Help me build a village! Back Village Monsters on Kickstarter!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/389391560/village-monsters-a-monstrous-life-sim-game

New Trailer!
Youtube Video

The Village Monsters Kickstarter has finally gone live, and you can start backing it right away

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Have you ever wondered what happens inside the world of an abandoned video game? All those NPCs with their artificial lives...what do they do after the game is turned off for that final time?

Village Monsters is a relaxing life sim game set in one such world.

You play as someone booting up the game for the first time in decades only to discover that it is nothing like you remember.

The monsters that were once enemies have thrown away their weapons and have settled down in a peaceful village of their own making.

Stranger still, they're inviting you to come join them.

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Glad you asked. Here's a partial list of features and other fun stuff you can expect to enjoy in Village Monsters

• Personalize your very own home with furniture, decorations, and upgrades. Plant a garden! Install a secret room! Sit on a golden throne you found in the woods!
• Get to know dozens of whimsical monster neighbors, each with their own personalities, activities, and problems to solve.
• Pick up a new hobby, like fishing, botany, critter collecting, archaeology, or cooking, then donate your findings and creations to the Historical Society of Monsters.
• Leave your mark on the village by unlocking new buildings and influencing its development over time.
• Fill out your daily routine with activities like shopping, talking with villagers, watching TV, hunting for mushrooms, and so much more.

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• An immersive day / night cycle where everything has a schedule to keep - the villagers, the birds, and even the flowers.
• Dynamic weather changes including dozens of distinct weather types ranging from clear skies to thundersnow.
• The world changes with the seasons, and you can expect activities, items, creatures, and even music unique to each season.
• A packed calendar full of holidays ensures that every week brings something new. Enjoy events like the monthly Critter Safari, the springtime Good Egg Day Feast, and the Pumpkin Patch Bash.

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• Explore a digital land that’s been transformed by its abandonment.
• Experience a unique story told through unusual methods such as via item descriptions, overheard conversations, and anomoly research.
• Help unravel the unknown by investigating and solving Mysteries, a unique type of quest system.
• Complete a massive compendium that logs your journey through the game. Use it to track Mysteries, collectibles, secrets, and triumphs.

Oh, hello! Got some big news!

Village Monsters is officially LIVE on Kickstarter!

Help me build a village! Back Village Monsters on Kickstarter!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/389391560/village-monsters-a-monstrous-life-sim-game

There's also a new trailer!

Youtube Video

Later on today I'll also update the OP, though I'm a bit busy right now :)

Animal Crossing
Super Mario 64
Dwarf Fortress
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Witcher 3

I disagree strongly with this change.

From a purely emotional perspective the stars are part of the EZA brand for me. To lose them means giving up a major part of its identity, and that's a bummer.

But it also doesn't even make sense within the context of their explanation.

This is not a site that reviews bad games. We will never, ever see a game rated 5 or less. So what's the point of making the scale bigger?

Further, numerical scales always invite comparison in a way that stars do not. reviews will always fall apart when you start comparing them, especially across different reviewers.

This must be due to some outdated notion that Metacritic in any way provides visibility. It doesn't. Think of other sites on the same strata as EZA - how many use 20 point scoring scale? How many score games at all? Not Kinda Funny Games. Not Giant Bomb.

You're removing something that makes EZA unique and replacing it with something that has no benefits. It's impossible to be happy with that.

I've been meaning to resurrect this topic for a while!

Hey, my name is Josh and I've been an ally for a long while. In early 2017 I quit my job (after a long time scrimping and saving) to make a major change: becoming a indie game developer. I've been working on Village Monsters ever since!

I used to have a dev log here but fell off of it to focus more on development. Since then I've done tons of work and am nearing a really major milestone: releasing my first game!

Phew, ok, let's look at the boilerplate...

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Quick Info

• Release: Fall 2019 for PC / Mac / Linux. TBD for Nintendo Switch
• Genre: Life Sim in the style of Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley
• Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/679830/Village_Monsters/
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/VillageMonsters
• Website: https://villagemonsters.com
• Good Vibes?: YES
• Monsters?: YES

Village Monsters is an open-ended village life set in the world of a long-forgotten video game. You play as a human living in a community of (mostly) friendly monsters

Live a different kind of life in a different kind of world!

• Befriend dozens of whimsical monster villagers, each with their own quirky personalities, interests, and problems to solve.

• Engage in a variety of daily tasks and activities like earning money with a part time job, joining in village events and holidays, going on adventures - or just hanging out with your monster pals and watching some TV.

• Buy a fixer-upper and sink your entire life savings into it to make it your very own comfy-cozy homestead.

• Pursue many interesting hobbies that let you hunt for treasure, collect and train creatures, cultivate mushroom gardens, and catch legendary fish.

• Unravel unique personal stories as you build friendships and learn the history (and secrets) of the village and its inhabitants.

