We want to provide an update on the progress we are making with our game. We're working diligently on both the Early Access version and the Demo version, but it might take a little more time than we initially anticipated. All our resources are focused on game development and we aim to provide an update by the end of this month or in October. 📅
Here are some of the progress highlights:
- Speed Options ⚡
You can now choose a very fast gameplay speed, which has been implemented in the game. [Will be Available in the Demo]
- Hazard Level ⚠️
We'll unlock a few hazard levels for players looking for more competitiveness in the game. You'll need to defeat the boss to raise your hazard level. Hazard levels are separate for each mercenary. [Will be Available in the Demo but with limited Content]
- New Town Progression System (TP) 🏘️
We’ve added more features to the town progression system and fix UX Design, but we don’t want to spoil the details yet. However, we can say that it’s no longer the same as before. [Will be Available in the Demo with limited Content]
- Visual Feedback Changes
We've made a lot of visual feedback changes in the game. We don’t have pictures to share yet since it's not final, but it won’t be the same user experience you’ve seen in some parts of the game. [Most should be available in the Demo]
- Content
We've completed 80-90% of the content for the Early Access version. We are currently going through playtesting, balancing, and quality assurance. 🛠️ This means the Pyrotech is now complete, including all the additional events, relics, and perks in the game. 🎉 [Only the Duelist will be available in the Demo, but we'll definitely have some internal playtest for our Pyrotech]
- Localization 🌐
Some parts of the visuals are still being implemented, which could affect localization. We’re waiting for everything to be finalized before starting the localization process. For those who have registered to help with translation, please stay tuned—we want to minimize changes before you jump in and assist us. However, we've been experimenting a lot with our local language, Thai. [English and Thai should be available in the Demo.]
Intern
Lastly, we are thrilled to announce that Vulpixon732, one of our active community members, has joined us as an intern! 🎉 We are more than happy to welcome him. He has shown great passion for helping Northwind from a game design perspective. 🎮 It's amazing to have this opportunity to welcome a student who loves deckbuilders and wants to be a part of Northwind. He’ll mainly be helping out with our game designers and doing a lot of playtesting. 🕹️
That's it for now! Thank you for your support. ❤️
We promise you won't be disappointed with the changes in the demo. We are super excited to polish it up and let you all try the game. I apologize for not being able to set a specific date, but we assure you it’s going to be much better than any version you’ve played! 🚀 The Northwind Team at Barking Kitten Interactive 🐾
Metaprogression Revamp & Localization System & Chinajoy x Game Connection
Hello everyone! ːsteamhappyː It's been a while, so we want to provide you with some updates! 🌟
Updates:
Metaprogression Revamp to create more impact! 🌟
Second Character Cards are complete, including all upgraded versions. 🎮
Localization System/Looking for Translators!
We are in Chinajoy x Game Connection Event! 🎉
Metaprogression Revamp
Based on feedback, we’ve decided to remove the upgrade tree. Players didn't find it engaging, and we couldn't agree more. Our new progression system will focus on impactful progression rather than getting access to discounts and gem slots. The new system will feature character upgrades that provide new sets of cards rather than just one, and more town-impact strategy, enhancing the "one more run" vibe. 🔄
Second Character and Hazard Level
The second character cards are complete, including all upgraded Smelted card versions. New monsters will appear in late ascension games as part of our hazard progression. More handicaps will also be introduced to increase the difficulty levels for those pro players out there! 👹 Balancing and bug fixing are currently our main focus. Once we have a stable version, we’ll need your input! Expect this around September. 🛠️
Localization System / Looking for Translators!
We invite players who are interested in helping out with translation. Currently, we are working on our demo translation to start. Languages we are interested in include Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, German, Russian, Japanese, and Korean. If you speak another language or would like to let us know, or wish for it to be translated, please let us know! 🌏
Our next update should be in late August or September. 📅
(We’ll likely include a playtest registration form for you to join in!) Thank you for your kind support! We pour our heart and soul into this game, and we appreciate you sticking with us. We hope you are looking forward to our game! 💖
Have an amazing day! The Northwind Team at Barking Kitten Interactive 🐾
The demo will be removed.
Hello everyone! 🎮
As we continue working on our Demo 1.0, we've realized that the current demo no longer reflects the true quality of the game.
Not reflecting the true quality of the game includes:
Gameplay
Visuals and UX
Both progression and metaprogression
Balancing
And so on...
Therefore, we want to make a short announcement: we'll be removing the demo from our Steam page, and you'll have the opportunity to play it only until the end of June.
The demo will be removed on July 1st.
