An initial setting for UI DPI scaling has been added, improving UI size and text readability for larger screen resolutions.
It is now possible to discard Andrew's Diaries from your inventory. You need to have opened them at least once before doing this.
Minor quest description text tweaks.
Added keyboard/gamepad glyph to the completed farm plot tooltip.
Minor adjustment to the click interaction on completed farm plots.
Bugfixes
Fixed an issue where the player could not hand in the notice board task related to lake fishing. (Unfortunately you will need to discard your current task if you are experiencing this issue).
Fixed an issue that could cause smearing of the farming plot tooltip UI.
0.9.1
Updates
General UI buttons now have more responsive visual feedback when using the mouse.
The in-game calendar can now be accessed in the main player tab menus, as well as the interactable display on The Dancing Moon's wall in the Plaza.
The in-game calendar now displays which day is the last opportunity you can plant particular seasonal seeds.
Adjusted the UI size of the in-game calendar.
Map and NPC quest markers will now display for procedural tasks from then notice boards.
Logic optimisations on the trackable NPC tokens on the map UI.
Bugfixes
Fixed an issue where the player could enter an out-of-bounds area via the rocks by the Worm's Tail Lighthouse.
Fixed a calculation issue with a warning on purchasing seeds related to their last opportunities to the planted in the season.
Fixed an issue with the character creation flow when using a gamepad.
First of all - a huge thank you to those who have purchased and dipped into the Early Access experience. It's completely nerve wracking releasing a game, yet it has been encouraging to see some of the reviews popping up already.
If you've played already and are enjoying the game - please leave a review! It really helps with Steam's visibility!
I'm happy to provide a little patch before the holiday of some of the issues brought up already. Read below for full details.
Feel free to continue reporting any bugs via the many social media links below!
Discord: https://discord.gg/kpGVRKPn5W
Threads: https://threads.net/dancingmoongame
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DancingMoonGame
Updates
General UI buttons now have more responsive visual feedback when using the mouse.
The in-game calendar can now be accessed in the main player tab menus, as well as the interactable display on The Dancing Moon's wall in the Plaza.
The in-game calendar now displays which day is the last opportunity you can plant particular seasonal seeds.
Adjusted the UI size of the in-game calendar.
Map and NPC quest markers will now display for procedural tasks from then notice boards.
Logic optimisations on the trackable NPC tokens on the map UI.
Bugfixes
Fixed an issue where the player could enter an out-of-bounds area via the rocks by the Worm's Tail Lighthouse.
Fixed a calculation issue with a warning on purchasing seeds related to their last opportunities to the planted in the season.
Fixed an issue with the character creation flow when using a gamepad.
Early Access has began! Explore the village of Illisor and discover your purpose in a story inspired by portal-fantasy novels, mixing fantasy with a hint of realism. Will you find the missing teenagers who may have the answers you seek? Or will you simply enjoy your time at The Dancing Moon?
Already played the demo? Your saves should transfer across - just seek out the blocked cave to continue your journey!
In September of 2020, after messing around with Unreal Engine creating silly mini-games about COVID. I began the journey of creating an RPG framework. I had called it "DNDTowns" at the time. I had been playing games like Animal Crossing and watching livestreams of Critical Role, which made me think - "hey, I don't think anyone has mixed these two ideas together before!".
And so I came up with the idea of a cozy life-sim game, but instead of going for pixel-art which seemed to be the trend at the time (and still is...), I decided to opt in to a more isometric aesthetic grounded in realism. Similar to games like the old Baldur's Gate or Pillars of Eternity games.
A year later, gone was the "DNDTowns" placeholder name, and the Tales from The Dancing Moon Demo was born! Since then I've provided many patches and Newsletters about my gave-dev journey. I'm very happy with the current state of the demo, and it sounds like recent players enjoy it too!
I am currently sitting at 2500 Wishlists - nowhere near the fabled ~7k that I keep hearing about. I may not have had the intuition of "gaming" the Steam algorithm or the social media buzz to generate a large amount of interest for the game, but I'm grateful for all the players and content creators who have shown interest and went out of their way to provide feedback and praise for the game so far! Without you I don't think I would have kept up the momentum as I have done over all this time.
Early Access is available now, and for the first week has a 10% launch discount!
What now?
You might be wondering what happens next?
To set some expectations - particularly over the upcoming holiday period - is that I am only going to focus on urgent patches over the next few weeks. I don't expect there will be anything too bad - but treat this as a bit of a disclaimer over this time of the year!
Going into 2024 - my ideal scenario is that I don't want the game in Early Access for very long. There's definitely some loose ends to some of the quests and some polish to do with the sandbox gameplay. Balancing this with enough new features to justify a 1.0 release will be my priority, and I hope to announce a roadmap for this in the near future depending on the demand for it.
