Bitcraft Alpha 2 Update: Empires, Trade, and Future Plans

Bitcraft Alpha 2 Progress

The developers of Bitcraft, the ambitious MMO sandbox game, recently held a mid-Alpha stream to discuss the progress of Alpha 2 and plans for the future. The stream covered a wide range of topics, including the new Empire system, trade mechanics, and upcoming features for Alpha 3.

The Empire System

One of the major additions in Alpha 2 was the Empire system. The developers expressed excitement about how players have embraced this new feature:

"Seeing how many empires were created and how much people were jumping into those has been really awesome to see," said Carter, one of the developers. "I think people definitely stress tested a little bit of what Empires were able to do and helped us figure out some ways that we can polish some stuff or fix some stuff for the future."

The team emphasized that this is just the beginning for Empires, with plans to expand and improve the system based on player feedback. Some ideas mentioned include:

• Adding banners for Empires in the world
• Improving how Empires appear on the map
• Increasing player interaction with Empire gameplay

Trade and Economy

A significant portion of the discussion focused on trade and the game's economy. The developers acknowledged that the current trade system has some issues, which they plan to address in future updates.

Carter explained the two main factors affecting trade:

1. Motivation to trade
2. Ease of trading (lack of friction)

The team is working on improving both aspects to create a more engaging and functional economy. Some planned changes include:

• Improving visibility of items for sale and their prices
• Balancing the cost and rewards of transporting goods
• Creating more specialized towns and regions to encourage trade

The developers also discussed the importance of maintaining geographical differences in prices to make merchanting a viable gameplay option. They aim to strike a balance between fast travel options and maintaining a distributed economy.

Character vs. Settlement Progression

One of the key issues identified in Alpha 2 was the blurred line between character progression and settlement progression. The team plans to address this in Alpha 3 by creating a clearer separation between these two aspects of the game.

"What we realize is we need to clean up the separation between the settlement skill and the character skill," Carter explained. "The character skill is about advancing your character, and the settlement skill is about building civilization and building settlements."

This separation will allow players to focus on their preferred playstyle, whether that's developing their individual character or contributing to the growth of a settlement.

Plans for Alpha 3

The developers outlined several key focus areas for Alpha 3:

1. Improved New Player Experience

The team is working on creating a cleaner and more polished experience for new players. This includes:

• Focusing on character progression in the early game
• Preventing new players from immediately starting claims
• Ensuring starting areas remain pristine and unaffected by other players

2. Disentangling Scales

The developers plan to create a clearer separation between character, settlement, and empire scales. This will allow players to focus on their preferred aspects of the game without feeling forced into particular playstyles.

3. Adding Adversity

The team wants to introduce more challenges and opportunities for skill expression in the game. This includes:

• Adding more difficult content that requires strategy and skill to overcome
• Creating opportunities for players to showcase their abilities and be rewarded for their skill

4. Expanding Goals and Progression

Alpha 3 will introduce a wider variety of goals for players to pursue, such as:

• Collecting rare items
• Exploring the world
• Becoming a powerful character capable of surviving dangerous encounters
• Reaching max level in professions

5. Quality of Life Improvements

The developers plan to continue adding polish and quality of life features to improve the overall player experience.

SpaceTime DB and Technical Innovations

The stream also touched on the technical innovations behind Bitcraft, particularly the use of SpaceTime DB, a custom-built backend technology. SpaceTime DB allows for unique capabilities, such as updating game logic without disconnecting players.

The developers emphasized how SpaceTime DB simplifies the process of creating and managing an MMO, potentially allowing small teams or even individual developers to create complex online games.

Conclusion

Bitcraft's Alpha 2 has provided valuable insights and feedback for the development team. With plans to address current issues and introduce exciting new features in Alpha 3, the game continues to evolve and improve. The focus on separating character and settlement progression, improving the new player experience, and refining the trade system shows promise for creating a more engaging and balanced gameplay experience.

As Bitcraft moves forward, the developers remain committed to incorporating player feedback and iterating on the game's systems. With the powerful SpaceTime DB technology backing the game, Bitcraft is poised to push the boundaries of what's possible in the MMO sandbox genre.

Article created from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9uBuXXF6k0