This is the first devlog for the Breachlands closed alpha - a straight account of what's actually built, what's deliberately placeholder, and what's coming next.
You're playing a closed alpha, and it's worth being clear what that means: this build exists to answer one question - is the core loop fun enough that you come back? Everything below is sorted by that. Some of it is real and finished, and I want your honest read on it. Some is rough scaffolding that's only here so the loop has something to stand on. Knowing which is which makes your feedback far more useful.
What's real - judge this
These systems are built. Whether they're fun (or they're not) is exactly what I need to hear:
The core loop. Train units on a timer, generate resources while you're away, raid other targets for loot, and reinvest to grow. You never need to be online at the same time as anyone - check in, set things going, come back later. That's the game.
Your base. An HQ that caps everything else, Credits and Parts generators you level for passive income, a Vault that shields a chunk of your resources from raiders, a Bulwark for turrets, and a build queue on real timers.
Combat. A proper engagement engine - units have HP and fight in lanes, their tags and abilities swing fights, both sides take losses, and you get a battle report you can read back. The dice are seeded and auditable.
Espionage. Scout a target before you hit it, or catch an incoming raid and send a spy back at the attacker to see what's coming. Spies travel in real time, so it's a race against the raid's arrival. The full scout and counter-scout loop is live.
Loot. Raids pay out on the army's return, scaled to how hard you hit and what the target left unprotected. Your Vault floor is safe; the surplus is fair game.
New-player protection. A shield window when you start, so you're not farmed on day one.
If you do nothing else: play the build-raid-return loop across a few days and tell me whether you want to check back. That's the whole test.
What's scaffolding - don't judge this yet
This is intentionally placeholder. It's here to hold the loop up while we read it, and it will change. No need to file bugs on it - but do say if it actively gets in the way:
One faction. Everyone's playing the Concord, the all-rounder starting faction. You may still spot some leftover "Ironclad" naming in places - an old placeholder being swapped out. The Adamant and the Myriad come later.
Most enemies are bots. The playerbase is small by design right now, so many of your raid targets are rating-matched stand-ins with real economies to loot. They're placeholders until the player count grows.
The art is placeholder. No real art pass has happened yet - visuals are functional, not finished.
Balance is a first guess. Build times, the HQ curve, loot amounts, research costs and the protection window are early numbers and will shift. If something feels badly tuned, that's useful to hear - just know it's expected.
Counters are off. The combat affinity layer (rock-paper-scissors) is flat for now. The system is built; it switches on once the base loop reads clean.
One base, no world map. You pick targets from a list - no territory map or multiple bases yet.
Nothing to buy. No shop, no premium, no purchasable currency. Everything is earned. Monetisation only arrives once the loop has earned it, and even then it's cosmetics and convenience, never power.
What we're deliberately not testing yet
These are real plans, held back on purpose so they don't muddy the read on whether the core loop retains:
Alliances, the player market and a ranked league - the whole social and competitive layer.
Daily streaks and login rewards - held back specifically because "I logged in for the streak" would obscure whether the loop itself brings you back.
Install-to-home-screen (PWA) polish - lands as async retention proves out.
If the loop is flat without these, no amount of them later would fix it. So we test it bare first.
What's coming next
Direction, not promises - this is a no-deadline side project, and each stage has to earn the next:
Polish and bug-squashing first. A pass over everything that shipped fast, plus the known rough edges (the onboarding flow has a couple of snags I'm chasing).
The espionage arms race. The scout loop gets a second half: counter-intelligence, forged intel (feed a raider a lie about your defences), and reading whether a target's army is away.
Combat depth. Affinities switch on and defensive buildings get real counters.
An art pass to make the game look like the game.
The social layer. More factions, alliances, a player market and ranked play - what turns a solid solo loop into an MMO. It comes after you tell me the solo loop holds.
What I need from you
You're founders. Your badge is permanent - it means you were here when it was still scaffolding and bots. Thanks for being here early.
I'll post the next devlog when there's something worth telling.
- The Dev
Play: play.breachlands.com · The world, if you want it: breachlands.com/lore