New

• Added a research dialog allowing you to specify which research methods to use for your works.
• New items available in the store: Library card, Voice recorder.
• You can now add a summary to your works.
• [Community suggestion] Submission deadlines are marked on the calendar.
• Can now auto-generate unique titles for Journalism articles.

Polishing

• [Community suggestion] Agents and publicists no longer cost XP to hire.
• When an Agent cannot be hired due to low work quality, the minimum quality requirement is displayed.
• Polished: Write dialog, button icons
• The writer's block cryptogram will now prevent you from accidentally assigning the same letter to multiple substitution letters.
• More generous deadlines for freelance works.
• You can now move the cursor in text boxes by clicking and dragging.

Fixes

• Only allow entering valid characters in text boxes.

Follow us

• Discord
• Mastodon

[ 2023-09-12 11:05:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

New

• [Community suggestion] There is now a fast-forward button which can be used during writing (only in the writing stage and when enough inspiration), reading, feedback, making corrections, or replying to fan mail.
• [Community suggestion] In the write dialog there is now a button to generate random unique titles for your works.
• [Community suggestion] The Romance/Spy and Sci-fi/Religion combos are now valid.

Polishing

• If you prefer a slower pace, the "Long days" option can now be toggled while playing the game, rather than being available only when starting a new game.
• Increased the initial clarity for short works.
• Minor art update.

Fixes

• Fixed a possible crash when switching between saves.

Follow us

• Discord
• Mastodon

[ 2023-07-24 14:30:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes

This is a quick update to support Apple silicon on Mac computers, but we also managed to add a couple of new features based on your feedback.

New

• [Community suggestion] The current day is now marked on the calendar.
• At the end of the networking event you can now choose your reward.
• Native support for Apple silicon on Mac.

Follow us

• Discord
• Mastodon

[ 2023-07-17 21:03:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes

New

• When writing books your character will occasionally run into a "Writer's Block" for which you'll have to solve a cryptogram to overcome.
• New preview popups when publishing articles and short-stories.

Polishing

• The virtual keyboard is now enabled by default (for new installations).
• Polishing of several dialogs and SFX.
• Progress bar animations.
• A warning message is now displayed when trying to load a corrupted save file.

Fixes

• Fixed game sometimes becoming unresponsive when pressing escape during the intro.
• Fixed rare error when trying to load a save while your character is writing.

[ 2023-07-14 13:54:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

We are happy to announce that Drafting Tales is now Verified on Steam Deck! For the best experience we recommend you enable the internal on-screen keyboard in the settings dialog. Please do report any issues and we'll try to fix them in the next release. Thank you for playing!

[ 2023-07-04 20:58:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes

New

• Improved touchscreen support. There is now an internal on-screen keyboard which can be optionally enabled.
• Your character's thoughts and emotions will popup on the screen while writing or performing other tasks.
• Added a feedback message for Networking Events and the questions have been updated.
• Auto-generated titles for your works are now unique.
• Added a button next to each Milestone which brings up the respective mail that triggered the Milestone.
• Advanced self-publish/website perks are now unlocked only after hiring a publicist.
• New saves will now display the game date. Slots were increased to 4.
• Added a tutorial log button in the Progress tab in case you want to revisit tutorial messages.
• Rendering speed is now limited by default for improved stability on low-end hardware. Can be optionally disabled.

Polishing

• Moved all Intro screen options to the settings dialog.
• The feedback button will now flash when your work contains unknown combos.
• Redesigned several dialogs.
• Contacts tab now lists all publishers met during Networking Events.
• Added a Market Report button on the main screen.
• SFX updates.
• Improved tutorial.
• Several bugfixes.
• Updated game engine.

macOS

• Rendering quality has been improved.

Linux

• Minimum OS requirement is now Ubuntu 18.04.

Also, we've got a new trailer showcasing some of the new features. [previewyoutube=wlTi6efyRC4;full][/previewyoutube]

[ 2023-04-28 22:21:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Publish dialog: Removed the (left/right) arrows. Self-publish options (website/printer) are now listed above traditional publishers.
• Updated the end game screen.
• New Milestone: Reach 100K fans.
• Fixed a bug where the amount of money was incorrectly displayed if the first decimal digit was zero.
• Recompressed audio assets.
• Minor update to the game engine.

