Post by JakeGosche in Haystack Village (Alpha Release) comments

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"It's alright, neither of those things were an issue!

As for making the sunstone easier to find, perhaps the last five hoe strikes could produce spreading marks like the breaking boulder? "

That's a good idea! I'll write that down.

"When you answered the Marion question, I wondered if that may have implied plans for an "Ashanna Route" and a "Marion Route"?"

It is not something I've but much thought into, but I do like that idea.

"As for stamina, I thought 500 was already the maximum because of a notification that says you can no longer lift weights?"

Just checked and you are correct, I forgot I'd set a maximum. So I'll have to look and see why the text is getting distorted once it reaches the maximum.

"When you answered the dating question, for some reason, I started wondering if someone will eventually make a mod in which Marion is dateable or could be forcefully adopted like a pet, lol."

Marion as an adopted pet would be hilarious! I love the idea.

"I also had some questions about the dark figures in the maze. Were those also villagers? If so, why would they do that and how did they enter before the player?"

They are supposed to be all of the villagers under Marion's spell. Them entering before the player is something I've considered but haven't found an elegant solution for yet. Perhaps I could make the rest of the villagers unable to be found and all of the houses locked during that portion of the game.

"As for the comment about Rusty's house, that came from my second save file in which I already knew to visit at night. Something similar I just noticed was that when I read NALBA on the second save file without having the dream, the secret room won't unlock."

Yep, similarly to thing you noticed about Rusty's house, I added this to prevent the game's sequence from breaking. But it's something I'll put thought into changing.

"Edit #2: I also forgot to mention that if you break into the mayor's house after Joe's memory cycle (for lack of a better term) and touch her dresser, her disembodied voice will still ask you to stop.

Edit #3: Even after you start dating Rusty, he might ask if you're interested in being more than friends."

Both good catches, thanks for bringing them to my attention!

Edit #4: In the first save file, Orwin and Joe died. In the second one, it was Orwin and Ron. Are any other death combinations currently available? Speaking of death, the only downside about resurrection for me is that the villager deaths currently seem to be less important. Are there any disadvantages that I haven't noticed yet?

This is another thing I've gone back and forth with because I want to be able to allow the player to play "normally" after the completion of the story and keep working on their farm but I agree that it does cheapen the deaths. It might be worth coming up with another disadvantage.

"Secondly, I'm having trouble with 12 9. Should I keep moving and digging in different combinations like the other tasks or am I missing something? Does it require more than six strikes?"

It should only require 3 strikes. I just looked at the location and I'm not sure why the clue suggests 12 9, as it's been a while since I worked on that portion. 15 10 seems more accurate,

"Thirdly, I was wondering how many secrets are left to be discovered."

It sounds like you've discovered a lot what the game has to offer, but there might be some random easter eggs that you haven't found. If you haven't yet, try striking a tree repeatedly with an axe. :)

"Lastly, which types of project assistance would be beneficial? I doubt that I could help with anything else, but some other people might read about it and become interested."

You've provided a lot of assistance to me already, and I'd like to include you in the credits for the game, if that's ok with you. As far as additional help, the main thing I'd need right now would be an artist for the game's scenes/items/characters or somebody who has some experience with C# and/or Unity. Let me know if you think you could help me there! I can pay but unfortunately it wouldn't be much right now.

Anonymous Organism1 year ago (8 edits) (+1)

I recently discovered the rest of the tree secret after reading someone's comment. At first, I only got to the notification that said striking the tree wasn't going to work. When I found the other part, it was even funnier because the tree was dead!

As for the credits, it'd be alright to include me!

When it comes to additional help, I don't think that I'm a good enough artist to contribute, sadly. Even if I was, I'm sure I'd be rusty. However, I've been wanting to try making fanart for fun. If any of it turns out to be surprisingly good to the point where you'd like to use it, then you'd be more than welcome to! Just out of curiosity, which assets are still needed and for lack of a better term, which characteristics would make them technically and/or thematically addible?

Edit: For some reason, I'm still struggling to decipher 15 10. I've tried using both the door and the ghost as starting points for different combinations.

Secondly, I found some more money in a tree by the river! Who keeps hiding money and why?

Thirdly, how long should it take for sick animals to recover? Do they need to receive all of their missed feedings or do they require less than that?

