Got a lot of Great Beta Feedback
The beta I posted last month got a lot of traction and (somewhat surprisingly) many people actually filled out the survey. Overall people loved the game, with the main complaint being buggy networking over LAN on some routers, which I am in the process of patching up. Another complaint was that in Spy Town in Local play, people weren't aware of whether or not they had used their special item. Since other players are on the same machine, actually drawing the trap or showing decoy are out of the question, so I improvised a nice UI effect whenever a power is used:
Festivals Festivals Festivals!
Since the last update, we have shown the game off at:
- The Boston Games Forum March Demo Night
- Made in MA (Pre- PAX East Party)
- Northeastern's Game Demo Day (Won 3rd place for Best Overall Game)
We are also ramping up to apply for a spot in:
- The Boston Festival of Indie Games 2014
- Indiecade
The next big project is that sometime over the next few weeks we will be creating a trailer for the game to be used in the Indiecade submission.
We also attended PAX East all weekend and did some hardcore networking. It's been a busy couple of weeks, but the feedback on the game has been great.
Delaying Release by One Month
I had originally intended to release the game around now, however due to all of the events we've been showing the game off at, I haven't had enough time to actually finish it. So, expect the game to be released some time in May. I apologize for the inconvenience- if the beta version isn't satisfying enough feel free to message me and I can send you the current build.
SHOWDOWN!
One of the big new features in the game is sudden death showdowns. When two players are tied for the lead or managed to kill each other in the same round, they will have to duke it out in one of a few different sudden death scenarios. These include rounds where both players are given guns, rounds where hordes of giant tumbleweeds attack the players, and more! It's a crazy feature that has had some very positive results at our booths recently.
New Art and Effects
We've been patching up a lot of the older graphics and effects in the game. For instance, you may have noticed that the old bartender wasn't very detailed and that the bar itself was empty. Here's the new image, which now features a small idle animation:
We've also redesigned the sheriffs and drunks in Drunk Town to look like they fit better with the game's aesthetic:
Coming Soon
So, there are a few main features to tackle with the game before I am comfortable releasing it:
- Sound Effects & More Music
- Clean up Android touch controls
- Better networking for LAN
- More minor graphical updates
Thief Town is definitely in its last stretch of development. It is super exciting that a game that I originally made as a silly prototype has gotten this far, and I am eager to see where it goes.
Stay tuned!