Demo Updates
I'm also happy to announce a bunch of updates and fixes to the demo. These were caught from recent players and Early Access playtesting. This will likely be the last major update for the demo. Read below for full details:
Updates
Holding down the action button will now allow repetitive use of the sword, axe, and the pickaxe. Goodbye repetitive strain injury!
More obvious button display for splitting item stacks. (Shift + Click!)
Rotated the starting storage box around by 180 degrees, making it face the correct way. This will only be fixed on new saves.
Adjusted music initialisation logic so music will play more often, resulting in less quiet moments.
Added a new UI alert if there is no inventory space to craft items.
Changed the "Rest" menu to "Wait" menu. This wording better represents it's purpose.
Elaina can now be spoken to whilst playing her music, greatly improving her accessibility for quests and conversation.
New reminder items have been added to the quest journal to remind the player of certain non-quest related gameplay.
Improved rendering distance of underwater objects in the fishing lake.
The Discord invite link in the main menu social bar has been updated.
Bugfixes
Fixed an issue where the procedural task to defeat enemies would not grant a reward.
Fixed an issue where a procedural task would not assign to Skye properly, causing a quest to have "None" properties.
Fixed an issue where the cooking audio would not stop if leaving the UI before the cooking has finished.
Fixed a rendering and brightness issue with the museum bust asset.
Fixed a camera distance initialisation issue in the fishing boat.
Fixed an issue where the shopping purchase confirmation screen can still trigger even if a shop item is unavailable/greyed-out.
Fixed an issue where placing objects in build mode could not be done using a controller.
Fixed some typos on the sleep tips screen.
Fixed an issue that affected some players where you were able to waste seeds on plots that already had them.
Fixed an issue that affected some players where the player would freeze when interacting with farm plots.
Fixed an issue where starting a new game would not initialize properly if accessed from the main menu after exiting from an existing save.
Feel free to continue reporting any bugs via the many social media links below!
This newsletter will be relatively short compared to previous newsletters, as I'm busy pushing forward with getting everything in place for the Early Access release soon.
I'm also recovering from a bout of COVID - after all this time it finally got me. Great timing!
Early Access
So yea - in case you missed the previous announcement - the game is entering Early Access!
For full details of the Early Access you can read my previous post, or visit the Steam page where you can find all the typical Steam Early Access question and answers.
The Early Access will release on 12th December 2023, and will be priced at £9.99/$11.99.
I'm excited for the next chapter of the game!
A Year of Newsletters
As I write this newsletter I've just come to realise that this marks an entire years worth of consistent newsletters! I started committing to these in November of last year in the hopes to generate a "developer-diary" of sorts right here on Steam.
If you're interested in a bit of history, why don't you scroll back in the feed to last year and see how far things have come. 😊
Community Spotlight
I love it when I see new content pop up on the internet! I'm so grateful to all the content creators out there who are investing their time with my little game. I've decided to dedicate a section of these newsletters to these creators.
The first is quick preview and no-commentary playthrough from ThePillowFort, who have also helped me in the past with feedback and bug reports. Thanks for plaything!
The other is from Harvest Gamer / mckennagames, who is one of the only playthoughs I've seen who uses the gamepad controls. It's great to see what is working there, and what needs improving!
That's all for this months newsletter! The next post from me will be the official release post of the Early Access. Please make sure you Wishlist the game to stay up to date and be notified of the release!
- DjMonkey
Enjoy reading my dev diary newsletters? Then please consider giving me a Wishlist & Follow! I'd greatly appreciate it! You can do so from the the Steam page.
If you’d like to join the community and discuss the content of this post, please visit the Discord or make a comment on Threads or Twitter!
That's right folks! I'm happy to announce that I'm transitioning the game into Early Access!
The Early Access will release on the 12th December 2023 @ 6:00pm GMT, and will be priced at £9.99 GBP/$11.99 USD
There will also be a 10% launch discount for the first week of release! Even better!
How's that for a festive treat! That's only a few weeks away!
The Early Access version is what I am calling “story-complete”. It contains the main quest and additional side quests that takes the player from start-game to end-game. It tells the story that I ultimately want to tell, but would benefit from a bit more love towards the sandbox gameplay, customisation features, and tying up lose ends with some of the side-quests.
For more information and details, read below - which have been copied from the new details found on the Steam page.
Why Early Access?
Tales from The Dancing Moon is an ambitious game developed by one developer, started during the COVID pandemic and created in a little home office in the UK.
Early Access allows me to release the game in a “story-complete” state and further enables a relationship I wish to foster with a community of players. Direct feedback from players enables me to prioritise the parts that require a little more depth. This iteration loop will lead to what I will eventually consider to be a full game.
Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?
My intention is to keep the game in Early Access for a few months (so not too long), but this can entirely be up to the feedback I get during the Early Access period!