Fourthly, Orwin tried to give me a burger from a messed up order, but he accidentally gave me pumpkin seeds.

Fifthly, after you dig in the lower right corner of your farm, you can still receive hints about that.

Sixthly, long after the story has ended, Millie will still occasionally invite you to take refuge in her home if needed. Parker will also talk about how the library might have a secret.

JakeGosche1 year ago(+1)

"When it comes to additional help, I don't think that I'm a good enough artist to contribute, sadly. Even if I was, I'm sure I'd be rusty. However, I've been wanting to try making fanart for fun. If any of it turns out to be surprisingly good to the point where you'd like to use it, then you'd be more than welcome to! Just out of curiosity, which assets are still needed and for lack of a better term, which characteristics would make them technically and/or thematically addible?"

I would love to see fanart! In terms of fanart that would thematically work in the game, I was planning on re-doing the dream images of Marion and Ashanna, since currently it's just distorted versions of their sprites. But if you do decide to make some fanart I can find some way to incorporate it into the game, regardless of what you makes. :)

"Edit: For some reason, I'm still struggling to decipher 15 10. I've tried using both the door and the ghost as starting points for different combinations."

Ah, sorry, it sounds like it's bugged. I'll do some testing and determine why it isn't working, thanks for your patience.

"Secondly, I found some more money in a tree by the river! Who keeps hiding money and why?"

Haha, there's no reason narrative reason, as of now. I thought it'd be fun to hide a few things for the player to find. :)

"Thirdly, how long should it take for sick animals to recover? Do they need to receive all of their missed feedings or do they require less than that?"

The animal feeding system probably needs to be re-worked a bit. Animals start out with a "mood" rating of 5. Each time they're fed, their mood improves by 1. Missing a feeding decreases their mood by 5. As long as their mood is >= 5, they'll stay healthy. What I likely need to do is add a cap on mood rating and cause the animal to die if they aren't fed for a couple days in a row.

"Fourthly, Orwin tried to give me a burger from a messed up order, but he accidentally gave me pumpkin seeds.

Fifthly, after you dig in the lower right corner of your farm, you can still receive hints about that.

Sixthly, long after the story has ended, Millie will still occasionally invite you to take refuge in her home if needed. Parker will also talk about how the library might have a secret."

Duly noted! Thanks again, I've compiled quite a list of things to fix with your help. :P

Anonymous Organism1 year ago (4 edits) (+1)

When you think of what you'd like the updated dream images to be in comparison to the current ones, do any particular details come to mind?

Ok, thank you!

Understandable! My guess was that when children were present, little goodies may have been occasionally hidden for them. Since the village had been lacking children for years and Colby treats the village like family, I thought he might view the player as a newly adopted child of sorts. Perhaps Colby wanted Michael to experience what everyone else did when they were young.

That'd make sense.

You're welcome!

Edit: Does this seem like a good time to mention any noticeable spelling or grammatical errors? I've seen a few before, but wanted to focus on the more important things first.

As for the credits, I forgot to mention that my name is Emily Wise.

Also, which dog breed or mix is Huxley?

JakeGosche1 year ago(+1)

"When you think of what you'd like the updated dream images to be in comparison to the current ones, do any particular details come to mind?"

I'd probably want to keep a more pixelated style but more detailed than the sprites that I'm using, similar to the character portraits that are in the game. I'll likely add an effect that shifts the image around to give a hazy "dream-like" effect.

"Understandable! My guess was that when children were present, little goodies may have been occasionally hidden for them. Since the village had been lacking children for years and Colby treats the village like family, I thought he might view the player as a newly adopted child of sorts. Perhaps Colby wanted Michael to experience what everyone else did when they were young."

Oh wow, I really like that! I think it adds a lot of much needed characterization for Colby. Would you mind if I used that?

"Edit: Does this seem like a good time to mention any noticeable spelling or grammatical errors? I've seen a few before, but wanted to focus on the more important things first."

Absolutely! If you've noticed any spelling/grammar errors, I'd be interested to see them.

"As for the credits, I forgot to mention that my name is Emily Wise."

Noted! Thanks, Emily!

"Also, which dog breed or mix is Huxley?"

I imagined him as a beagle mix. I grew up with a beagle so I'm biased. :P

Anonymous Organism1 year ago (11 edits) (+1)

Ok!

