About the Alpha
The game is currently in an alpha release, which includes:
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25 hours of playable content
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A complete story
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5 dungeons, each 1-2 hours
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Fully developed combat system
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9 playable characters
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More non-playable characters than you can shake a stick at
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8 major towns
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Over 50 cats, 6 ground puppies and 3 surprisingly sympathetic rats
The game is tested and stable.
"So," you say as your eyes slightly narrow, "that sounds kinda finished... why is the game in alpha?"
I smile as if I expected the question, which - since this entire exchange is something I made up - seems fairly likely, "Well, there's two reasons, really."
1) I want feedback
If you have thoughts, questions, comments or are just feeling lonely, mail me here!!
LongJourneyToFarewell@gmail.com
The main purpose of the alpha, for me, is to figure out which parts of the game are fun and which aren't. I want to know which characters and which plot threads are fascinating and which are tedious. I very much hope that alpha players will tell me all about their experience so I can use that to tweak the final game!
Questions like this are top of mind for me:
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Which characters are interested \ boring?
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What parts of the story were engaging \ monotonous?
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What dungeon sections were fun, hard, easy, etc?
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Did you particularly like\dislike the gameplay of one character? Did you find you used most to some degree?
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Did anything frustrating happen to you?
The build sends me telemetry, if the machine has an internet connection, but that's never a replacement for someone's distilled thoughts or subjective experience.
2) There is more content to develop
While the story is complete, the last fifth is fairly focused on getting to the ending. There's a lot of character development and optional story that's implied but not actually present. I'd like for players to be able to see all that firsthand.
The later dungeons and towns are in a similar state. There's at least three, possibly more, major combat areas needed to fill out the later game. And, there's a ton of mini games and other just-for-giggles content that would be nice to add in.
Disclaimers and Such ;)
I am still working on the game, so there may be crashes or progress-blocking bugs. However, the game has been tested and played by many people, so I expect they will be fairly rare.
When prompted for an email or alias, if you are willing, please enter an email I can contact you at. The game sends telemetry about your play sessions, and I would love to be able to reach out to you for more information if I see something unexpected.
You are welcome to share thoughts, impressions, screen shots and videos of the game on any platform. I only ask that you credit the game and link back to www.zombiebonsai.com. If you know of anyone who might like the game, please share with them! I would really love to get more people playing.
Please do not host the game exe on another server (point people here) and, probably obviously, please do not extract resources from the game itself. If something in the design inspires you, send me a mail at LongJourneyToFarewell@gmail.com. If it's mine, I'm probably happy to share and knowing I've helped someone else will make my day.
I really, really hope you enjoy it!