The Merry Fairy News

[p]Dear friend, [/p][p][/p][p]Some of the new decorations were not properly saving in between game sessions. Hopefully this is fixed now![/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]Dear friend,[/p][p][/p][p]I fell in love![/p][p]This always happens to me at the turn of the season, and this time I fell in love with Autumn! She painted my beloved forest in so many lovely, incredible colors, that I have a really hard time being inside. All I want is to go for a walk and gather a lot of leaves. I even learned that if you marinate lovely autumn leaves in a solution composed of 1/3 glycerin and 2/3 lukewarm water, the vibrant colors will last for a very long time. My leaves are still marinating, but I hope that in a few days, my office will look and feel just like the forest![/p][p]Inspired by this beautiful Autumn, I fell in love once more with watercolor. It did not help at all that I visited a lovely arts and crafts store, which had All The Colors! Thankfully, my new watercolor palette kept me in my office for a bit, and it inspired me to paint a Halloween-themed decoration set. I hope the spooky decorations will bring you joy! [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]My friend Edwige is creating a beautiful gardening game set in the 17th-century rural France, called The Abbess Garden. Besides a very accurate gardening experience, the game also features an intriguing story filled with spies and romance![/p][p][/p][p]Edwige kindly gave me a whole neat set of decorations from her game. They are now available in the Guestbook, offering a little taste of her beautiful game. The Abbess Garden features a Demo that takes part in Steam Next Fest, and I encourage you to try it out and consider leaving a nice review. [/p][p][/p][p]Fixed Achievements - The new setting between the Simple and Realistic decoration style inadvertently broke some achievements. I should have thought about checking! But I am happy to say that the broken achievements (Fairy's Gift and Fairy's Gifts) are now fixed. [/p][p]Decoration Toggles - I also changed how the Categories and Sizes work in the Decorations page. They were originally designed as filters that can be combined, but now they work as simple toggles: you can choose to see only Small stickers, or only Frames, for example.[/p][p]Soul Candy Refresh - I caught myself trying to find the perfect Soul Candy for the day. But it was not that easy to find it in the candy jar, so now I added a Refresh button right in the candy![/p][p]Improved Decoration Gathering - the Simple mode of scrapbooking now adds only one decoration of the same kind in the Decoration pages, no matter how many times you click on it. [/p][p]By "*Notable" I mean what I remembered to note =)[/p][p][/p][p]They help me super super super much! I always keep a really close eye on the reports, on what is happening right here in the Steam community, and on The Merry Fairy Discord channel. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This has nothing to do with the game, but I want to show you my super lovely Halloween pumpkins that I have been growing in my garden since this spring. It's the first time I tried to grow pumpkins, and I think I experienced what is commonly known as "beginner's luck"![/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p][/p][p]Have a spookily happy Halloween! I hope the new decorations are not too scary![/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]Dear friend,[/p][p][/p][p]Of all the magic that exists, my favorite kind is the magic of hope. Hope is where every good thing can begin. To hope is to trust your dreams, to imagine something good and have the courage to summon it into reality. Without hope, I dare say no seed would ever be planted, no bread would ever be baked, no book would ever be written, and no cottage, or game would ever be done. And yet, hope is perhaps the hardest magic to yield, especially when the modern world seems so enchanted by the magic of destruction. [/p][p]This is why I mourn the passing of Dr. Jane Goodall, whose wisdom and courage have been inspiring me for as long as I can remember. She spoke of hope, and dedicated her life to inspiring hope, because she loved this beautiful planet of ours. [/p][p]Her work started with a long and empathetic observation of the chimpanzees in the distant forest of Gombe, in Tanzania. There, she was the first scientist in the world to observe that the chimpanzees can make and use tools, that they have beautiful personalities just like we do, and that they are compassionate and kind, and also sometimes angry enough to even go to war, like we do. [/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p][/p][p]To honor the courageous and inspiring life of Dr. Jane Goodall, all money that is made through the sale of The Merry Fairy for the month of October will go to the Jane Goodall Institute. Dear friend, I encourage you to visit the link as well, and also check out Jane's Roots & Shoots global project, whose goal is:[/p][p][/p][h3]"To foster respect and compassion for all living things, to promote understanding of all cultures and beliefs and to inspire each individual to take action to make the world a better place for animals, people, and the environment."[/h3][p][/p][p]Let us all remember that [/p][h3]"What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make" - Jane Goodall[/h3][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]Dear friend,[/p][p][/p][p]Last night, my Caretaker picked bluebells for me and left them on my desk, so that I could start my day feeling loved and happy.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]But I did not notice them.[/p][p]I started my day focused on the latest update, impatiently checking the impact of the events The Merry Fairy takes part in. Spelkollektivet got 24 hours of front page featuring on Steam, and the Summer Postcard is such an amazingly well-planned event. Could these actions bring me more sales? Will I get more positive reviews and enough visibility so that my game becomes popular?[/p][p]These thoughts robbed me of the joy of noticing these beautiful flowers. And I caught myself on the verge of forgetting why I made The Merry Fairy in the first place. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Many of us suffer, but we are not sick. We are misplaced. The magic of nature, including our very own nature, is denied. In a time when we can understand the abundance and enchantment of our planet like never before, too many of us are forced to live in square gray boxes, to prioritize meaningless jobs, and to live a stressful life.[/p][p]When I started to imagine The Merry Fairy, I was trapped in a tiny gray box myself. I was starting to understand the depth of my diagnosis, cPTSD, and I was conjuring the courage of a lifetime struggle to find my home. I spent the most frightening years of COVID in a tiny windowless closet converted into an office space, and imagined an enchanted window that would open into a wild, untouched forest, where the trees were old and clad in musk, and with crowns so thick that the sun and rain would barely get a chance to touch the ground. This forest was safe and endlessly peaceful. During my darkest moments, it soothed my weary, dreadful thoughts. [/p][p]Slowly, timidly, almost unconsciously, I started to describe it. I wrote down fragments of it in my newly started journal, a practice that felt dangerous somehow. "I am not a writer," I thought. "I cannot draw or doodle," my ego whispered, holding on to a lifetime of believing the fears of others. But despite that, I continued. This dream and practice build up my courage to leave everything behind and find my home in Fairyland. It turns out that I can do pretty much everything I set my mind to, and so can you, my friend. [/p][p]Journaling helped me understand and embrace my magic. I now know that I was never sick, just misplaced and misinformed about my magical abilities. In the forest, away from the modern, rushed life, I feel my wings healing and growing, and I feel my creativity becoming bolder. Since I moved to Fairyland, I was able to build The Merry Fairy, even though my entire life, I believed that I was not a creative person and that I would never make my own game. [/p][p]I conjured my courage to build The Merry Fairy by journaling, but I opened up The Merry Fairy to you because I seek friends. This is my little world, my tiny desk, my enchanted forest, and sometimes the modern world makes me feel alone. But the forest always reminds me that it is not so. I know there are many magical souls out there, like me, who love nature, who create beautiful, nurturing things, who might be misplaced, like I have been, but who nonetheless sense their magic. [/p][p]Which brings me to what I had forgotten to say since I celebrated the Grand Opening of The Merry Fairy:[/p][h3]Thank you![/h3][p]Thank you for being here with me, thank you for visiting my enchanted little cottage, and thank you for embarking on the bold quest of rediscovering your magic through scrapbook journaling, together with me. Sometimes I focus too much on arbitrary markers of success, and I forget what I wanted in the first place: kindred spirits who can become my friends. Thank you for visiting my cottage, thank you for becoming a part of my life, and thank you for inspiring me![/p][p][/p]

