We have exciting news to announce - Builders of Egypt Playtest!
The moment we've all been eagerly awaiting is finally here! We are thrilled to announce the much-awaited Builders of Egypt Playtest Event!
What is Builders of Egypt?
Builders of Egypt is an extraordinary city-building game that transports you to the majestic era of the pharaohs. As the master architect and city planner, it's your duty to construct awe-inspiring monuments, manage resources, engage in trade, and nurture a thriving society along the banks of the Nile. Are you up for the challenge?
Playtest Schedule:
We have a huge number of eager people who want to try their hand at Builders of Egypt. This is both an honour and a great pleasure for us - but in order not to spoil that pleasure for you, we have decided to divide the players into three rounds. The most important to know is that all those wishing to participate will be invited. Everyone! So if you haven't received an invitation on Wednesday, wait until Friday. And if you don't make it on that day, you will definitely get one on Saturday.
Why is there a one-day break in the addition of players? So that we have a response time if there are any problems, both in the game itself and here on Steam. Sometimes things go wrong and we give ourselves a day to resolve the issues.
Playtest Objectives:
This playtest event aims to gather valuable feedback from our incredible community of players. Your insights, suggestions, and critiques will help us fine-tune the game and make it an unforgettable experience for all. This is your chance to be a part of shaping the final version of Builders of Egypt! It will also be important to fill in a survey with your impressions of the playtests. The link to the survey will be provided on the day of the test. It will also be available in-game and here on Steam.
How to Participate:
Participating in the playtest is easy! Simply follow these steps:
2️. Scroll down to the “Join the Builders Of Egypt Playtest” segment
3️. Click “Request Access” and wait for an invitation
As there are tens of thousands of people waiting for the playtests to start - sending out invitations can take up to 3 days, due to technical reasons.
Stream:
To celebrate the start of the playtests, there will be a stream on our Twitch channel, where we will play the available scenarios together and lead our city to eternal glory!
Drop by our channel and be sure to leave a follow: https://www.twitch.tv/buildersofegypt
Spread the word among your fellow gaming enthusiasts and history buffs! Let's make this playtest event a grand success by coming together as a community to craft an extraordinary ancient world. Mark your calendars and set your alarms – the Builders of Egypt Playtest Event is an opportunity not to be missed! See you there!
Devblog #47
Hello, Builders!
Today we come to you with an important post. This is because we want to summarize the most important changes you will see in the upcoming Playtests! We know you can't wait, so be sure to read on and sign up for the playtests. Be sure to share your thoughts! We also invite you to follow us on our other social media: https://bit.ly/m/buildersofegypt
Economy Balans
Trading and Stockpiles
You pointed out the marginal chances of coming out ahead financially, even realizing the minimum requirements of the mission. There were several reasons why this was happening. First of all, proper rebalancing is a long process that requires a fair amount of effort. And such a process is best done if one has already changed nothing or almost nothing in the game in a fundamental way. In the case of Builders of Egypt, the balancing was done at the early Prologue build stage, and then as a result of dynamic changes in the behavior of the Trader and even minor adjustments in the behavior of buildings and Stockpile workers, the balance was upset to such an extent that completing the mission was very difficult. In addition, launching and fixing the tax system, under which payments to employees enter, did not improve this situation either. As you can easily guess this has all been fixed in the new version and in the upcoming playtests you will have the opportunity to test this. The number of goods that a neighboring city can buy has been significantly increased. The Trader himself moves much faster to compensate for the distance he has to cover on the map and exchanges his goods more efficiently. Stockpile workers also move much faster, by almost 80% (while still maintaining a realistic appearance) which dramatically improves overall production efficiency. In Stockpile itself, the order queuing system for goods has been improved, and as a result, everything runs more smoothly.
Building - monuments and pyramids
The construction of the Monument, while impressive, may have bored you with its slowness of progress. Here, two major changes have been made - the Stockpile has priority for supplying the Monument with the goods it requires. That is, if you build a Stockpile that handles only the goods required to build the Monument then the shipping and transport of these goods is lightning fast. The second change relates to pyramids, as they are mainly where the second problem occurs. You know those ramps that wind around the pyramid to the top? Unfortunately, while this is somehow realistic and looks cool, measuring the time with a stopwatch, it turns out that it takes an eternity to deliver one piece of goods from the Stockpile to the very top of the monument under construction. And, after all, such a worker still has to return before taking another order. In view of this, we proposed a compromise - an additional feature was introduced in the options to be able to choose the behavior of Stockpile workers: a realistic mode, i.e. the same as before, and a simplified mode, i.e. workers leave goods at the base of the Monument in the same way as they leave them at all other production buildings. The difference in the time it takes for the pyramid to be built is downright incomparable, but it was hard to come up with any other solution here besides taking shortcuts which would be to reduce the number of construction stages or the number of goods the player has to deliver. After all, it's a pyramid! It's the result of years of hard work by tens of thousands of skilled workers!
