Slipways News

When I last wrote about Slipways, I called it the best demo of the Steam festival and lamented that it was no longer available. Good news! It's back, and in expanded form. There's now a public beta of this wonderful, pocket-sized grand strategy game which you can play via Steam until May 10th.

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It's May 6th, and as I'm writing these words, we're 4 hours from opening the beta! I can't wait, but you don't have to - if you're reading this the beta is already out!

The game can speak for itself, so this announcement is going to be a short one: just go to the game's store page and download the beta! You'll have four days to try everything: score-focused play in the standard run mode, searching for a derelict megastructure in the sample campaign mission and the ultimate sandbox chill of the endless mode.

Feel free to stream the game, make videos about it, rope in all your friends and significant others into trying it, and everything else you can think about! I'm going to keep an eye on the Steam forums and the game's Discord for any feedback you might have.

Enjoy!

April is coming to an end, and it's time to announce the details for the upcoming Slipways beta!

Almost 4000 people expressed their willingness to take part, which is an astonishing number for a small developer like me. Thank you all for your interest, it means a lot!

I value the opinion of my players and strongly believe that your feedback makes Slipways a much better game than it would be otherwise. For this reason, I'd like to give access to as many people as possible. However, the logistics of distributing 4000 keys for a closed beta would be a little overwhelming for a one-man operation like my own, costing a lot of time that could be better spent working on the game.

This is why I have decided to make this one an open, time-limited beta. From 6th May 2021, 12:00 UTC until 10th May 2021, 12:00 UTC, you will be able to freely download and play the beta version of the game from the game's Steam page. This is going to be the final opportunity to try the game before its release.

[h2]What's in the beta?[/h2]

The beta will be available in English only, on both platforms supported by the final game (Windows and Mac). You'll be able to play a standard run on a few predefined maps, search for a forgotten forebear structure in a single campaign mission and tinker freely on a single map in the endless mode.

Other improvements since the demo include a revamped technology system allowing for more flexibility in your strategies, a new set of 20 perks to try, new technologies, events and other content, a proper map selection screen and many, many other UX, presentation and performance improvements.

[h2]What's still planned?[/h2]

It's hard to believe (for me at least!), but there is just one short month left between now and the release date. Much of the remaining work will be dotting the I's and crossing the T's: localization, bug-fixing and performance work. But there is still a lot to look forward to compared to what's in the beta:

- the full first act of the campaign, featuring 4 missions with distinct mechanics
- the ranked run mode, comparing your scores against other players around the world on predefined maps
- a sector type/quirk system, letting you modify runs for a new experience each time
- an unlockable tough+ difficulty for those who'd like even more challenge
- an achievement system to nudge you in different directions
- many visual improvements making sure all the 3D models and animations are properly juicy

Once the game is out, my focus will switch to working on the post-release updates, taking the campaign to its full three acts and introducing even more variety to the game.

[h2]What now?[/h2]

Now? I'm switching away from the window I'm writing this announcement in and going back to working on everything else to make sure you have the best experience possible in the beta.

See you in about a week!

We're getting close! As the second quarter of 2021 draws near, it's time to share the final Slipways release plan and announce the dates and numbers everybody is eager to know.

• The game releases on June 3, 2021 and will receive free updates for some time after that.
  
• The price will be $16.99, with regional adjustments for non-US regions.
  
• It will be available for Windows and Mac, in five languages: English, German, French, Chinese and Polish (more languages possible as community localizations)
  
• The closed beta is now planned for early May (sign-up here)
  

That's the gist of it! If you'd like to know more, I go into more detail below.

[h2]Release and roadmap[/h2]
The game will drop on June 3, 2021. This is going to be a full release, not Early Access, but I do plan on improving the game after it's out (see the "Post-release updates" section).

Here is a rough list of upcoming features slated for release:

• Endless mode: For those who are not fond of time limits, coming in both a challenge flavor (where you try to accomplish massive sector-spanning goals before being voted out) and a sandbox flavor.
  
• Campaign mode: With each scenario introducing a new twist to the gameplay. The game will launch with just a few scenarios. The plan is to round the campaign out with post-release updates (read the next section to learn more).
  
