Why Early Access?

“As a solo developer, Knockback has been a work of passion for the last year to get the mechanics right, create the desired classes and get a playable and enjoyable first level working. While I think I'm getting there with the structure, there is a lot of content that I would still like to add. I feel that now is the time to get a community playing Knockback to help guide the next stages of development.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Completion will depend very much upon community feedback, requests and the depth that should be included into the game. My expectation is that this will take about another year of development but only time will tell.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“I have a long list of additions that can be added to the game. Fire tornados, sticky webs, love potions, desert scenes, castles, dungeons, additional enemies, etc. I will be relying on the Knockback community to help flush out and prioritize these ideas for the final version. Not everything will make it, but I'm certain the game will become even more fun as a result.

I have also discussed with some people adding mods into knockback, adding additional weapon components would be a great start. Though I would like to gauge interest before adding mods.

In short, when I'm satisfied that the game has an acceptable level of stability, intuitive design, depth, and replayability it will be moved out of early access.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The current early access version gives a good demo of the gameplay. You can choose from 5 different classes, play with 4 friends, customize weapons with over 40 different weapon components, play in the starting area playground, badlands, and play a procedurally generated island map. Your character levels up over time improving the character's stats and unlocking additional weapon components. The difficulty levels range from obnoxiously easy of 0 on up to the near-impossible 100. As you level up, you can increase the difficulty to gain XP faster or enjoy the slow pace of an easy game.

There are a number of known bugs, some rare crashes, the networking can be finicky at times, but works well enough in most cases. The game still requires a lot of balancing and some more intuitive feedback to the player when events occur. E.g. when a crit lands or mana is being regenerated.

In short, it is at a level now that my friends want to play daily -- sometimes for several hours at a time but there are still warts to resolve.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“Yes, the early release price reflects the early stage of the game. As development continues the price will increase to reflect the state of the game.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“We will provide multiple avenues for users to discuss knockback and offer up suggestions and feedback.

• There are community pages in Steam for people to give feedback.
  
• Knockback has a Facebook page for posting new content and getting comments from users.
  
• There is a Knockback Discord server for discussing issues/ideas in realtime

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