Hello fellow co-conspirators!
Hello fellow co-conspirators!
This week is a week of several BIG news. For starters The Shadow Government Simulator was a finalist in the innovation category of the Brazilian Indie Games Fest (BIG)!!
This is pretty awesome; the fest is the largest gaming competition in Latin America, and to be considered next to such crazy good games as Peglin is mind blowing. We didn't win, the awesome One Hand Clapping got the honor, but just being in the running is really encouraging. Next time though, we'll floor the competition 💪
In other big news, the game just crossed 10,000 wishlists this week! This is a huge deal. If I may go into 'how the sausage is made' territory for a bit, Steam uses wishlists (amongst other stats) to determine how much visibility it gives games on its store and it's associated subsections (like 'New and Upcoming'). Now, Valve doesn't tell exactly how the algorithm works, but the indie developer community, by pooling it's knowledge, has figured out bits of it. It seems that at 10k wishlists Steam stops considering you a "hobby game" and starts to see you as a "legit game", making it more likely to show it to more people. It's no guarantee of success, but more players will get a chance to know about your game 😁
The final big news is that the latest beta build is a final balance candidate! In a nutshell, it's the first version of the game to be said to have a complete balance from easy to hard and from the first region to the last.
What does this mean for the game launch? Well, it depends on the feedback we get. For all I know testers might still think of this when playing the game:
But I'm hoping it's improved in the year since I was sent that image.
We'll be starting a playtest soon; but kickstarter backers with Beta access can check it out now \o/ If you do, please fill up this survey so I know how it plays.
Beta Update
v0.2.56 is now up on steam on the beta channel. Changes include:
🔹New game balance for Regular and Hard mode
🔹New abilities that round up the units
🔹 Difficulty modifiers are added on victory as default
🔹Added several new Difficulty Modifiers to help keep the game interesting in the mid to late campaign
🔹 Fixed a crash with units sometimes not initializing correctly
🔹 Fixed a crash that would occur if you played a second campaign after winning without closing the game
🔹 A slew of minor bug fixes
Next week, I'll be focussed on gathering beta player's thoughts on the balance and adjusting it accordingly. I'll also start laying the groundwork for the playtest and the expected influx of juicy, juicy feedback. Exciting times!
Happy conspiring!
Rafa
