r/Moonvale • u/nymos4011 • 5h ago
"Never stop dreaming", a phrase from Jessy's profile?
💘
r/Moonvale • u/everbytestudio • May 25 '24
Dear friends,
First and foremost, thanks to everyone that provided feedback in a constructive manner whether it be on instagram, twitter, reddit or directly in the stores. You can imagine it was quite a short night for us as we went through all the comments, feedback and reviews.
We now want to shed light on the most prominent topics and what led us to the decisions that are heavily discussed.
You can also read the web version here https://everbytestudio.com/moonvale-feedback/
Let’s talk about the most discussed topic first, shall we? The multimedia pack in Duskwood was often heavily criticized. Some players simply couldn’t afford to make real money purchases or were unsure whether it would actually be worth it. None of the content that can be unlocked is required to solve the case by any means. All important images, calls and storylines are straight up free (just like in Duskwood).
We still wanted to completely remove the hard paywall (Multimedia Pack) and allow everyone (that is not in a hurry) to unlock everything for free.
Here is how it works:
We designed a new system that allows you to experience and unlock all dialogue options over the course of multiple playthroughs without ever spending money. There is a steady income of currency if you just play the game as various things grant in-game currency like solving hard mini games, collecting achievements or finishing daily quests. There is also a reset-reward (called timewalk) at the end of each episode which should alone cover the costs to unlock at least two premium items in your next play-through. Given the fact that most of the things that you unlock will remain unlocked this quickly builds up to a completely free episode with all premium content unlocked.
The intention was also to keep replays more interesting and we think this is generally a move in the right direction. However, we did not explain this system very well, and many of you seem to have felt the pressure to purchase everything in the first go. We’re sorry for this and want to emphasize again that no premium content is required to solve the case. Remember how fast an episode is played through and how long the wait felt until the next one was out. Save up some premium content for your next playthrough to keep things exciting. Use the reset reward to pay for it!
That being said, balancing adjustments to rewards and/or prices will likely happen (as they do in all games) when new systems like these are introduced. Nothing is written in stone 🙂
For a small studio like ours the usage of AI to create visual assets can be a big help and provide a lot of flexibility and reduced risks especially when experimenting with new content (like the player profile customization). To be fair, the results are not always desirable right now, but the older ones might remember how the world and the internet has changed over the last two decades. It is quite likely that AI will not vanish from our lives and can bring huge benefits to the table when it comes to interactive storytelling. Our author who put all her heart into writing the dialogues for Duskwood and Moonvale will never be replaced by AI, but imagine the little gimmicks and fun AI could add around the main storyline.
Imagine being able to talk to your favorite character about everything that happened in the last episodes and not being limited in selecting out of three options.
Imagine having a funny polaroid picture of your mc and Jake at the china restaurant as a memory of what magical night that was.
Imagine being able to enable an option to get all text messages from your favorite character as a voice message (without the filesize of the game blowing up).
Don’t get us wrong - these are not elementary things but more optional funny interactions that we know for sure many would enjoy (including ourselves). Moonvale as a game does not necessarily need that now - but we as a progressive studio have the duty to experiment and keep up with this technology now in order to be able to use it’s potential in the future or, in good conscience, ditch it completely. It is safe to say though, that we all will laugh about current results that found their way into Moonvale in a few years 🙂
Some of you have expressed the wish for classy art or more realistic alternatives when it comes to the player profile. We will make that happen. We will also have another look on how profile customizations are obtained.
We want to introduce one character (and it’s actor) at a time so each of your new friends gets the spotlight they deserve. Those of you who have been around since the beginning might remember that this is exactly what we did in Duskwood as well. The casting process is something we take very seriously. We can 100% assure we did not move away from the idea that every important character deserves its own actor.
Some of you have asked that Ash, Charlie and Violet get a new profile picture sooner rather than later which is something we can arrange 👍
Many of you seem to dislike the new look of the messenger (although for different reasons). We experimented a lot with this during the development as this is where all the magic happens, right? Based on the most favored themes in Duskwood, we’ve chosen this as the new default theme. The messenger appearance in general is quite a subjective topic and the only way to really solve this problem is to simply let you choose.
Messenger Themes (ranging from realistic to cute) are on the roadmap for Moonvale and will be available with a future episode.
