End of September Dev Update: Next Fest is... Next!

[h2]What I've been up to[/h2][p]It's been just about four weeks since I last published an update, and I'm really excited that we're so close to sharing the game with a bigger audience. Here's where my attention has gone:[/p][h3]Setting up playnhf.com[/h3][p]We have a public website live, with a lot of the content that is already available on our Steam store and a link to the demo on itch.io.[/p][h3]Steam Integration: Cloud Saves, Remote Play Together, and Build Approval[/h3][p]Since this is the first game I've published on Steam, most of the time lately has been learning the process of implementing the Steam SDK into the game's code and getting NHF to launch/run. While it's a bit of work to find your way around, the actual integration of the game's code amounts to not much more than installing a library and adding a few lines of code.[/p][p]What was most exciting to me was how easy it was to set up things like Cloud Saves and Remote Play Together, the latter being especially desired since the game has local multiplayer. I've always wanted to include it as a listed feature in the store, but I wanted to double check first-hand that everything was functioning first hand before listing.[/p][p]This past Thursday had an important milestone, too, with the full game build getting approved by Steam.[/p][h3]Achievements![/h3][p]Up until last week, including achievements seemed more like a "nice to have" than a "must have." But once I had all of the necessary elements above in place, I couldn't help but wish to do some crunch time (i.e., working after dinner until a later-than-usual bedtime) this week to define the achievements, design the unlock badges, and implement them into the codebase.[/p][p]While NHF's game experience is rewarding on its own, I know how much that little notification of an unlocked achievement during a key gameplay moment adds to the experience. I wish to respect those who invest their time and attention into my game, and I feel that including these is a fun little gift for player's game profiles.[/p][p]I'm mostly done with the achievements, with just the last steps of testing to verify that they unlock throughout the game experience.[/p][h2]What's next?:[/h2][p]Still lots of marketing stuff! We've been active on X and now TikTok as of this week, showing some interesting trivia for the soundtrack. We're also contacting some streamers, too.[/p][p]I'm currently determining whether the demo will be published next week for the press or for the start date of the Next Fest. Again, you can find the demo on itch if you wish to play now.[/p]