The Rabbit Haul News

[h3]* The playtest start date has been changed to July 25[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Welcome back to our monthly newsletter. This month we are excited to announce that playtests are BACK! Keep reading to know how to get involved and what to expect![/p][p][/p][p]This playtest is a BIG one because we’ve been working on a bunch of new features for the last 6 months, some of which we’ve been promising for years! This is also a huge milestone for us because The Rabbit Haul is finally hitting the Alpha stage. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We need your help![/p][p]Playtests are SO important to make the game the best that it can be! Whether you are a seasoned veteran in our community, or have just joined, we are so thankful for your time and interest in playing the game, giving us feedback, suggesting features, submitting bug reports, and filling out surveys. It means a great deal to us and it truly motivates us to keep going! This next one will be the biggest yet, and we hope that you will take part in it in big numbers![/p][p][/p][p]When, What, How, Who and Where, you say?[/p][p]The playtest is planned to start on July 25 and will be open for a whole week. YAY! To participate, you need to join our community Discord and when prompted choose the interested role. Everyone with the interested role will receive a Steam key by Discord DM on July 25, and will be able to redeem it on Steam to download The Rabbit Haul.[/p][p][/p][p]There will be more instructions for you in the Discord, so hop on in to be ready to jump in The Rabbit Haul on July 25! If you can't make this one, no problem, there will more in the future![/p][p][/p][p]
What’s new in the game?[/p][p]As you might have read in our monthly updates, we’ve been hard at work on a lot of new features. So on July 25, you’ll be able to experience for the first time ever:[/p][p][/p][p]The Town[/p][p][/p][p]The new safe hub for our cute bunny protagonist and his friends! The Town has vendors to upgrade your defenses, NPCs, quests and will serve as the anchor point of the story as you rebuild the home of your neighbours to its former glory.[/p][p][/p][p]Quests[/p][p][/p][p]We are testing out a new feature, Quests! You will be able to accept Quests from NPCs which will help you progress and offer amazing and sometimes exclusive rewards! It definitely pays to be a good neighbour 😀[/p][p][/p][p]Exploration[/p][p][/p][p]The map just got BIGGER! We’ve added areas to discover during runs that will reward you for exploring your surroundings. The further you are in a run, the more you will be able to explore.[/p][p][/p][p]New Weapons & Improved Combat [/p][p]Combat got a lot more fun, with a much needed improvement on the feel of melee and range combat! You’ll also have an onslaught of new weapons to discover and master!
[/p][p]Roguelite Cards[/p][p][/p][p]Symbiosis crystals, a currency you collect when establishing and maintaining powerful synergies between your towers, will now provide you with items, special abilities and upgrades! The symbiosis crystals fill up an XP bar that when filled, gives you a choice between 3 rewards. Your gardening skills will surely pay dividends with this new feature. [/p][p]New Music[/p][p]This new build will feature new custom music from the amazing A Shell in the Pit. Can’t wait for you all to groove to these new tracks![/p][p]And More[/p][p]There’s so much more tweaks and polish that’s been added to the game, in fact, too many to list them all here. So you’ll have to play it next month to see it all in action. hehe[/p][p]Before then, we want to know which one of these are you most excited to try next month?[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We’re thrilled to have you along for this exciting chapter in our journey! If you haven't already, please wishlist The Rabbit Haul on Steam, join us and invite your friends to our Discord to playtest the game! [/p][p] [/p][p]– Until next time 👋[/p][p]
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Need a place to rest after a round of hauling crops? Looking to upgrade and unlock new towers and abilities? Want to relax with some cute critters? Then the Town is just for you!

Welcome back as this month we are sharing our latest big update: the Town!



[h3]The Town[/h3]
The Town is in ruins after a raid from the Trash Panda Posse. Aid the mayor and rebuild the Town from the ground up! Boost the morale of the townsfolk with the crops that you have hauled from your run. Doing so will unlock new features, new friendly critters, stores, towers and crops as the Town comes back to life!



[h3]Art for the Town[/h3]
We had a lot of fun designing what the Town would look like. Take a sneak peak at some of the art. Here are a few sample concepts of Town assets!

Town Asset concepts

The Town in game

Enter a new run at the Town's exit gate



[h3]Quests?[/h3]
In the Town, you can talk, find and accept quests from townsfolk. Discover how you can be of help. There's much to do in this rebuilding season!

Gerald's store is in ruins! Will you help him get it up and running?

Additionally, we are introducing our dialogue system. Now you can interact and talk with other friendly animals!



Aid in rebuilding houses for the villagers

[h3]Quest Tracking[/h3]
We are currently building a method to track quests. Here is a concept of the Journal, a feature that will allow you to keep track of what quests you are working towards and quests that you have finished.





[h3]Thanks for reading[/h3]
There's still lots for us to develop in the town, but we can’t wait to let you guys try it out! If you haven't already please wishlist The Rabbit Haul and be on the lookout for our next playtest coming soon.

Until next time! 👋

All hands on deck as we continue the development of The Rabbit Haul. Lots of progress is being made behind the scenes and we are waiting for the right time to reveal all the work that has been done so far! For now, let's talk about the changes we made to the combat!