Missions
As you already know, there will be 5 missions available to you during playtesting. There is no need to dwell on them again, but the most significant change concerns the objectives to be fulfilled, the resources on the map, the introduction of animals (which were also there before but were decorative at the time), a change in the list of buildings, a change in the number of neighboring cities, etc. That is, a lot of small qualitative changes that will strongly diversify the gameplay and make the world more lively. All this makes the game experience even better!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
Better start for new players
We are committed to making Builders of Egypt a game where there is something for everyone - both veterans of the genre and novice players who are just taking their first steps in city-builders.
Example of the first step of Mission 02
So another big change is the way the player is introduced to the game. While the tutorial in mission 01 is fine and has been slightly corrected with the addition of two buildings, without which the player will not meet the objectives of the mission, the tutorial also appears in later missions but in a different form. We call it such a semi-tutorial because, although strict restrictions are imposed, but the player can build freely in the designated area, which is heavily scripted and checks the correctness of the construction of the resulting city. In this way we want to let the player decide for himself what and where he wants to build, but at the same time provide him with all the necessary information for this. It is important to realize that our game is not simple in general and there are quite specific rules that the player has not encountered anywhere before, such as the need to build a road to the "gate" on the board for the Trader to want to come (the lack of this road is additionally informed to the player in a scripted hint), the need to build the Stockpile as a hub for reloading all goods, what function the bazaar has, and so on. For experienced players with such games, all these rules are obvious, while for anyone less experienced quite a lot of information they need to possess before they start playing seriously. That's why these changes are so important - so that everyone can get the best out of the game!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
Bug fixes
Of course, in addition to the aforementioned changes, there have also been plenty of fixes for smaller and larger bugs that you may have encountered during gameplay. We try to eliminate as many of them as possible, but the process of creating the game is so complicated that it is impossible to remove ALL bugs at this stage. We believe that during the playtests you will help us catch new bugs that we can remove and provide you with a stress-free gameplay :)
As always, we thank you for being with us and supporting us. We are constantly working on the development of the game, so you will not be disappointed!
Devblog #46
Hello, Builders!
We hope you are doing well! We greatly appreciate all the feedback you've shared with us. Your input has been invaluable in shaping the future of the game. We have some exciting updates and news to share with you today!
Enhanced Gameplay Experience
Based on your valuable feedback, we have received a recommendation to add more scripted hints to the game. These hints can be toggled on or off, allowing players to customize their experience. For example, if there is a fire in your city, the game will guide you to the affected location, explaining what is happening and providing suggestions on how to handle the situation effectively. These scripted hints aim to improve the overall player experience and assist those who are new to this genre of games.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
Playtest
We are in the process of putting the final touches before the playtest launch. We're not only focusing on fixing bugs but also on providing a smooth and engaging introduction for new players who may be unfamiliar with this type of game. The playtest build will be carefully crafted to captivate and immerse new players, ensuring a memorable experience from the very beginning. Please note that the playtest will not include the full campaign.
Retesting and Determining Our Progress
Following the implementation of various changes and improvements, we have sent the build for retesting to our trusted partners at QA PlayWay. The feedback we receive from this process will help us assess our progress and identify any areas that require further refinement. We greatly appreciate your patience and support as we work diligently to make Builders of Egypt the best it can be.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
Changes in Mission Structure
In preparation for the playtest, we have partially revamped the mission structure. Previously, the difficulty level of the sample missions was intended to provide a glimpse of what the full version of Builders of Egypt would eventually offer. However, we realized that the initial mission was overly challenging, making it nearly impossible for new players to complete. In the playtest build, you will witness significant changes. Mission 01 will now serve as an introductory mission where players can learn the basics of city building at their own pace. Each subsequent mission will introduce new mechanics, expanding the possibilities of building and managing a city. Mission 02 will present the challenge of food shortages while maintaining adequately developed houses. Mission 03 will introduce animal interactions and complex production, and in Mission 04, you will encounter their first monument. We believe these changes will provide a more accessible and enjoyable experience for players of all levels.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
Campaign Info
The campaign, consisting of 39 missions, will be reserved for the full version of the game. Each mission in the campaign will be experienced sequentially, and the decisions made during each mission will affect the course of subsequent ones. Your reactions to requests from Pharaoh, neighboring cities, and major events (not available in the playtest) will have consequences, ranging from altered starting parameters to varying levels of banditry, trade interest from neighboring cities, and the intensity of possible troop attacks. We're excited to provide you with a rich and immersive campaign experience upon the game's full release.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
Join us on other social media platforms - Discord, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube!
