Why Early Access?

“As a solo developer, community feedback is critical. There is at least another year of work before I would call this a polished game, and this early feedback will help guide my efforts.

I'd like to know what difficulties people encounter, and start growing a community, with the clear understanding that it's still a bit rough at present.

Some additional benefits include: getting some real-world testing on various hardware (I only have so much of my own), and seeing who is willing to pay money for this game. I will continue to work on it regardless, but having spent about 4 years on its development so far, I'd like to get a better sense of my financial future.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“The current plan is to have a "V1" release approximately a year after the initial Early Access release. That will be a more finished "proper game" experience, and if I feel it is polished enough, I will remove the "Early Access" label at that time.

The schedule is very much subject to change, though. And I have been known to under-estimate how long things take (:”

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

“The full version will feel more like a real game, with progression of abilities and some goals, such as Achievements. There will also be an overall higher level of polish, with more optimization, smoother handling, etc.

Note: if the game is successful, I plan to keep updating it regularly. I have hundreds of ideas for features and improvements, so the "V1" release will only be the beginning, if all goes well. I could be updating it for the rest of my life!”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The core gameplay works — you have an endless generated universe to explore in infinite detail. You can also save bookmarks, to return to areas of interest.”

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

“I plan to increase the price as I make updates to the game, over time.

The transition from Early Access to V1 will likely come with a price increase, as will V1-to-V2, and so on.

If you buy the Early Access version, you will get future updates for free — so that's one reason to get it early ::wink::”

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

“On one hand, since I'm a solo developer, I don't always have time to talk to people every day — I'm trying to build this game, after all (:

On the other hand, I very much value other people's feedback and insights, so do try to remain responsive. It just might take me a few days.

I share updates via various channels (mailing list, website, reddit, Steam, etc.), post dev blog entries, progression screenshots and videos, etc. You can find links to all that stuff on the website [1].

One idea for the future is mod support. This won't be in V1, probably not even V2, but since this game is all about generating worlds using code, and since it uses Lua, it is very amenable to supporting a mod community. I'd like to see that, some day.

[1] festina-lente-productions.com/pinhole-universe/”