Just like last week, we've been working hard on improving the game in various ways. The following video shows some, but not all, improvements made this week.
As shown in the video, a combination of images and sound make it more clear when the player switches to a different building in the town view. Having both images and sounds to convey that something is happening is usually a good idea. However, it's always important to not rely completely on sound effects, since there's the option to turn them off. The picture below shows the current appearance of the building information menu.
The dialogues have also been updated to make it more visually clear which character is talking. This is made using a subtle sparkle-particle effect behind the character. There's a bug related to this at the moment, which will be fixed next week. We also consider adding an additional visual indicator for the talking character.
Another visual indicator that has been added is a screen to indicate the end of a monthly event. Text, particle effects (if they are turned on) and a sound effect (if sound is turned on) tells the player that the event has been completed.
In addition to everything listed above, we have also been working on some other things. In the game, we've balanced food a bit, removed arrow buttons in certain scenarios (so that the start or end of a menu is clearly indicated) and removed the mouse pointer when changing rooms and other fading effects (to make loading appear smoother). Slightly improved loading has also decreased the live gameplay stuttering (which wasn't that big to begin with, but the less stuttering, the better).
Besides work on the actual game, we have also begun working on a video devlog! Video devlogs are but one type of promotion that we have in consideration for the future, but we will see what works best in the long run. The main focus is, of course, the game itself.