Hey everyone! Time for a quick update. Though we didn’t reach the absolute finish line there is some good news. We are about to move into beta testing with all you qualified backers, and then hopefully a release of the game not too long after that depending on how well Beta testing goes. We are actually ready to start Beta testing now, but we are putting some infrastructure together on how to organize such a large amount of Beta testing with you all.
So here are some facts about our plans:
Beta testing will begin sometime in July
The next update will hit in July and explain how to take part in Beta testing
We will provide a convenient way for you to report bugs
If you are wanting to experience the game the way it is meant to be played, you may not want to take part in Beta testing
Stay tuned for the next update in July to have info about how to get access to Beta testing!
Neal Hallford – writer on Betrayal at Krondor, Dungeon Siege, Champions of Norrath, and more – is hosting LockDownCon this weekend. It’s a “Virtual Fan Convention,” free admission, with some amazing guests and speakers. Scroll way down in the linked page to get to the schedule.
We’re last-minute replacements for Ray Muzyka of Bioware fame on “The Golden Age of Computer Gaming” panel Saturday at noon PDT. Matt Barton of Matt Chat is hosting, and we’ll be on the panel with Trip Hawkins (Electronic Arts), Warren Spector (Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Deus Ex, etc.), and John Cutter and Neal Hallford from Dynamix (Betrayal at Krondor, etc.) It’s a star-studded panel and promises to be amazing!
Today (as I write this), Friday, at 7 pm PDT is a panel on “Narrative Design for Computer Games” that might be of interest to many of you. I’m looking forward to the 3 pm Saturday panel on “Restoring Scientific Thought in America.” There are also a number of panels on acting and filmmaking, lots of interesting content.
Best of all, you don’t have to get in line outside Hall H for four hours before each panel! And, as I mentioned, it’s FREE! Come join us online for LockDownCon this weekend.
Summer Daze at Hero-U Preview this Saturday at 2 pm PDT
We’re proud to have Summer Daze at Hero-U as a featured title on the Steam Game Festival. You should check out the festival not just for Summer Daze coverage, but for over 500 mostly-indie games coming out in the next year. Yes, we have some serious competition!
In conjunction with the festival, we will be live-streaming Summer Daze at Hero-U this Saturday starting at 2 pm PDT. (That’s Sunday at an unreasonably early hour if you live Down Under.) We’ll also talk about the game and the development process.
Come to https://www.twitch.tv/transolargames to watch and participate in the stream. If you haven’t been to one of our streams before, this is a great time to start! We have games, contests, and giveaways for viewers, a chance to ask us about our games and work, and much more.
The second hour will be devoted to playing a bit of Quest for Infamy, the Infamous Quests (Steven Alexander) game that was inspired by Quest for Glory for those who want a little more of a “dark side” anti-hero. Steven has had an especially rough year and can use more support.
We’ll close out the stream at 5 pm PDT, but not before Lori reads chapter 17 of her Hero’s Quest inspired novel, By the Book. The first 11 chapters are on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-pxvRIKKQsXNnkDvqPgWLRLxc-RuMwwE. We’ll gradually post more chapters, but will have a decision to make after we post chapter 13. That’s the last one we reached in a stretch goal during the Summer Daze campaign on Kickstarter. In any case, you can catch all of the chapters live on our Twitch channel, and I think Twitch keeps those videos up for two weeks afterwards. Our previous livestream – featuring Heroine’s Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok – is still available there if you hurry!
Corey and Lori play Quest for Infamy live this Saturday at 3 pm PDT
Yearbook Status
Yes, we have not forgotten about the Yearbook for premium backers. Steve is working on it currently, and says he’ll have news for me to announce during the stream on Saturday. Once he’s finished with it, I’ll upload it to BackerKit in digital form. Then we’ll start work on the autographed physical edition, which will likely take a few months to print and ship to everyone.
Think of it as a flashback to when we were all a few years younger!
In the meantime, stay safe in these challenging times.
