The Dream of Shadowlands Episode 1

Devlog

• TDoS Episode 2 Released
  June 25, 2022 by Kitty_Cay

  5

  Hey everyone! I'm still catching up on all the things I need to do this week pertaining to game development, but Episode 2 has officially been released! I wanted to thank everyone for their patience b... Continue reading

  
• Small quality of life updates
  January 25, 2022 by Kitty_Cay

  4

  Heya, long time no update for Episode 1. Just wanted to share that I added a bit of polish (mostly features from Episode 2) to the game, as well as slightly improved controller support. Here's the cha... Continue reading
• The Kickstarter Failed, and That's Okay
  June 01, 2021 by Kitty_Cay

  4

  #Kickstarter, #Patreon

  Thank you so much to everyone who wanted to support the campaign, I really am touched by the amount of people who backed it. So, it seems like the next chapter of my journey will be trying to get this... Continue reading
• Kickstarter Fundraising Contest!
  May 15, 2021 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Kickstarter, #Contest

  Hey guys! Just wanted to spread the word that I am currently running a contest for anyone willing to help fundraise for the Kickstarter campaign! This is the biggest prize pool I have ever offered in... Continue reading
• Kickstarter Rewards Update
  May 14, 2021 by Kitty_Cay

  4

  #Kickstarter

  Hey guys! I encourage you to check out the Kickstarter campaign and see what's been updated with the rewards! There are a few new items as well as updated options for previous tiers and items! Here is... Continue reading

  
• Kickstarter Now Live!
  May 01, 2021 by Kitty_Cay

  2

  #Kickstarter

  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1380866287/the-dream-of-shadowlands Thank you so much to everyone for all the support I've been given so far. I can't wait to see how this campaign ends, crossing... Continue reading
• Recent Patches
  April 27, 2021 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  So in my very clearly flawed programmer brain, I will make some dire mistakes sometimes. I just fixed a few with the numerous patches I've put out over the past day or so, because I couldn't even mana... Continue reading
• Update 4/19/21
  April 19, 2021 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Update

  This is hopefully the final update of the game save for patches! As always, please let me know if there are bugs because I have been juggling a LOT of code combining this build with the previous build... Continue reading
• Update 4/4/2021
  April 04, 2021 by Kitty_Cay

  2

  #Update

  Happy Easter! Here is (mostly) the update I had planned that I discussed in my last update announcement. Long story short, all the new content is in the game now, but the optimizations have not been a... Continue reading
• Kickstarter is in the works!
  March 27, 2021 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Kickstarter

  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1380866287/the-dream-of-shadowlands Exciting news! I am currently building the Kickstarter page for The Dream of Shadowlands. I'm working on making all the images... Continue reading
• New Bad End for Episode 1
  March 20, 2021 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Art, #Endings, #Sprites

  Here's a surprise I decided to add to Episode 1's update! In discussing the lore with a game developer buddy, I was encouraged to implement an idea I scrapped when I switched to the episodic format. S... Continue reading
• Final Update on the Way
  March 06, 2021 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  I posted this yesterday on the Steam page for Episode 1, but there is one final update to the game that should wrap up issues that still need fixing. The bulk of it should be the reworked code that I'... Continue reading
• Episode 1 Performance Survey
  January 16, 2021 by Kitty_Cay

  Optimization for this game is on track! However, in order to best ensure the big issues are being tackled, I would appreciate if every player considered taking this survey about their experiences runn... Continue reading
• Episode 2 Listed on Itch and Steam!
  January 07, 2021 by Kitty_Cay#Steam

  Episode 2 can now be followed on both Itch and Steam ! I have no solid release date for this episode yet, so the current timeframe is late 2021. All of the following Itch devlogs from now until when E... Continue reading

  
• Optimization Update
  January 01, 2021 by Kitty_Cay#Update

  Hey all, after being notified about some random game closures and performance issues, I dropped what I was doing to set up Episode 2 and spent hours upon hours optimizing the game where I could. Final... Continue reading
• Episode 1 is officially released!
  December 28, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  2

  #Episode 1, #Release

  I've been working all week but it's finally ready! Episode 1 has officially released on Windows and Mac! I am currently unable to properly test Linux, so that will be released likely in a week or two... Continue reading

  
• Remaining Music from Episode 1 Uploaded
  December 18, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Airquarium, #Music

