Magical Harvest News

Hey everybody!

This news is going to be a little longer, as I won't be writing again until the beginning of July.
First of all, something personal:
It's been 1,5 years since the project "Magical Harvest" started. Since then, a lot has happened and I'm expanding my skillset more and more. The visuals of the game are getting better and better as I learn new things. The same goes for programming. I've never worked on such a large project that involves so many features that have to be coordinated with each other!
It's even more gratifying that programming is becoming more and more of a sideline as it gets easier and there are fewer bugs. I still enjoy working on MH so much that 12-14 hour workdays are no problem.


However, there is still a long way to go before the game gets MVP (minimum viable product) status. Above all - this in advance - it will not be a 2nd Stardew Valley or Sun Haven with zillions of items. That is not possible for a (currently almost) single person. However, my plan after the first release is to constantly expand the game, as it was the case with Animal Crossing, for example. In Animal Crossing, more than half of the decorations found their way into the game after release.

I'm still planning a Kickstarter campaign, but not until next year, since another farming game is already launching a campaign this year in October and I want to offer better graphics and content first. If the campaign is successful, I would like to hire at least a 3D artist and a writer to support it.

But now to the updates of the last 2 weeks:
GamePlay trailer
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
In the first week I was busy with bugfixes, while I spent more time on video recording. This resulted in a temporary short GamePlay trailer. This shows the current state of the game.
Based on feedback, I have already received more suggestions to improve the game visually. Another improved trailer will follow as soon as significant changes have been made (August, September).

Bachelor Valariel
Valariel is finished - at least his illustration is. I'm still working on his model. Valariel is the Drakys bachelor and my own special character. I "invented" him already more than 7 years ago, so I connect more with him. You can find more information about his actual creation and personality in Magical Harvest here on Patreon.


Map of Hyldena
Already in the last news I reported that I started with the world map/area map of Hyldena. This is a lot of work and takes a lot of time. I only take this time on weekends, so it is going slower. But here you can see the current state (UNFINISHED! Work-in-Progress!). There may still be sections that I'm not satisfied with yet.


Grid System
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
In the game itself, my current focus is again on the grid (for decorating or placing farm plants etc). The grid was previously only very simplified for the farm usable, but now I have expanded it to incorporate more complex grid systems into the game.
There is now also a grid in the house. Unlike Harvest Moon or Story of Seasons, all furniture in the house (including the bed) can be moved. The walls can be covered with different wallpapers, as well as the floor. Almost a bit like "The Sims".
Also, there is no distinction between interior decoration or exterior decoration. So have fun with a garden in the house!
Of course, there are small limitations. A barn or greenhouse cannot be built inside the house. Wall decorations and wallpapers are only possible for indoor spaces - since there are walls there.

Outlook
June will be a bit of a slow month. I have some appointments in early June that will keep me from working. We are going on vacation at the end of June for a few days (premature honeymoon), Midsommer-Fest and after that my fiancée and I have visitors from Germany, as our wedding will be on July 1. So, plans for Magical Harvest are a little lower for this month.

- Deko-system: it will still play a role, as the functionality for the controller still must be built in
- Map of Hyldena
- 3D model of Valariel
- Visual improvements / expansion of the assets

From the 2nd week of July I will be back for you.
Until then all the best and enjoy the beginning of summer!

Best regards,
Isa

Hey everybody!

Currently I'm working on Magical Harvest again for an average of 12 hours a day, in order to make faster progress and to be able to take it a bit slower in June (vacation, wedding).

Deco-Modus
The progress in the last 2 weeks has been mainly in the decoration mode. At the very beginning of the project I had already implemented this, but the controls were not very intuitive, so I completely reworked this - currently only for mouse and keyboard users.
- easy handling with mouse & keyboard, because objects can be clicked directly and moved to another place
- own decoration inventory, so that the main inventory and boxes are not overcrowded
- the possibility to place multiple objects on one place offers versatile decoration options
More assets will be implemented over time.






Cheat console
To make it easier to test things in the game, I added a cheat console where you can enter commands that will be executed (like in "The Sims"). It's pretty handy!


World-Map & Game Scenes
On weekends I work on the world map of the game. It wasn't that easy to find a style direction I was happy with and could implement (I'm still not a skilled artist), but now I'm on a good way. The picture shows a section (still WIP) of the map.
To adapt the map to the game world, I also created all scenes in the game that are related to the world map (at least roughly for the walkways and hills). In total you can explore 12 areas - not counting caves and extra areas.



Concept Art
My fiance is working on concepts on the side and created this companion. It will follow you everywhere once you find it!



Next steps: - Better quality videos with GamePlay (Trailer) - Visual improvements - Fixing of minor bugs - NPC model of Bachelor Valariel (Drakys species) - Deco-items-overview in the book
So it's going to be exciting, especially because of the videos! Since the tech demo (and the last trailer) the game changed really a lot!


Best regards,
Isa

Hello together!
In the last two weeks, so many small things have happened in Magical Harvest that I will summarize them with fewer words this time:

Farm trees and grass Models have been renewed and spruced up - quite a lot has changed here since the pre-alpha demo last year.


