Ova Magica News

- Added "Confine cursor to window" to settings menu with default option checked (mainly relevant for "Windowed" mode)
- Improved invisible mouse cursor still clicking things
- Fixed blob food cravings not being determined correctly

[EDIT: Please update to 0.629 - it has a mouse cursor fix/improvement when playing in "Windowed" mode]

Hello💚!



Another patch with several bug fixes and improvements is available! Please make sure to update to 0.628 version.

(If Steam doesn't do the update automatic close and restart Steam.
On Steam Deck sometimes the Deck doesn't start games after updates, in this case restart the Steam Deck.)

[h3]New item: Wishing Star🌟[/h3]

Have you ever gazed up at Clover town's night sky hoping to catch a glimpse of a shooting star? And in that quiet, hopeful instant, it feels like anything is possible and that maybe, just maybe, your (blob egg) wish will come true 🌠!

This part contains spoilers, so if you prefer finding out yourself do not click :


We got a lot if feedback the current 2% egg drop rate from wild blobs is too low. This won't change and it is intended for blob eggs to feel rare and special. But there is now a new item in-game which will help you to 100% get your desired wild blob egg:

During the shooting star event in addition to copper ores now also "Star Shards" fall from the sky. They can be melted with the furnace into a "Wishing Star". Using the Wishing Star on a wild blob will guarantee it 100% dropping an egg after the battle (careful: do not waste it on bosses).

[h3]New: Choose your difficulty for the Night of Roses festival game[/h3]
We got a lot of feedback regarding the rythm arrow game being too hard - so hopefully the new change will help with this 💚

You can now choose between 3 difficulties: Easy, Normal, Challenging (was the only default before). Easy difficulty offers in addition to way less arrows also a bigger area/time window for hitting the arrows.

(Note: You can get the same reward when scoring A , regardless of difficulty. The reward is not unique/missable in case you prefer not playing the game)



[h3]Improvements + Balancing[/h3]

• mouse cursor is now only confined to the game window when playing with the settings “Fullscreen” and not for windowed modes.
  
• items dropped during shooting stars have now an additional visual effect for better visibility + slightly bigger collect radius
  
• basketball mini game is now slower
  
• Replaced “Sleeping Powder” skill from Mystic Forest blob world boss to make it slightly easier
  
• reduced Pirate Island blob world wild blob level by 3.
  
• reduced growth level of unripe palm tree fruits in Pirate Island blob world
  
• nerfed Treejuvenation blob ability + progress tree fruit growth from 2 to 1 day
  
• added additional hint how to progress Saphir heart event 1 when talking to Oliver

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• fixed sliding puzzle not stopping time when standing on an empty field
  
• fixed that blob product, eggs and poops sometimes were moved out of the visible blob barn area and barnd couldn#t be cleaned/cleared
  
• fixed that stew pot could be used after Blob Banquet festival event
  
• fixed a bug with apple trees on Jades farm causing the game being stuck on loading screen when trying to enter Clover Valley
  
• fixed bug that rose bushes were not recolored correctly in the different seasons
  
• removed one duplicate/overlapping bush in Clover Valley (is gone when next season starts)
  
• fixed cleaners Npcs sometimes overlapping with trainer family in blob league plaza
  
• fixed crow and crab blob eggs having too long name text
  
• fixed Emerald and Flint friendship when talking to them after the Sleigh Swap festival event
  
• fixed some Npcs not being able to be photographed when in bed or in a selling booth
  
• fixed several typos

Thanks for reading and hopefully this update will make your turtle blob wishes come true🌠💚
The team continues to work hard to improve Ova Magica with the next upcoming patches.

~Claudia

Fixed game freezing when interacting with traders in the Ceres season.

Forgot to update the countdown calendar also to 20 days in update 0.625. This hotfix fixes it♥

[EDIT: Please update to 0.627 - we fixed some bugs related to this big update ♥]

Hi, Claudia here!

Monday starts productive with an update and it's a big one! This update has several changes to gameplay, all based on the most requested feedback 💚

As devs the team is a bit anxious with changing things because it's always a risk some players enjoyed it the way it was and prefer no change. But we decided to take the risk based on the feedback players provided. Ova Magica is still in Early Access so this changes do not need to be final and the team continues to improve the game.

