Moonchild Devlog 1- Demo Announcement!

If you're here from the Mother Direct or have been following since the beginning, I have a major announcement! That's right, there'll be a demo for Moonchild coming to Steam! I can't give a release estimate, but here's some important details: (Yes, there was a demo previously, but that barely covered any of the game. This one will be far more substantial.)

HOW MUCH WILL IT HAVE? This demo will make up first third of the game. It will contain the first four areas, dungeons, and dream sequences, with every passive and ability up to level 24 programmed in for all four party members. I'm aiming to have as much detail as possible packed in to really get a sense of what the full game will be like, but the full version will probably have more anyway.

WHEN WILL THE DEMO COME OUT? Short answer- I don't know. I'm not comfortable giving a release date unless the game is basically ready- so there's no time estimate.

HOW WILL THE REST OF THE GAME COME OUT? Despite the "Act 1" name, the rest of the game will not come out episodically- It's much harder to make releases like that work for a turn-based RPG like Moonchild with a continuous storyline. So, the rest of the game will be a paid release.

WILL YOU BE ABLE TO TRANSFER YOUR PROGRESS TO THE FULL VERSION? If I can make sure that it works. Thing is, due to things like the codebase being altered throughout development, it's never a sure thing- if I have to make some sweeping adjustment that the demo doesn't have, saves will break and it'll be a royal pain to fix them. In short- it's possible, but if I can't guarantee that it will work, you won't. If that happens, a sample save will be provided in the game's files to skip right to the demo's endpoint.

WHY GIVE SO MUCH AWAY FOR FREE? Honestly, I've thought long and hard about this, but the reality is that the first demo really didn't represent what the full game is like, which is bad for a demo. Only having one party member means the game's systems and character interactions don't really get flexed, and it's harder to make challenging combat scenarios when you only have one character to work with. Plus, there'll still be two-thirds of the game left. Which, with the stuff that's planned in there, will be worth the money!

I'll try to post major updates once a month to keep you all posted on progress. Transparency is something I value greatly in game dev, and I aim to uphold it! In the meantime, smaller updates will continue to be posted on my Twitter page (as I've been doing for the past year or so) so stay tuned!