Why Early Access?

“We've chosen to go the Early Access route for the first time because we're only two people at Windzen. We like to think we know what we're doing but we've never made a game in this genre before, let alone one of this scale.

The Windzen Legend takes very closely after what we'll refer to as "The Other Legend", a game from 1997 that is very near and dear to many. As such, we want to make sure that we get this right. The best way to do that is to get the game into gamer's hands bright and early so we can hear what we're doing wrong, what we should improve and what they want to see more of as the game develops.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We have a one year roadmap before the game has all of the content that we envision for it. Ten floors of Ruins, four Sub-Gates, nine Pirate battles on the surface, three sets of NPC quest lines, and many other bits and bobs that will hopefully give The Windzen Legend a similar level of charm to the The Other Legend that it takes after.

Game creation is a troublesome process so it's difficult to say if one year will be enough, but we work fast and we can iterate on our work even faster. It's possible that our schedule slips or our plans change, particularly as feedback starts coming in from gamers, but we don't believe it will take much more than a year to complete the game at the pace that we've been able to develop it thus far.”

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

“During the Early Access period the game will carry an additional moniker of "Prototype Edition".

The full version of The Windzen Legend is planned to contain all of the Prototype Edition content listed above, as well as additional layers of polish after feedback for issues that might only be apparent once all of the game's content is created.

During the Early Access 'Prototype Edition' phase the game's content will be laid out in the traditional linear fashion. For instance, reaching the first Sub-Gate at the end of Ruin Floor 2 will cause the first Pirate encounter to happen on the surface. Winning that fight will earn you a license to enter the Sub-Gate. Clearing the Sub-Gate unlocks more Ruin floors and progresses NPC quest lines, etc..

The full version is planned to contain the game's originally intended non-linear clock-based event structure that the Early Access builds won't contain. In this structure the player is on an ever-ticking clock. Pirate attacks and other events happen on certain days and at certain times, whether the player has explored enough of the Ruins to be ready for them or not. The "Prototype Edition" linear progression will remain an available option of course.

We began development with this feature in mind but found it wasn't feasible to create content and balance it around future events that didn't yet exist. We made the choice to create the game's events in the traditional linear order and to set the building the clock-based structure aside for the final version of the game.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“(At the time of the Early Access Launch) - Included in the first Early Access build is the opening stage seen in the demo, an explorable Yasmar Island overworld with NPCs to talk to, building interiors to visit in Yasmar City, Afloat in the Western Forest, three floors of Ruin to delve into, and one Pirate encounter with Regulo.

We intend to update the game every month with either:
- A new pirate enounter.
- One or more additional Ruin floors.
- A Sub-Gate, if one has been reached in the development process.
- New building interiors and NPC conversations in Yasmar City.
- A new step in an NPC quest line.

-in additon to fixes and polish to the content that was added the month before.

We have an internal roadmap, as stated previously, but if we find that gamers strongly prefer one type of update over another we are happy to shift focus and build the type of content that our players want to see more of. We plan to have the game content complete in a year's time either way.”

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

“Yes. At the start of the Early Access campaign The Windzen Legend will feature a dramatically lower price than the finished game. We may raise the price as more content is added, but if that happens it won't be a frequent occurrence. Final prices for the finished game haven't been decided.”

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

“In addition to being as closely involved with gamer's feedback as we possibly can be, we intend to host contests for players who want to see their creations and imagery in the game as the content is built.

Of course, the usual ways that players engage with games are always welcome, like Steam reviews and posts on the Steam Discussion Boards. We have Windzen social media pages that we also hope our players will use to tell us what they think of the game. We'll be keeping an eye out on social media for those who write about the game outside of official channels.

Regardless of how gamers discuss the project we will be very involved in responses and read everything we can find. If you bought and played the game we want to hear from you!”