Not at all, go ahead!

Ok, I'll start double-checking their locations!

You're welcome!

Understandable! Which type of beagle mix do you think he is?

Edit: In the book about Ashanna, Haystack Village is referred to as Harvestville. Is Haystack Village a smaller location within Harvestville or was the latter an old name for the area?

It also says, "Ashanna has watched over the town and it's inhabitants". I think "it's" should be replaced with "its".

What is the official spelling of Kiera/Keira's name? I'll just list every mention of her possible names: Her name label says "Kiera". When she introduces herself, her name is shown as "keira". When Parker says that people tend to be surprised about their relationship, he calls her "Keira". During the breakup cutscene, Orwin says "Keira".

During Fred's introduction cutscene, "probably" was misspelled as "probalby".

During some of Kiera/Keira's bar dialogue, she says, "My husband Parker good guy" instead of "My husband Parker is a good guy".

When Elizabeth smiles and asks you to visit Rusty, she says, "see if you can't cheer him up". Was that a typo?

When Parker says that he's an inventor, "successful" is misspelled as "succesful".

JakeGosche1 year ago(+1)

"Understandable! Which type of beagle mix do you think he is?"

To be honest I haven't given it too much thought! I like leaving it a bit ambiguous, I've had rescue dogs where you could see a primary breed but then there's a mix of a few different other breeds that are too hard to pin down. So in honor of them, I'll leave it ambiguous (for now).

And thank you for the grammar/spelling corrections! Those are incredibly helpful. Keira is the correct spelling, so that's a pretty major issue considering that's her name label! Good catch.

Anonymous Organism1 year ago (4 edits) (+1)

Understandable, I also like rescue dogs! I just asked because I might try drawing Huxley and wanted to look up reference pictures of his real life counterparts. It's not an issue, I'll find something convincing!

Speaking of art, I've been working on some potential Marion dream drawings/fan art and I'll let you know when they're done!

You're welcome, I'll add more as they're encountered!

Edit:

Out of curiosity, do Ron and Pamela keep a futon in their drawers or behind their counter during the day? If not, is there a bed in an inaccessible room?

After Millie tells you how to break the boulder and your objective is updated, other NPCs will still discuss the boulder question.

When Colby responds to the boulder question, he says, "I'd help you break that boulder but my muscles aren't quite what they're used to.". I'd recommend changing it to something like, "I'd help you break that boulder, but my muscles aren't quite what they used to be."

JakeGosche1 year ago(+1)

Hey Emily! I thought I had replied to you earlier but just realized I missed it. Not to mention it looks like I missed one of your questions from your previous comment. Shame on me!

"Edit: In the book about Ashanna, Haystack Village is referred to as Harvestville. Is Haystack Village a smaller location within Harvestville or was the latter an old name for the area?"

Oh wow, that needs to be updated. Harvestville was the placeholder town name I used for a while. For a while the game's title was "Harvest Festival" but I decided to change it because of the title similarities with Harvest Moon.

"Understandable, I also like rescue dogs! I just asked because I might try drawing Huxley and wanted to look up reference pictures of his real life counterparts. It's not an issue, I'll find something convincing!"

Oh, gotcha! If you're looking for a point of reference, I would say a beagle-lab mix is the closest to what I had in mind for Huxley. Something like this. But since he's just pixel art for now, don't feel like you have to be confined to that.

"Speaking of art, I've been working on some potential Marion dream drawings/fan art and I'll let you know when they're done!"

That'd be amazing, I'm looking forward to seeing your fan art!

"Out of curiosity, do Ron and Pamela keep a futon in their drawers or behind their counter during the day? If not, is there a bed in an inaccessible room?"

So, I imagined the door to their room being on the side of the wall (and inaccessible) but in future references I'd like to make each house more personalized.

"After Millie tells you how to break the boulder and your objective is updated, other NPCs will still discuss the boulder question."

Ah, you're right! I'll update that.

"When Colby responds to the boulder question, he says, "I'd help you break that boulder but my muscles aren't quite what they're used to.". I'd recommend changing it to something like, "I'd help you break that boulder, but my muscles aren't quite what they used to be"

Good catch, thank you! As always, it's a huge help and I'm very grateful for your insights. :)

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