Tales from The Dancing Moon News

Hello everyone and a warm welcome to those who are staying with us at The Dancing Moon Inn!

A huge thank you to those who have provided their bug-reports and feedback.

Feel free to continue reporting any bugs via our Discord bugs channel or through Twitter.

Discord: https://discord.gg/kpGVRKPn5W

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DancingMoonGame


[h2]Farming[/h2]

• Removed the logic that would remove farm plots if they were empty and unattended. This was causing unnecessary player friction.
  
• Added a new tooltip display for farming plots, detailing the current crop, water status, and remaining growth time.
  
• Tree's stumps have been removed as a harvestable thing.
  

[h2]Proc-Gen Exploration[/h2]

• Improved the point-of-interest logic for the procedural zones (Dewiland Meadows, etc). For the demo this will make copper rocks appear more often.
  
• Added a confirmation dialog before exploring a procedural area.
  

[h2]UI[/h2]

• Removed the city building conversation entry point on Lucas, as it serves no purpose in the demo.
  
• NPC's will now have a ??? overlay before learning who they are.
  
• Improved visuals and use of colours to better distinguish between auto saves and regular saves.
  
• Re-ordered quest categories in the quest journal.
  
• An information text is displayed when the player is not carrying out any procedural tasks for NPCs.
  
• Updated the game logo graphics.
  
• The news button on the main menu now displays the title and author of the latest newsletter.
  

[h2]Audio[/h2]

• Music volume is now set to 25% by default.
  
• The combat music has been updated.
  

[h2]Engine & Gameplay[/h2]

• Reworked the level initialisation logic to improve load order of gameplay systems, preventing race conditions from occurring. This will fix various instabilities that can range from player to player.
  
• Fixed a setting that improves the visuals of foliage lighting.
  
• Fixed a value for culling distances on certain foliage assets.
  
• Fixes to world collisions to prevent NPC's getting stuck.
  
• Fixes to NPC scheduling logic that would cause NPCs to not exist or be too far away.
  
• Fixes to NPC level transitioning logic that prevents NPCs from getting stuck in collision objects.
  
• Improved the speed of which NPC's will travel outside of the players current level.
  
• Fixes to harvestable objects not clearing in memory after being destroyed.
  
• Reduced the number of days in a Season.
  

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• Fixed a time progression issue when sleeping in a bed that would not cause certain daily logic events to trigger.
  
• Fixed the interaction proximity on chest storage boxes.
  

Thank you so much for playing!
-DjMonkey

Before I begin - I must ask you a favour! It's very simple, if you're reading this right now, and you enjoy looking at these newsletters, then feel free to click the "Like" button towards the bottom of the page or leave a comment. I know some of you are already doing this (and I thank you for that!).

This will just give me a small indicator as to how useful or enjoyable these newsletters are!

With that out of the way - let's dig into all the things that happened in April shall we?


[h2]Demo Update[/h2]
The first important update is that - after so long - there's been a large update to the demo experience!

This includes a bunch of fixes, quality of life changes, and some new features that have been rolled back from the full game. I have also tweaked areas and NPC conversations, that gives a little more insight to the main story of the full game.

Some of the opening and tutorial quests have been streamlined too, reducing some of the friction that I've discovered from player feedback.

Overall, this update changes the demo into a neater package with a more definitive start and end to the experience - but don't worry! The demo is not time-locked, and you can continue playing with the sandbox gameplay after completing it.

You can read the full details of the patch here, and if you haven't already - play the updated free demo now!




[h2]Spider Enemy Type[/h2]
One of the things on my plate this month has been introducing and prototyping a new enemy type to fit into the procedural Swamp biome. I finally decided to settle on a spider enemy, which will be easy to kill but difficult to reach.

This means that they'll be slow when idle, but as soon as they spot you they'll spring into action, darting to different locations and shooting multiple bullets of shadow slime at you. It's only after this where an opportunity for you to strike can occur!