  Heya, this is just kind of a quick update since it isn't technically "new," but I have added the rest of Episode 1's music to YouTube to actually listen to outside of just running the game. I've been... Continue reading
• Temple paths created
  December 12, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Rooms, #Temple

  **This update was first posted on Patreon before I made the decision/announcement to switch to the episodic format, and was still working on this as one big game** This took me a while because I was a... Continue reading
• Episode 1 Credits
  December 09, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Credits

  Excited to show you all the finished credits sequence for the first episode of the game! I've been working really hard on it the past 2 days so I'm glad it looks exactly how I wanted it to. And a huge... Continue reading
• Time for a chat, let's regroup a little here
  December 04, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  Hey guys, I've had something weighing on my mind lately and I figured I would make a decision as soon as I logically could given how close we are to the planned release date of the finished demo. Aft... Continue reading
• Finally some new content
  December 02, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Rooms, #Temple

  I got bored of continuing to wait for Steam to sort out everything before they'll let me publish my game page, so I figured I would work out some new content. Here are the next two rooms for the Templ... Continue reading
• Update: Save system changed a bit
  November 28, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  Just updated the current build of the game, there are a few tweaks here and there but the main thing is I fixed up the save system to not ruin save files whenever I add new content to the game such as... Continue reading
• Announcement trailer done!
  November 28, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Trailer

  I edited together an announcement trailer for the game last night, and I'm really happy with how it turned out! Now I'm just waiting on final approval for the full steam page, as right now only my dem... Continue reading
• Trailer/Dream cutscene is finally redone/finished!
  November 23, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Cutscene

  This cutscene took me way too long to finally finish but here we are haha. I got the cutscene I wanted to use for the game's announcement trailer, which is going to actually take place in one of Rina'... Continue reading
• The Igiul Update
  November 21, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Airquarium, #Igiul, #Steam

  I'm dubbing this update the "Igiul Update" because Igiul is my favorite part about it, but another important aspect of it is that Steam connection/support has been fully implemented lol. Just waiting... Continue reading
• Steam page underway
  November 13, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Steam

  I wish I had been more vocal the past couple days about progress, but so much is going on that's pulling me away from my game dev computer and nothing makes me more antsy than that haha. Anyway, I can... Continue reading

  
• Some updates after getting feedback on the demo
  November 06, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Demo

  Hey there, this update is going to not be Patreon-exclusive just because this content is already in the public build of the game, but I'll be getting back to early Patreon content in the next update!... Continue reading
• Debug demo is now live!
  October 31, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Demo

  Alright, so I have some good news and not-so-good news for today: The good news is that the windows version of the debug demo has been published, and I figured out how to use the itch io butler so it'... Continue reading
• All voice acting added! Debug demo is basically done
  October 29, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Intro, #Voice Acting

  Whew! It took a lot of work the past few days but Rina and Jyl's lines are done! And with that, the demo is essentially done! By essentially, I mean that all the content I want added to it is there, b... Continue reading
• Rina and Jyl are beginning to have voices!
  October 25, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Voice Acting

  I appreciate the patience in getting to this point, but I have finally been able to start implementing Rina and Jyl's voiced lines! My boyfriend, Sonny, and I have been doing our best with them even t... Continue reading
• Rina first cutscene shot redone, plus more voices!
  October 20, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  2

  #Cutscene, #Voice Acting

  Just a short update this time, for some reason I went sicko mode and redid the cutscene shot all in one day. I was expecting it to take longer than that but hey I guess practice really does make perfe... Continue reading
• Dialogue art redone
  October 13, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  2

  #Art

  I actually thought that it would take me so long to redo the dialogue art that I would have to save it for the full demo release rather than the debug build, but here we are! Only art left to replace... Continue reading

  
• Some examples of sound I've been working on
  October 11, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Music, #Sounds, #Voice Acting

  It's been too long but I've been chugging away at work this whole time and just got to a point where I wasn't sure how to summarize everything. :') I've mainly been focusing on sound design this past... Continue reading
• End of the month wrap up
  October 09, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Music, #Voice Acting

  (You can tell how behind this update is from Patreon based on the disparity between the post date and the title lol.) I'm excited to show off the updates I've gotten done since I last updated! The mos... Continue reading
• All enemy sprites redone!
  September 30, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Enemies, #Moroungor, #Scotoswine, #Smilers, #Sprites