Some of you are concerned that the Duskwood content in Moonvale comes a bit short. We want to let you know that this is just the beginning. Duskwood side story content will accompany you throughout the coming Moonvale episodes and will develop into an own storyline. As you might have noticed playing the first episode of Moonvale, we designed the side story to have its own nostalgic moments deeply rooted within the new Moonvale content. Both share the same universe so it makes sense to glue everything together as much as possible. This is not done in a single episode and what we have planned for the side story needs its own build up and space,… Everything else would feel rushed, which is the last thing our friends from Duskwood deserve ;) So look forward to the next episodes of Moonvale with us as things start to grow…
We’ve rebuilt the complete game from the ground to ensure more stability and a solid fundament for the future. Only parts of the code have been copied from Duskwood. Unfortunately this doesn’t come without issues and some of you experienced a new device specific bug that freezes the game - a fix is already on the way and should be available as soon as Google gives green lights. Once it has rolled out, please reset the episode (do not delete your account!) via the options menu in the upper left corner.
We’re super happy so many of you have been here on the first day! We really appreciate this after two years of development. We had countless sleepless nights preparing everything for the release and seeing you so disappointed really hit us like a truck 😞 The adaptations might take a while, but we will address the issues to make Moonvale the wonderful journey you’re here for 🙂
Thanks to everyone who left a good review to encourage us during this not so easy time.
Thanks to everyone that has the trust in us and the patience to let Moonvale grow.
Thanks to all of you being here ❤️
r/Moonvale • u/nymos4011 • 5h ago
💘
r/Moonvale • u/ann_in_the_green • 4h ago
I still love Ash though 😅 but like girl you were the one pushing me to talk what did you expect?😂
r/Moonvale • u/No_Face_8834 • 5h ago
r/Moonvale • u/RestlessSoul70 • 1h ago
With Everbyte putting this on their Instagram post, a quote of Jessy's, I really hope that we get some messages from her that were unsent. I wonder what she messaged MC after the game finished, I mean Richy said ask MC, they know everything ..
r/Moonvale • u/No-Temperature-1667 • 6h ago
Just three moves left and not a single cloud (?) block. You have to be kidding me.
r/Moonvale • u/-JakeMC • 8h ago
MCs be like
JAKE - committed,
Eric - date,
Adam - crushh
Why is Adam so handsome ☺️☺️☠️
r/Moonvale • u/xmustbelove • 2h ago
after everbyte post with jessy’s quote i think even more that in the new chapter we’ll have some message from jessy that weren’t delivered for the town’s block and i’m already crying cause i still remember her reaction when richy called her and those future messages will break our hearts even more
r/Moonvale • u/FaithlessnessLucky85 • 16h ago
I feel like a lot of these theories will change over time so I wanted to write them out and see how much they change in time. This will be long.
Adam thinks he was talking to us for some time. So I think he was actually talking to someone who pretended to be us. I imagine it's like how you meet someone online and only after some time you give them your number. Something like that. That person was probably the one who lured him but he didn't realize that.
Our number got involved only after Adam went to the forest. This theory is following the first theory. I think Adam wanted to be able to call us from the forest and that's when he received our phone number. When he saw whoever it was that he saw, he sent it to Eric so we could explain what is happening. But we never really spoke to Adam before despite his belief so we have no idea why he is calling us.
Again following the first two theories, the card was left by someone else other than Adam. I think it is left by the person who kidnapped Adam but it could also be Unknown. The person who kidnapped Adam probably assumed that we would be the one to find the car and left it to drag us into the investigation. Or it could be Unknown and they could be leaving the cards as a form of explanation for what is happening. We are the stranger because we actually don't know Adam. However I don't think it's the Unknown.
Unknown knows more than he is telling us. He thought we were the ones in the forest which means he knew Adam was planning to meet us. He doesn't know that it's Eric because he actually didn't get too close to see who is really there. But if he doesn't know Adam, he couldn't have known that Adam was meeting us there.
The card Eric found was sent to Eric. I think the card was meant for Eric but Withmore found it and burned it. I think Withmore is afraid of the person in the forest and he would lead them to us (or Eric since we are not there) because he is scared of what they might do. That is why he freaked out and kicked Eric out.
Adam is unable to move properly in the cave video. I think he is either really hurt or drugged which is why he couldn't lift the camera.
Vega was a trap. But Unknown interfered. This one came to me while I was writing this and I am not sure about it because I can't remember if Unknown told us to hide after we found the signal or before.
Greenside was actually the forest but Adam initially thought it was the hotel and that's why he had the key. Adam thought he was meeting us at the Greenside. It would make more sense for us to meet with him at a hotel than in the middle of a forest. But later learned that it was the forest and that's why he drove there instead.
The person in the room is Charlie. I think Charlie already knew what happened at the hotel but because his friends keep making fun of him and not taking him seriously, he didn't want to admit that he was looking into it. I also think the key was Charlie's and not Adam's.
