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Mistwinter Bay - Free demo out now!

A topic by Swordlake Entertainment created May 12, 2022 Views: 2,054 Replies: 34
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Demo Release Date

Friday September 9 2022 is our estimated release date for Mistwinter Bay's free, public demo. The demo is out now! You can find it here: https://swordlake-entertainment.itch.io/mistwinter-bay

What is Mistwinter Bay?

Mistwinter Bay is an RPG with visual novel-like gameplay, as well as some aspects of city building, resource management and romance/dating simulations. You get to create your own character and rule the town of Mistwinter Bay during an in-game, 5-year period. Choices you make determines who lives in the town, how much they like you, what resources you have and ultimately the fate of you and the town itself.

The following video is the official demo trailer.

Characters

What can you do in the game now?

In its current demo state, it is possible to play the first out of 5 years in the game. This includes the main story, randomized events every one or two months, and the possibility to start a war with the empress of the empire that Mistwinter Bay is in. This war-event includes several different endings, including exile to various countries.

The player gets to create their own character. There are two body types (male, female themed), 4 eyes and mouths respectively, several front and back parts of hair (making it possible for the player to mix and match as they please), 3 facial hair types, 2 crowns, 2 earrings, 4 outfits. All of the previously mentioned categories each have several color options per asset. So, even at this stage, there are plenty of ways to make your character!

In terms of characters, all 7 foreign leaders who rule the countries on the continent of Hruminus are implemented, as well as 3 characters who live in the town from the start, 5 additional characters who can move in, and 2 advisers. The characters who are meant to be "dateable"have 2 so-called hang out-events. It is possible for the characters who can move in to town to visit the inn, so that the player can get to know them a bit before deciding to move them in. It is, after all, important to choose who moves in since it's impossible to have all 5 characters move in at the same time.

There is a fully functioning town building and upgrading system for all the buildings that are included in the demo. There is also a trading system for resources that are required for building. In terms of resources, the player also has some personal money, which can be spent in certain events, as well as for buying gifts to increase or decrease characters' reputation.

There are currently 14 short and 4 long monthly events. The events are randomized, which means that they don't appear in any certain order. This, in turn, means that the player "has" to play the game twice in order to experience all the short events - if the RNG allows it. Once an event is completed, it won't appear in that playthrough again, making every playthrough truly unique. Each event has several endings which increase and decrease resources, reputation and so on.

What do we plan to add before the game is complete?

The complete, finished game is planned to include the following:

  • The full 5 year-reign of Mistwinter Bay
  • 23 new characters who can move in to town and who the player can marry
  • Inn-events for new characters
  • 24 new buildings,  often matched with a new character
  • All 5 hang out-events with all townsfolk and foreign leaders, as well as a proposal-event
  • Personal quests
  • Marriage, as well as adopting and raising a child with your spouse
  • -100 reputation events with foreign leaders (not Empress Ophelia) and categories of townsfolk
  • Enough short events to cover the 5 year-reign and more
  • Enough long events to cover the 5 year-reign and more
  • New short or long events that are "unlocked" by specific requirements (completed another event, used magic enough times, etc)
  • The rest of the main story
  • Sections in the main endings based on the main story, personal relationships and some (long) events
  • More character customization options
  • More entries in the encyclopedia
  • Whatever we may have forgotten to mention

Yes, it's a lot of things and this game will be massive. As for whether or not we can complete it, we are confident that we will. Almost all of the basic mechanics are implemented in the demo, so the above list is mostly narrative/graphical additions. The main issue is finances, since we have to try to earn money during development. Therefore, Patreon.

Who are developing Mistwinter Bay and how?

It's developed by Swordlake Entertainment, which consists of two siblings, where one sibling does everything except character and background art.  It's made using the GameMaker Studio 2 engine.

The idea for the game was born during the summer of 2020, but actual in-engine work began properly in fall 2021. As of now (August 2022) the game is almost at a public demo stage. Our plan is to keep developing the game for a year or two with Patreon support, letting players have a chance to impact the game through character customization options, brainstorming and voting on in-game events, etc.

