#closed beta testing

[pawborough]

January Check In

Hello, all!

Happy update day, catfolk! We apologize for the late update, but we wanted to share the Beta dates with you in this update. We took extra time to ensure the dates were accurate without risking something not being ready in time or causing burnout for our team. We’ve done quite a bit of internal assessment on the pros and cons of letting ~2,000+ people into the game. 

Our most pressing thought was how to reconcile needing to continue working on key features while getting valuable feedback and play data on all that we already have. There was a lot to consider, in reputation, timeline, and team morale. We did not want to give the wrong impression that we felt anywhere close to a done game, but we have a lot of high fidelity mechanics and playability to share which need high population testing regardless. We’ve finally settled on rolling our sleeves up and opening to testers. At the start, we’ll provide a comprehensive breakdown of everything we’re planning to add over the months of the test, and continue our monthly check-ins on our progress. We’re ready to grind, and we hope you are too! And in many ways, it will be much nicer to get the comprehensive mass testing whenever we have something new to roll out!

We hope you will all agree that this update was worth the wait, as we have exciting news to share with you today, along with our most exciting news yet! :)

Accessory Progress

We are proud to announce that we have 47 unique accessories, altogether with 564 color variations. 

We have just about reached the edge of our odyssey in the first production run of accessories. After 8 months of practice and training for our fledgling team, we’ve improved immensely at our pipeline. What has previously taken us months now takes a matter of weeks. We have one more backer accessory to develop, and any additions in the near future will be small, simplistic items in comparison to our full sets, but I’m very proud of the team for how far we’ve come, and the marvel of quality they produce in good time.

This month’s new progress includes:

Frog Friends

Illustration by Remmie, sponsored by Hag

Protogear Recolors

Recolors by Emma

New decor

We’ve also been busy with decors. 

Argh, matey! 

Macaws by Jersopod, cannon, barrel and newspaper stack by Giulia and Remmie

In addition, style compliant sketches of the original rose decor!

Sketches by Remmie

Archetypes

We’re here to introduce a very exciting mechanic that has been in the works since our initial overhaul. It’s one of my personal favorite concepts, and the primary motivation behind how we’ve structured the cat design system.

Introducing… cat archetypes!

Archetypes are a specific combination of traits which, when fulfilled, mark the cat’s profile with a badge and reward the user as an achievement fulfillment. (If the cat’s traits are changed, the badge will be removed. Cats may fulfill multiple Archetypes simultaneously.)

For example, this badge means the cat fulfills the Ruby archetype, a badge which requires the cat to have the color Ruby in all slots.

Examples of the Ruby archetype include:

To give examples of the specificity, other Archetypes include for example “Leopard,” which must have the following to comply:

A Yellow range Leopard overcoat

Light Greyscale or Light Yellow undercoat

Yellow or Greyscale Claws

None for the second accent

Here are some Leopards!

Owning these cats will give the user rewards, sometimes completely custom to the Archetype. 

What we hope to achieve with this system is a greater incentive to think creatively within the restrictions of our cat builder, and to reward our players for intentioned play in collecting, breeding, and designing a variety of cats. After all, it is the core of the game!

And with each new addition of colors or patterns, we’ll release an onslaught of new Archetypes! We plan to introduce a healthy amount of them, some easy to get, and some harder depending on genetic obtainability and the obtainment method.

This system is already up and running on our servers, and is in its infancy. We’ll get a lot of data from testing it out!

Originally, this system was on the backburner while we focused on bigger picture mechanics, but we’ve fast tracked it so we can bolster and better encourage casual play while the Guild system is still in its preliminary beta state. 

Pelt System

Perhaps the feature we are most excited to see in use and tested is the Pelt System, which we briefly introduced in the 2024 November Check In. There is a frankly insane amount of functionality behind this feature, which includes autonomous user decision and interaction every step of the way. 

First, we were able to implement dynamic layering. This means that Unclipped (top layer) pelts can actually sport layers which are placed behind the cat automatically. Valuable uses for this feature include the inside of sleeves, backs of hoods, and items which you would otherwise always want to go behind anything it’s stacked above.

Users can view their pelts already submitted, see their submission progress, choose to submit more to the pelt, choose to print their pelt themselves, choose to list pelts for buyers to print on demand, and view their pelts on any cat.

There is also a draft system which allows users to store information they aren’t ready to submit yet. 

Users can list pelts as a print-on-demand resource, and are able to control how many copies they will allow to be printed. 

