Why Early Access?

“Fleet Forge combines custom ship design, fleet preparation, and real-time tactical space combat. Those systems create many possible fleet compositions and tactics, and player feedback can help shape how they work together. Early Access gives players a chance to influence combat balance, fleet controls, usability, and campaign progression while these parts of the game are still being developed.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We do not yet have a reliable target date for leaving Early Access. Our current priority is to improve the core combat and fleet-management systems, then complete a dedicated revision and testing pass on the campaign missions. The time needed will depend on testing and player feedback. We plan to share progress and revise this estimate as the remaining work becomes clearer.”

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

“We plan to refine fleet movement and formations, enemy behavior, weapon and ship balance, and the clarity of the battlefield and preparation screens. We also plan to add the Campaign, which is not included in this Early Access version, after further work on its missions, progression, objectives, difficulty, and story presentation. The intended full version would offer a more consistent and polished experience across Campaign, Skirmish, and Survival. These are development goals; the scope and priorities may change with testing and community feedback.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“Fleet Forge is an Early Access work in progress. This version includes single-player Skirmish against the computer and endless, wave-based Survival. The Campaign is not included in this version and is not yet playable. Campaign missions, progression, and officer management are unavailable.

Players can design and equip ships, prepare a fleet, and command battles with tactical pause. Combat includes guns, missiles, energy weapons, shields, ammunition, repair, and supply support.

Combat balance, ship movement, interface readability, and performance remain ongoing areas of work. Bugs and rough edges remain, and features may change during development. Two-player LAN Skirmish is experimental and still needs testing on separate computers; internet multiplayer is not currently a supported feature.”

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

“We plan to offer Fleet Forge at a lower price during Early Access. We may increase the price for the full release if the added content and overall polish justify it. The final release price has not been fixed, and we plan to communicate any price increase in advance through Steam announcements.”

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

“We plan to use Steam Discussions for bug reports, suggestions, and conversations about balance and usability, and Steam announcements to share updates and development priorities. Reports that include the game version, mode, fleet composition, and steps to reproduce a problem are especially useful. We want feedback on ship designs, battle controls, difficulty, and campaign pacing to help guide priorities. Suggestions will be considered alongside testing and the overall direction of the game, rather than treated as guaranteed additions.”