Status Report - Getting To Release

[SephiRok]

Hey guys,

We have been extremely busy preparing for release these last two weeks, so I apologize if we haven't been able to communicate as much as we might have liked.

One of the things we've been working on is getting voice overs ready and integrated, we now have the intro cinematic along with over three dozen quotes spoken both in English and German. We've also been localizing all the writing to German, arranging a trailer, getting a manual together as well as just polishing the writing as much as we can, in big part thanks to beta feedback. We have also been fixing as many bugs and crashes we could get our hands on as well as working with Slitherine/Matrix Games as closely as we can to make sure their installer and launcher integrate well with Pandora and deliver a good experience.

Last Monday we invited a large batch of testers which brings the closed beta test to a close. Later this week we'll be discontinuing the closed beta and invalidating multiplayer serials to get ready for release on Thursday 14. With the release version of Pandora you will be able to swap between Release and new Beta versions so we can iterate quickly and you guys can give us feedback just as fast and direct as in the closed beta.

We still have a ton of ideas for Pandora. From the start we had planned an alien invasion to tie in with the ruins and lore, but we have forgone it in favor of more polish on the core features. You might have noticed that we tried to rethink every core mechanic to fit Pandora, even if minimally, from production and global resources to growth and operations. We believe solid core mechanics are extremely important. A lot of fascinating directions exist for the future, many which have been mentioned in the beta and we want to explore as many as we can. A 4X strategy game is an amazing genre where we can do so many interesting things. Things like water improvements and water cities, ground height modifications, enhanced interaction with the natives, more, stronger and more interesting species, espionage, social engineering, a market, and many more are all interesting and awesome. But we have also read your feedback and concerns and still want to improve on diplomacy, AI, flavour and UI.

To everyone posting and giving feedback, and especially the beta testers, I thank you from my heart. You guys have been truly amazing!

But regardless of your involvement, I think we're all going to have a great time so I hope you join us for release on Thursday!

Until then, if you're longing for more, you can read today's preview on Digital Gambit, read through some story or have a look at an AAR.

Sincerely,
Rok Breulj
Proxy Studios