Devlog #04 - Road to the Demo

Welcome to our latest devlog for our fantasy point and click game, Aster Pebble and the Case of Bad Bureaucracy.

As always, this is more of a quick overview of key changes we've made since our last devlog, so let us know if there is anything you want us to take a deeper dive on or if you have any questions.

This devlog covers everything leading up to the release of our demo! It was included in the February 2026 Steam Next Fest, but is still available on Steam.

So you can go play it now!

In today's devlog, we'll talk about the sketches you'll be able to collect on your journey, updated contacts with photos, an updated brainstorm system, the first unlockable location on the map, and lots of other smaller changes and fixes.

So let's dive right in.

Sketches/Collectibles

We'd already implemented that you could "collect" information on certain plants behind the scenes when interacting with them, but now you can view the sketches you've collected in Aster's notebook. We tried to blend pixel art with a sketched look and are pretty happy with the results. Try to collect all the sketches in the full game!

Updated Contacts

Similar to the sketches, we had that you could learn about the people you interact with as you go, which is also now reflected in the notebook. This includes a dashing photograph for each contact as well! For now, each contact has a quick line about them, but in the full game, we want you to learn a few simple things about each contact as you interact more with them and the world.

Updated Brainstorm System

We had a rudimentary knowledge/clue system where you could see what you've learned for your cases, and could combine two pieces of knowledge to "brainstorm" something new. But our previous attempt was very stiff, and we wanted to provide more information on some thoughts from Aster about each clue, and the ability to provide some additional dialogue for context when clues did get combined.

So now if you hover or have your cursor on a clue, you get a little more information in the bottom right. In terms of feel, as you click on clues, we use tweens to animate the movement dynamically.

We can shake clues if you've got the wrong idea or already combined those clues before. We also have that new clues get written out, before they transition over to your clues list. And we have a dialogue panel we can use specifically for this brainstorm text, without affecting the regular dialogue panel which you may have open in the background if you paused during a conversation.

Here is an example of the code for the movement tweening. We can set up a function on our knowledge button such as "move" which takes a destination. Then when we need to move a knowledge button in the knowledge panel, we can simply call its .move function and pass in the destination.

We also expose the tween's finished signal so we can call a follow up function when the movement is completed.

We definitely see us using tweens more in the future now that we've got a better feel for them!

First Map Location

As you explore the village of E'erpath, you'll be able to use Aster's map to navigate to different areas. We added the first area into the map, which will take you to Ezorick's house. So if you were wondering what his house looks like, now you have a bit of an idea! New locations will show up on the map once Aster learns about them, and if you highlight an area you can see it also uses the outline system for a clear indication of what is selected.

Other Small Improvements & Fixes

We mentioned before that the old Bureau server room screen saver didn't look very smooth in the pixel art style and that we'd like to redo it.

We ended up going with a fade in and out style you can see here, which definitely feels a lot less jarring!

Did we need a screen saver that shows up for a few seconds before you touch the mouse and then never see it again? Yes, obviously, for the whimsy.

We also renamed our glyph types to avoid any potential trademark related issues. To make this more clear, we added a nice preview showing some of the more distinct or important controls.

And on the note of glyphs, we also updated the tutorial glyphs for easier readability with a new shadow and filled in interiors.

We also updated the styles on our dialogue boxes and inventory to feel a little more unique and less off the shelf. And when you get a new item, we now play a little shakey-shake animation to help draw your eye to the new item!

We continued work on other visuals like a new animation of Aster getting up off the ground, as well.

Why was she on the ground? Find out in the demo!

Just do us a favour and make sure you don't look at this specific frame of the animation.

Hey, what did we just say!

. . . It's not a horror game, we promise.

---

Phew, that was a lot of small things, but the small touches are what can make a good game into a great game!

It was a lot of work to get the demo out in time for Steam Next Fest, but we're happy we got it across the line in time.

Now that we have the demo out, we can tackle some structural issues and really drive forward on finishing off the flow for the rest of the game going forward.

Is there anything from our devlog you'd like us to take a deeper dive on?

Let us know in the comments!

Until next time, keep creating good.