added a steam link for this now to top. also some game info here taken from steam pg.
What the developers have to say:
Why Early Access?
“We strongly believe that games should be developed together with the community. With all the core gameplay mechanics implemented, the game is now at a state where players can start to enjoy it, and we want the community to work with us to decide in what direction it should evolve.
Over the last 5 years working on the original theHunter, the community have really helped us make a great game and we believe that Primal would benefit from the same approach. We want to hear players' feedback, opinions and ideas!”
Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?
“We currently plan to release the game in the beginning of March 2015, and continue to support it afterwards through updates, based on community’s feedback.”
How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?
“During the Early Access and up until the release we will continue developing a number of features, including (but not limited to) the following:
Lots and lots of tweaking, balancing and polishing
2 new dinosaur species
More elaborated PvP mechanics and support for team based gameplay
Localization into several languages
More weapons
In-game currency reward system
- Players will earn in-game currency by hunting dinos and completing achievements, which can be used to purchase equipment and weapons in the store before entering the game world.
Player XP system
- Players will gain XP by hunting dinos and completing achievements, which will unlock new items to be purchased in the in-game store.
In-game store
- The in-game store is NOT A MICRO TRANSACTION STORE!
- We want to reward players' achievements and persistence in the game. Through the in-game store players will be able to spend the currency they obtain within the game to start with equipment and weapons directly when they spawn.
We are also looking forward to player feedback during the Early Access phase, based on it, there'll probably be more new features and tweaks to be included into the release.”
What is the current state of the Early Access version?
“The player will be able to download the game and jump into it straight away!
Game modes
The game can be played in both single player and multiplayer modes (supporting up to 16 players*). Hosts can customize their game sessions (eg. PVP can be turned on or off) and make them private by setting a password.
Dinosaurs
Currently there are 3 dinosaur species in the game:
The pack hunting Utahraptor
The mighty T-Rex
Every kid's favorite: The Triceratops
Each species of course comes in different sizes and looks.
Players will be able to locate dinosaurs and track them down by using footprints, dino audio clues and even dino poop (that's got to be the first in a dino game).
The game world
The game world is set in on a huge (24 km2 / 9.3 mi2) island open for exploration. The world has several different biomes. The environment is inspired by the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
Survival
The player spawns with very limited equipment, so it is vital to start exploring the world right away. More equipment can be found in special chests scattered around the island. Bigger chests with better gear are usually located on the territory of camps.
Players can also share items from their inventory with each other. Does you friend need ammo and you have some extra? Just drop it on the ground and voila!
There are other items to be found in the world too, such as rocks that can be used to lure dinosaurs away which can be a lifesaver if you are low on ammo. Plus, there are mushrooms and dino eggs that will restore health, some of them come with side effects though…
Oh, and did we mention that if you die you lose everything that you've collected this far? Well, if you are fast enough after respawn you might be able to track back to where you last died to pick up you dropped items.
Persistent inventory (if you survive)
We do understand that players actually have a life outside of theHunter: Primal. That's why we save your inventory and world position if you need to log out in the middle of a game session.
Global Leaderboards
The game comes with a global leaderboard, based on the scores of the dinosaurs killed. The bigger and more badass dinosaur is, the higher score you'll get for killing it.
Weapons and Equipment
12 GA Crowd Control Shotgun
.700 Double Rifle
.308 Marksman Rifle
Improvised Bow
.44 Disciplinary Handgun
Scopes
Different clothes with camouflage properties
Health sprays (of different qualities)
A triceratops caller
Secret map pieces - Will clear the fog on the game map
Settlermate - Your GPS/Dinotracker
Steam Achievements
There are plenty of Steam achievements available in the game!
*16-player mode is currently experimental and might change before the release.”
Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?
“We believe that it is only right to offer a game at a lower price during the Early Access period, since it lacks certain features. The game will have a slightly higher price point at release.”
How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?
“For starters, we'll have community forums here, on Steam. Our full-time community manager will be assisting the community in different ways, from answering questions to collecting feedback and sharing updates. As we mentioned above, we really want to know players' feedback, to be able to align our plans and action with it as much as possible. If you find bugs or unbalanced mechanics, we want to hear about this too.
The game also has profiles on Facebook and Twitter, you can follow them to stay in touch with us in the dev team.
We are aiming to release game patches on a regular basis, thoroughly documenting all the updates.
We'll also be monitoring players' behavior in the game, to collect valuable data which will help us to tweak and improve the game experience for all our players.”