• Explore vast and strange areas outside the village ranging from vibrant forests, arctic deserts, fog-choked valleys, and the ruins of a best-forgotten empire.

• Immerse yourself in a truly simulated world that boasts shifting weather patterns, sweeping seasonal changes, and interesting system interactions.

• Harness the glitches of a run-down game and use them to empower your skills and fix this neglected world.

  

  

  

  

  

  

I don't even know where I picked this up, but whenever I'm waiting on a slow animation in a game - like a big door that's opening - I always act like an impatient spaz: I'll run around in tight circles, mash the jump button, or spam some emote or other thing that causes noise

I'm not an impatient guy in real life, and I typically try to RP whenever I can to get immersed in the world, but something about waiting on animations just drives me nuts

Developer Diary #1: Dig Dog
There's a lot to do in an average day in Village Monsters - activities range from as the mundane, like shopping or talking with villagers, to multi-stage quests, odd jobs, and even exploration.

However, the most involved type of activity is called a Hobby. Hobbies are generally 'slow burns' that you'll work on each day, and they require effort, upgrading equipment, and leveling up skills. Thankfully, the rewards - like cash and items to donate, use or display in your home - are also greater than other activities.

In the prototype you can actually play with two such hobbies: critter hunting and fishing.

This week I'm working on a 3rd hobby: Archaeology! (Like most things the name is subject to change)

You've probably already guessed this by the name, but this hobby involves a lot of digging around. As you wander the village and surrounding areas you may find a digable spot in the ground marked by an obvious red "X" - you can then take your shovel to dig up whatever is buried there.

Prototype / WIP

Most of the time it'll be things that you'll want to sell off, but sometimes you'll get lucky and find rare treasures. You may even find the remains of ancient mythological beasts and other monsters that can be donated to the Historical Society, displayed in your home as a trophy, or sold to the very curious (and very insane) scientist that lives outside of town.

Prototype / WIP

But perhaps the best thing to find in the dirt isn't a treasure at all, but rather: a map! These special items are each the start of a unique treasure hunt quest that can span several days or even weeks in the game.

Each hunt will require you to solve riddles, find specific landmarks, or explore long-forgotten ruins, and some may even require help from other townsfolk.

The rewards are worth it, though: the treasure you find on your hunts will often be unique items with powerful abilities, like a book that can let you talk to ghosts, or a rod that can control the weather.

One last thing! Not too long after starting the game you'll have the opportunity to get a dog companion. This pup isn't just for playing with, but is also able to help you out in various daily activities.

I'm still working out the details with how this works with the other hobbies, but for Archaeology I'm leaning toward allowing the pup to find digable spots on his own and dig 'em up for you. Of course, he should probably fetch the items as well, but one step at a time, yeah?

Prototype / WIP

Developer Diary: Critter Catching
In the previous developer diary I talked about Treasure Hunting, one of three hobbies you can partake in during your time in Village Monsters.

Today I'm going to talk about another hobby - Critter Catching

You'll notice I'm careful not to call it 'bug catching', and the reason is simple: you'll be hunting and catching far more than bugs.

Sure, you'll still catch the familiar and mundane Monarch Butterfly, or the less familiar but equally mundane Caeser Butterfly, but there are far more fantastical things to hunt out there.

Mountain gnomes, snow elementals, and even sentient loofahs (??) are all out there to just waiting to be caught.

But there is a 3rd category for creatures that don't fit with either the mundane or the fantastic - they are called the misfects. Through data corruption and other mysterious forces, these previously normal creatures have been transformed during the long years of abandonment.

There's the pitiful Half-Hopper, a frog that appears to only contain half of the normally necessary body parts. There's also this strange snake-like creature that grows, dies, becomes reborn, and then starts the process again.

But uncovering creature variety is only half of the fun of this hobby - the other half is actually catching them.

The Village Monster calendar contains 4 seasons spread across 8 months, and each critter has their own seasonal appearances. Some have further requirements before they appear - like different weather, the presence of a certain item, or even specific world events like holidays.

In terms of actually catching them, the standard tool will be the bug net. You can upgrade your bug net, but the real powerful abilities come in the form of glitch powers.

Pretty crazy, right? Well, remember those misfects I talked about? More than simple creatures were affected by the data corruption, and not every glitch is bad.

As you catch critters you'll earn experience - but the 'experience' will be your character mastering how the mechanic works within the game itself. This in turn allows you to unlock various glitch powers to bend said mechanics to your will - like the above Bug Net Buzzsaw.

I'm not going to go too crazy with creature behaviors. For the most part they'll be lumped in three simple categories - indifferent, fearful, and secretive. Fearful critters will get spooked and you'll need to give chase to catch them, while secretive critters will need to be lured out first.