How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?
During Early Access I aim to focus on stability and depth of the current features. This includes progressively adding more to the sandbox and customisation options, tying up loose ends on side-quests stories, and overall gameplay polish, bug-fixing and optimisation.
The end of the Early Access period should hopefully result in a full version that contains a polished game with a main story supported by a variety of side-quests and deep sandboxing features.
What is the current state of the Early Access version?
The Early Access version is what I am calling “story-complete”. It contains the main quest and additional side quests that takes the player from start-game to end-game. It tells the story that I ultimately want to tell, but would benefit from a bit more love towards the sandbox gameplay and customisation features.
Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?
The price should increase once I reach a full version, but will still reflect the price typical for an indie game of this style and content developed by a solo developer.
How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?
I have reached a point where the improvements I’d like to make during the Early Access period will be tailored towards player feedback and suggestions. I would love this game to grow based on a community of players investing their time with the game!
I actively read feedback on various social channels and I host a Discord server for the game where the community can voice their opinions and feedback on what they would like to see!
What happens after the Early Access is released?
After the 12th December I plan to take the longest nap I have ever taken.
Jokes aside - to set some expectation - during the holiday season I will only focus on urgent fixes and blockers that players encounter upon release. During this time I will also be listening to and gathering feedback, but any major changes or updates will occur after the release-dust has settled, and will likely be in the new year!
Want a head start?
The Early Access version is a direct continuation of where the demo ends, and your save files will be usable in Early Access too!
If you want a head start on the story, then download the demo now and see how you like it!
Want to be reminded of the release? Mark your calendars and press that Wishlist button and you'll be notified when it happens! 😊
After getting a full Early Access build approved by Steam - I am back-porting some of the fixes that came up during that review process.
Feel free to continue reporting any bugs via the many social media links below!
Discord: https://discord.gg/kpGVRKPn5W
Threads: https://threads.net/dancingmoongame
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DancingMoonGame
Updates
Andrew's Diaries now has a different item icon to distinguish them from other book/note quest items.
Added various food items you can cook from the Spring time vegetables.
Activating the Steam overlay will now cause the game to pause if it's not already.
It is now possible to exit the character creation screen back to the main menu.
The game now has it's own icon for the Windows taskbar and desktop.
Gamepad Updates
You can now go through the opening moments of the game using exclusively an Xbox gamepad without relying on a keyboard+mouse for character name entry. If starting from Steam big-picture mode an on-screen keyboard option will appear.
The controller icon glyphs for the UI will now be coloured to match the Xbox controller scheme.
Fixed a number of small issues around gamepad and keyboard+mouse detection logic.
You can now navigate the social media icons on the main menu using a gamepad.
The main reason for todays update is to address the pacing of the "Introduce yourself" quest early in the game. This aims to address a key concern that was raised by many players during the Steam Next Fest event and from playtesting sessions.
Note: Although it shouldn't break your save - if you started a game before this update and are currently in the middle of the "Introduce Yourself" quest, then your next action in the quest will "skip" directly to Fergus to finish the quest. If you are concerned by this then you may be better off starting a new game.
See below for the changelog!
Feel free to continue reporting any bugs via the many social media links below!
Discord: https://discord.gg/kpGVRKPn5W
Threads: https://threads.net/dancingmoongame
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DancingMoonGame
Quests
[Introduce Yourself] Introducing yourself to the villagers around the town now acts like a check-list, rather than a sequential series of events.
[Introduce Yourself] Villagers should be simple to find, but additional dialog options for Fergus and other villager's can help you locate villagers you have trouble finding.
[Introduce Yourself] A villager's starting quest will become instantly available after you introduce yourself to them. It is no longer a requirement to finish the entire "Introduce Yourself" quest to start these.
[Introduce Yourself] The dialog for many villagers has been reworked to better reflect the updated pacing for the "Introduce Yourself" quest.
[Trimming the Threat] Myrill will now provide you with a sword, rather then sending you to Lucas to fetch one.
[A Big Blob] An additional step has been added that clarifies the need to loot the boss before completing the quest. This will guide the player in the unfortunate situation if you die at the same time as defeating the boss.
World-blocking debris has been slightly adjusted in the opening moments of the game.
Updates
Added an option on the Load save screen to completely remove a character and it's related saves.
Bugfixes
Fixed a rare issue where the player would spawn incorrectly at the start of the game.
Fixed an issue where certain diary entries were not able to be looted from Dewiland Meadows.
Fixed an issue where a particular item was not fishable in the Illisor Steppes lakes.
Fixed an issue where new quests would not be set to tracked if you were not currently tracking any quests beforehand.
Player can no longer tick/un-tick the check-boxes in the quest journal.
The Left-Alt hotkey will now only highlight objects you can definitely interact with. There were some items that slipped through the cracks here before.
