Why Early Access?
“Crafty Studios developed the first remake of the RoA Trilogy, "Blade of Destiny" and released it in July 2013, only months after the "Early Access" program of Steam was started. It didn't work out so well, and we had to continue development together with a very involved and enthusiastic community for more than a year after initial release to make it the game it is today.
We learned the hardest way possible that especially when developing a big game with a small team, is important to have early and explicit feedback in the process. From the very beginning of production, we therefore involved a small group of highly motivated players in the daily development. With the help of the Steam Early Access program, we have the chance to engage a larger number of players that can help bringing “Star Trail” to a shape the community is completely satisfied with.”
Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?
“We plan to end the Early Access Phase in February 2017.”
How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?
“The full version is planned to differ from the Early Access version in the following points:
ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS
The following locations are already created but not in final quality and will become accessible in the course of the Early Access phase:
- City of Lowangen
- City of Tjolmar
- Roughly 15 small towns, known as "dialog towns" from “Star Trail” 94’ are actually explorable
- Dungeon "Swamp of the Forgotten"
- Dungeon "Temple of the Nameless"
- Dungeon "Blood Pinnacles"
CUTSCENES
We are planning to add several cutscenes to the final version to the already complete ones. Already existing are beginning and ending of the Star Trail Quest as well is a few Intro scenes.
SOUNDTRACK
Together with our great composer Louis (big thanks!) we are rerecording the legacy soundtrack of “Star Trail”. Five songs, including the legendary intro already made its way into the Early Access Version. During the EA phase, more and more tracks of the original 38 track OST will make it into the game. Once complete our Early Access users will get to download the complete OST in their favourite format.
COMBAT
The combat system as it is will be expanded and extended, there is already multifield opponents like ogres, bears and dragons. We will add tactical options to make the battles more interesting and faster paced.
MODDING
Steam Workshop will allow for easy access and distribution of mods generated with the powerful tools available.
MAC OSX
Mac OSX will be supported in the course of the Early Access phase.”
What is the current state of the Early Access version?
“We have broken down the current status of the Early Access version into the following points:
QUESTLINES
The „Star Trail“ questline is completely playable, the "salamander stone" questline is in place but lacks Tjolmar and the Temple of the Nameless Dungeon for short playthrough and Lowangen as well as the Swamp Dungeon for long playthrough.
ENVIRONMENT
The travel map with its more than 200 routes and dozens of encounters, fights and events is completed, the towns of Kvirasim, Gashok, Finsterkoppen and Tiefhusen are completed, can be entered and most of the events that can occur there are also ready. In addition, the large dungeons “Finsterkopp Pit” and “Phex Temple” are ready and explorable.
CHARACTERS
Humanoid characters that can also be encountered in towns can be designed using an integrated editor, they have dozens of characteristics than can be adapted to design them. Non-Humanoids have been mostly redone and expanded for a bigger number of opponents. Animations also have been redone, allowing for eight different kinds of (humanoid) attack weapon classes wielded and animated accordingly.
USER INTERFACE
The user interface has been completely redone, presenting even more information where it is needed and less where it is not.
MODDING
The already great modding capabilities have been expanded even further, allowing from new roads on the map to custom characters and customized battle arenas on top of the already known modding possibilities of Blade of Destiny HD.”
Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?
“The Early Access version will have a lower price point then the final one. Customers, which decide to join the Early Access phase, will get the game around 20% percent cheaper than it will be after the game is completely finished.”
How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?
“The community was always a corner stone for our game development, more so for our Realms of Arkania series than for any other game we ever made. We will have a close ear at the community for their feedback and suggestions for missing features, off balancing and game fun in general. Startrail HD is an oldschool hardcore party RPG which tries to stay faithful to the version released more than 20 years ago while updating it for a modern audience and implementing learnings from the first remake as well as from game design advances made in the past two decades. The amount and balance of these updates always was and still is a core concern for our efforts in making this game, which is why we will rely heavily on the feedback and suggestions given from the community in this area.
We will also have an ingame reporting and suggestions form in place, allowing players to report and get involved in the early access process even without leaving the game.”
