Why Early Access?

“I don't believe it makes sense to go and make a game in total seclusion, isolated from the very community who will play this game. I do have a clear vision of how I'd like Freefall to evolve, from now until the final release, but my vision isn't all that matters. You, the community of players making this game possible, also matter. I don't want to end up making a terrible game that none of its players enjoy; I want to work with the players throughout the entire development process, in order to make good, sound changes and additions to the game. I've seen how Early Access has vastly benefited other games on Steam and I'm really looking forward to hearing all of your feedback. I want to bring this game to fruition and make it as fun and great as it can be.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“I have loads of ideas for the game that I'm excited to try out. I'm doing all of the development by myself, so I can Freefall remaining in Early Access until at least 2018. Ideally, it'll be complete before then, but I wouldn't like to disappoint anyone if it ends up taking a bit longer. I'll continue to update this estimate as time goes on.”

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

“What I'd really like, for the final release, is to have something very polished, well-optimized, and feature-complete. I want it to feel like a game--a fun one--and I'm really looking forward to fleshing out all the features floating around in my head. I have ideas for how two-player cooperative gameplay would work, as well as multi-player competitive modes, custom level creation and sharing, automatic level generation from your own music, and various other things. I want to keep going, making the game better, until it actually feels done.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The core, underlying gameplay is all there. There are lot of things like achievements, leaderboards, trading cards (?), etc, that still need to be implemented before I can move on to work on any of the new features. The game is playable for sure, though, and it has three existing levels which show off a lot of the stuff that's possible in the game.”

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

“I plan to keep the price low throughout Early Access. Once the game exits Early Access and makes a full release, I'll raise the price a little bit - not massively, but the lower price during Early Access will be one of the ways I can say thanks to everyone helping to support the game throughout its development.”

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

“The Steam Community Hub will be a great way for me to connect with the entire community of Freefall players. I'd like to post regular progress updates there, as well as interact with players and discuss anything that might be on their minds. The hub will give players a place to report bugs, issues, general problems, suggestions, feedback, or really anything they'd like to discuss about the game. I'd also love to find other ways to show how important the community's role is throughout Early Access, whether that's by adding extra credits to the game or otherwise.”