Our Patreon page can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/swordlakeentertainment

Here's a look at the main background (so far, there should be more throne room variations before the demo is released) in the dialogue. It consists of a still image and particle effects created in-engine. The music is original music from the game.
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These are variations of the background in some parts of the game's dialogue, specifically when the player visits The Winter Mist Inn. At the inn, the player can meet characters who can move in to town. Some times, the player also hangs out with people who live in town via hang out events, where the second hang out event takes place at the inn. The backgrounds consist of a still image and particle effects created in-engine. The music is original music from the game, which plays specifically at the inn. When there are partons present, there is also a looping, ambient background sound.

There are many characters in Mistwinter Bay. Some of those characters have powerful positions across the continent of Hruminus, on which Mistwinter Bay lies. The most powerful individual on the entire continent is Ophelia Savaress, Empress of the Empire of Straena. Ophelia is also a the player character's second cousin - and boss, in a way, since Mistwinter Bay is part of Straena.


The picture features Ophelia's in-game sprite and her neutral expression. All characters have four facial expressions: neutral, happy, serious and upset. Most of the expressions are animated, too, as can be seen in the trailer. Ophelia is also part of the largest of the game's two religions: Avallerism.

Helping the player rule Mistwinter Bay are two advisers. Jacques Barr is one of them.


Jacques started working for the player's father after a career as a diplomat, visiting other countries. He knows everything there is to know about foreign politics, cultures and nobility. He may be a bit of an emotional and sensitive old man at times, but he has a good and caring heart.

Curious about what the town looks like? Here's a screenshot that was submitted to Swedish Game Awards.


There are four seasons in the game, spring being the active one in the picture. Each season has a chance to get a paarticle effects representing certain weathers, with accompanying sound effects, if applicable. The fences represent empty lots that can be built on. In the demo, the large lot on the beach is the only one that can be built (that is seen in this screenshot, that is. There are more lots further up the map). The buildings for the other lots are planned (and already grapically created) for the finished game.

In this screenshot, it's also possible to see the two pull-out bars at the top left corner. When pulled out, they display the player's current resources, as well as the resources earned per month. The two buttons under that lead to the throne room and world map. In the top right corner, there is a button that opens up the trade menu. There, the player can trade available resources for other resources that may be hard to come by otherwise.

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The player's second adviser goes under the official title of spymaster. Sophia Wisp is her name.


Sophia is a - usually - carefree woman who has taken care of the player during their childhood in several ways. She plays many pranks, not the least on the player, but she always knows when it's appropriate or not. Being knowledgeable about many not-so-pleasant things, Sophia has many connections in the middle and lower classes. With a past in alchemy, she knows a bit about potions and poisons alike.

Did some work today on the different throne room backgrounds, so now there are variations for each upgrade of the player estate! The upgrades go from Villa, to Keep, to Castle. Not only does the throne room background change when upgrading, but the dialogue boxes change as well (there are no screenshots of that, though, since the backgrounds haven't been implemented in the game yet).


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There are several potential marriage partners in Mistwinter Bay. In fact, every character - except Ophelia, Jacques and Sophia - is a potential spouse! The marriage and dating feature is not fully implemented yet, since the game is in a pre-demo state, but all the demo characters can be "dated" (via so called hang out events, where the player gets to know the character better) to the second hang out event out of five.

One of the characters who it is possible to date and who also happens to be a foreign leader is Camilla Larmassier, President of The Republic of Meblia. Meblia is Straena's sister country and mainly consists of humans. Extravagant and eccentric ones, generally.


Camilla serves a 10-year-term as a democratically selected President in Meblia. She can come off as a superficial woman, only caring about appearances, but she is a lot sharper than she lets on. Although, there's no denying that she loves all types of parties and wine. She may be a marriage candidate to the player, but the player should be aware of the fact that she is already married to three people. Polygamy is legal in Meblia.

Another possible marriage partner is also a foreign leader. Orreg Nydd is King of Utrua, a small rocky island in the north. Utrua is the only country on the continent that is home to humans who don't hail from Straena.


