Why Early Access?

“We know there are fans of F-Zero style racers out there, and people who love to create content. Steam Early Access is a fantastic way to reach out to those people, put into their hands what we think is already a great game, and gather their feedback and suggestions to make it something truly special. We're looking for feedback on the following fronts:

Track editor

With such a big focus on content creation, it's a priority for us that our track editor is as powerful and user-friendly as possible. While we believe we're on the right track, there's still lots of things to improve, and we think the best way to do that is to gather the feedback from as many creators as we can, and iterate accordingly.

Sharing system and content discoverability

On top of that, we have things to figure out around content sharing. While the sharing system is in place and functional, we want to make sure new content is easy to browse and discover. Again, this would be best done with an actual community making and sharing tracks, so we can understand what works and what doesn't.

Gameplay and controls

Finally, gameplay-wise, while we think it's already a blast to play, we're always looking to improve that good old arcade racing thrill, and we want to hear from the fans of the genre what could make it better. Thinking of a hidden F-Zero gameplay detail that made a big difference? We want to hear about it.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We think it should take us around 6 more months to implement everything we have yet to do. So far our previous estimations have turned out pretty accurate, so we're quite confident we could hit that mark.

There is, however, the fact that we want to take feedback into account, and that this could potentially take us in directions we hadn't initially planned. So there is this "Early Access disruption factor" to take into account.

So how about this then: probably more than 6 months, hopefully less than a year. Sounds reasonable.”

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

“The editor user experience will be better, the menus and gameplay will be polished, and some gameplay ingredients will be added along the way.

The bigger difference, however, will be content, as this is currently the area that lags behind the most. Without making any specific promises on the number of environments, vehicles and music, we are planning on adding more of those, and hopefully we'll eventually have enough for everyone to give their track the visual and audio "flavour" they think fits best.

Planned features

Besides tweaks and improvements, here are the feature we plan on adding:

• Gameplay ingredients: more types of pads, support for different track surfaces, jumps
  
• Controls improvements and tweaks: dash, better drift, etc
  
• Smarter AIs, harder AIs difficulty levels
  
• More content: environments, ships, music, built-in tracks and championships

”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“While some features are missing, what we do have right now is pretty stable and polished. We think there's already enough to have a blast, and are hoping we'll get to see some crazy tracks and championship ideas emerge from this Early Access.

However, while the version is relatively bug free, there will inevitably be some issues - whether AIs having a brain fart, some performance issues, or plain crashes. We're hoping to hear about them, and to get some repro steps on the tougher ones.

Current features

Here are the features that are in the game right now:

• Track editor with support for looping, twisting, rotating the track
  
• Support for track distortion: width adjustment, curvature, etc
  
• Boost pads
  
• Quick race and time attack modes
  
• Global leaderboards
  
• Tracks sharing
  
• Local multiplayer up to 4 players
  
• Up to 48 AIs
  
• 4 environments, 5 ships, 4 music tracks

”

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

“Yes. We haven't decided on a specific number yet, but we will increase the price once the game is out of Early Access.”

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

“We have different channels to gather feedback (dopagames official Twitter account, Super Pilot Reddit page and Super Pilot Discord channel) and will keep using those, on top of the Steam discussion boards.

We're looking forward to hearing from the Steam Early Access community!”