DragonMail

Devlog

• Welcome to DragonMail
  March 19, 2021 by sarrowsmith#release

  Welcome to DragonMail! As the description says, “ DragonMail is a non-violent game. There is no fighting, no enemies, just some slightly grumpy badgers. It requires neither lightning reflexes nor de... Continue reading

  
• Full Release (v1.0.1)
  March 19, 2021 by sarrowsmith#release

  I've not found any new issues with v0.7.5, so I'm bumping it from release candidate to release. As I said of Release Candidate 1 , I've implemented all the features I want to implement (at least for v... Continue reading
• Release Candidate Two (v0.7.5)
  February 28, 2021 by sarrowsmith

  v0.7.5 improves: Automated movement during interaction with NPCs Matching speech to text... Continue reading
• Release Candidate One (v0.7.4)
  February 13, 2021 by sarrowsmith#release

  v0.7.4 fixes: Wisdom page cannot be navigated (fix also improves letters page) "Tiny" games very occasionally hang (this situation now fails gracefully) NPC sometimes running on the spot during conver... Continue reading

  
• v0.6.14
  February 07, 2021 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #beta, #release

  Release 0.6.14 fixes: NPC spawning under temple Local overhead camera skewed by player tilt And addresses: NPCs moving without movement animation (although running on the spot may be worse) NPC drifti... Continue reading
• v0.6.13
  February 05, 2021 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #beta, #release

  Release 0.6.13 fixes: Map navigation with mouse over-sensitive Trees changing when level of detail is adjusted Move ans spin controls break if sensitivity adjusted mid-game Some NPCs first encountered... Continue reading
• v0.6.12
  January 31, 2021 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #beta, #release

  Release 0.6.12 fixes: NPCs being awake if encountered for the first time in the middle of the night Dragon and camera angles wrong at the post office Some suggestions as to where to find NPCs not usef... Continue reading
• v0.6.11
  January 29, 2021 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #beta, #release

  Release 0.6.11 fixes: Player clipping through walls or into ground during conversations Scanning around map causing world camera movement in some circumstances NPCs behaving strangely, including being... Continue reading
• What's in a name?
  January 28, 2021 by sarrowsmith

  No, not the name of the project, but the names of the characters. The DragonMail name generator still throws me the odd surprise, and while I was play-testing on a map of badger scholars I came across... Continue reading

  
• v0.6.10
  January 22, 2021 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #beta, #release

  Release 0.6.10 fixes: Credits missing from "About" screen And adds: First run starts on Display Options to facilitate UI style selection... Continue reading
• v0.6.9
  January 17, 2021 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #release, #beta

  Release 0.6.9 fixes NPCs: Tunnelling through some fortification walls Not always returning to spawn point to sleep Not settling to sleep properly (structure clipping) Sliding around while asleep Movin... Continue reading
• v0.6.8
  January 10, 2021 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #release, #beta

  Release 0.6.8 fixes: PS3/4 controllers not supported No controller dead zone Spin/yaw oversensitive NPCs stuck under drum tower And adds: Dialogue boxes follow UI style I wasn't planning on another re... Continue reading
• v0.6.7
  January 08, 2021 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #release, #beta

  Release 0.6.7 fixes: Camera default position drifting (and reset not working properly) Strafe/roll control oversensitive... Continue reading
• v0.6.6
  January 03, 2021 by sarrowsmith#beta, #release

  Release 0.6.6 fixes (or at least makes improvements to): NPCs waking up in the middle of the night NPCs going to sleep with heads clipped through walls (or each other) Stationary NPCs not turning to e... Continue reading
• v0.6.5
  December 27, 2020 by sarrowsmith#beta, #release

  Release 0.6.5 fixes: In an "endless" game, unable to deliver to the same NPC twice in the same day Some court roofs disappear when viewed from a distance Some visual glitches caused by overlapping wal... Continue reading
• v0.6.3
  December 22, 2020 by sarrowsmith#beta, #release

