Harvest Earth Update # 6

I am writing to inform you of current additions to Harvest Earth and my struggles. Some things happen that just don't make sense to me.

For example, I specifically programmed this one character to be outside at 3:00 and inside at 5:00. Yet sometimes he is randomly inside or randomly outside, regardless of the time. Things like that confuse me. It's like these characters are starting to have minds of their own (Which is kind of alright with me. I'm doing my best to make these characters believable, and what's more realistic than breaking their assigned code?)

Other than that, things are fine. A big change has happened: Until now, the player would go to bed and be forced to wake up at 6:00am every day. If you stay up all night, when the clock stroke midnight, the player would start at home on the next day at 6:00. But all that has changed! Now, the player can stay up all night if he/she wants to. Granted, there's nothing particularly exciting to do at 4:00am.... yet.

One could stay up all night, but going to bed is still the most efficient way to restore Stamina. I've even given the player a choice when going to bed: Sleep for the night (an 8 hour long stamina refill) or a cat nap (a 3 hour, small refresher). I'm always looking for more convenient little quirks like this to implement. Any ideas?

Update #5

Hey, it's been awhile since I updated, so I thought I would just say hello.

Only hello, because I haven't improved much.  I switched computers again, and it caused some problems for my game.  For some reason it wouldn't open up.  Something about the file being "corrupted."  I panicked, because I thought I had lost everything.  Nearly a year of work, down the drain!

But it turns out I can just create a new project and upload all the data from the "corrupted" game file and it works fine.

So, now that I can set that worry aside, I should address the contest for the title screen.  I hope I didn't scare anyone away with complex talk of resolution and specifications.  That is just what I'm using right now.  I'm still looking for able artists or anyone interested to draw me a pretty picture! 

But not that I haven't had anyone interested.  So far, Aaron Goodman is winning because of this pretty picture.

Keep in mind, he found this online, which I think is a perfectly acceptable medium.  I should stress, I have no expectations and all submissions are welcome.  Multiple submissions are welcome as well, and even incomplete thoughts could win.

Basically, impress me.

In regards to the programming of the game, I think i want to rework my cows and sheep.  They were the first thing I programmed, back when i had little experience.  I can't really explain it, but I can make them better.

Title Screen Contest

Alright, I need your help. I'm going to have a little contest. The winner will get turned into a character and put in my game! Tell all of your artist friends that Walter is looking for a new Title Screen for his game, Harvest Earth!

So basically, I'm looking for a cool title screen. This is my temporary one right now:



It's just a pretty picture, but it's not what I want for my final project. What I'm looking for is something that reflects the game. I envision something about cartoony characters having a good time, doing something that's in the game, such as farming or fishing, etc. It's up to interpretation. You can look for inspiration in some of the pictures I put up in my last post, or if you have any questions about the game, feel free to ask.

Specifications:
I cropped the current picture to fit. These numbers were eye-balled and this is the first time I've looked at them. That said, we should probably follow them as close as possible, but pictures can always be modified.

Resolution: 96 x 96 Pixels. Width: 689 Height: 499
File Type: JPEG Image Size: 45.1 KB


Also, that little window that says "New Game and Continue and Shutdown" is part of the system, not part of the image. It will be added onto whatever picture I display. That said, you may want to leave a little space there.

Well, I think that's everything. What do you guys think? And by you guys, I mostly mean Sam Patrick, Brad and Alexxander because no one else reads this :) But you should definately spread the word!

Harvest Earth Pictures

The computer is back and I'm back to work.

I still have a lot to do, and I haven't improved on anything in particular.  So I thought I might share some photos.

 

Plant and grow crops!  Water them every day and they will grow!  Also, do you see that floating letter above the mailbox?  That means you have new mail!

Opening the menu looks cool.  A ring of options appears around your character that spins as you make your selection.

You can choose to be a boy or a girl!  And don't worry, both genders can go fishing.  I had to create fishing animations for boys and girls.

You can rent books from the Library for free, then read 'em at home!  Eventually, I'll organize dialogue for every character, so they'll all say interesting things.  You'll be able to talk to them multiple times on the same day and you'll always get a different response.

I created many secrets in this game.  I could tell you, but I would rather just tease you with hints.  I hope you guys are still excited!  :)

Currently, fishing and watering your plants uses stamina, and when you're out, you can't do anything else until you go to bed.  But there's no easy way to see how much Stamina you have.  I'm working on a stamina bar that slowly empties as you do things.  It's going to look awesome.

Setbacks...

Yahsolait's computer had some trouble recently...

I was in the middle of Harvest Earth and it up and restarted on me.  Then when it was rebooting, it wanted me to install Windows again.  Why?  Who knows.

