Another year has been and gone, so it’s time for the Q4 2023 Courier Tale Dev Blog…

This quarter’s blog is likely shorter than other ones for the simple fact that all I’ve been working on the past few months is finishing graphics. That’s ok though, because a major milestone was hit right at the end of the year. While I’m sure there will be some final tweaks before release, I think… the graphics for Courier Tale are complete!

As such I released a new screenshot. I’ve been hesitant to release new screenshots as I don’t want too many spoilers out there, and also, up until now, the graphics weren’t complete. I’ll likely release more screenshots closer to release, but it’s good to get some fresh visuals out there.

During this process I noticed the way I had been capturing both screenshots and video of Courier Tale had been showing the graphics desaturated. This is due to a colour profile issue on my main monitor with the playtest mode. I’m now using another computer with a 4K monitor for capturing, that represents the colours accurately. As such I’ve updated all of the screenshots, and future trailers will also look more vibrant colour wise and in 4K. Perhaps some people might prefer the desaturated versions, but the new versions are the accurate colour palette like in my original pixel art files.

The graphics took way longer than they should. This is due to the way I choose to approach graphics for the game early on. I could have changed course at some point, but that would have meant having to essentially re-do all of the graphics, which may have taken just as long. And the end result for the players would have been the same quality wise. So I committed to the way I originally chose to do the graphics and it was a slog, that may not show in the final product, but I’m happy it’s done and I can move onto other things now.

As to what’s next? In January I’m going to work on finishing the soundtrack. I was also going to work on finishing the sound effects, but instead I’m going do sound effects during the technical polish phase. It definitely is feeling close to release, but it really probably comes down to how long the technical polish phase goes. Will that take 1 month? Will it take 6 months? Hard to say. My latest target is for a Q2 2024 release date, but then again the game always feels 3-6 months away from finishing. At least at this time, I know it’s definitely closer than it was 3 months ago.

In the meantime though, Courier Tale has been selected for an online showcase on Steam, which I’ll announce later this month. Courier Tale could also be in more showcases in the coming months. Courier Tale is also now on Bluesky, so don’t forget to follow @couriertale on your favourite social media spamming network or join the newly transitioned Studio Kraze discord. And if ya haven’t already, make sure to wishlist Courier Tale on Steam…

It’s the end of September so it’s time for the Q3 2023 Courier Tale dev blog…

I’m calling Q3 “events season”. At least here in Western Australia, it’s when the 3 main gaming focused conventions happen, and I demo-ed Courier Tale at them all.

First up in July was XR:WA 2023. This was the second time I had done this event. I was in almost the same spot as last year underneath the skeleton of a whale (it’s at the WA Museum). It was good to see some familiar faces from last year as well as new ones. There was also the the Hovergarden international indie showcase there including great games like Mars First Logistics.

I wasn’t originally going to do the next event, Pixel Expo. At the start of the year I had an overly optimistic idea of releasing on 8th of August, which was a few days after Pixel Expo. As such I felt it best to skip that event as no doubt the few days before a release would be too hectic for a solo developer to do an event. However once it became apparent I wouldn’t be releasing in August, a last minute opportunity came up to be able to still exhibit at Pixel Expo.

Then in late September, it was time for the first ever WA Games Week. Courier Tale was actually featured in quite a bit of the WA Games Week promo including on the website, video trailer and Perth Games Festival poster. Courier Tale was also featured on the Yagan Square Digital Tower. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see it, but that has to be the biggest screen Courier Tale has been on.

WA Games Week featured a bunch of industry talks, the Level Her Up game jam for women developers, the Immerse VR/AR conference and of course finishing off with Perth Games Festival. This was the 3rd Perth Games Festival I have demo-ed Courier Tale at. My booth came with a banner which I used a new design for. People commented on that being one of the first times they had seen colour in my promo. There is a lot of grey in Courier Tale, but there is some colour as well!

But it wasn’t all just in-person events the past 3 months. Courier Tale was also featured in the Cat Awareness Sale, a digital online showcase on Steam. It was obviously a very niche showcase, but seeing Courier Tale has cats in, it was “purrfect” for the game. It also gave me a chance to share some of the cats the inspired characters in Courier Tale.

