New Lightyear’s Resolutions

[p]Hi everyone, and welcome to another Dandelion Void devlog! Today’s post is a little different. Now that we’re in the glorious new year, we wanted to reflect on everything that’s happened up to now, and share some of our “new year’s resolutions” for the game. [/p][p]This is a bit of a longer post, so please feel free to skip around as you like! The sections are as follows:[/p]

• [p]Ancient History - An archeological dig into early prototype footage![/p]
• [p]2025 Highlights - The story of the year Dandelion Void took off to the stars![/p]
• [p]2026 Resolutions - Our goals for Dandelion Void Development in the new year![/p]

[p]Note that while we are discussing high-level goals for 2026, this post will not touch on our release timeline. But keep your eyes peeled later this year for more information on Dandelion Void’s schedule![/p][p]Before we get into 2025, let’s turn back the clock and look at some of our game’s “childhood photos.” These early development videos span all the way back to 2023, when the game was just a part-time hobby project for Brian.[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]This is the earliest publicly available video of Dandelion Void, showing off a visibility occlusion system. It's a neat effect, but we eventually removed it in favor of simpler door-based occlusion. Over longer playthroughs the wild motion of the occlusion shapes would wear on the eye.[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]Here you can see the first functional test of our “ponic” vegetation. The algorithm for spawning these has largely survived intact over the years. Our visual identity is “overgrown spaceship,” and we were really happy with how the distribution looked on the first try! [/p][p]Notice that the game doesn't yet have the layers of roots, humus, and algae from the current version fo the game. These elements visually smooth the borders between the man-made flooring and the wild vegetation, which looks a bit abrupt in the video.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]This longer clip shows some of the first combat gameplay! You may notice elements like wild boars, streets, and cars that were eventually removed, as they no longer fit our worldbuilding direction.[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]This is the earliest post where you can see the game’s visual style coalesce. We have a new lighting model on display, and we finally ditched the perspective camera in favor of a classy orthographic one. It took a long time to nail our look, but we are really happy with how it turned out! [/p][p]To round things out, here's a dev screenshot from just a couple weeks back. How far we've come![/p][p]Now, onto 2025:[/p][h2]Production & Audience Building[/h2][p]Dandelion Void development started in 2023, but 2025 was the biggest year for the game by far. At the end of May we launched our wishlist page – with modest expectations, frankly – and we were floored to see how much the game resonated with people. In our first 2 weeks we got over 40,000 wishlists, and in December we reached the 80k mark! [/p][p]It's hard to overstate how much of a game changer this response has been. Knowing that people are hungry for our game gave us the confidence to go all in on Dandelion Void. In June we grew from a solo team to a 6 person operation: our game director Brian was joined by Dara (animation & modeling), Roland (engineering & art), Robin (engineering & narrative), Catton (music composition), and Frenchy (sound effects). This allowed us to expand the vision for Dandelion Void from a part-time hobby project, to a fully scoped releasable game. [/p][p][/p][p]Apparently over a thousand people want to discuss our game? It's hard to wrap our heads around![/p][p]Other notable events include our Discord growing to over 1,000 members, and MrAtomicDuck’s stream in November, which doubled as a major gameplay preview. The game has also been featured in a few viral TikToks, reels, and Bilibili posts! We are truly grateful to everyone who has shared the game, posted about it, and created fan art and video content. Your support is allowing us to make the best possible version of Dandelion Void![/p][h2]Development Highlights [/h2][p]At the start of 2025, Dandelion Void felt closer to a tech demo than a full game. A systems-heavy title like ours requires core infrastructure like a map editor, chunk loading and unloading, batched vegetation rendering, usable inventory UI, etc., and putting it all together is no small task. Brian also did plenty of game design along the way, but there was so much technical work to be done that we weren't able to do playtests very often.[/p][p]By mid-year we finally had a foundation laid out, and so our focus shifted to bring Dandelion Void from “technically playable” to “fun as hell.” Our goal was to have an internally playable demo that felt like a strong, standalone experience and supported 40-60 minutes of gameplay. [/p][p]Some of the ways we did this were:[/p]

