Cauldron News

[h3]Next Fest[/h3]
This past week has been crazy for Cauldron! We had a bunch of coverage popping up on YouTube that's brought even more players into our community. I'm working hard to make sure all of the feedback everyone has been giving finds its way into the game, and I'll hopefully get some of it in before Next Fest on Monday!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Here's a video Haelian did on Cauldron!


[h3]Updated Sprites![/h3]
We're still working on updating the character sprites! There's a lot of tweaking and refining going on behind the scenes, so they likely won't be ready in time for Next Fest, but we're making great progress and hope to have them finished soon after!




[h3]More Balance Changes[/h3]
I've updated the Cauldron upgrades and split out the apples/fish/rocks upgrade into three separate ones, which will give players the ability to put more focus into the minigames they prefer. And with that, I made the fishing game a little bit easier and removed the fishing handicap NPC. I think with the current balancing, he was a bit overkill. Let me know how you're finding the new progression!



[h3]Feedback[/h3]
As always, feel free to reach out with any comments, questions, or feedback, either here on Steam or over in the Cauldron Discord. There's still some time to give us your suggestions and help improve Cauldron before release! We'd love to hear from you.

Thanks!
Pete


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2619650/Cauldron/

Hey Everyone!

Cauldron has been picking up a bit of steam here (heh…) during Idler Fest, and I wanted to say thanks to all those who have been following the game’s development! Your continued feedback has helped Cauldron become the game it is today, so keep it coming!

Fishing Game Balancing
Players seem really divided on the fishing minigame. For some, the fishing game is far and away the fastest resource to grind out, while for others, it feels painfully slow. I’ve been trying to think of a way to keep everyone happy, so I’m going to test out a bit of a fishing game handicap, which can be toggled by our new underwater friend, Henry!



Gearing up for Next Fest
Steam’s Next Fest is only a couple weeks away, and there’s still so much left to do! A big task on our to-do list is to update all of the character sprites, the ones used for battles, menus, etc. We’re still zeroing in on the style we want, but we’re getting close!

Included in that update will be brand new Nyx sprites! Part of me will miss the current Nyx, as I’ve been looking at her for years now, but at the same time I have to admit her hat sometimes makes her look more like a pilgrim than a witch…



Feedback
As we make these updates, I’m hoping the community will chime in on what they like and dislike about the new art. There’s still time for us to make tweaks, so don’t hold back! As always, feel free to reach out with any comments, questions, or feedback, either here on Steam or over in the Cauldron Discord.

Thanks again for the continued support!
Pete


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2619650/Cauldron/

Playing the cauldron demo!

[h3]Try Cauldron's Idle Mode![/h3]
Want the full idler experience? In honor of Steam's Idler Fest, Idle Mode is now unlocked and available from the start! Begin a new run by selecting an empty slot and choosing Idle. The game will auto-play minigames and battles, so you can spend your time doing something else (like playing other idle games on Steam!).

Uncover Cauldron's mysteries to unlock other game modes!

[h3]New styles[/h3]
These past few months, we've been hard at work updating Cauldron's artwork to bring players a unique and exciting experience. If you haven't played in a while, expect to find a new map, new character portraits, new visual effects, and a whole bunch of QoL improvements! And there's still more to come before full release in a few months!

Come explore a brand new map!

Who doesn't love a tiny waterfall?

[h3]Feedback[/h3]
As always, feel free to reach out with any comments, questions, or feedback, either here on Steam or over in the Cauldron Discord. There's still some time to give us your suggestions and help improve Cauldron before release! We'd love to hear from you!


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2619650/Cauldron/

A Little History:
I began developing Cauldron in 2021 as a hobby project, and now four years later, here we are! What started as a couple strung-together minigames has evolved into the upgrade-fest that is Cauldron! I could pretend that I had a master plan laid out for this game from the start, and that every new unlockable gameplay feature was part of some grand design, but the reality of this game’s development was a lot more chaotic, with a lot of trial and error, testing, and bugs (and an incredible amount of helpful feedback from the community!).

The progress of the world and environment art.

Developing Development:
As Cauldron evolved, so did my vision of the game’s final form, and with that, a realization that I’d never be able to do everything on my own. This past year, I formed SleepyDad Games, and have brought on a dedicated musician (Andy Brown) and pixel artist (Jared Zankowski) to work on the game.

How combat has changed over time.

Happening Now:
If you’ve been following the game, you probably noticed a lot of changes recently! Since the start of the new year, we’ve been updating a lot of the game’s artwork, including Jared’s incredible hand-drawn map and updated character portraits. I’ve also added a whole bunch of post-processing effects to bring the game to life (though I’m currently battling with the slowdown they cause on some graphics cards!).

Early and current dialogues!

SleepyDad has also entered a partnership with Caketown Interactive, whose expertise in marketing and publishing games has already been an incredible help (they’re the ones who suggested I start these dev diaries!).



What’s Left Before Full Release:
Short answer: a whole lot!
More than anything, Cauldron can use a bit of polish, and I’m pushing hard to make sure the game looks and plays its best before release in May. There’s still more map to draw, more character sprites to update, and more features to add (full mouse support almost here!). We’re also looking into localization, and as of now, we’re at least planning to add Simplified Chinese translations to the game.

The next few months will be busy, and I’ll do my best to keep these posts coming for those of you who want to follow the game’s development.

As always, feel free to reach out with any comments, questions, or feedback, either here on Steam or over in the Cauldron Discord.



Thanks again!
Pete