While Don't Starve: Shipwrecked has only been on Steam Early Access for a little over a month, it looks like the developers at Klei have big plans for the future of the game, including new characters, boss fights and more.
In case you've never played Don't Starve, it's one of those games with a title that pretty much says it all. A 2D exploration game, you're dropped into a world that looks like it was ripped from the pages of Tim Burton's diary. From there, your job is to forage for food and supplies in order to build shelter, plant crops, fight off baddies and, yes, do anything within your power from dying of starvation.
The kinda sequel to the original, Don't Starve: Shipwrecked hit Steam Early Access on Dec. 1, with a bit over a thousand people apparently willing to plop down their money early and take the game for a test drive as Klei continues to work on it, update it and get it ready for a full launch.
The developer yesterday posed a “Shipwrecked Roadmap” on its blog, highlighting the next several months' worth of content updates planned for the game. Klei's Bryce kicked off the post by thanking everyone who jumped into the game early, then went on to outline the road ahead.
We’re aiming to release an update around every 3 weeks, with the next update being scheduled for the middle of January and the final update being at the end of February. After that there will be an update dedicated entirely to bug fixes and balance changes. Of course, it should be noted that all of these times are just estimates of our schedule and may very well change (as they often do).
So, what can players expect out of these new Don't Starve: Shipwrecked updates? Well, for starters, a total of three new characters are currently planned, as well as bosses to fight. The post claims that the game has a “noticeable absence of large creatures.” Apparently three big, bad bosses are in the works, including a Tiger Shark and a couple of unnamed ruffians.
Along with those promised bug fixes, you can expect balance changes to be introduced in the coming weeks, as well as world changes. For starters, an unnamed new biome will be plugged into the game, as well as some new design elements meant to make Shipwrecked feel more like you're trapped on a deadly island and less like, well, the original game.
Save integration and world migration is also in the works, which should make continuing your games or moving favorite worlds to new modes even easier.
While some folks scoff at Early Access (and rightfully so given how some developers have botched the whole process), it's nice to see Klei doing what we'd call an exemplary job with their newest game. The early version of the game certainly seems to have garnered lots of favor with the folks playing it, and the team is rolling out regular updates that will only make the final product better in the end.
We don't have a final launch date as of yet, but we assume it's got to be coming up soon considering the fact that the current roadmap ends in February. And after it launches on Steam, we've got our fingers crossed that we'll see platforms like the Xbox One and PlayStation Vita getting some love, too.
