As you might have seen from our previous two dev streams, we've been making good progress on online multiplayer, and decided to make an open beta for those who want to try it out. Before you jump right in, there are a few things you should know:
- The beta only includes demo content as we're still working on vehicles and the later-game stuff.
- Because it can't load full saves, only demo saves, the beta has a separate saves list. If you join the beta, it will appear your saves are all gone - but don't worry, if you switch back to the default branch, you'll find your saves there. Saves can be transferred between the beta and non-beta, but because the beta considers full saves corrupt and it's possible beta saves will break due to bugs, I'd consider any saves you make in the beta throwaway saves.
- The beta is currently windows only (but can run on linux via proton).
With that out of the way, if you want to give the beta a try, you can opt-in to it by right clicking Aground Zero in your Steam library and click properties. Then go to the Betas tab and select beta in the drop down (no beta access code is necessary - leave it blank). Once done, Steam will download the beta version and it should say Aground Zero in your library. You can use this drop-down to return to the stable version at any time.
We'll also be hosting another dev stream Tuesday June 25th at 11am ET, and we'll be letting up to 2 additional players who have opted in to the beta to join during the stream (first come first served)!
The stream has concluded, you can watch a recording below:
Watch on YouTube
To host a multiplayer game, select multiplayer, then host save. The name as you will appear on the saves list is at the bottom of that menu - it defaults to your steam username. Then, select a slot to host - and you can uncheck add to joinable games list if you want only friends to see you in the games list. To join a game, hit join game to see a list of all currently hosted saves (if any - it won't be common during the beta unless you set it up with a friend). You can also invite friends and join games using steam's normal multiplayer options.
Those of you who want to try it out, I hope you enjoy, and definitely send me any feedback or bugs you find! For everyone else, we'll probably have the full version beta available in a week or so, and release it live to everyone another week after that depending on bugs.