Bunnies Can Play Tag Game

1. Even if the island has nothing on it, the Bunnies can still have fun. They may run around and chase each other to play. It took me about two months to finally figure out how to make this work.

2. Time can now be accelerated up to 15×.

3. The Bunny mail system is back.

4. More beautiful background music has been added.

5. The Add/Del Bunny option has been moved to the Bunny job selection panel.

The biggest change in this update is the Bunny chase game system, which took a very, very long time to rebuild.

I really didn’t expect this change to take almost two months. In the past, most features had very clear requirements. But for the group chase game, it took a long time just to clearly describe how each part should work. After many attempts, I slowly found the right approach.

Right now the game looks simple:

Bunnies chase → one Bunny catches another → they switch roles → and keep playing.

Last update added the Pig’s house, so you probably thought the Pig would come back in this update.

Haha… I thought so too.

But I couldn’t figure out a good design for the Pig. I tried many ideas, but nothing felt better than the old version. In the past I already rebuilt the Pig several times: code, model, animation, and behavior tree. If the new Pig ends up the same as before, the rebuild would feel meaningless.

Maybe after rebuilding it so many times, I’m a bit tired of it.

Unless I come up with a new and more interesting idea, I don’t really have the motivation to remake the same feature again.

Content warning: some sad developer thoughts ahead

Recently some unpleasant things happened in my life, and I became very anxious. When that happens, I can’t focus well.

If I can’t focus:

• I can’t write code (the code keeps breaking)

• I can’t model (no inspiration)

• I can’t animate (animations look cuter when I’m happy)

So every step becomes slow and full of mistakes. Sometimes I just sit there staring at the screen.

It made me think about artists who collapse after big setbacks. When people are deeply absorbed in creating, their social circle often becomes very small. Sometimes they end up very lonely.

Some psychology books I read during my last game project helped a bit.

I try simple things to fight anxiety:

walking, reading fun novels, eating snacks, and keeping daily life normal. Drinking water, eating meals, sleeping, and taking walks all help stabilize emotions.

I also read many biographies of artists and directors. When they weren’t recognized, they felt very similar emotions. Of course this doesn’t mean my game will someday become great. Only a few works in history are recognized later. That pattern hasn’t changed for centuries.

I almost skipped writing this part, but if I removed it all, future readers might think only code caused the pain. Maybe these small notes can help someone avoid falling into the same deep pit.

A few development diary notes

A few days later…

One day I refreshed Steam and saw a new positive review! I was so happy and read it very carefully.

The game seems a little more fun than when it first launched. When a game has very few players, it can take a very long time to get a review. So I’m really grateful that the Steam algorithm still helped someone discover it.

Reading the review carefully, I noticed something interesting:

Some players open the game and simply watch the Bunnies.

That gave me an idea.

If the island has nothing to do, the Bunnies could play together. Then even if players just stare at the screen, there would still be cute animations to watch.

But this feature turned out to be much harder than I expected.

Previously, Bunnies followed simple linear tasks:

walk → fetch water → walk → water plants.

But a group chase game is dynamic. Multiple Bunnies must enter the play state together, end together, and switch roles when one Bunny catches another. After the game ends, they return to normal life: work, sleep, etc.

To support this, I had to rewrite part of the old Bunny system.

At first, I had no idea how to implement it.

A few days later…

The idea was fun and I really wanted to see it work. But I kept hitting dead ends. Sometimes I even told myself:

“No one is playing anyway… maybe I should stop…”

Then I would sigh and think:

“But Bunnies are really cute, right?

Bunnies running around playing together would be even cuter…”

A few days later…

After many attempts, I finally found a possible implementation approach. It was extremely difficult.

During breaks I started reading horror novels (I never used to read them). When the protagonist meets a scary ghost, I just sigh and think:

“Honestly… my bugs are scarier.”

And when code simply refuses to work, that’s even more frightening than bugs. There’s no direction at all.

A few days later…

I thought the nightmare was over and I could finally release the update happily!

But like in a horror story, the monster suddenly appears again.

When one Bunny catches another, they should perform animations together: one surprised, one happy, then they switch roles.

But instead the Bunnies paused awkwardly. One waited, the other reacted late. It looked like the slow DMV sloths in Zootopia. Not good at all. So I had to rewrite it again.

The good news was that I already understood the logic.

The bad news was rewriting the same feature again felt like Sisyphus pushing a rock uphill.

A few days later…

I thought I fixed it, but then discovered a third-party plugin delay that couldn’t be solved.

So… I had to rewrite it again.

Rock up the hill. Again.

Luckily modern times have AI, so I can endlessly ask questions and discuss solutions.

A few days later…

That plugin actually has a reproducible bug. But I didn’t report it to the company.

Individual developers usually love hearing about bugs and fix them quickly. But companies often respond with “works fine here”.

So I just learned how to avoid triggering the bug.

This is also why I don’t want to change game engines.

A new engine means new tools, new plugins, and new unknown bugs. I’d rather stay in a familiar environment with familiar bugs.

A few days later…

Eventually the code finally worked.

I was so surprised I went outside for a walk just to calm down. I thought it might be an illusion. But when I came back and tested again—everything worked.

Seeing a group of Bunnies running around chasing each other looked so cute that I almost forgot all the previous suffering.

Bunnies are really adorable!!

I was going to release the update immediately. But after watching them run around for a while, I thought:

“Maybe I can add a little more to make it even funnier…”

A few days later…

I looked back at my git commit messages. They were quite funny:

• Fixed now.

• This time definitely fixed.

• Probably fixed.

• Should be fixed.

• Maybe fixed?

• Let’s try again.

• Save first… just in case.

Even though I kept rewriting parts, I wasn’t desperate anymore. Once the overall logic worked, I knew the problem could eventually be solved.

A few days later…

Everything is finally fixed and tested. The update can be released!

I want Bunny Island to feel like a peaceful little paradise. No scary things, just happy Bunnies growing vegetables and playing together. Maybe tired humans can feel a little warmth when they meet these cute Bunnies.

I also changed the food logic. If a Bunny gets hungry but there is no food, the system simply fills the food value. If Bunny Island existed, hardworking Bunnies growing plants would never starve.

Bunnies are the kindest animals in the world.

Time can now be accelerated to 15×. During testing I sometimes ran the game at extremely high speed and watched flowers bloom and trees grow. It was surprisingly fun, so I hope you enjoy it too.

That’s about it!

There were many difficulties and moments of despair along the way, but thankfully everything worked out in the end.

Bunnies running around playing together are really cute, right?

I hope the world stays peaceful.

I hope everyone stays safe.

Thank you for reading.

And thank you for being a player of my game.