More Banana Ranch update + upcoming Patreon campaign (Patreon)
Content
Hi everyone. I've been busy working on Banana Ranch. The progress has been pretty good and the game is actually playable now. Well, it's only the first two days in-game, but it's still a significant progress! For the official demo that I'm planning to release on September 29th, it will cover the first 14 days of the game.
Here are some sneakpeeks of the game!
The new interactive map. It no longer uses chibi like Seiyuu Danshi, instead we get to see what the characters are actually doing. You can also pan the view from left to right, revealing more.
A new human character. Klein is MC's only human friend who came to Banana Town to accompany him and accidentally got dragged into the weird world. He's still in sketch form because the character sprite is still in-progress.
Weekend dating system is making a re-appearance, but some aspects are modified. For "talk" menu, instead of one-liner word, you get to choose which topics you would like to talk further with the guy. More topics will be unlocked as your relationship with that character grows. Also, gifting characters items will be more meaningful. If you give the characters an accessory, he might wear the it during the dates next time.
Managing a ranch is serious business! A brief detail on what each commands will do:
- Ranch overview: Check the ranch's performance (total production, selling price per goods, total revenue, etc)
- Manage employees: Check the animals you've hired so far. You can level them up (will increase salary + production) / fire them (can't fire Moocha / Chicken / Cotton, needs to give severance pay)
- Marketing plan: You can conduct marketing plans which will increase selling price of your goods temporarily. "Plan ideas" can be obtained by finishing quests in town / others.
- Product research: Conduct R&D on derivative goods (cheese, mayonnaise, etc) to get more profit
- Upgrade rank: to upgrade ranch rank, there will be certain goals that you must achieve (certain amount of revenue / number of employees hired / etc). Higher ranks will unlock more slots to hire other ranch animals.
CG mode textbox from Seiyuu Danshi is making a re-appearance as well. That way, none of the naughty bits are covered by the pesky textbox!
Your friendly (loan) shark, Finn, is making a visit to get his money back. This scene is part of the introduction, which is now fully coded ^w^
MC will get to do various part-time jobs. Each job will have a corresponding outfit ^_^
This one's not coded yet, but there will be proper inventory system in the game. You can also buy stuff from the store, as well as cook (Yes, it's going to be a complicated system to code, but I can do it! \0w0/)
UPCOMING PATREON CAMPAIGN
I plan to officially start a Patreon campaign along with the release of the demo, which is September 29th. The purpose of this Patreon campaign is to expand the scope of Banana Ranch production more than originally planned. And such, the "goals" that will be funded are:
- Additional love routes: By default, the game will only have 5 love interests, which are determined by the polling. Characters that aren't in top 5 will not be romance-able, unless the funding goals for them are reached.
- Romance route between love interests: This is kinda similar to Harvest Moon's Rival system (in case you've played the game before). Characters that aren't in a relationship with you, might officially get together and become pairing.
The specific goals will be posted on the D-Day!
What will be different for the current patrons?
The main difference is that, on top of the monthly rewards, you will also get the campaign rewards! Campaign rewards include: physical copy, game copy, artbook, merchandises, etc.
Your total contribution from September to December will be added together to determine which rewards you get. For example, if your total contribution from Sep - December is $100, then you will be eligible for the $100 rewards.
More details on the rewards tier will be posted on the D-Day!
What about Seiyuu Danshi After Stories? Will it be discontinued?
I plan to continue it Seiyuu Danshi After Stories like usual. $15+ patrons will still get to enjoy the NSFW After Story episode & their contribution will also go towards the campaign reward as well (double rewards yay!). However, I might have to cancel the SFW After Story episode to allocate more time to Banana Ranch's development (so many things to do, so little time...)
What if I want to contribute more than I usually do?
...! Thank you very much, you guys've been too good to me >_<;
If you want to contribute more monthly than you already do, I plan to add more expensive tiers with more benefits. The planned tiers are:
- $80: You get to design a clothing that MC can buy and wear in-game
- $175: You get to design a ranch animal that MC can hire at his ranch
- $350: Sponsor a scene with CG between the main characters. You get to decide the overall direction of the scene (there will be discussion with me as to not make the characters OOC)
(These tiers will be limited to a certain amount each month)
Pledging to these tiers will not only help the game financially, but you can also help make the game more diverse by providing your ideas on various in-game contents!
Anyway, this is still just a plan, so it might turn out to be different in the end.
For now, I'll be back to working on the demo of Banana Ranch. I'm focusing on implementing as much features planned as possible.
So... I'll see you guys later!