Phoenix Point Demo, Plus a Special Christmas Gift
So here we are, fast approaching the end of 2017. As promised, one final development update as the studio and development team take a few well deserved days of rest over the holiday. Be sure to keep reading through to the end for a special Christmas gift from the team at Snapshot Games.
Phoenix Point Demo
If you have been keeping your eye on any of our social media channels, you will have probably seen mention of a Phoenix Point demo being presented at PC Gamer Weekender in February. Over the last two months, the development team have been working even harder than usual to put together a demo which we can showcase at expos and events.
The environment team have been working on some internal props for the demo
One question which has been asked a lot; "Is the demo going to be the same as the backer pre-alpha build?". The short answer to that is no. As this demo is designed to show what the end product is expected to be like, we're creating a small section of gameplay, a single mission. This mission is designed to be completed in a short amount of time (after all, it is going to be playable by the visitors to these events, and we would love everyone to get their turn!)
External defenses for the New Jericho Haven
The big difference between the demo and the pre-alpha is the level of polish. All of the fine details, refinement, optimisation and general "polish" are normally completed towards the end of development (we want to make sure we're completely happy with how everything works before we spend lots of time to make it shiny). For the demo, the team have started to polish the assets which will be included. It still won't quite be on the same level of the completed game, but we want to have this showcase looking as good as possible. As always, the demo is still an in development build and the quality may not be that of the final product.
The primary gun of the Crabmen has undergone some changes since the 2017 prototype
The backer and pre-order pre-alpha version will be an ongoing, constantly updated build. It will have more content than a single mission, but it will lack the initial polish of the demo. The pre-alpha and the demo are being developed simultaneously as the assets, user interface, sound effects and gameplay programming are all core elements of the game which will be used in both places.
The Crabmen themselves have also evolved significantly
The pre-alpha access is available to all of our Fig backers and pre-order customers who chose the Digital Extras Edition and above. If you haven't pre-ordered Phoenix Point, you can still do so at our store and select a package with pre-alpha access, currently due in Q1 of 2018.
PC Gamer Weekender Demo
The demo we will be showing at The Weekender is going to be quite special. You will get to play as a squad of New Jericho soldiers (who are not normally a playable faction in the campaign) in defense of one of their Havens. We're not going to say more than this, as we'd like the experience to be a surprise for those of you who can attend. What we will add, is that this mission will contain characters and events that you may be familiar with, if you've been reading our short stories.
If you're able to attend The Weekender on Saturday February 17th, Julian himself will be giving an on-stage presentation including playing through the demo.
New Jericho are always ready to defend themselves
The PC Gamer Weekender takes place at the London Olympia Centre on the weekend of February 17-18th. Tickets are currently on sale for as little as £12.99 - and you can use the discount code chr1stm4s to receive 20% off until midnight on January 5th.
The Stories of Phoenix Point
As we've already mentioned the short stories which have been written to set the scene for Phoenix Point, one of our lead writers, Allen Stroud, is currently part of an ongoing Kickstarter project himself.
Allen has a story featured in 2001: An Odyssey in Words. An original anthology honouring Sir Arthur C. Clarke's centenary year where every story is precisely two thousand and one words long.
Allen Stroud (Ph. D) is a Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror writer, best known for his work on the computer game Elite Dangerous and its official fiction. His latest book, The Forever Man was published in 2017 by Luna Press.
Allen is editor of the British Fantasy Society Journal and Revolutionaries; the roleplaying game set in the War of Independence from Make Believe Games
Allen is Chair of Fantasycon 2018.
His website is: http://www.allenstroud.com
You can find the Kickstarter campaign for this here.
A Christmas Gift
The exchange of gifts has long been a Christmas tradition. Our gift for your this year is Volume #2 of The Briefing: our latest ebook containing a selection of Phoenix Point short stories written by Allen Stroud and Jonas Kyratzes.
This edition contains many new, never seen before pieces. We really hope that you enjoy them, and that they sustain your excitement over the holiday. You will receive The Briefing 2 very soon if you're subscribed to our newsletter. If you haven't already done so, you can sign up here.