[ 2021-06-30 21:36:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• [Community suggestion] There's now the option to scale the UI.

[ 2021-01-31 22:58:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

With the release of our latest v1.0.0 update, the game is reasonably stable to be made available to the general public. Therefore today we are excited to announce that Drafting Tales will be leaving Early Access!

Past

Drafting Tales was released on Steam Early Access in April 2019. We wanted to get the game to the players as soon as possible so that we receive feedback and feature requests to help us improve and polish the experience. Those that have been with us from the very beginning, know that the game experience has changed quite a bit since our initial release. In v0.5.0, the game was playable for up to 5 years, there was only one home available, a single avatar and the gameplay was limited.

Present

Fast-forward to v1.0.0, there are 3 homes available (apartment, house and mansion), 2 avatars to choose from, 2 possible endings in year 30 (good and bad), while you have the option to continue playing up to year 60. There are 13 milestones to complete, self-publishing (books and website), outlining for fiction works, sequels, multi-genre works, new items to purchase and new mechanics. Graphics, music and SFX have all been considerably improved. In addition, the game was made available for macOS after receiving many requests from players.

Future

Our plan is to keep adding features and updating the game as usual, however the stability of the game will become a priority. We want to thank you all who bought Drafting Tales during Early Access and took the time to create videos, write reviews, provide us with valuable feedback, or email us just to tell us how much you loved the game. We hope that you keep enjoying the game and, as always, feel free to continue posting your feedback and suggestions. -- The Drafting Tales Team

[ 2020-12-11 20:35:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Reduced the size of the game considerably.
• Added more magazine publishers.
• The game should now have less scaling artifacts at resolutions higher than 1080p.
• Polished: Networking event questions, tutorial, some icons.
• Fixed: Text on hardcover books now uses the correct color.
• Fixed: Settings are now saved just once after closing the dialog.

[ 2020-12-11 20:21:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• [Community suggestion] There are now question prompts during the networking event that determine the number of publishers you meet.
• Networking events are now only available every 4 weeks.
• Book design dialog: New font/color options.
• New help popups: query agents/publicists, story outline, website, book design.
• Polishing: publish/store/write/website/work status dialogs, home backgrounds, bestseller event.
• Improved the way the final score is calculated.
• Existing saves are now backed up before being overwritten.

[ 2020-11-24 15:08:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Fixed Market Report bar colours when genre/topic demand is maximum
• Increased the area available to sales charts
• Replying to fan mail no longer stops the current task
• A warning message will pop up each time you reach the fans limit
• Message describing bonuses for Sequels/Multi-genre works
• New sticker for bestsellers
• Polishing: Charts, Write Dialog, Intro, SFX

[ 2020-11-15 00:00:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• The first time your balance turns negative you'll get the option to accept a job offer that will save you from bankruptcy.
• Increased inspiration bonuses for awards and bestsellers.
• Polishing: Various dialogs and SFX.
• New music tracks.
• Fixed book sales chart colours.

[ 2020-11-01 13:24:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Gameplay rebalancing.
• [Community suggestion] Multiple save slots (one slot per game).
• Polishing: Tutorial dialogs, SFX and music tracks, topic icons.

[ 2020-10-18 11:31:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• [Community suggestion] You can now continue playing the game after retiring in Y30 (even if you get the bad ending) for a further 30 years*.
• [Community suggestion] Reduced the volume of some SFX that were too loud.
• New intro music.
• Minor game engine update.

* Even though we put a lot of effort into implementing this feature, there may still be bugs present, so please make sure to report them if you run into any.

[ 2020-09-30 19:42:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• You can now buy self-publishing perks directly from the self-publish dialog.
• Publisher's audience reach now linearly affects fan gains and book sales.
• Improved the randomizer algorithm for networking events. It will now give priority to publisher types you don't have any contacts.
• Fixed flickering issues experienced by some players.
• Minor game engine update.

[ 2020-08-31 17:37:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• You can now attend "networking events" to make contact with publishers, agents and publicists.
• The Publish dialog has been redesigned.
• The game now starts with 3 known topics.
• New topic: Old West.
• Until the Editing skill is unlocked (typically in Y2), the on-topic indicator is hidden and clarity is fixed at 50%.

