Crea has come a long way over the last two years. The progress is clearly visible and the improvement is undeniable. Now with Crea coming to Steam Early Access we are in some ways entering a new stage of development. There is still a great deal of work remaining before Crea is considered complete. I don’t have everything planned out between now and 1.0; however, I’d like to share with everyone what I do have planned for the near future.
The top priority for Crea is stability. I know that multiplayer is crucial and I would love to get it to a stable place. Additionally there are still some game crashes that occasionally occur along with many smaller bugs. Before moving onto the next major update I would like to resolve most, if not all, of these issues. Oh, and a new boss and standalone server are in the works!
The focus of the first next major patch is improved modding support. The addition of Steam Workshop support will allow modders to share their work more easily. I will be listening to modders feedback and adjusting the API accordingly.
The second update will likely be one of the largest updates Crea will ever see. Movement, exploration and combat will all dramatically evolve. The goal here is to free players of the current rigid movement. These changes will consist of new movement options, possibly a new “Exploration” talent, new character animations, and new combat controls. All of these will require much experimentation so keep in mind though that these plans may change. More exact details will be revealed once development of this update is underway.
Beyond this, things begin to get fuzzy. There are many things I know need to be done but their priorities are unknown. Here is a list of at least some things to follow (not in order):
- Revisit Crafting Interface
- Balancing existing content
- New content (boss/monsters/items)
- More gather skills to speed up mining
- Dungeoneer NPC and Dungeon System
- Grafter NPC and Grafting System (Weapon upgrading)
- More Steam Features (Achievements, Cloud Saves, Trading Cards)
Crea will leave Early Access once these features and likely a handful more are done. Development on Crea is a very iterative process that uses everyone’s feedback to help get it to be what I envision. If you have any suggestions or feedback, please post it in the forums. I value player feedback very much and if there is something I deem urgent I will always make room for it. However, please keep in mind that I am the only full-time member of the team, and it takes time for me to get around to addressing every issue.
I am looking forward to seeing how the Steam Early Access release helps the world of Crea to continue to grow and improve.