Orreg is a typical Utrian in the sense that he loves the sea and boats. As the second son of the royal family, he was not intended to take the throne. Instead, he trained as a shipbuilder. An accident at sea claimed his older brother's life and Orreg had to become king. Another personal tragedy hardened him from an uncertain ruler to a force to be reckoned with.

Hruminus, the continent where the game takes place, is not only home to the human countries Straena, Meblia and Utrua. There are also four additional countries almost exclusively inhabited by so called elementals. Elementals are human-like creatures that are visually or magically linked to four magical elements: fire, ice, earth and wind. The home of the fire elementals and our next foreign leader is the volcanic land Achait. It is run by the strong-willed and fierce Queen Se'Vah Denagoh.


Se'Vah became Queen after winning the traditional Achaitan tournament that takes place after the previous monarch has passed away. Every Achaitan, young and old, participated and the strongest warrior emerged - as is required in a country focused on magical and martial prowess. Naturally, this makes Se'Vah a skilled fighter as well as a skilled mage. She is proud, honest and doesn't fear speaking her mind. Especially not when it comes to Fleidalans...

The next elemental country is the icy wastes of Fleidal. This almost uninhabitable land is home to several clans, of which the Ydalla-clan is the largest. The Ydalla-clan is located in Fleidal's only city, Celcis, and is run by our next foreign leader: Llemyon Ydalla.


Despite having the title of Supreme Ruler, Llemyon seldom does anything without the Ydalla-clan's support. He does, however, deal with all sorts of foreign diplomacy and trade. Running the most profitable market in all of Hruminus, Llemyon has become a wealthy man. In fact, he is the wealthiest individual on the entire continent, beating even Empress Ophelia. Material wealth and political power has made him a proud man. However, Fleidal's geographical location, the country's sheer cold and Fleidal's antagonistic attitude towards Achait has made Llemyon an isolated man in many ways - more ways than even some of his clan members understand.

Deep in the forest filled land of Yscor live the Yscorians - a magic-loving, Void-worshiping people who stem from trees. They have appearances that are similar to human males, in some ways, but they outlive regular humans by hundreds of years. Their culture is heavily influenced by their religion and the country is governed by the High Priest, or Derem Somakk, as he's known in Yscorian. His name is Gaird Samarakk.


Gaird is not only the leader of the only organized, major Voidist faith, but also the most powerful mage on the entire continent. His power has in part been bestowed upon him by The Void Tree - the tree at the center of the Yscorian faith - and the staff he carries. Still, Gaird takes much pride in having been a strong mage long before The Void Tree began communicating with him. He is a generally calm and gentle man, but he shows little sympathy for those who oppose magic.

Legends claim that the bird-like Ethalians stem from the ancient pastel birds, who in turn stem from The Bird of Life - one of the god Avarall's closest friends. Naturally, this makes Ethalians proudly Avallerist. Unlike human Avallerists, they mostly show their devotion through song. No other country on the continent is as musically centered as Ethal - then again, few can beat the Ethalian songstresses. The final foreign leader and the final "ruler" of a country of elementals is Ethal's most talented songstress, the Zei-Myori: Eria.


Eria encapsules the most important virtues in Ethalian culture: a gentle heart, physical beauty and an incredible singing voice. Her title, Zei-Myori, is proof that she is currently the best songstress in all of Ethal. The title itself gives her little power in Ethal, since it is ruled via direct democracy. Instead, her main responsibility is dealing with foreign diplomacy. Out of all the foreign leaders, Eria is the most likely to drop by in Mistwinter Bay unannounced. If she does, it's a good idea to keep the use of magic low. No one detests magic as much as Eria and other Ethalians do...

Foreign leaders are of course very powerful in a narrative sense, but to the player, the most important and powerful characters are those of the nobility, middle class and lower class who live in Mistwinter Bay. Not only can the player date and potentially marry all of these characters, but they are also used to solve problems in monthly events. As an example, if a giant hawk attacks town, someone in town can be sent to shoot it or place a trap.

There are three characters living in town from the start. The first one is the priestess for the Avallerist chapel in town. Her name is Dawn Chamberlain.