I had posted my progress on these spider enemies on Reddit and Twitter, and received quite a positive reaction!





And here's the prototype all hooked up in game. It's actually pretty close to what I need, the locomotion system of the spider and it's legs was probably the hardest part to figure out. I now just need to add the combat abilities. (Oh, and what's this? A new unseen dungeon area! 😮)




[h2]Story Insights - The Museum[/h2]

For this months newsletter I'd like to dive into one of the game mechanics you will encounter in Tales from The Dancing Moon, and that is the museum!

When you start the game you will quickly learn that the village you've found yourself in has recently been attacked by an enemy known as the "shadow-beasts". Before this invasion, the museum within this village housed many artefacts and relics.

But what happened after the shadow-beast invasion, and the timely event of your arrival? Well - you guessed it - the artefacts have gone missing!



When you first walk into the museum you'll meet Oswyn, the curator and owner of the museum itself. Who entrusts your help in finding any new items that can populate his museum. You're unsure of what items he had before, but sure enough on your adventures you'll encounter mysterious items that Oswyn will be interested in.

Speaking of Oswyn, let's take a look at his character portrait - say hello!



So how do you find these lost artefacts I might hear you ask?

To the east of the village are the city gates, and from there you can explore various procedurally generated zones where you can chop trees, mine rocks, attack enemies, and - you guessed it - find artefacts!

During your explorations you might see something poking out of the ground, when you interact with these items you'll pick them up and initiate the quest for returning these items back to Oswyn.

Let's take a look at an example of these artefacts.





Wait... did we read that correctly? A car tyre? A music amplifier? What are these sorts of items doing near a fantasy village?

Blending the "real world" and the village of Illisor is a common theme within this game. This applies to the museum artefacts, and the lore diaries you can find throughout the world.

The mysteries of why and how this occurs will unravel as you advance through the main story, and you can already get a sense of that if you play the demo! (hint hint! 😉)

(side note: I've been watching His Dark Materials on BBC iPlayer recently. I read the books when I was younger, but I really like the ideas it has of mixing fantasy and real world ideas. It probably inspired me a bit with this game!)

Anyway, after taking one of these items to Oswyn, he'll display it in one of the cabinets that sits within the museum. You can always return to the museum to reflect on all the items you've found during your time in Illisor, and it's always interesting to hear what Oswyn thinks of these strange items you bring to him!






[h2]Press-Kit Reminder[/h2]
Before signing off for this months newsletter, I just want to mention a quick reminder that the official press-kit is now available. I'm happy to partake in any media related enquiries such as interviews, Q&A's, podcasts, etc! Feel free to get in touch!



Have a good one!

- 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 social media!

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

Hello everyone!

Boy oh boy - It's been a little while since there's been a game patch or update. (October of last year to be exact!)

I'm pleased to let you know there are some following changes to the Demo! This includes a bunch of fixes, quality of life updates, and features rolled back from the full game!


[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• A new introduction screen has been added to introduce the story and set the tone for the start of the game.
  
• The sprint endurance slider has been completely removed, allowing you to sprint for however long you want.
  
• Sleeping in a bed will now progress time to 6:00am on the following day, rather than always using an 8 hour offset. This allows you to always start the day reliably after sleeping.
  
• Added a new moment in the game to tell the player when they have completed the demo (players can still chose to carry on with sandboxing).
  
• The default inventory slots has expanded back up to 36 slots. This removes player frustration in the early stages of the game. For existing saves, you can retrieve the extra slots from the bag found in Quinn's General Store.
  
• A portion of the Illisor Steppes region has been unlocked in the demo, giving the player a hint of what's in store in the full game.
  
• The interior of The Dancing Moon ground floor has been adjusted.
  
• Museum items will no longer appear as they serve no purpose in the demo.
  
• Some items are now flagged as "important", preventing them from being sold or destroyed. This includes tools and quest related items. (You can still transfer them to other storage boxes.)
  

