July 2026 Project FarHaven Pre-Alpha Read Me

Overview

Welcome to Dragon Snacks Games' Project FarHaven Pre-Alpha build! We're excited to share with you what we've been working on since April. We are nearly gameplay system-complete. We have focused primarily on ensuring that the core loop is fully playable, interconnected, and fun. What remains is largely content production.

NEW to this release!

Farming and Fishing! Pick up your tools in the chest outside of Town Hall
Farming works on plots of land you own (buy in Town Hall); only the owner can harvest, but everyone can work together to weed and water!
Leveling - Jobs and stats improve as you advance - don't forget to spend your skill points.
Main Menu in game - hit ESC to access, you can get to all the key systems and screens from there.
Bolt-ons - You can now add decoration to the outside of your house.
Adventure Visual Upgrades
Relationship Screen - track your relationship with the NPCs you've met and their likes and dislikes
Refiner queuing - you can now add more than one job at a time.
Want to use tools before you clear the zone? You can! But that Flimsy Pickaxe ain't doing anything against that Adult VineBiter, so remember to switch back to your weapon before attacking!

Project FarHaven Highlights

Our pre-alpha builds showcase systems tailored towards our three target player personas:
- Achiever: Progression, Combat, Procedural Adventures
- Creator: Crafting, Decoration, UGC Tools
- Storyteller: NPC Relationships, Lore, Narrative Quests
This pre-alpha was created in 18 months with a team of eight. We focused on playability and finding/verifying the fun, while also creating and testing production pipelines. We did not focus on visual polish, so you will notice occasional greybox art and missing animations and VFX.
The build is playable for up to 16 simultaneous players and currently supports cross-play on PC, Mac, and SteamDeck.
The basic core loop (Adventure/Craft/Build/Befriend) is playable, linking in-town systems with procedurally-generated adventures.
Distributed host multiplayer is fully implemented, no smoke and mirrors hiding technical hurdles.

Installation

Once you click on the provided FirstLook link (our key distribution system), you'll be directed to complete your account (attaching your Discord is optional) and click the Redeem Steam Key button to receive your key. Redeem on the Steam account of your choice.

You can invite up to five friends or colleagues from your FirstLook account if you wish. Please report any issues you encounter with access to ops@dragonsnacksgames.com. Please note that if you wish to invite people to a multiplayer game through Discord, you must attach your Discord account.

Connecting FarHaven to Discord (makes inviting friends easier!)

From the main game menu, select the pencil icon in the upper right (left-click or press start on a controller).
OR: On the Settings sub-menu, select the Discord logo and choose Connect (left-click or A on a controller). A Discord overlay will appear; scroll to the bottom and authorize.
To confirm it's working, start a multiplayer game. Under Discord's Playing section, FarHaven should appear with the status "In Town."

Multiplayer Setup

From the main menu, choose Multiplayer Game to start the game and create the initial save file. You can then invite your friends to the game. Players who are invited to the game must have the game installed first.

a. With Steam - Once the multiplayer game is running, open the Main Menu, click Steam Invite and click on the friend you wish to invite (must be Steam friends). Alternatively, a Steam Friend who has the game installed may also right-click on your name and select "Join Game."
b. With Discord - Once the multiplayer game is running, open the Main Menu, click Discord Invite and click on the friend you wish to invite (must be friends on Discord). Both players need to have done the Discord Connection step above to get the invite directly in the game.

Once the friend accepts the invitation and loads the multiplayer game, they are associated with that game going forward. Games are saved under the town name chosen by the player who originated the town, and players do not need to play at the same time.

Players can participate in more than one town and can play both single and multiplayer games.

Controls

Control hints exist on screen for most contextual controls. Other selected hotkeys follow.

Action	Gamepad	Keyboard/Mouse
Move	L stick	WASD
In game Menu (allows access to all sub menus like inventory, journal, loadout, jobs, etc)	Options/ hamburger button	Esc
Inventory Shortcut	Dpad right	I
Interact / Inspect / Talk	South gamepad	F
Use Current HotBar Action	Hold North gamepad	Hold down numpad/number key
Attack (while on an adventure)	West gamepad	Mouse click / Enter
Change Target (for HotBar action)	LT / RT	Q / E
Cancel out of Current Action Flow	East gamepad	Right click/ backspace / esc
Dodge/Dash	East gamepad	Space
Move HotBar Selection	LB / RB	Numpad / number hotkey
Journal Shortcut	Dpad north	J
Camera Zoom	Right stick	Mousewheel
Open Equipment Loadout	Dpad left	L
Toggle Tool/Action Bar	Dpad south	T

Initial Walkthrough

Upon joining a new game, players will be placed into a single player instance for the tutorial, which guides them through basic controls and systems. Completing the Town Hall finishes the tutorial; the player's character then teleports to the shared multiplayer town where they then continue their game with other players. Note that we have one player Model implemented, so names and colors are used to differentiate at the moment.

