Goblin Research Notes #2

Matt here again! Welcome back to the second dev blog in the Goblin Research Notes series. I’ve been hard at work behind the scenes, and this update is a bit of a mix! Some deep technical improvements, plus a big batch of new features and quality-of-life changes.

Let’s jump in.

Pathfinding Deep Dive (aka: goblins got smarter)

One of the biggest improvements I’ve made is to pathfinding and it’s a pretty massive one.

Previously, I was using a standard A* system. It works great, but it has one major downside: if there’s no possible path, it still searches everything before giving up… which can cause some nasty lag spikes.

So I reworked it.

Now, the world is broken into sectors, which are further split into “regions” (basically chunks of walkable or non-walkable space). These regions are all connected together in a kind of network.

What this lets me do:

• Instantly check if a path is even possible (no more wasted calculations!)

• Run pathfinding on regions first, then tiles second

• Dramatically reduce the number of tiles being checked

The result? Pathfinding is now up to ~8–10x faster in my tests.

It also works nicely with:

• Destructible terrain

• Multiple floors

• Dynamically changing environments

I acutally implemented this about a year ago now, but I really wanted to talk about it and never went into much detail, so I'm talking about it now.

What I’ve Been Working On

Alright, onto the fun stuff. Here’s a rapid-fire rundown of what’s new:

Quests & World

• Added new fetch quests for NPCs, each with unique rewards

• Scattered human journal notebooks around the world (lore)

• Added lost & found NPC who sells back important items if you lose them

• NPCs will now become mean if your friendship gets too low (rude)

Building & Decoration

• New biome-specific decoration items you can steal and use at home

• Added greenhouse roofs to protect crops from seasons

• NPCs now remember their beds even after redecorating

• Added skulls that prevent enemy spawns (with visible radius on hover)

Combat & Companions

• You can now equip NPCs with weapons and armor

  • (Balanced so they’re helpful, but not overpowered)

• Knocked-out NPCs now have stars above their heads

Controls & Quality of Life

• Quick trash hotkey (Ctrl + click)

• Quick heal hotkey (H) that intelligently picks the best potion

• Search bar in crafting menus

• Item inspection table (see crafting uses without a wiki!)

• Click + drag map panning (no more WASD only)

• Rotate character during creation (very important for mullets)

• Added auto-mining (press F and relax a little)

Visual Improvements

• New hot/cold visual indicators

• Tooth animation when selling items (much clearer now)

• Stacked pickup text (less spammy)

• Press Alt to:

  • See door overlays

  • See which NPC owns which bed

Multiplayer & Accessibility

• New in-game multiplayer menu (no more Steam-only joining)

• Lobby password support

• Added on-screen keyboard for controller players

Final Thumbnail Choice

I finally settled on the game’s thumbnail!

Huge thanks to everyone who gave feedback on the last post. It really helped narrow things down. I think the final choice fits the vibe of the game the best, and I’m super happy with how it turned out.

That’s a Wrap!

This update was a big one! Lots of smaller improvements that should make the overall experience much smoother and more enjoyable.

Next time, I’m hoping to show off a new volcano area, a new invasion mechanic and a few other surprises…

As always, thanks so much for all the support!! It genuinely means a lot. And if you haven’t already, wishlisting the game really helps more than you might think!

See you next time, - Matt