Let’s start the New Year together with something special: the first spaceship will launch to Tau Station soon! On 2nd January 2018, the Closed Alpha (CA) Test will start! So buckle up, because in this Special Episode, we will explain what the test phase is about, how you can catch one of the 100 tester seats available, and what the next steps are.

Content in a space-nut shell:

Update log

What does “Closed Alpha Test” mean?

What is expected from participants?

What can I expect as a tester?

100 seats for testers: How can I join?

Additional test facts.

Summary: Key facts & next steps.

Update log

Jan 01: The survey is over, thank you! We will post an update tomorrow

Dec 29: Shop information updated (Additional test facts)

Dec 25: Survey activated & added to this post

What does “Closed Alpha Test” mean?

The CA Test will be the first time that a small number of ‘externals’ are able to play and test the game in its current state. Tau Station is still in development, and though some features have yet to be unlocked, there will be a lot for you to explore and test out! The CA differs from things like ‘early access.’ The focus for the CA Test will be on testing game mechanics and features, while providing feedback to the team.

Your input is extremely important, because we want to improve as much as possible to achieve our goal of releasing a fantastic science-fiction title of high quality which is fun, intuitive to play, and comfortable to a broad audience.

What is expected from participants?

First, we hope you will enjoy playing the current state of the game, exploring the universe of Tau Station, and trying out all of the different things the game has to offer. Joining the CA Test means that you get to help make the game better for our growing Community and future explorers of the Tau Station Universe. You’re also supporting the development team with your feedback. Please report bugs, share your gaming experience with us, and don’t hesitate to ask questions. You can even come up with suggestions!

Everyone joining the CA Test will have the opportunity to influence the further development of the game to a certain extent. Please join us, and help Tau Station to grow and become what it’s expected to be. Any commitment is appreciated, so let’s start the engines towards a successful cooperation!

What can I expect as a tester?

You will be one of the first Community members who are able to play the game and you will get some exclusive insights. Communication with other game testers will be available, and the Tau Station Community Team will be available for you as well, in case you need help, have questions, or if you’d like to share your opinion. Please never hesitate to ask questions. Furthermore, we will provide status updates about the development of the game and you will get feedback based on your reports. Besides in-game channels such as chat and forums, some team members will also be available for you on Skype if you should choose to join. Even though not all ideas can be realized, our team is keen to listen to feedback, ideas, and hopes about what Tau Station is and could become!

100 seats for testers: How can I join?

100 Community members will be invited to the test. Right now, we are aiming at sending out the access details to the selected participants via email on January 2nd, 2018. In order to ensure a fair representation of our Community, we have set up a short survey.

Last week of December: the survey.

Next week, we’ll open up an online survey which will be available until January 1st, 2018. This survey will help us to achieve a good mixture of testers, from different countries, with a diverse background of gaming experiences, as well as to identify the various tools you’ll be using to help test the game (e.g., browsers or mobile devices). As we mentioned before: we want to create a game a broad audience can enjoy!

How do I find the survey?

If you signed up for our Newsletter (sign-up here if you haven’t already), you will receive an email next week including the survey link. Please white list newsletter@taustation.space to ensure that you don’t miss any messages, because sometimes spam filters may cause false alarms. The survey will also be integrated into this blog post until it’s over. The survey link will also be shared on Tau Station’s Facebook and Twitter page.

Additional test facts.

Language – For Closed Alpha, the game language and all communication will be in English.

Devices – You can play using your PC’s browser, via tablets, and on your mobile device.

Account wipes & down times – Might be needed even during the test, but we will try to avoid it.

Game progress – At this time, it has not been decided whether progress made in the game will be retained. Based on what changes are implemented, a wipe might be needed at the end.

After the test – What happens after the test depends of course on the CA Test’s outcome, findings, and what follow-up tasks the test may generate. It may be that the game will be closed for some time while we work on improvements, but we will be keeping you informed every step of the way!

Shop – The Shop, where you can purchase premium currency and VIP status, won’t be available during CA. Due to the holiday period, the service provider was not able to make the Shop accessible. Therefore, as we believe that Tau Station should be accessible to everyone, we decided to not open the Shop for testing purposes. Additionally, Tau Station is developed to be a “fair play” free2play game, which means we don’t have things like as level caps or blocked missions. Everything will be available via time and skill, though purchases through the Shop can give you boosts if you’d like to take a faster route, if you decide to support the project this way in the future.

Test instructions – Further instructions, such as a FAQ and other information, will be shared with the 100 participants with the test on-boarding in January.

Summary: Key facts & next steps.

We ask for your understanding that a game in such an early phase of testing and development is always going to be like a box of surprises. While we are trying to prepare as much as possible, the need change plans can always arise, such as doing account resets or extending the test duration. However, we will always share such details with you. The team are also human beings, but together, and with some flexibility, we can make this happen!