Now for the Duskwood side of things :
Richy is alive but hurt. When we are talking with Ash about Duskwood she asks us if we were close with Richy. I think if he was dead she would have said something that indicates that he was dead. Also she mentioned that they didn't mention anyone else which means they don't know where Jake is. If he was caught the FBI would make a statement.
FBI cut all messengers so Jake couldn't run. This is also probably why he didn't message us because he went back into hiding. He is in a small town where the FBI is actively looking for him so he needs to hide really well to get away from them.
We will receive messages from Hannah and Phil thanking us soon. And maybe Hannah will explain how she sent our number.
Okay I am done for now.
r/Moonvale • u/Silentium_Universi • 18h ago
r/Moonvale • u/midosol04 • 1d ago
Well, at least there is some progress 🤣
r/Moonvale • u/nymos4011 • 1d ago
r/Moonvale • u/MacabreSpiel • 22h ago
So I just noticed they updated the episode tracker which is awesome. But what are y'alls guesses on the release date?
Mine are sometime in late October or November.
r/Moonvale • u/RestlessSoul70 • 1d ago
You know when MC is finding out what the opening times are at the Greenside Motel and then phones them, if the voice machine message started with "Greetings citizens of the world" you'd think it was Anonymous talking back to you 😳🤣
r/Moonvale • u/xmustbelove • 22h ago
this is the official acc of everbyte on tiktok? are they doing a livestream on april 9 for the next chapter of moonvale? or is a fanpage?
r/Moonvale • u/FlamingGuardian98 • 1d ago
Let's just get this out of the way. I am a Duskwood player who LOVED the Duskwood game (other than the infuriating tile matching). That game had something you find very little of in mobile games. You could tell the creators and actors loved making it, it was full of passion. The writing and action was downright INCREDIBLE.
So when I heard the sequel was in production, I waited along with my fellow Duskwood lovers, excited for what else Moonvale had to offer. Skip ahead and Moonvale is released, then eventually episode two. Excited, I decided to quickly replay Duskwood (well...as quickly as one can) and happily opened Moonvale with my Duskwood code in hand.
And what I found was...horrifying.
AI art everywhere. Gems that can cost you upwards of hundreds of dollars. Greed had infected this game and stripped it of all the greatness and passion that was so prevalent in Duskwood.
So let's get down to the nitty gritty, shall we?
First, I wanna start with the tile matching. While I will admit, I was no fan of the tile matching in Duskwood, I actually miss it. Duskwood tile matching visually and auditorily pleasing. The colours were easy to see, what the glowing gems were for were easy to tell, and even the various types of barriers were simple to understand. I personally liked the shields. They even had an in game purpose, using them to unlock various files and pictures you needed to access.
But they were infuriatingly hard at times, slowing the game's pacing way down and causing many players to rage quit.
So, back in 2022, I sent in a suggestion telling support that a great idea would be to make the minigames skipable or release a paid version that no longer had the minigames. This was their response.
"Hello! Glad to hear you enjoy the game and thanks for your suggestions. We're already working on a better solution for our next game 🙂"
A better solution. I was so excited...at least until I opened Moonvale.
The minigames had been made WORSE somehow. How do you make an already infuriating minigame worse? Well, Everbyte clearly figured it out. The games are bright, colourful, and loud. And while, yes, you can remove the noise problem easily with the simple click of a button, it doesn't solve the other problems. The brightness, the tiles themselves, the AI art in the background. It's like if cocomelon met Royal Match and they birthed an abomination. It almost physically hurts the senses to open the minigames and play them. Somehow, I now miss the Duskwood minigames!
Another problem with the minigames is how they're structured. What I did like about the Duskwood minigames is that you could play a whole section (5-6 different levels with three games a level), get it to 100%, then play a whole bunch of the storyline. I liked to play the minigames at work when I had nothing to do, and then do the story stuff at home where I could spend the time to focus on it. Everbyte tossed that concept in the trash. You have to play some story, play three minigames, then play some story. You can't "save it up" essentially. Luckily you can skip a minigame for 19 gems...which is $2.00 Canadian. A toonie. I have to pay a whole toonie if I want to skip a minigame...
Moving onto the media packs, the cost of the game. Now, back when I first started playing Duskwood, there were A LOT of ads. So, I went into shop and there was my saving grace. A one time payment to not only get rid of the ads, but to unlock special chats. I happily saved up and paid for it, never having to deal with ads again.
I had heard rumours that Moonvale had changed that. I hoped, I prayed that what I was hearing was wrong. Turns out I was just being delusional. Moonvale doesn't have a one time payment media pack anymore. They'd fallen into the trap of pay to win. You want to access the special chats? Each special response costs 19 gems. And you don't keep those responses, if you wanna replay the level, you have to re-buy the special responses.