• [p]Redesigning our demo level to have a stronger sense of progression and discovery. This also included adding some progression-blocking items and environmental objects, e.g. broken doors that must be destroyed with a sledgehammer. See more info in this devblog![/p]
• [p]Refining the cleaning and furniture placement systems to give players the satisfaction of creating their own little nests.[/p]
• [p]Fleshing out our looting experience with new junk items and storage furniture.[/p]
• [p]Adding readable texts to start representing our narrative in-game [/p]
• [p]Balancing our hunger, thirst, and other stat systems more aggressively so that the player is constantly thinking about their next meal![/p]

[p]Along with other improvements, these changes culminated in test sessions where our players were finally starting to have the type of game experience we had always envisioned for Dandelion Void: satisfying looting, terrifying combat encounters, and little pockets of safety and comfort in between.[/p][p]Creating a fresh new map allowed us to tailor the environment to the needs of this early demo![/p][p]After creating this first “standalone demo,” we regrouped, did a ton of internal and external playtesting, and planned a development push for an improved version. We learned that our testers’ biggest requests were more narrative context and gameplay variety, so we focused our efforts strategically on a few more new features:[/p]

• [p]Adding a storyboard-style intro cutscene to explain who your character is and how they found their way into the game environment [/p]
• [p]Creating a series of “Story Room” setpieces (survivor hovel, rat room, library, etc.) to give the player little moments of discovery as they explore[/p]
• [p]Giving the uproots a secondary leap attack to add texture to combat and make the enemies harder to kite[/p]
• [p]Adding the new TwigSnapper enemy and a bleeding status effect to increase the diversity of threats to the player’s life![/p]

[p]Early playtesters told us that they wanted more narrative context and stakes established for their character, so Roland drew this intro cutscene! [/p][p]In general we were very happy with the variety that these improvements added to the game. This second “standalone demo” is the version that MrAtomicDuck played last November; you can read our reflections on it here! Seeing such a successful playtest was a fantastic way to end the year for us.[/p][p]In December we began work on a third major "standalone demo," which will focus on character creation, more new environments, and new types of threats. Up to now all of this playtesting has been done with friends and industry colleagues, but we do hope to expand our playtesting to fans in the future.[/p][p]Speaking of the future, let's talk about our major goals for this year![/p][h2]Game Goals:[/h2][p]One way to think about game production – and really any creative process – is a pendulum swinging between “expanding” and “refining.” Expanding is where you add brand new systems and content, which might start off in a rough state. Refining is the process of taking that new material and iterating upon it until it's fun, polished, and compelling. [/p][p]A novelist might spend a day writing a rough draft of a new chapter, or they might be editing an existing one until the language is perfect. Both phases are necessary, but they use different parts of your brain and rarely happen simultaneously.[/p][p]Generally speaking, 2025 was a year of refining for us. Brian's work since 2023 had given us a ton of raw material to work with, and it was our job to package it all into a compelling standalone experience. Most of our energy was spent improving existing content rather than adding new systems. For instance, the standalone demo that Duck played had a highly polished looting and character needs game loop, but it lacked major features like crafting.[/p][p]Now that we have a strong standalone build that we consistently have fun playing, it's time for the pendulum to swing back to the expanding phase! We're happy with our skeleton, and are ready to start adding some meat to its bones. This includes:[/p]