1. Farmhouse Re-texturing of the farmhouse level 1, outside and inside


Flower shop and NPC behavior flower shop and store logic is implemented. Also, a system to switch between two floors and that NPCs keep their action logic when switching themselves).
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Companions Very spontaneously decided and not planned at all: an animal companion. It follows you everywhere and you can interact with it.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



Further: - it is possible to give gifts to NPCs. It is not possible to lose their friendship points by giving gifts (there are no "hate gifts"). If they don't like something, they won't accept it.
- Color adjustments
The general color style of the previous assets was too saturated. This is now adjusted.
- Performance
Performance improvement work has been done to make a later console port more realistic.


Outlook
At the moment the game has many points I can work on for development. Currently I'm putting a lot of work into visuals to create a more attractive gameplay trailer.
Next points:
- Player animations
- Special effects
- Decoration mode

... besides all the driving around for wedding preparations and various other things. Effectively, I didn't have that much time to work in April, but still managed to get a lot of smaller things done, surprisingly. Let's see if it works the same way in May.

See ya in 2 weeks!

Best regards,
Isa

Hello together!
I hope you had a nice Easter time and enjoy the spring! Here the snow is finally melting and we can see the first grass in the garden.

Character Creator
Well, in the last two weeks the focus was again on the character creator. After binding and inserting new animations, I first created all the starting clothes. Each species has 2 species-typical clothes to choose from. It is still possible to choose the clothes of the other species, there are no restrictions. So currently there are 10 clothes to choose from.
A few more assets have been added and with a clear conscience I can say that the character creator is finished for now (except for more assets).

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Item Creator
A year ago, I programmed a tool to create items quite easily in the game engine. However, this tool has become quite slow with the increasing number of items.
I didn't want to change it, because the whole game and a lot of code is based on it.
Now I have completely rebuilt the creator. You can read more about it on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/new-itemcreator-81493760
The new creator is much faster and the code is now clearer for handling the items. This simplifies it enormously in the future. Also, I can now create hundreds of items in theory with one click (of course with some preliminary work).
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Outlook
Farm trees, environment & NPCs
The focus in the next 2 weeks is among other things on the farm trees. I have already started to adapt the trees to our new tree style.
In general, the environment will be a bit more in focus now to get more visual aspects done. Marie is currently working on a concept to show the change in the world as the magic gradually returns.

NPCs
Between the environment, the existing NPC models will be adjusted and given basic animations. In addition, it should be possible to interact with them better than before by the end of the month.

Kickstarter
A plan for the Kickstarter campaign is now solidifying. The planned timeframe is October-November. To speed up the process of development a bit, money is definitely needed. One or two artists for all the assets as support and one person to do the story writing would be quite desirable. Otherwise, the release will be pushed further into the future.

If you want to support us independently, please have a look at our Patreon page.
https://www.patreon.com/moonflamegames

Is there something special you want to know about? Leave a comment!

Best regards,
Your Magical Harvest Team
Isa & Marie

It's been a busy month. I hope you had it a little easier there....
The moving was a bit more stressful than expected and so I couldn't work on Magical Harvest for a week. Our new home is very idyllic, on the edge of a small village right next to the forest. Squirrels and a deer have already welcomed us :-). The snow in the garden is still over half a meter high here. Let's see when it will be spring here....

But now to Magical Harvest.
I didn't write any news in the middle of March. So now I summarize the whole month in one category:

Character Customizer

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

After I created a simple customizer at the beginning of the month, I reworked it completely. Originally I tried to get all options on one UI panel, but the space was too little to be able to design the character really well. At least with the species, where you can create tails, ears etc., the solution was not optimal.
So after I changed the system, it was easy to add new options. Of course, there is still work behind it, but there is simply no more lack of space and support for other screen sizes is therefore also secured.



In parallel, I found a good way to work with the hair creation and generally worked more with the base model to slowly bring it into the desired direction. The clothing and some options are currently still not final. The clothing is still causing a tiny bit of trouble with animations and so I'm not creating complex assets yet. My wish is to hire someone for this who can create better quality models. But I need funding first (Kickstarter is planned for the end of the year).

About the Customizer itself:
You can choose between the 5 different species. Apart from the skin color, from which you can choose from predefined options, you can customize your character according to your color preferences. Clothing colors are also predetermined, as clothes can be made throughout the game.
In addition to the basic options (hair, beard, eyes, top, pants, shoes and gloves), some of the species have additional customizing options:

• Ki'shen: (animal) ears & tail
• Elves: Tiara
• Drakys: scales, horns & tail
• Nereids: Head fin, stripes & scales

This is at least the current status.



Species Bonus
Each of the species bring with them a bonus that affects the game. Currently, the idea is that you get 10% more gold from a certain category when you sell products (humans get 10% more when selling farm products, for example). Whether the currently added bonuses will stay that way, we will see as development progresses.

Outlook
The next step is to connect the customizer to the main game and save and load the right model. Then I need new animations.
So the focus is still on the character and also on the NPCs to make them come to life as well.

I hope that I will live up to your expectations with all the updates. It's probably not moving fast enough for you, but unfortunately this is a very big project. I'm working towards the Kickstarter campaign to be able to hire people to speed things up a bit. I just need to have something to show for it first.

Thanks for reading and see you next time!

Best regards,
Your Magical Harvest Team
Isa & Marie