- Community Update Spring 2025 - 28 February 2025
Hi Everyone! First of all - my sincere apologies for the lack of updates, both to the game and the community, these past months. I had a post-release holiday planned for September and October, and sadly wasn't able to release a (small) monthly update prior to my departure. Upon returning, I had to get back to doing some regular work to pay the bills, and I just didn't get around to that initial, and eventually subsequent game updates. Because I didn't want to put out a community update after no updates had been made available for the actual game, especially considering its current state, I also kept putting off letting you all know the most important thing - I'm still intending to finish the game, and during the past few weeks I luckily have been able to also spent some time on actual development, parts of which I intend to release soon! Several (technical) updates have been written the…
- [Feature Update] v0.12.0rc0 - 20 July 2024
Highlights Add Basic Ticket Sales - now you can gain income by selling tickets for your event! Add Event Blueprints - want to save your setup to host another edition of an event? Save it as a blueprint, and re-use it when starting a new sandbox game. Other Updates Fix bug where fences from blueprints would already be constructed completely upon load Bump Content
- [Weekly Update] v0.10.4rc0 - 18 June 2024
A few days later than planned, here's the weekly update for Festivals - Headliners. As I'm currently working on some larger improvements, this update only contains some smaller fixes, but I hope they will improve the game anyway. As always, all feedback is welcomed over on Discord. Highlights Add basic DJ Booth for DJ performances Fix bug where entrances weren't being used by visitors after placement, only after loading from save Other Updates Cleanup unused Set category on production office Ensure placeable selection panel items are properly aligned and doesn't overflow outside of the viewable area Reduce UI transparency to make text more clear to read Fix bug where previously selected placeable would remain selected after searching / selecting a category
- [Weekly Update] v0.10.3rc0 - 9 June 2024
Highlights Add confirmation before proceeding from "PreProduction" to "LoadIn" when unpausing for the first time Optimize and improve small / large stage models, should improve FPS drop for large stage Update fence rendering to only (re) initialize changed network nodes / segments, speeding up placement and fixes stutter while editing fences Various stability improvements to reduce game crashes Other Updates Add autosave when event progresses to next production phase, to allow players to easily go back to a previous state Add uplight variants Add colored variant of wood pool light mast Add initial wood pole light mast placeable object Ensure in-game menu is always shown on top of other UI Remove old keybinding docs button Add color variations of deco light masts Update par spot light model, update light masts / stage small accordingly
- [Hot Patch] v0.10.2rc0 - 7 June 2024
Another quick hot patch with some minor fixes, stay tuned for the weekly update coming Sunday! Fix fences being shown as under construction while in pre-production or when game is paused Update large stage performance and interaction areas, construction positions Partial fix for bug in character target finding when there isn't an entrance present which that character's type can use
- [Hot Patch] v0.10.1rc0 - 4 June 2024
Here's the first HOT 🔥 PATCH for Festivals-Headliners early access. I initially wanted to release these fixes as part of the first weekly update on Sunday, but as I've had a few people reach out about these issues, I wanted to get this fix out asap. Clear current selection when placement selection panel is closed Don't allow placeable selection list to be focussed, fixes switching between objects when pressing up / down / w / s keys Don't move camera when typing in placeable search field Extend placement docs, add keybindings docs Properly rotate, re-align large dev stage
- Early Access Release (Notes) - 3 June 2024
Here we go! It is official, Festivals - Headliners is now available in Early Access! I’m very proud of how far this project has come - and very eager to continue building, expanding and improving my very first, solo developed game. There are still quite a few bugs to squash, the simulation is still fairly basic, and I still have a lot of ideas for content to add, but overall, I think the game is very fun to play, and I hope you will agree. Pricing As I’ve also mentioned on the Steam Store page in the Early Access section, pricing for the game will increase as the features of the game are extended and more content is added. Right now the price is set at $4,99, which I think is a fair reflection to the state the game is currently in. Launch Discount BUT - until the 10th of June you’ll get an additional 20% discount, so you can get the game and all future updates for $3.99 only, so it pays…
- Early Access Release Date Announcement - Dev Update 12 - 28 May 2024
