Forensic Friday 79: We Actually Did Something
Hey Readers! #
Hiya everyone! It’s just me this time since David’s on holiday, so I’ll skip the formalities. Let’s start with the headline since last blog. Containcorp is playable 🎊 After a journey spanning over 4-5 years (which definitely could’ve been A LOT shorter with hindsight) we’ve finally put something out that people can experience. This will probably be one of those milestone blogs that we’ll come back to later on to reminisce about when we finally “released” something!
Over the past weeks we’ve been giving out the first playable build of our game to playtesters within our Discord server. More information on how to become a playtester can be found later on in this blog, so if it is something you would be interested in trying, then sign up to get on the waiting list!
Building for Steam #
How our game install works #
Containcorp has (limited) mod support, and this has led us to have 2 separate folders that are required for running the game. We have 1 folder containing the “actual” build of the game such as the actual .exe file compiled with our base c# scripts. We then have another folder which contains the data files, UI interface etc. - basically anything which modders will be able to add / chop and change as they wish, which enables us to support modding. Our problem is that to put a game on steam, we have a single folder that we need to push to people’s machines. On downloading the game, you can see this on your machine, likely in a file path such as \Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Containcorp.
We then need to move our modding folder to somewhere accessible which we’ve chosen as AppData, which creates a whole other problem. On install, how can we move files from the steamapps folder to AppData? Moving files directly hit us with a few permission issues, so with very little documentation to go off, we have essentially brute forced it for now, where we have a batch script that creates a symbolic link between AppData and our mod folder, which “tricks” (not really tricks since this is what they are used for!) AppData into thinking the steamapps modding folder is under itself. Running the batch script on installing the game also proved to be another challenge that we couldn’t find any documentation on, so we bundled this into a, currently unsigned, .exe file that runs on game install - which is why some antivirus programs were really not happy with us. We’ll be looking into unjank-ifying (technical term) this whole process later on before a wider release, but for now it works, and has allowed us to commence closed pre-alpha testing which was the goal and reason this was rushed.
OS specific constraints #
If we do stick with this method of building the game, then it is likely that we will only support Windows going forwards unless there’s a major reason to do so later down the line. Since this is very OS specific, accomodating another OS may not be worth the time or effort to create and maintain, but we’ll see and work on feedback from both our community and also whether we can improve upon how we build and install the game at all.
Pre-alpha Release #
Pre-alpha vs Alpha #
What we’re defining as pre-alpha vs alpha has been vague, and I’m sure David and I have slightly differing views on it. David touched on this in Forensic Friday 75, but I’ll give my spin on it in a slightly less abstract way. I would like to preface that at the end of the day, they’re just titles so don’t really mean much outside of trying to communicate to all of you when we’ll be doing certain game related actions.
Pre-alpha, to me, is a game that is just about playable but is quite unstable. There is minimal content, and the content that is there is prone to bugs and errors, while players may also encounter frequent issues with mechanics, crashes, or incomplete features. The primary focus during this stage is on experimentation and settling on our design decisions. It’s essentially the time for us to try ideas and tweak core mechanics without worrying too much about polish or balance.
On the other hand, the transition to alpha occurs when the game reaches a state where it is more stable. At this point, the game should be playable in a way that resembles the intended experience, even if it’s rough around the edges. The content might still be limited, but it should be representative of what players can expect for the future of the game. The focus during alpha shifts toward fleshing out content, addressing major bugs, and iterating on feedback to ensure systems are functioning as intended. It’s less about experimentation and more about refinement and completion.
Where are we now? #
For now, we’re in the closed pre-alpha testing phase, where we’re giving out Steam keys to selected testers within our Discord server. Right now we’re averaging a couple new testers a day, and this is the plan for the forseeable future until we’ve handled the amount of bugs / design oversights that currently exist. If you would like to sign up, then make sure you’ve joined our Discord, and fill out the form. We’re looking for a wide range of testers, so please fill out the form truthfully - we’re not excluding anyone depending on their answers! You’d be surprised how many people we have willing to playtest that have no prior experience with similar games 😉 Also make sure that you have your Discord dms open to receive messages, since we’ll contact you privately with the key and instructions - thank you!
Fill in our google form to get on the waitlist for pre-alpha testing
When will an open release happen? #
We are planning on giving a key to anyone that signs up for closed pre-alpha testing. Since we’re ticking off about 0-2 people a day, this will likely take a few weeks to get around to everyone. An actual open release won’t happen before this is finished, and the game is in an alpha state, so I don’t want to over promise on a certain date, but expect this to be at least a couple months. I would just like to stress again that if you want to try out the game, while also helping us test, then the best way to try ASAP is to sign up to our list of closed testers, and we’ll get to you as soon as we need you.
Case Closed #
Not much else to say without waffling so I’ll leave it there. If you want to checkout the latest developments, keep an eye on the patch notes within the Discord server. In the meantime, I hope David has a great holiday, that the playtesters have fun trying out the game, and you all found this blog to be immensely groundbreaking and life changing. That last point is optional, I won’t die on that hill.
Thanks for reading!
Case Closed.
The Team
Plasmarc Studios