Research Story News

[h2]Happy Spooky Season, Researchers! 🎃🍂[/h2]

Celebrating the spooky season with a little Autumn creature reveal - Skullbeak! Spoopy borb.


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Back to the devlog - in October, I mainly worked on NPC content. Here's a summary:

[h2]First 3 Romanceables revealed! Rhea, Theo, and Zuri[/h2]
For each romanceable NPC, you’ll learn more about them through two main mechanics: Heart Events, and Dates. What stories will they tell?



[h2]Heart Events 💜[/h2]

Each romanceable NPC will have 6 Heart Event cutscenes (Note: For Early Access, only 4 of such cutscenes for each romanceable will be implemented). These are unlocked at every heart level, and will be triggered when conditions (such as time and location) are right. Some of these cutscenes are tied to the main storyline, and others extend beyond it.

[h2]Friendly Dates and Romantic Dates 💛❤️[/h2]

In a previous devlog (Devlog #9), I introduced “Hangout Events” where players can hang out with NPCs. I’ve updated the system, and now players can schedule “Friendly Dates” and “Romantic Dates”. Each romanceable NPC will have 2 “Friendly Dates”, which you can access once you become friends with them. To unlock romantic dates, players will need to show romantic interest at an appropriate juncture and be accepted by the NPC.

Example of 2 Friendly Dates and 1 locked Romantic Date

I've added more date locations and activities, such as a picnic date in the woods!

[h2]General NPC mechanics 🏃[/h2]
Work Day/Rest Days
All NPCs have fixed work days and rest days as part of their schedules. Some of the considerations I had when implementing this system is to have establishments being run on most days, even when the “main” NPC in charge is not working. For example, you’ll find Vallee running the Archive on most days, but during her rest days, Eira’s here to help!

This system allows players to schedule dates with NPCs on their rest days, while shops and other establishments continue to be available.

Routines
After adding routines for most of the NPCs, the town became quite lively! Especially when you visit the tavern at night:

The Tavern is getting lively!

[h2]What’s next 📝[/h2]
NPC content

• Completing content for another 3 romanceable NPCs.
  
• Additional dialogue
  
• NPC hand-drawn portraits
  

Additional systems/side content

• Job board (i.e. fetch quests)
  
• Building & decoration mechanics
  
• Simple teleportation system
  
• More player customisation options
  

Content for a few more researchables

• Adding more fish, creatures, and plants.
  

Mines

• Mines where players can collect their ores.
  

Music & Sound

• Adding more music and sound effects.
  

With all that said, I’m hoping to do a release date announcement by the end of this year. Exciting times! I’ve said this many times and I’ll say it again - thank you to all of you following the journey of Research Story and truly, I wouldn’t be here without you!! Your patience, support and excitement for the game has been amazing. You’re amazing! :D I'm really excited to be making this game for you. See you soon!
- Miki

[h2]Good day, Researchers![/h2]

This month, I wrapped up most of the main storyline, added important supporting mechanics, worked on more location artwork (such as building interiors), and gave NPCs some routines… There was progress in a variety of areas, and here are some highlights:

[h2]Building interiors and map update 🏡[/h2]
More building interiors have been added. Some rooms require a certain level of friendship with specific NPCs to enter!



Along with more areas to explore, I’ve also updated the Map UI - players can now view location information when checking their maps.



[h2]NPC Stories 💜[/h2]
[h3]Cutscenes[/h3]
Various cutscenes will be triggered as you progress the story, and as you get closer to townsfolk. Here's an example of one involving Vallee and Suo'e:



[h3]Routines[/h3]
Townsfolk will have different routines based on: 1) Whether they are working that day or not; and 2) Weather. For example, most townsfolk will stay indoors when it rains, engaging in a different activity. They will also have different dialogues during different times of the day depending on where they are/what they are doing.



[h2]Fatigue/Fainting System 💦[/h2]
Players mentioned that there isn’t much penalty to using up energy other than decreased speed. I’ve added a fatigue and fainting system: players move and act more slowly when fatigued, and the day is skipped if players faint. This gives the energy system more meaning, and also makes eating food more important!

Player fainting from working too much

[h2]Updates to the Creature System 🦊[/h2]
I’ve added more creature traits, a way to release tamed creatures, and even different types of creature pens that are required by specific creatures!

Different creature pens will be required for different creatures

[h2]What’s next? 📝[/h2]
[h3]More NPC content[/h3]
There is still much work left to do to bring the NPCs to life - cutscenes, dialogue, routines, date activities - that content will take a lot of time! There will be 15+ NPCs by Early Access. There is also a bunch of artwork for the NPCs that needs to be completed and polished.
[h3]More systems/side content[/h3]
I want to work on more supporting systems/mechanics, such as having a job board (i.e. fetch quests)/building & decoration/simple teleportation system.
[h3]Content for a few more researchables[/h3]
There will be at least 60+ researchables in Early Access, which includes plants, creatures, and fish - most of them are already added but there’s still some testing/balancing to do, and I hope to add just a few more on top of what we have now.
[h3]Mines[/h3]
Finally, I’m also working on a Mines area where players can collect their ores - will share that when it’s more complete.

Well, that’s all for now, see you next month! - Miki

[h2]Hello Researchers![/h2]

This month, as I continue to tie the game’s story together, I’ve also been working on RS’ progression systems.

