Begging for Early access as it will Improve development & Awareness & Testing!

Klei wrote:Which is why we are in early access is to get a lot of people to play it to figure out what we did proorly. because the truth is we don't get it right away that is why early access is so available that is why the feedback on the forum is so useful. Especially because well I don't think its unique to this game but its definitely thing that happens to this game is there's a lot of people playing it at different ways. Like if you go on youtube and watch some of hte videos you would think this game is all just about creating crazy experiments.....

....And then you watch some other people how they go and play and its more like your traditional Colony game. They just have their dupes, they like their dupes, they are giving them outfits and they just are trying to have them survive in this world. And we don't want to alienate either of those people like the approcach we try to take is that you can get into the nitty gritty details at your own pace.
.

I have been trying to convince the developer to release this on Early access as now it has been confirmed that it is a hit game!
https://projecthospital.forumotion.com/t74-2018_06_11-info-game-access

I also have resources to prove how indie developers have had great success with early access! Project Hospital could be release today on steam and more fans will know about it. There would be more testing and playing around and giving more critical feedback on what works and what does not before release.

The game can be buggy and in complete it does not matter as long as it just out there on steam to be tested even in very early Alpha. Again I can give a list of successful indie games that have done this and it really has gave the developer alot more insight into what direction they should take the game.

I am sorry if I am annoying on this issue but over the years i've seen how well this works and I wish this game could be open to early access to keep improving and developing. The Long dark was a very small indie team and they had a goal of what they wanted the game to be but since opening it up to Early access it really showed them things that they did not know and how they were so happy and thankful that they took that path. They were on for 4 years the longest indie game I know and they still are going and still adding features to the game. Even they story has not been complete and it sales is over 1 million! And they did not have 90 members at the start i think only 11 using kick starter.

So I do hope the dev can see how beneficial it is to open it up for early access cause the link shows people love it and it has got best gameplay and people's choice!

This is not about wanting to play the game now but to keep testing and improving the game before final release and even if it takes 2-3 years that is a good sign! They are alot of good tester out there and live streamer wanting to do this for the game! You will get more coverage during EA more feedback and improvement and from there even think about going to kickstarter to get more funds to expand the staff and expand the game depending how much you will received.

Right now only 4 dev are working on it and this could be boosted to a few more so more things can be added and more videos can be uploaded?

I really see some very wonderful successful things happening to the dev team if they do this cause of the link above!

And also if release as early alpha fans can keep playing it while you keep developing the game and just keep adding features to it that is needed! The Long dark kept adding maps, content to this day and fans did not complain that its taking a long time over the 4 years! They just kept playing it cause of the added new content and sanbox mode that allowed them to test their survival skills in an environment with no zombies.

So I really hope this can happen too with Project Hospital! If fans want to play it now they can and they do it while testing so the dev will benefit hugely!

So pleaseeeee consider! It does not matter if it takes 2 years for final release during that time content can be added things improved and that is the important factor. Not a rush game with just a few testers. It can be better!

I am really am pushing for this for cause for the tester, feedback, stream play, improve development that i've seen from other indie games!  I know the dev will benefit from this!

The team has got one of the design right as they are making a complex sim hospital and they are alot of player wanting this type of game play! And perhaps if they can have EA then perhaps they can make the system more complex!

For an example of another game that also started out as an indie team look at Oxygen not included look how deep the simulation is and it still is in early access on steam! It just a game of colony survival with deep simulation mechanics running in the back ground. Same thing with Project hospital deep and complex and will be a success too!

I have sent this to the dev team so they know about it but hope can show everyone why this is a good approach! I hope the dev can learn some tips on the simulation that they been talking about and improve their game! See also that players will play Project Hospital in different ways just like in Oxygen not included! I was quiet surprise that the developer talked about different ways of playing! Can be complex or simple! So another tip for Project Hospital that players will want to play it casually or get into the nitty gritty details of the sim! WOW! I like that!  

You can hear the dev talk about the quote below starting at 3.42

Klei wrote:Which is why we are in early access is to get a lot of people to play it to figure out what we did proorly. because the truth is we don't get it right away that is why early access is so available that is why the feedback on the forum is so useful. Especially because well I don't think its unique to this game but its definitely thing that happens to this game is there's a lot of people playing it at different ways. Like if you go on youtube and watch some of hte videos you would think this game is all just about creating crazy experiments.....

