Patch 0.6: Events & Bosses is just around the corner with a couple of weeks away!
Hey Everyone, it’s Bruce from Pixel Sprout Studios.
In our Friday Dev Blog #12, we wrote that this patch could potentially be ready in mid-September, but based on PBE discussions and testing, we found we needed more time before we felt confident that the new content was ready for players worldwide.
For the past month, we have had our noses to the grindstone in hopes of minimizing the delay, and we finally have a moment now to give an update on the patch’s final release publicly.
Our estimation for the full release of this patch is now Friday, November 4th.
We would like to apologize for the extended delay. While game releases and major updates in the industry do have a history of extended delays, it certainly doesn’t feel great to be on that train as well from time to time. The nature of game development is about making something fun and immersive. With this, you have to take great care to make sure nothing in the game breaks immersion, which can be quite a task.
Between releasing the patch with bugs, or waiting a little bit longer to ensure everything is up to quality bar, we’ve chosen the latter- wait a little bit longer to ensure we’re delivering what players have come to expect from us. We’re very thankful for everyone’s patience and again would like to apologize for the delay.
On a positive note. This patch is yet again, our largest patch ever. With revamping Sun Haven Town, adding in 2 new storylines, and redoing our multiplayer system, we’ve made some leaps in bounds in what Sun Haven is, and what it will be in the future. Personally, I’m really excited for what we’ll be able to do with Sun Haven for Patch 0.7: Seasons, now that Sun Haven Town is so developed.
A sneak peek at Winter! This is still a WIP (Work in Progress).
With more positive news, we haven’t heard of even a single Multiplayer disconnection issue on PBE since refactoring the Multiplayer system this patch. With this new system that we can reuse, we’re very likely to be able to continue producing multiplayer games that you can play with your friends. Disconnection free. With a lot of things in game dev, the first time is just the hardest. That’s for sure.
(And now that I’ve said we haven’t had any disconnections, I’m surely just inviting someone to jinx us… uh oh. haha)
When will the new patch be live?
We’re aiming for both Windows and Mac updates for Patch 0.6. to ship on November 4th.
What are we still working on for Patch 0.6?
Controller Support is almost finished. We are in some of the final stages of playtesting, and compatibility testing to make sure it functions correctly on multiple types of controllers. To play Sun Haven with a controller, all you’ll have to do is… Well… plug in a controller at any time.
For folks curious about the Steam Deck, we believe everything should be functional and work properly. For our Steam page receiving the Steam Deck support badge, we are likely to receive this at a later date, since it’ll take some time for Valve to verify Sun Haven. Regardless, Sun Haven is playable with controllers. Hooray!
More Multiplayer Bugfixes are still being worked on. This update should squash many common Multiplayer bugs and practically all disconnection issues, but there’s always more bugs to squash.
What isn’t ready yet?
A few features we talked about in our last Dev Update aren't fully ready yet, as we needed to spend our time on squashing bugs. These features will come as micropatches during Patch 0.6 after the initial patch release, or with Patch 0.7: Seasons.
Expanded Character Customization is a massive undertaking with hundreds of new options between all the races. The art is all done, but we haven’t had time to implement them into Sun Haven yet.
The Withergate Mines also has all of the art done, but we will need a bit more time for implementation as well. During Patch 0.6’s release, you will still be able to check out the Withergate Mines’ Subway Hub outside of the Withergate Apartment, but you won’t be able to venture into the Mines just yet.
The UI Update, as intended for Patch 0.6, is completely in the game. However, we’ve heard your feedback about the new HUD UI missing the whimsical, fantasy aesthetic that the old UI HUD had. We’re taking your suggestions into account, and we’re working to re-add some of Sun Haven’s magic to an updated HUD UI for Patch 0.7, further inspired by you.
Special Thanks!
Thanks for your patience, and a big thanks to all of the folks helping with PBE testing on Discord. Speaking of which, we would like to shout out some of our most dedicated players for being amazing and incredibly helpful on Patch 0.6’s PBE testing:
Vizzy
Ashesinthend(Yserin)Nospoons
Jet
Eranoth
Gab
Hart
Huskie Moon Fox
KokoroWorlds
Wolf Bite
You’ve all helped us improve and polish Patch 0.6 into something we can be very proud of. Thank you. And now with the team and help of the community together, we hope to be able to bring Patch 0.6: Events & Bosses to Sun Haven as soon as it's ready.
We’ll see you with an update soon!
-Bruce, Director at Pixel Sprout Studios Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1432860/Sun_Haven/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SunHaven
Discord: https://discord.gg/FN5BGk38SP
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SunHavenRPG
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunhavenrpg/
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