We are aware of the prolonged development process, so we encourage you to join our other social media, where you can have a nice time, connect with super people and also learn additional things about the game! You can join here:
We would like to extend a warm welcome to Emi, our newest team member! Emi will be joining us as a Community Manager, bringing her expertise and passion for gaming. You can find her on our social media channels and by email: mirela@strategy-labs.com. Be sure to give her a warm welcome and connect with her to stay updated on all things Builders of Egypt!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
Playtest Enrollment is Ongoing!
If you haven't already, now is the perfect time to sign up for our playtest! We are still accepting applications, so don't miss this opportunity to get an exclusive sneak peek and be part of shaping the game's development.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
Playtest Build in last straight in QA Testing!
The latest build for the playtest has been sent to our trusted partners at QA PlayWay for rigorous testing. This ensures that we identify and resolve any remaining issues to provide you with the best possible gaming experience. We greatly appreciate their support and expertise in helping us polish Builders of Egypt to perfection.
Improvements Galore!
In the playtest, we have been diligently addressing numerous bugs to enhance stability and optimize performance. But that's not all! We have also focused on refining the game's economy and mission objectives, striving for a balanced and immersive gameplay experience. Your feedback during the playtest will be invaluable in shaping the final release.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
Update Coming Soon!
Following the playtest, we are excited to announce that Builders of Egypt: Prologue will receive its major update on Steam! This update has been long-awaited and will bring a host of new features, improvements, and content to the game. Stay tuned for further details as we draw closer to the release.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
Welcome to Discord!
As a reminder, we have launched our official Discord server, where you can connect with fellow players, engage in discussions, share feedback, and stay up to date with the latest news. Join us using the following invite link: https://discord.gg/kk4gSW69 We look forward to building an active and vibrant community where you can share your experiences and interact with the development team.
Stay tuned for more exciting news and updates on Builders of Egypt! Together, we will create a captivating and authentic ancient Egyptian city-building experience. Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm.
Happy building!
Devblog #44
Dear Builders of Egypt community!
I am writing today to update you on the progress we have made on the game. First and foremost, I would like to apologise to all of our players for the delay in releasing this update. I know how frustrating it can be to wait for news, but I hope it is worth it. I'm still here, working harder than ever, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps a BoE release is on the horizon? The next few weeks will tell us! Over the past few weeks I have been working hard to address the numerous issues and bugs reported by our PlayWay testers. If there were just a few of them, we would have been done with playtesting long ago, but there were A LOT of them, as you know from playing the latest demo.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
The demo was not the best first experience with BoE, many of the bugs were due to a complete change in the way the gameplay balance was managed. In short, I had to implement solutions to make it easier and quicker for me to adjust gameplay to difficulty levels, campaign progression, etc. And that meant taking a dozen steps back and dismantling the game mechanics into their first parts. And I failed to put it all back together in time. What was particularly annoying was that most of the bugs that completely blocked gameplay were simply my missclicks. Therefore, the demo will be updated later this week.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
So I was able to identify and fix bugs that have been with us since Prologue was released, and that there was no way or opportunity to fix before. Yes, very old bugs that manifested themselves in various ways that drove me crazy and that I was unable to reproduce at home for a long time. But they are gone for good.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
Once the playtests are over, the marketing campaign will start and we will be finishing the production of the game, so we need to be absolutely sure that BoE is what it was meant to be all along and that even the smallest and silliest bugs do not spoil the enjoyment of the game.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
I also focused on balancing the game mechanics and improving performance to ensure a smoother and more enjoyable gameplay experience. In addition I also added some very cool effects related to the disasters that happen in the game, because it wasn't impressive enough before. It will be much better now. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
I'm just a tiny step away from starting the playtest, the build is already in pretty good shape so I don't expect any major tweaks. If you are interested in taking part, there is still time to sign up. I would love your feedback and insights as I continue to refine and improve Builders of Egypt.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ★
Once again, I apologise for the delay and appreciate your patience and support. The whole team is committed to making Builders of Egypt the best it can be and we look forward to sharing more updates with you soon. Let's hope the testers have no further concerns and we can show you what we've been working on for so long.
Best regards,
Jacek Turek Strategy Labs
Demo patch | 0.829
Thank you for reporting the bugs, you are amazing as always. There are obviously more bugs than we've been able to fix, so we're still working on it. Next update today or tomorrow.
fixed:
step 02 tutorial text
claypit clay transport to stockpile
fishing wharf not progressing tutorial
tutorial buildings showing always bad places
destroy hammer icon disappear
tutorial step click on city Abydos changed to Tinis
house rebuild
house clone
turquoise mine building mesh
jeweler smoke removed
correct message location
Base Builder Fest
The base-building festival is about to begin, and we couldn't miss it!
In front of you is the new content, which will be also available for the players during earlier announced Open Playtests, the Beta. Those are the first four missions. At least one of them you might already know very well. We have chosen this particular content in order to introduce you to some of the fundamental mechanics, which in the later stages of the game become more and more complex.