(Notes:
You can get all changes in your current save file, no need to restart if you do not want to.
Make sure to update to 0.625 version: If Steam doesn't do the update automatic close and restart Steam.
On Steam Deck sometimes the Deck doesn't start games after updates, in this case restart the Steam Deck.)

FEEDBACK: First blob world is too hard
Changes:

• Lowered Mystical Forest wild blobs level slightly (stage 1: level 12-15 instead before 15-18)
  
• After visiting Mystical Forest blob world there will be a gift in the mailbox to help with it (when you return to your farm)
  
• In the blob world the UI now also displays the wild blob level of the current stage (see upper left corner) - so you can better estimate if your blobs are strong enough

FEEDBACK: Blob stat leveling takes too long
Changes:

• Doubled(!) experience when using a skill in battle. BUT:
  
• A skill can now level up only once per battle to avoid endless leveling in a single battle (stat values are now leveled at the end of battle for each skill being at 100% exp)

FEEDBACK: Things are too expensive
Changes:

• Reduced most building prices (Charoi)
  
• Reduced blob world rune costs (Harold)
  
• Reduced prices vendors:
  Blob Eggs: 3000 (Before 3500)
  Blueprint Makers + co: 3000 (Before 5000)
  Blueprint Useful: 2500 (Before 4000)
  Blueprint Decorative: 1250 (Before 2500)
  Blob Toys: 1500 (Before 3000)
  Recipes: 1500 (Before 2500)
  Outfits: 1500 (Before 3500)
  Accessoires: 1250 (before: 2500)
  Big Blob Barn: 10000 (Before: 15000)

[h3]BIGGEST CHANGE - FEEDBACK: 4 day weeks are too short[/h3]
Change:
Season has now 20 days instead of 12.

So the main reasons why players didn't like 4 days weeks was not having enough time between the festivals for other activities and feeling rushed (+it also being a lot different from most farm sims).

BUT increasing week length was not a good option because: At the beginning of a week a lot respawns like foraging items (herbs, mushrooms, flowers, sand, oysters and and and) and also the mine ores. So increasing the week length would result in waiting longer for the new items and would have negative effects on the gameplay - it was no option.

So there are now 2 additional weeks per season without festivals which increases the season length from 12 to 20 days and is now closer to the "usual" farm sim experience. Now you have some extra days to do all the things you want + more times to grow crops and profit in one season before crops wither on season change.



To all who liked the fast pace with every week having a festival: Don't worry! For full game there will be still smaller events in this weeks so they wont get boring too💚! Just not in a festival style but smaller things (as example a special merchant visiting Clover Town). Feel free to share your ideas for this smaller events!

(Note: When loading your save file you will start in the week of the same festival before - so week 1-> week 1, week 2-> week 3, week 3-> week 5)

VARIOUS IMPROVEMENTS + BUGFIXES

• added a 3rd skill to Jade’s blob Clara
  
• swapped "Sleep" and "Save Game" choice when interacting with bed/tent to avoid sleeping by accident.
  
• fixed missing pumpkin seeds in Jades store
  
• fixed rain sound being also played in blob world when visiting on a rainy day
  
• fixed timer not running in stacking ring game
  
• fixed that empty steamboard and watering can were refilled when moving to magical storage
  
• fixed strength bar not hiding after canceling hammer mini game with blobs
  
• fixed sound settings not affecting egg logo animation sound in title screen
  

[h3]FINAL WORDS[/h3]
Thank you for reading so far and we hope this update will improve your gameplay experience 💚! The team will continue working hard towards the next major content update and more feedback + bug fixes.

Some of you also asked how they can support us. Here are some things you can do:

• report bugs and feedback in the Steam forums or Discord
• help other players with questions in case you know the reply
  
• share Ova Magica with your friends, on social media or create a video/lets play
  
• one of the most important: If you enjoy the game please leave a review. We are a small slowly growing indie team without a huge budget and reviews help us immensly to get some more visibility.
  

We hope you enjoy playing further! See you until next update💚