Devlog #9: Trailer Success, Playtest Feedback & Visual Upgrades!

Greetings, Martian Farmers! 🌱🚀

This month has been incredibly inspiring for us and for AGRONOM! We launched our Announcement Trailer, which has already surpassed over 200,000 views! Our warm and supportive community is also growing steadily (if you haven't joined our Discord yet—now’s the perfect time!). Additionally, we ran large-scale playtests involving over 5,000 participants, providing invaluable feedback. We're carefully reading, analyzing, and integrating your suggestions into our development process. We'll soon share detailed insights on how your feedback has directly impacted the game’s evolution, so stay tuned!

We also launched a fantastic new website where you can pet our robots (yes, really!) and subscribe to our newsletter for all the freshest updates.

Visuals

Cargo Platform is now Cargo Station!

We’ve updated the Cargo Platform to Cargo Station to better reflect its significance. It's now the first building you'll encounter on your empty plot, helping you kickstart base development.

The Cargo Station is the central building of your plot! It connects to a big delivery network across Mars. Through this station, you can send and receive cargo, making sure your base always has what it needs to grow.

Installed by the AgroNova Corporation long ago, our Cargo Station was left unused, becoming partially damaged over time. It's one-of-a-kind—you can't build another, and there's only one on your Martian base! Rusty uses parts from these ruins to help rebuild the station and start developing your base.

Every Cargo Station has a built-in generator providing a steady, reliable source of energy. It's not incredibly powerful, but more than enough to support the initial development of your Martian base. Below, you can check out the concept art for the redesigned Cargo Station —let us know what you think!

Concept Art of Mars Environment

We're beginning to diversify our Martian landscapes—especially around Gramps Makar’s plot and its surroundings. Enjoy this early glimpse into the future beauty of our Martian environment!

Builder Robot Animations

Our robots have been getting a lot of love, and it makes us happy to see your enthusiasm! Check out the incredible new animations of our Builder Robot—what a character!

Robot Assembler

Here's the machine you'll use to assemble your trusty robot helpers. Pretty cool, right?

Enhanced 3D Models

We've been working extensively to refine our 3D models. Previously, in our trailer and playtests, you saw basic "blockout" models—simplified versions for faster prototyping. Now, we're ready to showcase near-final models with richer details and textures. Buildings are looking more vibrant and engaging than ever!

Check out the updated Universal Compartment, complete with intricate wiring and buttons.

Here are improved models of the Cooking Station and Composter.

And introducing, for the first time—the Geo Scanner! The Geo Scanner is a quest-related item that will help you discover hidden secrets on Mars—things you were not meant to know!

Environment

This month, our landscape received significant optimizations:

• Material optimization from a singular heavy-load material to a layered and blended approach.

• New engine updates enabling height-based blending between layers, greatly enhancing visual realism.

• Transitioning to the updated engine version also enabled us to use Nanite technology, allowing for displacement maps that create much more realistic and dynamic terrain.

We're also working on visualizing new environmental concept arts. Check out these fresh screenshots straight from the game:

Gameplay

We've completed programming the storyline for our playtests, a prequel introducing Gramps Makar and Auntie Masha. Following the release, we quickly deployed two updates to support playtests and have now moved on to new challenges—like redesigning and updating the logic and interfaces of the Cargo Station.

Narrative

We’ve developed and integrated a compelling prequel narrative for AGRONOM. In this prequel (featured in playtests and soon in our Demo), you'll experience events several years before the main storyline. Step into Rusty's shoes for his first field trial under Gramps Makar’s supervision. Help Auntie Masha manage her farm while she's delayed on an interplanetary trip—especially with AgroNova Corporation eagerly awaiting their cut of the harvest!

This prequel lets you explore Auntie Masha’s farm, while in the main game, you'll build your own base from scratch on Gramps Makar’s land.

What’s Next? 😏

This month, we aim to finalize core gameplay mechanics, enhance our 3D models, and introduce exciting new animations. We'll also simplify and improve the introductory tutorial experience based on your feedback. After fully analyzing your suggestions, we'll integrate new features—details to be revealed early next week!

And for those who read to the very end—here’s a little surprise! We've started working on a gameplay teaser! Let us know in the comments what you're most excited about and want to see! Stay tuned for more updates!

For more details, join our Discord server. And don't forget to wishlist AGRONOM —your support truly means everything to us:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2893250/AGRONOM/

With love, The AGRONOM Team 🧡