Anniversary Post + Next Fest!

We've just hit the second anniversary of Divine Dawn! While I've been working on it longer, February 8th, 2021 was the first official release. 

I can't tell if that's exciting or terrifying; I finally proved to myself that I wouldn't fold and give up immediately, but... two years, man. I thought I'd be further along in the story, but I also didn't think we'd have any art, much less custom music.

And I absolutely didn't think the game would attract so much support, or that I'd make so many friends doing it.

I've gotten so much helpful feedback over time, a surprisingly low number of trolls and assholes, and been able to improve the game countless times due to constructive criticism. This has been an uphill battle and I have a lot of work left to do, but it's something I finally feel like I can do! ...Eventually.

So, first off, I'd like to thank everyone who has supported the game. Not necessarily with money; concrit, positive messages, bug reports, suggestions, help with art, and helping me keep the bad thoughts down when I'm stressed.

I've met some incredible artists - who have turned out to be wonderful people at a suspiciously high rate. Jiffic, Coubalt, Nor, InCloud, ubercrow, and most others have made my experience as a dev far better. It's an absolute blast to do commissions, and honestly it feels good being able to throw some money at them in return.

I am also incredibly grateful to everyone that has supported the game financially. I wasn't sure I'd be able to make this into a 'proper' job, but the Itch release in late December gave me the hope that with Steam/GoG I'll be able to make this truly sustainable - which means more game, more and higher quality commissions, and a bit less of me having to deal with outside issues.

Seriously, thank you. Itch looks to be working out well enough to carry me until Steam at least, so I can switch to spending almost all of the Patreonbux directly on the game.

Finally, as a bit of an anniversary celebration, version 0.23 is temporarily playable for free for everyone as part of Steam Next Fest! It should remember your saves. Next Fest ends on the 12th, so there's a four-ish day window to play it a bit early.

I'm still nailing down a proper release date when 0.24 will release for supporters and 0.23 will go free for everyone, but am aiming for late next week. 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2170920/Divine_Dawn/