Beyond the Grove News

[p]Hello Current and Future Grove Keepers![/p][p]Now that our Demo is live, we’d like to go over what’s next: We’ll be participating in October’s Steam Next Fest and releasing an updated version of our demo! Here are the updates we’ll be making in the demo.[/p][p][/p][h2]Updated tutorial[/h2][p][/p][p]Our current tutorial is dialogue based, which is good for building a bit of personality to the Grove Keeper, but kind of confusing when it comes to actually teaching the game. In the upcoming demo, the tutorial will be more traditional, with windows that pop up to explain parts of the game when they are relevant. 
[/p][h2]Glossary [/h2][p][/p][p]We’ve added a glossary to reference when players have forgotten certain terms or concepts. [/p][p][/p][h2]Localization[/h2][p]We’re currently in the process of preparing the game for localization. We’re hoping to have several languages available for the next version of the demo. On the top of the list are: Japanese, Chinese, French, Brazilian Portuguese, and Polish - but we plan on having more as time goes on. [/p][p][/p][h2]Map changes[/h2][p]For the Demo maps, we’ll also be adding some extra units to showcase more Golems.[/p][p][/p][p]We also have a bunch of bug fixes and quality of life changes! Shortly after Next Fest we'll be going into Early Access! We hope to see you there!
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[p]Hello Future Grovekeepers![/p][p][/p][p]The Beyond the Grove demo is available now! Come check out the first few levels of the game with a subset of elements, golems, and blessings. We can't wait to hear from players, and we look forward to making the game better for the Early Access launch in November. [/p][p][/p][p]We also have a new game logo to help with readability, Hope you like it![/p][p][/p][p]Feel free to reach out to us to talk about the game and provide feedback![/p][p][/p][p]Feedback form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeUhmUT4I1ZapuvgT1jGR7h0glsvxa2c6lSsoxHdzB9vJq-cQ/viewform?usp=dialog[/p][p]Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/beyondthegrove.bsky.social[/p][p]X/Twitter: https://x.com/NotaDuck_BTG[/p][p]Discord: https://discord.gg/FgnrPukR4h[/p]

[p]Hello Future Grovekeepers! [/p][p]We’re almost done with the demo and wanted to share with what will be available. In Beyond the Grove, you can have 7 elements to create golems with, 50+ golems, 100+ blessings, 20+ maps, and 7 meta-progression upgrades. Mix those together and every run should feel unique and fresh – but we can’t have all of that available for the demo![/p][p]This is what we’ll have available for demo launch:[/p]

• [p]3 elements[/p]
• [p]50+ blessings [/p]
• [p]9 maps [/p]
• [p]1 boss[/p]
• [p]9 summonable golems, with many more summonable by the enemies[/p]

[p]The elements that will be available are fire, earth, and light. This will give you a taste of the variety of units depending on the elements. Fire is focused around damage and area of effect, but is fragile. Earth units have high health, but have trouble dealing damage alone. Light is relatively balanced, but their primary tier 2 unit attacks unpredictably. We had to pick 3 elements, because we wanted players to be able to experience at least one tier 3 golem![/p][p][/p][p]As for the rest, you’ll have to play to find out! The demo will be out in August. We look forward to seeing what you all have to say![/p]

[p]Hello Future Grove Keepers! [/p][p][/p][p]One of the most important aspects of the game is the Golem Creator interface - this will be the place where you experiment with elements to create the perfect golem. We've spent a lot of time prototyping and tweaking the interface and wanted to share with you all the journey. [/p][p][/p][p]Initially, we just started with a list. What is it that we wanted the players to be able to do?[/p]

• [p]See the elements they had and didn't have to work with[/p]
• [p]See the potential golem to be created[/p]
• [p]Create the golem and prepare it to be summoned[/p]
• [p]Undo actions [/p]

[p]Sounds simple, right? Here was our first prototype:[/p][p][/p][p]It did the things we wanted it to do, but not only was it hard to read, but it took up a lot of space. The next step was to try and consolidate it to one container. [/p][p][/p][p]Better. Next was to add the "chrome".[/p][p][/p][p]We really liked this one and stuck with it for a while, but through all the playtesting, we noticed that either: 1) players weren't using many of the other buttons or 2) they were clicking the wrong thing. Also, we figured we could do a better job simplifying the interface. This is where we are now:[/p][p][/p][p]The current interface is clean and seems to flow better. The top section is the combination and golem preview, then the parts you interact with are in the bottom of the top panel, and finally the queue and miscellaneous stuff is in the bottom panel. [/p][p]Thanks for reading and we hope you like the Golem Creator interface! [/p]

[p]Hello Future Grove Keepers![/p][p]Today I'll be covering the various points of interest during battles in the game. We're planning to have 8 maps available for the demo, and dozens more for Early Access. On each of these maps, there are different points of interest that you'll be competing for. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]In our handy chronicle, you'll find a description of all of the points of interest. Each point of interest has different qualities, but each one provides some benefit to the capturer. In combat, you can hover over each one and it'll show you the benefit.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Not all points of interest are as simple as a thing on the map for you to capture. For example, on some maps, Magic Mushrooms telegraph when they will appear, and it's up to you to decide on whether or not to fight for them or to watch the enemy go for them, and take advantage of their over-extension.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Mastering battles in Beyond the Grove means skillfully balancing advantageous positioning, offense, defense, and area control. With a wide array of golems and blessings at your command, the possibilities for strategy are nearly endless! We can't wait to see what strategies players come up with! [/p]