Hello everyone, Sorry this devlog ended up arriving so late. Between some exciting news that I needed to prepare for, as well as battling a few demons (metaphorical, not literal. I wish I was that cool), it was tough to get words on paper.about:blank#blocked I have a lot of really big announcements and excitement to share, though. Also, I'm going to try something a little different and put a little summary / table of contents at the start of each devlog.

So here's what to expect for this one:

• Official demo page added to Steam (+ leave your reviews!)
• Extremely exciting super special announcement
• Development progress report
• Minor release plans adjustment

Official Demo Page

Last month, Steam announced a new feature where demos could get their own individual pages on Steam, and thus have a separate description, assets, as well as reviews. This is pretty cool... albeit a tad frustrating given it would have been much nicer to have this feature before Next Fest! As such, I've created an official, separate demo page for Legends of Astravia. I think it's important to highlight what the demo has to offer vs the full game, and I can continue to build up the full game's page without worrying about clashing with the demo's current state.
(Click the image to visit the spiffy new Steam page!) Demo reviews--now's your chance to support the game! I am fairly confident based on the feedback the game received during Next Fest that it would be beneficial instead of detrimental to enable reviews. As such, if you played the demo, enjoyed it, and really want to support it, this is a real thing you can do that doesn't cost any money. Please leave a review, as it'll help get the game bumped up in Steam's lists and help upon its eventual release. Every review from a supporter of the game will really help. Of course, if you genuinely disliked it enough to want to announce it to the world, that's entirely fair too, I suppose!

Seattle Indies Expo

Now for the actual, real, super exciting news: Legends of Astravia was selected for the in person showcase, Seattle Indies Expo 2024!
This is a big first for me. I've shown the game at a couple of "digital" conventions, but never in real life. I'll have my game on display, in the flesh, for real?! Also, I've never been to Seattle, so there's that! Seattle Indies Expo is a 1-day showcase that celebrates indie games in the heart of Seattle every year during PAX West. Supposedly, they only pick a few games outside of the Pacific Northwest, so that's pretty cool. You can learn more about it on their website here: https://six.seattleindies.org This year it runs on Sunday, September 1st. Needless to say, that was pretty short notice, so I've been completely tied up preparing for it. The showcase is completely free to attend, so if you happen to be in the area, or are visiting for PAX West, feel free by and say hello! I'll post more info closer to the event, so keep an eye out for those announcements.

Stickers and other goodies!

Since this is an in-person event, and a rather expensive trip, I'm going to try selling some merch to help with recouping costs a bit. The first few folks to stop by the table will get a free Oliver sticker:
I've prepared some other free goodies, including bookmarks and little hand-out cards. And, if all goes well and everything arrives on-time, I'll also be selling Oliver and Azel stickers, and sticker sheets (pictures will be posted closer to the event--I gotta build some hype somehow!):
If selling stuff at the booth goes well, and folks really like the stickers and stuff, I may consider selling them online. I admit selling stuff for a game that isn't even out yet feels a bit weird. But seeing as I don't have many (i.e. any) ways of funding development, I suppose it's not much different than a Kickstarter perk or something. Except you get to have it right away. If you're genuinely quite interested in this kind of thing, definitely be sure to leave a comment on the Steam announcement, itch.io announcement, or in the Discord server!

Development Progress for July

Next up is dev progress report, which is unfortunately a bit small. As most of June and July was spent recovering from Next Fest, and then the remainder of my productivity was taken up by preparing for Seattle Indies Expo, I was not able to make a ton of progress on the game itself. But it wasn't a total loss! First, Valica fields has started to come along, and I've prepared tilesets and started to fill in the placeholder maps:
Additionally, one of the most important and requested features from the demo was the ability to remap inputs for your keyboard / controller / etc, and I'm pleased to report that feature is about 90% done! All that's left is the front-facing menu stuff.

2025 Release Plans

With this showcase sort of taking me by surprise, and everything surrounding Next Fest being much more work than I anticipated, the "Q1" portion of the release date is a little too scary for me. As such, I've changed it to just "2025". Legends of Astravia is going to release in some way in 2025. The current plan was to release part 1 of 2. However, I'm getting a little wary about how to navigate this marketing-wise, and I haven't quite cracked it yet. There are few other factors complicating things as well. I have a strategy in mind based on the past few months, but I'd also like to wait and see what comes of the upcoming showcase as well. Regardless, I know a lot of folks are excited for this game and have very high expectations for it, so I'm hoping to meet those in 2025! I look forward to reporting my results from the Seattle Indies Expo, as well as more development progress, in the next developer's log. Given the circumstances, I'll have to skip another month, but it'll be worth the updates, I think. See you in September! - Jaiden