Playtest Update

The first Music Manager Playtest build is now finished and will be uploaded to Steam within the next 24 hours.

There has been a lot of work this week on getting the build polished, particularly around tutorials, UI layout, feedback tools and localisation. The first upload will include support for nine languages:

English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish and Vietnamese.

I had hoped to launch with more languages included, but localisation has been the part of the process taking the longest. Translation is only one stage of the work; every language also needs to be checked properly in-game because longer strings can affect buttons, tooltips, tutorials and other UI elements. That means a manual pass through a very large number of screens.

Several other languages are already in progress and I will add them as soon as they are ready.

The next step is Steam’s review process. If the build is reviewed quickly then I’ll run a short first Playtest with a small group of players at the end of this week, covering the weekend. That would let me monitor feedback closely and patch any serious issues while the test is active.

If the review process takes longer then the Playtest sign-up will still become available but the actual first Playtest will take place at the beginning of June instead. That will give me a better window to respond properly to reports and should also allow time to add more languages before players get access.

Either way, the first Playtest is very close now. Thank you to everyone who has followed the project, wishlisted the game or offered encouragement while I’ve been getting this build ready.