Tips

After completing the Inn, remember to check your room's chest for Maxim's reward items. You will always have this room (and storage chest) available to you, even after you build a home.
The Town Hall requires a number of resources that you will need to collect while exploring.
If you do not embark on an introductory adventure to complete the requirements for the Town Hall, you will be prompted to do so upon your first entry into the Mist Gate room, post-tutorial.
Once in the main multiplayer game, progression quests are bucketed into two categories: Shared Group Town Quests, and Solo Quests. The Group Quests are progressed by everyone contributing to them and typically involve actions that improve the town and advance the main story. Individual quests are, well, individual – only the active player can complete the quest. (Multiple players can have the same individual quest at the same time, but each is advanced separately.)
Follow the quests to complete the first two town upgrades. Remember to check your Journal for hints and more information than what is displayed on the HUD. Access the Journal through the Menu.
Fzzit's store is always available for purchasing basic resources. His inventory improves over time with town progression. The Merchant class can also unlock upgraded items. Selling to Fzzit is a good way to get quick cash, but it does permanently remove those sold items from the ecosystem.

Featured Systems Information

Crafting with Optional Ingredients

Once you have completed Groghan's blacksmith shop and home, she'll teach you how to repair your equipment and then how to craft new items. Follow her quest line to unlock the basic steps for refining raw ore into ingots and crafting weapons and tools.

Mine rocks to collect copper ore on adventures.
Back in Groghan's home/workshop, refine the raw ore into ingots – there is a small smelter along her right wall.
Note that when you refine an object, it is output to a separate (but very nearby) location. You’ll have to move a short space to acquire the refined piece. Look for a red brick next to the refiner. (That’s programmer art for the refiner’s output.)
Choose a weapon to create at the Forge, the larger piece of equipment along the back wall in Groghan's house. You may need to use the Metal Parts Refiner to create parts depending on which recipe you choose.
We recommend that you choose an optional ingredient to add custom functionality to any of the available recipes. You may use any item currently in your character's inventory. Once you use an item once in crafting, you can view its effects via the crafting menu.
Upon completion, you may rename your creation and give it a unique moniker.
Ingot and other refinements will eventually be automatable and asynchronous with NPC help.

Procedural Adventures

The Mist Gate controls access to procedural adventure content. Up to four players may adventure together at a time. To ready up, have each of the four players stand on the half moon platform leading up to the gate portal – green diamonds above the door will light up for each player present. Only one player needs to interact with the gate to start the adventure.
Use the Control Panel to the left of the Gate to change adventure settings and difficulty as desired.
NEW! You may invite NPCs of an appropriate class to join you on Adventures. Go to the Call Box to the right of the Gate to see which NPCs are available to join you.
- Each adventuring team can take any available NPCs simultaneously, even if they are already on one with a different team.
- NPCs are only available to join you after you've completed their initial quest (for example, you need to repair an item and craft a weapon for Groghan). NPCs want to know you before you put them in (semi)mortal peril.
- Workaround for Groghan: If you talk to her during the tutorial phase of the game, she will accompany you on adventures before you complete her introductory quests.
- NPCs can be knocked out during combat; like players, if someone is still standing when the room is cleared of monsters, they will be revived at full health.
- Multiple NPCs may join your adventure; in this build, Groghan, Dak, Chinkapin, and Autumn may join your adventure when you reach an appropriate relationship level.
- Known Bug: All NPCs currently appear as "Groghan Groghan" in the adventures.
Exploration occurs through procedurally-generated "rooms," which appear on your mini map in the top left of your screen while you're exploring – you are the red dot. Doors to new rooms are found at the edges of the Adventure Maps. Doors unlock when all enemy combatants in a room are defeated.
Each room has a "Return to Town" door which unlocks once all enemies have been defeated if players wish to end the adventure. Typically, it's in the center of the room.
To move to another Adventure Map in multiplayer, all players must gather at the same door. You can't split the party. Remember that all monsters must be defeated before you can move on from a room.
After all monsters are defeated (or before if you like living dangerously), players may harvest resources in the room. All harvestables are shared and communal. Chopping trees together makes it go faster. Same with mining rocks. Every player gets their own loot roll, there is no drop stealing.
If an adventure is successfully cleared (e.g. the boss is defeated in the final red-outlined room), upon return to the Mist Gate players unlock special Biome Forageable rooms along the edges of the Mist Gate room, one blue portal for each biome encountered in the adventure. These rooms are available to everyone in the town, not just the players who completed the adventure. Each room holds up to 14 harvestable nodes and no combat, so players who are less inclined to fight still have a means to gather. This is a great way for players who weren't on the adventure to still participate in the rewards!

