule.

Cheers!
Kinak

Out of Town

Saturday, March 14th, 2009

For the next week, I’m going to be out of town (looking for apartments in preparation for moving). I’ll try to keep up on Bug Reports and messages, but apologies in advance if I fall behind.

Cheers!
Kinak

Reset Option

Saturday, January 31st, 2009

Several players have asked about a way to go back and either re-explore or more thoroughly test earlier content. The way the content is put together in Metroplexity, however, is tied together very closely.

But, I’m not the type to say “no” to people testing stuff thoroughly, so here’s what we can manage. There is now an option under your quest log (if you’re done with the main quest content available so far) to reset your character.

For all intents and purposes this sets you back to a beginning character. Any non-quest items and your credits can be retrieved when you get back through the main quest content. Everything else, unfortunately, has to be wiped.

Now this is fairly intense, and honestly not exactly what people were hoping for, so there is an additional feature I added in there as a “thank you going the extra mile testing.” There is a leader board, visible from your character after you’ve reset or the profile of someone who has reset.

When we move out of Beta, the reset option will be replaced with a more interesting final version and everyone who’s reset will get prizes. And those near the top of the leaderboard (having tested all the content multiple times) get additional prizes.

So, thanks to everyone for their help testing. If you feel you mixed something up, want to compete for prizes, or just want to explore the content more, feel free to use the reset option.

There have been a few changes that will be of note to those resetting:

  • Items now display their type (Weapon, Shirt, etc.) and whether they’re a quest item on the description screen. I was very sparing with the ‘quest’ flag, so you won’t see it crop up often.
  • Short Burst has changed to be weaker normally but stronger as a closer. Beginning Techniques now include Short Burst instead of Lash Out so they sit more squarely in the range.
  • The interaction in the Southside Park quest between the two options is more clearcut.
  • The Clip of Explosive Bullets item and the quantity you get have been changes pretty notably.

Cheers!
Kinak

Update Chain

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

Lots of little updates today, mostly requested by the Beta Testers. Yay! Go Beta Testers!

Here’s what we’ve got:

  • There is a ‘Continue On’ link in the Rest page now. You always could do this, it just wasn’t very obvious. Thanks to IPwnN00bs and Puyo for this one.
  • Body and Hunger now accumulate as Energy does (up to 4 days’ worth). Thanks for the suggestion Szodrin.
  • There are now far more detailed descriptions of the Techniques. This one is thanks to Durgen.
  • On a related note, you can now see Technique descriptions in battle by double-clicking the Technique.
  • Third Eye Drunks are no longer super powered compared to the rest of the Third Eye. Thanks again to Durgen for pointing this out.
  • ‘Multi’ links are now hidden when you only have one of a given item.
  • Lo will now respond correctly if Dr. Amundsen is killed.

And that’s it. Thanks for everyone’s help! I’ve also been hard at work on the Slags, so look forward to that.

Cheers!
Kinak

Difficulty Tweaks

Thursday, November 27th, 2008

There have been some problems with enemies being too difficult. They’ve been reduced across the board along with a few specific tweaks.

In general, you’ll see enemy attacks doing about one less damage on average. This should actually help more than it sounds like. But, if need be, the nerf bat can ring to the heavens.

Some specific tweaks:

  • Two early items (Smelly Old Pants and Old Jacket) have had melee defense added to them.
  • Gang Enforcers in the Sewer Hideout have had their attacks watered down a bit.
  • Made a few other minor tweaks to that area, introducing more variety to the encounters.

Cheers!
Kinak

State of the Game – November 8th

Saturday, November 8th, 2008

Just wanted to give an update of where we’re at as of now. Its been a few weeks since the last update, mostly because I’ve been distracted by the election. Now that’s over and I can get back to developing.

As such, I wanted to go over what’s in and what’s upcoming.

What’s in now?

  • The first three quests in the main quest line, including three areas and a whole bunch of subareas.
  • Areas (and people) reflect the changes brought about by these quests.
  • A bunch of skills, some granted by sidequests.
  • A whole lot of different Techniques, allowing a wide variety of tactics in combat.
  • Messages now allow credit, but not item, attachments.

What isn’t in?

  • Chat is still backburnered until demand increases. Feel free to use the Bug Report feature to request this or any other feature.
  • Usable skills are held back until I need them. I’d say expect these around the time of The Four quest (after the Slags).
  • Crafting, Hacking, and Cybernetics fall in the same boat as usable skills. Some of the groundwork for crafting will be in with the next wave of content, but it will be a bit before the game needs it.

What’s next?

  • The big thing that’s next is an alternate way to complete the University quest. It ties up a few loose ends in other subplots as well.
  • Updates to areas affected by the University quest.
  • The Slags quest is the next step in the main chain, but I’ll probably be putting in a side quest or two before then.

Cheers!
Kinak

Docks Quest!

Saturday, September 6th, 2008


Hello! Welcome to our first real batch of new content. The second quest, set primarily on the docks of Metroplex, has been opened.

The quest is available to all characters that have finished the first (Southside Park) quest. You already had a hint in that direction, now you can follow it.

Expect to see a few new encounters on the Docks and Southside trickle in over the next few days. The next two major blocks of content will show the effects of your efforts at the Docks (with serious movement in both Southside and the Docks) and the next quest along the main plot (which will include the University district).

Oh and a few minor things:

  • The “adventure again” feature is in.
  • Fixed a minor login bug, if you were receiving login errors, you should be good now.
  • The Metros system is now up and running, which can mostly just ferry you back and forth from the Docks to Southside for now.

Cheers!
Kinak

State of the Game (August 14th)

Thursday, August 14th, 2008

The word “Beta” gets thrown around a lot these days. To me, it just means that we’ve exited Alpha (in house testing, as it were), and are ready for open testing.

What that means for you is that you’ll get to help us build a great game as we roll out more features and content. If there’s anything you have problems with, or would like to see, feel free to bring it up here or use the bug report feature in game.

Here’s what’s in:

  • Combat, which is quite different from what you may be used to.
  • The contacts system.
  • Messaging for player to player communication.
  • Inventory, including a usable items and the effects of equipment. They’re not labeled yet, but I assure you they work behind the scenes.
  • Buffs from items.
  • Some fairly basic Skills and Techniques.
  • The entirety of the first quest, set in Southside Park and its environs. This includes two (2) different paths to completing it.
  • A whole lot of awesome art. (I can say its awesome because I didn’t make it so its not bragging.)

Here’s what’s not in:

  • Chat, at all. I’m not even faking chat yet.
  • Messages don’t allow players to attach credits or items.
  • Usable skills.
  • Cybernetics, Hacking, and Crafting.
  • And, the big one: the vast majority of the content.

What’s next:

The Docks quest is coming along nicely. Also, I plan to have items start proudly declaring their bonuses soon.

Cheers!
Kinak

Welcome to the Metroplexity Devblog!

Thursday, August 14th, 2008

This is the development blog for Metroplexity, as you could probably imagine from the name. Feel free to register for an account. Comments and feedback on mechanics are just as much of the beta process as finding bugs.

If you’d like to ask questions about the game or even just introduce yourself, this post is a great one to respond to.

Cheers!
Kinak