Summer is finally here – and so is new content for Disney Dreamlight Valley! Expect plenty of sweet surprises out of our DreamSnaps Feature Update, from a new Villager to new ways to earn Moonstones and other prizes.
Your Valley Levels Up
Teased in our Roadmaps earlier this year, a new Villager races into the Valley in this update – Vanellope! While she brings her candy-sweet cuteness to the Valley, she also has her own opinions on how the Valley could ‘level up’! Join her in a series of game-inspired quests, from Extreme Valley Design to LARPing. She’ll also help you get your Valley looking picture perfect for… DreamSnaps!
DreamSnaps
Your camera is about to get an upgrade! In helping Vanellope rejoin the Valley, you’ll harness the power of a new magic in the Valley – Pixel Dust! Once you’ve collected enough to welcome Vanellope, you’ll also unlock DreamSnaps – a fun new competitive game mode where you can unleash your creativity each week in a variety of ever-changing challenges. Every week, DreamSnaps will feature a new theme that you have to either dress or decorate for.
Our team is incredibly excited to bring this feature to our Early Access players, and will continue to explore Quality of Life improvements in future updates. We’ll be closely monitoring player feedback to help inform the future of this feature, so let us know what you think on our social channels!
How DreamSnaps Works
Every Wednesday at 1PM UTC, a new challenge will await you in the Event tab of the Menu. You’ll find a brief description of the challenge theme, and whether you need to use Furniture or Clothing to complete it. Take note of the mandatory and suggested item tags – these will be important factors to keep in mind for your final challenge score! Your final challenge score will determine the Pixel Dust amount you receive – which will in-turn help you level up on the DreamSnaps level track – unlocking a variety of rewards, including clothing, furniture, and even Moonstones.
In addition to checking on the active challenge requirements in the Menu, you can also find them while in Photo Mode where you’ll be doing the challenge’s heavy lifting. If your photo does not meet the requirements for that week’s challenge, you will be unable to submit it. Additionally, players will not be able to feature Touch of Magic Clothing or Furniture at this time in their DreamSnaps images. Further, snapping photos near Touch of Magic items you’ve created (even while obscured) will not allow you to submit your image, so make sure to frame your images without any in-frame. Stay tuned to our Trello board for fixes for this in the future.
Not sure what items count towards a challenge? In Furniture and Wardrobe mode, you can use the ‘Filters’ button to sort your inventory by tags. You can also use the new DreamSnaps toggle to sort the most relevant items for a given challenge to the top of your inventory, provided you have ones that are applicable. Missing items for a specific week’s challenge? Don’t forget to talk to Scrooge McDuck to browse his furniture catalogue using item filters. He’d be happy to help contribute his stock to your DreamSnap design – for a few Star Coins, of course.
Once you’ve created the perfect design, be it with Clothing or Furniture depending on the week’s theme, head into Photo Mode. Once you’ve snapped a photo, you’ll see a new option to submit your design. If it fits all the requirements for the theme, your image will successfully be submitted. You can always view your submission in the Event tab of the Menu!
Changed your mind? You can update your submission by taking a new photo and resubmitting it. Keep in mind that any new submissions will overwrite previously submitted images.
It’s Time to Vote!
It doesn’t stop there! The week following each challenge brings a new theme, but also a week-long voting period for the previous challenge, during which you can jump back into the competition and vote on your favorite designs from fellow Valley Villagers! Just visit the Event tab in the Menu, and press the ‘Vote Now’ button. You can earn an additional 50 Moonstones per challenge by voting, so don’t forget to participate each week!
Lastly, it wouldn’t be a competition without prizes! Every participant in a DreamSnaps challenge will earn a minimum of 300 Moonstones and a randomized selection of furniture or clothing items – depending on the week’s challenge type – from Scrooge’s Store*. The better your design performs in a challenge (taking into account both how many items matched that week’s theme and your garnered votes) translates to more Moonstones earned. There are a variety of different prize tiers, with the top five designers bringing home upwards of 5,500 or more Moonstones that week! Moonstones earned can be used to unlock progress in Star Paths or purchase optional cosmetic items from the in-game Premium Shop.
Keep an eye on your in-game mailbox the Wednesday after a challenge’s voting period to see how well you did in the challenge**, and to claim your Pixel Dust, Moonstones, and other rewards!
*At this time, both challenge types will grant players clothing items. This will be resolved in a future update. **Please note that there is no publicly visible leaderboard. PlayStation users will only be able to participate in DreamSnaps challenges with other PlayStation users.
Community Based Changes
While this update focuses on welcoming DreamSnaps and Vanellope to the Valley, we also wanted to take a second to recognize some changes to Disney Dreamlight Valley brought on by you, our players!
Tired of seeing the same L-Shaped couch? Scrooge has taken a look at his stock and will now feature less repeats day-to-day.
While we saw many fans excited about the blue chest upgrade in the “A Festival of Friendship” update, we wanted to introduce more ways for fans to earn Moonstones in-game, for free. Through participation in DreamSnaps, fans can earn an additional 350 (or more!) Moonstones per week, with rewards increasing depending on their standing in each week’s challenge.
