Howdy, partners!
Hello, friends!
Thanks for liking our updates! We’re so happy that we want to share more with you – more playtests are coming soon! No exact date yet, but make sure to click "Request Access" so you don’t miss it!
Why more playtests, though? Since receiving feedback after the last one, we’ve been working hard to make the game better for you! This time, we’ve focused on improving the gameplay, especially that related to the NPCs and the animals, and making the game easier to understand, an get into the flow of. We want to know what you think!
Here’s what’s new:
– more NPCs and life on the level
All characters now have routines! You can talk to them and learn their schedules, and check this info on the map or in your journal. But, just like in real life (hey, it's a life sim after all) some characters are hard to catch because they move around a lot!
For now, the NPCs you'll be able to meet are the ones key to the story (about 20 right now). We’re now working on adding crowds (communities, in gamedev terminology) and runtime animations to make the world feel more alive.
– animals
We’ve added more animals! Now there are cows, goats, wild hares, foxes, and rabbits along with the chickens. These animals will become part of the game’s flow, and we need your feedback on how they feel in the game. They weren't available at the time of the last playtest, so we’ll be super grateful for any feedback on those.
Other changes:
– expanded narrative
We’ve designed and implemented more than 35 quests that take about 8 hours to complete (if you know what you’re doing, that is). This is just for the early part of the game – there’s still more story to come!
We wouldn’t want you to devour everything in one bite, though, so for the purposes of this playtest, the narrative will be cut off at a certain point. Don’t worry though, you’ll still have plenty to do!
– map and exploration
All locations are closely tied to the story – they're not just pretty sights! We’ve added new areas and improved old ones.
And we’ve got a special treat! Bravestand, the main town in our story, which was not available for exploration at the time of the last playtest, will be all yours to experience this time! Discover all the content within all its stores, vendors, the Saloon, Town Hall, and much more.
– clothes
You can now buy or craft clothes, or just run around in your underwear! Right now, clothes are mostly for looks, but we’ll soon make them affect gameplay.
Progress from older devlogs:
– the prologue
We’ve improved the cattle drive quest – it’s smoother now! There are also new dialogue options and a better tutorial, and new mechanics thanks to our addition of animals into this version.
– tutorials
We made the tutorials simpler, only showing tips when necessary. No more pop-up overload.
– construction
We improved building by adding object snapping and shadows to show placement. It’s now easier to build and decorate with fewer restrictions!
Something that we’ve currently got in the works now is the mechanic of rotating objects that are already snapped to the wall – we’ll keep you updated on that in the devlogs to come.
– new items
The expanded map has more things to find – items, collectibles, forage, and treasure chests galore! The map is anything but empty, and so many of the newly introduced forage items will be of use in the new crafting options.
Plus, you’ll be getting many requests from neighbors asking for items, and they’ll reward you with new quests or cool rewards! They will be sending you mail through your mailbox, so make sure to peep in there often!
– combat
Human enemy combat, well… it certainly is there… Just kidding, we know how much everyone was asking for some cowboy shootin’, and we listened. For now, the mechanic itself is quite clunky as a whole, but it’s the one of the areas of “Cowboy’s” development we’re the most focused on now.
– localization
Because we’re planning for “Cowboy” to ultimately be available in many different language versions, we’ve added some localization options. For now much of it sounds quite funny because it’s now done with AI, but we’ll be grateful for any help with catching those language mistakes if you encounter them while playing in other language versions than English.
That's all for now. Thanks for your support, and we can’t wait to hear what you think during the next playtest!
!!
Remember to hit that “Request Access” button! We’d also love to have you over on our growing Discord server – here’s the [link]. During the playtest, this will be your opportunity to communicate with us, the devs, directly! We can't wait to hear from you.
So what do you think? Don’t hesitate to reach out, comment, suggest, or share a laugh! Follow us and shoot us a message at our Instagram – @odd.qubit.
Happy trails, friend.