Howdy hunters,

We’d like to start off with welcoming Hampus who joined us this Monday. Hampus will work on third person animations for multiplayer together with José. Hampus will get to introduce himself in a future status update, since we think that you might be a bit anxious about finding out more about multiplayer at the moment.

We’ve gotten an overwhelming number of applications for alpha testing multiplayer. And we’ve almost gotten an equal amount of questions about how things will work when we release this most fantastic feature. This is understandable, since some of you have been waiting for this feature for almost 4 years. For the following weeks we’ll try to address as many questions as possible in the status update. So this will be our official channel for Q&A. We would also like to ask you if you could refrain from answering other player’s questions about multiplayer with your own speculations, we’ve seen this happening and it causes confusion.

About the alpha tester selection process

Since we’ve already gotten so many applications for alpha testing we have decided to use some selection parameters to help us chose the right initial candidates and these are the following:

• Paying member (to narrow the number down, we will need non-paying members for testing later)
• Application in well written English (we clearly stated that good English skills is a must on the registration page since we can’t read feedback in several languages)
• A well written application
• The stated number of hours played matches the actual data we have stored
• Must not have shown up in our cheat detection
• The player has, if ever been active, been a good sport in the forum.

The emails to the chosen testers will go out in the beginning of next week. We will announce when we have sent the emails, but if you receive an email, you are not allowed to tell anyone. If you do so you are automatically disqualified from testing. The alpha tester will have to agree to a NDA, non-disclosure agreement, to get access to their test accounts, which means that they will not be allowed to publicly write about, post pictures and videos of what they see while testing. If they do so, they will not only be disqualified from the alpha test team but also get their live accounts banned and Expansive Worlds will take legal actions against the player in question. It’s not up to the testers to update the community about the progress.

Some Questions and Answers

• When will you launch multiplayer?
  It depends on how fast we can find all bugs and remove them. After the alpha period is over we will start a beta test period where we bring more testers in. After that period is over we’re ready to release it.
• Does Expansive Worlds host the server?
  No, the user setting the session up will host the game. So you play on the hosts reserves with his/hers equipment placed in there. You will be playing in the host’s “world”.
• Will the clients be able to use the hosts tents and other world items?
  Yes, but only the host will be able to place world items in the reserve.
• How many players can play together?
  Up to 8 players will be able to play together in the same session. But you can of course be less than 8. During a session players can leave and join as long as the host stays active.
• Will you be able to shoot other players?
  No, theHunter is still a hunting game and not a war game.
• What happens if the game Host crashes or leaves the game?
  Initially the games pauses, to see if the host comes back, but if not the game ends
• Can anyone start a multiplayer game?
  No, initially it will not be possible for free members.
• Can anyone join my multiplayer game?
  It will be up to the host. When you start a multiplayer game, you can set some parameters for your game. The parameters will be the following:
  • Only friends
  • Only paying members
  • Anyone
  • Within a Hunter Score range
• Who gets the kill if several players have shot an animal?
  The person who shoots the killing shot will be the one getting the kill in the statistics, but anyone can confirm it. This might however change over time.
• What if someone ruins the game by scaring animals and behaving badly?
  The host will be able to kick and ban players misbehaving.
• How many players can be inside towers/ground blinds at the same time?
  It’s not set in stone yet, but hunting towers will have place for three hunters, and ground blinds for two. Tripod stands and tree stands will continue to be a “one man only” type of equipment.

Comments

Howdy Hunters,

This week’s status update is a bit late due to us being extremely busy working on some secret stuff. But we hope that you have been kept busy, hunting for eggs.

According to our stats, you seem to be enjoying Hemmeldal and we had a record-breaking number of hunters exploring and playing our game this weekend.

Easter is coming up in Sweden so we’ve got a few days off to spend with our loved ones (we love you guys too, but this time we’re referring to family and friends). So we’ll be eating a lot of traditional Swedish Easter food like, salmon, eggs and pickled herring. And maybe drink some nubbe.

We’d like to know what kind of weapons you are missing in the game so please post that in the comments. Bear in mind that we won’t put any fully automated weapons in theHunter.

As we’ve mentioned before, our latest addition to the team is Emil and we feel it’s about time that he introduces himself. So please give him a hearty welcome!

Hello everybody,

I’m 25 years old. I live close to Globen in Stockholm. I’ve been interested in programming and game development since I was 12 years old, THe same year I made my first ping pong game in visual basic with some help from some older programmers. When I was 10 I started training Ju-jutsu and quickly became really good at it. I competed against adults when I was 16 years old and got a few medals 🙂

I stopped training martial arts when I was around 20 years old when I started working as a System developer.

My first mission for the Hunter was the Easter event page. But now I’m focusing more on the server side for theHunter.

Here are some photos of me doing what I like doing.

I like going out for some food and drinks.

Now I’m into rock climbing which I have been doing for about a year.

I also like visiting new countries. This is me in a forest in Estonia from my vacation last summer, but the only animals I spotted was a few dogs.

Happy Hunting!

Comments

Another weeks has passed and it is status update time. We were hoping for spring here in Stockholm, but instead the cold came back. Whoever is keeping the sun away from us, please don’t! We need spring now.

We’ve been kept busy fixing the last bugs on Hemmeldal and fine tuning the Brown Bear. It’s all coming along just fine and it’s looking legendary. If nothing unforeseen pops up we’re looking at a release next Wednesday, but bear in mind that in the wonderful world of game making anything might happen. So keep your fingers crossed. We’ve seen a lot of questions about species on Hemmeldal, and the initial species are the following: Brown Bear, Moose and Roe Deer.

It might seem a bit empty, but our plan is to add more species over time. It won’t happen next week, but eventually these three will be accompanied by more species.

We’d like to remind you of our Facebook page, make sure you like us there since we have special Facebook deals and competitions every now and then.

Expansive Worlds expanded this week. A new backend developer, Emil, started this Monday. It’s fantastic to have him on board. He’ll be working closely with Herman and Robert, mainly focusing on, improving your web experience. Emil will introduce himself properly later on.
We mentioned that Mathias joined us a couple of weeks ago, we feel that it’s time for him to introduce himself.

Greetings, hunter community!

My name is Mathias and I am the latest addition to the theHunter developer family here at HQ in Stockholm. I am currently on my way of becoming a full-fledged M.Sc. in media technology and computer science. As a part of my final examination at the University Of Linköping here in Sweden, I am doing my thesis work in collaboration with Expansive Worlds.

I won’t give away too much information on my mighty mission, but it just might (or might not) have something to do with investigating how to expand game concept’s by alternative platform usage (oops!). Well, that’s all you will get for now.

Please also note that as this is a part of my education, I am not a full-time working employee of Expansive Worlds. Basically, I work for em$’s, coffee and to get an excellent experience before I will graduate (also, the coffee is pretty damn good). I hope that you will one day will get to enjoy the result of my thesis work, though.

I will be here for approximately 15 more weeks, so we have got plenty of time to get to know each other. Want to fire some questions at me? Please refer to the comment section of this status update. Who knows, I might even answer a few of them…

I would like to thank the guys at Expansive Worlds for giving me this opportunity and for the hearty welcome.

Comments