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Happy winter solstice!
Today, we come bearing gifts. As promised in our last development update, we've been busily preparing our very first batch of new additions to Kynseed. These additions are all fairly basic and won't contain any notably flashy content of any kind, but there's still a few cool things we've added which you can check out below. We've come to refer to this as "The First Steps Update", particularly because its focus was on preparing some basic systems to help pave the way for more complex systems in future updates.
Let us know how you get on with things here on the forums or over on our Discord, where you can come warm yourself by our server's fire and nibble on some cookies. Of course, if you experience any particularly itchy bug bites you can also let us know at [email protected].
PLAYER HAIR CUSTOMISATION
- At the start of the game, players will be able to choose from 8 different hair colours
- This is only our very first pass at character customisation, but more is likely to come in the future
- Whichever hair colour you choose will also be reflected in your twin
NPC CHAT SYSTEM FIRST PASS
- After your initial introduction to an NPC, you'll then be able to select from a few conversation branches
- NPC's now have friendship levels which will tell you their current demeanor towards you
- Gifting is now linked to an NPC's state as well as their preferences
- NPC's can ask for basic favours of getting or delivering items that help progress your friendship status
- Most of the system's dialogue text is largely placeholder for this first pass, but we'll be properly fleshing the text out in future updates
GOODS STORE SELLING TABLES
- Goods stores will now have a selling table with which you can sell items for a profit
- Each store has a daily maximum of brass it can spend - this resets each day
- Stores will also have special "wanted" items that, if fulfilled, will result in extra profit
- "Wanted" items will often be different depending on which region the store is in
- Seasons may also affect the prices of some goods
MYSTERIOUS FAE WANDERERS
- New curious wanderers, in the form of fairies and gnomes, will start appearing in villages from time to time
- They haven't discovered their full purpose yet, but interacting will usually make them talk a tiny bit
MORE YULE CHANGELOG
- You now have the option for multiple saves!
- Player saves will also display your character customization and will even show what season the save is from
- We've introduced a first pass of a player-created tasks system
- After the prologue, you'll be granted the ability to begin creating your own tasks
- There are a few task types at this stage
- The system should be flexible and expandable to offer player driven tasks for helping you manage your goals
- A basic ownership permissions system has been added
- Fruit trees and bushes outside houses are now marked as being owned by the house and will require permission for the player to take (if the residents haven't harvested it first!)
- The basic UI to track whether you have permission can be found by interacting with the monuments for the building and requires you to raise the family friendship rating to a certain level
- The darklight is now a standalone item to make it easier to use - further uses of it will come in later updates
- NPC's should no longer mistakenly wake up for a short time during their slumber
- And, as always, a slew of behind the scenes fixes and optimizations
We'll likely push out a smaller update not long after this one which'll contain any important fixes we need to make and probably even some bits of polish that we'll want to fuss over. When that next incremental update goes live, we'll be sure to post about it in the usual spot.
After that, we'll turn our attention to putting together a full roadmap which will chart out all the major milestones of our adventure together. Once we've plotted out all those nooks and crannies, our next step will be to work towards the second major update to the game! And of course, we'll be sure to share that roadmap with you all just as soon as it's ready. Honestly, we love maps. We'd be lost without them. Though recently, Yorkshire Police have had all of their maps stolen. A spokesman said they're searching for Leeds.
Once again, a most happy winter solstice to you all! Today is the shortest day of the entire year, which means we can all look forward to our days only growing longer from here on out. Soon there'll be warm sunlight gracing the tops of our towers. Though for now, snow still covers the castle grounds here at PixelCount. We even bought a snow shovel, but it melted by the time we got it home.
I'm sure we'll be talking with you all again very soon, but in the meantime you're certainly welcome to come visit our cozy community whenever you like. We'll leave the porch light on for you.
Love,
PixelCount
