Cloud Meadow News

Hello again, farmers
If you missed my last post, go read it now!
I covered:

• What's coming in the next Savannah dungeon floor update
  
• Hints on an entirely new dungeon zone
  
• Talk about improvements, fixes, major story events and more
  
• Preview images inside
  

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1223750/view/3326486390777794406


What's good?
For your informative entertainment, i've generated a timelapse video of our programmers - past & present - working on the project over the years.
This video also contains some unreleased music from the game, composed by our very own Cilantro.
https://youtu.be/SJmszJW-JbQ
What's been happening since the last major update?

• The hefty Savannah Floor 8 is currently having the finishing touches applied before it enters internal review
  
• Assuming review goes well, the new dungeon area will be playable very soon™ indeed.
  
• This area will also include a couple of new unique consumable items - including one that can grant a monster of your choosing the pink 'Mermaid' palette
  

• Programming work on combat ability levels are underway
  
• Players will be able to gain a 'rank up' for their ability skills at a rate of one rank per level, to spend on an ability belonging to that unit
  
• Rank levels include a range of combat boosts from extra damage, strong DOTs, multi-target hits and sometimes transforming the effect of a unit's attack entirely
  
• Putting the 'cloud' in Cloud Meadow, the pending skybox improvements will become a more vibrant, living & breathing backdrop for the animated world of Cloud Meadow
  
• Clouds that move, responds to changes in weather and breathes some life into the world
  
• Also frees up some texture memory
  

Behind-the-scenes:

• Working hard on refactoring the existing quest system
  
• This is perhaps the single most essential framework improvement to support content-driven development for the rest of the game's lifespan
  
• We know that have a main town full of NPCs that don't quite feel alive, a farm that players are often confused by & a dungeon that updates too infrequently to be the main focus of the game's content
  
• However, once we've got this out of the gate, we can begin properly transforming Cloud Meadow into the more immersive & compelling experience we intended it to be
  

What else are you working on? How about...

• In case you missed it, check out our version 1.0 feature roadmap - we'll keep updating it as stuff gets done [ https://www.cloudmeadowgame.com/road-map/ ]
  
• I'll keep making these public posts at regular intervals, you'll get to hear about it
  

If you have any questions we are always readily available in the following places:

• Introduce yourself in our very own Discord [ https://discord.gg/6ASAxDF ]
  
• Drop in on our Livestream where Artists, animators & programmers work daily on Piczel [ https://piczel.tv/watch/Spurple ]
  

Changes

1. Updated dialogs to allow using the configured “Interact” key(s) for skipping single lines, in addition to left clicking.
   

Fixes

1. Fixed some issues with possible active ingredient selection after cooking/experimenting.
   
2. Fixed Female Cat pregnant and sleep animations being swapped
   
3. Fixed the Breeding/Harvest window not always opening to the correct group
   
4. Fixed issue in Yonten dialog, where stocking option would constantly repeat when trying to stock during hot weather.
   
5. Fixed a bug with resolving the rarer trait to inherit, when resolving exclusive traits
   
6. Fixed new weather always rolling as snow during summer event. Fix won’t affect already saved/predicted days, only future ones.
   
7. Fixed a bug in Headhunter ability targeting
   
8. Fixed a bug with bloodline trait slots not resetting when switching been monsters in ancestry
   
9. Fixed description of cat Nine Lives trait to no longer indicate that it has multiple charges. For that trait, grade determines chance of triggering, which can only occur once per day.
   

Hello farmers, and a bold welcome to everyone who joined us from the Steam sale.

I hope you are enjoying the new Royal Matchmaker event - and if you haven't found it yet, all you have to do is enter the town between 15th and 21st of Spring (in-game time, not real time..).
The long-awaited Savannah Dungeon Floor 8 will be arriving soon

• New largest dungeon area, this overworld area has roughly double the size of Floor 6's overworld
  
• Culminating with a boss fight, this will further the main story and hint at the next arc
  
• More dungeon mechanics, more sexual encounters, more quests, more plankton
  

Also in the dungeon department:

• New upcoming Forest Dungeon is going through it's design phase - this area will have a radically different layout and interconnection with the Savannah as well
  
• Current dungeon floors are getting a tidy-up or a full overhaul as they don't meet our quality standards
  

Behind-the-scenes:

• robust quest system; plans including farming/breeding/cooking quests, proper town NPC interactions, Katarina Station dungeon quest hub & more
  
• User Interface overhauls for Inventory & Farm Jobs
  
• Better tools for our writing team to create more complex sequences - as seen in some of the Royal Matchmaker dates
  

What about future update content?

