Research Story News

[h3][✨Update v0.6 is in development. I'll give a release estimate when ready!][/h3]

[h2]Greetings, Researchers![/h2]

For the past couple of weeks, I've been working on more NPC content! Based on our Discord poll and general sentiments, Luke is definitely being added to the bachelor list in the next update 💗 Each romanceable candidate currently has the following content, as do the upcoming ones:

• 4 Heart Event Cutscenes (💜💙💚💛).
  
• 3 Hangout Events (2 Hangouts and 1 Date) with interactable activities.
  
• Special dialogue, mail, and character portraits.
  

Since I've mostly been working on characters' stories, I won't be able to share too much of them without spoiling~ Here's one of the Hangouts you can go on with Luke, though!

Hangout with Luke at the Violet Archive. Finally, Luke with a Blue Heart! 💙

I've also been working on QOL and other improvements, such as:

• Polishing visuals for dialogue options
  
• Overall optimisation
  
• A progress tracker for relationships
  
• Balancing for NPC relationships
  
• Minor fixes
  

Hearts Progress can now be seen in the Friendship Tab!

[h3]What's next 📝[/h3]
The next bachelorette to be added is... Eira! 💛 The poll results was tied between Eira and Yan Yan. I decided to start with Eira, because I wanted to add Yan Yan together with her brother, Ming, so that I can keep their stories more consistent. Thank you for your patience!

Have a great weekend! - Miki

Hey Researchers,

Here's an update with some fixes for critical bugs. Thank you all for your reports and patience!

- [Fixed] An NPC appearing in the Archive after the Midautumn Festival, that causes a bugged dialogue.
- [Fixed] Crash when entering the final room after attending the Midautumn Festival.
- [Fixed] Occasional crash when checking Research Rank at the Archive counter.
- [Fixed] Teagan goes back to his work routine after the closing cutscene.
- [Fixed] Freezing when skipping the cutscene while receiving an item, during one of the closing cutscenes.

Miki

[h2]Some words and thanks[/h2]
It's been about half a year since launch, and I just want to say a HUGE thank you to our players and community - we truly wouldn't be here without you! ❤️❤️ All your streams, playthroughs, feedback, suggestions, reports, and comments have been an important part of the development process, and have shaped Research Story one way or another.

Research Story has come quite a long way. I started working on the game in October 2020, which is close to 3 years ago. What started as a little indie dream has evolved into something that I see myself doing for a long time. I remember my elation seeing my first 100 followers on Twitter - people were interested in my game! Today, we have close to 4,000 players, 8,000 followers on Twitter and 37,000 wishlists - something that I could have only hoped to achieve. The support and interest for the game is something that I'm always grateful for, and certainly part of what keeps me going! So again, thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

[h2]✨Updated Roadmap✨[/h2]
I think it's a good time to look back at the past 6 months and update our roadmap. I plan to focus on NPC stories in Sep-Oct as part of the v0.6 NPC & Romance update. From Nov-Dec, we'll work on a major update, the v0.7 Creatures & Caves update, which would include new and improved content for creatures, a more differentiated mining experience, the Winter Festival, and more. Here's the updated roadmap:
Updated Roadmap, with plans for Q4 2023 and beyond.

Looking back at our initial plans, we're still on track to complete our roadmap (and more!) for this Early Access release. Since release, we've added full controller support, multiple QOL and bugfix updates, automation, several festivals, 7 new OSTs, as well as additional dialogue and decor content to the game.

One of the things we've added that wasn't part of the initial roadmap is the CN localisation, which sets the foundation for adding other languages in the future. We decided to add it earlier in the game's development to minimise the time needed to rework the game during the localisation process.

We are also adding a new update category (v0.7 Creatures and Caves Update) after hearing from players - players wanted a deeper and broader system relating to creature research! We'll work through the details in a couple of months' time, but I already have some ideas about making it a fun and cute update. Stay tuned!

[h2]Final words[/h2]
We hope you've been enjoying the Early Access journey with us so far! Time is passing so quickly and I can see the game getting closer to 1.0 every day. There's still a bit to go, including a bunch of content relating to NPCs and research. I plan to have the Legendary Research and Marriage Updates in 2024, closer to the 1.0 release, as part of the end-game content.

As usual, we're always super happy to hear from you! Any comments from players are always appreciated, and I try to respond to most of them. If you have any questions, suggestions, ideas about the game, the community-led Wiki, or anything else - come share them with our Discord community! We're almost at 700 members and will be happy to have you 🥰 Or share them on Steam as I check it quite often too! 👍 Also, tell us who should we add as a romance candidate next!! 💗



Talk to you soon,
Miki

[h2]🏮 Mid-Autumn Festival[/h2]

• Added Mid-Autumn Festival (16 Autumn).
  
• Added new original soundtrack: Midautumn.
  
• Festival Minigames:
  
  • Mid-Autumn Riddles: Solve some riddles to earn Lantern Tokens!
    
  • Lantern-making: Customise your own lanterns!
    
  • Sky Lanterns: Make a wish upon the Moons with Sky Lanterns!
    
