Hey everyone, We’re back with the Stampede Dev Log, after a wild couple of weeks in the world of Stampede: Racing Royale! [h2]AUGUST ANTICS[/h2] In August, we were incredibly excited to bring an early version of our chaotic kart racer to Gamescom, alongside rolling out our second Steam Playtest. The week-long test saw thousands of players get involved, checking out what we’ve improved and added since July. A huge amount of work from our team went into creating this updated build, particularly on creating the first iteration of our Friends and Party systems, which we’ll continue to polish up. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44237934/5f651f38d93628663243409d86eabdf806701928.jpg[/img] Bringing Stampede to Gamescom, alongside our second playtest, was helpful not just to speak with our community in person, but to also observe how the game performed over a long stretch of consistent play ‘in the wild’. It was great to see several player-reported topics and suggestions from the first playtest be resolved – from obvious stuff like bug fixes, kart collision improvements and performance boosts, to more subtle things like audio tweaks, lobby behaviour, and kart handling changes. [h2]YOUR FEEDBACK [/h2] Of course, whilst we’re seeing Stampede’s development progress nicely, there are still plenty of areas to address, and your feedback has once again helped us identify key areas of focus going forward. In terms of bugs, we’ve noted the reports around a rogue ‘Connection Failed’ pop-up message, some UI and visual errors, and more. You can check out a wider list of what we’re investigating on our [url=https://trello.com/b/araUgO5r/stampede-racing-royale-community-hot-topics]Trello board[/url]. Everything on there, alongside much more, is being looked into right now, and we'll continue to keep it (and you!) updated throughout development. From Steam Discussions and our latest survey, we’re also taking in the wider feedback on gameplay and features. A common request from players has been to add more fanfare and messaging around our three-round events, both to help explain the format and increase the sense of tension. This is something we fully intend to implement over time and are currently working on! Another good example is the suggestion to add more ways to earn XP and rewards beyond simply competing in events – like completing certain challenges, or doing something ‘X’ number of times. Again, we’re on it, and aim to add more options like this through Early Access. Ah, speaking of which… [h2]EARLY ACCESS [/h2] During August, we also revealed that Early Access on Steam will begin on November 2! We’re so pleased to put a date to this major milestone, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the help and feedback of our community so far. [previewyoutube=GAF7PF5NUz0;full][/previewyoutube] Whilst Stampede will still be in development during Early Access, it’s a big step forward for the game, with new features and options not yet seen in the playtests, such as Seasons, challenges, and limited-time events. We’ll also be expanding and improving existing features, like adding loads more cosmetic items to discover and show off. All of the above is currently in the works, but will take time to finalise. Our team have plenty on their to-do list, so over the coming weeks, we may be a little quieter than usual, as we focus on Early Access preparations. We’ll share more looks and details at what’s coming up as soon as we can. [h2]ONE MORE THING [/h2] A final note: Discord! We’ve seen the requests for a Stampede: Racing Royale Discord server and this is coming. We’re making sure it’s ready for you and will open its doors before Early Access kicks off. Thanks everyone. Catch up soon <3