[h3]Quests[/h3]

• The "Introduce Yourself" quest has been adjusted for a better and more straight-forward player onboarding experience.
  
• Added more references to the main story during the tutorial quests.
  
• The quest journal now has categories for Main Quests and Side Quests.
  
• The market deposit box can now only be used after completing a certain quest.
  

[h3]Music[/h3]

• Changed the selection of music in the main menu and The Dancing Moon Inn to better fit the tone.
  

[h3]UI[/h3]

• A new overlay appears after transitioning to different areas in the game that displays your current location in the world.
  
• The market deposit UI has improved mouse interaction.
  
• The social and store links on the main menus have had a visual update.
  
• The map/discoveries UI and menus have been rescoped and simplified. The map will now only show you where NPCs are and if they have new quests for you to do.
  
• Moved the health bar above the item hotbar.
  
• Some icons have improved visuals.
  
• Item icons now have distinct coloured backgrounds depending on their type.
  

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• Fixed a soft lock that can occur when interacting with particular items.
  
• Adjusted a collision check in the Illisor Plaza to prevent players from falling in the river and getting stuck.
  
• Fixed a visual artefact on level tokens when highlighting all interactable objects.
  
• Fixed an issue with a miss-fired event in the market deposit box, which caused further instability with inventory items.
  

Feel free to continue reporting any bugs via the Discord bugs channel.

Discord: https://discord.gg/kpGVRKPn5W

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DancingMoonGame


Thank you so much for playing!
-DjMonkey

This month has been a bit of a slow burn compared to last month. With the main quest blocked out and done (ish), I am spending all my time iterating on all the important side quests that will support the flow of the game. I feel my role as a developer has shifted over to writer as now it really is just getting the story content into the game!

In social media news - I'm fortunate to have increased my visibility in the last month, as one of my tweets performed a lot better than my usual posts. I went from having about 400 followers to over 500! It may not seem like much to some people, but every little bit helps, and for anyone who is new here - welcome!


[h2]BETA Update![/h2]

Before jumping into the main content of this newsletter, I want to mention that I've updated the BETA build! This includes the primary content for the 2nd act of the game, and from now on I'll wrapping up the third and final act.

It's easier then ever to sign up to the BETA - just follow this link and you'll be in line to receive your key!

[h3]📝 Beta Sign Up Page! 📝[/h3]


[h2]Developer Let's Play![/h2]

As I'm iterating on the side quests at the moment, I thought I'd do something a bit different for this month's newsletter.

I've recorded a 30 minute video of one of these quests, stepping through it in-game to give you an idea of the sort of things you will be able to do. It's a quest not found in the demo (and still spoiler free!), so it will be new to everyone!

The quest is called "Setting The Stage" - where you'll be helping the local bard gather resources to construct a stage at The Dancing Moon Inn for them to play their music on.

Bear in mind I've taken some "developer liberties" and accelerating some of the moments in the game, otherwise the quest would have taken a bit longer than what I've shown. This is mostly related to crafting and NPC schedules.

The gameplay begins at about 01:58, and I've timestamped further key moments in the video description on YouTube.

Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



[h2]Seasonal Snippets[/h2]

I think one of the reasons why one of my tweets performed well is because I focused on showing some of the winter snow effects I've done for the game. I hope I can speak for many people that I associate winter and snow with cosiness and festivity, and as some of us have been experiencing snow around the world over the last few months - I think it resonated with people!

To celebrate the seasons, check out more of these screenshots I've gathered within the game. These are examples of all the different seasons, and I hope you find them even more cosy and inviting!













[h2]News & Press-Kit[/h2]

Stepping out of my comfort zone for this section. Recently I spotted a tweet by the Indie Games Developer Magazine, who were inviting developers to partake in an interview to be featured on their website. On a whim I replied and said I'd be interested, and was then asked for a Press-Kit.

Now I know Press-Kits are quite standard and required for this sort of thing, but after all this time I never actually sat down to create one!

