Beta Programs
Joining the Closed-Beta Test will be the only way to experience Bot Colony until the game is ready for general release.
- Depending on whether you’re interested to help test gameplay or language tutoring, you should sign up for the appropriate Beta program: Game Beta or ESL Beta.
- People with game experience should sign up for the Game Beta.
- People who teach English as a second language (ESL) or actively study ESL are encouraged to sign up for the ESL Beta. The only difference between the Game Beta and the ESL Beta is that in the second, the characters correct your English.
- Both the Game Beta and the ESL Beta have a free version, and a Premium version.
- All Beta programs are currently planned for November 15, 2010.
- Participants in either Beta program are expected to provide game feedback.
- For any Beta program, providing quality feedback will get you additional online hours.
- All Beta participants must also have access to hardware that can run the game (NVIDIA graphics board, Windows 7 or Vista, 1 Gb, DSL or better)
- Access to the game in any form will require opening an account, getting a password and downloading the game.
Free Beta
Since we only have limited server capacity, we’ll be able to only accommodate 1,000 players as part of the free Closed-Beta Test (game Beta) and 1,000 players as part of the free ESL Closed-Beta Test (ESL Beta). All free Beta programs are Closed. This means that we reserve the right to select participants based on qualifications and demographics. The players in Free-Closed Beta will participate in stress testing of the game. We expect a larger number of players per server in this program, which may affect response time.
Sign-up for free Game Beta
Sign-up for free ESL Beta
Premium Beta
As North Side is a self-funded indie developer, we’ll need to rely on the book sales to pay for servers and enable more people to join the Beta. Purchasing the Bot Colony book automatically entitles you to 10 hours of online access to Premium Beta servers. You’ll need to order the book through this site (from early July), or provide proof of purchase to get access to the servers.
The number of players per Premium Beta server will be capped, to ensure good response time. You can use your 10 hour online access allocation just to play, without enrolling in the Beta. If you wish to enrol in the Premium Beta, use one of the buttons below.