  And with that, I have reanimated all the basic enemy sprites! My favorite out of this batch is the scotoswine, I love how bouncy and wiggly it came out. :) I'm gonna focus the rest of the month on so... Continue reading

  
• Half of enemy sprites redone
  September 26, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Enemies, #Guskrin, #Imp, #Shadow, #Sprites

  I tried to record a video for these to show how they look in-game, but I just felt like all the work that went into them was more visible through gifs. So, take the first 3 enemy redos in gif form! Th... Continue reading

  
• Final extras for the first level
  September 18, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Dialogue, #Enemies, #Sprites

  I felt it was necessary to add some more stuff to the first level to spice it up a bit more, I feel like now there's just enough stuff that I'm happy! While the only visual thing that I feel really ma... Continue reading
• Cliff Wobble Animations (and Character Redos) Done!
  September 12, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Sprites

  I finally finished all the character sprite redos as of today! it was definitely one of the sloggiest (is that a word lol) parts of the past few months, but I definitely think the game has been improv... Continue reading
• Jyl and Sterne Sprites now up to date!
  September 06, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Sprites

  Hey guys! This week was a bit of a slog what with my final semester of university starting, but I still managed to finish up the remaining sprite redos for Jyl and Sterne! I'm especially proud of Jyl'... Continue reading
• Rina sprites all updated!
  August 31, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Sprites

  Apologies for not getting this update out as soon as it was done, I actually finished this update a day and a half earlier, but stuff came up in my personal life that distracted me from posting. This... Continue reading
• All movement sprites for Rina updated
  August 24, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Sprites

  This one is short and sweet for updates, but I finished up all of the idle, walking, and dashing sprites for Rina! I'm hoping to get her melee, item, and cutscene sprites all done before the end of th... Continue reading
• Ranslug Boss Battle
  August 19, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Ranslug

  I finished up the programming for the Ranslug battle, only thing left with it is to implement the music and tweak after I finally get some more play testers for the demo eventually. Please note that I... Continue reading
• All character portraits redone!
  August 14, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Sprites

  I went ahead and edited all of the character portraits thus far and tweaked the art style of the game a bit! All the portraits got new heads, many got new hands, and I tweaked the proportions of the b... Continue reading
• Ranslug Combat Animations Done
  August 11, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Ranslug, #Sprites

  These look a little weird when looped instead of played in sequence like they will be when the programming is done, but I finished up all of the Ranslug's combat sprites! These don't include some othe... Continue reading
• Sprite Redos
  August 05, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Ranslug, #Sprites

  While thinking of what could improve game feel for this project, I settled on trying to improve the sprite animations. So, here we are! These changes will be made gradually, I will not be doing them a... Continue reading
• Demo story wrap-up
  August 01, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Dialogue, #Dream, #Levels, #Rooms, #Voice Acting

  First off, I want to apologize for how long it took for me to get this update out! I'm hoping that the amount of content in this video makes up for it though! Let's get straight into it: -I've made a... Continue reading
• I got bored yet again and added more rooms
  July 27, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Airquarium, #Intro, #Rooms

  Honestly this wasn't so much out of boredom and moreso continued dissatisfaction with the pacing and variety of the beginning of the level, but here we go! Plenty of new rooms that I have added to the... Continue reading
• Polishing up the Airquarium rooms a bit
  July 20, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Airquarium, #Polish, #Rooms

  Hey guys! I got a lot of stuff done in terms of visuals and some programming with the rooms, here's what I did: -New overlay to give the whole level underwater light reflections -Bubbles randomly comi... Continue reading
• New rooms, with a preview of the next level!
  July 15, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Airquarium, #Rooms, #Temple

  Just a short update for today, I added in an extra room to the Airquarium level that I'll be doing more with later, and I added the first room of the second level! It always feels great to begin with... Continue reading
• Guskrin Close Combat Done!
  July 11, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Airquarium, #Close Combat, #Enemies, #Guskrin

  Finished up the animations and minigame for the Guskrin's close combat. This one is a simple game, just has you wait until the Guskrin lurches at you before you're able to attack it. Shout out again t... Continue reading
• Second shot of trailer cutscene!
  July 10, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Cutscene

