Hello everyone,

As you can see, I opted not to do a strict monthly update and instead focus more on the project. But I'm happy to report some progress and check in. As the weather gets a little warmer where I am, my motivation also gets a bit of a boost.

Here's the contents for this month's log:
- Early Access details
- Development progress
- Continuing plans

Let's get into it.


As mentioned in the 2024 summary, the game will not launch in separate paid parts, but instead in early access. It's a bit ironic, because I've flip-flopped on this idea since I published the initial Steam page in 2021. However, unlike 4 years ago, I am feeling much more confident in my ability to provide meaningful updates and communicate and engage with those who are invested in the early iterations of the game.

I have also finally updated the website and Steam page to reflect this. I apologize for the delay, and hope that folks who have the game wishlisted expecting a launch this year don't feel they've been "tricked" in some way. I've tried to remain as transparent as possible as I've developed the game, and really meant to put the Early Access notice up a lot sooner (like, January sooner).

Regardless, I recognize there may be some questions and concerns surrounding this, so I wanted to get that out of the way.

First, I recommend reviewing the "Early Access Questionnaire" that has been published to the Steam page:

https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/app/1233680/Legends_of_Astravia/

This should cover most questions that folks have about the game moving to Early Access.

I'll also cover a few common questions here:

When in 2025 will the game release?
Obviously, I dislike giving exact dates unless I'm certain. Let's just assume it will be Q4. If this changes, it will be made very obvious in an announcement.

How much of the game will be complete when it releases?
As it stands, the game will be 25% done. My goal is 50%, but it entirely depends on how much I am able to accomplish in the next couple of months.

I think it will be better to release a little at a time, and have more frequent, consistent updates as opposed to rushing to releasing a lot and then making folks wait longer.

What is the point of Early Access instead of releasing the game in parts?
If Legends of Astravia was released episodically, each part would be individually paid for as it was released. This would have been either in the form of multiple games, or DLC. Basically, by moving to Early Access, I'm going with a "player first" strategy instead.

Early Access ensures that at whatever state of the game you decide to purchase it, you receive the remaining updates for free. For example, with Early Access, you'll pay for the game for $10 when it comes out, and then when the remaining core content and improvements are added, it is a free update for you. If EA isn't your style, you can choose to just pay full price later on with the final, full release.

From my perspective as a developer, this is somewhere between crowdfunding and just releasing the entire game outright. Technically, Early Access is not supposed to act as a source of income to fund the game's development. But it is enough of a boost and reassurance to help keep me working on the project despite my limitations, and relieves some of the pressure associated with a final, perfectly polished game release.

It also gives me a good idea just how many people have faith in the game to the point of wanting to support it early on and be involved in its growth. And those who do support it are rewarded in a way. I think it's a win-win.

Will the free demo still be available?
With the game releasing in Early Access, I will be removing the free demo from Steam.

The primary reason for this is that because I'll have to be maintaining updates for the game in Early Access, and I'll have to manage multiple platforms, adding support for the demo on top of that will simply be too much work for one person. I need to prioritize paying customers :)

Another reason is that I'd like to think I've been pretty generous with constantly updating and improving the demo for free for the past few years. Sort of like a dry run of Early Access. As such, Early Access marks the start of paid support for the game, and will remain as such.

I'll probably leave the current demo available on the main website for archival purposes. But since it won't be an accurate portrayal of the game that you receive when purchasing Early Access, I do not want to keep it up on Steam.

You'll still have plenty of time to try it out in the meantime before the Early Access release in late 2025!

Of course, if you have any remaining concerns, I want to make sure they're heard. As such, I created a "Early Access Q&A" thread in Steam: https://steamproxy.net/app/1233680/discussions/0/591769824782233895/

Please do not hesitate to share your thoughts! Early Access is all about a good relationship between the developer and the player.


Development progress has remained slow but steady over the past couple of months. I am keeping content development a bit of a secret for now, but I have some interesting system updates to share.

This drove me and probably many demo players crazy, but rebinding controls was not possible on the Steam Deck or macOS, and extremely clunky on Windows. Being able to choose your controls is massively important, especially for those with different types of keyboards, accessibility needs, and just general comfort playing.

And now it's finally possible! At any point in the game, you can change the controls:

This is a clunky v1, and further UI/UX improvements will be made in the future. Also, a special thanks to Eblo for adding the functionality engine-side.

• Ironed out more of the story / narrative
  
• Did a little "spring cleaning" on the game engine
  
• Squashed a bunch of bugs
  
• Prepared a strategy for the Early Access release

News will be more frequent as I get closer to having a more complete product, but in the meantime I'll be continuing to put my head down and work.

The next month will be spent continuing to finish up the few backend tasks like organizing bug reporting and triaging for early access, setting up a strategy for major updates after the first release, and the remaining tooling needed so I can just hammer out content.


May: Remaining backend work (coding) and planning
June-August: 100% farm-raised all natural content development
September-October: Pre-launch testing and marketing plans
November or December: Early Access launch?!

Of course this is tentative, and given my track record for the past several years, it could very well change. But I really do want to meet these goals this year, so I'll remain hopeful. I appreciate all of the support and encouragement in the meantime.

But otherwise, that's all for now! I look forward to sharing more progress soon.

Get a glimpse of some of last years Next Fest streams and demo playthroughs, running all through the RPG Maker festival!