Frog Update #8

The inventory & items systems have been completely overhauled, and I think it looks good! Are you ready to build the perfect frog habitat? Then let's hop right on into it!

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🛠 PATCH NOTES / CHANGELOG

New to"Frog Up!" v0.9_gamma_0:

Mechanics

• New items have been added to Patches' shop for purchase:

  • Mushrooms/Fungus: "Frogstool", "Morel", "Cubensis", "Fairy Ring"

  • Plants/Flowers: "Clover", "Peony", "Daisy", "Daffodil", "Cornflower", "Boxwood Shrub"

  • Nature: "Log", "Stump", "Rock", "Geode"

  • Decor: "Watering Can", "Birdhouse", "Bird Bath", "Red Balloon"

  • Special: "Tiles" of every color of the rainbow (HAPPY PRIDE!)

Design & Polish

• The "Items" inventory menu & Patches' shop menu in the "Anura Tek" habitat have both been completely overhauled and re-designed to function better, and to look more polished.

• Items already in the game have been further improved aesthetically, functionally, & economically.

  • Items have more reasonable prices, and cost scaling has been balanced a bit.

  • Item tooltips should now display more reliably, and their design has been significantly improved.

Assets & Optimization

• Added an item crafter dev tool to expedite the item creation process. This can easily be expanded to expedite habitat design, and even custom items/habitats via custom player-made mods. Keep an eye out here for more dev tool notes in the near future!

Bug Fixes & Other Issues

• The "Pick Up" mode activated by the button at the bottom of the "Items" inventory menu should now properly cancel and return the player to the inventory menu display on pressing the `Tab` or `Esc` buttons.

• The item preview displayed when placing an item into the "Lily Pond" habitat should now properly follow the mouse, and give the player an accurate idea of exactly where the item is being placed, as well as how it will look when placed.

• Miscellaneous code & text changes.

Coming soon, in v1.0 and beyond...

• Tentative full game support for MAC, LINUX & STEAM operating systems!

• Massive DESIGN OVERHAUL for older habitats to make them look better!

• TADPOLES! STAR FROGS! NEW NPCs! Oh my! :D

• ...and even a HUGE NEW HABITAT to explore!

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🖉 KRAKEN'S DEV NOTES

Originally, I wanted to keep the items & their designs incredibly simple; a few cute little decorations with simple boosts, and some key items to unlock a few of the habitats.

Therefore, the inventory menu, the shop menu, the habitat 'placement' decoration system, and all of the other systems that tied into it were relatively simple, as well -- but not necessarily in a good way. Some things were unrewarding, some things were arcane & esoteric, and some things were just plain broken.

If you tried to place items as decoration before this update, or stocked up on a certain item before the price balancing (I'm so sorry for obliterating your Reed Bush portfolios!), you'll know what I'm talking about.

So, instead of hardcoding a few basic ideas, I got to work putting together a complex inventory system that not only works right (as far as I know...) but doesn't look too shabby, either. I'm quite proud of it.

I can even add items programmatically, with completely custom designs from my new dev tool GUI item editor, which is actually kinda fun!

Most of the upgrades are aesthetic/design/visual or "quality of life" (QoL) changes, so simply playing this new version will give you an idea of the work I've done. However, there are a few interesting takeaways relating to the future of the game that I think are worth noting:

• The item crafting dev tool has huge potential for very little extra work, and I think I may have accidentally created an excellent modding tool for Frog Up! I will be expanding the dev tool into more of a kit in the near future, adding a habitat designer, a frog creator, and so forth. That means more new frogs, more new habitats, more new everything!

• Adding new items now has become relatively trivial, so new items for both design & for utility can make their way into the game quickly. For instance, the tile items are all individual separate items, but they were all added to the game in terms of minutes, not hours.

• Utility items will make both the active and the idle elements of the game more interesting. I'm not exactly sure what will actually make it into the game, but I'm already designing items to act as switches/gates, wires/connectors, etc.; adding lighting effects to certain items; and adding more advanced interaction mechanics, to name a few of the concepts that have opened up with this inventory/items system upgrade.

Plus, if you keep up with the "Coming soon..." section of the patch notes, you can see all of the ideas that are being conceptualized for implementation (or are already being implemented) into Frog Up!, so there's plenty to look forward to already.

Steam post image A snapshot of my personal home habitat, showing off all the new items. The rainbow heart at the bottom is made from the new "tile" items.

⇘ KRAKEN's Patch Playlist

View store page

• specifically, the Bowser's Road remix from Super Mario 64 (my personal favorite game of all time!)

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Thank you for playing! Talk to y'all soon,

~ ya boy, KRAKEN

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