[h2]Crafting Stations ✨[/h2]
First, there will be various Crafting Stations for players to build. Players would be able to craft items required to grow their crops, upgrade their tools, and progress in the story. Here are a few examples:

[h3]Composters and Stone Forges[/h3]
These crafting stations require several materials to process. Composters need Fiber and an additional material (such as a plant), while forges need coal and ores. Crafting takes time.

Composter that makes fertilisers and soil modifiers.

Stone forge to get metal bars from ores.

[h3]Sawhorse[/h3]
Similar to the previously added Seed Sieve, Sawhorses only require one material and crafts instantly.
Using a Sawhorse to get Wood Planks from Logs.

There will be other Crafting Stations in the game for players to discover!

[h2]Research Submissions and Research Rank 🔍📕 [/h2]
Next, I’ve also been working on an overarching Research Rank that tracks the number of books players have submitted to the Archive. As players rank up, they will be rewarded in different ways that opens up more gameplay.

Research Rank Up!

Other changes based on demo feedback

+ Added an easily accessible tutorial menu!
+ Selling Price of items will be shown when checking the Shipping Bin, if players have sold the item before.

I hope that these additions will give players a good sense of overall progression and things to work towards as they play. I’m planning to do more NPC-related content and improve some creature-raising mechanics next month.

As usual, thank you for reading! ‘Til next time.

- Miki

[h2]Greetings, Researchers![/h2]

I've been working on the main storyline and NPC content, but can’t share much about those yet. Instead, I'll share some of the improvements and additions to Research Story this month!

[h2]Research[/h2]
[h3]Improved Research UI 📖[/h3]
I’ve revamped the research UI - players can now select one research item and look at its specific tasks. The new format gives more clarity, uses larger fonts, and looks prettier in my opinion :) This also means I can have more flexibility in the types and number of research tasks for each plant/creature/fish without things looking too cluttered, which leads us to… varied research mechanics!

New Research UI, with each task clearly separated in a textbox (marked when completed).

[h2]Varied Research mechanics 🔍[/h2]
One of the feedback from the demo was to have more varied research mechanics, particularly for creatures. I agree that some variation keeps the game fresh. Now, plants and creatures can have different research tasks tagged to them. For example, some creatures require you to find and record their footprints! 🐾✨


Identifying a Sproutkitten footprint sample.

[h2]Fishing[/h2]
[h3]Fishing Spots 🐟[/h3]
Fishing Spots can randomly appear in the water, indicated by a swimming fish. By fishing there, the waiting times for fish bites are reduced, and getting a fish to bite is confirmed. This would be helpful when players are specifically trying to find some fish to catch! The fishing spot fades away after a few catches.

Fishing at a Fishing Spot

[h2]New NPC reveal: Sesame! 🐱[/h2]
I’ve been working on more NPC portraits - and here is one for Sesame! He’s a fisher in Shimmerbrook and is super awesome and fluffy. And yes, Sam is short for Sesame


[h2]Other news[/h2]
I’m also honoured to share that we won 2nd place in the Colors of Indie Awards 2022! It’s a really nice boost in motivation and I’m grateful to be a part of the event hosted by Mooneye Studios. Check out the event site here!


Like always, I’m always so thankful to everyone for your patience and support! I’m really excited that RS is slowly coming together, and have been working extra hard to make the game as fun and cosy as possible.

Thanks for reading, and see you next month (or come chat in our Discord)!
- Miki

[h2]Happy Summer, Researchers![/h2]

I've been hard at work on adding the planned content for creatures, crops, and fish into the game. I'll share some of them in this devlog, but leave most of them for you to discover when you play the game!
[h2]Featured new creature: Grassbun 🐰[/h2]
One of the new creatures is a bunny-mon called Grassbun. It has a unique interaction where it becomes alert and runs when you get close! You can now crouch in the game to approach it successfully.



[h2]More fish 🐟[/h2]
I’ve also added more fish to the game - here are some common fish and different baits for fishing. When players have more than one type of bait in their inventory, the first bait will be used.



[h2]Summer vibes and summer crops 🌻[/h2]
The summer seasonal tileset is complete, and Sunflowers are one of the crops that is in season! Crops now move a little when players move through them.



[h2]New crop growth requirement: Soil types 🌱[/h2]
In Research Story, knowing what conditions crops require to fully grow (and not wither) is important. Plants will have 1-3 “Growing Conditions” that need to be met for them to grow. So far, these conditions can be a mix of any of the following: 1) Season 2) Distance to a water source, 3) Amount of sun/shade, and even 4) Weather when the seeds are sowed.
Now, there are also specific soil types that a crop may need. These are loosely based on real-life uses of fertilisers and soil acidity for optimal plant growth. These fertilisers can be crafted or bought.

Look at all the colourful, fertilised soil!

[h3]Changes based on demo feedback[/h3]
+ Press right-click as another way to pick up certain placed items, such as feed bowls. This was a common feedback and I'm glad to have addressed it!

As always, thanks for reading! I'll be moving on to adding NPCs' Heart Events and Hangout Events soon - those will likely take a lot of time and I won't be able to show much to avoid spoilers. I'll still try to show some interesting things as we go along, though!

Take care and see you next month!
- Miki