[ 2020-08-02 12:14:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• [Community suggestion] Posting articles and short stories to your website generates passive income based on the number of visitors to your website.
• The game is now faster by default (previously saved games are not affected). You can reduce game speed by clicking on the "Slow time" option when starting a new game.
• Minor update to the game engine.

[ 2020-07-02 22:37:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• This update brings support for macOS platforms.
• Improved scaling for displays with more than 1080p resolution.
• Minor update to the game engine.
• Fixed the splash screen in Linux.

[ 2020-05-30 20:05:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• New topic icons.
• Major gameplay rebalancing: There's now less chance of bankruptcy in the early game and you should be able to afford the first house much earlier than before.
• Improved the tutorial.
• Publishers are now sorted by audience reach.
• The inspiration progress bar is now more accurate.
• Fixed a bug where more than 4 feedback comments would be generated when loading a save.
• Publisher names on previously published books are now displayed correctly.
• Various UI and SFX improvements.

[ 2020-04-20 22:03:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• There is now a "Quick game" option when starting a new game, which is about 50% faster than the normal game.
• Write Dialog: Effort slots that have not been unlocked yet are hidden and you'll only receive feedback on the ones that have been unlocked.
• [Community suggestion] Your fans now have different genre preferences, which are displayed in the Market Report. The more you publish in a specific genre, the more fans you gain in that genre.
• Market Report: Added a help button.
• [Community suggestion] Milestones: You no longer have to publish a perfect non-fiction to unlock novels.
• Minor UI polishing and gameplay rebalancing.
• Minor update to the game engine.

[ 2020-03-21 01:06:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Major update to the game engine.
• [Community suggestion] If the game is over due to bankruptcy, it will now return to the main menu instead of quitting to the desktop.
• Bankruptcy conditions are now evaluated at the end of each day, so as to take into account income from book royalties.
• When a new game version is released, old saves are backed up to allow players to fallback to a previous version of the game if required. Old saves can be found in: %APPDATA%/DraftingTales/backup (Windows) ~/.local/share/DraftingTales/backup (Linux)
• Fixed a bug where the character animation would sometimes fail to resume when loading from a saved game.
• Fixed a bug where the game would crash when trying to resize the window during the yacht scene.

[ 2020-02-28 21:34:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Improved animations during outlining, feedback and writing (on the notepad or typewriter).
• Considerably reduced memory usage.
• Fixed an issue in Windows preventing the splash screen from displaying in fullscreen mode.
• Minor UI polishing.

[ 2020-01-11 14:03:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• New Milestones: Perfect Fiction, Perfect Non-fiction.
• There is now a Create Sequel button in the Write dialog. Books that are part of a series will have a "Series" sticker on the cover.
• The Publish Dialog has been redesigned.
• Novel publishers now require at least 50 quality to publish your book.
• Agent reputation now determines which publishers you can query for your works.
• Updated the game engine. Should help resolve some common issues.
• Gameplay rebalancing.
• The Mansion has now a limit of 1.5M fans. You can have unlimited fans only after you buy the Yacht.
• Fixed a bug where the letter from the Yacht Broker would not be deleted after completing the milestone.

[ 2019-12-06 17:08:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• You can now create your story's outline during the "outlining" writing stage. You can buy outline options by spending XP in the Character Dialog. Not all outline options are good matches for your genre/topic, so you'll have to ask for feedback to determine the right combinations.
• You can now write multi-genre fiction once you reach genre expertise 4. Multi-genre works have +20% audience demand.
• Minor UI changes.

[ 2019-11-03 21:26:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Work length options are now Short, Medium and Long, which are unlocked at expertise levels 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
• New promotion options that can be used when self-publishing your books.
• You can now view the audience demand for each genre/topic combination in the Write dialog.
• [Community suggestion] New topics: Aliens, Archaeology, Zombies.
• XP is now awarded after the work is completed. The awarded XP is constant and depends on the work type/length, but the cost for acquiring new skills increases as you progress in the game.
• Market Report: Audience demand is color-coded. Red if less than 50, Yellow if less than the maximum value.
• Publicists are unlocked at 400K fans.
• If a publisher requests corrections while you are working on another task, the task won't be interrupted anymore. You can resume corrections at a later time.
• Improved the Purchase/Character dialogs. Stats now include previous years' Awards.
• New Milestones: Self-publish books, Retire.
• Other minor UI updates.

