Tales From Windy Meadow - fantasy pixel art Visual Novel

[Aure]

For this ScreenshotSaturday we have a YouTube playlist with some of our my favorite tracks that are a part of Tales From Windy Meadow!

The original plan was to make one, longer video with some visual fireworks in it, but ultimately I decided to make it more of a "let it play in the background and make my own playlist from it" thing.

Here is the link to the full playlist!

[Aure]

Hello again!
It's ScreenshotSaturday, and a bit of a special day for me. Tales From Windy Meadow is now on sale (15% off!), and we're happy to share with you some quotes from the reviews that are focused on my Visual Novel.

Cutting out and putting together these quotes was quite heartwarming. We were met with an extraordinary kindness and a lot of encouraging opinions. We're happy to see such a positive perception of our work.

Of course, we also participated in an interview organized by Jubal a couple of days ago, and now it's time for us to look forward. Moral Anxiety Studio is going to become a more of a one-person initiative, and if everything will go according to plan, my next game will be officially announced very soon.

Thank you and if you have any questions or would like to discuss your adventures in Windy Meadow with me, feel free to do so!
And have a great weekend!

[Jubal]

Looking forward to the next game announcement

[Aure]

Looking forward to the next game announcement

Would you like to help me by testing my prototype? : P

[Jubal]

Ooh, yes, I'd be happy to

[Aure]

Thanks, Jubal! I already received some feedback for the earlier version of the prototype, and I'm working on some fixes and adjustments. : ) Would that be fine if I contact you sometime around Friday?

[Aure]

Guess who's back. : )



I released the original Windy Meadow 5 years ago. It had many flaws. I couldn't pull it off - yet.
Now I'm going to make it right.
Coming to Steam (very) soon!






I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. To me, reimagining an entire, old project is an exciting journey.

[Jubal]

Oh, that IS exciting news!

How much plot overhaul will the new version have/has it been a lot of work to bring the lore into line with where things are in Viaticum post-Roadwarden (if that's been one of the aims of the update)?

[Aure]

I'm glad you think so!
Yes, the setting has been adapted to fit the one presented in Roadwarden, but it's mainly portrayed in text. I think it's been one of the worst things about the original Windy Meadow - there were boring conversations trying to explain how the world works, which are now either trimmed-down, replaced by other conversations, or pushed to other channels of information (like the character descriptions). I think I got much better at introducing worldbuilding over the years.

The plot overhaul is massive, but not easy to see right away. The core parts are still there - the fire, the marriage, the goblins, the main conflicts, the characters - but there are TONS of smaller and larger changes. Now each character has two clear conflict lines (previously, some of them were either vague, or not present at all - Fabel used to have only one conflict), I rewrote 99% of the text - sometimes introducing changes, sometimes completely replacing some parts with new ones - and am adding a few small scenes, various characters have new personality traits, I added accents, I put effort into making each character have distinct voice, to the best of my capabilities... Even the general "vibe" is different, with many characters losing their mean attitude or getting much less preachy or judgmental.

I don't think the old Windy Meadow is worth playing, but I kind of think it would be fascinating to make a detailed analysis of two versions side by side.

[Aure]

My first screenshot Saturday for new Windy Meadow!

[Jubal]

All very pretty I love that gryphon especially.

Duly featured in Updates from the Forge, and I see there's been some buzz on bits of Mastodon as well.

Is there a story behind it being called the Tasty Claw? I genuinely can't remember as it's a while since I played the old version of Tales.

[Aure]

Thank you! And you know what? It's never been explained anywhere in the game, but now that my UI is better, I could probably squeeze it in somewhere.
In my head, the reason is tied to Stabulus' expectations regarding moving to a small settlements. Pretty much a play on "finger-licking good". ; )

[Jubal]

Thank you! And you know what? It's never been explained anywhere in the game, but now that my UI is better, I could probably squeeze it in somewhere.
In my head, the reason is tied to Stabulus' expectations regarding moving to a small settlements. Pretty much a play on "finger-licking good". ; )

Aha - I was debating in my head whether it was that or whether Stabby really specialised in crab/lobster stew. Or both

[BeerDrinkingBurke]

Aure, it's really interesting to hear you speak about growing as a writer, and the challenge of delivering lore in an organic, unforced way.

Roadwarden does this very well I think. I was already primed to think about it while playing because of Doc's article on the subject. So I really noticed how the lore functioned to help the character driven story along, as the "salt" in good proportion to the meat, using Doc's analogy.

I'm moving into the writing phase of Innkeep as well now, and I am trying to actively remind myself of this as I re-work bits of dialogue, or plan out narrative stuff more.

[Aure]

The article is quite lengthy so I can't get to it right away, but it does sound interesting!
I'd generally say that more people will connect with an interesting, relatable character in a tired, cliche setting than with a boring trope-heavy character in a unique setting. The setting may be fascinating for a writer, but it can rarely deliver a punch.