The most important - fourth mission - presents the first monument found in the game, the Mastaba. It is not as impressive structure as the Temple of Aton, but it should prepare you well for the larger pyramid you will be building during the upcoming Playtests.
Currently, we are still working on a lot of bugs, so we've decided to use Base Builder Fest as a great opportunity to show you some of the Playtests' content and to collect information on other bugs that we really want to fix before the Open Playtests launch.
We hope that your feedback will help us identify all of the bugs that are present in the current build and we can run Open Playtests without any major problems.
Today is the last day of another year of our game’s development.
The first half of the year was quite uncertain for us and full of all sorts of things to deal with. We limited Steam communication focusing on the progress of the game, adding new functionalities and refining what we already added and wanted to add before game's release. Even though we didn't manage to finally release the game at the end of the year, we are still very pleased with the amount of work that has been done till now. Many of you doubted us during that time, but we hope, despite the extended waiting time, you will take part in the open playtests and help us in this last, most important phase of the game’s development. Thank you for your great help and support so far!
Unfortunately, our internal testing and reviewing phase are slightly delayed. At first we had hoped to launch the playtest before Christmas, but now it should go live early in the new year. Before the launch, we will get back to you with more information on how the playtest will look like and what will you be able to experience in it. You can still sign up for Playtests via Builders of Egypt Steam Store Page.
So time to get back to wishing! First and foremost, get ready for the upcoming premiere of Builders of Egypt! Take care of yourself, your families and friends. Find the time to rest properly and relax not only by playing games. 😉 Stay safe and healthy and don’t forget to regularly check our community hub and news for another update!
Stay tuned and see you in the New Year Egyptian Builders!
We bet you thought we were dead but guess what, we are still here alive, well, and creating for you!
Before we tell you more about what has been happening during "no news" time, for those who are impatient - we are making the final touches and the game goes to the testing phase (with you, of course).
As you know very well, there was a very long break in communication, although we checked social forums on an ongoing basis and answered your questions as much as possible, sometimes a bit mysteriously, but more on that in a moment.
Usually, it's not a good sign when developers go silent, but in our case, it was about some business talks conducted since February 2022, which initially promised to be a very big and positive revolution for the game and our entire team. We planned to announce this great news "soon™" so we've decided to stop temporarily all our plans for future devblogs, Builders of Egypt: First pyramid launch, and playtests. Unfortunately, with time, these talks came to a standstill, and seeing no further progress, we've decided to return to our original plans, so here we are and we came today with a lot of good news for you!
Let's start!
*What the bloody hell is going on with this game?!*
To be honest ... it is almost done!
During the last few months, we're working hard on the game as usual. We're a small team with big ambitions, and the game grew to a very large size, which eventually exceeded our imagination, and time needed to make it among other things is much longer than predicted. Ok, but enough marketing, let's move on to the business, which is the game release plan. Level and Temple of Hatshepsut update. One of the few cases where the location of a monument is predetermined. In this example, it is located next to the Temple of Tothmes I There are a few things that need to be done first:
Finishing the revisions from our internal content review. This will probably happen next week.
Starting beta testing, i.e. finally also Playtest on Steam. We expect that you are more than ready, so prepare yourself emotionally and physically starting with about 15GB of free disk space because that is how much +/- the final build will take up.
[Optional] Release of Builders of Egypt: First pyramid (Prologue 2) to replace Prologue 1. We don't have yet a final decision on whether we'll make it in time for its release, but we'll decide after the testing phase is completed.
Implementation of all of the patches, and rework on gameplay balance.
Delivering the game to Steam stuff for the final review before launching, which is a standard procedure for every game published on the Steam platform.
Once we've ticked off all points on our to-do list, we'll be able to hit the 'Launch' button and finally, after years, give everyone access to our long-awaited Pharaoh-inspired game! Another case of a defined construction site. Here, the reason is also logic and historical consistency but also to maintain the difficulty level of this mission.
Ok, so when is the release?!
At this point and with our current knowledge, we estimate that we'll complete all of the planned tasks by the end of the year and the launch will be in Q1 2023, more at the beginning than the end of the next quarter. Believe us - we really want to release this game eventually and we want to work more on the next projects as well!
We apologize for the lack of frequent updates in recent weeks.
We're currently reorganizing our company. We're also preparing for various upcoming events and therefore all people have been assigned to more pressing, high-priority tasks. As soon as we finish the ongoing assignments, we will return with regular Devblogs and other game-oriented announcements. Stay tuned and stay safe! Keep an eye on our updates regarding Builders of Egypt.
PS. We know you're curious about Prologue 2 (The First Pyramid), we can't let you on more details right now but once that changes we'll get back to you with more information.
