Hi folks, Today we are unfortunately announcing that we are delaying the Early Access release until early next year. We will explain all the news and details below, but first, let's have the bullet point version: [list] [*] Early Access delayed to early 2021 [*] Terrain/water system moved to after Early Access release to minimize risk [*] Next week, we will ship basic water support, along with desert and snow tiles, to hold us over until the full terrain/water system arrives (see below for more on this, including videos.). [*] We'll be running a Twitch stream in 12 hours (click here to see time in your timezone) so we can be available for you to talk to us about all of this. [/list] Let's get into the long version. [h2]So, what happened?[/h2] We made our roadmap based on some fairly optimistic predictions of not only our own timeline but also the timelines of software we rely on. These have not panned out, and, as you may have seen from the dev-logs, we have had to build a lot of additional systems we were not expecting to. These are working, but the process has put us a good couple of months behind where we wanted to be. Behind the scenes, we've been pushing hard to see if it was feasible to make up that time, but obviously, that is only sane to do for a little while. After regrouping and looking at progress, we saw that the planned tasks are taking the expected amount of time, and so the delay isn't going away. This makes sense, but it was worth checking. [h2]What is the new date?[/h2] We are saying 'Early 2021' but not picking a specific date. There are two reasons for this: The first one is that Covid is ramping back up again and, while we are taking precautions, we can't pretend to make guarantees around that. The second, and arguably more important one, is that last year we set a date for the Beta and pushed way too hard to hit it, with one of us getting very ill. We will make mistakes, but we strive to make sure they are at least new mistakes each time. [h2]Is all this engine work really needed?[/h2] Yes. The engine we use has done a remarkable job with all that we throw at it but to get to what we promised in the Kickstarter, we need to run faster, with bigger boards, and on a wider range of hardware. The good news is that it is already showing results. Here is a stress test of a stupidly high tower so you can see the frame-rates in the two versions. It's not finished, nor scientific, but it gives the idea. [previewyoutube=f93pz9PwRTQ;full][/previewyoutube] We have another code improvement that gives significant improvements over this. However, we are still ironing bugs out of that version, so it didn't feel right to show it yet. We'll post more on that in the dev-logs as it matures. [h2]Why not ship just the current version now?[/h2] This is a great question, and it was an option we also considered and discussed heavily The first issue is that, without getting too technical, the current code has bugs that are addressed in the new version. Trying to fix all these issues in the current approach would add more work rather than reducing it. Secondly, the servers are not ready to handle a large number of additional players. We are blessed that so many people want to play the game. However, if we let them in and the servers fell over, we made our situation worse rather than better. We also know that, once we release, we will need to take time to provide support and bugfixes. Given the work we need to do, this would again delay the version we are trying to reach. Next, some features which we feel are critical to a healthy builder community, like board sharing, are not feasible with the current approach. The new board format we are using will support board sharing in a way that doesn't result in tonnes of additional data. This is also important for our running costs. In the end, releasing something is a whole bunch of work. If we try and make the current version something that we can ship to many people, we would essentially be building and supporting two products at the same time. We feel that adding another product doesn't feel like the right way to hasten the development of the one we really need to make. [h2]There is a lot of talk about the engine, but are other features still progressing?[/h2] Absolutely! You've probably already seen the compass, photo-mode and improved settings that have been shipping recently. Lots of work has already been done behind the scenes preparing for customizable controls, a richer emote system, and the new prop system. The prop system has an almost mythical quality at this point. It has been through many revisions and prototypes, and we've been talking about it being close to ready since the alpha. This time we'd like to finally show some of it in action. Many of you will be happy to see that it supports free placement. [previewyoutube=ETxMM5pIG6k;full][/previewyoutube] For those of you interested in the technical side, we made this feasible by saying that props can't be dragged out in huge numbers like tiles and that we will have a density limit so that there can never be more than a certain number in a given area. We will tune this value so that in typical cases, this limit will never be an issue. [h2]What was that about shipping water and new biomes next week?[/h2] You have all been super patient as we kept saying that water was coming with the new terrain system. With that delayed, we really wanted to give you something to tide you over until it ships. Water, desert, and snow biomes are among the most requested things (other than just releasing the game already :P), and so that felt like the right thing to do. We have put together a basic set of tiles and props for those environments. Of course, the plan is still to get to the terrain system as fast as possible, so we aren't planning to make every possible snow and sand tile variation. However, we hope this will fill the gap for now. Here are a couple of shots made using the new tiles [img]https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/031/013/352/20de511fb868a798fe98329193bc63e9_original.png?ixlib=rb-2.1.0&w=700&fit=max&v=1602751850&auto=format&frame=1&lossless=true&s=4a276a77f12dd3d769eb3b87d23237c8[/img] [img]https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/031/013/359/59f2ac4e42acdfc5347aefb061fa8d87_original.png?ixlib=rb-2.1.0&w=700&fit=max&v=1602751866&auto=format&frame=1&lossless=true&s=6098b6674c915c9ec06265f982407d77[/img] And here is a little video of the water in action. [previewyoutube=RyoCqUruxFw;full][/previewyoutube] We call it "basic water support," as you only control a single water volume covering the whole board. The goal of the terrain systems is to allow ponds, lakes, and rivers at various altitudes. However, this version still has a lot of scope for underwater encounters. [h2]Weren't there good reasons not to use tiles for terrain? Why the change of plan?[/h2] There definitely are. Our goal from the beginning has been to reach the point where we could support truly huge boards. We've known that that wouldn't be feasible with just the tile approach, and so the terrain system has been part of our plan to reach the goals we laid out in the Kickstarter. Those limitations have not changed and making large terrains out of tiles definitely isn't the right way to do this long term. However, it's the only way we've given you to build, so this isn't making the current situation any worse! Once terrain arrives, we will work out how best to deprecate these tiles. We will not be breaking those boards. We will just be giving better tools and making sure they are the obvious, visible way to get things done. [h2]How's the team doing?[/h2] We are doing ok. Having to delay the release feels bad, and we are naturally a little nervous about doing this. When you make a Kickstarter, you don't have many daydreams that involve writing updates like these. It's stressful because it makes you feel like you are losing ground, which makes you want to throw yourself at the problem even harder. On the other hand, we know that we have to take our health seriously and that you have collectively told us the same thing many times (which we very much appreciate). Other than this, however, we are doing well. Progress on both art and code is as high as it's ever been, and it's great seeing a lot of the investments paying off. This all combines to make a rather bizarre feeling. [h2]What is the Twitch stream about?[/h2] With this news, it felt right to make ourselves available. Whether you have questions, comments, or complaints, we will be there to hear them. You can see the time we will be streaming here https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20201015T23&p0=187&msg=TaleSpire+Update+Q%26A+Stream&font=slab Our twitch channel is here: https://www.twitch.tv/bouncyrock [h2]Anything else?[/h2] Just to once again say thank you for giving us the chance to make this game. Being able to work on a game without compromise is a true privilege.