Posted December 22, 2023 by Copychaser Games
Greetings, Interns!
You're probably seeing this because you are aware of my previous video game, Speed Dating for Ghosts. I have a new one I'm making with a small crew of like-minded weirdos. If you like Speed Dating for Ghosts, you should probably keep reading this message via email. If you don't, why not? I worked hard on it. Sheesh
As of writing this, Times & Galaxy has entered its beta milestone: the content is (mostly) complete, the scope is finalized, and the focus is now on polishing the overall experience. It’s a shift in our giant game, from creating content to making it good. We have so many words in this game, so much art—It’s huge. And with beta, I'm finally getting a chance to step back and go, "What the hells have we done?”
To help figure that out, we just wrapped up a round of “family and friends” playtesting. For the first time, the entire game was open to players beyond the developers, offering vital feedback on the gameplay experience.
And those early responses have been positive! Comments like "I love the aesthetic overall – “it's totally unique” and “I would die for Janitorbot” help the team know they’re on the right track. There’s been criticism too, of course: there are plenty of bugs left to squish before the game ships, and one playtester felt there were almost too many characters to meet. For now, that’s being considered a good problem to have.
Here's the official itch page for Times & Galaxy.
We also have a page on Steam where you can wishlist the game, which will make my publisher not get mad at me.
The importance of these early responses can’t be understated: beta is about getting a chance to feel how everything’s coming together, to check that every element of the gameplay experience is landing as intended.
“I think 99 percent of level design is like, ‘Does this feel good?’ Because everything will feel great, and then the moment something feels off, you immediately get thrown out of it,” our Art Director Kate Craig says. “So it's just about sanding off all those edges and trying to make decisions that don't make you mad.”
It's really neat to see how it’s come alive. This started out as a game that was very personal for me: it's mashing up my past career as a journalist with my present career as a game developer, but also bringing in a lot of my super weird interests like bizarre characters and humor and hyper-detailed settings. As I brought on friends to help me make it, this world and the game has expanded into something that is not just mine anymore. Everybody on the team has their own stamp on this thing.
Thank you for all your patience and support. You're why I make games.
<3
Ben