Technical Test Server - First update

Greetings everyone!

Quite a few things have happened since we have started our Technical Test Server and we're happy to be able to share a first set of information with you.

What is the TTS?

The TTS, or Technical Test Server, is a closed version which we have set up to test the development of the game with a selected group of players.

A lot of you have joined us in our Technical Test Server, and we thank everyone that is helping us improve the game with your feedback and suggestions. So far, we have seen more than 4000 matches being played and the data we have been able to collect so far is invaluable.

The version is updated every 4-5 weeks in average and at this point we have started to prepare the fourth update.

Every version is the latest state of the current development version.
Our invited players get to see features early on, in work-in-progress state and with improper balancing.

These versions are accompanied by regular in-game news and previews of upcoming features.

At the same time, all participants on the TTS have access to a closed forum, which is under NDA, where they can share their game experience, the bugs they found and of course discuss the content.

We wanted to give back to the community by sharing with you more information about the process. At the moment we have invited more than 1000 players, with an extra batch of 500 new invites being sent out very soon.

Invitations happen via e-mail and not all invitees have joined yet, so check out your inbox to see if you may have missed the invitation.

TTS Versions

The Technical Test Server is operational, and so far, players in it have seen features being added and balancing improved.

Our work has been steady and at this moment we are up to Update 3. Plenty of changes have come in, all aimed at improving the areas on which we got the most feedback.

On gameplay, we have worked heavily on the economy, improved the rush situation, added new skirmish maps, expanded the tutorials, and iterated on building costs and production chains.

Our art department has been hard at work with new landmarks, visual improvements on the settlement feeling, and further work on units. From the UX perspective, we have had the chance to add the staples of RTS games, including Play vs Friends lobby, Save and Load for Single player content, customizable key binds and iterations on existing and newly added UI elements.

This is only a portion of what we have worked on, and all of this comes together with changes in balancing, unit behavior, feature iterations and bugfixes.

There is more!

At all times we want to keep our TTS players informed of the changes to come, to obtain feedback as early as possible.

We have already collected hundreds of comments with ideas, feedback and questions. We answer with as much information as possible, sharing design philosophies, details about technical context and more.

We have also shared previews of future inclusions with our TTS players. We value immensely their contributions to us, and we will continue to grow together to further improve the game and make it a great addition to The Settlers series.

What is next?

Our goal is to further increase the overall quality, content and polish. We will keep updating the TTS and we will also invite additional players in the future.
We want our players to feel part of the process, so we plan to share with everyone short updates on how the TTS is doing, starting with this post today.
On behalf of the entire development team, we'd like to thank you for your patience and passion which you hold for The Settlers.

With love,
Your The Settlers Team.