Ever since we launched into the wild and untamed land of Early Access, we've been keeping ourselves busy soaking in feedback and pushing out updates. Most of these changes (which you can see in our
games update forum) were focused on taking care of some of the most commonly reported issues. But these updates are just us warming up. (We really should get our heaters checked.)
Kynseed has only just taken its first baby step. There are many more to go until it can start ordering alcohol. So these first few weeks were all about releasing fixes to make sure we first had solid ground beneath our feet. But from this point onward, we'll be shifting our weight from applying fixes to creating content. That doesn't mean we won't continue fixing things as we go, of course. Instead, it means we'll be balancing between the two. We'll squash bugs, create new content, that'll create more bugs, we'll squash those, then make new content again, get more bugs, and so on. The circle of life.
Our first major chunk of an update, which we're referring to as The First Steps Update, won't have any big or flashy features just yet. This one is all about setting up some basic things which we'll need in place before tackling larger complex systems. Below is a brief look at some things we'll be including in this update, but we'll also likely sneak in a few more bits and bobs as we can.
- Selling boxes will be added to Good Stores for selling your items. Each Goods Store will also have a specific item they may want, which you can sell for extra profit. A Good Store's wanted item will also change over time. So for example, three days later there may be a new item to seek out (or to have stockpiled).
- First pass of an NPC chat system to give more purpose to the NPC's. This very first rough system will include: talking to NPC's to reveal information about the world, discovering their favourite items, getting hints of their disposition towards you, and they may even ask favours of you.
- Mysterious Fae wanderers will soon be seen throughout the land. Most curious.
- Balancing of systems to create more of a healthy challenge where needed.
- Control fixes based on feedback for Mouse & Keyboard. (Improving controls will continue to be a constant priority for us, especially as more game systems are added.)
There'll also be some behind the scenes engine preparations being made which, although not that glamorous, will be crucial in paving the way for some of the meatier features down the road. Speaking of roads, one of the things we were keen to do here in these first few weeks was to get a sense of what specific areas of content players want to see us prioritize. In fact, the whole point of releasing Kynseed at such an incredibly early state is so that players could actually help steer the game's direction on a fundamental level. We have a plan of our own that we're following of course, but ultimately we'll be working with you all here in these first many weeks to help us map out the full itinerary of things.
Right now, Kynseed's core
gameplay loop is missing some chunks. So many of these larger early updates will be all about filling those chunks in. And as you've no doubt deduced from this section's header, our aim is to get this update sent your way on December 21st! Just in time for a stocking stuffer. (Though, not really. Our keen developer insight tells us that digital items don't actually exist in any physically meaningful way and thus make for poor stocking stuffers.)
For those of you who've just joined this game dev adventure of ours, feel free to hop by any of our community channels to let us know how you're getting on with things. Or heck, you can come to just hang out if you want. We're laid back and like chatting about pretty much anything, ranging from the game industry all the way to our strong opinions on how hot dogs are
not sandwiches. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
You can find little pockets of our community just about anywhere you look (including the links at the bottom of this update) and we're active and accessible in all of them. And of course, Kynseed itself is available at the three fine establishments known as
Steam,
GOG, and
Discord.
Oh, and if you're thinking of streaming the game or want to make a let's play, don't hesitate to give us a shout! We like to hang out in stream chats as we find the time throughout our workdays. (Though sometimes we lurk, creeping on all you players from the shadows.) Aside from being fun to watch, we've also found them pretty invaluable for getting feedback. In fact, one of our favorite things to do is watch players intentionally deviate from the game's path, often with
amusing results.
