Why Early Access?

“Deepfield is an ambitious project for us and it feels like every corner we turn there is another pile of problems to solve. For example, adding a persistent world to the RTS genre has led to many issues with traditional RTS game mechanics, we’ve had to do a lot of experimentation to find solutions.

We’re a small team so we need the feedback of the community to point us in the right direction. Major aspects of the game which we are looking for feedback on include game balance, control systems, quality of life and how the game feels after long term play.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“It’s hard to say this with any certainty as our focus is to make the game fun to play rather than to release it by a set date. We may find that we need more development time as we discover things through player feedback.

We are aiming for a full release of the game 1 year after early access has begun, roughly Q4 2022.”

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

“At the very least we are planning to have the following:

• 3 playable species
  
• More mutations, some unique to particular species
  
• Multiple biome types
  
• More neutral enemy types
  
• Different types of resource sources
  
• Updated graphics (models and animations)
  
• Updated sound effects and music
  
• Mod support
  
• Achievements
  
• Full GNU/Linux support

”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“Players are able to configure and host a public or private game; they will be able to browse for public games to join or connect directly to private ones.

Players are able to play through an entire game of Deepfield however the content is fairly bare. As of writing there is only a single species with a few unit types, a handful of mutations, a handful of neutral unit types and a couple of different environments.

We hope that we have already implemented sufficient quality of life and refined controls to the point where players are able to comfortably perform the actions they want to perform. We will be looking to improve on this during the early access period.

In order to implement some of the game mechanics in Deepfield we had to write the game engine and network layer from scratch. While stability and reliability have been at the forefront of our development design decisions, players may experience disconnects, lag or stuttering and at the very worst, a server crash. We have attempted to mitigate server crashes by saving the state of the universe periodically so that it can be loaded up again. We will strive to keep the main early access version branch as stable as possible.

If you would prefer not to deal with these issues, please wishlist and keep and eye on us for the full release of Deepfield.”

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

“Yes. We want to show our appreciation to players which have joined us during early access by offering the game at a discounted price.”

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

“We think the best time to get your feedback is right after you have thought of it. To make this process a little easier we have implemented an in-game feedback window, you can access it by pressing F8 or by clicking the feedback UI button.

If you have feedback which isn’t appropriate for the feedback window (e.g. videos, multiple screen captures or a long list of ideas) then please send them to us at feedback@deepfield-game.com.

Please join our Discord: https://discord.gg/hJAYatAKWv”