u/Beginning_Race_2978

We're looking for playtesters and plan to open a Steam Playtest for Dryad starting June 18 and are looking for players interested in providing feedback before launch (July 22). Please sign-up if your interested in helping us shape the game. Join the Discord and talk to us to help us shape the game to be its best before release!

Dryad is an island-building defense where you adventure through a corrupted world and manage your resources. Adapt your strategy to survive increasingly difficult challenges.

We're specifically looking for feedback on:

• Gameplay balance
• Difficulty progression
• Plant abilities and synergies
• UI/UX clarity
• Overall enjoyment

The playtest will run through Steam Playtest, making it easy to request access and jump in when it begins.

Steam Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1223820/Dryad/

Players who participate will also have the opportunity to submit feedback through our Discord and help shape the final release.

Thanks for checking it out! We'd love to hear your thoughts and answer any questions.

The effect is rendered as a dynamically generated quad that follows a cubic Bézier curve between two points. Each frame, I sample points along the curve, construct a ribbon mesh from the tangents, and generate vertices with UVs for a custom shader.

The shader handles the soft glow, edge falloff, scrolling texture distortion, and fade along the ray length. Since the control points are animated.

One challenge was keeping the width consistent around tighter curves. Instead of offsetting in world-space directions, I calculate a perpendicular from the curve tangent at each sample point and build the ribbon from those offsets. This keeps the beam visually stable even when the endpoints move rapidly.

The final effect is lightweight enough to render many instances simultaneously and gives a nice magical feel without being overly distracting.

Playable Link:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1223820/Dryad/

Platform:
PC (Steam) (Controller Recommended)

Description:
Dryad is an island-building adventure where management and exploration intertwine.

Grow your sanctuary, brave the unknown, and push back the darkness. You are the Wisp.

Expand the Drifting Sanctuary, manage your flora, and protect your companion, the

Dryad, from the relentless miasma.

Free to Play Status:
[x] Demo

Involvement:
I am the creator of Dryad. I've been working on this game for 7 years as a passion project and have decided to push it to the finish line. What started as an inspired idea between two characters evolved in me creating a full-fledged adventure. This will be my first steam release.

Been working on a new particle system to help each Chapter feel more distinct and alive. Curious what else I can do to make these particles look more ashen/plant like.

There's some simulated/controlled wind as the particles drift by. I also have an orientation checks where they act more like a parachute if they face upward.

I’ve been experimenting with a boss concept in my MonoGame project and wanted to get some thoughts.

The idea is to treat the encounter more like hide-and-seek encounter where the wisp has to make it to a goal (smashing open a box with light inside it). The player controls a wisp and has to hide behind background tiles to avoid being detected.

Right now I’m using a red fade around the edges of the screen to represent how much aggro the wisp has built up. The longer you stay exposed, the stronger the effect gets. If you stay visible too long, the boss becomes over-eager and rushes your position.

If the boss catches you, it triggers a chomp attack (pretty quick and punishing).

I’m trying to make the boss feel threatening without it just being another chase AI.
Do you think the red vignette is enough feedback for exposure, or would you expect something else more explicit?