You should be able to continue playing by loading a previous save. If you run into issues, it is recommended to start a new game.

[ 2019-10-17 15:20:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• New Game intro.
• There are now Milestones that guide you through the game and award you with XP once you complete them.
• New end game goal: Buy a Yacht.
• 2 different endings. You have to complete all milestones to get the best ending.
• Minor UI updates.

[ 2019-09-27 22:19:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

• New items available to purchase: Laptop, Modem, Website.
• You can now self-publish your articles and short-stories on your website.
• "Telephone" bonus is now -20% feedback cost.
• Minor UI improvements.

[ 2019-09-13 21:14:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• UI polishing: New icons, SFX.
• The backgrounds for the Apartment and House have been updated.
• [Community suggestion] You will now receive fan mail after publishing your work. Replying to fan mail awards bonuses. You can hire a publicist to auto-reply to your fan mail.
• Genre expertise reduces inspiration drop.
• While writing, the on-topic area is reduced if you have no inspiration.
• You will now have to read certain skill books to unlock effort slots.

You should be able to continue playing by loading a previous save. If you run into issues, it is recommended to start a new game.

[ 2019-09-01 15:16:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• There's a new avatar available that you can select when starting a new game.
• Book design dialog: Removed some options that have not been implemented yet. You can now publish non-fiction books with a hardcover (currently, there's no impact on sales/cost).
• Improved the end game screen.
• Fixed a bug where autosave would trigger just after the game was over.

[ 2019-08-20 19:11:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Effort slots have been increased to 4. The outsource button has been removed, since it was rarely used and wasn't adding much to the game.
• [Community suggestion] There is now an auto-allocate button that will try to optimally allocate your available EP based on feedback history.
• Genre expertise has been increased to 4. It now counts towards work quality.
• At the end of each year, you will receive a report showing stats.
• Your books can become bestsellers.
• [Community suggestion] You can write sequels once your genre expertise is 4. Sequels have better chances of becoming bestsellers.
• You can now view your previously published books in the Character Dialog.
• The fans limit has been removed from the Mansion.
• Balancing improvements.
• Minor UI improvements.

You should be able to continue playing by loading a previous save. The first end of year report might not be accurate. If you run into other issues, it is recommended to start a new game.

[ 2019-08-14 16:12:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• You can now buy a Mansion after year 18.
• Fixed a bug where the fans limit would fail to update after switching to a new home.

[ 2019-07-15 17:06:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• You can now self-publish your books. You don't need an agent to self-publish and you get to keep all the profits, but you have to spend money on marketing and book printing. Self-publishing is unlocked by a book sometime after year 12.
• The book design dialog has been moved to the self-publishing flow. When publishing your books traditionally, you will receive a random book design.
• [Community suggestion] You can now query agents in the Character dialog. Hiring an agent costs 50XP. Better agents become available as the quality of your published works improves.
• Apartment: Your initial monthly expenses have been reduced to $600, but your rent will increase every year until you buy your own house.
• House: The fans limit has been increased to 500K.
• There's a new button on the book sales chart to withdraw your book from circulation early (in case it's not well received).
• New EP book: Plot
• Gameplay rebalancing: Your income will increase more gradually as the game progresses.
• Fixed an issue where old publisher offers would accumulate in the Mail dialog causing the game to crash.
• Fixed several issues with autosave.

You should be able to continue playing by loading a previous save. If you run into issues, it is recommended to start a new game.

[ 2019-07-04 15:06:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• The reviews dialogs for both Articles and Short-Stories have been redesigned.
• You can now select which publishers to query. The probability of a query being successful depends on your work's quality and each publisher's audience reach score. Publishers will accept your work even if the genre/topic combo is not ideal.
• Reviews of previously published works can now be viewed in the Character dialog.
• The UI and slide-up notifications have been improved.
• Fixed an issue where dialogs would not properly center on screen.

You should be able to continue playing by loading a previous save, but you won't be able to view previous reviews in the Character dialog. If you run into issues, it is recommended to start a new game.

