While there are no plans for dating mechanics, the friendships you make in the game will be a central design pillar; and as you grow closer to these ponies, you will learn about their motivations, backstories, and eventually secrets.
Yeah I think that has become something of a lost art. Well I mean, not entirely, obviously the Soulsbourne genre has been very much keeping the convoluted no hand-holding game design philosophy alive – but you're right, I think Animal Crossing is a perfect example of games generally trending away from being worlds to explore, and worlds for the player to control every aspect of.
Thank you! Still working on it almost every day, so while I can't comment on exactly how long it will take, I am committed to getting it launched eventually.
While Eventide Spark will be the only mane character in the initial launch, I am of course giving consideration to expanding the cast down the line. For now though, I'm planning what I think is a pretty interesting story with Eve!
And butt marks present a really interesting (and frankly complex) narrative and mechanical issue that I'm just sidestepping for now. My biggest focus at the moment is simply getting the village to a playable state.
Not in this Prologue build, no. If you'd like to see what else will eventually come to the full game when it releases, you can preview updates in either the dev logs here on itch, or on my Patreon.
Glad you're excited, and I can't wait to share more in the future!
1. Price is yet undetermined about the game, but at the very least there will be a sizable chunk (much larger than Prologue) available at launch for free.
2. While I absolutely want to eventually add these species options, do not expect to see them at launch. I want to make sure they're given the time and effort needed to really stand out when I eventually do create them.
3. Very very unlikely this will ever happen; though, alicorn characters may at least be referenced in certain parts of the story...