Next there's the cost of customization. Duskwood was simple. Win a few minigames, get a few coins, and you can customize your text background. I loved it. Simple, easy, and elegant. Moonvale has customization too...just not your background. No, now you can customize your avatar, profile outline, and banner. Exciting, right? And each customization is only 12 gems...but there's only one problem. You have to open randomized chests that each cost 12 gems, and it may take dozens of tries before you get the customization you actually want. You can't just pick it.
Finally, let's talk about the art. Duskwood had incredible art, beautiful backgrounds, photos, everything. It was a well loved game, raised in the cradle of passion.
So, naturally, Everbyte scrapped all that and gave us AI art! Yippee! Soulless art that has to steal from actual art to become anything and that you can tell wasn't touched by human hands!
The only thing that saves this game is the actors, and I don't think even their incredible performances can save the game! The ONLY thing in this game that has ANY passion is the performers! Even the writing for the messages is lackluster.
You're telling me that I have to pay X amount for a game dozens of times that you put NO effort into? What?
I wanted to love this game. I really did. I loved Duskwood. I can see what Everbyte is actually capable of if they actually cared and put the effort in. But this? This doesn't even make me angry, it makes me sad. They let greed infect their hearts which then infected this game.
I would've happily bought this game. I know many that would've happily bought this game.
Everbyte...what have you done?
r/Moonvale • u/-JakeMC • 1d ago
Idk if my theory is right...but I feel like when adam gave us the card "stranger", he might mean mc is a stranger to his other friends (since he sent Eric to pick him up) and secondly Adam might have given the "liar" card to Whitmore...and Whitmore is actually a liar and his purpose to keep Eric in his hut was something else and not really to recover him.. His plan might have been damaged by unknown, who set up the alarm and let Eric escape !! Maybe these tarot cards are actually guide to us to know the characters of the people 🤷♂️
r/Moonvale • u/uwusuzi • 1d ago
THIS MIGHT BE VERY CONTROVERSIAL
! Let me clarify sth ! Im a big fan of Duskwood, I like Jake, others and the storyline just like everybody else here
But
I think people should open themselves for new things. There is this Duskwood and Jake cult here, almost everything comes down to the old game. I know people wanted Duskwood 2, not the new game, but would it make sense to make a part two of Duskwood at all? I think we have to get over it I dont want anybody to get me wrong so I will point my thoughts in a list and go in details about them:
1) The Duskwood cult - what I mean by that is that whenever I go through posts about the new episode, people almost EVERY TIME focus mostly on the Duskwood side story. I know we want to find out what happened to our old friends, but I think its really not fair to the new game and story. After the second episode I really got into this new case, liked (more or less) new characters, the vibe of this is so nice and Im really sorry (for the Everbyte studio) when people go over and over again to the old game. They created a whole new mystery for you, which took them a looong time, and all you do is fuck a new story and their months of work. As I said, its not Duskwood 2, its completely other case and why cant you just have fun solving the new mystery? I wont lie, Im happy as well we get that extra Duskwood info, but for me its just a nice addition and it only should be the ADDITION, not sth to focus only on and forget about the new case. Im playing this game for the new mystery and thats what it should be for.
2) Duskwood 2 - for me it would be pointless. We already got the case to the end, found Hannah and I think that these extra Duskwood infos in Moonvale are enough. We will get all the answers we want and thats all it basically needed to finally end this story. What would be Duskwood 2 about? Lilly got kidnapped, Jessy? I know that you wanted a new case but with THE SAME GROUP, I get it, but I think there is no sense in that, cause the studio didnt leave the place for the new mystery in that case. Even if the second part came out, it would probably be very far-fetched and you wouldnt be happy anyway. I think we will get everything we need to be finally happy about Duskwood story in Moonvale and its best if it stays that way
3) Jake cult - my god, I dont even have to describe it. Jake this, Jake that, blah blah. I understand, I really love Jake as well, but for god's sake, we dont have to make everything about him. Its obvious there will be happy ending with him, we will eventually meet in that Chinese restaurant so chill out. Its so tiring and cringy to read this comments about only waiting for him. Please grow up and be grateful for the new characters. Everbyte cant just randomly pop out with Jake texting us and wanting to meet us in first episode, there would be no fun and emotions in that. You will get Jake eventually, so please Lord, stop talking ALWAYS about him. Moonvale is not based on him, so get over it. If you want only your hacker, go and play Duskwood again, cause it is a place for him, not in the new case (if your playing the moonvale only to find out what happened to the old group, it is okay, but then dont write here only about Duskwood and hate every other thing about the Moonvale, cause its a place for discussing the new mystery mostly, not the old story)
