Merchant Update Out Now!
Hello gardeners!
We are excited to announce that the Merchant Update has officially been released! With it comes house upgrades, an updated plant system, a composting box and a sweet bunch of new decoration items for both your garden and your home. But that’s not all! Read on for a deep dive into each new feature or scroll all the way to the bottom for the full patch notes.
But first, a small (but actually rather large) notice:
[h2]This patch contains changes that will break your save files![/h2]
Major changes to gameplay systems made for the Merchant Patch will render your previously saved game sessions incompatible with the new update. Even if they might load for you, many features might be broken on old save files and we can’t guarantee that all the game systems will function correctly. We strongly recommend that you start a new game file to ensure that everything works as intended.
Breaking saves like this is sadly one of the risks of early access and we are doing our best to avoid it, but at times it can’t be helped. Thanks for bearing with us!
With that out of the way, let’s move on to the sweet new stuff we’re giving you!
[h2]The Merchant has arrived[/h2]
The Merchant has finally woken up from his nap and he’s here to stay! Be sure to swing by for a look at what’s in stock regularly, because he likes to update his stock with new items every day!
On the Merchant’s trading ship you’ll use your farmed resources to trade for a long range of items and decorations that will allow you to further personalize your island. The Merchant stocks everything from alarm clocks to pots. He even carries pattern rolls which will enable you to update the fabric of your curtains and pillows, allowing you to max out your house decoration game even further!
[h2]Upgrade your home from a simple tent to the home of your dreams[/h2]
For all your living needs we’ve added a li'l questline for upgrading your house from a humble tent into a cozy cabin which has more room and wall-space for storage and decorating! In the largest home you can also customize the colors of the walls, floors and roof using the Jellyfish painting blobs, so go wild!
[h2]Clean up that mess with new storage solutions[/h2]
Is your island as messy as mine? Are seed bags scattered all over the floor and is there a pile of long forgotten harvested vegetables resting at the bottom of the pond? With the new storage solutions we’re adding it will be easier than ever to organize your items!
After you’ve upgraded your home, you’ll find a neat little chest that can store items in bubbles similar to the ones in your inventory. We’ve also added additional shelves with similar storage capacities.
For you who like to keep your items out on display there are also some regular shelves and tables you can craft (or buy) for keeping your home nice and tidy.
[h2]Show your garden some extra love with the new compost[/h2]
Next to your home we have now placed a neat little composting unit which will allow you to convert green plants into useful fertilizer. You can then use the fertilizer on tilled soil to increase plant growth speed and reduce the amount of water the plants need to fully grow.
Sounds super sweet if you ask me!
[h2]Plant system rework[/h2]
Gardening is a huge part of our game and of course it hasn’t missed out on our love in this update. We have made a complete overhaul to the plant system which will result in better performance along with opening up new doors for us to implement new features such as wind (to come in the future), smoother growth and new potential interactions.
Some examples of the changes you’ll notice in this update is that plants now consume water as they grow and the growing process has been slowed down to more closely represent the intended feel of the final game. You’ll also notice it will be a bit easier to harvest resources from fully grown plants without uprooting them completely as they now need to be tilled in order to be completely uprooted.
Our clever gardening magician Oliver has promised to dive deeper into this overhaul in a later post, so stay tuned!
[h2]Capture and display memories with the new in-game camera[/h2]
Your tool shed has now been expanded and includes a nifty little instant camera. Pick it up, snap some photos of your best friends and hang them up on display in your newly upgraded house.
If you ever feel like sharing your photos outside the game you can find them stored in the ‘Data’ folder in your Garden of the Sea save folder. It’s usually located in one of the numbered folders within ‘%USERPROFILE%\\AppData\\LocalLow\\Neat Corporation\\Garden of the Sea\\Saves’ (boy, that was a mouthful).
[h2]New - smoother - ways to move around[/h2]
You asked for it - and we listened! Smooth locomotion along with more options regarding snap turning has been added to the game in this update, so if you’re one of those cool cats that like to glide rather than teleport you’ll now be able to do so (you still need to teleport up steep hills though).
You can turn this on along with fine tuning your movement speed and acceleration from the Settings tab in the in-game menu.
[h2][SEASONAL] Fall has arrived to all islands[/h2]
Do you love Fall as much as we do? Does the Halloween season always put a wide smile on your face? Then you’re gonna love the fact that you can now enjoy the beautiful season of fall in Garden of the Sea! You’ll also find some sweet Halloween themed decorations which you can place around your garden and home. We hope you’ll enjoy this feature as much as we do!
That’d be all for this time folks! If you want to get down into the nitty-gritty we’re also providing a full patch note list at the very bottom, but as always we’re loving the engagement and love you are showing, so keep the feedback coming! ♥️
Feel free to join the Neat Corp Discord if you haven’t already to share your thoughts, additional feedback or want to make us aware of any bugs you’ve encountered.
Until next time,
// The Neat GotS team
[h2]FULL PATCH NOTES[/h2]
[h3]New Features[/h3]
[h3]Feature Updates[/h3]
[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]
We are excited to announce that the Merchant Update has officially been released! With it comes house upgrades, an updated plant system, a composting box and a sweet bunch of new decoration items for both your garden and your home. But that’s not all! Read on for a deep dive into each new feature or scroll all the way to the bottom for the full patch notes.
But first, a small (but actually rather large) notice:
[h2]This patch contains changes that will break your save files![/h2]
Major changes to gameplay systems made for the Merchant Patch will render your previously saved game sessions incompatible with the new update. Even if they might load for you, many features might be broken on old save files and we can’t guarantee that all the game systems will function correctly. We strongly recommend that you start a new game file to ensure that everything works as intended.
