The BitCraft team ended closed alpha at the end of April and now have a devbog summoning up what they learned from the first closed Alpha test, a look ahead to when we can expect the next test to open, and what players did during the test.
BitCraft’s closed alpha started off well, before a number of issues started to pop up. When more players began to share the same world over a period of time, they started having technical issues. Of course, this being a closed alpha, getting more players in to spend time and break things is often a good way of learning what needs to be fixed and to get started on improving the whole experience. This test did not have an NDA, even though the team knew it wasn’t exactly a polished experience, and those technical issues happened, some were even dealing with the results live on stream.
Clockwork Labs is sharing what else they learned from the first go-around with closed alpha and how they’re preparing for the next test. 6,452 players tested the game for more than an hour in total. All players built 2,211 claim totems. Of the claims, 128 had three or more members, and the largest attracted 83 players. Some solo players had trouble with lost progress and claims, so they’re looking to balance this out. There were some larger Villages and players cooperating with each other, but they still want to grow this.
The team has been clear how they intend BitCraft to be an MMORPG that fosters interdependence and not always grouping with the same group all the time. So, this is one way to go about that.
The road to getting this aspect to flourish still needs some work though. “The test showed that the right tools and incentives for flourishing trade between settlements are not yet there,” they said, while mentioning having consulted with community members to make changes that they’re already working on. They’re also working on the movement system (including potentially testing out a WASD option along with the click to move default).
For those who are interested in more about the first test wrap up, there is a very long stream that you can watch above. The next alpha test will start June 16th, and will focus primarily on testing the first iteration of BitCraft’s Empire System. They're saying it could be a very short test since this is very focused but there will be more improvements, and more testing, down the line.
