Message from the developers

[kentonio]

Hi everyone!

Firstly we'd just like to say a big thank you to everyone who has taken time out to comment and feedback on the game. It's really good to get the game into the hands of new players and get a whole new set of opinions and feedback on how we can keep making the game better. We're aware it's a different take on the Warhammer 40,000 universe than some people were expecting, and it's very useful to us to hear people's reactions.

As huge Warhammer 40,000 fans ourselves, we're very aware that stepping outside people's expectations of a 40K game is a real trial by fire. All we would ask of anyone is that they give the game a try before passing judgement. We genuinely believe that we've created a really fun and compelling game with a great multiplayer experience. We love to hear players opinions though, positive and negative, that's how we make the game better.

We're constantly evolving and pressing forward with the game at the moment, but there's just a couple of things we'd like to clear up that appear to have caused a little confusion and consternation.

Beta: A number of people have asked why the game was labelled Beta rather than being under Early Access. We can only hold our hands up on this and apologize for any confusion it may have caused. We made the decision to run a short one month Beta prior to our release on March 27th rather than going the Early Access route. We did try and ensure it was clearly labelled, and of course it gives complete access to the full game on release. To avoid any further confusion and after discussion with steam we've now moved the game into the Early Access section. This will not affect players in any way, but hopefully it should avoid any future confusion.

Pricing: Some people have displayed a quite understandable concern over why the Steam audience would be asked to pay more for the game than their mobile cousins. Well, aside from the fact that the Steam version launches with hi-res graphics that the mobile versions do not support, we have also been planning to release several free additional units to purchasers of the Beta which will be released as In App Purchase on mobile. We were due to announce this next weekend, but given that it's been asked a number of times now, we'd rather settle any concerns now.

I hope that helps to clarify a few things for people. If anyone has any further questions please just ask in the comments below and we'll do our best to provide a response.

Thanks again,
Kenton Fletcher

[Aztaloth]

The best thing you could do for this game would be to pull it from sale and never let it see the light of day again. As a Warhammer 40K fan this title is a travesty and you should be ashamed of yourself for producing it.

[Nerevars Goat Univeron]

I genuenly like the game, but have a few problems. Most of them about things outside the game.
For one, maybe put it into EA. It IS still in early access.
Also, to remove some amount of backlash, maybe consider it Non-cannon, even if it doesnt break the cannon, I feel this may take some heat off of you guys.

[kentonio]

Originally posted by Legion:

I genuenly like the game, but have a few problems. Most of them about things outside the game.
For one, maybe put it into EA. It IS still in early access.
Also, to remove some amount of backlash, maybe consider it Non-cannon, even if it doesnt break the cannon, I feel this may take some heat off of you guys.

Hi Legion. The game is now in Early Access to avoid any future confusion during the Beta. Regarding the canon, the game is based on a 40K novel by Gav Thorpe called The Purging of Kadillus. I believe this is canonical.

[WoogieMonsutā]

Originally posted by kentonio:

...
As huge Warhammer 40,000 fans ourselves, ...

If you agree to say this again, in court under oath, under penalty of perjury, while connected to a polygraph... I'll buy 100 copies of this app (it's not a PC game and I'm not going to address it as such). Provided you're telling the truth of course.

[kentonio]

Originally posted by Uncle Cookie:

Originally posted by kentonio:

...
As huge Warhammer 40,000 fans ourselves, ...

If you agree to say this again, in court under oath, under penalty of perjury, while connected to a polygraph... I'll buy 100 copies of this app (it's not a PC game and I'm not going to address it as such). Provided you're telling the truth of course.

Across the dev team we have over a century worth of experience as 40K fans, so yes I'm more than happy to say that. :)

[Rusty Rake]

Originally posted by kentonio:

[...] All we would ask of anyone is that they give the game a try before passing judgement. [...]

thing is... as there's no demo i cannot give the game a try without paying the full price, and this is not gonna happen. not for a game that looks like this.

[Ryu_Sheng]

Originally posted by Legion:

I genuenly like the game, but have a few problems. Most of them about things outside the game.
For one, maybe put it into EA. It IS still in early access.
Also, to remove some amount of backlash, maybe consider it Non-cannon, even if it doesnt break the cannon, I feel this may take some heat off of you guys.

AFIK it is non-canon, because the game has no lore in it to make it canon heheh

As huge Warhammer 40,000 fans ourselves, we're very aware that stepping outside people's expectations of a 40K game is a real trial by fire.

Normally i'd be the first one praising you. Dev.'s that try and take something a different route are a rarity and frankly should be supported, even if their choice fails. However for me i just can not accept this game, not because of any lore or canon arguments, as i'm not a 40k fan. Rather it's the simple reskin of your earlier game. Yes you've 'upgraded' the graphics a bit, but it looks and plays exactly like your previous game. If this was on a mobile device i'd be happy for you, but on PC this is sorely lacking in anything to credit it.