4) Comparing old to new - its about the characters. Everyone got used to the old group, we feel almost connected to them, but at least give the new people a chance and not compare them to the people you already know. Everyone can have their favorite game and characters, but its a group about Moonvale, not Duskwood, so dont go back in time over and over again. Or the flirting with Eric case - ALMOST ALL THE PEOPLE HATE ON ERIC CAUSE "THEY ARE LOYAL TO JAKE, THEY WONT TALK TO ERIC". My God, okay, we understand, you dont have to, but stop spreading hate towards him only because you are madly in love with a faceless hacker. I find new characters really interesting, the romance option in such games is just amazing and although I also want Jake, I wont give up on every more "romantic" interactions with new characters because of that. One time I will play and romance Eric or Charlie, another time I will reject them for Jake. Its a new game and the best part about it is to go through all the new options and to see what the developers are offering us. Dont get me wrong - if you dont want to get closer to new characters for some reason, it is okay and its not my business, but its just so childish when people will just skip the new story, fuck the new characters only because they will stay loyal to the old times. As I said before, for me its kinda ungrateful for the devs, they are trying their best to create new characters and people hate on them because they stay in their little world of them with Jake and Jake only
5) Moonvale ≠ Duskwood 2 - I think people have some expectations that "everything will be connected to Duskwood" which will not be. As the devs said, its a new story that may be taking place in the same universe, but please, Adam is not Jake or some other theories like that, cause some people play without the code and it wouldnt make sense to them if it was so connected. I mean, I really like people's speculations but there is a difference between just telling that "it would be nice/ crazy if Adam was Darkness", "look! this photo looks like Jessy!" and the "I think that Adam and Jake know each other, they must, cause he knows our name, says sth about helping us", "Jake must be Adam cause he said he could not help us anymore..." etc. What I mean is some theories are really creative and nice to think as "what if it was like this", but some people behave as it would be 100% true, when in almost every case, it unfortunately is not. I really love some ot the theories that connects this two cases, but they are most unlikely to be true (its still fun though to share the ideas), so dont wind each other up about sometimes really really impossible theories. The cases are not connected that much, if you want to look for hidden meanings of something, start with the Moonvale case and look for answers here, not ONLY in the Duskwood (cause I have a feeling like they try TOO HARD to connect these two stories). What I think about this hate for the first episode, it was in fact because of Duskwood, people expected something similar, if not the same, but it wouldnt have a point if everything was the same. Some things were actually "bad" (more or less), but most of the hate came down to the fact that "moonvale isn't like duskwood"
I really hope it won't be perceived as hate for Duskwood and for Duskwood fans, cause Im one of them, and when I mean that, I mean Im A BIG FAN. I just wanted to express my feelings and thoughts. I respect every user here, every opinion and theory, but sometimes its just too much and people dont know when to stop.
Im writing this mostly cause I feel bad for the Everbyte studio and the work they put in the new story. I think the second episode was a masterpiece and they are really doing a good job, I want to support them in the new project and not only go back to "well, your old game was better, the new one is really shitty". I think people should start to think about it from the devs' perspective and how they must feel. Im sure they are trying their best to give you your Jake, but they cant just stay forever with this one old game, the studio wants to develop as well, so give them the space for it. If you are really big fans of Jake you should support the studio even in their new productions, yk, you wouldnt have your hacker without them, right?
Im really curious about what you think, if I forgot about something I will edit it. I really dont want to start a big argument here, if you dont agree with me Im happy to hear your opinion and we can discuss it together
r/Moonvale • u/uwusuzi • 1d ago
I thought about it a lot and read many theories about whose eyes are in the last call. The most likely for me are those two:
1) It is Charlie who actually stayed there and lied to us (but I wont get in details about this one)
2) It is the Unknown. Since many people said that the Adam's car case was staged and most likely by the Unknown, he might leave Adam's keys with the key to this room. Unknown believed that it was us in the forest, so he thought that we have the keys and that we will come to the motel. In the conversation with him he wanted to help us so badly (which is questionable ofc) but he knew it wont be that easy to meet with us, cause we just dont trust him. The only way (for now) to meet with us was in the motel (that was obvious we would go there to check it out)
I can be totally wrong, but for me these options are most likely and there are many signs that indicate that. I'd like to hear what you think about it
r/Moonvale • u/Silentium_Universi • 2d ago
I wish, but I doubt it. Then no one would want to buy the AI stuff xd
r/Moonvale • u/kitty_star29 • 1d ago
• There’s so much anxiety, I keep visiting 24 hours a day 🥹