Pile Up! News

Hello all builders!

As you may already now, we recently announced that applications for Pile Up!’s Closed Beta had begun. Now that we have reached a certain number of players that we think is enough for the Closed Beta, we are closing the applications.

But you still didn’t miss the chance to try Pile Up!’s newest experimental features and changes to the game before they are released publicly. Because for this Closed Beta, we will be using Steam’s Playtest feature alongside a Closed Beta branch to the main game, which players who applied to the Closed Beta will get access to.

So don’t forget to check out Pile Up!’s Steam page and request access for the Playtest!



[h3]Why are we running a Closed Beta & Playtest while our game is still out on Early Access?[/h3]
We have made some noticeable changes to the game and we don't want to negatively affect any player who is enjoying the current state of the game. So running a Closed Beta is the best way to ensure that our players continue to enjoy the game.

[h3]Will you give access to everyone who applies for the Playtest?[/h3]
We are planning to give access to a decent amount of players from each region and each week! So if you don’t get invited in the first week, there is a strong chance that you will be invited in the second or third week!

[h3]I already applied for the Closed Beta, do I need to apply to Playtest as well?[/h3]
You don’t need to! The Closed Beta period will be held in Discord and more information will be provided to the applicants via Discord DM’s & email.

[h3]What is the difference between Closed Beta and Playtest?[/h3]
There is no difference at all, you will be playing the exact same version of the game with all the new features and changes! Only difference is, people who applied to the Closed Beta using the external form, will get access to a specific category in our Discord server.

[h3]Once again, what do we expect from our testers?[/h3]

• Have fun and tell us what makes you have fun and what doesn’t!
  
• Use the in-game feedback button to inform us about the bugs, problems, your thoughts and your suggestions! (More information will be provided after being accepted to Closed Beta.)
  
• Report each bug you encounter. Try to recreate it if you can and use the in-game feedback button to tell us how it occurs as much as you can. Also, providing us with the visuals of the bug on Discord helps us immensely.
  
• Play the game! Play it as much as you want and can so the game can get better with the info we get from you!
  

Please note that this is a very experimental version of the game and it will be improved and updated upon day by day.

Thank you for your interest and support,
-Mahi (Remoob)

Hi everyone!

[h2]Cozy & Family Friendly Games Celebration 2024! 30% Discount![/h2]

We're happy to announce we'll be taking part in this year's Cozy & Family Friendly Games Celebration, hosted by the great folks over at rokaplay. Check out all the other great games on the event page for Cozy & Family Friendly Games Celebration 2024!

Pile Up! will be on a 30% discount from May 30, 10 AM PDT to June 6, 10 AM PDT.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2094910/Pile_Up/?snr=1_5_1100__1100&utm_source=steamwidget




[h2]New Bundle with Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder[/h2]

In addition to the 30% discount we've set up for the Cozy & Family Friendly Games Celebration event, we have also partnered with Rogue Duck Interactive to release a new bundle with Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder! The bundle also features a 10% discount!

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/42058/All_About_That_Base/


[h3]Check out our other bundles![/h3]

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/40704/Vertical_City_Builder_Bundle/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/40384/Limited_Space_City_Builder_Bundle/

Hey everyone,

We've got some great news! Pile Up! will be among the awesome games in the TurnBasedThursdayFest and we will be offering a 30% discount during the event!

Don't miss out on the discount! The event and the discount runs April 4 at 10:00 AM PDT (UTC-7) to April 8 at 10:00 AM PDT (UTC-7).

Check out all the other great games taking part in the event by clicking here.

Hi everyone, it’s been quite some time since the last “State of The Game” post. Well, we were doing some underground developing work for Pile Up! and wanted to wait until something worth talking about comes out.

But before, if you still haven't checked the last update in which we reworked the camera controls, added chill mode and fixed lots of building behaviors, please go check it out! You can reach the update log here.

So, in this SoTG post we will; talk about our communication with you, what happened since the release, why our updates take so long and -our main topic which is- how the game is doing and what our plans for future updates are. Time for us to state now.

(The existence of the last sentence was Zyve’s idea, he suggested adding a beginning sentence which is like what Mangakas use. I wrote the sentence though, so now we are both part of the sin.)

[h2]Communication[/h2]
We have begun to think that we can improve our communication with you. So from now on there will be a pinned report in our discussions forum which we will keep updated all the time. It won’t be anything long, just a short and quick text about the things we are aware of -bugs, problems, other stuff etc.- and what we are currently working on. We believe that you can get informed way faster this way. So don't forget to check our discussion forum!

