Hello there, Gobbos! In today's dev blog, we'll discuss what we accomplished following the Closed Beta Test, as well as our plans for Goblin Stone as we get closer to the Early Access launch.

Over the last year, we've added a lot of new features that weren't available in the demo version, so we expected new bugs and balancing issues within the game. We spent a lot of time reading the feedback that we received over time and this helped us identify areas for improvement and address easy-to-miss issues within the game.

Game Feature Improvements

We focused primarily on polishing and balancing the combat feature during the pre-closed beta period, and as a result, we overlooked other aspects of the game, particularly in the lair and during adventures. We've been working hard over the last few weeks to make these features more interactive and appealing to the player, while also gradually improving the game's performance and visual quality.

Some of these ideas have been in the works for some time, while others were taken from the community's suggestions and wishlists which were recently added for development.

Here’s a sneak peek of what’s in development:

1. Puzzles during adventures such as collapsing bridges and teleporters.

2. New things to encounter during adventures such as normal and cursed shrines.

3. Rescuing goblins with uncommon genetic traits.

4. Upgradable campgrounds, new merchant tiers, and character models.

5. Balancing the Lair’s room upgrade requirements.

6. Allowing the party to quickly exit the level at any time if objectives have been completed.

7. Snappier feel to the menu navigation.

Quality of Life Improvements

Our community also pointed out the game's lack of tutorials, which makes it less intuitive and difficult for new players to understand how some features work. Our plan is to simplify the user interface while keeping it detailed and consistent with all the information displayed.

When the player encounters a new feature, tooltips and prompt messages will pop up to guide them through the controls.

Keyboard and gamepad control lists will be added to the menu options This is still a mock-up design of our developer for the user interface but in future developments, the player will be allowed to customize the controls for each key.

We improved the tooltips with clearer wordings to hint the player on what they need to do to unlock certain features.

Visual effects and animations were also added to assist the player in locating buttons. Active buttons are also highlighted to alert the player that they can be used.

These are just a few of the features that we are currently developing. We have a ton of additional features and content on our to-do list and wishlist to make this game everything it needs to be. But we can't keep everyone waiting for the next release for too long, can we?

Goblin Stone Road Map

Now that we have completed the Beta Testing phase, our community has been inquiring about our future plans for Goblin Stone. Is the Early Access still planned for this year? Will more testing invitations be sent out before the launch? What are our development plans after the release? Let's start by looking at our Early Access Road Map to get some answers.

Goblin Stone is almost feature-complete, with all of the main game features and 5 story chapters set-up for Early Access. However, before we can release the game, it must go through a few more steps to ensure that we deliver a high-quality, bug-free game. This overall plan will help us in meeting our goal of launching Early Access in the third quarter of 2022.

Currently, we only have a few days left to reach the first milestone on our roadmap. After the feature lock phase, no new features can be added to the game design, allowing our development team to focus solely on a set list of features. That being said, this is a great time to tell us about your Early Access suggestions and wishlist HERE.

Our next step is to focus on bug fixes and polishing the game. Goblin Stone will go through a series of internal playtesting sessions. Once the game has met our standards, we will consider inviting a small group of testers to conduct a more focused user experience playtest.

In terms of Goblin Stone development, we still have a long way to go. Early Access only tells the first half of our goblin's story. We intend to add five more story chapters and introduce the northern region of the world, where the realm of menfolk can be found, as well as a slew of new characters such as the Elves, Kobolds, and Trolls.