Don't know what VolleyShot is or just plain forgot about it? Check out the above video to see an older, outdated Pre-Alpha video of the Bedrooms map, which is already looking very different in the upcoming Alpha version!

General Development Progress

Hey everyone! Just wanted to post an update to say that VolleyShot development is still ongoing.  I don't really have much to show, as the things I've been focused on are hard to show in screenshots or video. That said, I've been working on the network play, and despite it taking a little longer than I wanted, I think I've gotten the core networking and lag-compensation components to a point that are just about ready for the public. They aren't perfect, but I would say they are definitely in an Alpha state, which was the goal all along.  Oh, and I've also got a new music track that I think goes much better with the game than the placeholder in the Pre-Alpha, as well as doing some audio mixing to help balance the sounds, especially super-loud ones like the primary fire. 

Near-Future Development Goals

Anyway, as I make the main following changes, I'll continue to smooth online movement and physics out. I've got things like periodic ball and character movement syncing, client/server projectile collision conflict resolution, and projectile smoothing in place. They just need a little refinement to best present a smooth client experience while ensuring clients don't feel like the server is "lying" to them. So my next goals for the Alpha release are to further develop existing courts, add at least one new court (currently a large-sized court, but this isn't set in stone), and nail down the lobby and match-making aspects... I am honestly dreading these, but they shouldn't take long once I get into them.  After the initial Alpha release, I will really begin to go to town on new courts, improving sounds and visuals, the single player(?) challenge mode, and adding additional model refinements and customization options for the player and bot characters. 

Alpha Release Details

All of this is technically TBD, but unless I specifically mention "I'm not sure," you can consider it pretty concrete. Once VolleyShot reaches Alpha in a month or two, it will be released as Early Access at a discount on Steam. There will also be a free demo. Both the demo and the Early Access versions will include (at least) all of the features in the current Pre-Alpha versions in addition to Peer-to-Peer networking for online matches. Early Access adopters can expect updates, at a bare minimum, once a month, with the demo being updated for bug fixes and core gameplay changes similarly, if not quite as often. Because of reasons, I'm unsure if I will do itch.io versions, and if I do, it may only be an offline demo. I love itch and will do what I can to support it, but I don't know if it lines up with everything I have planned for the game.

As for the demo, it will likely feature two courts, online functionality, but matches will possibly be restricted to a maximum time limit, regardless of a score limit or the practice mode. Again, this isn't set in stone, but I like to be open, and I feel this is a good way to offer incentive to join Early Access, or, for those that are understandably wary of that, buy the game at release. I also plan to improve and increase my marketing efforts so that there will hopefully be plenty of people to play with.