So after a couple of hours of pulling together all the resources I've generated for this game - I can now reveal the official Tales from the Dancing Moon Press-Kit!

If you have any media enquiries please refer to the Press-Kit, and use the contact details at the bottom of the page to get in touch. I am more than happy to do interviews, Q&As and other media related things for you!





That's all for this months newsletter, I hope you enjoyed. I definitely feel like the game is coming together now!

Have a good one!

- 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 social media!

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

As I sat down to write this newsletter, I knew it was going to be a tricky one to tackle. Last month I said I was dedicating more time to the main quest and story of the game, and that’s exactly what I’ve done. To the point that I’ve blocked out all the steps that will take the player through to the finale, and now I’m in a position to iterate on that.

The down-side for this, is that it doesn’t really give me material for the newsletter. The main quest is the one thing I haven't properly showed here or on social media - the reason being is I hope players can play with fresh eyes, with no preconception from seeing things on social media or trailers. Saying that - if you play the demo then you will get a very early idea of what might be going on.

Having the main quest in place is a great thing though, as it acts as the driving force for progression for the player. Every big and little thing you do in the game leads to knowledge that will help you on your way, whether it’s side-quests, reading books, finding notes and exploring the procedural areas. This also gets me one step closer to a potential early access version of the game.

So for this newsletter I’m going to focus on some of those little "side-things", as well as digging into my archives to really show how things have progressed since I started.



[h2]Tea Brewing Mini Game[/h2]



Quite soon after the demo section of the game, you'll encounter a new character by the name of Graham. Graham teaches you in the craft of brewing special tea, which can grant the player special temporary perks. You can think of this similarly to the cooking mechanic that I described in a previous newsletter.

The more I implement these features, the more I realise that this game really relies on discovery. Particularly with the cooking and brewing gameplay - a lot of the recipes you learn will either be found by experimentation, or finding recipe notes whilst you explore. This approach to things really is at the core of the game, and I think it's good that I'm leaning into it at every opportunity.

One thing I've been working on is a screen overlay effect which will help you find ingredients for brewing tea. You can think of this similar to the Witcher senses, and will highlight hidden resources in every area in the game that you can forage. This will highlight as purple as apposed to the typical gold for all other interactables.





[h2]Stoknel Swamp[/h2]

Stoknel Swamp is the third procedural zone you can explore in the game, and is designed to be one of the more dangerous locations, with even deadlier enemies to encounter. It's very early days so I can't show much, but there's enough here to give a glimpse. It was also another opportunity to jump into photo-mode and show off some of the filters I have implemented - including sepia-tone!







[h2]From the Archive[/h2]

I won’t spent much time setting things up here. Below are a few images I’ve dug up over the last 2 years of development. I’ll briefly describe what’s going on in each one!



One of the earliest screenshots I could find of a conversation test, with an insight to art styles I was attempting before going down the realistic assets route. You can see I'm even using the default Unreal Engine mannequin for the NPC's here!



A later screenshot of the conversation system, with an early look at the town. I'm using a basic screenshot of the Unreal Mannequin here as an NPC portrait, before finding an artist to help me out with those!



This is a test for a procedural zone, you can see that the lake formation doesn't look too natural especially around the edges. This was before I changed tactics and decided to do an art-pass first, and used that as a guide for the proc-gen systems.



One of the first thing I did when upgrading to Unreal 5.0 was converting some of the particle systems over to Niagara. What you see here is a mix of snow particles and a material shader to turn the ground icy!



That's all for this months newsletter! I'm excited to figure out what will come next to show for next month. If all goes well I'm hoping to push another build up to the Beta branch that includes all the latest and greatest for the main quest!

Have a good one!

- DjMonkey

Enjoy reading my newsletters and would like to be notified of more news about Tales from The Dancing Moon? Then please Wishlist/Follow from 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 social media! Links can be found on the store page.

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