Hello everyone!
I hope you’re all doing well! July and August have flown by, and I’ve been working on Zefyr of course, but not exclusively. Here’s a recap of what’s been happening:
I – Game Improvements
Over the last few weeks, my focus has been on polishing Zefyr and improving its overall functionality, especially for the demo and the upcoming full release:
- Detail Fixes: I’ve addressed various issues related to localization, narration, and dialogues. One major concern from players was the inconsistency with the protagonist—sometimes being completely silent (like Link) and other times unexpectedly chatty. I’ve worked to better balance this. There’s still more to refine, but it should already feel much more natural. I’ve also improved how important information is delivered to the player, while keeping character interactions and dialogue believable in a world where characters have already known each other for some time. In addition, I adjusted camera placement during specific dialogues to improve immersion.
- Missing Elements: The demo was missing some avatars, UI help, and sound effects, so I’ve added those in. I also fixed some minor UI input glitches to make the user experience smoother.
- Functional Maps: All maps are now fully functional! The goal was to keep them simple enough to be easily readable (the old ones were too cluttered, and players were struggling with them). While I still plan to add more visual details in the future, they are now much more user-friendly.
II – Mini Holiday Game with My Kids
In early August, I took a little time off to work on a fun side project with my kids: a simple platformer game. It was a holiday project, and they had so much fun designing characters and biomes. It took just a week to develop, but it was a refreshing creative break from my main project.
The game is about searching for animals in a forest. Along the way, I coded mechanics like coyote jumps, buffered inputs (basic platformer stuff), and even a grapple mechanic! We used LDtk for level design, and the kids created the graphics for the biomes, designed the game rules, and built the levels. I also added a multiplayer mode—because, let’s face it, a family game needs to be played together! It was a really fun project to work on, and you can try it out here: Animal Chase. It’s a cozy, cooperative game, perfect for kids and families.
Here are a few screens:
And here’s a look at the level in LDtk (just simple pixels with an associated value (wall/tree/bush)) and the original graphics on a sketchbook:
Now my kids want to keep adding more things—new items, biomes, and levels. Let’s see if I can keep up with their enthusiasm!
III – BIG Communication Push for Steam Next Fest
As you might know, the demo will be featured in the Steam Next Fest in October. So, I’ve been pouring a lot of energy into marketing and promotion to get the word out:
- Reddit & Facebook Ads: I’ve been posting organically on Reddit and running ads on both Reddit and Facebook to build awareness. Every little bit helps when you’re a solo dev!
- Outreach to Streamers: I’ve sent out over 400 emails to streamers and content creators to prepare for the Steam Next Fest. The goal is to get as many eyes as possible on the demo during the event. By any chance, if you know some nice and cool streamer, don't hesitate to reach to him/her to tell about the game/demo.
- Updated Press Kit: I refreshed the press kit with new screenshots, descriptions, and improved assets, making it easier for the press and content creators to feature the game. Here are a few recent screens:
- Festival Applications: I’ve submitted Zefyr to several indie festivals, including Indie X, Adventure X, Save N Sound, and the OTK Winter Games. Fingers crossed I get some good news from these!
- Prologue Release: The prologue was launched at the end of July, and I think it brought around 800 additional wishlists to the full game! Right now, the game has a total of 5,800 wishlists, which is a decent number, but still not enough to make it into the “Popular Upcoming” titles on Steam. I’ll need to keep pushing the marketing to reach that level.
That’s it for now!
As always, thank you so much for your continued support—it truly means the world to me.
Take care, peace! 😊