Coral Island News

Welcome to the April 2024 Coral Island development update!

This month, it's all about the ocean. Take a look at several new Merfolk and more! PLEASE NOTE: there are mid to late-game spoilers ahead.


Coral Island 1.1 beta will launch on May 20th, 2024. Join our Discord for more information!


[h2]Free Wallpaper Alert[/h2]
New wallpaper. Visit our Discord to get access to other sizes, perfect for your PC and or mobile phones!




[h2]Merfolk Townies[/h2]



Meet the latest members of the Merfolk Kingdom: a tattoo artist, a rancher, a tavern owner, and a senior guard.

Rysy runs her own tattoo shop where she designs all the tattoos herself and doesn't take custom orders. Art over custom, she said. Sorry, folks! She dedicates a lot of time to perfecting her art, hoping to find people who appreciate it. Could that someone be you?

Slamet is a rancher who can help you get animals for your underwater ranch. He's trained countless sea horses, mermoos and more. If it were up to him, he'd care for all the animals in the ocean, but alas, he's only got two hands. So, he dedicates himself to serving the kingdom.

Fun fact: Slamet, like Joko, is a common name in Indonesia. It’s also the name of a mountain in Central Java. The word "Slamet" loosely means "safety" or "congratulations."

Jannu owns Sleepy Eel, the local tavern. He's single and not interested in dating; he's content with his life and prefers not to let a relationship complicate things. You'll find him at the tavern all the time, fully devoted to his work.


Tahat, a loyal guard who has served the kingdom for many years. He's married to what he considers the most beautiful sea creature in the world, Etna, and leads a quiet life. They've mostly stayed in the kingdom, only traveling when duty calls. Tahat is a man of loyalty to the kingdom, a trait he shares with his daughter, Denali.


[h2]Merfolk Relationships[/h2]
Once you've advanced far enough in the game, you can start building relationships with the Merfolk. Explore how we're alike and different from our friends beneath the sea.


[The player is in everyone's business, as usual. Bless my heart.]

Discover their likes and dislikes, and they might open up about their stories. Learn about their hobbies, passions, and heck, if you talk to the right person, they might even reveal the advantages and disadvantages of being named after famous mountains.

[h2]Merfolk Romance[/h2]
That's right! Romance with the Merfolk will be available in the 1.1 update. Who's the first choice? Is it Semeru or Semeru?

Remember Erika's tip: everyone loves gifts. Now it's not just the townies, but also the underwater hotties.


[This also means a new wedding location for all the wedding location collectors out there. Better keep both eyes peeled for this one!]

[h2]Ocean Farming[/h2]

Game progression unlocks underwater farming. Farmers, once you've cleared your underwater farm, dive right into farming. Mix different land crops together and see what underwater seedbags they produce. Plant them to unlock even more varieties of seeds! A whole new world indeed.


[Your newest property: location, location, location!]



[Same tool, different place. Still Hoeing around.]

What crops need underwater is not more water, but light! And that's exactly what the Lumina Wand will provide, a new tool you'll acquire as you progress through the game.


[The Lumina Wand will provide ample light for your underwater crops to thrive.]


[h2]Ocean Crops[/h2]


[Mix up different land crops and see what underwater seedbags they produce—it's all in this cute little three-pocket thingy. You've got one on your land farm too!]


[Fun fact: "labu" means pumpkin in Bahasa Indonesia.]



[h2]Ocean Ranching[/h2]

The ranch has five underwater animals: Mermoo, Inkhog, Shellcluck, Carapoultry, and Seashroud. Just like the land ranch animals, each one of these cuties produces something you can sell.


[I know they're all cute, but I must say, my ranch strategy would be to fill up my farm with millions of Mermoos 'cos look at them!]

Seashroud takes inspiration from the leaf slug, a real underwater creature. Cute, isn't it?



Just like your dry cows and sheep, you’ll need to pet these underwater animals and feed them hay, bla bla bla. By the time you gain access to these cuties, you’ll already know the ropes—you'd be a pro rancher yourself!


[This is where you can purchase your underwater animals. And, more importantly, it's where you'll find Slamet. Huehuehue.]

[h2]Ocean Decor[/h2]

New farm, new decor. With you having two separate farms in version 1.1, where would all that money go if we didn't release more decor?


[The red one is my favorite.]


[Now you're sleeping on seaweed, just like the other merfolk do.]


You can still bring your favorite land decor—do NOT worry! We've added new tags to decor items to clarify whether you can place these items on land, underwater, or both.




[h2]Ocean Rank S[/h2]

Remember these things you saw while diving? If you've advanced through the diving questline, you've likely come across these various "orchestra sites." These will play a key role in your final quest to reach Ocean Rank S.