Whatever the reason, it means I can't work on the game right now, and I can't put pictures up because I can't access the game.  This is probably a good thing though.  I'm supposed to be memorizing my lines anyway.  To those of you excited to play my game, sorry for the extra wait.  I'll fix that computer as soon as I figure out how :)

Update #4

Good news!

I have been working on Harvest Earth and have made a ton of improvements!

(A reassuring thing to hear for those of you awaiting completion)

I've made a cool new menu.  Before, when you open the menu, it was a generic RPG Menu, with "Equip" and "Items" and "Skill" and "Stats" etc.  Rather boring and ill suited for a game where you don't battle monsters.  The result of only a few minutes of scripting: A sweet "ring menu" that spins around your character!  Maybe I'll put up some pictures.  Yes, I think I will, when I figure out how to do that.

I also implemented some cool fishing graphics.  Before it was kind of lame.  You would look at the water and and text window would pop up: ".......you caught a Bass!"   But now your character casts a rod and an exclamation bubble pops up (similar to pokemon).  I'm proud of it.

Pictures sound like a good idea.  I'll post some, then tell me what you guys think!   :)

Update #3

In my Computer Science class, we're using a program called Alice to do certain assignments.  The program is very similar to RPG Maker, so it reminds me a lot of Harvest Earth.  I have time tonight, so progress WILL BE MADE.

I also have many ideas for a different game, which I really hope to start working on soon.  Inspiration is seriously everywhere.  Did I mention the game will feature a side-view battle system, involving the monsters/animals that continually appear as pictures in this blog?

It's all exciting, isn't it?

Update #2

Update #2.  

To help me stay organized, I'm adding a list of features that I have yet to add.  If anyone has any suggestions, they will certainly be considered.  Also, I might keep a few features a secret (so they will be a surprise when you encounter them in the game....  hehe).

Things I must add:

 - Dialogue (including "friendship values" so that by talking to people, you become better friends with them and the things they say can differ depending on the level of your friendship)

 - Marriage (Like I said, my game is gay friendly, so there will be many options of lifestyles.  Keep in mind, this means I have a lot more work to do)

 - Kids (I'm thinking it should be possible to have more than one)

 - Festivals (Yeah, festivals are fun.  If anyone has any good suggestions for cool festivals, let me know)

 - Cooking (I'm making it so you must build a kitchen, then you can cook different meals)

 

Things I could add:

- Weather (I'm not sure if I want to make rain and snow happen on some days....  but always sunny is kind of boring and not realistic at all)

 - Jobs (There's already a job you can take, but I like that idea a lot, so I might include more.  Such as, working for the Town Market by running deliveries and stuff)

 - Horse (I know, there's no HORSE YET!?  Wtf?  But I might not include a horse...  I already have a lot to do.  Suppose, there's no horse.  Would that greatly impact the game?  Your thoughts, please...)

This sounds like a lot of things I need to do.  Thats because it is.  But this also sounds like I haven't done anything yet, which isn't true at all.

Things that are done:  (but could also be improved if anyone has any good ideas....)

  - Locations  (All of the maps are done)
 - Time (It was hard, but I programmed a time feature to add day and night.)

  - Animals and Crops  (The core of any harvest moon game.  I've made cows, sheep, chickens and lots of different crops possible.  I even made a funeral scene play if your animals die)

 - People (Not only have I named everyone, I've assigned everyone to be in specific places on certain days of the week and at certain times.  It was a lot of work, but it's done)

 - House Extensions (Fireplace, kitchen, basement... etc.)

 - Experience Feature  (I've made it so you can gain experience by using your tools and level up, increasing your stamina and skill and stuff)

 - Music and Sound Effects

 - Lots of other little things are done, such as shops, fishing, getting a dog, an opening sequence that lets you name your character, choose a gender, etc.  Some things are done that I want to be a surprise, too!  ;)

Harvest Earth

Give me a second.  I'm writing to explain my concept of a game.

I have RPG Maker XP.  It's awesome.

Currently, I'm making a game for my girlfriend that features gameplay similar to Harvest Moon.  It's a lot of work, but it's very fun.  And time consuming.

However, while making Harvest Earth (my clever title), I've learned a lot about RPG Maker and feel pretty confident that I could make an in-depth adventure, with side-view turn based battles and cool animations.  I found a website with some very cool monsters and stuff.  The monsters would be in the style of that monkey you see there.

I have so many ideas that I must share them with whoever is reading this.  (Who is reading this?)  But not now.  Over time.

I suppose the purpose of this blog would be to convey my ideas and such, as well as give updates on the progress of my games.  So far, I would say Harvest Earth is 50% complete.  I still need to write nearly all of the dialogue (which is a lot) and program getting married (which entails a wedding event, programming who you can marry and children and such.  I might want to implement a honeymoon vacation as well, where time stops for a day and you can do whatever you want on this tropical island.  Something like that).

Spring Break is long and I might make time to work on it.  I've been thinking about it frequently, so expect a post again soon.