  Release 0.6.3 adds: Non-scholar NPCs can give hints in the form of where other NPCs may be found Slight variation in size of NPCs... Continue reading
• Progress, or lack thereof
  December 21, 2020 by sarrowsmith

  It's been well over a month since the last update here, but it's not been quiet for me. Firstly, just after the v0.6.2 release , I got hospitalised with a kidney stone, and put under general anaesthet... Continue reading

  
• Beta Release Taffy Tank (v0.6.2)
  November 14, 2020 by sarrowsmith#beta, #release

  Adds in-game hints obtained by talking to scholars, and other variety to NPC interaction. This might seem like quite a small change, but it's been quite a lot of work to get it in place. It also addre... Continue reading

  
• v0.5.6
  October 24, 2020 by sarrowsmith#beta, #release

  Release 0.5.6 adds: Adjustment for speed of text crawl Earnings and letters delivered in HUD All elements of the HUD can be individually configured on and off Keyboard and mouse controls screen layout... Continue reading
• Observations
  October 18, 2020 by sarrowsmith#feedback, #development, #about

  I've had some great constructive criticism feedback from @40wattstudio following the public beta release, and realised that a lot of the issues raised are due to design decisions made way back in the... Continue reading
• v0.5.5
  October 18, 2020 by sarrowsmith#beta, #release

  Release 0.5.5 fixes: Meaning of time of day indicator not obvious Some NPCs not disengaging properly Post office can be cluttered up with trees And adds improvements for: Prompts, and more consistent... Continue reading
• v0.5.4
  October 11, 2020 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #release

  Release 0.5.4 fixes: Performance improvements for large landscapes Player sliding away from NPC at start of conversation, and not being able to talk to anyone else afterwards No mouse sensitivity adju... Continue reading
• Welcome to DragonMail
  October 03, 2020 by sarrowsmith#about, #beta, #release

  Welcome to DragonMail! As the description says, “DragonMail is a non-violent game. There is no fighting, no enemies, just some slightly grumpy badgers. It requires neither lightning reflexes nor dee... Continue reading

  
• Beta Release Rock Lobster (v0.5.2)
  October 03, 2020 by sarrowsmith#beta, #release

  Release v0.5.2 (Rock Lobster) simply adds some minor polish to v0.5.1 (Surround Sound) in preparation for a full public beta release. However, this includes moving the location of save files from NVG/... Continue reading

  
• Beta Release Surround Sound (v0.5.1)
  September 27, 2020 by sarrowsmith#beta, #release

  Release v0.5.1 (Surround Sound) introduces some major new features, completing enough of the "Immediate" goals and adding enough of the next level features that it's finally time to call it a beta re... Continue reading

  
• v0.4.6
  September 13, 2020 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #release

  Release 0.4.6 fixes: Towers sometimes lean It's possible to create games with no saves Some platforms are unable to start new games... Continue reading
• Slight hiatus
  August 29, 2020 by sarrowsmith#development

  I've been trying to get a release out every week, or every other week, but there going to be a slightly longer gap between v0.4.3 and whatever comes next (even I can't predict how the build systems is... Continue reading

  
• v0.4.3
  August 18, 2020 by sarrowsmith#release, #bugfix

  Release 0.4.3 fixes: Some doors hinge in really bizarre ways Towers can appear too close together Some castles built of overlapping curtain walls Improvements: Map labels scale better with zoom Scroll... Continue reading
• v0.4.2
  August 07, 2020 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #release

  Release 0.4.2 fixes: Flapping doors Some towers still having doors underground Distant reflections missing Improvements: Direction indicator on player marker on main map Superspeed related to absolute... Continue reading
• Alpha Release I, Claudius (v0.4.1)
  August 02, 2020 by sarrowsmith#release, #alpha

  Release v0.4.1 (I, Claudius) introduces some major new features; enough to warrant moving from 0.3 to 0.4, but I'm still not ready to call it a beta. Bugfixes: NPCs don't know that they're known in ga... Continue reading

