Welcome to Elderfield
A downloadable game for Windows
Synopsis
Nothing is usual in the secluded town of Elderfield. The townsfolk are odd, strange beings shift about in the dark and the local news reports seem more mysterious by the day. This is where you were born, and rarely do those born here leave...
But, there is work to be done. Now finished with your schooling, you have an endless supply of free time and very little direction. Explore, earn money, make friends, solve mysteries, start a farm, cook food, go fishing, beseech the Old Gods, talk to the dead, cower beneath the pale moon and try not to die in you sleep. Welcome to Elderfield.
Features
- Explore a mysterious open world
- Start a farm - growing crops, raising animals and processing goods
- Cook different kinds of food to sustain your exploration
- Fight deadly creatures and bosses as you delve deeper into forbidden places
- Go fishing...
- Explore randomly generated mines with shifting layouts and hidden secrets
- Forge new gear to best tougher foes
- Explore without end - you choose when to sleep... if at all
- Interact with local townsfolk, many of which live on their own varied schedules
- Give gifts and complete tasks to befriend the locals
- Forage for materials that generate around the world
- Find randomized loot around every corner
- And much, much more...
Demo Info
The Welcome to Elderfield alpha demo is a vertical-slice of what is to come. The demo features one area of the town, the farm and ranch, the first "dungeon" area - the local mall - and several smaller places to explore. The final game is expected to have more than 3x the town size, at least 2 more "dungeon" areas like the mall, and multiple levels to each of those areas. The final game will also include new features such as Old God alignment, calendar-based events, quality of life features and much more of everything that is already here. The demo represents roughly 1/6 of the planned finished game.
Alpha updates beyond the demo will be available to play for Patreon members. These updates will be released as the game is developed, so Patrons can provide feedback and experience the full game as it comes together - bugs and all!
Your feedback is vitally important!
Any comments left on Itch, our Discord or our Patreon page will be read and considered for future updates.
Please let me know if you experience any bugs, have any game balance/pacing feedback, or if there are any changes/features you'd like to see.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
Comments
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I am IN LOVE with this game. Can't wait for it to be finished.
Thanks for making a video, and I'm glad you enjoyed the demo!
The game is really cool! Keep on going :)
Hi! I have a quick question about the game's languages. Are you planning to include Spanish as one of the available options? If so, would you need help with the translation?
I'm a final-year English-Spanish Translation student, currently looking for projects where I can contribute and gain experience.
Let me know if there's any way I can help. Cheers!
Spanish is in the plans, but localization is more than a year away as the game is still early in development.
Okay, thanks!
I have not had the chance to play it much sadly, but I have been watching gameplays, and I absolutely love it so far.
I wonder if you plan on adding any Arabic translations to this. I am an Arabic translator and would love to volunteer to provide them in case you do! (Individually or with a team if you already got one)
I have a question about the language option. Do you folks have any plan to add other language options? I’m a freelance translator from English to Japanese. I played the demo today and I couldn’t help myself from writing to you. I loved the music, atmosphere and J-horror inspired art. If multiple language options are not planned, that’s totally understandable. Please let me know if you are interested in the Japanese localization!
The current plan is to have the game professionally localized into many different languages for release, though this is still a while off yet. Japanese is one of the planned languages.
OK, thanks for letting me know! Looking forward to the full release!
I can't believe I completely missed the fact that ill-advised records made a game. I'm so stoked for this, just bought a couple records.
Nice!
Hey, sorry if this is like mentioned somewhere in the post, but is the artwork inspired from Junji Ito? It really reminds me of it
Yup - the character portraits in particular are drawn in a horror manga style which is based on the artwork of Junji Ito, Kazuo Umezu, Shinichi Koga Suehiro Maruo and a others.
Looks sick, great work!
Thanks!
Watched a video of gameplay and I get Welcome to Night Vale vibes looks very fun!
WTNV is def a big inspiration for the game!
make it cooperative plssss
This wont be possible unfortunately.
Yo, It looks interesting
Can this be made compatible with joiplay? I tried downloading it on Android but it said I needed the fossil plugin, unfortunately the fossil plugin has been discontinued and links to it have been taken down.
The game is not currently mobile compatible. This may be explored in the future, but for now it is just for windows PCs and Steam Deck.
It was compatible via third party emulator like I said, I had played it using fossil but wound up getting a new phone and losing Access to the fossil emulator. Unfortunately the person who created it got harassed and wound up taking down all download links to it.
But as it was created with rpg maker it should be compatible with joiplay rpg maker plugin. (But like I said when installing it, it defaults to the fossil plugin which no longer exists)
There is nothing I can do about that unfortunately. The game is dependent on Fossil. I am not familiar with Joiplay or how it works, or what would be necessary to make any of this compatible.
Not at all familiar with Fossil but will this version of it possibly do what you're looking for here?
https://github.com/Aesica/fossil-MV-MZ
If not, you may want to post asking for the version of it you are looking for on that same site/forum as most there seem to be familiar with Fossil and may be able to pm you the version you are looking for.