Dawn moved to Mistwinter Bay a couple of years before the player returns to take over the throne. Dawn is well-liked for her kind and calm nature. She is very knowledgeable about all things Avallerist. She dislikes being the center of attention unless it's part of an Avallerist ceremony. Despite her kind heart, she has little patience for those who reject the god Avarall and turn to worship The Void instead.

The second character who lives in the town from the start is the innkeeper, Cecil Forthe. He runs The Winter Mist Inn - an old inn that is a great place to meet the locals. The Winter Mist Inn is the place where the player can meet potential residents - as well as hang out with people who already live in town via their respective second hang out-events.


Cecil is a bit of an odd innkeeper. He's well liked by regulars, but travelers can have a hard time understanding his relaxed nature and loose schedule. Although, most people warm up to him in time. Besides taking care of the inn and brewing its famous beer, he also takes care of his bed-ridden mother. He is one of few known Voidists in Mistwinter Bay. However, he doesn't seem to follow a particular Voidist faith. What he believes in is still a mystery to even the most loyal regulars.

The third and final character who lives in Mistwinter Bay from the start is Erewen Fossbearer, the local graveyard keeper. The Fossbearers have the oldest lineage in all of Mistwinter Bay and have looked after the graveyard throughout history. They may even have settled there when the town was founded, thousands of years ago.


There are many rumors about Erewen in town. They range from absurd theories about Erewen conducting occult rituals, like human sacrifices, to more valid questions, like Erewen's lack of visible emotions. Erewen is a big mystery to most people in town, yet there are three things everyone knows: they don't have a gender, they take great pride in their family history and work, and they are never seen without their fosslantern. As for what a fosslantern is - well, that is for Erewen to reveal. If they feel like it, that is...

Besides the three characters who already live in Mistwinter Bay at the start of the game, it's possible to have other characters move in. In the demo, there are five characters who can move in. They automatically move in when the player has built their corresponding building. It is also possible to meet these characters before they move in, if they visit the local inn. One of these characters is Alm Dryas, an Yscorian mage who lives in the mage tower.


Alm is a shy young Yscorian who left Yscor in hopes of being of help where mages are fairly rare. As a fully fledged mage, who has completed the required 40-year education in Yscor, Alm is more than ready to take on the role of Mistwinter Bay's mage. Although, he may not be fully emotionally ready. He still has a lot of insecurities, even fears, for all sorts of creatures and situations. But he is more than eager to learn about new things.

In the demo, it's possible to choose between two buildings for one specific lot in the game. That lot is available for either the mage tower or alchemist laboratory. This means that the mage Alm and the alchemist can't live in Mistwinter Bay at the same time. With that explained, it's time to introduce the alchemist: Amari Englia.


Englia was called "The Whirlwind" back in Ethal, and for good reasons. She is energetic, impulsive and has a deep passion for alchemy. The strict rules around alchemy in Ethal didn't fit Englia's taste, so she moved where she was needed and where she could push the boundaries of alchemy. She doesn't stop at anything to pursue new alchemical knowledge that can benefit the world, even if it means danger to herself and her surroundings. Her ambitions are high, but just how high, the player may have to wait to find out...

The next character is also the last of non-Straenian origin in the demo. She can join the town if the player builds the fishing docks (which, in the full game, will be on a lot that is shared with another building, much like the mage tower/alchemy laboratory). This, naturally, makes her a fisher and her name is Birgit Naggstrom.


Birgit moved to Mistwinter Bay from Utrua in order to get recognized for her hard work. She hauls immense loads of fish every time she goes to sea, yet that means little in a country that is focused on ship building and craftsmanship. Instead, she hopes Mistwinter Bay will be a welcoming place for people like her, who support independent and free-spirited women and who carry the love of Avarall in their hearts. However, it may be a bit tricky to keep conversations with her, since she is very timid...

On a lot in a forest in town, it's possible to build a lumber camp (or another, currently unannounced building). If the lumber camp is built, the player can interact with a local lumberjack turned foreman: Hector Gray.