  I'm excited to show that I got a second shot done of the cutscene I'm using for my trailer! Again, this will take place towards the middle of the game, so it will still be making an appearance besides... Continue reading
• Some new enemies for the Airquarium
  July 07, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Airquarium, #Enemies, #Guskrin

  Got some new enemies to spice up the first level of the game! These are all test locations, and not where they will permanently be. I'm going through all the rooms again to make sure they have enough... Continue reading
• Imp Cutscene
  July 03, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Cutscene, #Enemies, #Imp

  Glad I got this cutscene done sooner than I expected! I definitely could not have done it without help from my sister ( https://www.instagram.com/artsy.laverne/ ), she did the base animation for this... Continue reading
• Imp chase!
  June 29, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Enemies, #Imp

  I managed to add in almost everything for the first encounter with a new recurring enemy, the imp. You'll notice it's pretty bare bones when he's spawned in, because I need to finish a cutscene of him... Continue reading
• Small update: New dialogue and WIP Animated Cutscene
  June 25, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Cutscene, #Dialogue

  I apologize for not being able to get this update out sooner, I've been stuck in a rut along with working on my 3 online summer classes. Honestly I feel like I'll never get these updates out soon enou... Continue reading
• Some more room progress
  June 21, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Airquarium, #Rooms

  Heya! Decided to switch to hosting these videos on Youtube instead of google drive so that's why it's slightly different now. Anywho, I haven't fully finished a lot of these new rooms but I've gotten... Continue reading
• Exploring and escaping the hideout
  June 15, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Airquarium, #Rooms, #Puzzles

  Hello! I got about 1/3 of the last rooms fully coded and put into the game. It involves some more exploring and solving a password puzzle to be able to leave the hideout. I've been cranking these out... Continue reading
• Preview of the rest of Airquarium rooms
  June 09, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Airquarium, #Rooms

  Since the start of the month, I have phased into my new Patreon perks, which includes patrons being one update ahead of my public pages! Here is my original text from this update, and from here on, I'... Continue reading

  
• Behind the door, a hideout!
  May 29, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Nightshade cult, #Airquarium, #Rooms, #Sterne

  As you can probably see, I'm trying to get more exciting with titles after dozens of very literal, plain ones lol. It took me a while since I wanted to get a few more details in than the average rooms... Continue reading
• Two other paths added to puzzle rooms!
  May 22, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Airquarium, #Rooms

  I wasn't sure how to title this lol. I've added the two other paths out of three in order to unlock the big door that was previously unpassable. The second path is kind of a maze, and the third path i... Continue reading
• Two new songs for Airquarium level
  May 17, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Airquarium, #Music

  I'm excited to show you guys what I've been working on bit by bit over the past few weeks! These are two new songs for the first level, one that will play at the beginning and one that will play towar... Continue reading
• Moroungor close combat added
  May 13, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Moroungor, #Close Combat, #Enemies, #Airquarium

  I appreciate the patience with this update, I've been so busy with finals alongside working on this, so it's taken me a bit of time. But, here is the finished close combat for the Moroungor enemy! For... Continue reading
• New Moroungor enemy sprites
  May 07, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Enemies, #Airquarium, #Moroungor

  I've gotten all the overworld sprites done for the new enemy yesterday, the Moroungor! It's a weird elephant seal/man hybrid that's slow until it's right up on you where it just kinda wails on you. As... Continue reading
• Updates to rooms/dialogue, and most important, combat!
  May 05, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  #Combat, #Dialogue, #Rooms

  Hello! Honestly it took me probably just as long to make this new game content as it did to actually record and upload it because for some reason my screen recorder has been making my computer/game la... Continue reading
• Final fixes for this build of the game
  May 03, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  1

  After getting some more feedback on the game, I have updated it yet again to level the combat so it's more lenient for the player, and thus more enjoyable. This is the final update I'll be putting on... Continue reading
• Updated game file
  May 02, 2020 by Kitty_Cay#Bug fixes

  I had some reports of crashes on the original downloadable file for the game. I have found at least one issue with the project and I believe it's all fixed now, but if any bugs are found I would appre... Continue reading
• Welcome to the new page!
  April 30, 2020 by Kitty_Cay

  (This is how empty everything here looks for now.) Hello! This is just a simple welcome to the new itch.io page. I have been keeping a dev log over Patreon and my Wordpress blog, but I have decided to... Continue reading