How to access the "public_test" beta

[Daniel@BlueBottleGames]

Usually, there are two versions of NEO Scavenger available at any time, the "default" and the "public_test" versions.

"Default" is what you'll get if you don't change anything, and is usually the last known stable build of the game.

"Public_test" is the latest version, usually with newer features and content, but may have stability issues. Steam users can access the "public_test" build by opting into the beta for it. To do so, open up your Steam client and:

• Right-click on NEO Scavenger in your Steam library
  
• Choose "Properties"
  
• Choose the "BETAS" tab in the resulting dialog box.
  
• In the drop-down, select "public_test."
  
• Do not type anything into the check code/password field.

Screenshot of Opt-In UI[www.bluebottlegames.com]

Following the above steps will begin downloading the "public_test" version immediately. Just click "Play" when it's done!

[♥❤💓💔💟]

Can you freely swap between beta and regular with little effort or do you need to remove yourself from the beta to play the regular game?

[Daniel@BlueBottleGames]

You can go back and forth as many times as you want, and each time will require the steps above. Probably the most time-consuming part of it is waiting for the ~50MB download each time you switch.

[Fluff]

Note to others who may have an issue: There was no drop down menu, and clicking on the drop down arrow did nothing. It was simply a UI glitch, and restarting steam fixed it.

[Leon]

I'm curious, Dan, will it ever become possible to associate our Steam accounts with our Blue Bottle accounts? If only just to get the advantages of buying on the site that others do.

[Daniel@BlueBottleGames]

It may be possible some day, but it'd take some development time to setup. The game itself cannot interact with Steam, but I think Steamworks has a web API.

However, I'm unsure if there's an API call to check if a user owns a certain game. And there would have to be web code written to handle the process if it did. I suspect it'd take at least a few days of dev time to put together, and I've been reluctant to put game development on hold that long.

Maybe someday, though!

[Jankie]

Thanx!