Repeated intro
Hello, Trailblazers! For the past month and a half we've been hard at work cooking our very first playtest ever! We wanted to share the process with us, and of course, talk about the future! So grab a cozy drink, sit down, and let's get to the issue!
What changed
0 fixes1 addition3 changes0 removals
changedSetting the bases for the first public playtestTo that end, we devised a first external playtest focused on the combat in the game. We prepared a build that included some battles, one boss battle and a secret boss after beating all the base ones! We made sure the build was stable, and that it included enough content so that players could get a good idea of what playing Trailblazers combat would feel like. Of course, these builds are super early work, so they will be improved upon tirelessly, and the final version might be very different! We prepared a very complete initiation document walking players-to-be through the basic game mechanics, the game controls, the weapons that would be available, some hints on combat, and the very essential feedback survey we kindly asked them to fill in after playing!
changedChoosing the playtesters!Long before the playtest started, we had already been crafting a list of playtesters. Because the game is still in the early stages of development , and since this was our first foray into playtesting , this first playtest was comprised mostly of our family and friends . We also included some longtime members of the Discord community, and after a few days, we also gave the chance to random players in our Discord server, and members of the FTL subreddit who would be familiar with the mechanics and feel of Trailblazers.
changedChoosing the playtesters!Since this was our first time doing an external playtest, the outreach process was organic and a little bit clunky! We contacted every one of the participants manually, processed their NDA individually and handed each of them a unique key. We want to take this chance to apologize deeply if we have accidentally missed someone in this storm of mails, sorry! We have learned from this and are looking into ways to automatize and improve this process so we can focus entirely on your feedback and on working on the game instead of being forced to spend the day in e-mail turn-based combat.
addedChoosing the playtesters!We would like to, of course, continue expanding our list of playtesters ! New eyes can see new things, and the more eyes we have on the game the better our chances to identify and address issues and problems. That said, we're a teeny tiny team, so we have to keep the numbers manageable with our current forces, and we might have to alter some aspects of the playtests, like the way we collect feedback. We hope you'll understand! We will always do our best to listen to all your feedback, though, promise!
Trailblazers: Into the March changes
changedTo that end, we devised a first external playtest focused on the combat in the game. We prepared a build that included some battles, one boss battle and a secret boss after beating all the base ones! We made sure the build was stable, and that it included enough content so that players could get a good idea of what playing Trailblazers combat would feel like. Of course, these builds are super early work, so they will be improved upon tirelessly, and the final version might be very different! We prepared a very complete initiation document walking players-to-be through the basic game mechanics, the game controls, the weapons that would be available, some hints on combat, and the very essential feedback survey we kindly asked them to fill in after playing!
changedLong before the playtest started, we had already been crafting a list of playtesters. Because the game is still in the early stages of development , and since this was our first foray into playtesting , this first playtest was comprised mostly of our family and friends . We also included some longtime members of the Discord community, and after a few days, we also gave the chance to random players in our Discord server, and members of the FTL subreddit who would be familiar with the mechanics and feel of Trailblazers.
changedSince this was our first time doing an external playtest, the outreach process was organic and a little bit clunky! We contacted every one of the participants manually, processed their NDA individually and handed each of them a unique key. We want to take this chance to apologize deeply if we have accidentally missed someone in this storm of mails, sorry! We have learned from this and are looking into ways to automatize and improve this process so we can focus entirely on your feedback and on working on the game instead of being forced to spend the day in e-mail turn-based combat.
addedWe would like to, of course, continue expanding our list of playtesters ! New eyes can see new things, and the more eyes we have on the game the better our chances to identify and address issues and problems. That said, we're a teeny tiny team, so we have to keep the numbers manageable with our current forces, and we might have to alter some aspects of the playtests, like the way we collect feedback. We hope you'll understand! We will always do our best to listen to all your feedback, though, promise!
Setting the bases for the first public playtest
Developing a game takes a lot of iteration, a lot of coming and going, and a lot of rethinking things. Weaving player opinion into this process is a surefire way to elevate the game to greater heights! At Strangers, we were certain we want to involve the players in the development process, and have been doing so since the early times of Trailblazers: Into the March, but it was time to take a way more direct approach by letting people actually play a bit of our game for the first time!
To that end, we devised a first external playtest focused on the combat in the game. We prepared a build that included some battles, one boss battle and a secret boss after beating all the base ones! We made sure the build was stable, and that it included enough content so that players could get a good idea of what playing Trailblazers combat would feel like. Of course, these builds are super early work, so they will be improved upon tirelessly, and the final version might be very different! We prepared a very complete initiation document walking players-to-be through the basic game mechanics, the game controls, the weapons that would be available, some hints on combat, and the very essential feedback survey we kindly asked them to fill in after playing!
Choosing the playtesters!
Long before the playtest started, we had already been crafting a list of playtesters. Because the game is still in the early stages of development, and since this was our first foray into playtesting, this first playtest was comprised mostly of our family and friends. We also included some longtime members of the Discord community, and after a few days, we also gave the chance to random players in our Discord server, and members of the FTL subreddit who would be familiar with the mechanics and feel of Trailblazers.
Since this was our first time doing an external playtest, the outreach process was organic and a little bit clunky! We contacted every one of the participants manually, processed their NDA individually and handed each of them a unique key. We want to take this chance to apologize deeply if we have accidentally missed someone in this storm of mails, sorry! We have learned from this and are looking into ways to automatize and improve this process so we can focus entirely on your feedback and on working on the game instead of being forced to spend the day in e-mail turn-based combat.
We would like to, of course, continue expanding our list of playtesters! New eyes can see new things, and the more eyes we have on the game the better our chances to identify and address issues and problems. That said, we're a teeny tiny team, so we have to keep the numbers manageable with our current forces, and we might have to alter some aspects of the playtests, like the way we collect feedback. We hope you'll understand! We will always do our best to listen to all your feedback, though, promise!
What we learned
We asked playtesters to fill in a form after playing so they could