After almost 3 years of development, and almost 2 years in playtest, I’m very excited to announce Festivals - Headliners will be releasing into Early Access Monday June 3 at 18:00 CEST! The project has been a solo indie project for most of the time, and I think the game is ready for the next step, and to allow everyone to experience Festivals - Headliners and participate in its community, as I continue to improve the game, its mechanics and extend its gameplay. As outlined on our Steam Store page’s “About Early Access” section, I expect the game to be in Early Access for at least 6-12 months, and there is still a lot to be done before the game is ready for its full release. I hope I’ve reflected that in the price, and if that’s not for you, that’s okay too, and I hope to welcome you back at a later date, when the game has matured further, and we’ll keep you updated through these develop…
- Development Update 11 - 13 May 2024
Exciting times are coming! It’s been a wild 6 months since our appearance at Next Fest, where some large projects which had been in progress for some time could be finished, like the new User Interface and Menus throughout the entire game. In this development update, I'll go into some of the major work we’ve completed during this period and what we're currently working on. New Menu System In the previous update, we showed the then-new InfoPanel using the new UI system. After a lot of work, which took a lot longer than expected, this new system is now used for (almost) all UI in the game, and accordingly, there is a new Menu system to navigate the game! The main menu has been simplified to be more familiar like similar games, with options to start a new game, resume an existing save, and change the game settings. You’ll also find the game’s credits and documentation here. The New Game me…
- The Festivals - Headliners Show - 11 October 2023
Join us for the Festivals - Headliners Show - where we'll show some of the things you can expect very short term, and our long term goals for the game and future projects! We'll preview some of the content to be included with the full release, like stages, decorations and of course lots of music! The Roadmap will be discussed in detail, and we'll explain how and when we aim to release the game through early access to full release. Also, we're going to reveal some of the things that have been worked on which didn't fit into Festivals - Headliners (as we've already announced in a previous update in 2022) and what we've got planned in it's place. We're very hyped and excited about it, and think you will be too! Of course there will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and provide suggestions during this hour long stream, and hope to see you all there!
- Let's Play Festivals - Headliners Live - 5 October 2023
During this livestream, the lead developer of Festivals - Headliners will build and produce an entire festival from scratch! Join us to see how you can make the most of your experience playing the Festivals - Headliners demo during Steam Next Fest. We'll walk through the various features which are included in the game, how to use them best to create the ultimate event, explain what we still want to add and when, and answer all your questions of course. Any feature you would like to see? Wondering how something in the demo work? Or what we expect the full release to look like? This is the moment to discuss anything with the lead dev himself!
- Development Update 10 - 28 September 2023
As we’re ramping up for the early access release, we’ve got a bunch of news, dates and events around the game to announce this update! Keep reading for the latest on our Next Fest participation, the roadmap for the coming months, and the steps we’ll need to take before going into early access. Next Fest After the unsuccessful attempt to take part in the Steam Next Fest, past June, we’re currently aiming (and on track!) for taking part in the festival's upcoming edition, which will take place from October 9th to 16th! We’ll only release a limited demo version of the game, and it will probably only be available for a limited time during and around Next Fest, so be sure to check it out! While we still have some work to complete before we’re ready, we feel confident that we’ll be able to showcase a version of the game with most features present, though they might not be entirely fleshed out…
- Development Update 9 - 5 August 2023
As the final game mechanics are being added, progress on the game is moving forward fast! Some major features are coming to playtest soon, so make sure you’re signed up, and keep reading for everything we’ve got in store! Product Resources and Stock-Keeping As mentioned in the previous update, resources and stock-keeping have now been added to the game. Once you start to hire Runner Crew, they will start to transport resources from the resource spawn point (more on those below!) to objects in need of them. Commercial objects always get priority so they are able to sell products, while storage containers and tanks are filled up afterwards. At a later stage, players will be able to set the amount of resources to keep in stock at an object specifically, and also what kind of resources should be stored. Spawn Point Rendering To help you better understand what paths to keep clear, for both g…
- Next Fest / Development Update 8 - 18 June 2023
First of all, I’m sad to let you know that Festivals - Headliners won’t be able to take part in Steam’s Next Fest the coming week. These past few weeks have been filled with unforeseen personal circumstances, and the current version of the game, along with a bunch of changes and new features which are almost ready but not quite yet, couldn’t be finished in time to be able to get the demo version ready and reviewed in time for Next Fest. So instead we’re planning to take part in the October edition of Next Fest, for which the date still needs to be announced. Hopefully this will also allow us to stick with our initial goal of releasing the early access version of the game soon after our next fest participation. Some background insights Being an Indie game, and me not being the best at marketing anyway, Festivals - Headliners really depends on positive media coverage during public events…
