This Update Might Take A Little Longer
While the artist finishes up work on some new NPCs, I've been hard at work doing a couple things. First off I got a bit done for the multiplayer side, pretty much I got a bit more functionally built into the master server. It now can read data from public servers and decide when that server has gone down. It partially works with the client to send the full server list although there is a bug in the system right now I'm still ironing out.
I implemented a few new textures for the biomes and created a new pillar object as well. I am also beginning work on the new NPCs which may take a little bit as they do not behave like the animals do. I'm trying to say all this without spoiling anything of course so it's quite difficult to be specific. I should have these new NPCs implemented within the next few days.
I will post version 0.1.3.5 once they are functional and the new biome is working well.
News On The Overall Development Process
I'm happy to say that I am still loving the development process and it has yet to become a chore. With that said you can expect a lot more content and continuous improvements. I'm glad to see that the community is really doing well and remains very supportive. I couldn't ask for more.
The artist and I are getting more comfortable working as a team (something I'm horrible at) which can only lead to higher quality work from the two of us.
Answering The Pay To Play Suggestions
Many people have contacted me and have suggested making the singleplayer feature free (essentially the game) but requiring a purchase to play the multiplayer. My answer to that is simply no. I would feel like I'm cheating people out of something. Maybe I'm just too old fashion but I believe in purchasing a product once and getting everything that product entails. Including and not limited to future updates, bug fixes, and additional content.
Imagine if you loved the singleplayer and then paid for the multiplayer and disliked it. Wouldn't you feel like you were cheated? I would. Compare that to this... You buy the game and love the singleplayer. You try out the multiplayer and dislike it. Maybe multiplayer just doesn't feel right to you but you loved the singleplayer, at least you didn't spend your money on a specific feature just to regret that decision shortly after.
Please share your opinion on this matter. Perhaps I'm wrong and not seeing the potential of this idea. I'd love to discuss it.