On August 10th, Build 10 will be going live on Steam.
This will also mark the date of which Shards of Azuria will be leaving Early Access.
Build 10 itself has already been in the works for a while.
The details I will be able to share on August 10th when the Build goes live.
In general though, Build 10 has had a focus on NPCs & dialogue.
The mindset of the changes are around improving the overall feel of Azuria.
For instance, up until now, NPCs have been mostly static.
With Build 10, I have worked to have the NPCs moving around more, to feel part of the town.
This does mean that the effort has been mostly on improving existing content.
However you can still expect some new additions in the build.
Now a few words on the next piece of news:-
Shards of Azuria will be graduating from Early Access to Full Release status.
Build 10 itself is the flag pole that will mark the end of the Early Access journey.
Almost 3 years ago, 12th October 2016, Shards of Azuria released in Early Access.
I am extremely thankful for the support of everyone during this time.
It was incredibly rewarding to have players experience something I had poured my time into.
Seeing some of the building creations from players and the characters they played was really amazing. But being the first time I have done something like this, there certainly was a lot to learn for the future.
The journey of Early Access has been a long and winding road. It has seen various updates during it's time. From Halloween specials, to Fishing and the one of the most significant additions - Online Multiplayer. There were also various other changes along the way, that were shaped by the invaluable feedback of players. It has been a combined effort to mould Shards of Azuria into it's current form.
Taking this step has been something that I have been weighing on for a long while. For most of it's lifetime, Shards of Azuria has been in an indie/hobbyist level of development. Blue Potion Games has comprised of myself (Phill) as the main developer/programmer & Cheryl as the artist. Full time development has never been a sustainable situation, save for a 6 month period, that had to come to an end. This means that development has largely had to fit in and around a day job situation.
As a whole, I am generally comfortable with managing that kind of work flow, but it's not without its drawbacks. Developing around a job is slower and less predictable, life can interrupt the flow, compared with the consistency of full time. Unfortunately, whilst I am overall patient enough to develop in this way, it does not suit Early Access itself.
While the work/development balance is a factor, I don't see it as much of an issue.
Ultimately, I feel Shards of Azuria itself has gone as far it can in its current form.
It is inevitably held back by dated technology, built upon an aging framework.
I have known for a long time now, that Shards of Azuria was behind the curve compared with modern tools.
On a personal level, this stems from starting on a development track (more than 6 years ago).
Back then, I was inexperienced and did not expect to push development as far as I have.
What does that mean for the future?
Following the full release, I will be assessing the next step in regards to game development.
It is likely I will still be operating in a hobbyist capacity, developing around a day job.
Although I will likely be setting myself up with a long term mindset.
And I will almost certainly be taking advantage of modern game engines.
Overall, I know that I would be in a much better position to create an enjoyable game by taking this step. Precisely what I intend to develop is still up for debate. But even a game in the nature of Shards of Azuria itself, would benefit from a complete re-develop with a new engine.
That itself would be a complete do-over and would basically end up a new game on it's own. That point alone reaffirms the decision to bring things to close at this point.
Thank you all once again for taking part in this journey!
It wouldn't have been the same without everyone's feedback and support.
Thanks!
Phill