The "Keyboard Cartography" Update
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Hello there Seedlings! We've just wrapped up our recent optimisation update and have dispatched it straight your way, primed and ready for downloading. These optimisation updates are focused more on behind the scenes background work for the engine so, unlike our prior updates, this one won't contain quite as many visual changes on the surface.
That said, we still snuck in a few surface additions here and there, including a new farm mailbox as well as some initial keyboard mapping options. As such, we've come to refer to this as the "Keyboard Cartography" update. Apparently our lack of shame with bad puns knows no bounds.
One of the more noticeable additions for this update is a quaint little mailbox that we've added to the farm. Over time this mailbox will likely intertwine with gameplay, but for now we're just using it as a quick and easy way to give you brief summaries of any recently released updates. This way players won't have to wade through these lengthier announcements if they don't want to and can instead get highlights of new content right in-game. So anytime you see a red ribbon on the mailbox, that means you'll have a new letter straight from us. (Each one is handwritten, so long as you count keyboards.)
This update has a few other bits and bobs as well (like keyboard remapping!), but the primary focus for our optimisation updates is making sure our engine stays nice and well oiled. Primarily this included work on a few of our developer tools to make them more efficient and streamlined. Tools like a new Skill Tree Editor as well as existing tools like our Cutscene Editor, the latter of which we'll use to add events and story moments into future updates.
For a more in-depth look at things like the Cutscene Editor you can check out Issue #51 of The PixelCount Post, which is our series of weekly dev updates written by the team. Though for a more cursory look at today's update, read on below!
Next week, we'll be turning our attention back to working on some meatier content updates, starting with an update we've cheekily named "A Song of Price and Hire". That update will feature things like owning the Goods Store, managing hired staff, and a shop reputation system. We'll be pushing this update out the week after E3, so as to avoid releasing it during all that E3 hustle and bustle. As always, don't hesitate to check out our roadmap for a full rundown of what's to come.
Thanks to everyone who's been playing and providing feedback along the way, even for these less flashy optimisation updates. Speak again soon!
Love,
PixelCount
Hello there Seedlings! We've just wrapped up our recent optimisation update and have dispatched it straight your way, primed and ready for downloading. These optimisation updates are focused more on behind the scenes background work for the engine so, unlike our prior updates, this one won't contain quite as many visual changes on the surface.
That said, we still snuck in a few surface additions here and there, including a new farm mailbox as well as some initial keyboard mapping options. As such, we've come to refer to this as the "Keyboard Cartography" update. Apparently our lack of shame with bad puns knows no bounds.
PUNS WITH EXCELLENT DELIVERY
One of the more noticeable additions for this update is a quaint little mailbox that we've added to the farm. Over time this mailbox will likely intertwine with gameplay, but for now we're just using it as a quick and easy way to give you brief summaries of any recently released updates. This way players won't have to wade through these lengthier announcements if they don't want to and can instead get highlights of new content right in-game. So anytime you see a red ribbon on the mailbox, that means you'll have a new letter straight from us. (Each one is handwritten, so long as you count keyboards.)
This update has a few other bits and bobs as well (like keyboard remapping!), but the primary focus for our optimisation updates is making sure our engine stays nice and well oiled. Primarily this included work on a few of our developer tools to make them more efficient and streamlined. Tools like a new Skill Tree Editor as well as existing tools like our Cutscene Editor, the latter of which we'll use to add events and story moments into future updates.
For a more in-depth look at things like the Cutscene Editor you can check out Issue #51 of The PixelCount Post, which is our series of weekly dev updates written by the team. Though for a more cursory look at today's update, read on below!
NEW FARM MAILBOX ADDED
- You'll receive a letter from us for each major update
- Look for the red ribbon to see when a letter has arrived
- (May break fourth wall)
KEYBOARD REMAPPING (VIA OPTIONS MENU)
- Set new keyboard bindings for both Primary and Secondary controls
- Also set shortcuts for hotbar items
OTHER BITS
- Initial 3 items on new cooking skill tree (first pass)
- Improvements to some internal dev tools (Cutscene Editor, items, & navigation)
- New internal dev tool: Skill Tree Editor
- Spring cleaning of unused textures & assets
- For a complete look at all changes, check out the full changelog
Next week, we'll be turning our attention back to working on some meatier content updates, starting with an update we've cheekily named "A Song of Price and Hire". That update will feature things like owning the Goods Store, managing hired staff, and a shop reputation system. We'll be pushing this update out the week after E3, so as to avoid releasing it during all that E3 hustle and bustle. As always, don't hesitate to check out our roadmap for a full rundown of what's to come.
Thanks to everyone who's been playing and providing feedback along the way, even for these less flashy optimisation updates. Speak again soon!
Love,
PixelCount
Here's how the Cutscene Editor currently looks. There's still work to be done on it, but soon I'll be able to use it to create scenes and story moments in the game. 
Everyone does their layouts differently, but here's how my Premiere setup looks. You can see the basic similarities when compared to the Cutscene Editor above. 
This is one of the earliest screenshots of Kynseed's prototype that we were able to find. (The art is all generic placeholder, of course.) Even at this early stage we already had a few basics in, like finding dig spots, pets that follow, throwing items, and even playing catch with the pets.
As prototype engine work continued, we began slowly adding our own art into the game. A few other features began to show up as well, ranging from lamp post lighting to shadows under sprites. The basic outline of the farmhouse began to also tentatively take shape.
Eventually the engine was able to handle more layers and complexity, so we began adding in additional art like foliage and paths (and even insects, like the little bee on the far left). This still used our old player asset, although pet art did receive another update at this point. (And of course, there were a ton of new engine features not pictured in this simple screenshot.)
This is a look at where the engine is currently. Player art is updated, there's now two twins to play as, all pets received a final round of new art (plus new breeds/colours), foliage was cranked to 11, there's bees and butterflies, and the father is there with his watchful eye. This little screenshot barely scratches the surface of everything that's in the game these days, but it is interesting to see how far Kynseed has come from that earliest of early prototype.
