Welcome
Hey there, welcome to this month's Dreadwinter devlog! ːespressoː
In this edition, there's updates on what I've added to the game, like fleshing out the regular customer storylines, more seasonal events, and some new unlockables.
I'll also go over some plans for release as November approaches, which may end up being early access(!), more on that below.
Let's get started! ːsteamhappyː
Regular Customer Storylines
So the bulk on what I've been working on this month is the regular customer encounters, and their individual storylines. As you'd expect, it's mostly dialogue, so there isn't too much I can show off, but there are special cutscenes that will play out as you progress through the game.
Over time, your regulars will meet, and your community will start to take shape. Certain encounters will require you to have reached a certain level with your other regulars, so don't neglect them!
Previously, there were going to be 5 encounters for each customer, but it's now increased to 6! These encounters are where they will request something specific, and can progress their individual storylines.
I wouldn't say that every encounter will be crucial to their character development, but I tried to make sure that even the "lighter" visits have something you can learn or take away from it.
There's also "generic" visits that will occur if you haven't unlocked the next encounter yet, as well as after you've completed all of their requests, so they won't stop visiting in between encounters!
As a little side note, your pets are still active and can move around during cutscenes, which can lead to some funny things happening. I'll probably add a setting where you can hide them in this case..
Ignore me!
Night of the Dumpling Moon
The Night of the Dumpling Moon is an event that occurs during the Sunny Season! ːsteamsunnyː
On this night, the moon takes on the shape of a dumpling, and signals the start of the new year for certain cultures. You can think of it as this game's version of the lunar new year!
On the night of the event, you can take the time to view the moon from the top of Lunara, which has one of the best views in the kingdom!
You'll also be blessed with good fortune that week, earning a bonus on every coffee you make!
Sunny Season Relief Program
The Sunny Season Relief Program is the other event that happens during the Sunny Season!
It's quite hot during this month, and the Relief Program was set up as a way to support the people in town.
Each day, you'll get an order that you can fulfil by gifting a drink to the Relief Program through the Gifting Box. This will be sent to a random person in town, and will count as a loved drink, as well as having double the gift value! ːluvː
The orders will get progressively more advanced, so be sure to expand your menu!
Paintings
I talked before about artifacts that you can find on your adventures, that will be added to the observatory, and now there are also paintings that you can acquire!
You'll be able to get paintings through events, rather than exploration, which should give you a reason to turn up to the events (other than it being super cool!).
Each painting has a different way of unlocking them, like buying it, or as a reward for a specific action, which you can find out by interacting with the exhibits in the observatory!
Roadmap + the Possibility of Early Access
I know games releasing in early access can be a deal breaker for some players, so I wanted to outline my plans for release and what's left to do.
This isn't set in stone, but it's a likely possibility for what will happen.
I don't have a hard deadline I need to release Dreadwinter by, but it's been in development for nearly 4 years, and at some point I do need to start earning something from it, such is the way of the world. ːsteamsadː
For the most part, development is progressing well, but there's two things that I think will hold the game back from a full release.
The main thing is the combat and exploration side of the game, which I've side-lined in order to prioritise the rest of the game. It's not the main gameplay feature of Dreadwinter, but that doesn't mean it should be unfinished and unpolished.
If you're not interested in combat, then you shouldn't really notice that there's much missing, and ultimately, the part of the game that's about running a café and living in a fantasy world should be complete.
The other factor is bugs and game balance. I've been developing Dreadwinter solo the whole time, and obviously people are going to play differently from how I do, so it's hard to say how balanced the gameplay is. I'd like to say that this is a big game, so there's going to be bugs and issues I've overlooked, which would benefit from having people playing through more than the demo.
There's some content that I was planning to release as content updates, which I would probably move into the Early Access pipeline. Some examples are:
An aquarium that you can visit
A hidden monster village in Lunara
4 romanceable characters
These weren't part of the release plans since they were extra things that would make development longer, but I think they could be fitted into the early access roadmap.
As I said, this hasn't been decided yet, and there's still around two months to go, but I wanted to be clear about what could happen moving forward. ːsteamthumbsupː
Outro
That's about everything I wanted to talk about. I'll work hard to get as much done as possible, and thanks for your patience!
Thanks for reading
-Alex