Today I am releasing version 0.9. This will be the final early access build! That means that what you see in this version is almost entirely what you will get in the final release. The only differences will be any bug fixes that are found between now and the 1.0 release. I will also be locking access to the final underground layer (and dungeon) to leave something for the final release day.
I’ve decided to postpone dungeon sharing until after 1.0 is available. There are many reasons, but the primary one is that I want to get 1.0 out sooner. The development of Tile Miner has taken far too long. It’s time for a final release. The dungeon sharing is a cool addition but it really makes no difference to the core game.
This morning I opened up version 0.8 and was reminded just how much has changed since that update. I’m not going to do a change log because it would just take far too long. Here are a few of the big changes:
1. Graphics: We worked with Tom Filhol (our graphics guy) to see where we could improve graphically. He redid probably more than half of the tiles in the world to make it look more varied and interesting.
2. House Size: This one is hard to explain but building a house was more complex than it needed to be in previous versions. It’s now much simpler to build a house because it doesn’t take up quite so much space!
3. Hidden Treasures: Throughout the world there are treasures hidden under rocks. Find a red x under a rock and break it to reveal all kinds of great loot!
4. Tutorial: There’s so much to Tile Miner that it would be easy to play the game for hours and have no idea that there are dungeons to conquer and villages to explore (along with many other features). I’ve added tutorial quests to give the player some direction in case they get lost. Since I find forced tutorials annoying, I’ve designed it so you can completely ignore these quests if you want.
5. Dungeon puzzles: Every dungeon now has it’s own unique puzzle mechanic. I designed them to be challenging but not frustrating.
The next step is going to be getting the word out and pulling the trigger on the final release. Stay tuned for a release date!