Hey everyone! It's been over a month since the release of the beta, so time for an update. We'll look into how the beta is doing, what we're planning for the release and what's coming up next in terms of features.
Beta launch
On October 16th, we launched the beta to 26k backers of the Adventurer tier (or higher). Launching such a huge beta is not an easy undertaking and it was the first time we showed the app to our backers, so naturally we were quite nervous.
Fortunately, the response has been heartwarmingly positive, and people have been making some REALLY cool stuff! It's extremely satisfying to see how DA is actively helping people save time and improve their roleplaying experience.
Here's a few awesome/funny/interesting maps people have been making with the beta:
Grand Cathedral
Mansion with hedge maze
Church of Cheese
Pac-man maze with cheese wheel pac-man
Beta progress
Since the launch of beta, we released two patches, both focused on adding more content and fixing critical bugs. Since then, the beta has been relatively stable and the amount of bug reports has dwindled, so we felt like it was time for a real feature patch.
We looked at all the feedback we've been getting, and one request definitely stood out: the ability to expand/shrink/adjust rooms after they've been drawn. So our first feature patch, called The "Room for Improvement" Patch, does just that!
It contains a full overhaul of the room interface, allowing you to change the theme of an existing room, add tiles to it, remove tiles from it, and more! Here's a video of this feature in action:
Coming up next in beta (the roadmap)
We'll continue adding new features to the beta as we go along. This is only the beginning! We have set up a roadmap on our website so you can follow along. It's updated after every patch and contains the features we'll be working on. The next one coming up is on top of the list.
So this is what's coming next:
Double-sided walls. Right now, walls have the same texture on both sides, which can be a little strange when stone walls penetrate a mansion, for example. We're going to implement a system that allows you to have two wall types on opposite sides of one wall, so you can have a consistent texture throughout each room.
The forest theme. This includes the long-awaited trees, paths, etc. And the AI will also be able to generate those for you.
Release date
Our beta launched smoothly, but we also received a LOT of excellent feedback from our community that we don't want to ignore. In order to process this feedback and make DA the program we want it to be, we decided to push the release date to Q1 2022.
Our apologies to anyone who was hoping to put DA under the christmas tree of their favourite DM - maybe it can become a valentine present now? :)
Discord beta giveaway
Our Discord is getting close to 20k users, and to celebrate, we will be doing a giveaway of beta keys on the Discord! If you haven't backed DA or you backed Cartographer, this is your chance to get access to the app early.
We'll be announcing the terms of the giveaway on Discord when we reach 20k, so don't miss out. Come join our vibrant community of roleplaying enthusiasts today!