[h3]Salutations Industrialists, [/h3] We are excited to share the progress we've made over the last month and update you on our Alpha Roadmap. [h3]Pre-Alpha Testing [/h3] As you'll remember from our update last month, we are excited to announce that we have selected 50 Kickstarter backers to test Pre-Alpha version of Gilded Destiny, before the Alpha is released to all backers! The pre-Alpha build has been created, and our team is doing a final check before we send out the keys to the selected backers! We plan for this to happen in the first couple weeks of November! We will be monitoring and collecting feedback from the pre-Alpha primarily through our Discord server. If you have not yet joined, please do so. [b][url=https://discord.com/invite/m22Ek8jxJf]Join the Gilded Destiny Discord Server[/url][/b] We decided to do a small closed Pre-Alpha test to gather initial feedback so that experience of the Alpha is enjoyable and meaningful, and to streamline the process of administrating keys, feedback collection, and bug reporting on our end. Of course, as many of you know, both the pre-Alpha and Alpha builds of the game will likely have limited content and systems may not be fully implemented into the game. Finally, we are excited to announce that we have shipped physical merch to our Kickstarter backers. There are still a few who have not yet completed the backer survey. If you are reading this and have not done so yet, be sure to fill out the backer survey! Without further ado, let's take a look at what we accomplished in October and what is planned for November and December. [h2]Completed in October [/h2] [b]Refine and test existing in-game content in preparation for Alpha [/b] - Ongoing. Our Content and Design teams continue to identify and address issues [b]Finish designing and implement Province Edicts that relate to extant systems [/b] - Done. [b]Complete implementing Technologies in-game and testing the Research system [/b] - Ongoing. Academia is largely complete, which we are using to test the system.. Military and Industry events are being implemented. [b]Input and test major early- and mid-game Prussian Events and Decisions [/b] - Ongoing. Issues are being addressed and fixed with the Event System, such as identifying modifiers and effects needed for each event. The system is being built out in conjunction with Event implementation. [b]Begin inputting Qualities for Cultures and Religions [/b] - Delayed, although we plan for the Alpha to contain proof of concept and indicate how we are handling these [b]Finish inputting historical data for major European countries at game start [/b] - Ongoing. Fine-grained distribution of cultures between provinces and professions is still a work in progress. [b]Input UI designs for Construction, Countries, and Population [/b] - Construction UI is currently being redesigned and implementation will happen once complete (likely in November or December). - Country UI has been designed and has been largely implemented in the game. Currently it is being tested. - Province UI has been designed and input is planned but not yet started. [b]Continue to update and refine the appearance of the new Map [/b] - We have refined the appearance from what has been seen in the previous Dev Diaries; however, we plan to continue updates and refinement. [b]Continue refining terrain [/b] - Ongoing. Now that the new Map Rework design has been implemented, the content team can continue refining terrain. The terrain of Northern Europe—lakes, rivers, mountains, elevation—has been updated. [b]Refine details of existing in-game UIs [/b] - Delayed. Currently, the focus is on completing the major UI updates before refining those that have already been implemented. [b]Continue refining the Global Economy at game start [/b] - This has been started and will continue. However, more work needs to be done on balancing countries at game start. - Ensure that Industries and Plantations are placed in historically and geographically appropriate places, and begin balancing production to avoid extreme instances of surfeit and dearth (e.g., army rations) - Ensure that provinces contain sufficient numbers of the necessary professions to staff these Industries and Plantations [b]Begin inputting leader portraits [/b] - We aim to have some additional leader portraits input by the pre-Alpha release. However, this process will be ongoing. [h2]End of November[/h2] - Collect feedback from pre-Alpha testers and address issues raised - Continue inputting and testing major Prussian Events and Decisions - New features are also being added to the Event Editor to increase the potential of what we are able to simulate. - Input and test more Qualities for Cultures and Religions - Continue refining the Global Economy at game start - This is an ongoing project that will require continuous refinement. - We plan at this stage to also start taking into account the various technological disparities between different nations - New UI designs for Navy, the HUD, and Settings menu - Continue inputting historical data for European countries at game start - Finish first draft of terrain, including mountains, lakes, and rivers - Finish Designing Construction UI and begin implementation - Refine and update the mechanics design for profession promotion/demotion and migration [h2]End of December[/h2] - Continue inputting Prussian events, and testing new Event Editor systems - Input and test revised mechanics for profession promotion/demotion and migration - Input more Leader portraits and backgrounds - Continue refining the Global Economy at game start - Continue inputting and refining historical population data for European countries at game start - Finish implementing Construction UI - Begin implementing new UI designs for the HUD and Settings menus - New supplementary UI designs for other features (load game, main menu, etc.) - Finalize design for Rebellions and Bureaucracy [h3]Thanks for your support and for reading![/h3] As our goals and expectations evolve, and as these milestones are reached, we will keep you updated! Also, as a reminder—we have assigned Discord roles to our backers who are already part of our server. If you are not a member of our server, please join via the link below to ensure that you claim your role! We'll be checking back weekly to assign roles to new followers. Of course, if you join and would like to get your role sooner, just say hello in the main channel and mention that you'd like your role. If you're not yet a member of our Discord server, please use this link to join! [url=https://discord.com/invite/m22Ek8jxJf]Join the Gilded Destiny Discord Server[/url] May your day be a gilded one!