[ 2019-06-16 22:26:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• The task progress dialog was taking up too much space in smaller screens and has been redesigned to be more compact. The current task is now displayed at the bottom-right corner of the screen, just below the work queue.
• Character dialog: Fiction/non-fiction genres have been split into separate groups and are clearly marked.
• Work status dialog: The summary page has been redesigned.
• [Community suggestion] You can now keep working even if your Inspiration has dropped to zero, however you wont be gaining any XP from writing and your writing speed will be slower until your Inspiration recovers.
• [Community suggestion] When reading Effort Point books, you will now slowly recover Inspiration at the Idle rate.
• [Community suggestion] Genres/topics in the Write dialog are sorted alphabetically.
• [Community suggestion] There's no need anymore to manually complete your work during the Revising stage. When your work reaches maximum clarity it will now auto-complete.
• [Community suggestion] Autosave is now enabled by default (triggers monthly and when quitting the game). It can be disabled in the options menu.
• [Community suggestion] The awards ceremony can be optionally skipped.

[ 2019-05-30 16:55:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Fixed a bug preventing the new game screen from showing up

[ 2019-05-24 10:13:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Fixed an issue where the game would sometimes fail to enter fullscreen mode
• [Community suggestion] The game can now be played in windowed mode (Options->Disable Fullscreen)

[ 2019-05-23 23:13:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• You can now buy a new home after year 6
• The initial apartment has been updated and the placeholder background has been removed
• Reduced the rate that Vacation cost is increased to 10%
• The on-topic area at maximum Genre Expertise has been increased to 70%

You should be able to continue by loading a v0.10.0 save. For all other versions, or if you run into issues, it is recommended to start a new game.

[ 2019-05-19 13:40:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• New mechanic: Genre Expertise - determines how fast you reach maximum Clarity when writing. You can increase your Expertise by spending XP
• You don't have to buy the Market Report anymore and it is now accessible from the "Write" dialog. Audience demand for genres/topics is dynamic and depends on your recently published works
• You will now receive a message after unlocking each work type listing the minimum fan/quality requirements to publish (no more trial and error)
• The task progress dialog has been redesigned
• Your monthly expenses have been reduced to $900
• Balancing improvements
• Minor UI improvements
• Fixed an issue with some Nvidia cards

This update might break old saves. It is recommended to start a new game and enable the tutorial, which explains the new gameplay changes.

[ 2019-05-10 17:14:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Fixed a bug where the game would crash just before publishing Non-fiction/Novels
• The game engine should now have better compatibility with some graphics cards

[ 2019-05-04 14:58:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Visual improvements on the Write, Character, Work Status and Task progress dialogs
• When working on Freelance Jobs you will now receive a warning message a few days before the deadline
• When starting a new game the "Write" button will be initially disabled, until you get at least 1 additional Effort Slot
• Books awarding Effort Points now have different textures than Topic books
• Enabled tooltips for some icons (Money, XP, Fans, Inspiration)
• The "Query" button has been renamed to "Publish"
• Market Reports in the mail-order catalogue will display the year during which they are valid
• The game should now load considerably faster on older computers

This update should not break old saves, however if you run into issues you should try starting a new game.

[ 2019-05-03 21:01:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Effort points have been re-balanced for all genres
• 4 new items available to purchase
• Inspiration now recovers much faster when your character is idle
• You now lose less fans when publishing an Article/Short-Story with bad reviews
• XP is generated at a slightly slower rate than before during the first few years
• You will now receive a mail message telling you how many fans you need to acquire before starting to get offers from Agents

This update should not break old saves, however if you run into issues you should try starting a new game.

[ 2019-04-30 19:53:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes:

• Major update to the game engine
• There is an option now allowing you to continue playing the game beyond year 6 and up to 30 game years, which is the same limit planned for the final release. Please note that beyond year 6 the game has not been well tested, certain features are not currently available and the experience might not be representative of what we are planning for the final release.

This update should not break old saves.

[ 2019-04-27 20:06:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

• You can now spend XP to boost your Inspiration
• Modified the Vacation item to appear earlier in the game
• When writing new genre/topic combos you now get reduced Inspiration drop as a bonus (-20%)
• The game is now playable for up to 6 game years (+1 year)
• Minor GUI changes

[ 2019-04-24 15:39:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

• Fixes resizing issues in Windows when fonts and application scaling is greater than 100%

[ 2019-04-23 12:33:23 CET ] [ Original post ]