Full notes
Full OddFauna : Secret of the Terrabeast update
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Repeated intro
Hey Beastly buddies! It’s been a month since our last update, and the game is really coming together! I've put together a VERY LONG (27 mins) gameplay video. Honestly it’s too long, but I thought I would try this format. I’m not talking over the footage. It’s just me playing the game until I grow the Terrabeast for the first time. I’m very excited about how the game is playing, and I’m glad that I've taken the time to rework systems that were feeling flat.
What changed
- Gameplay
- Workshop
- UI and audio
- Fixes
OddFauna : Secret of the Terrabeast changes
Continue reading below for lots more info, but here are the TLDR updates:
Reworked the building mechanic entirely. It’s so much better, and I’m loving it.
Redid the world’s expansion. It’s much clearer how and why the world grows.
Changed the blight
Improved plant gowing (but I’m not including this in the first version of Alpha)
Added new tools (axe, pickaxe, hammer)
Changed the opening of the game
Improved the sound effects and visual effects
OddFauna joining party
Designed the Terrabeast edge of the world
Fixed tons of bugs!
I've done an overhaul on the building mechanic, and it’s such an improvement. For some context, building has always been a part of what I want the player to be able to do in OddFauna. The goal is to have a fun and challenging building system that allows you to build whatever you can imagine. The first versions were cubes and then hexagonal prisms. While it was simple to build with these, they were not giving me the visual design language I was aiming for. The system felt limited in terms of progression. Now, you have a pallet of shapes with which to build. Each have different costs, and you can unlock tiers of building materials. objects, and more. Ultimately, I want to tie this progression into befriending OddFauna that love to craft (like Mo birds). The changes to how the world expands are another massive change. Previously, the world would grow at the start of spring. The world grows one ring of biomes at a time. One biome would expand into a 3x3 biome into a 4x4 biome and so on. It was taking too long to experience the expansion of the world. The impact of the player’s actions felt very delayed. Now, the player feels the results of their actions every night and can see the progress of the Terrabeast growth. If you know what you’re doing, you can grow your Terrabeast 1 time in less than a week (about 20 mins). However, each subsequent growth level will take longer and longer to achieve. Blight is now the first challenge you will face in terms of growing your Terrabeast. There will be other times of challenges, like under-developed or overgrown biomes, wildfires, etc., but blight is the most straightforward and visually impactful challenge. Abilities and Tools: We’ve moved away from Astor having all the abilities, and we’ve transferred those abilities to other OddFauna. However, Astor still needs a basic version of those abilities, and that is where tools come in. Let's use breaking boulders and gathering rocks as an example: At the start, Astor can craft a pickaxe, break boulders, and gather the rocks - simple and straightforward. Later in the game, Astor can befriend OddFauna that will expand the gameplay in different ways. These befriended OddFauna will allow you to break bigger, harder boulders, break lots of rocks quickly, and even auto-collect the rocks into their own inventory which will expand your own inventory. Thanks for reading and following our adventure! If you like the longer format of this update (video & writing), please let me know. Back to work! Cheers, Cliff
Source
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