Valley Villagers can now zoom around the Valley longer with energy drain caused by hovering reduced by ~80%.
We’ve also been busy behind the scenes squashing a large amount of bugs. For a full list of what has been included in this Update, please see HERE.
Should you run into any issues while playing Disney Dreamlight Valley, we first recommend that you check out our known issues HERE. If you don’t see the issue you’re running into, you can get in touch with our Support team via our contact form. Running into issues with a certain quest or objective? Check out our friendly Discord Community for some Disney Dreamlight Valley tips and tricks!
We are not slowing down! Check out refreshed Development Roadmap 👀
As you can see, the Development Roadmap has evolved and it will evolve according to those features that you will most want to see in the game - so we count on your feedback! The dates are set approximately and can slightly change. Thank you Survivors for all your support and suggestions. 🥰
Welcome to the first of many dev logs showcasing things that I have spent the last month working on as part of my commitment to our Kickstarter Backers. These updates arrive for them a month before you'll read them here because they paid for the ~perks of exclusivity~ but this is your next-best source for info about what's being worked on and how things are playing out.
Howdy gamers!
In order to focus on the rest of the game I prefer to knock out a bunch of the little extras first. They will be the focus of these early updates as I venture to get them around 90% complete. Fleshing these systems out into something usable this early on means the game can be structured to support them much easier than if I tried to add them at the end of development.
With that said, here's an informative overview of everything added since the last update...
1. Chaos Mode
The system for chaos mode is done and fully functional. Let's deep dive!
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SPOILERS AHEAD YOU'VE BEEN WARNED YOU CAN RESUME READING AT THE NEXT DOT POINT
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Chaos & Randomizer Modes will be a "secret" accessible via the file select menu
The social media typically goes hand-in-hand with everybody's gaming experience so nothing is truly secret these days. Still, I wanted to make a nod to DKC2's game start menu by granting players access to a secret file select screen if they run against the side of the screen for a short time. DKC2 did this to reveal Music Test and Cheat Mode if you continued trying to scroll the menu past its end point.
A much later stage in the game takes place in some foggy ruins where there will be a hint to this secret carved in the stone walls. Even if someone manages to dodge this secret knowledge the game will show them eventually!
If you're reading this and wish to unlearn the knowledge you've got 2 years to try and forget, good luck!
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SPOILERS OVER, LET'S GET BACK TO TALKING ABOUT CHAOS MODE
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The "Rules" of Chaos
Balancing a mode like this is a tricky one due to the nature of how it works - Chaos Mode actively messes with your controls, movement, visibility and other aspects of the game to make playing it a much more frustrating experience than the vanilla game ever could. Each of these effects is called a Modifier.
However, we need rules otherwise it becomes an unplayable mess. Fun can be had during frustrating gameplay but if you can't even play then what's the point, right?
Rule #1 - Only 3 modifiers can be active at once. A new modifier gets applied every 7 seconds, so each modifier only lasts for around 20-seconds or so.
Rule #2 - Similar modifiers are grouped into pools, only one modifier from its pool can be active. A modifier that disables the jump button belongs to the "Disable Controls" pool. No other controls will be disabled until the first modifier is no longer active. Some other mod pools include: Gravity Changes, Object Magnetism, Player State, Weather Effects
Rule #3 - The chaos timer stops in the pause menu. You won't be able to just pause the game and wait some of these effects out. You're in it for the long haul.
Rule #4 - Chaos resets in the overworld. You will always start a new stage with a clean slate and by the 20-second mark chaos will be in full swing once again.
Those of you who backed the tester reward should be able to experience Chaos Mode right away when I issue keys out. I'll find out pretty fast if changes to these rules need to be made, but it's a start!
The "Language" of Chaos
Each chaos modifier is represented by a tile with a symbol on it. It's hard to communicate what each of the effects could mean so for extra assistance the name of the modifier will appear for a couple of seconds. Alternatively, you can enter the pause menu and hover over the icons.
But if you don't like the distraction of text or you just don't like the default rules, the Chaos Options menu lets you switch things up!
2. Assists + Modifiers
Arguably less fun but still in the same realm as Chaos Mode, the Assists + Modifiers menu is accessible via the Gameplay menu. These settings apply to the game as a whole allowing players of varying skill levels to tailor their experience.
Positive Modifiers:
Create Checkpoints - Lets you place a checkpoint anywhere you want. Great tool for speedrunning also!
Create Buddy Bubbles - Lets you immediately restore your team if one of your partner runs away.
Infinite Jumps - Lets you jump anywhere, even in the air.
Invincibility - Prevents you from taking damage, but doesn't protect you from pits, lava, etc.
Skip Stage - Sends you back to the overworld and lets you move on to the next stage.
Negative Modifiers:
Remove Checkpoints - All checkpoints disappear. Using the "Create Checkpoints" option also fails.
