I just got an update e-mail, as follows:
Backer Beta Incoming!
Posted by Harebrained Schemes LLC (Creator)
With swirling heads, sweaty palms, and soaring hearts, we are pleased to announce that the BATTLETECH Kickstarter Backer Beta is ready, and keys will start arriving later today!
Distributing 25,000 Steam keys into BackerKit accounts will take hours, so please be patient! WHEN YOUR BETA KEY LANDS IN YOUR ACCOUNT, YOU WILL GET A NOTIFICATION EMAIL DIRECTLY FROM BACKERKIT.
As noted in our last update (which included a Beta FAQ), today’s release contains single-player Skirmish mode ONLY. We will automatically update the Beta with PvP multiplayer as soon as it's ready and let you know with another Kickstarter update.
So How Do I Get Started?!
Instructions for getting your Steam Key from your BackerKit account, downloading the game, and how to play the game are located in your Backer Beta PDF Manual (which you can start studying up on while you’re waiting for your notification email from BackerKit to arrive!) Since this isn’t the finished game, our Backer Beta does not include an in-game tutorial. You’ll likely have way more fun and be able to give us better feedback if you understand how things work, so it’s highly recommended that you review the PDF Manual before your first game.
BTW, you can also view the manual in-game at any time by clicking the “Help” button on the Main Menu.
What We Need From You
We hope you enjoy this first taste of our BATTLETECH game and we want to learn from your experiences playing it. So what do we need? MEASURABLE DATA! After EACH battle, you’ll get the opportunity to give us your feedback in a short 1-page survey on a variety of topics - controls, audio, AI, maps, tactics, and more - so be sure to take as many surveys as possible.
And plan to fill out the same survey more than once! We fully expect your answers to change over time (that’s an important part of the feedback process) so don’t skip a survey because you’ve seen the questions before. This is the best, most helpful way to positively impact the project and help us make the game better for everyone. (Yes, it’s even more helpful than reporting bugs.)
The other way to get us your feedback is to join the BATTLETECH Forum. The Backer Beta Discussion sub-forum is the place where you can expand on your experiences playing the game and share your constructive criticism with others. While the dev team won’t respond to feedback or engage in debates, we’ll definitely be reading and learning from your conversations.
Have fun! Melt armor! Kick myomer!
--Klimecky
