If this would be better somewhere else please move it or ask me to move it.
My post on AGS forums:
http://www.holdfastgame.com/forum/index.php?topic=877.0The Holdfast: Nations at War Discord
https://discordapp.com/invite/XsHBUNsLet me start out by saying that the guys at Anvil Game Studios are some of the nicest dudes ever.
So my friend(some of you may know him as Mustang) and I are traveling around Europe and knew we would be in Malta. We decided to message AGS on Facebook asking if it would be possible to meet up and ask a couple questions. They responded fairly quickly and Andrew(Refleax) agreed to meet us for lunch near their headquarters. After introductions, he took us to a little restaurant down the street where we had Maltese food and beers. While we ate and drank I berated him with questions and Andrew answered all of them fully. He also gave us extensive explanations behind the reasoning of his decisions.
Refleax and everyone else at AGS really stressed how important feedback from the community was to them. They really want to make the best game they can and they want to make a game that community will enjoy as well as themselves.
Refleax also stated many times that they will keep working hard to improve the game after the initial Early Release. They are all working tirelessly to get to an acceptable point for Early Release within 2017, which is the goal they have set for themselves and I believe will achieve. They all quit their jobs and are using their life savings to fund Holdfast. They are not taking donations or having a publisher. All their time and energy is going into this game so they want to keep working on it and improving it. It is going to be an ongoing project.
He and the rest of the gang were nothing but friendly to us and were very hospitable. After lunch Andrew invited us back to his apartment to take a look at Holdfast. We were introduced to Julian and Andreas and they showed us their setup and workspace. Mustang and I got to test out the infantry on a groupfighting map where we played with the melee and shooting. In my belief, Holdfast is different from NW in a unique way. They coded it from the ground up and are using Unity since it's a versatile engine and they will be adding things like cavalry after the game is out on Early Access. We also got to play a ship battle which was extremely fun. Holdfast’s concepts was originally intended to be naval focused but since the announcement they have shifted their focus on the land based content due to the feedback they received. They are very excited to see organized play take place on both the ships and on land.
I would like to thank Andrew, Julian, and Andreas again for meeting us and showing us their amazing game. You guys rock.