Time for my first devlog on GameJolt! Let’s see what I can write about down here…

Hi there!

First of all, thanks for stopping by on the page. Really appreciate it!

This is my first devlog, so there’s a lot of stuff to cover. I want to discuss the current state of the game, aswell as the reason I’m currently on GameJolt doing devlogs in the first place!

Now grab your drink/soda/popcorn, and let’s begin!

Why does this exist?

You may be wondering right now; Why does this GameJolt page exist?

Primarily, it is here to generate a bit of hype around the game (which is the most obvious reason). Checkmate is one of these games which simply cannot go into Early Access, no matter how bad you want it to. Not that I wanted it into Early Access in the first place, it’s just that a strategy game cannot go there, as it will lack key features required for balancing the game, or will simply be completely uninteresting.

These devlogs should keep you guys posted on what’s going on with the game as a replacement for Early Access. I want to post at least once a week (if I’m able to) and show the progress and updates from that past week. That way, everyone remains informed on the progress and people can enjoy reading even more things!

Secondly, this page exists for me to keep on schedule. I tend to always mess up the schedule, or forget about writing posts, but having a standard post every single week should keep me going.

Finally, this page exists because other sites are just horrible. Posting devlogs is really cool, but I’ve tried a couple of other sites and they’ve got really annoying quircks (some of which I can understand to some degree, but they get in the way now and then).

Blogspot, for example, doesn’t really attract all that many views. I also looks horrid and the format is impossible. IndieDB on the other hand, allows for good views, but you’re forced to have 6 new images in every single post in order for it to get seen, which is really annoying if you just want to do a quick service announcement.

So there you go; Now you know why this page is here!

The current state of the game

Checkmate got Greenlit this wednesday!

What this means, is that I’ve now got everything setup for release; I just need to work on finishing the game.

Checkmate will release on Steam (since the game is Greenlit), but will also release right here on GameJolt, aswell as on the GameMaker Player (simply because the game is made with Game Maker: Studio).

Can’t say anything about pricing yet, sorry!

Either way, the current state of the game can be described as: “In-progress”. The game isn’t in a complete state, but it is playable at the very least. Most of the basic mechanics are in and I’m currently adding in new stuff like buildings, pieces, researches, and more.

A lot of “behind the scenes” things are also already done, which include performance checks, localization and graphical adjustments. I find these things key priority as they allow for a smoother play and less annoyance to the user in general.

My current plan is to continue adding in new things, and finally balancing those things out. From there, I’ll completely revise the currently existing AI (since it’s already obsolete with some of the new mechanics), at which point the game will hit a “near-release” state.

From the “near-release” state, there’s nothing else left to do apart from playtesting with a specific selection of bèta testers, probably chosen at complete random from the internet.

After that, the game should release. I don’t know when this will happen, though. I’d rather prefer polish over pushing it out, so I don’t want to, nor am I going to, say anything about a release date any time soon.

What’s there for you here?

I cannot entertain you a whole lot with these devlogs, apart from that I can only show you my progress and allow you to read up on what has happened.

However, you can support me!

I do not want any of your money before I’ve released anything! Instead, I want you to tell to your friends about this game and show them why you think it is awesome (if you think it is, obviously)!

You can also leave a comment down below if you’ve got something to add, or are simply willing to ask a question!

For (mostly) daily updates, you can always follow my Twitter: @Quackertree

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

~Gavin