We expect to provide you with an update again around August-September. 📅 We hope you look forward to our new Demo 1.0! Thank you so much for your patience and support along the way. Some of you have just joined us, and some have been with us for years—this means so much to us! 🌟
Thank you! Have a nice day, and feel free to revisit the game until we remove it from Steam! 💬 The Northwind Team at Barking Kitten Interactive. 🐾
#Devlog15 Community Localization & The Best Games: Summer Showcase!
Hello everyone!
🌟 A little update this June! 🌟
- Community Localization - Spoilers! - We are in Best Indie Games: Summer Showcase 2024! 🌞
Community Localization
We're about to implement a system where the community can lend us a hand with localization. Since this is our first time, we'll be testing it along the way with the new demo version. Once we have all the systems settled, we'll make another official announcement. For anyone interested, please join us!
Also, a huge thank you to our community for assisting with the translation of our store page! - Thank you, Huang "Shuyuan" Teng, for the Simplified Chinese localization ❤️
Spoilers!🤫
When we talk about monster hunting, you can't forget about those tails! We won't tell you the ability though, but just look at those tails!!
New Keywords for our second character: (There are actually a lot more, but we'll be spoiling you with one for now)
Beneath: Triggers when the number of cards in your hand is equal to or less than required. You can see we're now playing with hand sizes combos. That's all I'm going to say; there's so much more, with over 70 cards, that's a lot of testing! We'll let you know when you can step in to help us out!
Lastly, we're in Best Indie Games: Summer Showcase 2024! 🌞
We're honored to be a part of this showcase! Make sure to check out other amazing fellow indie games!
That's it for now. Thank you for your support! The Northwind Team at Barking Kitten Interactive. 🐾
Demo Gameplay Stat.
Hello everyone! 👋
After launching our demo, we have been collecting a lot of feedback, both through in-game data and feedback surveys. Some of you have also messaged us directly, and we really appreciate all the feedback we've received. We received over 100+ pieces of feedback from all channels, so it took us a while to bring everything together. We value your opinion, and since you took the time to write it, we should also take our time to read it! 📖
Before I share the insights we've received, a little shoutout:
Northwind will also be featured in: The Steam Endless Replayability Fest! (Demo is still up!)
Alright, here are some stats for our demo. 📊
This time around, Preparation has won 1st place. However, Eager Punch still holds a very good position and will always be the go-to card when it comes to winning the game! If you haven't won the game yet, try giving these cards and relics a shot!
It's interesting to note that we've seen people picking a lot of Shadow Blade?? We launched our demo at the time when the Solo Leveling Sung-Jinwoo anime was released; could it be the effect of the anime?! So far, compared to our pre-demo stats, we've improved in terms of difficulty level. It seems like you guys enjoy it more than before. Yay! ːsteamhappyː
Additional Comments from Feedback:
We have noticed issues regarding gameplay speed settings.
The impact of roguelite progression is not strong enough.
Events are boring.
Many other notes mentioned performance issues and varying difficulty levels; some players are seeking more challenges!
Improvements can still be made in some UX areas, like card smelting where recipes aren't clear.
And many more...
Opt-Out from Analytics:
We've also heard some might feel uncomfortable sharing information, so in the future, we'll now have an option for players to opt-out. Sorry if this causes you inconvenience and stops you from playing the game. ːcrying_yetiː
There is still so much to do!
With our small team, instead of fixing the current demo, we've decided to put our resources into early access, doing the fixes from the demo in a potentially beta testing branch in the future. There will definitely be a playtest before launching, so if you want to join our playtest, don't forget to join our Discord!
Please don't forget to help us by adding Norhwind to your wishlist!
Thank you so much for playing our demo and for all your feedback. 💖 With your voice, we know where we should be heading, what will make an impact, and what makes you want to see more in the game. We hope you had a good time playing Northwind, and we aim to deliver an even better version in Demo 1.0 and Early Access! So please look forward to it! 😤🔥🔥 The Northwind team at Barking Kitten Interactive. 🐾
The Demo remains LIVE.
Hello everyone!
The TurnbasedThursday Fest has now concluded. We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who played our demo and left valuable feedback. We've received over a hundred pieces of feedback from all channels—thank you! :heart_eyes_yeti:
So, what's next?
Our focus is now on the Early Access version and the upcoming Demo 1.0! Although we haven't fully processed all the feedback, we've already identified numerous improvements we want to make, covering various aspects of the game such as controls, speed, visual effects, game progression, and the user experience.
We've decided to keep our DEMO available! But rest assured, the new DEMO 1.0 will be even better.
We hope you're looking forward to it. And like always, we'll continue to share the statistics and insights from this demo version with you. Thank you for your support! The Northwind Team at Barking Kitten Interactive. 🐾
Northwind has been selected to be in TurnbasedThursdayFest!