Hector belongs to a renowned family of local lumberjacks. Having learnt a lot from his father, grandfather and uncle, Hector is undoubtedly knowledgeable about everything that has to do with cutting, transporting and planting trees. Even though he is not very talkative, he is respected among the workers, as well as the town in general. Sometimes, he can be seen acting as a bouncer at the local inn for free. Needless to say, Hector is a competent and trustworthy man, even if he has a hard time conversing with others.

The final character to introduce for the demo version of the game is none other than the captain of the local guards: Celia Quinn. Celia inhabits the guard barracks, which is one building that doesn't share a lot with another building (unlike the mage tower/alchemist laboratory, fishing docks and lumber camp).


Celia is an ambitious, hard working and competent young woman who is determined to keep Mistwinter Bay safe. Having turned around one of the most dangerous districts in the Straenian capital, Freykeep, Celia has lots of experience cleaning up after scum and criminals alike. Her main motivation is to keep bandits away from people and she has done a good job with that so far - the number of bandits have greatly reduced since she took over the role of captain in Mistwinter Bay. As for why she decided to leave a prestigious job watching over a large district in Freykeep - well, that's a story she would have to tell. Perhaps over a mug of beer, followed by some dancing?

Now that all the characters in the demo have been revealed, it might be a good idea to show some in-game features and mechanics! So, for that reason, we've created a video that shows how the inn, building a lot and hanging out with a character works. It's demonstrated with Celia in the following video:

The video is basically unedited, minus a portion of the dialogue in the inn. All the music and sounds are captured from the game. Here's some further information about what is shown (and not) in the video:

The current in-game season is winter, which is indicated by the visuals in the town view as well as the music.

In the town view, the player can see who is visiting the inn and for how long when they click on the inn-lot in town. The character who visits usually indicates which building they belong to, so that the player can build it and have them move in to town permanently. It isn't required to have a character visit the inn in order to have them move in, but they can't visit the inn after they have moved in.

When clicking on an unbuilt (but buildable) lot, information about cost and so on appears. Once a lot is built, it cannot be replaced. Immediately when a lot is built, the corresponding character (if there is one) will automatically move in to town. This can be seen when clicking on the built lot, where the owner's name is mentioned, or when looking in the character roster menu in the throne room, as seen in the video.

In the throne room, it's possible to see a list of characters who are available to hang out with. The first hang out event for every character can be played immediately upon them moving in, but the second one is unlocked when the reputation with that character reaches 25 or higher.

Today, the main menu has gotten a small update with the addition of some social media buttons. Clicking on these buttons will open a browser window to the respective social media page. The buttons are in the top left and are quite small by design, so as to not be too in-your-face.


The background may change before the public demo is released. Now, work will start on some optimization to reduce loading times (hopefully).

It's been a while since we last gave an update. That is partially due to summer time, partially due to the process of starting up a company. However, we have been working a bit on the game as well, preparing and polishing the demo for its official public release. The video below demonstrates two additions that have been made this month (July 2022).

In the menu which is shown at the start of a new month, the current month and year are now clearly visible in the top right corner. This is to help keep track of birthdays, how long is left until the next main story event and so on. As is also illustrated in the video, the building process in the town view has been improved. Now, there is a visual effect to emphazise the process of turning an empty lot into a building. However, this effect is only visible if the particles option is turned on. The video is unedited, with sound and music from the game. This means that the loading times in the video are accurate to real-time loading (on a specific computer). Some testing has been done with loading times, and this has been determined to be the fastest possible all-around loading for the game.

Besides the additions shown in the video, a third long event has been written and is currently being implemented. Depending on how long it takes to get our company approved (which in turn determines when the demo can be realeased), there may be time to add an additional long event and/or a couple of short events.

We are hard at work polishing the demo for the public release, as well as dealing with all sorts of things related to starting a business (there are so many applications to be done!). One of the things that have been updated recently is the main menu. Now, it has reached a stage that can be considered completely finished. The video below shows what it looks like now, complete with particle effects.