During this time, another thing that slowed down progress on Courier Tale was that I started working on my next game prototype. Things have been going well for that prototype so far, up until the news about Unity’s new pricing structure came out a few weeks ago. I had been prototyping the new game in Unity, and the change of pricing prompted me to try out other engines like Godot and Unreal last week. I may still end up using Unity for my next game, but I’ll keep testing other engines until I see what’s best for me and the game. Unlike Courier Tale where I started live streaming development straight away, I’ll probably keep my next project under wraps until the right time. I would like to start working on the next game as soon as Courier Tale is released (while still supporting Courier Tale for the months that follow).

So yeah it’s been a slow quarter for Courier Tale work because of all these other things. The Steam demo was updated to the same version being shown at this year’s conventions which includes things like the new menus and title screen. The focus continues to be finishing off the graphics for Courier Tale. It’s not done yet, but I’m getting close. After graphics are finished I’ll be moving on to sound effects and finalizing the soundtrack. I would like to have both the graphics and sound finished before the end of the year, but hopefully some of the final technical stuff too.

September 10 marked 3 years since I started developing Courier Tale. It should be a milestone, but I feel like such a long time in development doesn’t feel like something to celebrate. Sure a lot of games these days take 5 years to make, some even 10 years. And it hasn’t been 3 years full time, more so closer to 1.5 – 2 years full time. But still, it seems like a big chunk of time for what felt at first to be a small game.

That said, we’re on the homestretch here. After missing the August release, I was hoping for a Q4 release instead, but if I’m realistic about it, it is more likely to be a Q1 2024 release. That’s a shame as I had hoped to release it in 2023, but don’t want to rush it right at the end. With all the events for the year out of the way, it’s heads down finishing Courier Tale now. I may be more quiet over the coming months as I focus on getting the game done, but in the meantime don’t forget to follow @couriertale on your favourite social media spamming network and if ya haven’t already, make sure to wishlist Courier Tale on Steam…

2023 has been 50% completed, so it’s time for the Q2 2023 Courier Tale Dev Blog…

Since the last blog the new in-game menu has been finished. There was various iterations, but the one I settled on both feels stable and also matches the visual style of Courier Tale. The new menu looks like a mobile phone which seems suitable for a game about a gig economy courier. This new menu has also introduced a new sub-menu which shows what collector cards you’ve collected. I’ve had people say the demo doesn’t feature any collectables, but the demo does have one collector card in it.

Made a new look mobile phone style in-game menu for Courier Tale, to go along with the theme of working in the gig economy. Also added a new gallery to the menu that shows what cards you've collected…

Wishlist…https://t.co/OoaBqt3aH7#screenshotsaturday #indiedev #pixelart pic.twitter.com/HOf59S6eLt

— Courier Tale (@CourierTale) April 22, 2023

Once the new UI was finished, it was onto graphics polishing. This maybe unsurprisingly has been a slow process. I’m hoping the work I’m doing right now is the final versions of things. While the demo is pretty representative of the final graphics, when the full game went alpha last year, there was actually quite a bit of placeholder graphics in it that I knew I was going to have to update later on. The graphics as of writing is not finished yet, but I’m hoping I’m not too far off finishing the visuals.

Speaking of visuals, if you follow @couriertale on social media, you may have noticed the pixel art tribute series I’ve been doing roughly monthly over the past year. These have been tributes to things that have influenced Courier Tale, or are similar, or just things I like. They’ve been done up in Courier Tale art style. The last one was in May, and that will likely be the last one as I focus on finishing the game. The good news though is you can now purchase Netflix approved merch of my Stranger Things design from Redbubble https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/140088776 . You can of course also purchase Courier Tale merch from the merch tab on this website.

Remember the Stranger Things Courier Tale style pixel art tribute I created last year? Well now ya can officially purchase clothes, cups, covers & more featuring this design via the Netflix approved fan art program on Redbubble!https://t.co/Yp0c7osa2N#strangerthings #pixelart pic.twitter.com/TU7AlhHLY2

— Courier Tale (@CourierTale) April 2, 2023

Earlier this year I said it was unlikely I’d be showcasing Courier Tale at any more events before launch, but things change and Q3 could possibly see Courier Tale part of a few events, both physical and digital events. Once confirmed these events will be announced here on this website, on social media, email list and the Steam page, so keep an eye out. In the lead-up to the next upcoming event, the demo on Steam will likely be updated with the latest UI and graphics updates. This won’t radically change how the demo plays, so if you’ve already played the demo, there’s no need to again.

