New Public Demo Release (Devlog)


Hello everybody, and welcome to the official launch of the Twine public demo for Shepherds of Haven! I'll be using this space to take note of the more technical stuff, both for my own notes and for anyone else who wants to track the game's progress! This version of the game brings major updates, improvements, and changes from the original ChoiceScript version, and I’m excited to share it with you all. Below, you’ll find details on known issues, upcoming features, and key differences between this new version and the old one. Thank you for your support and feedback as we refine the game!

Added Features:

  • New UI
  • New engine (Twine) 
  • Interactive maps
  • Custom soundtrack
  • 4 visual modes
    • Royal (default) - dark mode with visual embellishments and heavy styling
    • Soldier - dark mode with more streamlined reading experience
    • Bard - light mode with visual embellishments and heavy styling
    • Scholar - light mode with more streamlined reading experience
      • Tip: Change the font to Georgia and use 'Scholar' to replicate the old reading experience of the game - it's all the same colors for high-contrast readability!
  • Multiple new fonts, including OpenDyslexic 
  • Artwork 
    • Character portraits (toggled off by default to respect all reading experiences)
      • Except Chandry. You all made me have to suffer commissioning him, so now you get his face no matter what
    • Various page backgrounds: inventory, journal, glossary, maps, shop
    • Inventory items
    • Room collectibles and mementos 
    • Newspaper
    • Codex documents
    • Bestiary
    • Character cards (unlock in your room/inventory at a certain point)
    • Trading cards
    • Gambling
    • Mimir's fortune-telling
    • Background and heritage cards
    • Etc.
  • Save system
    • Features autosaves, browser saves, and manual saves. 
      • NOTE: different browsers will behave differently, and may occasionally wipe your cookies (default behavior, automatic update, too many Twine browser saves), which I unfortunately don't have any control over. If you really care about your save files, I highly recommend downloading your saves to your device regularly. So even if your browser saves get wiped, you can reupload the save files from your device and continue on! You can organize your saves and rename them however you like on your device, so long as you leave the .save suffix in the file name alone. 
  • Achievements
    • These carry over across playthroughs for true completionists. We're also no longer limited to only 100!
  • Mission end or "level up" screens summarize what you did in each chapter

Key Differences: 

Besides the obvious visual changes and new features of the Twine build, what are the differences that will change your core gameplay experience? 

  • Briony and Trouble can now be romanced by all genders. This means the only gender-locked characters are Blade, Shery, Riel, and Lavinet.
  • All players can change their pronouns at any time through the Profile screen. Pronouns will not affect any romances.
  • Gameplay is a little easier:
    • Stats now use a straight point system instead of ChoiceScript's fairmath, meaning it's easier and more predictable to rack up points. I still implemented ways to balance gameplay so you can't max out everything at 100 too quickly, but it will take more testing to ensure that everything's working at a good pace.
    • Gambling now unlocks sooner (visit Chandry regularly and keep a good relationship with him).
    • Having two days off now unlocks sooner, giving you more time to spend with companions (or whatever else you want to do).
    • "Recruit Mode" has been introduced for an easier starting gameplay experience for those who want it.
  • You can now allocate different points in magic and weaponry training to different skills, not just one at a time. 

To Do:

  • Quests still need to be converted.
    • NOTE: In the ChoiceScript version, quests were the only way to unlock a trading card album and find out about the Rangers of Blest, which would then enable you to start buying them at Chandry's shop. Because quests aren't currently converted, I temporarily made this an automatic unlock if you read about it in the newspaper or if you visit Chandry's shop a certain amount of times: the cards will just pop up in his inventory at some point. I did this so you guys could play around with the new trading card system (it's extremely addictive), but I don't know yet if it will stay like this in the final version of the game or if we'll go back to having to unlock it through a quest. 
  • Specialization training still needs to be converted.
    • TBD. I want to test how everyone progresses using the new stat system, because this may not even be needed in this version of the game. 
  • I'd like to implement coin and possibly even notification sounds someday. 
  • Some mobile fixes. 

Known Issues:

  • If the game is running slowly on Google Chrome, that's because itch.io may either be throttling bandwidth (due to too many players trying to play at once) or it's how itch.io interacts with Google Chrome and running an iFrame in a browser. This won't be an issue in the final version of the game--since it will be a download and not an online browser game--but if it's causing issues in the meantime, try using a browser like Firefox!
  • Character portrait cards, after being unveiled, can actually lock again if your relationship with the corresponding character drops, lol. This will obviously be fixed in the final version, but it amuses me to think of the implications: a companion gifts you their portrait because they like you, and then when they stop liking you, they take their picture out of your wallet LOL.
  • Tooltips on the day off map can run off the page if there are too many characters/activities in one bubble. You can just click and drag on the map to see the rest of the bubble, but I'm brainstorming if there's a better way to do this. (If you care about using the map at all—there’s a text list of the same choices right underneath it for ease of access, too.)
  • You have to click on the text in the center of the cards in order to open the link. I don’t know yet if I can make it so that clicking on the actual card image, not the text, accomplishes the same! I've tried my darnedest and it's eluded me so far. 
  • Mobile cosmetic issues:
    • No drop shadow on day off clock?
    • Map cardlets on the maps page look a bit off on mobile
    • Character card portraits in the character guide on mobile could be bigger - the square portrait conflicts with the 2/3 ratio of the popup box, so I want to fix that. 
    • Chapter titles currently look a bit squished on mobile
    • On Bard mode, the 'return to previous screen' button (the little book icon that appears in certain documents) is a bit off.
    • The splash banner on Bard and Scholar modes need wrap-around text.
    • The Soldier mode on mobile erroneously has a symbol on mission-end screens. 

Housekeeping: 

I'll still be using shepherdsofhaven.com and @shepherds-of-haven as my main accounts on Tumblr, but these others will be cleaner ways of receiving major announcements, so please give them a follow as well! Speaking of, if you sign up for my newsletter, you'll receive a free exclusive Shepherds of Haven digital wallpaper in your inbox! The newsletter will be the most direct way of tracking news like release dates for the game, beta-testing opportunities, and etc.! :)

That's all I've got for now! Thanks for reading, playing, and supporting! I'm excited to start this new chapter of the Shepherds of Haven story with you all: thanks for being along with us on this journey!

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