Agraria Dev Diary 5/5

The Perils of Pineapples

So, I'm balancing late-game content. It's not the most exciting work, but I'm still sometimes amazed at the one-more-day effect Agraria has, even after months of being immersed in the project. But sometimes I'm reminded that I am really, really new to this world.

So, I wake up, another day on the farm. I'm working on the Rank 8 Trial to unlock the Automated Distributor, a warehouse machine that automatically sends its inventory to any processing plants that need the ingredients. I've already delivered the required bagged salad. All that's left: 20 units of Fruit Cocktail.

I walk outside my cottage and... OH. WOW.

Framerate PLUMMETS. I mean, from an easy 60 FPS normally to the teens. Absolute slideshow.

And I have NO IDEA WHY.

I'll spare you the slow task of narrowing down the culprit. An hour later, I figure it out.

Pineapples.

Specifically, when I created the harvestable pineapple model, I did what I always do - I started with a very detailed model, then cleaned it up and simplified it for use in game. Models usually start with around 500,000 faces, and end up with about 10,000. BIG difference.

Guess which one I textured and added to the game?

So all those pineapples I'd grown for my fruit cocktail were AMAZINGLY detailed. And with 96 of them growing at once (I counted), it sent my graphics card into a panic attack.

All fixed now. That's what testing is for!

A Note on Narrative

I was asked recently if Agraria has a story.

It does. But it's pretty low-key, honestly. How much you dig into the lore is up to you.

But my lore bible is about 60 pages long. I mean, yes. I've done some world building. It's just mostly in the background.

Here's the basics. Skip this if you hate anything that even smells like a spoiler!

You have signed up to be an Shared Land Agricultural Engineer (read: Tenant Farmer) with Agraria Inc. They own the land. You farm it for their profit. It's a living. But it begins to feel a bit... dystopian.

But there's a loophole. A clause in the law. You might catch hints of it if you listen to the podcasts, read the emails, or talk to Ruby, your old-timer neighbor whose family has been working the Agraria Valley for generations.

Eventually, Ruby will lay it out for you. If you can single-handedly show market domination, your farm becomes yours. No more working for Harold Macintosh III. Your task: follow the trials to the end, claim ownership of your farm, and break out from under corporate control.

It's all pretty straight forward, and again, it's purposefully light. But it's there! I teach literature, so I know the value of a good narrative, and I've worked to create one that interacts with you at whatever level you prefer!