Combat

Combat is realtime, arcade-light. Players can use their equipped weapon to attack, or they can utilize Actions, Spells, and Items from their HotBar to target enemies or party allies. Hold down the Attack button to initiate a charge attack.
Available HotBar actions can be customized via the Inventory screen
Loot is dropped per player on an Adventure: there is no loot fighting or resource stealing between players.
While in multiplayer, if at least one party member survives after all enemies in the room are dead, other defeated party members will be revived, with full health, in the Adventure.
If all Party members are defeated, they are transported back to Town.
Attacks chain based upon the weapon used. You can play around with a combination of Dashing, Charging, and normal Attacks.
Six of the planned Nine weapon classes are implemented. (The remaining three are arcane-focused).
Tools and Equipment have charges (e.g. durability) that deplete as they are used. However, the items are not destroyed when charges reach 0. You may recharge your items in either Dak's store or Groghan's home by spending items to produce charges. A discharged item will not use its special effects and only provide a quarter of its normal efficacy. This is indicated with a red mark on the item.

Town Decorating

You can now decorate the town by interacting with the big wood sign that is shaped like a house near the Town Hall.
Town decorating is communal. Decorations placed in town may be moved or picked up by anyone. You can also move or pick up the pre-placed town decorations (like hedges and fences).
Decorations may be placed from your character's Inventory into the Deco Inventory by using the Storage feature inside your home (reachable via an onscreen button in the lower left hand corner or by pressing dpad right on a controller while in your home).
You can also access town decorating by using a decoration placed in your action bar.

Gifting

You may create gifts in the Town Hall via a Gift-Wrapping station. Gifts can be given to both players and NPCs.
Decide first whom the gift is for. You may also choose "any" if you don't have a preference. If you do choose someone, only that recipient may open or use the gift.
If gifting to an NPC, their known likes and dislikes will be shown across the top of the Gift screen. (this info needs to be discovered through play.)
Choose an item to place in the gift, and then you may choose the gift message to display from a list of options. Eventually you'll also be able to choose the wrapping paper.
The completed gift is placed in your character's Inventory.
To gift to an NPC, put the gift on your action bar and use it while standing near that NPC. If they like it, hearts will shoot out from their head. If they don't, they'll also let you know. The more liked tags you match in your gift, the more the NPC will appreciate it.
To gift to a player, place the gift on the ground by Dropping it via the inventory. The name of the intended player will float above it, no one else will be able to pick it up. Or you can mail it to them (below).

Mail

You can now send mail in-game to other players and NPCs. You can choose either pre-selected messages or write your own, and you can use selected stationary and include an optional gift. NPCs will show their known hates/neutral/likes/loves tags.
Mail is delivered at 6 AM and 6 PM local server time; server time aligns with the person who started the town.
When you've received mail, an icon will appear next to your mailbox. Your mailbox appears when you place your first plot (on which to say build a house). Before then you can pick up your mail in the Town Hall.

NPC Relationships

The first level relationship event for each NPC has been completed in this build. Some give you a new Job to unlock, such as Groghan teaching you to be a Blacksmith.
Relationships are progressed primarily through gifting and daily interactions.
Long term, there will be a screen in the main interface where you can view your current relationship progress with each NPC.

Farming

When Tamra joins the town, she'll gift you with a set of tools and walk you through the ins and outs of farming.
If you'd rather get started before Tamra shows up, you can always collect an initial set of farming tools from the chest outside the town hall. Seeds live in your action bar, tools in your tool bar.
Use a hoe to till undecorated land on anyone's plots. Tilled land can be watered using the watering can.
Plant seeds onto tilled land. They will grow over time. Seeds that take longer to grow may be watered multiple times to speed growth up.
When fully grown, plants may be harvested by interacting with them. While you can help your friends in all steps of farming up to harvesting, you can't take their harvest.

Fishing

Collect a starter rod from the chest outside the town hall.
Walk up to any body of water (in town or in an adventure) and use the pole from your tool bar. This begins the fishing minigame.
First cast with with the Use button. Then set your cast distance. Different fish are located at different distances from shore.
When you see a bite on the cast meter (green circle), hit Use again. If successful, you can start to reel in the fish.
Watch the bottom bar and try and tap Use in the perfect or good sections of the reeling meter as the fish moves around.
Be mindful of line strength. too many misses will let the fish escape.

Jobs, Skills, and Player Progression

Every new player starts with the Adventurer Job, a generalist combat-focused class.
To view your current Job, open the in-game Menu (press ESC or the Menu/Hamburger button) and choose Jobs. From here you can view all unlocked jobs on your character, select a new one (if unlocked), and view each job's Perk Tree.
Upon Level Up, you'll gain a perk point to spend in the tree. Many perks can be researched multiple times which provide additional bonuses.
Each Job is also proficient in three skills, which you may also view from this menu. Each time a skill is leveled up, you gain a Skill Perk Point, which you may also spend to unlock a new perk for that skill.
Skills are shared across jobs (e.g. both the Adventurer and Blacksmith are proficient in mining), and progress is saved across both. Skills are leveled up by performing actions related to that skill (e.g. Mining is improved by mining ore).
There are currently four Jobs in this build to discover, with plans for 40 at launch. Some jobs are combat focused on individual play patterns (e.g. tanks, control, support, etc.), while others are more town focused (building relationships, crafting better, etc).

