Development Update - September 8, 2019

[Infinaron]

Hey all,

Hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday so far. In my last Development Update, I outlined our estimated release date for Salt Mines 2.0 as well as our upcoming stream schedule. Here's the latest on that.

The Salt Mines 2.0 patch will release to the public on WEDNESDAY (9/11). We don't have an exact release time at this moment. It all depends on when it is ready.

Reminder that this release of the mines is considered a trial period lasting one week. This is the largest, most complex update we've ever done since the game went into Early Access last February. We'll be keeping a close eye on things to ensure it goes as smooth as possible.

Moving to streams, we need to make some changes to our stream schedule to accommodate the upcoming release, starting with today's Sunday Stompin'.

Today's Sunday Stompin' has been postponed until next Sunday.

The rest of the schedule is now as followed:

Wednesday the 11th (30 mins after the patch launches) - Salt Mines 2.0 Kickoff
The dev team hops in and plays the new Salt Mines right after the patch goes live, answering questions, discussing the new features, and regaling the development process.

Friday the 13th, 3pm PT - Early Access #18 Post-Patch Stream
Oreo from our QA team hosts a Mane6 discussion breaking down and analyzing all the new features from the latest patch.

Sunday the 15th, 3pm PT - Sunday Stompin' #3
First to ten featuring Hamit (Pom) vs ItsAk9! (Velvet) with commentary from the dev team (now on the latest update!)

Friday the 20th, 3pm PT - Manecast #3
The dev team meets with members of the community to discuss what's next for Them's Fightin' Herds.

All streams are broadcasted at twitch.tv/manesix

And there you have it. If anything deviates from this schedule I'll be posting another update immediately. See you guys on stream on Wednesday.

 

[ItsAk9!]

Okay, this is epic.

 

[Alevgor]

Even more streams!

 

[Hippocampus]

I have some thought-out-twice criticism to give, in case I'm not the only one thinking this:
I'm glad for the updates via stream and all, and I'm probably a minority voice here... but why is so much work being put towards salt mines when story mode isn't out? I wanted get good at the fighting aspect naturally through story and game progression. (I think that's a valid way to learn and play.) And I want to feel like the characters while playing as them. I don't give a hoot about tournaments or watching devs play each other. It bores me.
I feel like those of us that have been waiting for so long for the story mode are getting side-lined so that the online players (that will already start-out better than everyone else skill-wise) can feel like even bigger dogs when 1.0 rolls out.
I understand about the funnel of animation and the hiring progress. Is that the only limiting factor? Is that what moved development entirely to the online / multiplayer aspect?

It's just a long time spent waiting in early access. Is your finger on that pulse, still?

[EDIT: New written update seen. Feelings are the same, but the explanation is appreciated. I hope the first chapter isn't the only part of story mode that would be ready on release.]

 

[SmokeRulz]

[EDIT: New written update seen. Feelings are the same, but the explanation is appreciated. I hope the first chapter isn't the only part of story mode that would be ready on release.]

It will be. Chapter 1 is first and the others will follow later. This has always and openly been the plan even before the Early Access launch had to be done.