Anyone want to alpha test?

[tigersfan]

So, we're getting really close to being able to Alpha test this game. So, is there anyone out there who might be willing to help with that?

If so, please send me (and only me, please, we want to keep these all in once place) a PM letting me know you are interested.

Now, I need to warn you, we really need to keep this test small, so there is a chance that if you send me a PM, that you won't get into the test. If this is the case, please understand, it's not personal. Also, we want to move on this pretty quickly, so please only apply if you think you will have time to test this at least for an hour or so this week (potentially, it might be next week).

Anyway, don't worry if you've never tested anything for us before, or if you are an old hat around here. I'll be looking for both types of testers, ideally, so please, if you're interested, let me know!

Thanks a bunch!

Josh

[tigersfan]

I've gotten close to 30 responses to this. Unfortunately, Chris and I got together today and realize that there are just a few too many things that need fixing yet before we can release this in alpha. Stay tuned for more info!

[x4000]

Mainly we did some visual improvements like the new lighting model and some important performance-enhancing compositing work for lower-end graphics cards (man this thing FLIES now), and those things resulted in some bugs that have to be ironed out.  Better for us to do that before we get even alpha folks on this, so we get useful feedback about problems we're not already aware of.

[Teal_Blue]

Hang in there Chris and Company, I feel real bad about what is happening with AVWW 1 & 2, but just wanted to say keep hanging in there! Sometimes the internet makes me soooo mad!!
But you know, i got no control over that!  Anyway, keep making games, big ones when you can afford to, medium and small ones when you have to, and all kinds of games... (though i wonder to myself if strategy isn't Arcen's strong suit, but i don't want to tell you what is your strong suit. Maybe your strong suit is games you care about that click like you said AIWar clicked when you made it, but not necessarily, you know 'just' AIWar kind of games. Anyway, I'm talking to much, but just wanted to say i support you guys and feel bad for you and hope like heck that things turn around real quick and everyone can get beyond this into some better times, you know? 

Anyway, really looking forward to this when you think its ready!
-Teal

[Oralordos]

I think that the portion of your fanbase that hangs around the forums is understanding enough to forgive you. So no rage this time.

Sometimes the internet makes me soooo mad!!
But you know, i got no control over that! 

I would like to meet someone who does have control over that. It would be very interesting I think.

[Deekay]

Nice to know there is so much going on with SH
I will keep my eyes peeled for more info.

[mrhanman]

I'm really looking forward to throwing more money at you guys. 

I know SH is going to be awesome!

[Pattoe]

Totally understandable!

"A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad." - Shigeru Miyamoto

This quote is still true to this very day, even with the advances in patching and bug fixing, if you release a game too early, then the initial reception will be poor, and it's VERY hard to come back from that no matter how much polish and patches are received post-release.

If anything this is even more true today due to the amount of information available to potential consumers and how the sources of that information are likely only to cover your game at launch. Youtube is a great example of this.

It's best to take as long as possible testing and developing Shattered Haven to make sure it's everything you want it to be, if it is, other gamers will be more likely to enjoy it.

Also, talking about Youtube...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhfiSuK9c6A
^ ForceSC2strategy's "First 40" look at AVWW2 shows the game in a good light. Lots of positivity in that video.

Although Force's Youtube channel isn't the biggest, his videos tend to net between 5,000 and 35,000 views, with that video at 8,500 already. Good publicity I must say!
(He also hinted towards covering the game further.)

[tigersfan]

Yeah, I saw Force's video. I enjoyed watching him learn the game. There was more than once I said to myself, "I'm glad we put that text in there at that time"

[Panopticon]

I don't think the Valley 2 situation is doom and gloom at all. Lots of positive comments are popping up about the game. I think it'll have a bright future. Tom Chick has already posted a very positive review on Quarter to Three.

I'm totally looking forward to Shattered Haven. I was pretty sad when you guys canceled Alden Ridge, so to see it come back bigger and better as Shattered Haven is pretty great.

[LaughingThesaurus]

I'd totally apply to alpha test if I weren't afraid of encountering bosses that would kill me in seconds again.

[MouldyK]

I'd apply, but it is probably too late now, so I will wait for beta.

[Misery]

Well, I gotta say, so far.... this is really good.   The particular gameplay ideas you guys are using here really work very well.  This should be worth the wait, to those that arent playing it quite yet, I think.

Spent a couple of hours with it, sent a feedback e-mail.

[FroBodine]

Is there any update yet on when the game will move into open Beta?  I'm REALLY looking forward to this one.

I was bummed that I did not get selected to help alpha test, and I even applied very early!  I know, poor me.

[x4000]

We may actually be taking on some more alpha testers as we go -- Josh has been doing the selection for these, and we've had three rounds of testers thus far.  There were some serious bugs that I had introduced the day prior to the alpha test's start, so actually consider yourself lucky that you weren't in that batch; there was lots of frustration there, though people seemed to still really enjoy it despite that.  But the alpha is paving the way toward a much cleaner beta, and we tend to not use up all our testers at once in an alpha because doing them in batches lets us get first impressions after early issues have been fixed.

It's clean enough now that we've sent it to a couple of major distributors for review for coming to their platforms.  Depending on what exactly is said, our plan is to be to open beta on either the 6th or the 8th next week ideally, and to 1.0 on the 18th of this month.  But we have to work with the schedules of distributors, so we might be earlier or later on both of those dates.  The game is close to beta-ready now, and hopefully will be pretty much 1.0-ready a week in advance of its launch, with just last minor polish coming in during that last week.  That's what's looking likely at the moment, anyhow.