Hello everyone!
It's been 2 weeks since we launched our Demo, and we have thousands of people playing our game and it's not stopping! Thank you so much for all your support.
First of all, you can cross-smelt basic card types.
Try smelting Basic Attack + Focus = You'll get a Focused Attack card. It breaks our hearts to see many (or the majority) of our players missing this feature. (It's our fault for not making it obvious for players) We will definitely improve our UX next time to make it much more obvious that you can cross-smelt basic card types. So, here's the spoiler for now! We hope you will explore this feature in the demo. ːcrying_yetiː
It’s time to collect all those feedback.
We'll be gathering it from the Feedback Surveys, places we posted on Reddit, DMs, Discord chats, and so on. We kindly ask that if you've played the Demo, please help us make a better game by filling out this feedback form. The feedback survey closes on the 8th of April.
Northwind has been selected to be in TurnbasedThursdayFest! So, our demo will be extended until the 8th of April!
We've noticed our community is growing, and we are thankful to every one of you! Our team will try our best to fix the Demo bugs as well as working on the Early Access version! Thank you for your kind support. The Northwind team at Barking Kitten Interactive. 🐾
Demo is out now! Happy Deckbuilder Fest!
Hey everyone!
Northwind Demo is out now! Happy Deckbuilder Fest!🎉
We are super thrilled to be part of this festival, and we couldn't believe we landed on the most downloaded demo and popular upcoming! 🚀
The Northwind Demo will be available until April 1st! If you like the game, don't forget to wishlist! ːsteamhappyː https://store.steampowered.com/app/1476400/Northwind/ Thank you for all your support! ❤️ We hope you enjoy the demo! 🥰
DEMO OUT NOW!
Hello Everyone!
🎉 Our demo is now live! Play it now!
The demo will be available until April 1st, or maybe even longer—we'll keep you updated. If you like the game, don't forget to wishlist! ːsteamhappyː
🐛 There might still be some bugs in the game. If you find one, please help us by reporting it! We'll do our best to exterminate these bugs as thoroughly as possible.
Click on the "Report Bug" button in the right corner of the screen.
Fill in the report. Feel free to skip the contact section if you prefer.
(This is meant for our Discord community members who wish to talk to us developers directly.) When you click "Send Report" button it will automatically collect your save files. This greatly helps us load your save and see what bugs you're encountering, allowing us to eliminate them on the spot! 🔥
Thank you Playtesters and Streamers
🌟Playtesters
We've tested our game with over 100+ community members and playtesters. Thanks to you all, the Northwind build has improved so much. Without your help, the Northwind demo wouldn't be what it is today. We still have a long way to go. From the bottom of our hearts ❤️, we are deeply thankful for all your help and hope you will continue to support us. We promise to work our hardest and not to disappoint you. 🙏
Special shoutout to our amazing 6 playtesters for actively helping us out along this demo launch:
N1b0r
Arkuktor
Vulpixon732
Lore Hunter
Dat1996Swords
BlackJack
📺 Streamers
We reached out to some streamers, and we couldn't be happier with the response. 🥰 As a small team, seeing you play our game fills us with joy! We're truly humbled and honored to have our game featured on your channels.
For streamers/influencers interested in receiving our Early Access key:
We also would like to deeply apologize for any bugs you encountered. Some of you went the extra mile by helping us report those bugs and providing save files. This inspired us to come up with a new bug report system in just a matter of hours. Thank you for giving us a chance and for your kindness. We'll work hard to earn your support.
That's it for now!
Thank you for your incredible support! Have fun with the Demo! We'll be on standby, clearing those bugs. The Northwind Team, Barking Kitten Interactive. 🐾
Devlog#14 Working on Content & Behind the scenes
Hello everyone!
The demo is confirmed to be ready in March! The official date is yet to be announced. 📅 We apologize for the delay and appreciate your patience. It's taking a bit longer than expected. ːsteamsadː
But here's a little update:
We are working on a lot more content and here are just a few examples of what we've been developing:
We're adding more events and relics. Sample Vampire event. 🧛♂️
Designing 70+ Cards for our 2nd character, with new keywords of course ːsteammockingː
Actually, there's a lot more going on behind the scenes. We're enhancing the game's internal systems, optimizing performance, and speeding up gameplay VFX. We can't show these improvements visually, but you'll definitely feel the difference once you play our demo! 🎮
No Devlog in February, but we'll see you again in March with the Trailer and Demo. ❤️ Thank you again for your incredible patience. We're confident our demo will not disappoint you! 🙌 The Northwind team, Barking Kitten Interactive. 🐾