All we would ask of anyone is that they give the game a try before passing judgement.

Then you need to put out a demo. People don't want to risk buying a turd, it's as simple as that. Given the history you have, and the way the game looks, you need to do 1 of two things. Either put out a demo, or put out a free weekend. If you genuinely feel the game is that great people will try it and buy it.

To avoid any further confusion and after discussion with steam we've now moved the game into the Early Access section.

Good. Dosen't matter if the beta was set to last a month or a week. If you release the game in an unfinished format (which beta is) you should have put it straight into EA. THATS what EA was for, to stop people buying games that were beta without warning. Yes you labled it as beta, but a lot of people would just buy it seeing the 40k bit of the title and not gotten any further. You should also allow refunds for anyone who bought it prior to the move.

We were due to announce this next weekend, but given that it's been asked a number of times now, we'd rather settle any concerns now.

You could have avoided a lot of the flak if you'd stated right from the outset that the price included the future DLC.

You've suffered a huge PR nightmare, you're going to have to do something big to recover

[kentonio]

Originally posted by Horseshoes & Handgrenades:

Originally posted by kentonio:

[...] All we would ask of anyone is that they give the game a try before passing judgement. [...]

thing is... as there's no demo i cannot give the game a try without paying the full price, and this is not gonna happen. not for a game that looks like this.

That's quite alright, hopefully you'll change your mind as the beta progresses and we continue to polish the visuals and refine the gameplay. If not, then no harm no foul. We fully realize we're making a game that won't be to everyone's tastes, but we're happy with the direction we've taken and we genuinely believe that the finished product will be a fun, compelling game. Everyone we've seen playing the multiplayer mode especially has really enjoyed the experience. It's very fast paced and tactical.

[kentonio]

Originally posted by Rhenthyl:

Normally i'd be the first one praising you. Dev.'s that try and take something a different route are a rarity and frankly should be supported, even if their choice fails. However for me i just can not accept this game, not because of any lore or canon arguments, as i'm not a 40k fan. Rather it's the simple reskin of your earlier game. Yes you've 'upgraded' the graphics a bit, but it looks and plays exactly like your previous game. If this was on a mobile device i'd be happy for you, but on PC this is sorely lacking in anything to credit it.

What may look like at first glance like a reskin has in reality been the work of a full dev team over six months. We used Ninja Cats as an experiment in making a game style we felt would work well. The superb review scores it received showed our belief was justified. We then went into full development of Storm of Vengeance, building the game into a 3D title, building an entire cross platform multiplayer system, spending months on modelling units and buildings, constructing the shiny new menus and interfaces, recording a soundtrack just for this game etc etc.

As I said above, we're fully aware that Storm of Vengeance won't be to everyone's tastes, but a huge amount of work went into it's development.

[Friendly Fire]

Any chance of an army painter,... essential for multiplayer!! Gotta have our own unique chapters and regiments!!

[ShadowNetBG]

People who like Tug of War maps from WC3/SC might like this.
Anyway would it possible to make larger maps for 2v2/3v3 and also maps with different lanes going for different objectives and such (like resource caches, capture points that would boost your income or give you a special unit etc.)?

[~*|Reborn|*~]

Still can't even get the game to run. Thief runs fin in about 75% top spec but can't get SoV to run at any of the settings......

[kentonio]

Originally posted by ~*|Reborn|*~:

Still can't even get the game to run. Thief runs fin in about 75% top spec but can't get SoV to run at any of the settings......

Hi Reborn, if you're having technical issues the team can try and help. Please post in the Technical Issues section of our forum (http://forums.eutechnyx.com/forums/252-Storm-Of-Vengeance) with your system specs and details of what's happening, and someone will do their best to help.

[Nerevars Goat Univeron]

Originally posted by Friendly Fire:

Any chance of an army painter,... essential for multiplayer!! Gotta have our own unique chapters and regiments!!

This would be great! Even a very simplistic one would suffice.

Originally posted by ShadowNetBG:

People who like Tug of War maps from WC3/SC might like this.
Anyway would it possible to make larger maps for 2v2/3v3 and also maps with different lanes going for different objectives and such (like resource caches, capture points that would boost your income or give you a special unit etc.)?

Prehapse lane amount dependent on difficulty? For example, the lanes we have now (Is it five?) would be easy, Base (What we have now) + 2 is normal mode, Base X 2 is hard mode and Extra hard is Base X 4. And possibly a slider controling lane amount for multiplayer. Would really add a lot of tactical depth.

[kentonio]

Interesting ideas, I'll put them to the rest of the team in our next design review. :)