- Development Update 7 - 17 March 2023
While outside the snow is still falling, inside the work on Festivals - Headliners is progressing steadily, continue reading to find out what’s happening behind the scenes and what to expect for the rest of the year! Next Fest Participation We’re very happy to announce that we’ll be participating in the next edition of Steam Next Fest, taking place June 19th to 26th, 2023 @10:00AM Pacific. We’ve been preparing for this for a long time, and are very excited to bring you all sorts of livestreams and in-game events, next to a new demo, available to anyone for the duration of Next Fest. Right now we’re planning and preparing everything, make sure to keep an eye on the discord for updates! Updated Roadmap With this, we also had to update the roadmap a bit. As we can’t participate in Next Fest once we release into early access, the early access release date is now set for mid-summer. The firs…
- 2023 Development Update (006) - 1 January 2023
Happy New Year! We wanted to start out the new year fresh, so we had our logo redesigned, and this is the end result! We’ll use this logo and style at least until we start the early access release, which is currently planned to be released somewhere in the first half of the year. Please let us know what you think, we’d love to hear your thoughts, either through the comment below, the steam discussions, or on Discord! Holiday Update Just before christmas, we released the holiday update, v0.3.0, which was announced in the update video we released late November last year. This update has been in the works for quite some time, and marks the first in a series of updates, focusing on developing the core game mechanics, like the finances system, the (over)crowding mechanic, visitor happiness, site attractiveness, and object operationality. We’ll explain how all these come together in these dev…
- Fall Update Video - 25 November 2022
We've got updates! Instead of a lengthy piece of text, here's a video showing some of the stuff we're aiming to release BEFORE the end of the year! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_knnH07n_uY Check out the video, like, comment, subscribe, and don't forget to (sign up for the) playtest!
- Development Update 005 - 29 October 2022
We're very happy to announce we've released our first official "major" update to the game for playtesting! Performers On Stage After several months of procrastination, it was time to resolve the issues with Performers not being able to reach their stage positions. There was a bunch of work which had to be done to get Performers integrated into the simulation properly, a lot more than we had thought initially. As performers have to be on stage when their performance starts (the show must go on!), we added teleportation, which allows them to spawn on stage the moment they are supposed to go on. They will also teleport if they can’t find a path to the stage, which allows a bit more flexibility when setting up and fencing off your event site. Animations Once we had the performers being able to walk to their proper performance positions, we wanted to add some animations, to make sure your vi…
- Roadmap & Playtest Update - 9 October 2022
After lots of procrastination, I've finally been able to put together a ROADMAP for the game I feel somewhat confident in sharing. I've always tried to be very cautious when making statements about the game's progress, especially when I expect the game to be completed / released. Festivals - Headliners is a mostly one-man-with-some-help-from-others project, and the one-man in question (me) also has a fulltime job and various other projects to work on. HOWEVER - as development has been going pretty smoothly the past months, and because we've made some hard decisions, we can finally show you how when plan to get to a fully released game by the Summer of 2023: Those of you who’ve been following the game’s development since the start might notice that 2 of the initial features have been omitted from this roadmap: Custom stage designs & Custom shows. We haven’t forgotten about these, but we’…
- Development Update 004 - 1 October 2022
Lights Let there be light! Light shows have finally come to stages. For now randomly generated light shows will be played during performances, but we're already working on a show editor to create your own shows already. Also, we've added some nice decorative light masts you can use to decorate your site. Graphics Quality Setting In order to allow players with a modest PC to continue playing the game, we’ve started adding settings to control the rendering quality of graphics. At the moment, you can choose between low, medium or high, depending on the capabilities of your CPU and GPU. You can compare which option works best for you by looking at the current frame rate shown in the top left corner of the game. Naming characters and objects manually After adding names, we’ve been working on allowing names of characters to be set manually. You can change a character’s name by clicking on the…
