Wow, I can't believe it's been 4 months since I first posted about my Nightmist-inspired project, Whispering Winds. What started out as a passion project centered on learning how a game like this is made, has progressed to a fun community with a handful of players who have been playing the game since we launched Open Alpha last month.
I've said this before, but: I can't think folks like Pandilex and Xlithan enough for all of their support, wisdom and guidance. Pandilex helped me clean up a lot of code . . . he logged on during early alpha and started using abilities from other classes, attacking monsters across the map, and found a way to auto-level to 15! For you coding nerds out there: I was trusting the client too much and not doing enough defensive programming - wow I've learned a lot!
Anyhow - I am back with another update:
- Open Alpha was launched a month ago: 50 accounts were registered and over 100 characters created
- Multiple folks reached the highest level, which is currently 15
- A whole bunch of bonding, laughs, and antics were shared, especially over early-day bugs/crashes
What's next?
The next big Alpha content release is happening January 31st, which is going to:
- Extend the level cap to 20
- Introduce new areas, quests, items, etc.
- New gameplay mechanics and usability features (like a mini map)
- 8 new abilities across the 4 classes
A reset is happening but I've introduced a special account-wide currency called Ethereal Coins that reward people for their time commitment in these early stages. The coins are currently earned for each character leveled to 15 and will survive in future character resets as we go from alpha -> beta -> etc.
The ethereal coins can be spent on cosmetic items like a special Magic the Gathering-inspired flavor text that appears in character profiles and custom player portraits.
The game is up 99% of the time and is hosted in production infrastructure (https://whispering-winds.io/) - come check it out if you want, fellow Nightmistians! We have an active Discord community and I post constant development updates and screenshots there.
Here's an example of the type of content that is posted on a constant basis (I've been teasing new abilities that are launching next week):
Thanks for all the support for those who have been playing and providing thoughtful feedback.
Maybe I'll see ya around... the next content phase should be fun: Open Alpha - Veil of Shadows!