The changes that have been made since the previous version of the menu aren't that many or complicated. The main thing is, of course, the new background of a local windmill and wheat field in the sunset. A truly gorgeous background that is made even more beautiful with particle effects: mist and sparkles. The social media-buttons mentioned in the previous post have been scaled up. Even though they still aren't supposed to be obnoxious, they should at least be easy to see and click on, which they now are. Also, the game's logo has been updated to a higher resolution to avoid pixelated edges. The music is, of course, the title theme from in-game.

It is not too long left until the demo will be released. There will be lots of small but important changes made in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for future posts! (Hopefully, between actually working on the game and starting a company, we will have some time to give a few updates...)

We've been hard at work this week with improving and polishing the game based on feedback. The video below shows some, but not all, of the improvements that have been made.

Icons have been added for resources, such as gold, wood, stone. They are used in multiple places: popups that record resource changes, build and upgrade-menus, the trade menu and in the top left bars that show current and monthly resources. This is also shown in the following screenshot:


The top bar shows town resources and other information. The lower bar shows the player's personal finances mainly used to buy gifts. Both bars are split in two parts, with the upper section showing the monthly income of that resource and the lower section showing the current amount of that resource. The town resource bar has five sections showing (from left to right): current population (which does not increase monthly), food, stone, wood and gold.

Gifts have also received icons to more easily show the price and impact of the gifts. This is shown further in the following screenshot:


As such, the gift menu now displays an icon for the gift, the name of the gift, the price of the gift (in coins, the new name for what was previously called "personal wealth") and the increase or decrease in reputation.  This menu also uses anew resource icon for coins, much like the resource bars previously mentioned.

Then there has been an update to the menus showing who can receive a gift. The following screenshot illustrates this:


Now, the menu shows a picture of the character in question. Not shown in the video or screenshots is that a character who has their birthday during the current in-game month has a highlighted box/button, to more easily distinguish them from others. Also, the portraits shown in the screenshots are also used in popups for reputation changes, as well as in the hang out-menu. The hang out menu has also been improved with an image (the same hearts that are used in the roster menu, showing the romance level) instead of text to show which hang out is available.

Last but not least, the trading menu has been updated, as shown below:


Now, the trading menu uses the new resource icons. The current amount of resources owned by the player is also displayed at all times. Instead of having the price per one chunk of resources (right), it now displays how much the player will receive of that resource. Arrows for changing the player's resources (the resources which are sold) are now only displayed if it is possible to go in that particular direction. That is, if it's possible to increase or decrease amount sold based on current resources. Some balancing is still needed for trading costs (especially food, which has been updated in other parts of the game, but the update is not represented in the trading menu).

We will continue to work hard on the game from now until the free demo release in the near future!

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Just like last week, we've been working hard on improving the game in various ways. The following video shows some, but not all, improvements made this week.

As shown in the video, a combination of images and sound make it more clear when the player switches to a different building in the town view. Having both images and sounds to convey that something is happening is usually a good idea. However, it's always important to not rely completely on sound effects, since there's the option to turn them off. The picture below shows the current appearance of the building information menu.


The dialogues have also been updated to make it more visually clear which character is talking. This is made using a subtle sparkle-particle effect behind the character. There's a bug related to this at the moment, which will be fixed next week. We also consider adding an additional visual indicator for the talking character.



Another visual indicator that has been added is a screen to indicate the end of a monthly event. Text, particle effects (if they are turned on) and a sound effect (if sound is turned on) tells the player that the event has been completed.


In addition to everything listed above, we have also been working on some other things. In the game, we've balanced food a bit, removed arrow buttons in certain scenarios (so that the start or end of a menu is clearly indicated) and removed the mouse pointer when changing rooms and other fading effects (to make loading appear smoother). Slightly improved loading has also decreased the live gameplay stuttering (which wasn't that big to begin with, but the less stuttering, the better).

Besides work on the actual game, we have also begun working on a video devlog! Video devlogs are but one type of promotion that we have in consideration for the future, but we will see what works best in the long run. The main focus is, of course, the game itself.

Yea! You are showing great 2d skills in drawing!! Looks like you are drawing it with a pencil and than make it digital!

Thank you! We're glad you like the art style!

