MORSE News

[p]Hey folks! [/p][p][/p][p]So Steam Next Fest has wrapped up, I just wanted to give a massive thank you to everyone who has checked out the project over the period. It's been so cathartic to finally see the game in peoples hands and see such a positive response to MORSE. I've genuinely had chills reading some of the responses from players, so hyped that the game has hit the mark. [/p][p][/p][p]Thought I'd give a quick summary of how it went:[/p]

• [p]Getting featured in the Steam Next Fest Trailer: This was incredibly exciting, I found out a couple of weeks earlier that I might be getting included in it so was super nervous about whether it'd happen or not, but sure enough I managed to squeeze in just at the end of the showcase! I can't say for certain how much it translated into eyeballs on the project, but it was nice to get a nod from Valve of the game being worth highlighting.[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
• [p]Wishlists and downloads: Over the week, MORSE got 2,316 Wishlists and 3,838 downloads which on the surface seems like a pretty good ratio of those that engaged with it saying they'd be interested in the full thing. Obviously it's a bit more complicated than that but for 7 days those are numbers that I'm happy with. Means that MORSE is now a couple of hundred shy of 10k Wishlists! [/p][p][/p][p][/p]
• [p]Reviews and feedback: More than the numbers above, what really mattered to me this week was seeing how the public responded to the game after all this time working on it. Thankfully the response has been fantastic, had loads of messages of support and in depth feedback and suggestions. The game has had 95% positive ratings on the demo page and so many wonderful messages from players. I've also had plenty of helpful feedback, I've already started making adjustments to the game off the back of recommendations, such as the artillery selector mentioned in my last post. I also set up a feedback form for the project and of the 43 people that filled it out, the rating for enjoying the demo is 4.5 out of 5 and I got a tonne of useful ideas and critique. All in all though, people understood how the game worked, learnt Morse Code and had a great time![/p][p][/p]

• [p]The Stream: I really enjoyed the format of setting up the game with the glowing telegraph and it went well, had some good questions and despite being a bit delirious from tiredness it all went to plan! Definitely interested in doing more Streams soon on Twitch with different telegraphs. Next time I think I will do it a little earlier as 10pm on a Sunday is a bit much! [/p]
• [p]Ham Radio folks discovering MORSE: I've been spending a lot of time recently with the ham radio community which has been both wonderful and fascinating. In the feedback forms in particular I had a number of people signing off with their callsigns which was lovely. I also had someone find the game through other people chatting about MORSE in their ham radio Discord so it seems to be making the rounds of those communities! I also had some ham radio specialists help me figure out what was off with my Iambic key and make it feel much more authentic which was really appreciated, they literally wrote out PARAGRAPHS of notes and CODE to demonstrate how it worked. Really is humbling having their support and feeling them channel that enthusiasm towards the project.[/p][p][/p]

• [p]Pacing myself: I was pretty exhausted going into the event and as a solo dev delivering this, I've been going full tilt on MORSE to get it ready for the event then promoting and doing videos. I'm now absolutely knackered at this point and probably need a week off to recover but I am very happy with how it's gone for MORSE. This has been somewhat of a dry-run for the full release, I can make notes of what I did right/wrong this time to make sure next time it's much more sustainable. [/p]
• [p]Failing to reach out to Press/Streamers: I ran out of time ahead of the event to reach out to Streamers and press, so the amount of people playing it on stream was quite limited. This is a shame as I genuinely love watching people play my games and the event was a good opportunity for that. In hindsight, I should have spent more time sending out press kits but I wanted to make sure the demo was right for the players which was the priority! It's not the end of the world, there's still plenty of people to contact about the game, of the playthroughs that I was able to find, I watched them all through, like this one! [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]With Next Fest out the way, I now want to contact Streamers who are also ham radio or Morse Code enthusiasts to see if they'd be willing to do a playthrough and what their insights would be! It's genuinely so fascinating seeing their perspectives on a project exploring something they're passionate about.
  
  If any of you happen to watch Streamers or channels you think might enjoy MORSE, I'd really appreciate if you could point them towards the game! Failing that, I'd love to see more videos of people reacting to the game, particularly those who've built a makeshift telegraph![/p]

[p]All in all though, it's been a fantastic week, the positive response from folks has validated the decision to return to the project and I'm so excited once I've rested to power through with finishing the game over the next couple of months. [/p][p]The demo will be staying up past the end of the festival and I'll be doing at least one more update before launch, in particular I want to see how folks get on with the ammo cycle mechanic. BUT FIRST, first I will rest.[/p][p][/p][p]Stay tuned for more updates soon and thanks again! [/p][p][/p][p]Alex[/p]

[p]Hey folks! Got a juicy update for you! [/p][p]I did a playthrough of MORSE for Steam Next Fest, in the video I talk about the origins of the project, the different types of telegraph I have, different mechanics including the new ammo loading system and had some drunk people interrupt the end of it! [/p][p]I'm going to do another Stream on Sunday 15th at 10pm BST with the glowing telegraph again, it'll be late in the UK so the LED rope should look lovely. I'll be chatting more about the project some more and taking questions. [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]To expand a little more on the ammo load function, one of the recurring complaints from people has been the inability to pick which shell you want to fire. This means having to shoot through shells you don't want to get to the one you want, which wastes precious ammo and also has the potential to break your combo. The key obstacle previously has been my hard limit on just having two inputs for the game, Morse and fire. I worked within these constraints by having variable controls, similar to the telegraph. A tap fires the first ammo in the stack, holding starts a timer that cycles through the shells. Releasing fires the shell the player has stopped on. This requires some skill and timing to master, but from my time experimenting with it dramatically increased my success with the combo meter, where previously repeating shells (e.g. suppressive shot) broke my combo, I could nit pick the shells most appropriate for the target. It feels like the missing piece from the project has clicked into place and I'm very excited to see how people handle this new version! [/p][p][/p][p]That's all for now, have a great weekend and see you hopefully on Sunday! [/p]

