General Update: Overhaul of some systems and Future Plans.

🐸 - A new update for Hoping Forest is here! - 🐸

First and foremost thanks for all the support in these 2 weeks.

I doubt that I’ll update the game in a weekly schedule but at least in this update, I was able to add some of the things that were left out for the official launch.

First of all, there is a small overhaul on how the game shows progress. Previously you could only see it in the general view on the main menu, which could affect those players that were looking for the 100%, now each zone shows its progress in the level selection adding more clarity on what you are missing. On the same note, at the end of zone 4, there is a hidden level but there was no indicator of what that was, which could lead to thinking it was a bug or something. Now it has a small hint of what to do with it.

There is also a small improvement in the screen flow. Until now if you went back to the menu from the puzzles you were led to the main screen. Making it a bit tedious for those who were trying to complete the 100% or just wanted to change levels. Now the Back to Menu buttons led you to the level selection screen optimizing the access to different levels for those looking for the 100%.

The way the score count works in the tutorial was changed. Before the introduction of flies, the score in the tutorial levels was different from the rest of the game. This was on purpose as a way to show whether someone completed the tutorial on the first attempt or not. However, this led to weird interactions and could make players think it was a bug or something of the sort. Since the score of the tutorial is not taken into account for the 100% this was modified to work similar to how the rest of the game works. Now if you failed a tutorial level before the introduction of flies you don’t get medals and if you complete it you get all the medals.

There were also some small bugs fixed, especially those that affect the progression of the game, and the speed of some UI animations was tweaked.

Now, the other important part of this update, my plans for the future of the game.

Right now I’m happy with the state of the game. But I do know there are some areas where the game could be improved upon.

One of the is a speedrun mode

I’m evaluating different ways to add a game mode and/or options within the game that could allow a more fast and more dynamic experience, especially considering UI and animations. I’m still thinking about this so there is no date for this yet or if it will be developed at all, so take everything with a grain of salt. In any case, anything I’ll end up doing about this will be optional and an alternative to the recommended way to play the game. You might even need to finish the game before accessing this game mode.

The other thing I believe the game could be improved upon is the addition of a story

Originally some sort of narrative was planned for the game, there is even a comic-style cinematic system working within the game but since this is not my specialty and considering the time and resources it could take I left it out of the original scope completely. But now that the game is officially out it might be the time to retake that idea and find a way to include some narrative or story into the game. Again I’m still planning on it so there is no date for this yet.

What I can say is that no matter what I’ll end up doing my goal is to finish everything before the 1 year anniversary of the game or even the 6 month anniversary. So all of this is for the long run. But as I said non of this might happen.

There are more surprises cooking in the back but more news on that when the time arrives.

Until then thanks again for the support on Hoping Forest and if you haven’t gotten it yet don’t miss the chance to enjoy this relaxing but challenging experience!