Tales from The Dancing Moon News

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.



[h3]Why Early Access?[/h3]
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.

[h3]Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?[/h3]
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!

[h3]How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?[/h3]
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.

[h3]What is the current state of the Early Access version?[/h3]
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.

[h3]Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?[/h3]
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.

[h3]How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?[/h3]
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!



[h2]What happens after the Early Access is released?[/h2]

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!



[h2]Want a head start?[/h2]

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! 😊



- DjMonkey

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1782420/Tales_from_The_Dancing_Moon/

Hello everyone!

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




[h2]Updates[/h2]

• 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.
  

[h2]Gamepad Updates[/h2]

• 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.
  

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• Fixed a rendering issue on a tree stump asset.
  

Thank you so much for playing!
-DjMonkey

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1782420/Tales_from_The_Dancing_Moon/

Hello everyone!

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




[h2]Quests[/h2]

• [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.
  

[h2]Updates[/h2]

• Added an option on the Load save screen to completely remove a character and it's related saves.
  

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• 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

[h2]Steam Next Fest Recap![/h2]

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!











[h2]What's Next!?[/h2]

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.



[h2]Community Spotlight[/h2]

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!

@vmeezo livestreamed his playthrough on Twitch, of his character called Nosey McNoseFace 🤣




@JenjibobCries also on Twitter livestreamed their playthrough and uploaded it on YouTube!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Tales of Lumin provided a break down of the current character customization options that you can find in the demo.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Ab's Pure Gameplay provided a short review over on the Steam forums and also provided a no-commentary playthrough of their experience on YouTube.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



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!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1782420/Tales_from_The_Dancing_Moon/

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




[h2]Gameplay[/h2]

• 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! 🍺
  

[h2]UI[/h2]

• 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.
  

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• 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