We're moving closer and closer to the release of the free demo. By now, all planned major improvements and additions have been made. You can view this week's improvements in the video below.

As the video shows, this week, we've implemented animated mouths to make it even easier to determine who is talking. This means that eyes and mouths are separate now, so that they can be animated independently. Implementing this not only meant reworking every character's facial sprite, but also reworking the code with two new, majorly important scripts. Even though this took a considerable amount of time, the scripts will make everything a lot easier down the line.

By separating the mouths and eyes for animation, the player now has the option to choose a mouth. This has, of course, been added to the character creator. Also, the new background for the character creator can be seen in the video as well.

Last but not least, we've added a log to the game. Due to the way the dialogue is set up, it's not possible to have a log with several previous lines of dialogue. Instead, it's only possible to view the last line of dialogue prior to the one currently shown. We deem this to be sufficient, since it can be easy to skip over a line of text by accident at points and we only wanted a log for that reason. Besides, having some sort of log is better than not having one at all!

Besides the work on the game, we've also recorded and edited our first proper video devlog (devlog #0) and the script for devlog #1 is written. We'll inform you when a devlog is posted on YouTube.

Starting next week, we'll hopefully start proper playtesting, as well as complete a final long event. There is of course some marketing and business management that needs to be done as well, but all in all, it hopefully won't be too many weeks now until you can get your hands on the free demo. Stay tuned for more updates and info about the release!

We have now released our first video devlog! In this video, the game and the process of working on it is summarized. Several more devlogs are already in production. (Don't worry, we're still working hard on the game, too. We can do both, since we are two people.)

We are back with another devlog! This time, we discuss the game's artstyle and the road to getting the game to look the way it looks now.

Other than this devlog, we've been hard at work completing and implementing one final long event, as well as two short events. Now, we have 14 short events and 4 long events, which was our best case scenario for the demo. Some of the events are also locked behind requirements, which means that they won't show up unless certain requirements are met. This was a feature we thought about implement in the full game, but it was easy enough to implement in the demo instead.

As an example, there is one new short event where Dawn and Cecil interact. In order for this event to appear, both Dawn and Cecil must be living in the town and, naturally, be alive. There are also a few other requirements for this event that don't matter in the demo. The addition of this event also introduces a new "mechanic": the fact that it can become impossible for the player to hang out with and marry a character if certain choices have been made. This will, of course, rarely ever happen and will only be based on events that are deeply rooted to the characters in question. It is also clearly stated that a character has lost faith in the player once an event is over. In the full game, examples of events where this may occur is if the player is forced to support one country over another. Naturally, that makes the unsupported country's regent cross with the player, and all relationships that are deeper than surface level are impossible to achieve with that character from then on. As for why Dawn's and Cecil's event can make them that upset... Well, that's for you to find out when the demo is released.

Now, proper playtesting will be our main focus. We're getting really close to the release of the demo. In fact, we are happy to announce the estimated release date for the demo: September 9. That's Friday next week! We'll do our best to make the demo as good as possible for that date. Be sure to keep an eye out for the demo release and please consider subscribing to our YouTube channel if you're interested in the devlogs. We promise we have a lot more to show there in the future!

The demo release is drawing very close now - it's only two days left! Today, we posted the demo trailer on YouTube (and yesterday, we posted another devlog, talking about the creation of the town view. You can find it on our YouTube channel). Here's the trailer:

The description in the trailer is fairly incorrect, though, since the game isn't uploaded to Itch yet. But in two days, it will be! We're very excited about the release and we hope you are as well!

Hello everyone! We have very exciting news: the free demo is out now! You can find it here: https://swordlake-entertainment.itch.io/mistwinter-bay

We would like to thank everyone who has been keeping track of the development so far. We don't think we'll be posting any more devlogs on here, but you can always keep track of the development by supporting us on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/swordlakeentertainment) and watching our video devlogs on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCICWzkpUmB-Xv_52sAh_tUw/featured). You can also find us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/swordlake_ent) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/swordlake_entertainment/).

Thank you so much for the support so far! We hope you enjoy trying out the game for yourselves!