Development Roadmap

Author Topic: Development Roadmap  (Read 7876 times)

RossD20Studios

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Development Roadmap
« on: December 04, 2017, 12:08:04 PM »


Hi everyone! As promised in our Kickstarter, I plan to be fully transparent about our development process including what we're aiming for and when we plan to deliver it. Managing the Kickstarter campaign took a hit to our development timeline, and after carefully reassessing the remaining items, I've put together the (above) roadmap showcasing our goals leading to the Early Access closed-beta and worldwide launch.

Our commitment to you will be to provide daily updates on the game as well as periodic updates on the state of the roadmap so that you're informed if/when things change, why they changed, and what the impact will be to the schedule and the game.

Goals for Early Access:
  • Basic gameplay tutorial dungeon mission
  • Single player content via selectable missions. Selectable missions will include a variety of pitched battles (single battle vs. AI), scenarios (challenges where you have a fixed team/deck vs. AI in a particular level), and dungeons (a multi-stage battle with continuous progression including procedurally generated monsters/challenges). Note: The dungeons will not yet be connected via a campaign map or have a continuous progression. For the initial early access release, they will be selectable missions. You will be able to choose your team/deck going into battle.
  • All early access players will start with a subset of total cards available. I’m aiming for an initial 100 cards out of an intended 400+ for WW launch. Note: Card reward/unlocking will not be functional in the early access. I intend to reset card data/access once the progression/unlock path is finished so that we can test the pacing.
  • Multiplayer at this stage will feature real-time and desync multiplayer. The functionality will be basic: no chatroom/lobby setup (like in Hero Mages), rather, you opt to play a live match and it puts you in a queue. The next player joining will automatically connect with you to battle. Chat capabilities will be limited and possibility not available. Deysnc battles will download a list of opponent constructed decks to your device and will store them so that you can play the missions offline. Basic stats only (win/loss) plus replay will be available.
  • Hero Party and Deck Management: You’ll be able to construct team and deck from all of the initial cards available allowing you to experiment with a wide array of the game mechanics in both singleplayer and multiplayer matches.
What are the Risks and what’s the plan?
  • I have a surgery scheduled in January that will put me out of action for 2 weeks and this is shown on the timeline.
  • The number of bugs/feedback discovered in early access and soft-launch testing has high potential to impact the WW launch and/or delay certain features until post launch (namely, async multiplayer and whatever new features are suggested by players).
  • Async Multiplayer is at risk for WW launch. This feature will be completed post launch if it doesn’t make it for WW.
  • We have a cushion of 2 months during soft-launch to polish the game. Note: Polish means fix bugs, small enhancements (ex: VFX) and NOT addition of new features.
  • If the game isn’t fully ready to launch by end of August, I will likely push the launch to February or March of 2019. This is due to the August-January period being a high traffic launch period for AAA and a dead zone for indie game activity following the holidays. Soft launch and early access gameplay will remain active during this period.
Questions or concerns?
Please share your thoughts, ideas and opinions with me. I read all Discord messages and forum posts and typically respond within a 24 hour period or less.

t_lark

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Re: Development Roadmap
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2017, 10:12:05 PM »
Awesome roadmap, thanks for bringing us along!

RossD20Studios

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Re: Development Roadmap
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2017, 09:28:38 AM »
Thanks, Tom! You got it, that's what our mission is all about ;D