[p]Hey folks! [/p][p]Today's the day for Steam Next Fest, but an exciting development is MORSE is FEATURED IN THE OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR THE EVENT! I am over the moon for Valve highlighting MORSE and am incredibly excited to see how audiences on Steam respond to the demo and game. It's genuinely humbling to be included alongside such fantastic projects.[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]Here's the list of recent features added to the project: [/p][p]+ Recon shells: This shell type has been a bit of a game changer: A small, low damage shell that has a high reveal rate. Perfect for catching rogue ships that slip by and mapping out the battlefield. A subtle feature of it is that missing a target with it does not break the proficiency chain, which means players can shoot it into an area that they think enemies might be in without being punished for it. This shell type made it into the demo, so give them a go and let me know what you think! [/p][p]\ [/p][p]+ Expert mode: This mode strips out any kind of prompts/help sheets from gameplay, visibility of enemies is extremely limited, only ships that are directly hit are permanently revealed, otherwise ships only flash briefly before disappearing. There's double the number of Dreadnoughts in later waves and the map scales from 3 vertical rows to 10. To counter these difficulties, ammo loads slightly faster, the proficiency scale reaches a higher value (meaning if you can maintain a high accuracy, your shells will load even faster) and you start with double the number of sea mines. The newly designed recon shell is an absolutely critical to use in this mode given the low visibility. It is a brutal fight but beatable, I managed to beat the game in Iambic mode on my Steamdeck which took around 70 minutes. [/p][p]\ [/p][p][/p][p]A major passion of mine is teaching people how to design games interfaces for themselves using craft materials, which I've managed to pair with my other passion for telegraphy in the video below, it provides a tutorial on how to take a pair of nail clippers and a broken mouse and turn it into a working USB telegraph! My hope is people will use the setup to have a more immersive experience of the game and inspire people to venture into ham radio. [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]Thank you again all so much for all your kind words and enthusiasm so far from the initial release of the MORSE demo, it's been so exciting seeing how people have gotten on with the game and I would ask that folks are patient with myself and the project, at this point it is only me developing it so I'm wearing a lot of hats in that process. Stay tuned for more soon![/p]

Hey folks!



I'm so excited for you all to get to finally try the game, I hope you enjoy it!

Download it here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1976900/MORSE_Demo/

Here's some footage of the demo being shown off last night with the telegraph and glowing LED rope:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

I would ask if you could be patient with the project if there are any major issues, I've put a lot of time into making this the best demo but there's always the chance bugs slip under the radar, I'll try to get any issues fixed ASAP. You can share bugs, suggestions or feedback in the community forums.

I'm wanting to refine the game ahead of Steam Next Fest, so if you find any more remaining bugs, tweaks or suggestions, you can fill out the survey here!

I'll do another follow up soon on the last few additions/changes I've made to the game next week, such as the new shell type and expert mode, but for now, have a great weekend and .... .- .--. .--. -.-- / -- --- .-. ... .. -. --. !

Hey folks,

MORSE now has support for various telegraph keys such as Iambic, Sideswipers and Semi-auto keys!

This means the game can be played in a variety of new ways that reflect different inputs of various telegraphs or you can you one further and integrate telegraph keys into your setup! Here is me operating the "Sideswiper" mode with an Iambic key.

Here are the different types:
+ Straight Key - The classic, the intended way to play MORSE. Single input, hold for dot, tap for dash.
+ Iambic Key - A dual paddle, used by a lot of modern telegraphists. Tap one paddle for dash, tap the other for dot. Squeeze for both.
+ Sideswiper - A single paddle with an unusual input, move your hand back and forth to tap either side of the paddle to enter alternating dots and dashes. Designed to lower risk of glass arm.
+ Semi-Automatic - A single paddle, dots on one side, dashes on the other. Holding the key on the dot side will output a constant feed of dots, dashes are entered with tapping.

I should be clear that whilst getting to wire up a real telegraph with the game is certainly appealing, it isn't a requirement. Each of these alternate control schemes can be operated with a mouse, keyboard or configuration of inputs on the Steamdeck.

Having said that, I'm so stoked for people to give this a whirl, curious to see how people adapt their desktops/games controllers to operate the game and the variety of telegraphs people use. At some point I'll be doing a stream of the game with the various telegraphs, stay tuned for that!  

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

I've also created a dedicated menu where the player can pick and choose between different types of
telegraphs and set the difficulty, I'm very happy with how it looks.



The emblem on the right used for the difficulty is an adaption of the traditional Royal Navy Emblem for telegraphists during WW1.

Progress wise, I'm generally reaching a point where there's not much more to do before just putting the demo out for people to try. I'll be trying to make the demo available at least a week before Next Fest for some last minute playtesting so stay tuned for that!

More updates soon, .-