All prints will require a tax which will be dependent on the coverage %, calculated based on the amount of pixels that cover the canvas. This means that small pelts, like a hat or a monocle, will take only a small tax!

AND we have a rudimentary tagging system going as we experiment with this feature! Big news! Once we iron out the kinks, we’ll be able to roll out user filtering and tagging of other content, such as cats or forum posts.

And drumroll please…

As teased at the beginning of this update, we are overjoyed to announce the Closed Beta dates!  Early access launches on February 3rd, with the regular Closed Beta starting on February 6th!

During the Closed Beta, you’ll have the chance to experience many new and polished gameplay features, exciting customization options, and the now refined economy! We encourage all testers to not only find any potential bugs and ui improvements, but also to provide feedback and suggestions on all of our game features and our economy!

All 253 Early Beta, 1940 Beta and Kickstarter codes have been generated, and we will begin sending them out shortly over the next day.

In the coming week, we’ll put out writings on our expectations early on and the features roadmap that we’re currently staring at. We can’t wait to see you all in Kotemara soon!

To summarize: We shared decors, Protogear recoloring, Frog Friends, pelt system showcase, archetypes and closed Beta dates.

What to expect next month: Further asset and development updates. Check-ins for how closed Beta will be going.

[ramonag-if]

Call for beta testers - Crown of Exile

Hello everyone!

As Crown of Exile moves into a private testing and Patreon-only version, I need new testers willing to play the early version of the newest chapters and provide feedback.

Before you consider applying to become a tester, please keep in mind the following:

You must be at least 18 years or older;

You must be able to understand and read English;

You must have a Discord account;

You must be able to access Discord;

You must be able to keep the early draft of the game private and confidential.

If you think that you meet these requirements and are still interested in testing new chapters and updates, please fill in the form here.

[luxenvulpies]

[Missing-Link] CBT2 Info

The second closed beta test has begun! This post will be updated as I spot info worth sharing (and when I'm available). Apologies for any weird formatting.

[CBT1 info] for reference. I don't expect any huge changes, however.

Character customization

Voice options

Voice samples (From what I know, it's JP voices in both JP and EN versions. No idea if we'll get EN or other languages.)

New default outfit

Hair colour, heterochromia

UI

Most elements can be moved to your liking (Was in CBT1 but I forgot to include it in that post...)

A bunch of Pieces and their ability icons

Gameplay

Environmental walking sfx

Moogle Shop (Purchase with jewels, free daily item)

Emotes (For your profile at least)

> Animated

Activity log with rewards

Fortune's Gear evolution stages (+1, +2)

Gacha

Standard banners have no pity, 10-draws guarantee a rate-up Piece

This Dark Riku Piece is only available from clearing Behemoth raids with a low drop rate; it cannot be pulled via gacha

Story (Spoilers)

Chapter names (Shipwrecked, Tracker, Society, Astral Plane, The World of Distortions)

All cutscenes (JP voice, EN sub) - lots to unpack

Some translations of the Scala text seen in one of the cutscenes

Other Stuff

Stickers (that will be very familiar to the KHUx players)

Stop playing and go touch some gra-- wait.

Bugs and other Issues

Black screen after character creation

[arytha]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaa its finally announced!

[baeshijima]

it’s officially the 26th for me so !!

HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSAY TO HONKAI: STAR RAIL 🫶🫶

[expederest]

Let's goooooooo! 🗝️❤️

[fisherrprince]

no one is surprised about khml

[tielstiels]

wip of a guy from @santaeofficial

[bmpmp3]

this is another thing that probably doesnt matter at all but as someone who's interest in vocal synthesis is in large part because of the software and technological aspects, every time i see someone trying to explain the use of deep learning/neural/AI/etc in vocal synthesizers and they say that "the only thing the AI does is help make the pitch transitions smoother" im like white knuckle gripping the table muttering under my breath like no....that is. incorrect.

[redpenship]

a double flash event near empire territory has been detected by satellites

[pawborough]

Development Update!

01/15/25

We just developed the capabilities to generate hundreds of item codes custom tailored in seconds. Tested, and it worked! Generating Kickstarter reward codes will now be a breeze.

We have finished nearly all accessories on all starter poses. The only items missing a few pose renders are the Iridescent Trail and the Guard Set, both of which are being actively worked on.

Huge lift on optimizing for mobile. We now have most pages on the website working on mobile. It's not perfect, but it's getting good enough for the start of a closed beta. Slightly shoddy, but functional for mass testing and further improvement.