  
• v0.3.40
  July 19, 2020 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #release

  Release 0.3.39 fixes: Towers can have doors underground, or stairs ending in mid-air or underwater Improvements: Choice of UI styles UI navigation sounds Collision with ground slightly more forgiving... Continue reading
• v0.3.35
  July 12, 2020 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #release

  Bug fix release 0.3.35 addresses: Player can bounce off NPC, & be left unable to engage with any other NPC Improvements: Contrast on in-game menu "Superspeed" more super/speedy Payment for delivery cl... Continue reading
• v0.3.34
  July 09, 2020 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #release

  Bug fix release 0.3.34 addresses: Lake towers sinking on reload NPCs don't have feet firmly on the ground Linux: Game doesn't run from Itch app Improvements: Default camera position is closer to playe... Continue reading
• Alpha Release Visibility Day (v0.3.31)
  July 04, 2020 by sarrowsmith#alpha, #bugfix, #release

  Alpha release v0.3.31 (Visibility Day) Bug fixes: Player spawns at random altitude Improvements: Tighter camera tracking when spinning Adjusted contrast on menu controls New features: Separate volume... Continue reading
• v0.3.28
  July 02, 2020 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #release

  Bug fix release 0.3.28 addresses: Cannot start playing v0.3.23 (it works if you've got save files from an earlier version) Consumes 100% CPU doing nothing when in background (possibly Linux only). Thi... Continue reading
• v0.3.23
  June 30, 2020 by sarrowsmith#release

  Incremental release adds Settings controls for volume, quality, resolution and pitch control inversion... Continue reading
• v0.3.16
  June 29, 2020 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #release

  Bugfix release for: Dialogue continue prompt doesn't reflect primary controller Windows : save files don't work Some new games get stuck during creation/no measure of creation process once map is comp... Continue reading
• Call for playtesters
  June 27, 2020 by sarrowsmith#release, #alpha

  This is it, the first public (sort of) release of DragonMail . It is still absolutely a work in progress, I'm still describing it as an alpha release, and there are still a lot of unresolved bugs and... Continue reading
• Alpha Release Almost Pi (v0.3.15)
  June 26, 2020 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #release, #alpha

  Alpha release v0.3.15 (Almost Pi) Bugfixes: Conversations sometimes get “stuck” with the most obvious symptom being that rotation controls stop working Save leaves game paused NPCs can have the sa... Continue reading

  
• Playtesting
  June 20, 2020 by sarrowsmith#development

  I’ve been rushing DragonMail to something which I wouldn’t be embarrassed for other people to play, not just look at carefully selected screen shots. The goal was a soft alpha release this weekend... Continue reading

  
• v0.3.11
  June 20, 2020 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #release, #improvement

  Bug fix release 0.3.11 addresses: OSX (macOS) build Super-speed can sometimes (after visiting a lake tower) be engaged accidentally No absolute ceiling on altitude (you’re not supposed to be able to... Continue reading
• v0.3.7
  June 18, 2020 by sarrowsmith#bugfix, #release

  Bug fix release 0.3.7 addresses: No installation guide! .desktop file for Linux installation Nighttime is too light Day count not showing in clock... Continue reading
• The Origins of DragonMail
  June 16, 2020 by sarrowsmith#about, #development

  The DragonMail you see here is (depending on how you count) the fourth game in an evolutionary series, the previous ones rightly never being let out. Early 2019 I spent several weeks in hospital, duri... Continue reading

  
• Why a non-violent game?
  June 16, 2020 by sarrowsmith#about

  How did I get into the idea of a non-violent game? It started off with getting back into game playing with Breath of the Wild . The thing I really like about it is just how much you can do without fig... Continue reading

  
• Welcome to DragonMail
  June 16, 2020 by sarrowsmith#release, #about

  Welcome to DragonMail ! This initial release (0.3) is a closed alpha. It’s only just about playable as a game, has a bunch of known bugs, and another bunch of features/improvements that are really n... Continue reading