hi all,
We've noticed that similar questions often come up, so we've put up this little FAQ to address your questions. We will update it from time to time with new questions and answers. If you have additional questions, please feel free to comment here and we will add them to our FAQ as needed.
General
Why Early Access?
Originally, we had set ourselves a timeframe of about a year for Dorfromantik, with the release falling on mid-late 2021. However, in our view Dorfromantik is already in a perfectly playable and stable state with all core features and lots of polishing already in place.
Dorfromantik is a peaceful and wholesome game and many of you are telling us that even the prototype helped you unwind in these globally harsh times. This has convinced us to bring Dorfromantik to the community earlier than we had originally planned. An Early Access release allows us to do this and improve the game with updates and the feedback from you, the players.
The Early Access version offers enough content to enjoy for many hours and will bring you a beautiful, relaxing experience. Also it can be a great distraction while sitting through boring Zoom calls 😉
We have addressed even more questions around Early Access in more detail in this announcement.
Can I show / use gameplay footage for content creation?
With pleasure! We look forward to any videos, articles, screenshots etc., so feel free to mention or tag us once you published it so we can take a look at it.
Will there be a Mobile / Switch version?
We deliberately designed Dorfromantik to be modular in its core game design, which allows us to theoretically port it to Mobile or Switch. However, since Dorfromantik is our debut title as a team, we are also dependent on the commercial success of the PC version to be able to finance a port to other platforms. We would of course be very happy to work on it this year and already have concrete plans, but are focusing on the PC release first.
How can I report bugs?
We have written a detailed guide for this, in which you will also find step-by-step instructions.
Background
Who is behind Dorfromantik?
We are four Game Design students from Berlin and Dorfromantik is our debut title as newly founded studio Toukana Interactive. Dorfromantik is a very personal project for us. It was created during the start of the Corona pandemic, which, like for most people, put a lot of strain on us. Dorfromantik helped us to deal with this difficult situation and isolation by shifting our focus towards beautiful things. We are very happy that we can contribute some harmony and relaxation to the everybody playing Dorfomantik in these difficult times.
Why is the game called Dorfromantik?
The German language has many beautiful words of its own to describe moods or an ambience that often cannot be translated because these words simply do not exist in other languages. The most literal translation would most likely be "village romanticization."
For us, Dorfromantik describes the feeling we want to create with our game. The idyll of the village landscape has a calming effect on many people, as it can create a feeling of freedom and soothing. The power in tranquility and the harmony with nature are perceptions that we associate with Dorfromantik.
Where does the inspiration for Dorfromantik come from?
We drew inspiration for the development from experiences from our childhood, which we all spent in various rural areas in Germany and Switzerland. The game world of Dorfromantik is an idealized, romanticized depiction of these landscapes and is intended to capture the power in the tranquility and closeness to nature.
Gameplay
Will there be multiplayer?
No. We designed Dorfromantik as a single player game and currently have no plans on adding multiplayer.
Will there be an undo button?
Currently there will be no undo functionality, as this causes some unresolved issues in the game system. We are aware of the request within the community and can very well imagine to prioritize this feature again after the Early Access release, in order to include it in an adapted version for a later update.
We want to counteract current problems, such as unintentional placement, with better support for other input devices like touchpad for the Early Access release.
Modding & Third Party
Do you plan to add Steam Workshop support?
During Early Access there will be no Steam Workshop integration for Dorfromantik. We want to put all our time and effort into the features that will make Dorfromantik a finished and polished game and we consider Steam Workshop not one of them.
We can think of integrating it after fully finishing Dorfromantik.
Am I allowed to create mods for Dorfromantik?
Generally we appreciate all kind of engagement, but currently we neither have the resources to implement official modding support, nor can we validate all code modifications users make. That ́s why we can not officially support any form of modding of Dorfromantik at the moment.
Please take note that any player that uses mods or any other form of cheats in order to trick the highscore will be banned from the leaderboard. We want to ensure that players who earn their rank are able to keep it.
We take no responsibility for the use of any unofficial modifications to Dorfromantik and any resulting damage or complications of any kind. Furthermore, for the reasons mentioned above, we cannot allow any advertising for such third-party modifications to be placed in our official channels.