Breaking saves like this is sadly one of the risks of early access and we are doing our best to avoid it, but at times it can’t be helped. Thanks for bearing with us!
With that out of the way, let’s move on to the sweet new stuff we’re giving you!
[h2]The Merchant has arrived[/h2]
The Merchant has finally woken up from his nap and he’s here to stay! Be sure to swing by for a look at what’s in stock regularly, because he likes to update his stock with new items every day!
On the Merchant’s trading ship you’ll use your farmed resources to trade for a long range of items and decorations that will allow you to further personalize your island. The Merchant stocks everything from alarm clocks to pots. He even carries pattern rolls which will enable you to update the fabric of your curtains and pillows, allowing you to max out your house decoration game even further!
[h2]Upgrade your home from a simple tent to the home of your dreams[/h2]
For all your living needs we’ve added a li'l questline for upgrading your house from a humble tent into a cozy cabin which has more room and wall-space for storage and decorating! In the largest home you can also customize the colors of the walls, floors and roof using the Jellyfish painting blobs, so go wild!
[h2]Clean up that mess with new storage solutions[/h2]
Is your island as messy as mine? Are seed bags scattered all over the floor and is there a pile of long forgotten harvested vegetables resting at the bottom of the pond? With the new storage solutions we’re adding it will be easier than ever to organize your items!
After you’ve upgraded your home, you’ll find a neat little chest that can store items in bubbles similar to the ones in your inventory. We’ve also added additional shelves with similar storage capacities.
For you who like to keep your items out on display there are also some regular shelves and tables you can craft (or buy) for keeping your home nice and tidy.
[h2]Show your garden some extra love with the new compost[/h2]
Next to your home we have now placed a neat little composting unit which will allow you to convert green plants into useful fertilizer. You can then use the fertilizer on tilled soil to increase plant growth speed and reduce the amount of water the plants need to fully grow.
Sounds super sweet if you ask me!
[h2]Plant system rework[/h2]
Gardening is a huge part of our game and of course it hasn’t missed out on our love in this update. We have made a complete overhaul to the plant system which will result in better performance along with opening up new doors for us to implement new features such as wind (to come in the future), smoother growth and new potential interactions.
Some examples of the changes you’ll notice in this update is that plants now consume water as they grow and the growing process has been slowed down to more closely represent the intended feel of the final game. You’ll also notice it will be a bit easier to harvest resources from fully grown plants without uprooting them completely as they now need to be tilled in order to be completely uprooted.
Our clever gardening magician Oliver has promised to dive deeper into this overhaul in a later post, so stay tuned!
[h2]Capture and display memories with the new in-game camera[/h2]
Your tool shed has now been expanded and includes a nifty little instant camera. Pick it up, snap some photos of your best friends and hang them up on display in your newly upgraded house.
If you ever feel like sharing your photos outside the game you can find them stored in the ‘Data’ folder in your Garden of the Sea save folder. It’s usually located in one of the numbered folders within ‘%USERPROFILE%\\AppData\\LocalLow\\Neat Corporation\\Garden of the Sea\\Saves’ (boy, that was a mouthful).
[h2]New - smoother - ways to move around[/h2]
You asked for it - and we listened! Smooth locomotion along with more options regarding snap turning has been added to the game in this update, so if you’re one of those cool cats that like to glide rather than teleport you’ll now be able to do so (you still need to teleport up steep hills though).
You can turn this on along with fine tuning your movement speed and acceleration from the Settings tab in the in-game menu.
[h2][SEASONAL] Fall has arrived to all islands[/h2]
Do you love Fall as much as we do? Does the Halloween season always put a wide smile on your face? Then you’re gonna love the fact that you can now enjoy the beautiful season of fall in Garden of the Sea! You’ll also find some sweet Halloween themed decorations which you can place around your garden and home. We hope you’ll enjoy this feature as much as we do!
That’d be all for this time folks! If you want to get down into the nitty-gritty we’re also providing a full patch note list at the very bottom, but as always we’re loving the engagement and love you are showing, so keep the feedback coming! ♥️
Feel free to join the Neat Corp Discord if you haven’t already to share your thoughts, additional feedback or want to make us aware of any bugs you’ve encountered.
Until next time,
// The Neat GotS team
[h2]FULL PATCH NOTES[/h2]
[h3]New Features[/h3]
- Merchant added with shop and goods to trade
- Pattern system for curtains and pillows added
- House upgrade miniquest
- Composting bin for green parts of plants added to island
- Fertilizer item created from compost bin added
- New interior decor items
- New garden decor items
- Free/Smooth locomotion added
- Snap turning and other movement settings added
- New storage systems for interior furniture to hold items
- In-game Camera implemented for taking photos of your garden
- Fall season implemented with foliage colors and seasonal plants and decor
- The game now has a loading screen
[h3]Feature Updates[/h3]
- New optimized backend system for plants
- Plant growth is slower and takes several watering sessions to fully grow
- Resources from plants are not grabbable until fully grown
- Whole plants can no longer be picked up, but must first be tilled from the soil
[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]
- Input for different controllers fixes
- Snapturning fixes
- Some recipe fixes
- Index finger tracking fix
- Fishing music fixed
- Flower heads becoming small on save/load fix
- Plants in planterbox bugfixes
- Birds will no longer knock over things while flying
- Respawning objects fix
- All grabbables should now have correct outlines
- Plant collision fixes
