With Steam reviews at 'Mixed', the developer of Half Sword addresses differences between the early access game and its hugely popular tech demo: 'The final version of the game will differ from what has been shown previously'

Medieval duelling simulator Half Sword was a whole hit during last October's Steam Next Fest. Its goofy, grisly tech demo was the most popular playable snippet of the entire showcase, with players going haywire for its elastic, haphazard duels where your weapons were as much a threat to yourself as your opponent.

Unfortunately, the demo's popularity has seemingly come back to bite developer Half Sword Games in its early access launch. Although Half Sword attracted a big audience upon its alpha release in January, the response by players has been as divided as a human skull when struck by a Zweihander.

The issues cited by players are numerous. But the main problem is that combat in the early access version feels very different from the tech demo, with some Steam reviews claiming that the system is harder to grapple with, and much easier to send your character into a flailing ragdoll. The developers point out that the tech demo was based upon a much older version of Half Sword, and its system have been built out much more in the interim:

"After development branched into Early Access and away from the tech demo, the locomotion and combat systems have changed significantly" writes the Half Sword team in a Steam post. "Every new procedural animation such as grips, stances, or damage reactions introduces new variables that must be tested and rebalanced. Because of this combat can feel different between updates while those systems continue to evolve. An improvement in the controls on our end can sometimes feel like a massive change for players."

For those hoping Half Sword might revert to the model seen in the tech demo, the team makes it clear this isn't going to happen. The developers point out that the demo was created "to showcase the early core mechanics" and that "it was not intended to represent the final version of the game," they write. That said, the current implementation doesn't represent the finished version either: "Combat balance and weapon handling will continue to evolve as new features are added, and those additions will naturally require further adjustments."

The divergence between Half Sword's demo and the early access version isn't the only issue that the team addresses. On the subject of technical issues, the team says that "our main focus has been performance and optimisation" and that "when new issues appear after updates, we work to identify and address them as quickly as possible."

Finally, some players pointed out that the early access trailer showed features not included in the initial early access build. In response, the Half Sword team says that the trailer "was not intended to showcase everything that would be available on day one of Early Access," and that "we wanted to tease a little bit with what is to come in the future."

To some extent, I sympathise with the Half Sword team here. Players generally don't like it when they feel a game they enjoy has suddenly been changed, and having everyone go buck wild for an old, unfinished demo that you've subsequently moved away from puts the developers in a tricky position. The team had intended to release a new demo for the previous Next Fest, but was apparently too busy working on the actual game and "didn’t want to rush out something that wasn’t ready".

That said, it doesn't help when your own marketing contributes directly to wrong expectations. Frankly, showcasing features in your early access trailer that aren't in the actual launch version is unwise, and more care should have been taken to delineate what was in the game from day one and what was still in production. Nonetheless, early access is often a learning experience for both developers and players, and Half Sword Games has plenty of time to win players around.