Coral Island News

Hello from Indonesia, Farmers!

Coral Island Early Access is NOW AVAILABLE!

Check out the early access launch trailer to see what's waiting for you on Coral Island!
Trailer:

[previewyoutube]Early Access Trailer[/previewyoutube]!

Coral Island self-describes as a "reimagining of farming games", but if we're being real it doesn't reimagine the Stardew Valley template totally differently. The titular island, and your overgrown plot of farmland on it, has almost the same layout as Stardew Valley, and the tasks you do - growing stuff, keeping animals, making friends with locals, exploring a mine five levels at a time, and appeasing local spirits by giving them bundles of different crops - will also be very familiar to any DewHeads (that's what we call ourselves).

That's not to say Coral Island isn't good. It's all in very beautiful bouncy 3D, for one thing, and I found the island setting (which impacts the flora, fauna, and architecture in general) made everything feel less like work. Combined with a thread of environmentalism weaving through the game, and the fact that Coral Island is slightly easier than Stardew Valley, and you feel like you're doing more progress in less time. If you loved the vibe of ConcernedApe's smash hit, but found the need to hand-write your own almanac a bit intimidating, this is the game for you.

Read more

Coral Island releases into Early Access on October 11, 2022 at 03:00 pm UTC/11:00 am EST!

The Early Access release marks the beginning of a new chapter for Coral Island, one that we can't wait to share with you all! For more information on what to expect, check out our early access FAQ, here.

See you all in Coral Island!

Hi, Farmers!

First thing first: Alpha testers will be able to play and stream Coral Island TWO DAYS before everyone else, on October 9! We’re looking forward to the streams!

As we get closer to the Early Access launch, we’ve been working hard to make sure everyone who plays on October 11 has a great experience, and we’ll be working on the final touches almost right up until launch. Exciting time ahead!

How this will work:

• We’ll make sure that all of our Alpha backers have their game keys on or before October 9
  
  
• Please hold off streaming or posting any videos of the game until October 9 at 00:00 UTC
  
  
• After 00:00 UTC on October 9, there are no restrictions on streaming or posting videos about Coral Island early access. You can stream anything from the game on Twitch, post YouTube videos, make TikToks - whatever you’d like!
  
  
• For non-Alpha backers and all other Coral Island players, the game will become available for streaming and other content creation at launch on October 11
  

Second: A bit of an update about the localization of the Early Access version of Coral Island. When the game first enters Early Access on October 11, the game will only be available in English while we continue to work on localization for other languages.

This doesn’t change our plans for localizing the game into other languages, but it will take us longer than initially expected. We will provide an update as soon as possible to let everyone know when we will be adding support for other languages.



Q: How will I get access to the game?
A: If you backed Coral Island, keep an eye out for your keys to be delivered to you via email from Backerkit system!
Q: Can I stream the Alpha version of the game?
A: No. Now that we’re so close to early access, we’ll be instead asking our Alpha backers to play and stream a more complete version of the game, which will be a better experience for everyone.
Q: Why can’t we start streaming the game earlier than October 9?
A: Because we’re releasing the game in Early Access, we’re trying to make the game better right up until launch. We want to make sure the playing and viewing experience is as good as possible, and this is the best date to ensure that happens! Last but not least, we want to thank backers, the Coral Island community, moderators, and especially you for the continuing support from the beginning of development, Alpha period, and of course, Early Access and beyond!

Thank you for reading,

Stairway Farmers

Welcome to the June 2022 Coral Island development update!

Please check out our Steam page to wishlist the game and find out more: swg.gg/corstm

This month, we look at mouse-based controls, the Hotspring, more updated NPC models, and more!


Alpha v0.09 will launch on July 11 @ 11:59PM PDT.


[h2]Mouse based controls[/h2]


You asked, and we listened. By default, you now use your mouse to determine which tile you to hit. We're very pleased with how this turned out.




We're also still on track to release the controller support and look forward to receiving feedback from Alpha players.


[h2]The Hotspring[/h2]

Ah, the Hotspring, a place to relax and unwind. When functional, pay a visit and soak yourself in the warm water to recover some stamina!



[what happened to the Hotspring?]


[h2]Updated NPC models[/h2]

Check out the upgraded models for Dippa, Zarah, Frank, and Yuri!



[Dippa usually spends their day looking for inspiration and painting around the island. Luke's store sells their paintings! Check often!]



[A bachelorette. Zarah is an adventurer at heart. She enjoys going around the island and finding treasures; be it gems, old artifacts, or a buried history.]



[Frank is married to his high-school sweetheart, Erika and the couple lives in Starlet Town with their two cats, Peanut and Butter.]



[Yuri's goal in Coral Island is to be a part of a community and hang her traveling coat on the rack for good. Will the traditional lifestyle bore a thrill-seeker like Yuri? Or is mainstream good?]









[correction from last month, who doesn't love a good A pose]


[h2]Furniture store UI[/h2]

Check out the furniture store UI. We've spent a lot of time making sure the shopping experience is frictionless. This is especially important given the large number of items you can purchase to decorate your farm and house with.



You can shop by looking at styles or selecting the catalogue and view items by category. Let us know what you think!








[h2]Future blog posts and minimizing spoilers[/h2]

For this month, we had originally planned to showcase revamped diving and reveal more interior locations. To make sure you have the best experience playing Coral Island for the first time when it launches into Early Access, we've decided to hold off on doing this.

For Alpha players, note that for the Alpha 0.09 update, we've unlocked all interior locations and most of the newly revamped diving will be accessible too. Looking forward to getting feedback!


[h2]Cat[/h2]

Mood.



[h2]What's next?[/h2]

We will resume the monthly dev blog in September. Between July and August, all hands will be on deck finalizing the Early Access game content, polishing assets, and optimizing the game performance.

Thanks for reading,

Stairway Team