Hello Pachans!! This is a mammoth-and-a-half-sized 🐘 update for the game! We’ve added irrigation, expanded caves, romance and dating, a complete overhaul to the ui, new character portraits, and more! (more info on those in devlog #19, #20, #21). In this devlog, we cover a few new ideas, trading, animal updates like racing, and a whole lot more listed at the bottom of the devlog.
We can’t wait for Be-ta Backers to play (and send their feedback too!). For those anxiously waiting the game, we’ll have a demo in June we hope you’ll enjoy. 🔥🔥🔥
There’s still a “road to be walked,” with lots of content to develop, but we’re more than happy with the state of the game right now. To celebrate, we’ll be doing a live stream with SharkyGames on Tuesday, April 12th at 10 am PDT on YouTube 🥳🥳 Hope to see you there!
The Ideas of Ideas
"Ideas" are one of the most important aspects of the game. We implemented and tested a few processors in the Alpha that are now "Ideas" in the Beta. For example, you'll help Tare develop a Press that helps the clan juice more things.
Once you explore deep into the caves, you'll find tin that will spark an "Idea" on how to work with this new material. From there, you'll be able to upgrade your sickle and make a tin bucket that holds more water.
Make watering your crops even quicker by developing the Idea of irrigation with Garrek. After he sees you using your new tin watering can, he will have an idea he would like to discuss with you.
Trading
Our Pachan friend, Zelk, returns to the clan along with his partner, Nari, and their daughter Era, who have never met the clan before. Through Zelk, we'll get the "Idea" to trade with others, giving us the ability to get resources that are harder to find.
Social
We need each other to not only survive, but to thrive. In this update, we implemented more of the social side, which was many, many months in the making.
Dialogues
All characters now have a minimum of ten dialogues. The two romanceable characters in Beta Frer and Mana have over 50 and 40 dialogues, respectively. We feel this is a good "first coat of paint" on the social system and something we look forward to expanding upon for release.
Gifts
All characters have a set of loved, liked, disliked, and hated gifts that will affect your friendship with them with unique dialogue associated. You can also get an extra boost to friendship if you give them a gift on their birthday, especially a loved gift.
A Few New Looks
While redesigning the portraits, we gave a few characters a fresh look in the world that better fit their personalities and added to our cast.
New Place To Get Things
Decorate with things that Reese made. Visit her and find what items will help you turn your hut a home.
She will also have some extra fabric that will allow you to expand your belt and carry more items as you travel the land.
Animals
Racing
In the Alpha, we could only race with others in multiplayer. Now, you'll be able to race Mana and Jelrod every Saturday. It also will become part of clan culture and something near and dear to some of the characters. We look forward to telling you more about this as we expand this Idea.
Animal Updates
We had a few animals with color variations in the game, but we thought it was time for guanacos and bison (who are now rideable) to get some new styles. You can also gather fur from boars by shearing them.
Improved Mini-Game
Like fishing before it, we felt it was time to give this game a little more polish. To attune to an animal, you will play the game until you fill all the notes. It may take you one try or a few. Some animals will be harder to tame than others.
The Lore Expands
The story is something we don't want to spoil for those who wish to discover it for themselves, so we'll remain tight-lipped on many parts. So instead, we will tell you the question we hope to answer: what brought us to the Land Between Two Rivers?
Caves have been a spiritual place throughout human history and we aim to honor that legacy with a thoughtful experience and a dash of humor. We hope you'll enjoy the adventure.
Quality of Life
We now have full controller support! This not only offers us a better experience now, but it will help us when we develop for consoles later.
We now have an easier-to-navigate UI. This was a massive undertaking that took a lot of time and attention. You can read more about it in devlog 21.
We’ll have a Mac OS build in the near future. So our alpha and beta backers who prefer to play on mac should have access soon.
Mark Your Calendars!
After a busy few months, we wanted to hang out with the community again, so we’ll start a new save and stream the game on Tuesday, April 12th at 10 am PDT on YouTube. Plus, we’ll be raffling a few Beta Keys! We hope to see you in chat!
We’ve mentioned it a few times in the Discord, but we are excited to announce we will have a demo on Steam in June. We can’t wait for people to play! Stay tuned for more info.
Added Features
- Revamped UI
- Full controller support
- New portraits
- New game intro and initial quests
- New introduction to the Yakuan and Mograni clans
- Tutorials
- New Rite of Passage, choose offering
- Mortar, press & fermenter ideas
- Hammering idea
- Tin tools
- Irrigation idea
- Cheesecloth idea
- New preserved items: dried fruit, fermented vegetables, butter, mayo, sour cream, cheese
- Trading idea
- Arrival of trader family
- Inventory expansion
- Frer & Mana are fully dateable
- Kiss mechanic
- Pacha Tree Union
- NPCs now have more dialogue and schedules
- NPCs gifts and birthday reactions
- Skip button in cutscenes
- Overhauled caves with lore and new challenges
- Guanaco & bison variants
- Bison are now rideable
- Wild boar produces fur
- Anima domestication thresholds
- Mana and Jelrod race with players
- New tattoos
- Item placement outside farming area
- Host won't get kicked if the internet is lost
- Time stops when in UI
- Stamina hit if you pass out
- Steam Cloud saves
You rock!
-The Soda Den Team