A pretty good week, all things considered! (Patreon)

We're close to completing the update to Unity engine 2011, and the more I mess about with the new builds, the more I am convinced that we're going to want to release a new alpha, once we get a few more features completed.

I confess: the last two alphas were hard to release, because of the persistent gravity issue that made jumping well-nigh impossible.  It's downright embarrassing to release a videogame about cats with the caveat "best to avoid jumping, for a bit."

The upgrade to Unity2021 has also resulted in a striking improvement in performance on the PC side.  Switching between cats is now MUCH quicker, and loading the world in general is MUCH more swift.  They have also made improvements to many internal packages such as "Burst" and "Jobs" which makes the work the vegetation system has to do MUCH easier.

Such a release will have to wait until I fix another persistent issue...

This week, I will continue the (knock on wood) final biome adjustment, and the most pressing current issue is the rocks.  While I have been using this particular prefab set since the earliest days of the project, I have had to accept that while they are a joy to work with and look marvelous at ANY rotation, they are a nightmare for the player controller - Right now, the cats tend to jitter and skid at times, when interacting with rocks.

The cats seem to have very few problems with this new set...  In the next alpha, the cats will be able to walk and jump among the rocks with FAR more ease!

While I do that, Arjuna continues his work on optimizing downtown structures.  Once this process is complete, the drawcalls required for play in the downtown areas will be significantly reduced.

Another things going on tangential to this is more finely-detailed landscaping around the island - particularly downtown.  Considering peace Island has such a well-stocked garden shop, it's odd that so few islanders currently have gardens.  Arjuna also revisited a detail we've been wanting to address for quite some time: ensure that the hedges have a random Y rotation to them, so that they look less "Video Gamey."

Before

After:

Richard has started putting his new AI controller into motion, and it's a joy to behold. 

Understand that this new system will be universal: Once we get it working smoothly with one NPC species, all that follow will be a comparable breeze!

This system will also allow the player to ask other cats to follow them - I rarely use the word "Excited", but I am definitely Excited to finally see this functionality come to life!

On the premium front: The new printer arrived today, and we were able to ship off 90% of outstanding print & postcards.  The rest will follow tomorrow - we just ran out of black ink!

As far as in-game name placements go:  I am sorry to say that I have personally been so preoccupied with technical issues over the past two weeks, that I have not been able to definitively place anyone yet.  However: I can tell you that 90% of ya'll are going to get your first choice.  I believe I will be able to start setting aside time this coming Monday to start sending out confirmations.  

I REALLY appreciate your patience on this, because the I'm the only guy who can collate all of this data, and I also happen to be the only guy who can do about a dozen other jobs on this project.

Now:  I am going back to doing an update here every two weeks.  Please follow the project on twitter or instagram for occasional updates & dev news.  I am also hosting a livestream on YouTube this coming Sunday - PLEASE TUNE IN! 

Thanks again for your support, patience, and confidence - it means the world to us!