When is BETA!?!?

December 11th, 2012 at 9:28 pm

In the last few weeks I’ve been making some video diaries showing off game features. It sure looks like this game is ready to play so why aren’t we in Beta already?

Well, we’re getting close. Here’s what we’ve been working on recently:

  • Playing through the first 18 levels of the game that are going to be in the Beta and making sure that they work and are balanced and fun.
  • Collating the huge set of items that are obtainable in these levels (around 1000!).
  • Finishing up the final cards that are needed for these items.
  • Play-testing the multi-player game using this item pool and trying to do some initial balancing so that all the classes and races are all competitive.
  • Working on how to load test the game so we can handle an influx of real players.
  • Fixing the worst bugs that would stop you from delivering useful feedback when you do get in.
  • Creating a figure store where you can buy new skins for your characters.
  • Implementing starter parties that you can buy to launch into multi-player without playing the single player adventures (if, for some reason, you don’t want to).
  • Setting up “metrics” so that we can gather real data to figure out what parts of the game are broken or require re-balancing.
  • Drinking lots of coffee.

Whew! Most or all of that stuff is done now, so you can see that we’re getting very close.

So, how are we going to run the Beta when we do launch? We’ll start small – inviting a few people in every few days or every week so that we can make sure that the game scales properly. We may have to pause that invitation process if we run into scalability issues or serious bugs. Once we’re really confident, we’ll pull in a lot more people and, eventually, we’ll open the Beta up and wait for the hordes to (hopefully) arrive!

If you are selected by our carefully engineered random Beta algorithm, you’ll receive an email with a Beta key that you can use to create an account. Once in, you’ll be able to start playing through the 18 levels of the single-player campaign and playing a whole lot of competitive multi-player.

You’ll find that there’s a great deal of the game still to come – many more levels above 18 and a whole bunch of powerful cards that aren’t available yet. You can also look forward to us adding a lot more story stuff – we have some really cool stuff up our sleeves that we haven’t put in yet. Yes, 2013 is going to be a great year for Card Hunting!

Until then, happy holidays and we’ll see you in game in the new year!

52 Responses to “When is BETA!?!?”

  1. oh man! I really hope to get to be one of the chosen for early beta

  2. I can’t wait! Lemme in!

    Only partially kidding, been waiting more than a year now, I can wait a little longer, but it’s excrutiating!

  3. And by “carefully engineered random Beta algorithm” you mean people you like and a handful of others drawn randomly from a hat right?

    πŸ™‚

  4. The wait is hopefully soon over! Will see you all in the beta, sooner or later! πŸ˜‰

  5. Congrats guys! I knew you were getting close, but it’s awesome to see just how close you are. The new box/card pack art looks awesome!

  6. This is just amazing! The best news I could have heard for a long time ^^

  7. It looks like it’s all coming together beautifully. The art looks fantastic, really fits the bill.

    I can’t wait to be able to try it out, keep up the good work guys.

    -V

  8. And all I want for Christmas is a CH beta invite…

    (Does only one thing on your list give you a higher or lower chance of getting what you want? :))

  9. Well….. there goes the early Christmas present……. Must have been naughty…..

  10. This is the game Im most looking foreword to since the 1st Total Annihilation which caused me to sell my Mac and buy a Gateway PC.

  11. Love it! I need a drop cloth for all the drooling I have done/will do over this game. So simple but so entertaining for the Dungeon crawler lover.

  12. So CH beta will start soonish… =)))

  13. Nice to hear things are progressing smoothly. I do have a question though.

    You mention that you’re getting your shop ready so people can buy party members to go straight into multiplayer. Will we need to spend real world dollars in order to test out this element? As this is only a beta, and its likely I won’t be getting these purchased items in the game’s final release due to their nature as Beta elements, I think it’s reasonable to ask for a little more light on this subject. Will we be, instead, spending fake currency or getting something equivalently cool when the game finally releases?

  14. I’m not certain yet, but I think we’ll give people an allowance of in-game currency during the beta.

  15. Wow, it just dawned on me that it’s been more than a year since I’ve been following Card Hunter’s progress XD

    For this level of awesome? I can wait

    *twitch*

  16. IMO, better to sell many cheap things to many people than few costly things to few people.
    That is why I think you should set the real money prices on an items in your beta-shop and gather players feedback on it. And bought items like skins for characters you could keep on players accouts to use later in release. You could use some special currency that players will buy for real money (like, platinum coins or something…) so in case if you will change prices eventually, you could compensate the difference to players that already purchased something by refunding some of that currency back to them. And no one gets hurt. πŸ™‚

  17. Looking good. I think this is the first solid details of how part of the financial part of CH will work. Skins and speed up decks are really welcome options. Especially the skins. If you’re taking input, I really want a nimble looking elf or human spearfighter. Obviously, he also has to look absolutely badass.

  18. Can’t wait for the beta! Thanks for keeping us up to date. And Happy Holidays!

  19. Nice news….from now everybody will look to their mailbox ten times more a day until beta mail arrives πŸ™‚

  20. Really nice update.
    I hope to get in the beta and at earlist possible but I’ll be happy as long the game will come out!

    Keep up the great work!