• A caravan of travelers will arrive in Cloverton; introducing Kaleida, one of the 10 major NPC recruitable combatants & romance partners
  
• 'Monster migration' system; new enemy monster types will cycle through the dungeons
  
• 'Combat contest'; a seasonal, self-contained arc for truly specialised monster breeders as they climb their way through a combat tournament
  

The game's future in general?

• Check out our version 1.0 feature roadmap - we'll update it as stuff gets done
  [ https://www.cloudmeadowgame.com/road-map/ ]
  
• I'll keep making these public posts at regular intervals, you'll get to hear about it
  

There seems to be a bit of uncertainty from some fans as to what we're doing.
We've always been VERY open & transparent, but maybe not as outgoing as we need to be. Starting now, I hope to be making these posts regularly to make sure that what we're working towards is highly visible to the players and casual followers alike.

If you have any urgent questions we are always readily available in the following places:

• Our very own Discord [ https://discord.gg/6ASAxDF ]
  
• Our Livestream where Artists, animators & programmers work daily (yes, daily!) on Piczel
  [ https://piczel.tv/watch/Spurple ]
  

Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the player would be locked in place at the end of the cooking tutorial
  
• Hopefully we’ve fixed the last issue causing cutscenes to get stuck during camera pans
  
• Fixed some issues with ingredient/quality selection during cooking experiments
  
• Fixed some issues with album unlocks
  
• Fixed a shader effect applied to certain clouds & Savannah F2’s foam that would display the wrong colour for the time of day
  
• Attempted to correct issues where for some users the draggable icons on the job board do not handle events correctly
  
• Fixed ambience sounds continuing to play after returning to the main menu
  
• Fixed issue with Autumn Cloverton assets wouldn’t appear while it was raining
  

An update including a slew of dates with various characters from around Cloverton! From the dutiful Jubelle, to the valiant Sieger! Go shopping with Morghan, or even spend time in the cells with Goldra in refusing to participate despite the royal decree! You can access this event starting on Spring 15th, even right after you start the event! Not satisfied with one date? Enter the raffle multiple times for a small fee, or wait until next year for another free ticket!

Additions

• Spring seasonal Matchmaker event has been greatly expanded
  
  • During the calendar event week the player will be able to go on various friendly & romantic dates
    
  • Selection of 8 minor NPCs from around Cloverton and a bonus scenario for abstainers
    
• Added alternative monster dialogue for monsters related to the player, when interacting with them while on the farm
  

Changes

• Incubator now shows hours and minutes remaining before hatching (previously only showed hours)
  

Fixes

• Fixed an issue that would reset global settings
  
• When inheriting traits from parents with mutually-exclusive traits, now the stronger trait will always be inherited
  
• Fixed acid damage continuing to apply after death
  
• Fixed an error that would occur while traversing rooms in a dungeon after returning from death
  
• In-game time will no longer pass during dialogue sequences
  
• The dialogue history scroll position will now reset to a new dialog line when opened
  
• Fixed ‘time played’ text on save file slots showing the incorrect value
  
• Restored color palette selection for Ev x Monster HD sex scenes viewed in the Album
  
• Fixed an issue where draggable icons could continue to be held after closing a window
  
• Fixed crash that could occur after returning to main menu from a game session, then loading a save file again
  
• ‘Scene unlocked’ banner messages should no longer trigger from viewing sex scenes in the Album
  
• Brontide should no longer be able to target himself while in combat
  
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to trigger dialog with a merchant twice
  
• Fixed the ability to invoke dialogue from a merchant twice within the same frame