Eco will open itself up to alpha tier backers on November 23rd. So says the latest Strange Loop dev blog, while also mentioning the recent progress made by the crowdfunded sandbox’s dev team.
Skill mechanics have been integrated into crafting, which basically means that crafting time, material requirements, and byproducts can be independently changed based on skill. “For example, the smelting skill might decrease the amount of ore to make each ingot, while the smelting efficiency skill will make you craft them faster,” Strange Loop explains.
Farming is also in process, though irrigation systems won’t make it into the alpha. Water and pollution are accounted for, though, so if you’d like to be a bad neighbor and screw up your fellow homesteaders, dump your refuse and watch it “eek its way into the soil and hamper [their]Â gains.”