[This merfolk dances as well as I cook—I don't cook.]


[h2]NPC Speech Bubble[/h2]
We've added a variety of speech bubbles that your spouse might say to you during the day. In testing, we've found this new feature to be super immersive and really helps bring the characters to life.


[Hehe, I'm Sunshine.]


[Alright, boo, thanks. My wife is so nice.]


[h2]Decor System Improvements[/h2]
We've signifincatly improved the decor experience. In addition to UX improvements, flooring and walls are now treated as stackable items. Upon applying a flooring or wall, you'll acquire the items as a floaty so you can easily reuse the patterns you've collected.


[This floaty will help you visualize better what you're currently holding.]


[h2]Library Books[/h2]
For enjoyers of books, the library now slowly gets populated as you increase the towns rank. Bonus: Some books now offer perks when read, such as mastery points. Additionally, two special books provide a permanent buff that boosts the rate you earn relationship points.


[Reading pays off!]

[h2]Multiplayer Teaser & Switch Backers[/h2]

We're making TREMENDOUS progress on adding Multiplayer to Coral Island!


[You and up to 3 other farmers let loose on Starlet Town]

Switch backers: we're still in the game development process and going strong. We don't have any updates to share yet, but we'll keep you informed as soon as we have more to share!


[h2]What's Next[/h2]
In June, we'll showcase the progress of Multiplayer development in Coral Island. We can't wait for you to see the updates and just how enjoyable farming with friends can be!

Speaking of friends, If you're looking to make new gaming buddies, why not join our Discord server? You'll meet some of the coolest, most passionate farmers around.

Coral Island Discord: take me there!
Thanks for reading,
Stairway Team

Hi Farmers,

In this patch, we're implementing a "load save file from backup" feature to handle the very rare case where a save file becomes corrupted. You should now be able to view and load from backup save files.

Bugfixes:

• Load from backup save files: We've added an option in Game Settings called "Show Backup." Once enabled on the Load Game page, this will display all the backup save files available.
  
• Fixed auto chest causing crashes in the shed in some cases.
  
• Fixed the issue where items couldn't be purchased in the Winter Fair store.
  
• Fixed a problem in décor mode where some items couldn't be placed.
  

Localizations:

• Various translation improvements.
  

Best regards,
Stairway Team

Hi Farmers,

A very small hotfix for three issues that some players have reported.

Bugfixes:

• Fixed crashes that occurred when talking to NPCs in certain cases.
  
• Fixed the issue where players sometimes couldn't talk to certain NPCs.
  
• Fixed the problem where players couldn't talk to their spouse NPC.
  

Localizations:

• Various translation improvements.
  

Thank you for your patience and for reporting these issues, farmers!


Best,
Stairway Team

Welcome to the first Coral Island development update of 2024!

Here’s part 1 of the 2-part series on what’s coming in the 1.1 update. Today, we're talking about new stuff on land. Next time, we'll dive into ocean content.

[h2]State of Coral Island[/h2]
Since 1.0 launch, we've been closely monitoring all the feedback from our community. Whether it's discussions on Discord, streams, Reddit posts, social media, or the Steam forums, we're grateful to everyone who's shared their thoughts and supported us.

We're committed to fully realizing the vision that we've had for Coral Island from the very beginning, and to making it the best game that we possibly can. There are a number of improvements and features, like the Town Rank S questline, the Merfolk storyline, and much more that we are excited to bring to the game with future updates.


[h2]Updated Roadmap[/h2]
Today, we'd like to share a look at our current development roadmap with you. The future of the game is looking incredibly exciting!




[h2]Game Infographic[/h2]
Since our initial Kickstarter, Coral Island has grown significantly. With the 1.0 launch, we brought you a world with 130 hand-drawn NPCs and over 600,000 words, among numerous other content and features. This game has been a true labor of love by our dedicated developers. Now, with the 1.1 update, we've added even more cool stuff, giving you new things to see and do.




[h2]Town Rank S[/h2]
Become the ultimate farmer by reaching Town Rank S, a new end-game goal that expands and completes existing storylines. Yeah, hitting Rank A is pretty cool, but why stop there? If you're looking for more challenges and achievements, go for Rank S! We've added Town Rank S for anyone who's up for an extra layer of accomplishment. It's there for the taking if you want to push your farming skills to the max!




[h2]New Town Rank Category: Attractions[/h2]

Attractions is a new Town Rank category that becomes available after you've reached Town Rank A. You'll help the town build new attractions that will benefit townies and attract visitors.



Here's a sneak peek at a couple of the attractions:

[Everyone needs a Decent Gym.]


[Also, everyone needs access to great ramen!]