Please excuse the low quality GIFS. If someone knows how to import better quality GIFS into Steam do let us know!



[h3]Combat Redesign[/h3]

We’ve been eager to polish the combat system in our game. Based on your feedback during the playtest it was something we knew you would appreciate as well. In the beginning, it was a necessity to develop a simple combat system that acted as a foundation for us to develop other features. Now, we are ready to push our combat to the next level!

Old Sword Attacks



New Sword Attack

The new system implements a few techniques to add a feeling of weight and feedback. We are also allowing players to have access to combo slashes without needing to buy it from Pauline in-run.





[h3]Camera Work[/h3]

A subtle yet effective polish we added was a camera sway. Before, the camera would move with the player one for one. Now, the camera feels reactive to your movements as the camera follows with a slight delay. It's a small change but it adds a layer of refinement we were looking for.

Old Camera: No Sway Effect



New Camera: Sway Effect





[h3]Screen Shake[/h3]

Additionally, with our new camera set up we are able to test different effects like screen shake to really sell a heavy attack! This is still a work in progress and as you can see this feature requires a gentle touch.





[h3]Weapons[/h3]

It's been our goal to implement an array of exciting new weapons that promote discovery and highlight different playstyles. We are eagerly designing and testing them out and we are so excited to get it into your hands soon. For now, here's a quick tease at some new weapon concepts!



Have an idea for a weapon you’d love to see? Join us in our Discord and share your ideas with us and our community



Thanks so much for your continued support for The Rabbit Haul. We can’t wait to share more as we work hard to create an experience you will enjoy!

As always please Wishlist The Rabbit Haul on Steam if you haven't already, and we will catch you next month!

One of the most requested features we have received from our community is the ability to move plants after you have already planted them. We are excited to announce our new feature, Pots.



[h3]Reposition your Plants[/h3]
Got a Crop growing out of range of your Support Tower? Want to reposition a Tower to optimize its offensive abilities? Or do you simply want to redecorate and beautify your garden? We got you covered! Pots allow you to pick up a Crop or a Tower and reposition them to your liking! You can pick up any tower or crop at any stage of growth! Though you cannot pot a Structure based Tower like the Beehive or the Sprinkler.



[h3]Durability[/h3]
Be aware, each Pot has a limited amount of uses before they break! Strategize when to use your precious Pots to maximize the potential of your garden!



[h3]Big Thanks![/h3]
We would like to thank our community for helping us build the game you want to play! Are you liking what you are seeing? Do you have any other feature requests? Let us Know and keep updated with the community at our Discord!

Last but not least, wishlist the game to stay in the know for any future playtests!

The team has been working on a handful of new features that we are excited to share with you all soon, we hope to catch you in the next feature announcement!

We’ve added a new tower to The Rabbit Haul, and it’s a goody. The Sniper Violet is a tower that perfectly embodies the idea of beauty meeting precision. With its sharpshooting capabilities and the ability to give players the power of sight, the Sniper Violet is a formidable ally in your defense as it will ensure that no enemy is out of reach.



[h3]Inspiration[/h3]

The Sniper Violet draws inspiration from the real-life violet flower, native to our home and known for its beauty and delicate scent. Violets are unique in how they disperse their seeds—by shooting them with remarkable precision, ensuring their growth in diverse environments. Similarly, the Sniper Violet tower excels at targeting enemies with pinpoint accuracy from afar. Its graceful yet deadly nature makes it a perfect homage to the violet flower's own strength and beauty.





[h2]Sniper Violet Stages[/h2]



[h3]Seed Packet[/h3]

Once you’ve unlocked the Sniper Violet in the upgrade store, Gerald’s Green Shop will stock Sniper Violet seed packets for purchase in your run.





[h3]Level 1[/h3]

At this stage, the Sniper Violet cannot attack. You must water and protect it from harm for 2 nights before it will bloom and gain its sharpshooting abilities.





[h3]Level 2[/h3]

At this stage, the Sniper Violet will defend your farm from raccoons, excelling at shooting enemies from afar!





[h3]Level 3A[/h3]

The Sniper Violet is the first tower to offer 2 different final stages. The first one, the Mega Sniper, comes with a significant damage increase and the Shared Vision symbiosis effect.



The Shared Vision effect allows Sniper Violets (at level 2 and above) in direct horizontal or vertical line of sight to share their attack radius, allowing them to cover even more of the battlefield. Be careful, as planting crops or other towers in between this line of sight will break it!







[h3]Level 3B[/h3]

The Camo Sniper has a lot to offer as well. It benefits from an attack speed boost and the ability to target the elusive Ghillie Raccoons. Additionally, the Camo Sniper grants other towers within a 3x3 area the Spotter effect.



The Spotter effect grants its benefactor the ability to also target Ghillie raccoons who are normally invisible to range towers. The effect also increases the towers' attack radius.





That’s it for the Sniper Violet! Join our Discord community to learn more about all that we are working on for The Rabbit Haul.

And of course, if you haven’t already, wishlist The Rabbit Haul on Steam to stay updated on when the next playtest will happen.

Until next time! 👋