I’ve recently returned to active development on Watchstander after being away for some time due to personal circumstances.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve made a large number of changes across the game: simulator fixes, UI improvements, navigation and radar work, mobile and desktop improvements, and continued development of the training systems.
I also want to thank everyone who reached out through the developer email, Discord, reviews, and other feedback channels while I was away. I’ve been going through the bug reports, suggestions, and ideas that came in, and there is still a substantial list to work through.
One of the larger new additions is the beginning of dedicated Rules of the Road scenario training. The first scenario is now in place, and additional encounter and watchstanding scenarios are planned.
A note about Early Access
I want to be straightforward about where Watchstander is.
This is still very much an Early Access game. There are systems I want to expand, things that need refinement, more scenarios to build, and plenty of rough edges that I still want to address.
I am also not developing Watchstander full time. This is a project I care a great deal about, but development has to exist alongside the rest of my life. Because of that, I don’t want to make promises about exact dates or pretend the game is further along than it is.
If you’re considering buying Watchstander, please buy it based on what the game contains today, not solely on planned features.
And if you recently purchased it and decide that the current Early Access state simply isn’t what you were looking for, I would genuinely rather you use Steam’s refund option if you’re eligible than feel obligated to keep something you aren’t happy with.
My goal is to keep improving Watchstander and gradually build it into the naval watchstanding simulator I originally wanted it to become.
Thanks to everyone who has continued playing, reporting problems, making suggestions, and checking in on the project. It’s good to be back working on it.