Trade Tables

Upon completing Groghan's Crafting introduction quest, you'll be gifted a Trade Table decoration item which can be placed in town.
This decoration allows you to place any item in your Inventory up for sale. Exactly like Groghan's trade tables, other players may walk by and decide to purchase the item you've offered.
Pricing is automatically generated, but you may choose to increase or decrease the price by a set percentage, up to a limit.
This is a great way to unload crafted equipment with fun effects or sell your UGC-created rugs to other players.

Home Ownership and Decoration

Once you have 10K bits, a quest will prompt you to talk to Jenson. He'll explain plot purchasing and prompt you to buy a plot size of your choice from the Town Hall management table in front of him.
Use this purchased deed from your action bar anywhere in the town to place your plot. (red borders mean that it's overlapping something and needs to be shifted (WASD to move the plot, arrows to move the camera))
Interact with the Mailbox near your plot to choose and place a home in your yard.
Decorate the outside of your plot or enter the home to decorate the inside of your house. Instructions appear along the bottom of the screen when in Decorating mode.
IMPORTANT! Decorations have dedicated storage so the player inventory isn't filled with couches, lamps, and unkillable houseplants. This is accessible from the inventory menu as a separate tab.
Smaller items can be placed on top of larger surfaces such as tables (and eventually shelving).
Rotate through different deco views to select the desired furniture configuration. Some items have small variants and not just rotations.

NPC Building Placement

Like player housing plots, NPC Deeds are available from the Town Hall management table. NPC Deeds are free. Only one player needs to grab the deed and place it in the world.
Groghan unlocks a Blacksmith Forge for weapon/tool purchasing and crafting, Dak unlocks the Armorsmith for Armor and Shields, Chinkapin unlocks the Furniture store to buy new decos, and Autumn unlocks the General Store where basic sundries and potions may be purchased.
Once the plot is placed all players may contribute resources to it. Upon completion, everyone may use the stores and services inside.
New! You can move NPC homes to new locations if you dislike where you've placed them.

UGC Texture Painter Tool

Place an Easel or Loom somewhere in your home or world. You receive these items by completing the appropriate quests.
Interact with it to begin creating.
Other players on your server can see what you paint in real time and can add to/edit your creation.
If you're using the Loom, when you select "Done", a copy of your image will appear in your Inventory as a placeable (and Sellable!) rug decoration.

Quest Board Dailies and Narrative Quests

Additional Quests can be picked up from the Town Task Board, near the Beacon.
Some Quests ask you to go out on adventures to help NPCs procure items they need for their homes or storefronts.
Other Quests unlock new NPCs for your town or launch bespoke narrative modules, including romance options for certain NPCs.
These Quests refresh daily.

Known Issues / Future Work

Swapping out materials for wall and floor decoration not yet implemented
Removing canvas from Easel to mount on walls not yet implemented
More advanced texture-painting tools (e.g. mirroring, undo, stamps, etc) not yet implemented.
As we lack an in-house animator and VFX artist, there is a lot of planned work around making combat feel weightier and snappier on attacks, and less squiggly and floaty in general. Also better attacks more specific to each weapon class.
Mac Users - the game will crash on exit due to a Unity bug. It won't hurt your saves or progress, so please ignore for the moment.

FAQ

I'm playing on Steamdeck and it looks like the game is crashing on launch and/or performance is poor.
- Try manually changing your Proton version (this is supposed to auto-set if the game is installed on an SD card, but you can manually set it): Select Project FarHaven from your library, and tap on the Settings Cogwheel on the right side of the game page.
- Select Properties from the popup menu.
- Now Choose Compatibility
- Check the box that says "Force the use of specific Steam Play compatibility tool"
- From this new dropdown, select Proton version 9.x if it isn't already selected.
- Return to your game library and try relaunching the title.
How do I save?
- Saving happens automatically; you don't need to do anything.
How do I return to a multiplayer game?
- You can find all your Multiplayer game saves by selecting Multiplayer in the landing page. Once you are part of a multiplayer game you can always return to it whenever you want – progress is stored continuously in the cloud. You can also invite friends anytime you are in a multiplayer game. If someone previously invited opens the same MP game save as you, they will join you! Don’t forget that all players in your game contribute to the latest save. So if you quit before Groghan’s house is complete, but another player completes it later, her house will be completed when you return!

Pre-Alpha ReadMe