Why Early Access?

“Age of Failon: Birth of the Hero is a large turn-based strategy game built around a long story-driven campaign, character progression, army development, castle building, and tactical battles. The complete campaign is currently planned to span 30 story chapters and approximately 350 maps.

Early Access gives me the opportunity to release the game gradually in substantial campaign blocks while continuing to improve and expand it based on real player feedback. In particular, I would like to use feedback to refine game balance, progression, objectives, combat, user interface, and the overall pacing of the campaign.

As a solo developer, I believe this approach will help me make better decisions while developing additional campaign content and improving existing systems.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“I currently expect Age of Failon: Birth of the Hero to remain in Early Access for approximately 12 months. However, this may change depending on development progress and community feedback. My priority is to give the game the time needed to expand and improve throughout Early Access rather than commit to a fixed release date too early.”

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

“The full campaign is currently planned to consist of 30 story chapters and approximately 350 campaign maps, following Failon's journey across the world of Age of Failon.

During Early Access, I plan to gradually expand the campaign with additional story chapters, maps, objectives, encounters, and gameplay situations. New campaign blocks are also planned to introduce additional objective types and new ways of combining existing gameplay systems.

The full version is planned to include the complete main story campaign, while also incorporating balance, progression, user interface, combat, and gameplay improvements developed throughout Early Access with the help of community feedback.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The Early Access version is a fully playable turn-based strategy game containing the core systems of Age of Failon, including world exploration, tactical battles, hero and army progression, castle development, resources, recruitment, unit evolution, objectives, rewards, skills, spells, and story progression.

At the start of Early Access, the campaign is planned to include 6 story chapters with approximately 50 campaign maps. The first chapter is also featured in the free demo, while the following chapters continue Failon's journey with new regions, story events, objectives, enemies, and gameplay situations.

The game features 6 playable races, each with 19 recruitment buildings and 76 units across four evolutionary eras, for a total of 456 recruitable units. Players can develop their hero up to level 250 and progressively develop their castle and army throughout the campaign.

Additional campaign blocks are planned to be introduced throughout Early Access, expanding the available story and gameplay content.

As development continues, players may encounter balance issues, bugs, unfinished elements, or systems that may be adjusted based on testing and community feedback.”

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

“The price may increase during or after Early Access as the game receives additional content and reaches a more complete state. Any price changes will be announced in advance.”

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

“Community feedback will be an important part of Early Access development. I plan to actively follow player feedback through the Steam Community, Discord, and other community channels.

I am particularly interested in feedback regarding game balance, progression, tactical combat, objectives, user interface, difficulty, and campaign pacing. Bug reports and technical feedback will also help identify issues across different hardware configurations and playstyles.

As new campaign content and systems are introduced, I plan to use this feedback to help determine where existing mechanics need refinement and where the player experience can be improved.

As a solo developer, I can communicate directly with players and closely follow discussions about the game throughout development.”