Why Early Access?
I would have liked the next 6 months or so to complete all levels before releasing to early access in a beta, but without much feedback on how difficult these levels are becoming it’s hard to gauge if I should spread some levels out and create new ones to fill the void or continue making levels on the difficult curve I’ve already started.
Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?
I have self funded my self for the last two years and unfortunately won’t be be to fund a third year, I can only hope to get enough sales to at the very least be able to complete Elemgate by the end off 2022 if not sooner, otherwise I might have to do some work part time and will delay the full release until 2023.
What is the current state of the Early Access version?
The plan was 100 stages and 100 mirror stages spread out over 20 level, I am half way there and have created all game play mechanics to be flexible and improve the time it takes to make stages , depending the success I have it with release I may have too limit it too and at the least 15 levels with 75 stages and 75 mirror stages, apart from that the intro and ending cinematics also the online leaderboards will need to be implemented, local high score boards are functional.
Will the price differ from early access to full release?
Yes it will be five to ten dollars more roughly, my hope is not to change the price at all if I can make enough to complete this game and start the next game, but it will defiantly be cheaper if it’s purchased in early access to help support the development.
How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?
I will using a Discord server and Steam Discussion forums to gather player feedback from those playing the early access versions, I encourage everyone to post any suggestions for improvements to the game and especially report any bugs they might encounter while playing.
Is the game only going to be singe player only?
At the moment yes, but over the course of development I have thought of a online coop mode that I would love to implement to help players unlock all stars.
How will the coop mode work if you implement it?
Each player will run through a stage on there own at the same time, player 1 scores 300 points and player 2 scores 700 points, player 2 got a higher score so for stage 3-1 the score is 700 but they will have a combined coop score of 1000 points, which at the end of the 10th stage and the level is complete players will have a both have the same level score and a coop score for the leaderboards. If one player dies and the other player passes the stage they both continue and both players are awarded stars for the total level score also have there own lives.
Are there any plans for game beyond the full release?
Yes, If coop mode doesn’t make it in the full release, it is something I would like to include down the track with a very hard mode, some reimagined starting levels or all levels that will include every game machinic from the beginning and all elements to be used on every stage, to be release as a free DLC for existing owners and may include a small price increase for new purchases to be release as a complete edition but I have a better undisclosed name then that.