Dearest Dressmakers,
I have heard jaded rumblings and whispered YouTube comments about how our launch date is 21 September “unless there are delays”. Indeed, if Dressmaker were to delay its launch date, it would not be the first game to do so.
But a reliable source tells me that not only will the game's launch date be met, but that the game is already content complete. The credits have been compiled, the ending sequence completed, even open source licenses included and Steam achievement icons painted, with the remaining time being spent on fixing bugs, working on post-launch content, conducting interviews, sneakily adding previously-cut ideas, and writing in-world newsletters on Steam. One developer was even heard saying, “Look, probably nobody even noticed it was broken, but I know, and if enough of these stack up the game feels unpolished.” Fixing bugs that playtesters didn't notice? This is, quite frankly, shocking, and a lavish expenditure of valuable dev time.
Speaking of dev time, it’s struck me that you may not know much about the dev team itself. If you'll indulge me, I'd like to familiarise you with them! There are only three full-time developers, but they have a combined experience of almost 40 years:
Jonathan is the game’s original creator and does a bit of everything from art and programming to social media. He spends an unreasonable amount of time ranting about big tech companies.
Ruan is the game’s main programmer. He is also a game designer, now works entirely in Linux, and is the accidental founder of the playtesters’ Cube cult religion special interest group. He kindly reminds you to include your save file when making bug reports.
Sara is the artist who’s made pretty much all of the game’s dress pieces, and most of the fabrics and accessories. She’s also painted a number of backgrounds and UI, and is unable to resist a good pun (and, quite frankly, even a bad one).
Sabrina’s love for clothing is what inspired Jonathan to make the game. When her health allows it (she has hEDS), she designs and curates the game’s dress pieces, aesthetics and vibes, translates those vibes into tag scores, and draws up long lists of issues from playtesting. She voices our current trailer!
Being a part of Free Lives affords the team access to skilled colleagues when they’re not on other projects: Jay makes all of the game's crunchy, tactile sounds, Luc illustrated some of the characters, Ben illustrated our previous key art and a number of fabrics, Nanna is the producer, Jean-Luc does bug testing, Hyphen manages the community, and Jess and Kesh take care of marketing and social media.
We’ve also been fortunate to have incredible contributors from outside of the studio: Kerstin wrote the game’s story and dialogue, and Meydän composed the game’s timeless music. And, most recently, Carolina “Carolemellow” illustrated our new key art, which was set live a several minutes ago (excited screaming).
A game doesn't "just work out". Most games, sadly, do not. So we're so grateful to our friends and collaborators who were enchanted by the game's pitch and put a great deal of time and effort into making it the best game it can be.
And, of course, a game is nothing without players! Our playtesters have continued to stun and impress us with magnificent dresses and unbridled creativity! Here's a small sample of some of this month's dresses:
Dresses by tanyah, tenthgrove, Solobus, mothsInATrenchcoat, Ser Wobbles, Ender, bella and blueisasome.
With only three weeks remaining before launch, we'll have more Tea coming soon with pricing and other frequently asked questions...
With buttons, bows, and butterflies in our bellies,
Team Dressmaker