In the past few weeks at PAX Prime we were lucky enough to have Josh Halls on our “Future of Online Games” Panel. After the session we sat down to talk about The Repopulation and what stage of development the project was in. Josh was happy to give us some details on upcoming events for the game and let us know when we can possibly expect a beta test in the near future.
Josh said that the game is currently in what he called Alpha Phase 3. It will be the last Alpha on the game before his team moves toward beta for the end of the year. The team is confident to reach beta. It has already gone through the green light process and finalized on Steam. So now it is a matter of adding in some final gameplay elements and working on polish. Josh said that the early experience is very critical for players. They want people to have fun in early access and hope they can bring a solid product to fans which will serve as a launching off point for beta.
The team has been taking feedback to make a few adjustments in the world areas. They are working on improving the starting areas and also changing some of the terrain. The revamp for the landscape is important for players to be able to get around easily while still maintaining plenty of ground features and obstacles.
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Another area the developers are working on is in the gathering system. Resources are important in any sandbox MMO and so Josh is making sure there is plenty for players to get their hands on. Adjusting gathering along with terrain features will all be part of the updates that are coming directly from players.
Developers continue to fight to keep the bar high for the game. They want early access and media to continue to drive feedback. They continue to test PvE content and are working on tweaks to the skill systems and progression for characters. They will do much more testing of PvE in the autumn months to prepare for beta. They are also planning tests for PvP content as well.
Josh said the team is also focused on crafting. They are in the process of finalizing the UI for crafting and testing the play style. They are updating the client with a patch every two weeks and remains steady on their schedule. The writers are working on stories and dynamic missions.
The biggest message Josh had for MMO players is that The Repopulation “is not a hardcore gankfest!” Just because you are building a sandbox game with PvP people automatically think that is all your game is about. Josh showed that one third of the map has safe areas for characters. Resources are spread out over all of the zones, however the game has plenty of safety for the more casual types.
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Overall The Repopulation is moving forward very well. Josh Hall and his team are working on bringing a solid sandbox experience to players and all of us indie game fans are excited to see the game launch. For now if you have early access continue to give feedback. If you are waiting for Beta it won’t be too much longer. We should see a lot more from The Repopulation in the upcoming months.
Read more about The Repopulation here.
