2019 Project Recap!

2019 has come and gone, and what a year it’s been!

We’ve seen many highs and lows this year, and we’re looking forward to a bright and exciting year for Dragon Dares in 2020. The game is coming along nicely, even if production hasn’t always been smooth sailing.

Before we can move on, though: We want to take a few minutes to talk about what we’ve been doing, and what we've learned over the past year. 

It’s time for a brief check-in. We want you to understand where we are now, but also, how much we have to look forward to this year.

We’ll start by addressing some things that didn’t work out, before moving on to our successes. Then we'll cover what's up next. We promise that there's plenty to be excited about for this coming year.

=== Challenges ===

Funding

We at the Dragon Dares Dev Team would like to thank everyone who's contributed! Without your support over this year, nothing that we’ve done so far would have been possible. Dragon Dares wouldn't exist without your continued support, so from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

Funding does remain a challenge going into 2020. It’s one of our biggest obstacles moving forward with this project.

It’s a bit of a catch-22. We need funding to work on the game, but we need to promote the game to be able to attract more patrons. Promotion requires consistent work on the game, since we need something to show off to be able to promote!

This is likely our biggest challenge, as there is very little that can be done about it right now. We have been operating at a loss and, going into 2020, this is going to have to continue for a while. This isn’t ideal, but we're going to keep plugging away anyway!

That being said, progress has been rapid, so we expect our hard work (and all of your patience) to pay off very soon!

Ren'Py

At the start of this year, Ren'Py looked like the de-facto engine choice for Dragon Dares. After extensive research and experimentation, we've had to abandon the prospect.

It's missing a few key features. It lacks a proper editor GUI, support for frame-by-frame animation, and an easy way to mask layered sprites. These have proven difficult enough to implement that we've determined it'd be easier to just rebuild Ren'Py's functionality from scratch elsewhere.

We're aware that Ren'Py is planning to add 3D support eventually. However, creating sufficiently dynamic scenes will be much easier on a different engine (more on that in a minute).

Still, we wouldn’t consider this to be a major stumbling block in development. Bea had to learn Python to use Ren’Py in the first place, which has given her a lot of tools that she hasn’t previously had access to.

In the end, this is going to lead to a more mechanically robust final game than we would've had otherwise.

The Card Game Itself

On a somewhat more severe note, the “Dragon Dates” card game itself has had a bit of a troubled production. Our team learned a great deal from this as well, especially when it comes to thorough playtesting. We committed to a specific design way before it was worth committing to.

Dragon Dares started with a simple little card game prototype about dating dragons, but playtesting revealed that best decision was to go in a different direction with it.

It isn’t something that was fun to play. The design was confusing, and the pacing was lackluster. It had a heavy mechanical focus, but a lot of the mechanics weren’t actually fun to engage with.

After a long, hard look at what we had, we decided to focus less on rules and more on fun. We took the card game back to the drawing board and came up with a much simpler design.

It doesn’t have as much “flavor” as the original design, but it should be much more enjoyable to actually play. It'll allow us to focus more on the actual narrative and characters, which is where the heart of this project really lies. We think that you’re really going to like the new-and-improved card game.

Dragon Dares itself isn’t going anywhere. It’s still a game about playing strip cards and doing lewd dares, it’s just going to be focused a bit differently than we were originally planning.

=== Successes ===

Unity Switch

There is one particular major change coming to Dragon Dares, though.

It was a difficult decision, but one that the whole team is extremely excited about. We are happy to announce that Dragon Dares’ new engine will be... Unity!

There are many reasons for the change, and it’s going to upgrade the whole project into something way more polished.

Higher polish

While Unity lacks the simplicity of Ren'Py, it has way more advanced graphical features out of the box. It’s highly customizable, too, allowing us to create a wider variety of effects for the game. It can do anything that we need it to do, whether through a bit of elbow grease, or simply purchasing needed assets.

We can build from that base to create exactly what we want, and eliminate the need for compromise in design.

More flexibility

Unity also opens the doors for a lot of future possibilities. Without the limitations of Ren'Py, we can utilize any sort of gameplay that we want. This can lead to more interesting gameplay and mechanics. We will be taking full advantage of this (both in Dragon Dares and our future projects).

So, what do all of these changes mean for the project as a whole? We’ve started fresh with a new engine, rebuilt “Dragon Dates” from scratch... and now it’s time to talk about what 2020 has in store.

=== What’s next:  Changes in Direction  ===

Card Game is No Longer Central

We’re definitely changing the focus for Dragon Dares somewhat from previous iterations.

Between the added flexibility granted by the new engine, and the difficulties in building the original version of “Dragon Dates,” we’ve decided to take a step back from the “game within the game” as the primary focus of Dragon Dares.

The card game will still exist in the final version of Dragon Dares, and you will still get to play it! As promised, it will have full card art, featuring a cast of lovable and interesting dragons (who are fictional characters within the world of Dragon Dares).

