I want to outline expectations for the first version of Dire to be released in Early Access separate to the other Q&A thread ( https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/app/556530/discussions/0/2914346777816001125/ ) along with some other topics I feel are important.

If you played previously available builds of Dire you will may need to manually clear your old save data. This does not include the early 2020 Steam Festival demo but may include the private beta builds. You can try loading the game without deleting this data if you played previously but it’s possible there may be issues with older than Early Access profiles.


Windows
> %appdata%\Roaming\Faerie Solitaire Dire\
OS X
> ~/Library/Application Support/Faerie Solitaire Dire/
Linux
> ~/.config/Faerie Solitaire Dire/filename

We have no intention of forcing resets of save data, not even on release day of the full version, but there is still a chance we will need to. We will try to not need to. At the moment (and with the way we will do updates) we don’t see a reason why we would need to. You can always create a fresh profile in game to see what’s new in the new profile experience.

This is an Early Access game. This means it’s not a final game, but it’s still sold as is. We intend to only spend about 2 months in Early Access with Dire but anything could happen outside of what we intend to do (2 months in EA doesn't mean we will suddenly stop supporting Dire on release either, we will always try to respond to problems that come up in our games as soon as we can). We still have a very solid plan and are committed to sticking to it with hopefully very few development questions that could add extra dev time (we are past the iteration stage for the most part, right now it’s mostly bug fixing, fixing typos, doing balance, incrementally releasing content, polish). We intend to do updates when we feel an update needs to happen (that is when critical bugs are found we will likely push a fix ASAP), and weekly recaps of changes on Fridays. If you’re not comfortable buying day 1 of an Early Access game then add the game to your wishlist if it’s not already, and subscribe to the update posting threads so you can get info as we update and show off what’s added and improved - then buy when you’re happy to.

We want to make it clear that we want you to be happy with your purchase of this game in whatever state that it is in, that you can refund the game if you are not happy with it. If you buy it day 1 and are disappointed with what’s currently in the game. If you are not happy with the progress we make as the weeks go by. If you try it and decide it’s not for you. If you play it and don’t see yourself enjoying what is likely to come. Or really for any reason. We have your back, show this post to Steam if they refuse your refund if you want one. I know Steam is supposed to reject refund requests for games played over a certain number of hours but I want to make it clear to Steam support who may read this we approve refunds to anyone who asks for one.

The first build has 8 adventure chapters. These are story segments followed by 3 hands each of solitaire layouts. In these first 8 chapters the main story emphases is on prologue, setting the stage. And for the solitaire layouts it is mostly about an introduction and not massively challenging (although if you picked Impossible you may find even the first layout gives you grief). There is character art but the first build will not include it in the story segments so you’ll have to use your imagination.

The first build has 0 pets available (some eggs still drop but pets screen is disabled at the moment). Extra pet mechanics are something we have wanted to do but in the first build it’s the same “stamp collecting” as in our other games.

When you create a profile you can set a Difficulty. The first build won’t let you change the difficulty once you create a profile so choose wisely. The main thing your difficulty changes for you is how luck impacts you both negatively and positively. If you want luck to be less of a deciding factor in completely layouts.

The thesis of Dire is still a challenging solitaire of this (wheel) genre. We still want people to be able to relax and have fun if they want to (if that's you choose Relaxed as a difficulty). Of course solitaire is a game of luck and skill to varying degrees. In Dire there is still learning to do every layout to play cards in ways which maximize the chances of you winning. And especially in Dire we want to give you more tools over time to increase your ability to overcome bad luck with preparedness and skillful play. This game still involves luck by design - we do not fix the shuffles to make it more or less possible to win - it's done with RNG. Winning is in the layout, how you play, and the draw.

On the topic of teasing future content, we want to avoid doing this. We want to release things first then talk about them. Sometimes we might want to talk about things we have in store if people suggest them or something just gets out there but generally we don’t want to build expectations about things which are not immediately playable which means we’re actively trying not to hint or tease future content.

There are 20 achievements in the first Early Access build. These ones are “grindy” types in the context of the first available build but in the context of the full version they should all be doable in a single Adventure loop. In Dire we are separating the really grindy/luck based achievements into Feats, this category of achievements are not included in systems like Steam and they are not shown in game until they are unlocked.

The detailed help screens / popups etc. are not in yet. With a little trial and error the special cards available in the first build should be understandable, but proper help screens and guides for everything will be added in future builds. If you have a question about mechanics you can always post in this topic or in the forum in general.

There is a game version water mark at the bottom of the game. This is to make it easier for us to identify builds when issues are reported. It will be disabled some time during Early Access when it's deemed no longer needed.

Opting into automatic error reporting is optional but highly wanted by us. It makes it much easier for us to fix script errors quickly when this is enabled. The optin is the first screen you see when starting Dire.

Dire is a massively story (and character) focused game and this will be even more obvious as the updates come. If the story doesn't interest you or you are only here for the solitaire you can enable Story Skip in the options but this is not recommended (don't worry - skipping the story will have no impact on the actual card game). The story screen has a menu where you can enable auto play with various timings for your preference.

It's not a secret (anymore) that Dire has combat / encounters / dungeon content. To be clear, none of this will be accessible in the first build. I also want to make it clear that our philosophy with combat in Dire is for the solitaire to still be king and not secondary to other mechanics, you'll understand when you see it in action.

During the Early Access period we will try to only include as near finished content and other updates as we can. There will still be some things which look unfinished / not polished enough yet, but what we are going for is a gradual release of as close to finished content both in terms of polish and in terms of gameplay as possible.

Dire has been in development off and on since 2016 and has had several major evolutions in terms of gameplay, engine, story, and content. It is a sister game of our previous game Harvest, it was originally meant to be the opposite of it - that is harder and more complex. As Harvest developed we eventually made it possible to be harder and possible to more complex. And likewise with Dire we made it possible to be simpler and possible to be easier. We still have tried to remain true to the vision and make a solitaire where people who want the challenge and ruthlessness of random deals with lots of varied mechanics can play that game.

I was asked about voice acting and while it would be super awesome to do that the game has way too much character dialog which would end up being way too beyond our budget at least for now.

We want your feedback, your bug reports, what you like and dislike, what you hope to see and what you don’t want in the game. It all helps us make a better game. This game is for solitaire fans, so if that’s you it’s even more important that you let us know what’s right and what’s wrong as we progress through Early Access toward full release.