This game is amazing so far. I love the art style since it reminds me so much of Junji Ito's works. This demo already ha so much already. I'm looking forward to the full game.
Thanks for making a video! I'm glad you're digging the game.
Curious if there will be a mac or linux port for the game in the future?
I couldn't say right now - these options will be explored closer to release. The game is playable via Proton on linux already (and is Steam Deck compatible).
Really looking forward to the full game, there's a lot of interesting things to do and it's clear this is being actively worked on, which is rather exciting.
One thing that's been on my mind since the beginning so far is, while I appreciate the radio show feature and see what its inspirations are, it could use some improvements as well as accessibility options.
I.e. a transcription of the text for players who are hard of hearing, because otherwise there is an entire possible playerbase locked out of some content. This would for sure be useful for other types of players as well.
The other thought I have for this may be more of a personal preference, but I think it's worth pointing out regardless. So, I find Welcome to Elderfield to be pretty immersive so far. The variety of features makes the world feel alive, and environmental events and such that are out of your control help this, too. As with characters showing up unexpected places (although you quickly enough learn their routine).
The radio show's dubbing kind of breaks this, though. Probably these lines are read by the developer themselves or a friend. The cadence of these readings makes you pretty acutely aware it's
1. inspired by WTNV and
2. as I said earlier, someone without particular experience in dubbing.
There's also the fact nothing else in the game is voiced, so it's rather jarring on that front (maybe the television should have this too? Or maybe if both were text only, it would fit better).
Otherwise.. I think if these line reads were done by somebody with experience hosting radio shows, it would add a lot to the immersiveness of this world. I realize it's essentially a one-person-team working on this now and it might turn out to be a considerable expense, but if the radio show feature were to be kept as is, I think a professional dubbing would add a lot of depth to the world of Elderfield as a whole. I.e. if an older gentleman with that sort of working background were hired for the line reads.
On that note, more interactable and relevant characters (with character portraits and friendship development) of varied ages would give the world a fuller feel, too. Instead of it essentially just being that your player character is a young adult / adult and so is every single other character with notable substance to them.
Since this game already has been and inevitably will continue being compared to Stardew Valley and I do think Elderfield is much better, much more fun, in a plethora of aspects already -- exciting! I hope to see it come even more into its own.
One of my biggest gripes with Stardew is the characters' and worlds' lack of depth. NPCs feel rather hollow and uninteresting and their stories play out rather quickly, they kind of become husks afterward. And most of it is centered around or locked behind a romancing plotline. So, with more varied NPC ages and characters you can't romance being just as fleshed out, I think Stardew could've been a much better experience.
I hope WTE can learn from shortcomings of other games of its genre in this sense. I see its trying to do a lot all at once already. I hope, if possible, more collaborators can be brought into the team to make it a real masterwork of a game. Two brains are better than one, and the more the merrier. Plus, it would considerably reduce the workload, wouldn't it? Wouldn't want to see such a promising developer burnt out.
Also, sorry to see all the comments about tracing and whatnot. I imagine it's frustrating.
I can fully understand honing your craft based on / inspired by another style, and trying to replicate great artists whose work you enjoy. It's fun to redraw, to imitate, and do studies like that, I do it a lot too! It takes hard work and great talent to keep at it consistently, and it's incredibly impressive.
I appreciate the inspirations for Elderfield and your own art as a whole shining through in the game. It might be interpreted it as a sort of love letter to its inspirations, you know? I think that's nice.
Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad you're enjoying the game!
This was so awesome! I loved every minute of this and I can't wait for the full game!
Thanks for making a video, I'm glad you enjoyed the game!
You're welcome! And of course! Twas a fun experience!!
"Time to investigate" seem impossible. No matter how many mysteries I investigate, it doesn't increment past 5. Is the reward good enough to restart for? I have 10 hours on the current save.
They have to be different mysteries. I have confirmed that this task is working properly, so you may be investigating mysteries that you have already found. The reward is optional, it wont lock you out of anything.
Hello Chriscote! Really like the style of your games looks very interesting! I'd love to collaborate with you. I can cover all your sound needs from music to SFX, let me know if you are interested. Good luck! :)
good game
Hope romance becomes available in future updates. It's like stardew meets fear and hunger
It is planned!
Когда будет перевод на русский язык я поиграю
I am planning to have the game localized for the full release.
хехе прости за мой русский :D.
Did you trace Junji Ito's art for the girl in the cover?
No, it is an original illustration.
the real question is....can we romance the characters?
Not currently, but it will be in the full game! They will even move in with you.
is there an estimated release date for the full game? as a farming games fan this is one of the best one I've found EVER
Late 2026 is the plan for now
They answer it in the post immediately below this before you even asked the same exact question. 🤦♂️
Based on current production speed, how soon would you predict that the full game would release?
The plan right now is late 2026. The demo is about 1/6th of the full game and the Patreon version is about 1/3rd.
This is such an underrated game!!! I love horror games and I love Stardew Valley, so I was instantly intrigued by this game's premise and man I had such a good time playing this. I'm definitely planning to make a lot of videos on this game because I'm just having a lot of fun, and I can't wait to see how much more this game has to offer!