• Added festival-related dialogue.
  
• Added Food Item: 5 types of Mooncakes as part of the event. Players may receive Mooncakes as a gift from certain NPCs.
  
• New Decor:
  
  • Night Sky Rug
    
  • Moon Chair
    
  • Pumpkin Frog Plush
    
  • Lanterns: 32 different combinations of lanterns, including 2 shapes (round/rectangular), 4 colours (red, yellow, blue and orange), and 4 prints (Sproutkitten, Grassbun, Fox, Wotter).
    
  • Water Lanterns: Regular and Orange.

[h2]Other fixes[/h2]

• Fixed crash when players press Shift+LMB while using a Crafting Bench (Feed Crafter/Bait Press).
  
• Fixed getting stuck if players skipped the Cherry Blossom Festival Cutscene while a dialogue is showing.
  
• Fixed unable to enter Garden on a festival day from 12AM-3AM.
  
• Fixed Start Menu Logo animation when returning to Start Menu from a game save.
  
• Optimisation (loading fonts, returning to main menu).
  
• Fixed other minor visual bugs.
  

[h2]Sharing our Beta build with Simplified Chinese Added![/h2]
We've been working hard on our CN localisation implementation, and it's in a playable state but there are still more polishing and adjustments we need to do! We'd love for interested players to start experiencing the game and be part of our Early Access journey. As such, we're opening a public Beta build for anyone who would like to try it out!

✨For our Chinese community, we'll be happy to have you on QQ群号-909186314 if you have any feedback and suggestions! ღ( ´･ᴗ･` )

To join the beta, go to your Steam Library, and follow the steps below:


In the future, we may also update the beta build with new features for playtesting before making it a 'live' build! Betas can be less stable as they are less tested and are updated during the midst of development. In return, you get to play the latest content and features before anyone else! We recommend making a backup of your saves before opting into the beta branch. You can always switch back to the public branch by selecting 'None' for your beta participation.

[h2]📝 What's next[/h2]
I'll be working on NPC stories next! As this post is getting quite long, I'll be sharing another post shortly about the state of the game and an updated roadmap for Research Story.

[h2]🎉The first two Seasonal Festivals are here! 🎉[/h2]

• Added Cherry Blossom Festival (11 Spring).
  
• Added Ice Cream Fair (19 Summer).
  
• Added new original soundtrack: A Welcomed Surprise.
  
• Festival Minigames:
  
  • Spring Poems: Write a poem related to Spring, and vote for your favourite poem written by townsfolk!
    Spring Poems Board
    
    
  • Summer Dessert-Making: Go through the steps of creating a cold dessert! Make Ice Cream, Sorbet, and Popsicles in 10 different flavours. Gift them to townsfolk - will they enjoy what you made?
    If you give them Suspicious desserts, they'll have a unique reaction.
• Added other Activities and Dialogue (~190+ new lines) as part of the Festivals.
  
• Added Festival Shop.
  
• New Items:
  
  • Ice Cream, Sorbet, and Popsicles in 10 different flavours, including Milk, Mint, Floral, Corn, Cactus, Maple, Watermelon, Blueberry, Berry, and Suspicious.
    
• New Decor:
  
  • Spring Poems Memento (Pink, Light Pink, and Dark Pink)
    
  • Spring Poems Trophy
    
  • Cherry Blossom Rug
    
  • Cherry Blossom Chair
    
  • Cherry Blossom Frog Plush
    
  • Sunflower Rug
    
  • Sunflower Chair
    
  • Sunflower Frog Plush

For older save files (before v0.4)
💛 Newly-added festivals will only be triggered if the player had slept the day before the festival, and not if the player had saved/loaded on the festival day itself.
💛 Previously scheduled Hangout Events are automatically cancelled (with no penalty) if it falls on the date of a newly-added Festival. Players may initiate the same Hangout Event with the townsfolk.

[h2]Other changes and fixes[/h2]
Some of the changes, such as showing location names, were suggested by players!

• The name of key locations shows up when entering the area for the first time each day (e.g. Shimmerbrook, Garden, Woods). The names also show after starting a new play session.
  
• Certain UI, such as the Research Shelves, Origin Tracker, and Auto-Feeders now show if an item can be used.
  
• Rewrote code for getting the Fishing Rod from Sesame with slight adjustments.
  
• Added a Rainy (Work) Day Routine for Sesame.
  
• Updated Caravan Shop design.
  
• Fixed a conflicting dialogue bug for Suo'e if you completed the objective of the quest 'A Cave and a Relic' and have the 'A Favour for Teagan' as an active quest.
  
• Fixed Calendar showing 'no events today', unless hovering over the day cell.
  
• Other smaller fixes and changes, such as minor edits to dialogue and artwork.
  

[h2]📝 What's next[/h2]
I'll be working on the 3rd Festival (for Autumn) in the coming weeks, which we're hoping to roll out with the localisation update. After that update, I'm thinking about working on more NPC stories/romanceables - more details to be confirmed!

Happy Gaming! 🌸☀️
- Miki