The Perfect Bowl News

[p]This is an exciting update for me as I'll be putting up a public prototype of The Perfect for people to play and share! I hope you'll check it out, leave a review, and share it around!

Here's the link:
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The past 2 months have been really busy trying to set up this milestone as best as I can. Updating steam pages, websites, social media, etc. I'm really proud of what my Art Director and I churned out to get to this stage and I would really appreciate it if you took a look at what we have built so far!![/p]

As I continue to iterate on The Perfect Bowl, the vision and direction of the game gets ever slowly clearer. This time round, I've been (again) testing out new mechanics and changing existing ones to get the experience to be closer to what I would like it to be.

On the art side, we've settled on a look for the assembly portion of the game that makes it look more cohesive with the character art. Although we had to sacrifice my original vision of it, I think in the grand scheme of things this would be the better way forward.


[h2]New Character Art[/h2]
Meet Kosuzu! A wonderfully eccentric and fruity man late in his life. Not the sharpest tool in the shed but knows how to bring out the zest in life.


[h2]Character Sketches[/h2]
Some early character sketches.


[h2]New Hand Drawn Textures and Outlines[/h2]
It was a tough decision but we decided to forgo the strong DOF (background blur) in favour of a more illustrative look to match with the character art. Due to limitations of the engine (and probably my skill) alas I cannot have my cake and eat it too.


[h2]Special Response Menu for Flavour Dialogue[/h2]
I added a response menu that is specific to Jim's response after serving the ramen. The menu would show available responses but not be selectable. The hope is that it would encourage players to add toppings beyond the minimum requirement knowing that a certain combination of flavours will unlock different dialogues.

[h2]Summary of Customer Conversation When Selecting Polaroid to Talk to with Dad[/h2]
When reminiscing with Dad, there would be a popup to show a summary of what Jim's conversation with his customer was about. The idea is that it would give the player some indication of what Jim's conversation with his Dad will be about and also further reveal what Jim is like as a person.



[h2]No More Limited Ingredients[/h2]
For this iteration, I've decided to remove the limit to ingredient quantities. Once you buy it from the store, you have it indefinitely. I think the actual assembly itself already has enough limitations even without adding an additional feature to manage. Plus from recent playtests, having a limited amount of ingredients doesn't seem to do anything for improving the gameplay or experience.

June Update Post:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2976790/view/532102384016426419

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Follow Me! ːsteamhappyː

April Update Post:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2976790/view/532097310616715956

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Follow Me! ːsteamhappyː

I am extremely happy to announce that I finally have an Art Director on board to help with all things art related! The overall vibe of the game will still stay the same but the style would evolve over time. I hope you'll stick around to see the awesome stuff that she comes up with.

Aside from that, I have completed the most of the refactoring and UI overhauls as mentioned last update which I am very excited to share!


Over the course of the last few months, I'm getting a better understanding of what The Perfect Bowl is about and I think its time for an update! Please do check out the new Steam Store Page!!



[h2]Our First Character Key Visual[/h2]
Introducing Jim's dad! Strong and gruff with a passion for Ramen. Being a single parent is tough. Not knowing how to communicate with his child is tougher.

The art style is not fully locked in yet but Dad represents the direction that we are going for. Eventually every element will match the visuals set by the character art making everything look more cohesive, including the ramen bowl.




[h2]Ache/Sooth System[/h2]
Two sides of the same coin. Aches represent the customers current issues that needs to be removed to feel better. Sooths are the cures to these issues. Every topping is rated to help with a certain ache. The player will not be able to continue unless ALL aches are soothed.


[h2]Updated Dialogue System[/h2]
Important conversation moments would be marked with an icon indicating customer aches the player would need to sooth with the appropriate topping. This is done in hopes that there would be a sense of "risk/reward" when deciding to go with those dialogue options as resources (toppings) are limited. The intended scenario would be that players might not be able to achieve their desired flavour dialogue if they decide to take on more aches than their resources can handle.


[h2]Character Tolerance[/h2]
A range of acceptable flavour values have been implemented to modify the players experience. Each customer has a tolerance level when determining if the flavor profiles are acceptable to them. The player must be within this range in order for them to unlock that flavour dialogue option.


[h2]Bowl Colour Customization Options[/h2]
Bowl colors are now customizable for better player expression.


[h2]Assist Mode[/h2]
Some players find it difficult to achieve the look they want which causes frustration. For players who have lesser background with 3d software, I'm going to try solving it with an Assist Mode which would reduce the number of controls available.




[h2]More Customization Options[/h2]
Being able to switch between noodle types is now functioning. Each noodle type has its own flavour and benefits.


[h2]Flavour Graph[/h2]
Flavor compositions are now represented in a heuristic graph form for more pleasing visuals


[h2]Soup Mode[/h2]
A special mode has been added whenever the player wants to add soup. There were a lot of UX issues cropping up because of how the pouring system works. So I decided to add a special mode to hopefully address those issues by making interaction during this mode exclusive to pouring of soup.


[h2]Axis Indicators[/h2]
A set of axis visualizers which would hopefully orient players when manipulating the topping.