How do I get into the SALVOR ADRIFT playtest?

Apply through the form on the playtest page. It is the only way in. Approved applicants sign a playtest agreement, then get a personal link to the build by email.

Does the playtest cost anything?

No. It is free, and there is no obligation attached to it in either direction.

Can I stream or post footage of the playtest build?

No. The build is confidential until release. Footage, screenshots and written descriptions of unreleased content are not permitted without written permission.

PLAYTEST

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THE SHORT VERSION

The playtest is open. Apply with the form on this page. It is the only way in. Apply

Free. It runs in a desktop browser. Nothing to install.

Approved applicants sign the playtest agreement, then get a personal link to the build by email.

Testers get the Playtester role on the Discord, which opens a private crew channel.

Want to fly first? Act One is a free demo. No application needed.

The game is not finished. That is the point. I am looking for a small number of people to fly it while it is still moving, and tell me the truth about it.

Want to fly before you apply? Act One is a free demo. It flies the whole starter pack of three systems, and no application is needed. Play it on the home page or on itch.

Not ready to apply? Join the Discord.

What this is

A closed test of SALVOR ADRIFT, sent out in small batches. Free, no obligation, no purchase. Nothing to install. It runs in a desktop browser.

Batches are small on purpose. I read every report myself and I would rather have fifteen people I can actually answer than five hundred I cannot. If you apply and do not hear back right away, you have not been turned down. You are in the queue for the next batch.

What I am asking for

Play it and tell me what actually happened. Not what you think I want to hear.

The most useful report in the world is "I did this, I expected that, this happened instead." Three sentences like that beat three paragraphs of praise. If you got confused, say where. If you got bored, say when. If something felt unfair, say so. Some of it is supposed to be hard and some of it is just broken, and from the inside I cannot always tell which is which.

Nothing you say about this game will hurt my feelings. Not knowing about it will cost me months.

What you need

A desktop or laptop. Windows, Mac or Linux. Phones and tablets are not supported yet.
A recent browser. Chrome, Edge or Firefox. Safari needs version 16.4 or newer and is untested. If it is all you have, tell me and I will find out with you.
Keyboard and mouse. Both, together. This is not a one handed game. An Xbox pad also works, Bluetooth included: it flies the ship, and in menus the left stick moves a cursor and A clicks. Pad support is partial and still being tested, so keep the keyboard and mouse close.
An email address you can read. That is where your personal link arrives. The build sits behind a door and the link is yours alone. Nothing to install and nothing to download.
Cookies allowed for the playtest site. The door keeps your pass in one. If your browser throws it away, the door page tells you so.
An hour or two, ideally more than once. The first twenty minutes of anything is the tutorial. What I need to know is what the third hour feels like.
To be eighteen or older. There is an agreement to sign, and minors cannot sign one.

The terms, in short

There is an agreement, and you sign it before the build goes out. Here is the whole of it in plain language so nothing about it is a surprise later. The full document arrives with your approval.

PLAYTEST AGREEMENT · SUMMARY

Do not share your access. Your personal link is yours alone. Do not pass on the link, and do not pass on a saved copy of the page.
Do not publish footage. No streams, no video, no screenshots, no clips, anywhere, until it is released or I give written permission.
Do not describe unreleased content publicly. Saying you are testing it is fine. Saying what is in it is not.
Feedback you send me, I can use. Freely, with no payment and no obligation. If your idea ends up in the game, it belongs to the game.
The build comes as is. It is unfinished software. It may crash. There is no support promised and no guarantee it keeps working.
Access can end at any time, for any reason or none.
Your link is tied to you, so anything that comes out of the build can be traced back to the link it came from.

How it works

YOU APPLYThe form below. It takes two minutes, and you get a copy of what you sent. I read all of them.

I APPROVEIf you are in the batch, you get an email from salvoradrift@gmail.com with the agreement attached as a PDF.

YOU SIGN AND RETURN ITType your name into it, or print, sign and photograph it. Either is fine. Send it back to the same address.

YOU GET YOUR LINKUsually the same day. I email you a personal link. Open it and the game loads in your browser. Your browser then holds a pass for thirty days, so the plain address opens the game without the link. On a new machine, after clearing cookies, or once the thirty days are up, open your link again or paste it into the box on the door page. Nothing to download, nothing to keep.

