Welcome to the October 2020 development update!
Character Reveals
Meet Sam, Ben, Ling, Alice (left to right).
The Lineup So Far
Sam. He owns the general store and lives on the second floor with his wife. Sam usually spends his day off relaxing at home, enjoying home-cooked meals, and working on puzzles. On the rare occasion that he goes out, he visits the Beach Shack to catch up with his friends over chess.
Benis a nomad who lives in a caravan stationed in the forest. If you knock on his window on the weekend, he might have some random things to sell -- be it items he finds scavenging around the island or things that he doesn’t want anymore. Ben spends his money attending the Fall music festivals and green tea.
Ling. She spends her day working as a marine biologist at Coral Island laboratory. During time off, she knits cold-weather accessories, beanies, scarves, etc. She has dedicated her life to study coral reefs, and how to make them more resistant to rising ocean temperatures.
Alice. A bachelorette. Alongside her twin sister Suki, they own, run, and live by the beach in Coral Inn. Running a business is hard, and running it with your sister is harder. Alice spends her days working at the inn, and her free time hanging out with friends in town. Loves minced jackfruit pies.
Beach Environment Showcase
Coral Island has a white sand beach along its coastline. You'll come across various wildlife and scavenge for items that only appear here. Islanders go here to fish, and on the weekends, spend time with family playing volleyball.
Take a peek at Coral Island’s coastline... And a cute little crab!
Ranching
This month, we've decided to show off ranching! Showcased here are level 1 coops. Small and cozy, they occupy 7x4 tiles. Before farm buildings are ready for use, they go through a construction phase.
To keep ranch animals happy, you have to feed them every day. If you forget to feed animals, it affects their mood. An upset Chicken won't produce any eggs. No fodder, no egg!
PS: The coop interior is a work in progress. Also us before and after coffee.
Ranch animals have an indicator to let you know whether they can be petted, sheared, or milked. The Heart emote will disappear once a Ranch Animal is petted.
Imagine having 5 cows and 10 chickens out in the field and not being able to keep track of which ones you've already petted? We think this might help.
Ranching in action!
Farm Animal: Cow
We’ve shared Pig and Chicken back in April (shown animated in July) and now, it’s time to reveal a chonkier, barn-dwelling animal, Cow.
Brown Cow vs. Regular Cow
Coral Island's Cow comes with four different horn designs. The design will be randomly selected when you purchase Cow from the Ranch. We think the diverse horn will give our Cow more identity.
When you welcome an adult cow onto your farm, they will come with one of four horn designs. We hope these horns will give your cows more identity, and make them more personable.
Once Cow is an adult, it can get pregnant and give birth to Baby Cow. During the pregnancy, Cow will stop producing milk. Keep in mind that Baby Cow can not produce milk until they mature.
NPC Activity Animation
In addition to having different personalities, each islander in Coral Island also has their own hobbies and professions. Shown below is Theo, a daytime fisherman and an amateur entertainer by night. A look at how Theo spends his weekends, making a quick buck performing live at the Tavern.
Bug of The Month
Theo makes it to the bug of the month! Is it a bug or mad guitar skills? Twitter seems to think the latter, but we will let you decide on that.
What's Next
Over the next 2 months, we are going to have less content to share on the blog. The reason being that the team needs to focus on delivering the announcement trailer, planned for January 2021.
Instead, we will be doing mini updates with character reveals, music, animations and animals. The Diving blog post has been moved to the end of January 2021, to coincide with the trailer release. This means any update until then won't include game features. As always, your feedback is appreciated.
Thanks for reading, Stairway Team