Why Early Access?

“Shadow Stalk Studios is a new video game company that has chosen to embrace the Early Access model for several compelling reasons.

Community Engagement: The development team behind "Untamed Kingdom" is passionate about involving players in the game's evolution right from the start. By releasing the game in Early Access, they aim to create a dedicated community of players who can actively participate in shaping the game's development. Player feedback is invaluable for fine-tuning gameplay mechanics, balancing, and addressing any bugs or issues that may arise.

Iterative Development: "Untamed Kingdom" team recognize that building a truly exceptional gaming experience takes time and continuous improvement. Early Access allows us to release a core version of the game while working on additional content, features, and optimizations based on player feedback. This iterative development approach ensures that the final release will be polished and well-crafted.

Transparency: "Untamed Kingdom" developers believe in open and transparent communication with their player base. Early Access provides an opportunity for players to see the game's development journey first-hand, fostering trust and a sense of community between developers and gamers.

Testing Ground: Early Access is an ideal environment to test new features, game modes, and experimental content. Player feedback helps the developers gauge which aspects resonate most with the community and which ones may need adjustments or removal.

Platform Adaptation: Releasing "Untamed Kingdom" in Early Access allows the team to adapt the game to different platforms more effectively. Player feedback helps them optimize the game for various hardware configurations and iron out platform-specific issues.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“"Untamed Kingdom" plans to remain in Early Access for 1 year”

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

“The full version of Untamed Kingdom will build upon the Early Access foundation by actively incorporating player feedback, expanding content, refining core systems, and significantly improving technical quality. The goal is to deliver a polished, feature rich experience that reflects our long term vision and commitment to creating a deep and immersive animal survival game.

Polished Gameplay:
Player feedback from Early Access will play a major role in refining the overall gameplay experience. This includes improved balance, smoother performance, tighter controls, and refinements to existing mechanics to ensure combat, movement, and survival systems feel responsive and rewarding.

Improved Animations and Combat Depth:
The full release will feature higher quality animations across the board, including more fluid movement, better transitions, and a wider variety of combat animations. Attacks, reactions, and interactions will feel more natural and impactful, adding depth and realism to encounters.

Advanced PvE Systems:
Untamed Kingdom will introduce more advanced PvE systems, including smarter AI behavior, more dynamic animal interactions, and deeper ecosystem mechanics. These systems are designed to make the world feel alive and reactive rather than static.

Expanded and More In Depth Roster:
The full game will offer a more developed roster of playable animals, each with unique traits, playstyles, and combat options. Existing animals will be expanded upon, and new additions will further diversify gameplay and strategies.

Bug Fixes and Optimization:
Early Access helps uncover edge cases and technical issues that are difficult to identify internally. The full version of Untamed Kingdom will undergo extensive bug fixing and optimization, resulting in a more stable, smoother, and better performing experience across a wider range of hardware.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“Untamed Kingdom is an open world animal survival game currently in Early Access. This phase focuses on establishing the core gameplay foundation while gathering player feedback to guide future development. Below is an overview of the systems and features currently available.

1. Core Gameplay Mechanics

Combat System
Players can engage in basic combat with other animals, allowing for both defensive and offensive interactions. Combat is designed around positioning, timing, and survival rather than fast paced arcade style fighting.

2. Social and Reproduction Systems

Birthing System
Untamed Kingdom features a unique reproduction system where players can mate and give birth to offspring that can be taken over by other players. This encourages long term survival, social interaction, and lineage based gameplay.

3. Exploration and Survival

Large Open World Map
Players can explore a large interactive map made up of multiple environments and habitats. Each area supports different survival challenges, animal behaviors, and opportunities for exploration.

Food and Survival Needs
Finding and consuming food is essential to survival. Players must actively hunt or forage depending on their species, adding strategy and risk management to moment to moment gameplay.

4. Progression and Growth

Growth System
Players begin life as young animals and gradually grow into adults. Growth impacts size, strength, survivability, and interactions with other players and AI, reinforcing long term progression and cautious play.

Summary

The Early Access version of Untamed Kingdom provides a solid foundation built around survival focused gameplay, animal growth, social systems, and open world exploration. While still in active development, the current experience allows players to engage with the core vision of the game while helping shape its future through feedback and testing.”

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

“No, the game price will not change when we leave early access. We plan to release content that can be purchased along side the game in either singles or bundles.”

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

“Shadow Stalk Studios recognizes the importance of actively engaging with the gaming community throughout the development and promotion of our game, Untamed Kingdom. We believe that involving the community from the early stages of development not only improves overall quality but also fosters a strong sense of ownership, trust, and excitement among players. This Community Involvement Plan outlines how we involve players at every major stage of development.

1. Pre Development Phase:

Announcements and Teasers:
We began by announcing Untamed Kingdom and releasing early teaser content such as concept art, high level gameplay ideas, and a general overview of the game’s vision. This helped establish interest, set expectations, and build early momentum within the community.

Community Hub:
We established a dedicated Discord server for Untamed Kingdom, providing players with a central space to discuss ideas, share feedback, ask questions, and engage directly with the development team.

2. Early Development Phase:

Alpha Testing:
Select members of the community are invited to participate in closed alpha testing. These players gain early access to in development builds and provide critical feedback on core gameplay systems, balance, performance, and bugs.

Developer Updates:
Regular developer updates, including written posts and video content, are shared to provide insight into ongoing development. This transparency helps keep the community informed and involved as features evolve.

3. Mid Development Phase:

Private Beta Testing:
As Untamed Kingdom becomes more stable and feature complete, private beta testing is expanded to a larger portion of the community. This phase allows for broader feedback while also serving as performance and server stress testing.

Community Driven Input:
Community polls, discussions, and surveys are used to gather player input on features, animal designs, balance decisions, and future content. This ensures development decisions are informed by real player experience.

4. Post Release and Ongoing Development:

Continuous Updates:
Following release, Untamed Kingdom will continue to receive regular updates and patches based on community feedback, testing data, and bug reports. This approach ensures the game continues to improve and evolve over time.

Feedback Channels:
We maintain active and accessible feedback channels where players can share suggestions, report issues, and communicate directly with the team, reinforcing our commitment to listening and iteration.

Conclusion

Shadow Stalk Studios is fully committed to building Untamed Kingdom alongside its community. By collaborating closely with players throughout development and beyond release, we aim to deliver an immersive, authentic, and memorable animal survival experience that not only meets expectations but exceeds them.”