We've hit alpha!
For us that means that the broad outlines of the complete game are present. All the major systems exist and function, the complete game loop is playable, and the overall high concept of the game is real, and can be played.
This is a big deal to me, personally.
So but, what have we actually built? What is this thing? Here's my stab at the high concept:
Wildermyth is a game about heroic character development and turn-based squad combat. As a player you manage a company of heroes whose goal is to keep the Yondering Lands safe for humankind. Your characters grow and change over time in response to events that happen in combat and in stories. Heroes you love go in to your Legacy, and they can be used in future playthroughs, so that over time you build up your own mythos or pantheon.That core vision has remained pretty much intact over the years, which always surprises me a little bit.
Now what? The game is definitely not finished, and we have a big list of improvements waiting, but the skeleton is all there. From here on, the focus shifts. We will spend less time building new systems, and more time refining, iterating, and responding to feedback. We will focus more on playability, balance, and content.
We've built the game to be as modular as possible when it comes to content. The downside is less authorial control over the player experience, but the upside is that the game can accommodate a probably very very large amount of content. Because of the event-driven nature of stories, and because the history/aspect/effect engine is so general and flexible, we think we can keep adding content pretty much indefinitely, and the plan is to do so as long as people are still interested in it (and it makes financial sense to.)
So, modding tools? User-generated scenarios and adventures? Unlockable stand-alone adventures for legacy heroes? We've got some interesting possibilities. It all depends on what the community wants to see. We'd love for this game to have a long life and we're willing to invest in it.
We'll send out an official alpha playtest as soon as we iron out a few bugs and playability issues. To be honest, it's not the build I will recommend that you start with. I think we're about to enter a period of rapid improvement across a wide range of player-facing areas. But anyway it marks an important moment for us as a team!
