Devlog #5: Portraits and 100% Beef (Patreon)

HEY FARMERS!

Sorry for the long silence! Between lots of IRL life stuff, tax season, and various other complications, I realize that updates on the project have been pretty slow lately!

This was also partly due to a sense of burnout after trying to keep up the major builds coming at such a rapid rate. So, in order to combat that, I've been taking a bit of a slower pace with working on this one. Hence why there's been so little to post about here.

However, I wanted to still take the opportunity to thank you guys for your generosity, even in this quiet point in development. It means so much to know how many of you care about the development of this game that even if builds aren't being churned out y'all are still willing to support its creation.

You guys are the best, and the farm wouldn't be what it is without y'all.

That said! I still wanted to post SOMETHING as gratitude for you guys' support. While a lot of development has been focused on trying to hunt down a lot of the bugs that plagued the last major build that went out, a big part of the time has also went towards some of the promised new features, such as the new animated portraits, and something special that I've been keeping a secret for quite a while.

A SECRET FEATURE, YOU SAY?

One of my main goals with Gorge Valley is to allow people a decent bit of customization with the kind of WG-related content they want. As such, with a lot of suggestions from people, I've got plans to allow for as many different options as possible to disable/enable certain content.

And one of those options is something I've been quite excited to show off... Full-Cow Mode!

That's right! A fully-anthro mode, complete with hooves, patterns, udders, a lack of fitting pants, proper muzzles, etc. Essentially just further emphasis on all of the cow features for anyone who would prefer the transformation part of the game to lean more into anthro character territory!

It'll be completely optional, as you'll be able to enable it by giving one of the cows a special type of Bovinity Potion in the next build. And to disable it, simply give them a normal Bovinity Potion to counteract the effects!

And, yes, since we'll be getting a Cow Sky soon, you can rest assured knowing she'll have the option for it as well.

SO, WHERE ARE THOSE PORTRAITS WE VOTED ON?

At long last, we reach the portraits! Yeah, as a surprise to ABSOLUTELY NO ONE, the animated portraits won the poll! By like... a LOT, too. Y'all clearly wanted to see these gals get some extra frames.

I can't blame you. The animated states to the portraits absolutely help them feel more lively.

I've had to introduce some workarounds to get them to work with the dialogue system I made, but here's to praying that it doesn't introduce a thousand new bugs for me to enjoy.

(NERDY DESIGN EXPLANATION INCOMING, SKIP AHEAD TO SNEAKPEEKS IF YOU WANT TO)

The way it works is that when dialogue is being printed out while the character speaks, it will switch to the "talking" frames of the portrait. Once all dialogue is printed, it will revert to a static frame, occasionally broken by a blink or similar idle animation. (Although I intend to also add a burp animation that will pop up in the portrait whenever they belch to interrupt the animation!)

This should HOPEFULLY be easy enough to implement into the current structure of the dialogue system once I've gotten the rest of the portraits finished. And, yeah, obviously there's a LOT of portraits to do, since there's separate portraits for weights, emotions, cow type, etc.

So, to all the people who asked if it would be a lot of work, yes. Yes it definitely is. Especially upfront in order to make portraits for all the characters we have so far. But I honestly think it's completely worth it! Here's the result so you can see for yourself:

(Angry thin Sky)

(Embarrassed thin half-cow Sky)

(Horny thin full-cow Sky)

(Laughing chubby full-cow Sky)

(Neutral chubby half-cow Sky)

(Neutral chubby full-cow Sky)

(Neutral fat half-cow Sky)

(Neutral fat full-cow Sky)

THE WRAP-UP

Alright! That about covers all the stuff I'd like to show off for now. (But don't worry, I've got a few more fun surprises soon!)

I still don't have a specific date on the release for the next build, but I'll be cracking away at it nonetheless. As the game's systems become more complex, each build will likely become bigger and bigger with time (not unlike the farm's inhabitants).

As such, the patience is extremely appreciated, but as more of the content is completed, I'll be sure to keep everyone in the loop! :)

Until next time, Farmers!