[h2]Museum Rank S[/h2]

To get to Rank S in the museum, your task is to bring dinosaurs back to life, sort of. You'll be making animated projections that make these ancient creatures look like they're alive again. So, how are you going to make that happen? Well, you’ll just have to play and see for yourself! Huehuheu.


[RAWRRRR!]

[h2]Heritage Rank S[/h2]

Embark on an epic quest to recover fragments of the Guardian's Mural and unlock the full story of the island's rich history and heritage.


[The Guardian’s Mural]


[The mysterious Guardians!]


[h2]Tourists now visit the town[/h2]

Roll out the welcome mat for tourists visiting the island weekly, (looking at you too, Tourist Backers! Welcome to Coral Island!) offering new opportunities for exploration, interaction, and adventure.


[Meet the Tourist Backers! They’ll be visiting Coral Island two seasons each year, wearing their own unique seasonal outfits. Plus, you can even chat with them! And just the heads up, before anyone asks: nope, you can’t romance these tourists.]


[You’ll find tourists visiting different parts of town.]


[h2]Giants Story Finale Sneak Peek[/h2]


[I wonder which way you ought to go...]


[h2]New Mechanic: Hangouts[/h2]
For the 1.1 update, you can invite your favorite dateable NPCs to hang out and earn friendship points by inviting them for ramen, enjoying a fishing date, or having a movie night, among other fun activities. And that's not all – we're looking to grow this feature in future updates to include more than just the dateable NPCs. So, tell us, which townies are you most excited to hang out with?


[You can invite eligible NPC to hangout twice a week.]


[Choose from a variety of hangout spots. Unlock more spots through progression.]


[Getting up close and personal - here's a snapshot of me and Alice on our museum date. Alone, no more!]


[h2]New Ranch Animals: Buffalo and Ostrich![/h2]
Meet the Buffalo and Ostrich, two exciting additions to your farm. You'll be able to acquire these unique farm animals at the Savannah.


[How are you getting out of the coop door?]


[Look at those ears!]

[h2]New Outfits and Decor[/h2]
We’re adding even more outfits and decor options! New look, who dis.


[Looking good.]


[Oh yes, we did!]

[h2]Other updates (SPOILER ALERT)[/h2]
There's loads more to share, but let's not make this blog a novel. Here’s a quick sneak peek:


[Besides the bald hair option (which some of you really dig, so it stays), we've added two more hair choices for hat-wearers.]


[Wildlife will begin repopulating the island as you heal the land and ocean.]


[Say goodbye to those Pufferfish stalls at festivals, Karen's not running them anymore. Phew!]


[h2]Localization Update[/h2]
Our vision for Coral Island has always been to make it accessible to players worldwide. However, at the 1.0 launch, we weren't able to include as many languages as we hoped. When we launched our Kickstarter, we unfortunately underestimated the sheer volume of words the game would have by 1.0, and the localization costs are significant. We're now re-evaluating our roadmap.



The next language we are going to implement will be Thai, and we're beginning work on that this month. Going forward, we plan to expand localization support in the future where possible.


[h2]Happy Chinese New Year[/h2]



[h2]What's Next?[/h2]
Next April, we'll be diving into the ocean-related content of the 1.1 update. It’s a deep dive, so brace yourself for an ocean of info! A bit of an ocean pun for you.


Thanks for reading,
Stairway Team

Hi Farmers,

There were urgent crashing issues for some saves after the last update. This patch should rectify that.
We also include other fixes with this patch, Here are the notes:

Bugfixes:

• Fix crashes if you place torches at your farm. This is the cause of crash experienced by some save files.
  
• Fix Abandoned Villa collision issue.
  
• Various typos fixes.
  
• Fix player house interior tile system activated when loading saves from underwater barrack.
  
• Remove founder hall coming soon message.
  
• Fix floating lotus around deep forest blocker.
  
• Fix tree planting only giving basic tools.
  
• Fix shed décor mode causing crashes.
  
• Fix crash if dialogue list of NPC is empty.
  
• Fix Enchantment UI sometimes losing focus.
  
• Fix caterpillar not included in Caterpillar Peyek ingredients.
  
• Prevent General Store resupply cutscene being triggered in fall 14-28.
  
• Fix double NPC when playing Don't Drop the Balloon mini-game.
  
• Fix some Mark marriage dialogue missing.
  
• Fix poisoned/rotten apple not changing in Apple Bobbing mini-game.
  
• Fix move farm building cost 0 gold.
  

Improvements:

• Sturdy Computer can now be placed indoors.
  
• Update Trivia minigame text.
  
• Remove some unused monsters from Bestiary journal.
  

Balancing:

• Increase player cow speed in Cow Competition mini-game.
  

Localizations:

• Implemented various translation improvements.
  

Thank you for your patience, Farmers!

Best,
Stairway Team