Pelt submissions are working. We have moderation tools and extensive testing tools for users. Users can now use the dynamic layering system on unclipped pelts by making two layers in a PSD. Users can test pelt previews on any cat they own. We also developed a coverage % system which will help determine the cost of a print.

The pelt shop has been implemented and is undergoing testing, including version 1.0 of a rough tagging system, allowing for extensive custom filtering. The goal is, after beta user testing, to expand this system site wide to forum threads, cat profiles, and eventually the notebook feature.

*As an aside, in the preview this was version 1 of the pelt submission testing. The terms "male" and "female" will be replaced with the venus and mars symbols

We're tentatively looking at dates for closed beta between February and March, and this week will hopefully help us determine a final decision for an official announcement. Thank you for the patience!

[luckthebard]

Daggerheart open beta has me excited!

[rosejigglypuff76]

Showcasing my Cookie Tower Mains for the Closed Beta Version of Cookie Run Tower of Adventures! 🎀

Those being Rye Wes and Rockstar Maizono! And both are them are very good in their own way. 🌾🎸

🌾 Rye Wes 🌾 She was my first Epic in this game. With the fact that there's no guaranteed Epic Cookies, so you need to rely on being lucky. Since Day 1 of Closed Beta Testing, Rye is very useful and pretty easy to learn, plus once you get her to 3 Promote Stars she becomes much faster in terms of her skills. During the first time you get Rye in the Gacha Pull she's reasonably slow in terms of what her starting moveset has to offer. But once you get her towards her highest potential, Rye ends up being very agile with what she can do.

🎸 Rockstar Maizono 🎸 He was the second-to-last Epic Cookie that I got that's available in the Closed Beta. From what I can say Rockstar was a little harder to understand since I've never played the Support Role before in multiplayer games. But after the first 3-5 rounds of playing him (especially in Raids), Rockstar is amazing if you need a reliable healer that's also capable in defending himself in some way. Although he's mostly useful when doing multiplayer (Multiplayer Story Mode, Raids, etc), Rockstar is still an amazing cookie to play as if you're trying out for a great support.

🎀 In-Game Screenshots 🎀

[luxenvulpies]

[Missing-Link] CBT1 Info

Since the closed beta began, there has been a lot of activity with testers posting images, videos, and details (and some streaming). I've compiled some for easier browsing:

Character customization

Body types A and B

Character creation

Earring (whose?)

Some customization

Maku's drip

More drip

FFXIV Black Mage but green

FFXVI Jill Warrick

Purchasable outfits named after Final Fantasy jobs (each cost 2k jewels you know the ones)

UI

Equipment menu

Vertical and horizontal resolution with seamless transition

Gameplay

Dive to the Heart tutorial (stained glass may be a spoiler)

More Dive to the Heart

Meeting other players in the hub area

Timed battles (apparently may not be all fights)

Timed battle footage (not enough info on who or what is the opponent)

Buzz Lightyear and Sulley piece usage

Charged attacks

Ranged Keyblade

Grand Chests that contains a piece

GPS and walking on buildings with no care in the world

Losing all health & reviving

Raid battle completion

Raid battle completion screens

Piece enhancement screens :worry:

Donald piece screen (JP)

Prince Phillip piece screen (JP)

Mickey piece screen (JP)

Sora piece screen (JP)

Defeating area bosses grant coins to exchange for accessories. Accessories are enhanced with a chance of failure. Using enhancement records will increase stats.

Ireland

Auto gameplay result screen (JP): AP gained, defeated enemies, times activated(?), recovery spots used, treasure chests obtained, pieces obtained

Elemental wheel (no, this was not stolen from another game, so stop that nonsense)

Gacha

Winnie the Pooh

Some pull rates (subject to change!)

2 banners

Sora, Riku, Kairi Pieces

Story (spoilers!!)

JP intro (not sure if the English version is dubbed No dub, yet anyway)

Scala ad Caelum logo appearing (not really a spoiler)

Posting any text here will spoil it - just click the link

Other

Scala ad Caelum logo

Beta data size (~1.9GB)

Guide Moogle (Cute, kupo!)

Astral Plane battle music

AimmsBear's experience thread

Key_Cast's thread on game mechanics and some lore

Summary of Nomura's visit to the Artnia Cafe in Japan with reports from those who attended (via lottery)

Streamers/Video Archives

[leeadamsmusic3630] Multiple videos with specific features

[Dive Hearts] Game records/growth log, UI editor

Our Stuff

Post on spreadsheets with data from the closed beta

---

[keykidpilipili]

Missing link to be found today *sheds a tear in joy*

[radiantbastard]