  21. So any news on the ability to buy in to the beta?

  22. Betabetabetabetabeta… I’m enthused. SO ENTHUSED!!!!

  23. i want to play this game so bad and i cant wait for the beta πŸ™‚

  24. πŸ˜€ Will be happy when I actually get in (which I hope will happen). Also:
    ABOUT FRICKIN TIME *blarghlderp*

  25. OMG BETAAAAAAAAAAAA

  26. Very excited about this game. Looking forward to putting out stamp of approval on what seems to be a very well thought game.

  27. Oh Yeah!
    Please, oh gods of Cyberspace, let me be in the Beta!

    This is the most anticipated Beta of my life! I loved this kind of boardgames when i was young, and I still love the virtual kind today!

    I wish you the best I can!

  28. I’ve clicked that “Coming soon” button… Over 300 times! I’ve clicked it over 3 times per day. For so long!

    I hope that I can play in the beta!

  29. Comeon RNG, don’t fail me now! Beta access pl0x *drool*

  30. Pretty exciting!

    I like the idea of skins. I’m interested to see what is offered and what the pricing is going to be like.

  31. I’m really looking forward to this game. The tabletop style looks so good πŸ™‚

  32. Since you guys are drinking tons of coffee, you will probably be having liver issues. I will donate my liver for a beta invite. Because I care…

  33. Only players are missing. A game ment to be played by players! πŸ™‚

  34. I am playing the game allready!

    …On Youtube,
    Playing the videos and imagining i am moving the pieces πŸ˜‰

  35. […] Blue Manchu are skanky teases and still haven’t settled down on a beta release date,Β Γ  la Blizzard style. so I’m stuck waiting for this gem to come […]

  36. I really hope I can try early the game in beta. Good luck to the devs.

  37. β€’Playing through the first 18 levels of the game that are going to be in the Beta and making sure that they work and are balanced and fun.

    You guys DO realize that this is what a beta is for, right?

    If you’ve already made 18 levels that are balanced and fun, then release the damn game. You don’t need a beta!

  38. These days betas are a part of a company’s marketing strategy. It makes sense to have a strong beta anyway. You don’t need beta players until you’ve done everything you know you’re going to need to do anyway. They’ve got levels 19+ to work on while we find the obscure little bugs that they missed.

  39. Does this algorithm require the use of Mr. Lincoln? *waves $5*

  40. Err… maybe if Mr Lincoln has 999 identical siblings. It might be easier to just send Mr James Madison.

  41. Considering the holidays spirit, IΒ΄d like to wish everyone at Blue Manchu a Merry Christmas, and thanks again for all the hard work that this awesome team has done so far (dunno about you guys, but sometimes its actually nice to recognize all the hard work instead of nagging all the time about when the game will be done and why isnΒ΄t it operational).

    I would like to wish a Merry Christmas to each and every one of the readers of this website… I do not know you guys, but I sincerely hope that all the hapiness in the world finds you in your home and that itΒ΄s really magical (yes, I sound like a 10 year old girl … but I really wish that everyone finds inner peace and serenity in this holy day.)

    I hope that your Christmas is as magical as mine, reader. Please, let us find the joy that bounds us as human beings and help other in need.

    Merry Christmas !

  42. Ps: I live in Brazil, itΒ΄s still the 25th over here … *botch*

  43. Thanks for the Christmas wishes! A merry Christmas or happy holidays to all of you who are following our game too and thanks for your support in 2012!

  44. I’ve been playing Urban Rivals but its been getting stale as of lately so im looking forward to getting into a ccg that has more strategy involved. I hope the game is as fun as it looks like its going to be. πŸ™‚

  45. Merry Christmas to all! While I don’t really want to spoil the holiday mood I would like to speak my mind quickly.

    If you guys have the planned beta test features operational for the most part you should go ahead and start the invites. The point of beta is for the players to find those small bugs and balance issues so the devs don’t have to worry about it. Unfortunately, some people think beta=demo which couldn’t be further from the truth but I doubt anyone who has been following you guys thinks that.

    Just my opinion, the game belongs to you amazing people after all. Merry Christmas again and a Happy New Year and I hope for beta soon!

  46. I feel that this will be one of the best browser games next year. I’ve seen Scrolls and Fantasy Rivals, but THIS… this is something else.

    Have a fruitful 2013 guys and thanks for making this game πŸ™‚

  47. I agree with neraxis. We should have the beta now. People have been waiting for this for far too long, and the reason for beta is to find these bugs. I wouldn’t mind running into a few, and every bug that gets found speeds up the process of turning this into a full game.

    Again, it’s your game and you decide what to do with it, but take it under consideration.

  48. So hyped to play this!!!!, i know its a long wait, but ive no problem waiting if it means a better experience, great job guys!, and the fact that its free to play, really shows you guys are doing this for the love of the game, and that’s awesome!, πŸ™‚

  49. Happy New Year Blue Manchu! I am very excited that I will finally get to play this game this year!

    To Naraxis, there’s no reason for them to release beta right now. They’ve said that there are a lot of bugs that they are already aware of that they are fixing now. So allowing people access to beta now is kinda pointless. I’d rather them spend more time and have a really smooth transition to beta and I wouldn’t want them to have any set backs! Just stay patient πŸ™‚

  50. Cannot wait to play this! I always loved board and card games, and this is something in between!

  51. Oh I Have An Idea How About,You Give Every One Who Signed Up For Beta An Invite,Lots Of Tester’s Higher Word Of Mouth,And!,You Will Have Made An 18 Year Old Mand Dream’s Come True T3T

  52. Man’s,See Over Pure Excitement I Cant Speel….Spell*

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