Frost Giant Studios recently concluded its second playtest of the alpha build of Stormgate, a spiritual successor to Blizzard’s StarCraft. The studio shared the results of the playtests and announced how fans can participate in the third closed alpha test.
Stormgate’s pre-alpha and alpha tests surpassed developer expectations
The first two phases of Stormgate’s alpha testing focused on its one-versus-one competitive game mode. The tests did not include the game’s planned story campaign and three-player co-op modes. However, Frost Giant says the latter is coming this year. Alpha testers also only had access to the Human Resistance faction, with the upcoming third playtest introducing the Infernal Host.
As Frost Giant’s video explained, the alphas were mainly to test the reliability of Stormgate’s architecture. Specifically, the studio was looking for bugs, crashes, and problems with matchmaking. According to developers, the game performed surprisingly well in those categories.
While balance was not the focus, some testers took it upon themselves to gather data on unit performance. It also did not take long for players to find a cheesy strategy that involved building turrets in the enemy base. While players found ways to counter that, Frost Giant rebalanced the game to cut the cheese outright.
Developers also noted that the most successful strategies revolved around securing Stormgates’ Creep Camps, which grant resources and powerups. This resulted in the kind of tug-of-war battle for map control that Frost Giant was trying to create. The testers also seem to have had a lot of fun with StarCraft’s spiritual successor, even organizing a pair of tournaments.
The most recent testing phase concluded in August, with the third happening this month. Frost Giant Studios also plans to increase the pool of testers with each round. RTS fans who want developers to consider them for Stormgate’s closed alphas and betas can sign up on the game’s website.