[p]Dear friend,[/p][p][/p][p]Starting today, September 22nd, and until September 29th, The Merry Fairy takes place in not one, but two Steam fests: The Spelkollektivet 8th Anniversary Showcase and the Summer Postcard celebration! Sadly, I am unable to offer a discount on these wonderful occasions, so instead, I focused on releasing the biggest update I have ever done until now. [/p][p][/p][h2]Shiny New Things in The Merry Fairy Build 60[/h2]

• [p]You can now choose between a Simple or Realistic way of gathering decorations; the Simple way functions as a kind of stamp, allowing you to gather a decoration only once and then use it in your journal pages as many times as you wish. You may choose the style of scrapbooking in the Settings available through the Main Menu[/p]
• [p]Decorations can now be flipped horizontally and vertically: an often-requested feature is now finally available, opening up fresh new possibilities to decorate your journal pages![/p]
• [p]Improved Bring to Front/ Send to Back functionality: the game now only accounts for layered decorations, so ordering them is now much easier[/p]
• [p]Chalmeris - a brand new radio channel: I am so incredibly happy to announce that Chalmeris, an artist whose work I have been following for a very long time, now has its own radio channel in Fairyland![/p]

[p]There are many other tweaks and updates, but I wanted to point out the ones that were most requested, because I hope they will bring you excitement and happiness! I also added a little bug report and feature request straight from my enchanted desk, and I encourage you to use it without hesitation because I love to receive feedback and ideas from you.[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][h2]Spelkollektivet Mega Bundle[/h2][p]Spelkollektivet is a not-for-profit community-driven co-living incubator situated about 4 hours drive away from Fairyland. I have been following this inspiring project since forever, and in the summer of 2023, I decided to spend a little time there so that I could playtest The Merry Fairy. This is how my little project managed to participate in this Steam festival. The Merry Fairy is also a part of the wonderful The Spelkollektivet MEGA Bundle , featuring a collective 50% discount. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]