Also you may realize the old pinned posts for bugs and your questions are gone. We just want to add that those are archived, so none of your messages are gone, we can still see all of them. The reason why we archived them is that we don’t get notified whenever a new reply gets created in those posts. So you can just create a new post in the forum. This will be easier for both you and us.

[h2]What has happened since the Early Access release?[/h2]
We've won the People's Choice and Most Anticipated Game Awards in Game Connection 2023 Paris, we’ve been nominated for lots of awards including Independent Games Festival's Best Student Game Award, reached over 500 reviews on Steam and 600 people on our Discord Server all thanks to you! We’re so happy for all your support and trying each day to make the game better for you all. Thank you!

[h2]Why do our updates take so long?[/h2]
Okay, so what is taking so long and why didn't we post an update for a long time? Well, after the Above The Clouds update we've realized that we had to develop our systems for the game which are the scripts that work in the background while playing the game. So we were developing stuff which you wouldn't interact with directly but are crucial for the game.

And when we consider the fact that we are still in high school / college and we can’t work full-time on the game because of this, it becomes obvious. Also, don’t be confused. Us still being students won’t cause any problems. We will keep working on the game until we are really and I mean really satisfied with the state of the game. Show must go on.


[h2]What have we done in a couple of months?[/h2]
Other than developing the back-end systems of the game, we updated the camera system and controls, fixed lots of bugs and building behavior problems, reworked sound effects and made some quality of life changes in the last winter update.
Now, other than getting prepared for the next MAJOR update, we are focusing on the feedback which you gave us from our Discord server, Steam discussions, reviews and our in-game feedback system to diagnose the problems of the game. We’ve updated our feedback list and planned what we need to do next.


[h2]How’s the game doing and what are we planning on next?[/h2]
To begin with, we’ve updated the roadmap. In case you didn’t see, here it is:



You might realize that now the roadmap is sectioned based on major updates rather than seasons, literal seasons. We made this change to show you what each update will cover.

[h3]Let’s talk about what we are planning to do next now.[/h3]
For our next MAJOR update we will work on gameplay. From buildings to new systems, we want to make the gameplay more meaningful. We know that the game is in a position that if you get a special building, you just win the game or if you don’t know anything about the game all it takes is a building to destroy your well earned progress currently. So our first plan is to fix Pile Up!’s difficulty curve and to balance everything.

After that we want to rework useless or overpowered buildings so everything can work great with each other. Because currently some buildings are really situational with really limited usages while some others are not viable choices at all.

The last thing that we will work on before the update will be adding brand new gameplay systems for you to have more freedom and strategy while playing. We want to keep them a secret until we get really sure about them, but we can say the book will have more usage. We will also update our tutorial, so that newer players have a smoother experience on their first few runs.

The next MAJOR update might be the last MAJOR update before our full release so it will be the biggest MAJOR update that we will be releasing since our early access release, which means with all this new stuff coming we may stay undercover for a couple months. But you can still easily contact us via our Discord server or Steam Discussions forums.

[h2]Next Update?[/h2]
Lastly, we want to tell you what will be included with our next update which won’t be a major update. The next update will fix ALL of the achievement bugs, a couple problematic buildings which we talked about in the last update and rework some sound effects. QoL changes and more bug fixes will be in the update too. It will be released in a couple weeks.

Thank you for reading, see you in our next MAJOR update in a couple of months!
Oh and don’t forget to follow our social media accounts to be informed about everything as early as possible.
You can find all the links in our Discord Server.
-Fausta

Hello everyone, we are here with great news!

WE’RE NOMINATED FOR THE BEST STUDENT GAME AWARD AT THE;



Also, we need your help again for the Audience Award. Your votes were so crucial for us when we won the Peoples’ Choice Award at the last Game Connection Awards.

So if you like to game and want to help out please feel free to check the games and use your vote from the link below. The voting will remain open until January 31, 2024 at 11:59pm PT.

Audiance Award Voting Link: https://informa-tech.formstack.com/forms/26th_annual_independent_games_festival_audience_award


Being nominated for such a great award this early in our game development adventure really motivates us and brings us a smile. Also congratulations for all the other nominees, your games are awesome!

So, if you want to check out the award ceremony please keep an eye open for the GDC Twitch channel. See you soon!

Oh, by the way we just released a new update in which we reworked the camera system and control configurations. You can reach the update log here.