Setting A Release Date

Setting a release date can be a little tough. With just two folks on the team it is not so tough. We're releasing 1.0 of CRUFT on December 18th on Steam. There, that was easy... or was it?

Setting the actual date itself isn't the big challenge. Getting the game to a spot where you can confidently say it is ready is the really doozy. We've added a lot in the last few months. Tons of cleanup, re-balancing, better UI, controller configs, lots of QoL stuff. Is it ever enough?

Where we are at now is a spot where we are happy with the game and the value it provides to players. We have a demo that feels good and is an accurate slice of what the whole game aims to provide. The game and demo are accessible to a wider swath of players.

Thanks buddy!

We're also down to P2 issues. By this I mean that the "OMFG this is on fire" P0 issues are all gone and the "OMG we need this in there" P1 issues are settled as well. We're (and by we're I mean mostly Will is) trudging through the stuff that we deem important, but not critical. Lots of smaller tasks that in sum just make the game stronger. There's cool stuff in there for sure. The important part is that it is a curated and manageable list of things. We can get our hands and heads around it.

1.0, of course, is just a starting point once again. Once more into the loop we go. We'll get a bunch more players in with feedback, learn even more about the game, and continue to grow it as appropriate. That's how it works and I like it that way.

We have new things in the very nascent, only on paper, sense and we are taking advantage of this time to reflect on how we work as a team. CRUFT very much started as a toy and then grew explosively into a product. We did not have the time (at least, we chose not to reboot the entire thing) to go back and unwind the beginning and pre-produce the whole thing. We desperately wanted to get through all the trials and tribulations of actually releasing a first game. While we think about and muse over ideas all the time, the goal here is to release things... fun things.

So Will and I push.

We don't want to get stuck in that very tempting mud of "I'm working on an indie game" as a perpetual state. I have been there at several points in my life and it starts to feel like a warm blanket. CRUFT has taken far longer than we expected, but that was very expected. It still has not taken all that long.

My first blog here is worth reflecting on, not because it is great or anything like that. The important thing is that it is a record. It's a stamp in time. It is something I can look back and hold myself accountable to.

Less than a year ago. Not too shabby.

So yeah, it's been about a year since this journey started. Feels way longer than that, I assure you. What a flippin' ride. Highs, Lows, and everything in between. Will and I have learned tons. We've made a few bucks (not a euphemism!) along the way. We have a full release with a date stamped on it.

From that first blog, CRUFT was described thus:

"CRUFT is about pulling up to a vacant lot, setting up, and bootstrapping into a new life. You can farm, you can get into manufacturing, you can pan for gold if you like. When you feel like you've done enough you can pack up a few things and drive off to a new life in a new lot."

And so it is. Sounds a little biblical there.

The point is we made what we set out to make. The P2s are really just ways to get there. We managed to stay on the path and get see it to completion, which as anyone in this business will tell you, does not happen with great regularity.

Keep an eye out for CRUFT if you have not already picked it up. December 18th is also the start of the Steam Winter Sale, and yes, the game will be on sale. If you're curious but not convinced, take the demo for a spin. It's a sweet ride.

-Matt