This renowned big game hunter, Blunder Buzz, sponsors a critter hunting tournament each season

Each critter will have a unique description or - if applicable - backstory that you can learn if you bring it to the Historical Society. Some even come with some very special abilities - remember Snow Elemental above? Well, rumor says that it's been known to summon entire blizzards to hide in when it's especially fearful...perhaps there are other creatures with equally interesting abilities?

Thanks for the kind words! Hopefully the upcoming Alpha in July will win you over, too

Another week has gone by, and that means another version of the (newly renamed) Dev Diary Digest!

Without really meaning to this week followed a consistent theme - ensuring that every day (in the game!) feels different, or unique, or interesting, or surprising. That's been a mantra of mine since I first started, and I'm increasingly in the position to make good on it

First up, I changed the merchant around so its stock changes each day. I also split up the show floor so he sell both furniture and normal items now.

Speaking of daily refreshes, similar to Animal Crossing there'll be a number of things that reset each day. For example, each day a number of 'diggable spots' spawn around town that you can find treasure, monster fossils, minerals, and other goodies. These spots used to be marked by a simple 'x', but this week I changed it up so that each category of items gets its own unique icon: treasure looks like a half-buried treasure chest, fossils look like half-buried bones, and minerals look like a half-buried rock

Next up, I added a bunch more 'atmospheric animals' (which is a bad name). Unlike other critters, these animals are mundane and cannot be caught or donated, and they are mostly ambivalent to the player. They exist purely to add flavor and atmosphere to the village as you walk around each day. Like critters, the types of animals you'll see differ based on time of day, weather, and season

Games these days typically achieve things like atmosphere and 'sense of place' via a strong or unique art style. It should be clear by now that I'm no artist, so I'm hoping to accomplish the sense of place by focusing on the little things and attention to detail.

For example, every so often you'll see a bird fly overhead...

But in the fall, things change slightly - instead of flying north, they fly south...

Again, it's a small thing, something that most folks won't notice, but I want my game filled with these things to give it a realistic feel and personality

I don't just want each day to feel different - I also want each time of day to have its own 'feel'. The main way I'm accomplishing this is by giving villagers their own schedules (TBD) and having unique hourly music (also TBD), but I also want activities, both big and small, to change based on the time, season, and weather.

For example, the above campfire is a good place to hang out and roast some food, but it's only available at night during the warmer seasons

In general, each day I want the player to wake up, check their calendar & weather report, and feel excited about the possibilities of the day. Oh, it's clear tonight - that means the campfire will be open! Oh, it's raining this morning - I bet I can catch that rare fish! And so on.

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Finally, I want to share a WIP behind-the-scenes thing - my design doc for the yearly calendar. I'll have more to say as it becomes more fleshed out and finalized, but you'll notice that there are 8 months (2 for each season) and that most weeks have 1-2 events or holidays to look forward to.

This might sound obvious, but what's the best way to make a day feel unique and different? Make it a special holiday with unique activities, themes, music, and more. I'll have a lot of them!

This is way too good. Love it.

I've never been more perplexed by a game sequel. The extreme genre change is strange enough, but for it to be a genre whose 'consumer confidence' has never been lower in...I dunno, man.

There's an almost cruel irony to the fact that a game that's been essentially vaporware for a decade plus is cribbing ideas and general style from other dreams-instead-of-gameplay games, like Star Citizen or No Man's Sky

I waited for what felt like literal years for Divinity: Original Sin (Enhanced Edition) to drop in price, and this last steam sale did just that.

It's real, real good. I enjoy its tone and the combat is absolutely wonderful. I'm rolling with two mage protags to maximize the amount of systems I can play with and it's still not old

This is maybe a bigger discussion, but I think the point system is kinda silly. You have essentially a 100 point scale for a trailer of all things - that's more granularity than your actual reviews! That + the fact you have three reviewers and there's a ridiculous amount of available points / actual points

I think it'd make sense to unify everything under the stars system. More consistent, and plus the graphics treatment for the EZA stars is excellent and should be used more often

@SabotageTheTruth said in That's News!:

@bard91 Raise your hands to the heavens and hope with me that we'll get a Persona/Yakuza crossover.

Is that even a rumor? Because just the thought is blowing my mind.

I'm really not enjoying FF15 like I thought I would. Everything just feels so clunky and unpolished :(

And am I nuts, or are the sidequests almost completely terrible?

@bard91 said in [Official] What are you playing?:

Nier Automata

So i nearly lost it when Emil appeared and I'm still trying to process his shop, and now Devola and Popola are here, I don't know what to think but please don't let this be just some simple cameos

you'll definitely like the rest of the game

@joferjoe said in Jofer's Casual Game-Dev Diary <3:

an example of my low poly villager mo-capped :)

Hah! It's cute for so few polys :)

Booted up Trails in the Sky SC. No spoilers, but the game really picks up the pace much, much faster than FC.

Also this might very well be the first sequel I've seen that literally picks up the next day of the previous game

Am I crazy, or has all things Yakuza just exploded into popularity this year?