I say it like “beater” but if you say it like “baiter” I guess that’s okay too. Anyway, Generation Ship is now a few weeks into this testing phase and I’ve had some good feedback from those who have so far given me a hand with testing out the game. I’ve been sticking to weekly builds to keep things moving forward and intend to continue this way until I have a release candidate.
The early-game – i.e. the “first time user experience” – has seen the most attention initially as it’s important people can get into the game in the first place. Certain UI elements are hidden at first to hopefully make the game’s first impression less confusing. Beyond this a new mini-game has been added to serve the need for a little something extra to do with a player’s idle time, and a way to speed up economic progress for the impatient. The result is the minesweeper-esque game now accessible from each starcoin mine (any chance for a play on words). Each safe tile cleared will add to a pool of coins that can be collected at any point adding a risk/reward element: do you try for the full clear or get out before hitting a mine and losing the coin pool and the (modest) entry fee?
Now I’m making sure the game elements that only come in later, like children and research objects, work as intended. And getting caught up in endless placement/pathing issues. I don’t want to spend much longer on the game but I’d like to get some more people testing it before submission – if you’re interested do let me know!