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

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

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

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

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 off extra to be one of the early-early birds 😉
  
  
• Updates
  The coming days / weeks I’ll be closely monitoring the issues and bugs reported by the community, and working to fix the currently known issues, with the most reported bugs getting the highest priority. After these initial weeks, development will be a mix between bug fixing and adding new features to the game. As always, I’ll keep you up to date on progress using “Development Update” posts on the Steam Community page.
  
  
• Bugs & Feedback
  If you want to report bugs or provide other feedback, you can use the online feedback form, or for direct contact with the developers, join our Discord[discord.gg] and use the #feedback channel!
  
  
• Website
  The new website is online! You can now visit http://festivalsheadliners.com and read all about the game! The entire user manual (which is also included in the game) is also available, as is the list of known issues, which is updated automatically based on the bug tracker I use for the game’s development. More content, especially user manual documentation, will be added in the coming days.

All that said, I hope everyone likes what I have been working on for the past 3 years, and would love to hear what you think, over on our Discord[discord.gg] or Steam's community forums!

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 development updates either way.

To celebrate this milestone, I’ll be doing a few livestreams over the coming weeks, some of which on Steam but also on the Festivals - Headliners Youtube, and over on the Discord with community! Also, a new website, which will include the game’s documentation and known issue page, will go live in the coming days, so keep an eye on http://festivalsheadliners.com!

One of the key simulation systems in the game is the activities system, which drives (almost) all actions undertaken by the different types of characters attending, working or performing at your event. In preparation for the Early Access Release, this system has been largely rebuilt, and now uses a more “random” method to generate activities for characters throughout the course of your event.

These changes allow me as developer to more quickly make changes to the game’s simulation and overall mechanics. The other major part of these simulations is the intent system, which will require some TLC after the Early Access release, but overall these changes should already make characters get stuck less, and give the player more insight into what a character has done and will be doing.

While a basic version was already in place for some time, the network system has been rebuilt to allow for more flexible use as the game grows, and it can now be properly used to build various types of fences all around your event site, both literally and figuratively!😉

Next up for networks is probably the power mechanic, which requires additional work, as it requires network “segments” (cables) to be connected to objects (generators, stages, etc), where each cable is carrying a certain load. This will be added after the Early Access release.

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.

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 menu has also been redesigned entirely. You can now actually configure the start time / date and duration of the event, along with many other options. At the moment, only Sandbox games are included in the game, but for Career and Scenario mode, options will be fairly similar, and the menu can be reused.

Loading one of your Sandbox games has also been improved, allowing you to select which save file for a festival you want to load. The UI is also ready for when event recurrence is added, which will allow you to have a yearly-recurring event!

An entirely new setup for the Settings menus has been added, along with entirely new sets of options, which are discussed below. These are still being added, for example Gameplay settings haven’t been transferred yet.



After already redesigning the Info Panel, the entire main game UI has now been added. A lot more statistics have been added to the Status bar, info layers can now be accessed from the Camera bar, notifications remain in view until dismissed, and the Plots can now be filtered by category and searched by text.

While most old features have been transferred, there are still some minor bugs in, and features missing from, the new main screen. Some of these might come back and instead are moved elsewhere.


Instead of trying to fit all the information the game has for you in a single screen, you can now use the Event Control Center Panel to gain detailed information about your event, its finances, and all objects and characters present on your event site.

For example, all hiring of crew is now done from the “Crew” panel. You also have to fire crew members individually, by selecting them and clicking the “Fire” button in the Character Info Panel.


Finally, you are able to view the keybindings for the game from the Settings menu, which is now accessible both while in-game and from the main menu. Initial support for rebinding (keyboard) controls has also been added, but is still in a very early state, and might not register all inputs properly. As the game progresses, more keybindings (and controls for other input devices) will be added to the game, allowing you to control the game just the way you like.

Also, we’ve added a set of sliders which can be used to configure the volume of the various audio elements in the game. Each type of audio can be set individually, and you can additionally set a volume for each stage, which will be used for its performances.


A new system has been created which will be used to play sounds for individual objects, like construction sounds which play while a site crew member is performing construction on an objects, or visitors who will cheer when the performance their watching starts, ends, or at random moments during the performance.

While the currently included effects are fairly basic, I’ll be adding more (higher quality) samples once I can find some really good ones. Also, more sounds for the different types of interactions between visitors and objects should be added, as currently only the above mentioned performances and construction are present.

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!

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!