2025 Recap for Caverns and Dryads!

This feels like a good moment to review the year. I will also make a post later about what I would like to achieve in 2026.

I don't see much sense in the new year celebration, just like other dates, but I understand the importance of dividing time in sections :D. So let's see what happened on 2025.

IN THE GAME: CAVERNS AND DRYADS

Lots of progress happened on Caverns and Dryads. By 2024 I had already been several years working on it. First in the old version that most of you never saw. Then porting it to Unity was a major change, and it was really worth.

The most important progress was to adapt it to desktop and bringing it to Steam. I feel Steam is the best place for a creator. Steam gives you so much freedom and understands so many different concepts that I just fit there very well.

GAME WAS LAUNCHED IN APRIL

I don't remember the exact date, but it was at the end of April. Soon, many people joined the early release. I got a lot of feedback.

In May 19, the game's early release was published, so people started to play about that date.

As the combat and map engine already was made, I added the story engine, which controls the chapters of the story and your actions in them. 

This change was a great one, because Caverns and Dryads changed from an more arcade roguelike to a rpg with a rich story.

During May, I added the inventory, the intro, and the tutorial stories. I added them to just make the game more accessible. But after writing the intro, I discovered how much I liked it.

I have written things before, some fantasy stories and some sci fi ones. But it was years ago. Returning to write in the world of Caverns and Dryads is something fantastic, because this project is very important to me. 

At the end of May, I added loot after combat and started working on quests and stories that happen in the wilderness, the inn and the cities, which create background and worldbuilding.

In June, I added secondary weapons and commerce. That allows you to buy and sell items in the cities and swap your weapons in the middle of combat. It is a great feature because some monsters can't be fought with certain kinds of weapons.

From June to July I built the complete chapters engine and the quests engine. This is the most vital change in the game because now the story can fully develop. Inside a chapter you can make choices, receive rewards, get a quest to go somewhere to fulfill a mission... I can also set a music, sound effects, change the music at some point, and more.

The first big quest was the Purple King one. This introduced a key character in the full story, Urvhal V, who mixes solemnity with fun situations.

In August the Maps DLC was launched. It contained the maps as an independent file, but on November, I changed it so now it can plot a route on the map and show the exits and keys.

 

August was a busy month (well, all were, as I'm putting all my energy on this). I also added procedural missions. In the plans I also have many kinds of these missions to be added next year.

With 1.4, in September, I added the complete backstory chapters engine which brings more story to the game. So in addition to the main story and the quests, I can add situations in which you get to know Tamzyn and Sioul and some aspects of the world they live in.

In that month I also started to think in writing a novel of the story because several people asked me so. I think I will, when I accumulate enough chapters.

Since then, I'm working on the main story, that now is completely written. Well, not completely because it never ends. But up to the point they reach the Emerald City.

Release 1.4.3 brought more procedural missions. This time about finding strange animals and plants or visiting liminal places for the King.

During November I added Cloud save on Steam, Leaderboards, added more achievements, and the experience and upgrade system!

And this December I added the Bestiary DLC. With it, you can check the stats of the monsters and learn about them and the world. 

And just hours before this post, I've published the last update of 2025, which makes improvements and changes to the cities.

The post was too long so I will do another one on other aspects of 2025. Stay tuned!