So why will Courier Tale be at events prior to launch? I started off today’s blog talking about percentages and there’s an old saying that the last 10% of the work takes 90% of the time. Well that’s certainly seeming somewhat true. Earlier in the year I was aiming for an unannounced August release date, but that won’t be happening. So now Courier Tale is targeting a Q4 2023 release. Hopefully by the time of the next blog in October, I might have a release date to announce.

Until then, I have a bunch more graphics, sound and testing to do, so while I do that, don’t forget to follow @couriertale on your favourite social media spamming network and if ya haven’t already, make sure to wishlist Courier Tale on Steam…

January, February and March have been completed for 2023, so that means it’s time for the Q1 2023 Courier Tale Dev Blog…

The start of the year was more so focused on behind-the-scenes work. This culminated in Courier Tale being featured in the RPG Maker Festival 2023 on Steam in February. For this digital event, I made a video talking about the game and its influences. This video was streamed on Steam throughout the week of the event. Eventually, this video will be released on Youtube in case you missed it and wanted a greater insight into Courier Tale. Overall RPG Maker Festival was a success and saw a significant increase in wishlists for Courier Tale.

After RPG Maker Festival, it was back to polishing the game. The focus of the past month or so has been working on UI and menus, which is tricky in this game engine. In the process, a new title screen was created with an animated background. A new in-game menu is in the works, currently iterating on different versions, but should be finished soon. A long-standing visual glitch after selecting a dialogue choice may have finally been solved. I’ve previously mentioned mouse support not being up to the same standard as keyboard or controller, and now I’m more leaning towards removing mouse support. Successful games made in the same game engine don’t have mouse support, so I think it’s just a fact that mouse in this engine is not the best. For now I’ve disabled mouse, but perhaps it could be something re-looked at after the release of the game.

Created a new look title screen for Courier Tale…

Wishlist on Steam…https://t.co/OoaBqt3aH7#screenshotsaturday #indiedev #pixelart pic.twitter.com/MKPJWUqMFr

— Courier Tale (@CourierTale) March 4, 2023

It is hoped this UI work is making the final versions of these menus. These updates haven’t been added to the demo yet. They might not make it into the demo until near the full release of the game, but may be updated if Courier Tale takes part in future digital events before release.

Speaking of events, last blog I said there probably wouldn’t be any more physical events that Courier Tale will exhibit at before release. That is mostly the truth as I try to focus on finishing the game in what is hopefully the homestretch of development. At this stage the only physical event before release that Courier Tale will likely be at is in July.

Speaking of release, the goal/motto of “Delivery in 2023” continues. If all goes well Courier Tale will release in the 2nd half of 2023. Until then, there’s plenty more polishing to do, so while I do that, don’t forget to follow @couriertale on your favourite social media spamming network and if ya haven’t already, make sure to wishlist Courier Tale on Steam…

The end of 2022 has been and gone, so it’s now time for another Courier Tale developer blog…

The last quarter of the year was a bit quieter than the previous quarter. However, Courier Tale did exhibit at one event, returning to Perth Games Festival for 2022. Weirdly enough, I was setup in the same spot as last year, but this time with the big Courier Tale banner and wearing a Max shirt. Perth Games Festival is organized by Let’s Make Games, who also organize the Perth edition of Global Game Jam which I used to do in the years leading up to starting developing Courier Tale, so it’s always awesome to return to Perth Games Festival.

As the Perth Games Festival demo had various graphical tweaks, I updated to Steam demo to the same version. If you’ve already played the demo, there’s no need to play again, but if you haven’t played the demo yet, the best version is now available to download on Steam now.

The graphical updates were part of the graphics polishing phase. There’s still a bunch more polishing of the visuals to be done, but it’s good to already see some improvements. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s not another polish pass at some point before the game’s release, but the current tweaks are adding to the visual cohesiveness and populating the world more so.

My last blog’s estimations for release were of course optimistic. I now think Courier Tale’s release is likely to be in the 2nd half of 2023. That’s a good thing as it means more time to polish and test, as well as avoid what could possibly be the most busiest first half of the year for game releases I’ve seen in recent memory. I’m pretty confident in my motto “Delivery in 2023” for Courier Tale, at least for the Windows version. The current plan is to launch on Windows first, then look into Linux, Mac and possibly mobile releases.

At this stage, there are no plans to exhibit Courier Tale at any physical events until after its release later this year. So until then, follow Courier Tale on your favourite spamming social network, play the demo if you haven’t, deliver the Courier Tale news to people you know, and of course, if you haven’t already, wishlist Courier Tale on Steam…