Welcome
Hey there, it's that time of month again, it's another Dreadwinter update! ːluvː
As we enter the later stages of development, there aren't too many big features being added in at this point, so sometimes it gets hard to find things to talk about, since a lot of it will either be spoilers, or tiny things you won't notice.
That being said, there's always things I want to show off, so let's go over some of them!
Approximate Release Date
If you've checked the store page recently, the release date has been changed to Q4 2026!
I'm aiming to be able to release in late October-November, which is around 6 months away at the time of writing this. It feels both like it's a long way away, but there also isn't much time left to finish the game, it's a weird feeling. ːsteamsadː
Hopefully there's enough time, and I can stay focused for the next 6 months, so let's put that as the target for now!
Customise Your Apartment
You can now customise your room/apartment! It shares the same inventory as the café, which should make things easier for both you and me.
This means any furniture, flooring and wallpaper you buy can be used in Dreadwinter, or your room. Machines are an exception, though, as you can only make coffee in the café.
I'll be adding a larger variety of furniture and decorations as well, and hopefully it will fit in, no matter where you place it!
Additional Café Customisation
I've been adding new flooring and wallpapers to customise your café/apartment with, and one thing I noticed is that there are some clashes with the different colour schemes, as you can see from the above screenshot.
I'll be adding additional customisation options, such as different colour schemes for the bar area, and the default stools next to it, which should fit better with some of the different styles. This may also extend to the doors and windows if needed as well!
Claire
Claire, the manager of the local Adventurer's Guild, has now been made into a full character!
Before, she was a faceless NPC, but the plan was always to make her into an actual character you can connect with. I also redesigned her sprite to match her design, which I'm quite happy with.
This isn't really big news, but I always get excited after adding new characters, so I wanted to share it!
Adding More Life to Lunara
I wanted to work on the community feeling of Lunara, so I've been working on adding in community events, such as karaoke nights on Thursdays. It's a good way to be able to talk to multiple characters in the same place, and you'll see some unlikely friendships form!
There's also other gatherings between certain groups of friends, which you can also join in! One example is the weirdo club, formed of Edwin, Elysa, and Mika. You can join their meetings on Saturday afternoons.
Zen/Casual Mode
I'll be adding options to disable the minigames when making coffee, and also adding a casual mode that increases/removes customer patience, so you can take your time doing things.
There's already skills and machines that can be gained to make things easier and faster (or harder, if that's what you want), but I know some players want to relax and be stress-free from the beginning, so I'll be adding in the option for those players.
Closing Notes
We're still some time away from release, but there's still so much to do! Nowadays, it's a lot of small things, rather than full-on features I need to add, so it's hard to tell how much is left.
I'll do my best to get everything done in time, so I hope you're looking forward to it!
Thanks for reading,
Alex