Longtime fans of MOP will recall that Book of Travels is a game many of our writers and readers were intrigued by: It’s a “tiny MMO” originally Kickstarted back in 2019 for $261,000, and it hit early access last fall. But unfortunately, its unique art style and unusual gameplay didn’t make it a hit with the broader MMO playerbase; its population has been low, layoffs ensued, and our own previewers found the game baffling if beautiful.
In spite of the layoffs, studio Might and Delight has kept its ambitions high and has spent the better part of 2022 shoring up the game’s infrastructure rather than pumping out new buggy content, all in the service of pleasing stalwart fans and eventually fully launching the title. That’s meant the last few months’ communications have centered on technical details, a bit too granular for many would-be players.
But now, the studio has a new beta test environment prepped for testers; it warns that this environment is more unstable than the ongoing live retail version and will also be wiped. It also includes only “underlying core tech issues and general performance” upgrades, not content updates or quest bug fixes – for now, anyway.
“In essence, what we have done is change some of the core tech the game uses as well as streamlined some of our production pipelines,” the team writes in its Kickstarter update. “Updating the engine comes with several benefits. You should initially notice that the game feels a bit smoother but mostly it allows us to add some new technologies in that we can use in the near future to give you better gameplay, from things like a new Input System (affecting mouse movement and potential controller support) to new cinematic cameras and live real time events.”
M&D does note that it’s working on a roadmap in the “near future,” but for now, hardcore testers will want to check out the walkthrough for accessing the beta on Steam.