• [p]Doing a big environmental art direction push to create more unique spaces and refine the visual identity for the ship's architecture[/p]
• [p]Filling out keystone systems like crafting, skill progression, health and injuries, etc.[/p]
• [p]Fleshing out new enemies, plants, and hazards to mechanically differentiate different biomes and ship areas[/p]
• [p]Adding more map randomization features -- randomly destroyed walls and containers, procedurally distributed pockets of different types of plant life, etc. -- to create more variance between different playthroughs [/p]
• [p]Fleshing out our character creator to allow the player to experiment with different visual appearances and mechanical builds[/p]
• [p]Finding new ways to tell the story of the Pergola through in-game environments, objects, and mechanics[/p]
• [p]Working on a major new feature that we can't give any information on now, but we guarantee you will be excited to see. Sorry to be a tease![/p]

[p]One thing you might notice is that the majority of these features are focused on enabling mid-game and late-game experiences. This is because we have been highly focused on the early game up to now, in service of creating the standalone demos.[/p][p]Features like character trait selection add replay value, allowing us to expand our total "minutes of fun"![/p][p]Something we reference a lot in our game design planning is the concept of “minutes of fun” from this 2019 GDC talk by Subnautica's Charlie Cleveland. The idea is that throughout the development of a game, your demo should be able to support longer and longer play sessions without the player seeing all the content or getting bored. [/p][p]In our current demo we have a solid 1-2 hours, but as we add new late game systems we intend to stretch that into dozens, and eventually hundreds of hours![/p][h2]Team Resolutions:[/h2][p]The goals listed above reflect our teamwide intentions for the game in 2026. To round things out, the 4 members of our core development team will share our personal resolutions for Dandelion Void development! [/p][p]Dara:[/p]

[p]As a 3D artist on Dandelion Void, my resolution for the new year is to continue honing in my art skills, learn more techniques, and quicken my workflow. I’d like to model many more assets to fill out the world in our spaceship. This past year, I got to add a lot of junk, furniture, key items, and more but I am so excited to help the ship grow! I’d also want to create more fun animations for our characters, giving them more personality and flair.[/p]

[p]Roland:[/p]

[p]After the wishlist trailer blew up, Brian and Robin knew Dandelion Void was destined to be something larger than they had originally planned. They graciously approached me to join the team, and while I’ve been able to lend a hand with optimizations, occasional art assets, and various administrative tasks, I still have not been able to give the project my full attention, for a number of reasons.

I’m hoping 2026 changes this, and lets me put my full weight into making Dandelion Void the best it can be. On top of further optimization work, I want to get my hands into the nuts and bolts of the game’s core, adding support for a number of exciting features I won’t elaborate on just yet, but are literally game-changing![/p]

[p]Robin: [/p]

[p]In 2026 I want to improve my basic 3D art skills in Blender! As a designer and engineer frequently working on gameplay features, it’s often up to me to stub in “temp art” for new objects and enemies. These are eventually replaced by our infinitely more talented artists, but due to schedule overlaps the temp asset will sometimes stay in the project for a few weeks.[/p][p]I believe that placeholder “programmer art” should still be evocative of the final vision for a feature. We talk a lot about “grayboxing” in our industry, but I don’t think you can actually get a real sense of whether a new enemy is functioning correctly if it’s literally just a gray capsule. Humans are visual creatures, and playtesters can only imagine so much![/p][p]in December I finally bit the bullet and modeled my first rigged enemy in Blender. It’s not winning any beauty contests, but being able to block something in with basic attack animations helped me get a sense for how well the game design of the creature is working. I look forward to handing it off to a real artist, but in the meantime it’s in the game and testing well! I’m hoping to build on these skills in 2026 and become more self-sufficient.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Brian:[/p]

[p]Each of us has so much talent to bring to the table, so many good ideas, and so much passion for our vision of Dandelion Void. I’ve really felt myself growing in the role of Game Director, but there’s still so much to learn! My resolution… get more comfortable wearing the Game Director hat, ditch the imposter syndrome, make mistakes and learn from them![/p]

[p][/p][p]That's all for now! 2025 was a wild ride, and all indications point to an even more exciting 2026. We hope you all have a great new year, and can't wait to share more updates on Dandelion Void with you in the coming months![/p][p]-- Robin and the Manzanita Interactive team[/p]