Why Early Access?

“We are thrilled to unveil our game to the public, offering an exclusive opportunity for early access and public testing. This phase is pivotal as it allows us to gather invaluable feedback, steering the game towards its final release.

The focus of our early access is ensuring the game resonates with our community, delivering an experience that is both enjoyable and re-playable. To achieve this, we need to introduce certain elements that may alter the game's pacing. These include features such as wall running, player sliding, dual wielding of weapons, melee combat and any features we pull from our community feedback.

During Early Access, we'll closely monitor how these additions resonate with you, our players. Your feedback will determine whether these features enhance the game, require adjustments, or even removal. Each element has the potential to significantly impact the overall pace and feel of the game-play.

It's important to note that our testing isn't centered on identifying bugs at this stage. Prior to any updated release on the Steam marketplace, rigorous closed sessions are conducted to address technical issues. If you wish to be a part of just the bug testing phase please visit the beta section of our game website.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“6 months to 1 year max is the goal. We estimate with feedback and dev work we will need 6 months of buffer to address the items the community has given feedback on.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“Any issues with the game gained from the community feedback such as any game improvements will be added based on player feedback. Additionally anything that is simply causing the game to be unplayable or not want to be played. Any hidden bugs missed during dev and closed beta will be addressed at this time.

We are trying to gage what the community likes about the game already and what is purely disliked before we take it to final release and marketing.

For the hidden bugs point we want to point out that when we mention any hidden bugs that this is to be considered a super rare bug that just happened to get past dev testing and closed beta testing that might have gone unnoticed. The main difference from the Early Access Version from Closed Beta will be the improvements we make based off community feedback such as

“this game is too slow, why can’t the character move faster”
“I think this weapon doesn’t belong in this game at all, its way to powerful”
“I really like the wall running but it does not look cool at all”

We are not sure if this will be the exact feedback we get back just some examples of what we are prepared for and the game will be altered due to community feedback. We are also considering expanding the main map and would like to know player thoughts before and after a map expansion.

Additionally the Zombie mode that is in game currently would greatly benefit from community feedback. This mode is intended to be hard. If the community thinks it’s too easy we need to gauge that. More elements will be introduced until this mode is considered by the general community to be hard difficulty as we intend for this mode to bring a challenge to players.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The foundational elements of the Flood Escape have been solidified, including the rising flood mechanic, weapon pickups, Battle Royale mode, and Zombie mode, all of which are fully operational.

At this stage, Flood Escape is primed for players to immerse themselves in the intense action of Battle Royale mode or team up to face the constant stream of zombies in Zombie mode. Whether you're competing against each other or collaborating to survive, the game awaits your exploration and mastery.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“The game will be priced at a 75% discount during early access, once all planned content and features have been released and feedback gathered, an announcement will be made in the final early access update and the game will be taken out of early access and priced at full”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“The current game website has a form to report anything about the game that goes directly to our team.

As we release early access and updates during this time, we will ask players to please submit any feedback, feature requests, or other improvements they like to see in the game.

We need to make sure the game is fun in its current state before we can do some final improvements before final release.

There are a couple of concepts we hope to add to the game and see if the player base likes it or if its better left out.
(Example: we will introduce rotating weapon spawns at some point during early access, and then ask the community is the game better for them in this dynamic sense or did they like it where the weapons were static. We know what we would like as FPS player, but this is ultimately what the majority of the player base wants and provides enjoyment)

Players will be able to go to the form and say anything that about the game and any feature they do or do not like about the game. Player feedback will be considered on if we keep certain features we introduce into the game.”