YOU GET THE CREW CHANNELApproved testers get the Playtester role on the SALVOR ADRIFT Discord. It opens a private crew channel.

There is no file at your end, which is deliberate. It means I am not asking you to delete anything later, and it means a build that is three weeks stale cannot be floating around while I have moved on. You always get the current one.

Apply

FIRST NAME OR HANDLE * ARE YOU 18 OR OLDER? *

there is an agreement to sign, and minors cannot sign one.

YES NO

WHAT WILL YOU BE PLAYING ON? *

operating system and browser. "Windows 11, Chrome" is a whole answer.

REALISTICALLY, HOW MUCH TIME CAN YOU GIVE IT? *

UNDER AN HOUR ONE OR TWO HOURS SEVERAL SESSIONS AS MUCH AS IT TAKES

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO PLAYTEST THIS GAME? *

one or two sentences. Honest beats impressive.

ANYTHING ABOUT HOW YOU PLAY I SHOULD KNOW? (optional)

input devices, accessibility needs, anything.

CALLSIGN FOR THE CREW MANIFEST (optional)

a callsign you pick for this. Not your real name, not a handle you use elsewhere. Leave it blank to stay off the manifest. That is a perfectly good answer.

I have read the terms summary above and I am willing to sign the agreement.

transmit opens the confirm screen with your answers aboard. Enter your email there and press SUBMIT. That press files it, and your copy arrives at that address.

The form is the only way in. Applications sent any other way, Discord included, do not get read, and that is not me being difficult. Every application lands in one place, in one shape, and gets answered. Loose emails get lost, and somebody who took the trouble to write one deserves better than that.

If the form above will not send, use the plain application form. Same questions, same desk.

Questions people ask

Does it cost anything? No. The playtest is free, and nobody is owed anything in either direction.

Do I get the finished game? That is not promised, and I would rather not promise it than promise it and change my mind.

Will I be credited? Yes, if you want to be. Everyone who tests and sends a report goes on the crew manifest on the crew page, under a callsign you choose yourself. Not your real name, and not a handle you use somewhere else. A callsign, picked for this. Choose no callsign and you stay off the manifest, and that is a perfectly good answer too.

That is not me being careful on your behalf. It is the same rule I hold myself to, and it would be strange to keep it for myself and spend it on somebody doing me a favour.

That is also why the manifest stands out. Nobody else on this project is credited by name, including me. The game credits THE OPERATOR. The studio is Undock. The playtest crew is the one exception, because you are the only people doing something for it that is not mine.

What if I find something and cannot describe it? Send it badly. A vague report about a real problem is worth more than no report, and I will ask you questions.

Can I show my friend? No. That is the one thing the agreement is actually about.

What I do with your details

I collect your name or handle, your email address, and whatever you write in the form. I use them to decide who goes in a batch, to send you the agreement, to make your personal link, and to answer your reports. That is all, and none of it is published.

One thing does become public, and only if you ask for it: the callsign you choose appears on the crew manifest on the crew page. Nothing else you give me ever appears anywhere. Not your name, not your handle, not your email. Choose no callsign and nothing about you is published at all. Change your mind in either direction later and write to me. Adding you or taking you off takes two minutes and I will not ask why.

Nothing is sold, nothing is shared, and there is no mailing list. You will not get anything from me that is not about the test. Applications and signed agreements are kept while the game is in development and deleted afterwards. If you want your details removed before that, write to salvoradrift@gmail.com and I will delete them and tell you I have.

The application form is a Google Form, so a submission passes through Google on its way to me.

The build sits behind a door. The door keeps one record per link: a tester reference and a name, so it knows whose link it is. The pass in your browser holds only your link and the date it runs out. The door checks that your link is still live on every page load, and the door itself keeps no log of your visits. Withdrawing access means deleting your link, and the door shuts on your next page load.

The door also hands the game your tester reference, so a bug report you send from inside the game is tied to you. The bug report button sends everything the game knows about the moment. That is how I know who to ask a follow up question.

The Discord is a separate service. Your Discord name and anything you post there can be seen by the other people in that channel.