Arcen Games' upcoming title In Case of Emergency, Release Raptor is facing another delay ahead of its early access release. The game, which has you take on the role of a velociraptor, has seen a series of small delays as Arcen Games' lead Christopher Park tries to get the game ready for public exposure.
The last delay was for working on their level editor which needed a bit more time, led to a delay from the 21st to the 26th (and then unannounced one to the 29th). That has been done - but the extra time it took to create the level editor, while streamlining their creation pipeline, meant that other things weren't finished or in the state that they are happy with. That led to the decision to delay the game again, but this time opting to give them some breathing room with a new release date of August 17th.
The long post that Christopher wrote on the matter explains what they've been working on, why the release date has slipped again, and what they need to get done for launch. On slippage, he particularly addresses the concern that In Case of Emergency, Release Raptor could become like Stars Beyond Reach with constant delays leading to an eventual lack of release date. Contrasting the two, Christopher's explanation is that with Stars Beyond Reach they are struggling to "find the fun" with the game despite having the content largely done, while he states that's never been an issue with In Case of Emergency, Release Raptor. Another point to consider is that in the past Arcen's delays have been with a very limited buffer so that the game could release before the end of July, but this time Christopher has given them a good amount of buffer time to ensure there aren't any further delays.
There are at this point, eight things that need to be done for the game to be ready for an Early Access launch. The list is to have things done enough that the game can be updated quickly with more content throughout early access and has enough content for users on release. There are other things they'd like to add, but those are secondary things that complement the following list from Christopher:
- I'm working on a few last things with doors, and then a few other bugs.
- I have to finish the procedural assembly of levels sufficiently for it to use the new content.
- Blue and others are working on finishing furnishing their existing level pieces.
- I have more robots to get in place, including father brain.
- The voice acting needs to be put in place for the robots, and more needs to be recorded for some of the new robots.
- There are some secondary mechanics (fuse boxes, fire alarms) that I want to get in place, but it's not dire. Also elevators that... well, that's a surprise actually.
- I want to get more testers in place starting sometime next week so that we can continue to find whatever bugs exist BEFORE we go into early access.
- Oh, I need to make a new trailer and screenshots and all that jazz, and update the description stuff for the game.
They have also put up release notes of what they've been doing with the pre-early access demo which can give you an informative, if dry, look at what they are changing or adding.
If you want to learn more about In Case of Emergency, Release Raptor, we recently had an interview with Christopher Park about Arcen, the game, and the industry at large. Additionally, we'll have a preview for In Case of Emergency, Release Raptor coming before release.