However, it is no longer a complex deck-building strategy card game. Instead, we're redesigning it as a simple matching-style party game (with a few interesting narrative twists).

If you’re wondering what this is going to look like in practice, you won’t have to wonder for too much longer. Our first alpha module will be focused on the card game itself, so you’ll get the chance to try it out long before Dragon Dares releases. We’ll talk about that near the end.

For now, let’s talk about what this shift in focus means for the main game.

Harder Narrative Focus, Mechanical Experimentation

You may be wondering what exactly Dragon Dares will even look like anymore! We certainly did when we first decided to re-tool “Dragon Dates.” We’ve discussed it at length, and ultimately, we’re still working on the exact details.

The game shouldn’t be much different from our initial plan, just with a somewhat different focus.

As for what that new focus will be, we intend to spend 2020 figuring that out.

We’ve mentioned our “alpha modules” before on the Patreon, but we'll recap for those who need a refresher. These are smaller games using familiar characters, designed to test out various gameplay concepts for the main story. Each module will feature a different character, and focus on a different aspect of what Dragon Dares will be.

We plan to launch the first module in April. It’s specifically designed to test out the new version of the card game, and explore what a “narrative-driven party card game” could look like.

Today, we’ll be announcing exactly what that first module will be, so be sure to keep reading!

Patreon Retool

The Patreon itself will be seeing a few exciting new changes this year, which we are sure that you are going to love!

Exclusivity -> Exclusivity Periods

The biggest change for you, our Patrons, is that we’re going to be switching from a model of full exclusivity to timed exclusivity for WIPs and pin-ups. There are two reasons for this.

First, we initially planned to put the uncensored pin-ups in Dragon Dares itself as Easter Eggs, or rewards for completing specific in-game tasks. We haven’t really been able to find a good way to implement this that isn’t too immersion-breaking, so this feature will likely be cut in the final game. As a result, we don't need to keep the uncensored versions exclusive to the Patreon any longer!

The other reason is that we want to share more of what we’re working on with the general public! There are so many excellent WIPs that have been produced so far, and due to our current exclusivity model, most of them have never seen the light of day. We think that it would be more fun and interesting to allow more of the community to see all of the awesome things we’re working on.

To make this change happen, we’re releasing the uncensored versions of all the pin-ups to date on a timed schedule. That said, patrons will still get the benefit of seeing anything made for the Patreon early! Most content will remain Patron-exclusive for a month before being released to the general public!

Daily Updates

On that note, daily updates are now a feature on the Discord! We have a specific channel for logging progress updates on the game, so you can see exactly what we’re working on almost daily! We’ll also try to maintain a weekly update schedule for public release, compiling the most interesting developments. Stay tuned!

Larger Monthly Reward Variety

Last but not least, we’re expanding the variety of possible Patreon rewards!

We're still making pinups, of course. But now, we’ll also be releasing character profiles, short stories, sketch sheets, one-shot comics, and possibly even small games!

This is actually a fairly important change. It allows us to adjust the rewards each month based on what time and resources we have left over from developing the game itself! After all, the actual game comes first!

However, it’ll also give us more opportunities to explore the world of Dragon Dares. Finally, we’ll be able to share and explore all these characters and places that have come to mean so much to us with all of you!

(As with the pin-ups, these rewards will be exclusive to the patreon for a bit, but they’ll all eventually see public release.)

=== Upcoming Games ===

Finally, we have an Exclusive First Look at what’s next for Dragon Dares.

Development of the first “alpha module” is well underway!

It is our pleasure to finally be able to announce this new game: “Dragon Dares: Nude Leaf!”

This game takes place on a quiet night like any other, in the sleepy (but growing) town of Animal Forest. Isabelle, the mayor’s secretary, is hard at work late into the night (as she always is), tirelessly keeping the town together with her own overworked paws.

Suddenly, the silence in town hall is broken! Isabelle’s dearest friends, Pelly the postal worker and Lottie the interior designer, have arrived with plentiful snacks, and a mysterious new game that Pelly found in her sister’s closet. What these three thought would be a simple night of laughter and friendship would quickly turn into something else.

Friendships will be tested! Emotions will be confessed! Naked animals will--er, perhaps you should just see for yourself, yes, yes?

“Dragon Dares: Nude Leaf” will be the first of our “alpha modules,” giving us a chance to explore exactly what Dragon Dares will look like. They’ll all end up quite different from one another. This game in particular is going to focus on the card game mechanic, allowing us to show off exactly how that’s going to work and play out with an ongoing narrative.

You’ll be able to play the card game, read a sample of what our character writing will look like, and, of course, see some iconic furry characters completely nude (with three totally different endings, and a few other surprises)!

=== In Closing ===

Whew! As you can see, we’ve been hard at work. It’s been difficult at times, but we’re committed to giving you the best possible game! We’ve learned a lot, and 2020 promises to be a great year for Dragon Dares!

We hope that you’ll continue to support development, and enjoy all the exciting new content coming your way.

Thank you!