Why Early Access?

“OVRLRD is a complex game with many interlocking systems. I'm a solo developer. This means I have no testers and no designers, so being able to get bug reports and feedback on my design decisions before properly announcing OVRLRD to the world is vital!

I want OVRLRD to ship with a full single-player campaign as well as a bunch of procedural and user-generated missions, but I want the campaign to represent the absolute best kind of experience a player can have, rather than being a glorified tutorial. This means I need to partially release it and get feedback to improve it before 'properly' release it.

OVRLRD also isn't for everyone. Early Access players tend to be enthusiasts willing to give unusual things a chance, and before reaching the wider world I want to find the people who will really understand what I'm going for.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“About 6-9 months. OVRLRD's core systems are solid, so most of the remaining work will be expanding these systems, adding fun features, building more content and polishing things up nice. I plan to stay in Early Access just long enough to build out the single-player campaign and some fun new 'big' features before jumping to 1.0 and continuing development.”

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

“The plan is to release 1.0 once OVRLRD has a full, decent-sized singleplayer campaign. Along the way I plan to expand the mech customisation features, add more system depth to the simulation, and built out a replayable 'career' mode to sit alongside the campaign.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“OVRLRD currently has three pilotable mechs, more than twenty mech modules to choose from, five available campaign missions, plus a training course and procedurally-generated skirmish with multiple gamemodes.

There is also a fully-functional mission editor included, with workshop support. This editor has access to almost all the internal features I use to build the campaign, and players can share these missions freely on the workshop (or even just via email) to have endless new content.”

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

“The game will be cheaper during Early Access. I think the appeal of the game is in the core interaction systems and combat mechanics, which are already in place, but you won't get the full OVRLRD experience until these systems are more polished and there's a chunky campaign to stomp your way through.

Some people will be eager to try out these systems even without a full campaign to play, so it made sense to offer them this early version at a lower price.”

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

“There is already an active discord with bug reporting and feature suggestion features, and it's fairly common for someone to suggest a feature and find it implemented that same week. I know people playing this game are enthusiasts, so I take their ideas seriously - and they often turn out to be excellent.

If you'd like to provide feedback directly to me, you can post in the official discord server.”