Remove Buddy Bubbles - All buddy bubbles disappear. Using the "Create Buddy Bubbles" option also fails.
No retries in bonus stages - If you fail a bonus, it kicks you out - just like the DKC games!
Coins KO You - Challenge runners can attempt no-coin runs that automatically KO them so their counter stays at zero.
KO'd Baddies KO You - Once again, challenge runners attempting pacifist runs will get KO'd if they let an enemy get KO'd. Even if it's not their fault (such as an enemy falling in lava).
These modifiers also have icons similar to chaos mode and are visible on the overworld so they don't get in the way during regular gameplay.
3. Arcade Minigames
A cheekly lil' shortcut I decided to take when conceptualising these games was to make them function using the same physics as the main game - for 2 reasons:
Efficiency - All I need to do is tweak a few values to get a working prototype Familiarity - You're used to Windswept's physics just by playing, so let's just change the controls! Functionally these minigames are complete but I'll be leaving development of the stages & "rules" until we get closer to the end to ensure there are as many of Windswept's features available as possible to make use of.
Until then, let's take a closer look at how some of these minigames work as, well as their inspirations...
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Hop Prince
You can't walk, only hop! Your jump height is determined by how long you hold the jump button. Sounds an awful lot like Jump King, right? Well, there you have it!
Hop Prince stars one of our early frog characters, Hoppet, as he tries to reach his crown at the end of an obstacle course. It won't be quite as hard as the game it's inspired by but you'll still have to work for your glory!
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Quick Pip Runner
As the name once again implies; the base inspiration is Bit Trip Runner, but really any runner game of its type could fill this spot.
You play as one of our characters from Area 2, Pip, known for running non-stop and jumping when it reaches a ledge. In a similar fashion you take control of a Pip running non-stop through a course. The only thing you need to worry about is jumping!
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Slicko, My Beloved
Conceptually this is sort of like Frogger with one slight difference - you can only move upward! You may also remember Slicko from one of our demo's extra stages if you collected everything - you get to play as one now, woo! In this rapunzel-like game the goal is to climb to the top of an ice sheet to reach your... crush? beloved? queen? I dunno, lizard love is weird.
The catch? Every time you stop climbing after travelling a certain distance you'll slide back down a short distance. If you're familiar with Zelda BotW/TotK you'll know of this mechanic from trying to climb something when it's raining. This minigame isn't quite as cruel - you're in complete control of when you'll slide back down, just don't stop and you'll be fine ;)
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<Game 4>
???
This one doesn't actually exist yet on paper. The part of Windswept this game will be based on has a lot of characters that are either too similar to previous areas or don't lend themselves to a simple control scheme. I have some ideas in mind that I can fall back on but I'm leaving this slot open in case something better comes along!
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Chime Runners
The final game is a bit of an anomaly. Firstly, the name is swiped from the Shine Runners minigame from Mario Kart DS. And unlike the main game of Mariokart DS & our other minigames that are based on reaching a destination - this one is based on achieving the highest possible score.
You get the duck and turtle duo you're most familiar with and must ring bells as quickly as possible to drive up your score + keep a multiplier active. My hope is for those of you who are fans of Smash Bros. Minigames like Break the Targets & Home Run Contest find a similar joy with trying to optimise a route for a perfect run.
In Conclusion...
Still with me? Awesome! I expect a lot of these early updates will be rich in content as I meticulously over-explain everything I'm working on, haha.
What are you most looking forward to from this update? Got any feedback or requests based on what you've seen for the assists/modifiers menu? Leave a comment or {LINK REMOVED}join our community discord server and talk about it more there.
We'd like to introduce you to a unique documentary series, The Making of Last Train Home. Thanks to the documentary, you will learn intriguing information about the game and get to know the studio which is behind it: Ashborne Games.
In this short series, you will find out details about the studio's history, familiarize yourself with the members, and discover interesting facts about Last Train Home's development.
The first episode digs right into the roots of establishing the studio and uncovers where the idea for the theme of Last Train Home came from. The story is told by some of the studio's founding members and THQ Nordic representatives.
Enjoy watching the first part of the documentary, and let us know how you liked it! We will share the rest of the series in the upcoming months.
Are you a Conqueror’s Tales buff? Tune into Conqueror’s Blade on Twitch from 17:00 CEST on July 21 and prove it! Swot up on our latest instalments, and answer questions in our Conqueror’s Tales Quiz to win prizes.
If your trivia skills are up to scratch, you could walk away with Sovereigns, Artificer’s Stones, Artillery Chests, and Premium Account Time. Not bad for a bit of light reading!
Get a headstart on the competition and catch up on our latest Conqueror’s Tales below:
Please be aware that from 08:00 CEST on 20/07 (23:00 PDT on 7/19), the Conqueror’s Blade servers will be inaccessible. The downtime is expected to last for 4 hours.
Please refer to the Patch Notes for documented changes. Meanwhile, stay tuned to our Discord channel in case of any immediate server updates.