...And then you watch some other people how they go and play and its more like your traditional Colony game. They just have their dupes, they like their dupes, they are giving them outfits and they just are trying to have them survive in this world. And we don't want to alienate either of those people like the approcach we try to take is that you can get into the nitty gritty details at your own pace.
.

https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/299592/Behind_the_design_of_hit_sim_game_Oxygen_Not_Included.php

Prison architect... they win a BAFTA for their dedication to development and the Alfa testing

http://www.bafta.org/games/awards/persistent-game

That's one hell of a post, full of arguments - it's really great to see such enthusiasm for our game! And no, it's not annoying in any way

But this question usually takes place at the beginning of the development - it's not good to decide this when things are already in motion. And while there are good arguments in your post FOR the early access, there's also a lot of arguments against this approach. You see - there are games with a magnificent success that everyone knows about, but there is also a lot of games that were killed by early access about which no one talks and no one reminds them.

We took many options into consideration and decided not to go this way. We aim to release our game in late autumn, so closed beta will have to do for bug reports, community's feedback and suggestions

josef.oxymoron wrote:That's one hell of a post, full of arguments - it's really great to see such enthusiasm for our game! And no, it's not annoying in any way

But this question usually takes place at the beginning of the development - it's not good to decide this when things are already in motion. And while there are good arguments in your post FOR the early access, there's also a lot of arguments against this approach. You see - there are games with a magnificent success that everyone knows about, but there is also a lot of games that were killed by early access about which no one talks and no one reminds them.

We took many options into consideration and decided not to go this way. We aim to release our game in late autumn, so closed beta will have to do for bug reports, community's feedback and suggestions

Thanks for responding and happy to know its not annoying and i am passionate cause I don't want to see this game halt like most indie game after release. I don't see alot of indie developer continuing to build on their recent games once they release one it just stays at that.

Project Hospital has not been release yet and its perfect for early access all it means for releasing early access on to steam is that you will use feedback from testers of the community to keep developing the game. There will be a 20.00 USD cost to get the early access so you get some income and you can open ways to get other income so there is no reason not too. It just more development time that will give more improvement for your game!

The Long dark was an indie developer small in size and if they left early access too early or only developed in with in 1 year it won't be the game it would be today! It was in early access for 4 years and still going! More maps, contents,etc! The developer found out the fans loved the sandbox mode so they added more content to this.

Cities skyline was a dangerous project and I told Jan in the other post they had a very small team..

Oxygen not included was also a small team when they started but moved into early access.

You said that they are game that killed early access
Yes and that is why you learn from this other indie developer and see what they did right so your early access can succeed? You have not told me your reasons why you think early access can kill your game? If you follow certain rules i promise you it won't fail as its all about testing. If you got a strong road map of what you want the game to be the tested can get behind you and give feedback and testing! Which is something you need beta is not enough

I have PM you a link of succeeding in early access I hope it helps!

Early access is not about turning Project Hospital into something its not, if you get lots of support you can expand and include more staff cause you know the passion is there that is what happen with all the above games i have listed.

If there is positive support and lots are playing and testing the game why would that be bad for you in early access? Just like other early access game not every request can be granted but more content.

You don't have to put every request by tester in the game
Only what can be implemented and other major features can be later implemented in a dlc or sequel.

So I hope you can please discuss it here or privately with me cause I don't see what is stopping you If you can understand and prevent why early access fails? Early access does not give you a guarantee your game will succeed and releasing can also be bad too as players might not be very happy at all with the game and features not included like many other fully release games. What happens if you get low support for the game and only a few buy it? Continue Development will have stopped so it will take a very long time fixing things player are not happy with once its release. If you have it in early access you can have more  time to fix what players are not happy with before releasing it and then taking a break and releasing patches everynow and again.

So have  you discuss what you are going to do if the game gets negative feedback after release?

Jan has posted a link showing that one of the game expo showed high interest in the game so it would mean early access will be a great addition for development to the game so again no reason to say it can't happen.

Indie games that has gone negative and succeeded
Even if games goes negative mistakes can be learnt and I will send you a link to on this so you can read it so did you had all this information when you were discussing these things much earlier with the team? I know developer know about early access but the whole point of this post is to show how others did it and what not to do to keep it from failing.

If the concerns for early access have solutions then can it be release for the game? But please explain in more detail what the fear is and if what I have sent you helped to prevent failure?

A few testers is not enough just like Oxygen included you want to lots of testers to see how they play the game and you can't do this in close access you cannot find out what are annoying players with only a few testers. You want to include testers that have a range of diverse game play from hardcore players to casual players and it could be players from the above game will join to play your game.

When Hinterland began working on The Long Dark the concepts of crowdfunding through sites like Kickstarter and paid alpha development via platforms like Steam Early Access were relatively untested. The team managed to wade through these unknown waters and avoid major catastrophes, achieving notable success along the way. But there have been a few stormy days. Would Hinterland do it again?

Fully agree, as developer i know that early feedback is the best there is!

Also to gain publicity (i had to look hard on youtube to find some gameplay... what is that about?!... )

Good luck to the devs to make this a great game, it looks good, hope the gameplay will be good too!