Fixes to campfire placement validity in the Dewiland Meadows.
Fixed various typos and wording.
Thank you so much for playing! -DjMonkey
October 2023 Newsletter: Steam Next Fest Recap
Greetings Travellers!
Steam Next Fest Recap!
First and foremost, a huge thank you to everyone who wishlisted, played the demo and joined in on the live streams during Steam Next Fest earlier this month. It really helped boost my morale and there's already been some great feedback to address in future patches!
I rarely like to toot my own horn - but I'm happy to share some numbers that I observed during the event.
The first live stream reached a peak of 925 viewers! The second live stream reached a peak of 843 viewers! Over the course of the event I received 808 Wishlists! I provided 2 bugfix and QoL patches throughout the event!
It may be small numbers compared to some of the bigger games out there, but these stats far exceeded any expectations I had!
Here's a few photo-mode screenshots I took during the live streams!
What's Next!?
I'm happy to say that aside from a few glaring gameplay issues that became apparent from the Next Fest demo, the rest of the game is in what I think to be a good "Early Access" state.
My goal was always to minimize the amount of time after Steam Next Fest to an actual release that people can get a hold of. This will be the thing I focus on now, and I hope to have more news for you soon.
Community Spotlight
To tie off the newsletter I thought I would highlight some of the community videos and coverage that happened over the Steam Next Fest event. Please check out these content creators below and give them your support!
That's all for this months newsletter! As mentioned before - I hope to have more news for you soon regarding the progress and release of this game!
- DjMonkey
Enjoy reading my dev diary newsletters? Then please consider giving me a Wishlist & Follow! I'd greatly appreciate it! You can do so from the the Steam page.
If you’d like to join the community and discuss the content of this post, please visit the Discord or make a comment on Threads or Twitter!
Hello everyone! and a big thank you to those who are still reporting issues from the Steam Next Fest Demo!
Here is a small patch that addresses a few reported things.
This will be the final patch during the Steam Next Fest event, and the next post from me will be the October newsletter!
Feel free to continue reporting any bugs via the many social media links below!
Discord: https://discord.gg/kpGVRKPn5W
Threads: https://threads.net/dancingmoongame
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DancingMoonGame
Gameplay
The Ale you can buy from Fergus has been adjusted to properly instruct the player how to drink the ale. This behaves slightly differently to the usual food/drink items.
Warning: drinking too many ales has expected side-effects! 🍺
UI
Quest Journal: Quest task checklist items are now shown in the quest journal.
Quest Journal: Added a new dedicated button in the quest journal to track/untrack the selected quest, which sets the quest on the player HUD display.
Blueprint Shopping: Fixed an issue where you could keep purchasing the blueprint recipe for the metal nail items, despite the fact you already learnt them.
Bugfixes
Fixed an issue that prevented the Amplifier from being sold in the market deposit box.
Fixed an issue where you could not place the campsite in the Dewiland Meadows.
Fixed an issue when players would move towards the bottom of the level when clicking certain areas in the Dewiland Meadows.
Fixed an issue where players could cook food items that are not quite ready yet in the demo experience, resulting in a "NO ICON" item in your inventory.
Note: The number of food items you can cook in the demo is quite small, this will expand in the full game.
Thank you so much for playing! -DjMonkey
Steam Next Fest Demo Patch 1 (12/10/2023)
Hello everyone! and a big thank you to those who are joining during Steam Next Fest and watched the live-streams earlier in the week!
I know there has been some early feedback regarding the flow of the "Introduce Yourself" quest right at the start, and I've decided to hold off on changing this until AFTER Steam Next Fest, as it will change some fundamental things that require a little bit of testing.
In the mean time - enjoy these small QoL updates and fixes!
Feel free to continue reporting any bugs via the many social media links below!
Discord: https://discord.gg/kpGVRKPn5W
Threads: https://threads.net/dancingmoongame
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DancingMoonGame
Gameplay
Fast Travel: For players who find themselves running around too much - there are now options to fast-travel from the map menu. You can only fast travel to regions you have discovered, and it is restricted to and from the procedural exploration regions. Using fast-travel will also progress in-game time to compensate it's use.
Improved the interaction with the stairs in the first floor of The Dancing Moon.
Swinging an Axe or a Pick-axe will now rotate the player towards the location of the mouse pointer.
Questing
New quests will not automatically be set to the active quest if you are currently on a quest already.
Audio
Audio slider levels have been fixed for the Bomb explosion noise, and the Lake Fishing music.
UI
New game tips have been added to the sleeping fade.
The E hotkey for placing crafted items has been removed in favour of Left-clicking. To avoid miss-presses between object rotation and placing.
Interaction with the map screen has been improved.
The checkbox against quest tasks can no longer be clicked on.