• Tech system overhaul: A big balancing pass aimed at making the system easier to grasp, but at the same time more open to different strategies.
  
• Ranked maps: Pre-seeded maps with unique rules, refreshed twice a week to let you compete for high scores with others around the world.
  
• More content: New random events, mission types and technologies to shake things up more.
  
• Replayability features: Sector quirks and rule modifiers making each sector different, planet modifiers to make some planets more unique, "tough+" difficulty levels for those who want even more challenge, achievements and more.
  
• Many, many UI improvements: Largely based on all the feedback from the SGF demo, aimed to make the game play as smooth as possible.
  
• Lots of polish: To make sure all of the game's graphics and animations are up to scratch.
  

[h2]Post-release updates[/h2]
My original vision for the game included an ambitious campaign with every scenario introducing a big twist: a new structure type, resource or obstacle to shake up the gameplay and make it a fresh challenge.

This is something I still want to do, but there is no way to make it fit for the June release. With this approach, each scenario is a small new game, requiring new assets, careful design and quite a bit of iteration before it plays right.



On the other hand, I'm eager to let everyone play the game already and I don't want the campaign to hold the release back. For that reason, the plan is to push most of the campaign scenarios into free, regular updates, to be delivered in roughly monthly intervals after the game comes out. These updates will not be limited to just the campaign: the mechanical twists enabling the scenario will become available as options in other modes, giving you new ways to play standard, endless and ranked runs.

I will also be working on a few features that didn't make it into the release plan. The most important of those is proper modding support, so the community can start expanding the game alongside me.

[h2]Moving the beta[/h2]
If you want to play the game even earlier, there is a closed beta coming up!

I originally hoped to make it available in April, but as development continued, it became clear that I have to push it back to early May. I'd rather give you a solid beta a little late than deliver a flawed one early.

This beta will let you try all of the new game modes except for ranked maps and experience most of the new content. If you haven't signed up yet, here's the sign-up form! Access will be limited to a few thousand Steam beta keys, with earlier sign-ups having a better chance of getting one.

[h2]Summary[/h2]
That's it! Still quite a way to go, lots of work to be done and lots of pressure to get it right - but with the adjustments I made, I'm confident I can make this happen and deliver a great game for you in June!

If you still have any questions, I'm happy to address them on Discord or Twitter!

See you around the galaxy!

Hi everyone, Jakub here!

The Steam Game Festival is drawing to a close and it has been a wild ride!

Thousands of you have now played the demo and the overwhelming positive response to it was greatly rewarding. Getting the game to its current state has been both a marathon and a sprint and it gives me immense pleasure to see it resonate so much. Thank you all for trying the game and especially warm thanks to those of you who posted feedback. It has helped me validate some of my ideas, called others into question and in general assisted a lot in prioritizing future work.

Since the demo is going to be deactivated once the festival ends, many of you are asking: how do we get more Slipways? The best way to do so now is signing up for the closed beta, which will be dropping in about 1-2 months. Game development being a fickle and unpredictable process, I can't give you an exact date, but I'll do my best to make it as soon as possible. Space in the beta is going to be limited, so the sooner you sign up, the better the chances of getting in!

As many of you now know, I am just a single person trying to make Slipways the best game possible. As such, interacting with the firehose of your comments has been an exhilarating, but also overwhelming experience. I did my best to stay on top of this and plan to keep doing so in the future - players are the lifeblood of any game and your opinion is dear to my heart. With the festival over, I will be retreating to my development bat-cave to quietly take stock of what happened and get back to work mode, but I always keep an eye on Discord and Twitter.

The development plan going forward starts with the festival feedback, since there are a lot of improvements to be had there with relatively small development effort. After that, it's time for bigger things: implementing the remaining gameplay modes, overhauling the technology system and creating lots of new content (missions, events, new objects and mechanics to interact with on the map) to make the game even more replayable than it is right now.

Once again, thank you all for playing, and see you around the galaxy!

Beta signup form: https://forms.gle/KaqY1kupuENPg4oH8
Twitter: https://twitter.com/krajzeg
Discord: https://discord.gg/qD97EDu