Accessing Development Branches
How to Select Branches
1. Within the Steam application, right click Kynseed in your library
2. Select "Properties" from the menu
3. Click the "Betas" tab
4. Choose either the 'latest' or 'experimental' branch
What Are Branches?
You mean other than being the lovely thing on which a tree holds its leaves? In development terms, a branch is a sort of update channel you can subscribe to and change at any time. Whatever branch you subscribe to will automatically download an update whenever we push a new build out to it. Below is an overview of the three different branches we'll be using during development.
Main Branch
This is the default branch all players are put in at the start. In general, this branch will receive an update whenever we complete one of the major roadmap updates listed on
the roadmap. As such, this will be the most stable branch and is what we recommend to the average player who wants no-fuss straightforward game updates.
- The default branch for all players
- The most stable branch
- Will still receive hotfixes as needed
- (We make every effort to keep saves as stable as possible on this branch.)
Preview Branch
Before we send out an update to the Main Branch above, we push the update out a week early for players who like to help us test things first. This assists in squashing out any bugs or feedback that we didn't quite catch in our own playtesting.
- Is where an update generally sits for about a week before going to the Main Branch
- A more iterative build and will occasionally have bugs/breaks, but most will be quick to resolve
- Feedback in this branch will be actively worked on, but some things may get pushed to future updates
- (Saves can sometimes be backed up from the Main Branch, but may occasionally break.)
Experimental Branch
Some players love getting their hands dirty by helping us playtest the more frequent incremental changes to the game. While it's by no means a requirement that you send us feedback if using this branch, we do encourage such players to work closely with us by sharing feedback and bug reports for this branch in the usual places (
forums and
Discord preferably). This branch is perfect for players who want to work more closely with us and have a more hands-on impact on regular development.
- 'Bleeding edge' development and will be the least stable
- Will receive the most frequent updates
- This branch's build notes will get posted in this thread and will cover details that get simplified for the Main Branch changelog
- Feedback is extremely welcome and encouraged for those participating in this branch
- (Save safety not guaranteed! Saves may possibly be imported from the Main Branch to hep mitigate this. That said, saves from this branch won't be transferable to other branches.)