Here's my gameplay video if anyone's interested ^-^
Thanks so much for making a video, and I'm glad you enjoyed the game!
This game is so strange. I love it! You have done an amazing job! The art and environment is eerily beautiful. Played a little bit of it on my channel :>
Thanks for making a video! I'm glad that you enjoyed the game.
I'm on 1.22 and when saving at the bed right after taking a shower i keep getting the error:
Failed to load
img/pictures/Bath1.png [no stack trace available]
I started last week with 1.18 but haven't had a problem until this update. I'm having a lot of fun btw this game is really scratching an itch for me right now.
This is now fixed. Glad you enjoy the game!
Hi, I got around 30 FPS when in the farm. Could you please check and optimize it?
What are your specs? Your device may just not be fast enough to run the game (the game is optimized for the Steam Deck as the lowest spec, which runs at 60fps on the farm).
Intel i7 Gen 11th, RAM 16 GB, Graphic Intel Iris. I play the Steam version.
I think my laptop spec is not that potato. I, myself, also an RPG Maker dev. RPG Maker games are usually light.
I got 30 FPS only in the farm. I think it’s because the animation of the tentacles that caused the FPS dropped. Other maps are fine. Even in the farmhouse, I got 60 FPS constant.
Ah, I also couldn’t sprint when using a gamepad 8BitDo Pro 2.
Yeah, that sounds like the device just might not be up to the task. That laptop graphics processor seems to be about 12 years old, so that it not really something that I would expect to run the game well. I have a similarly old laptop that I have tested the game on, and it also doesn't run it very well. While RPG Maker games are often very light, this one is not, as it has a lot of advanced processes happening that are not typical for an RPG Maker game.
That said, there are many performance settings in the options menu which may help, such as disabling lighting, weather effects (including the falling leaves animation), screen filter, fog, and so-on. Disabling some of these may help. The tentacle animations are unlikely to be the culprit, as they all share a single sprite sheet, so their performance impact is very low.
There are options in the settings menu to configure your gamepad. You can change the sprint to any button on your gamepad if it isn't set by default.
I don’t know. Maybe, I can adjust the setting–as the customer/player side. But, I suggest you to figure it out in how to improve the performance of the game. So, people can play your game seamlessly. Not all of them having that RTX graphic stuff. Since your game will be a hit and stand among those popular games like stardew valley. My laptop is not that old Chris, it’s only around 5 years old.
After all, good luck with the development! You did an amazing job!
I don't usually play horror games since I get scared easily, but this has been fun. I'll definitely get the full game when it comes out! 10/10 even if I did accidentally jumpscare myself meeting the farmer. I really enjoyed that it has enough unique things to be more than just a stardew valley clone with a spooky aesthetic.
We always crave for mix and twist
really excited for when the full game comes out!
Wow, thanks for playing the game, everyone! I don't really check itch much as it wasn't really gaining much traction here for a while, and then I pop back in and see a million new comments, haha. Feel free to leave any feedback you have about the game - I read every comment.
holy Junjit Ito art style
stardew but scary?
no romance but you can friend characters?
so a look like him?
IS THAT TOMIE
Interesting Game, Gave Some Critiques, I Apologize if it Seems Like We're Being a Little Too Harsh on This Game
Hi, thanks for playing the game! There is kind of a lot going on there, so I'll just say a few things. Nothing is traced, I have just spent over a decade practicing and learning to draw traditional horror manga. Ito is my largest influence (and certainly most recognizable to folks in the west), but other influences are artists like Umezz, Hino, Kago, Koga, Maruo, Nori, Masaaki, Yamazaki and Inuki to name a few. There are videos of me illustrating character artwork for the game from scratch on my YouTube channel, where I post devlogs for the game. In response to the claim that there are "stolen assets", this just isn't true. You mentioned rocks from Stardew Valley specifically. That isn't true - the rock sprites in this game are either modified sprites from a tileset named Mana Seed, or completely original. The game is still early in development, and there is about a year and half to go at least, so hopefully it will shape up into something less clunky and more consistent. Even the artwork is always being tweaked and re-worked as I listen to feedback and try to find the right balance.
Looks dope
hi, i really wanna play this game so much, but it keeps getting an error of playrequest() and its so laggy. is there a solution?
was the version in the steam same as these?
The Steam version is the same as this one. Usually the playrequest() crash means the game is not installed properly. Please try completely deleting the files and re-installing. Lag may be a result of your system, I would need to know your specs to tell if it is out of the ordinary.
Gotta ask, did you use AI or just really nailed Ito's style?
There is no AI. I've spent more than a decade studying and practicing traditional horror manga illustration (Ito, Umezz, Kago, Hino, Koga, Masaaki, Kago, Maruo, Nori, etc.). Ito is the most prominent influence and certainly the most recognizable to most folks in the west, but I have a lot of influences across all of traditional horror manga.
In that case, the studies paid off beautifully ♥
Junji Ito's Stardew Stagtown Nightvale Valley, nice