POPULARITY
11 episodes with palia
11 episodes with palia
6 episodes with palia
4 episodes with palia
4 episodes with palia
2 episodes with palia
4 episodes with palia
2 episodes with palia
2 episodes with palia
2 episodes with palia
3 episodes with palia
2 episodes with palia
15 episodes with palia
3 episodes with palia
3 episodes with palia
3 episodes with palia
On this week's episode of the Massively OP Podcast, Bree and Justin talk about Dune Awakening's delay, Palia's big zone announcement, what's going on with Classic MapleStory, the messy Defiance relaunch, LOTRO compensation, and the future evolution of MMOs. It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your question to the show, use this link. Show notes: Intro Adventures in MMOs: LOTRO, WoW, WoW Classic, Guild Wars News: Defiance gets a relaunch -- but it's rough one so far News: Dune Awakening pushes its launch back to June News: Palia announces Elderwood zone expansion News: Classic MapleStory is coming later this year Mailbag: What does the future of MMO evolution hold in store? Outro Other info: Podcast theme: "Aqua Road East Sea" from MapleStory Your show hosts: Justin and Bree Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, Amazon, and Spotify Follow Massively Overpowered: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Twitch If you're having problems seeing or using the web player, please check your flashblock or scriptblock setting.
Welcome to episode 59 of Shack Together! Today's show features our inaugural "Blue Switch" segment, where we test our knowledge of Nintendo Switch Metacritic scores, comparing titles like Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild against surprising high-scorers like [redacted - you'll have to listen!]. The latest news from Nintendo's Mario Kart World Direct dominate our news coverage, with exciting revelations about character skin unlocks through Yoshi's restaurant, free-roam fast travel features, and new items including Coin Shells and Hammers. We also discuss the Nintendo Switch 2's camera technology, capable of recognizing and tracking up to four faces simultaneously. In Story Time, we explore new previews of Capcom Fighting Collection 2 and Palia's expansion to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, while covering reviews of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage and the Lunar Remastered Collection. Industry news brings significant developments with Google's advertising technology monopoly ruling and OpenAI's reported social network plans. And that's all for today's show! Thanks as always for listening and enjoy! Timestamps 00:01:25 Food Poisoning 00:04:58 It's Shack Together! 00:05:27 Donovan's Game: MLB The Show '25 00:12:18 David's Games: Animal Crossing New Horizons, WWE 2K25 00:17:27 Joe's Games: Blue Prince, Joe's PC 00:30:24 Asif's Games: Schedule I, F-Zero 99 00:43:43 Blue Switch 01:08:53 Story Time 01:08:57 Previews: Capcom Fighting Collection 2, Palia 01:11:41 Reviews: Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, Lunar Remastered Collection, Rusty Rabbit 01:16:14 News: Nintendo Switch 2 Camera, Mario Kart World Direct, RTX 5060, Star Wars Zero Company 01:39:31 Industry: Google's Advertising Monopoly, NLRB Whistleblower, OpenAI Social Network 01:49:57 Community Notes Articles mentioned in this episode Capcom Fighting Collection 2 preview Palia Elderwood PS5 & Xbox Series X/S impressions Lost Records: Bloom & Rage review Lunar Remastered Collection review Nintendo Switch 2 camera face tracking Mario Kart World skin unlocks Mario Kart World free roam fast travel Star Wars Zero Company reveal Google ad market monopoly lawsuit OpenAI social media network
"CARREMENT BUSINESS", l'émission qui met en lumière des entrepreneurs aux parcours inspirant. Présenté par Aïmed Badereddine, entouré d'experts et d'entrepreneurs qui racontent leur parcours et leurs expériences. Sur le plateau cette semaine: Invité: Magali Thomas-Gazzan - Infine Auxilium Les experts: Karine Le Danvic (Audeum Avocats) Christophe Lagneau ( Assuralliance Axa). Tous les vendredis à 12h15 sur Radio RPA Une émission en partenariat avec le Carré des Entrepreneurs.
The Chaos Crew returns, but have they changed? In this more orderly than you'd expect episode, Bob, John, Chris, and Steve do a wellness check-in, discuss what it means to be in a serial killer state of mind, enter a Great British Bump-Off, contemplate the state of the Power Rangers, and reimagine Home Alone for a new generation.Books: Amazing Spider-Man #1, Power Rangers Prime #1, The Moon is Following Us #8, Doll Parts: A Lovesick Tale #3-4, Plastic: Death & Dolls #1-5, I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #1, Concert of Champions #1, Great British Bump-Off: Kill of Be Quilt #1, Fantastic Four #245, Little Hollow Cafe (Webtoon), Fantasy High (Webtoon), Eldritch Detectives (Webtoon)Other Stuff: Palia (video game), Murderbot (trailer)The Comic Book Podcast is brought to you by Talking Comics (www.talkingcomicbooks.com). The podcast is hosted by Steve Seigh, Bob Reyer, Joey Braccino, Aaron Amos, Chris Ceary, and John Burkle, who weekly dissect everything comics-related, from breaking news to new releases. Our Instagram handle is @TalkingComicsPodcas,t and you can email us at podcast@talkingcomicbooks.com.
Little Kitty Big City is an open world adventure game where you play as a small house cat who has fallen off of their cozy window perch and finds themselves on the streets of the big city. You have to get home, but the climb back up to your perch seems so daunting! But thankfully there are unexpected friends awaiting you in the urban sprawl. With the help of Crow, Tanuki, and a cast of other cute and quirky creatures, can you make it back home? In Episode 35 of No Small Games, OlivesCrossing joins Kate and Emily to talk about Little Kitty Big City. The three share their favorite characters to befriend and talk about what their cat personality was in the game. Most importantly, you'll hear about their favorite hats! We hope you love this cute and cozy chat. Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:36 - Weekly Boss Battles 00:11:00 - Meet Our Guest - OlivesCrossing 00:20:55 - Little Kitty Big City Discussion 01:13:00 - Game Ratings 01:17:15 - One Small Thing 01:25:45 - Next Episode's Game Announcement Meet our Guest Olive (she/her) @OlivesCrossing Olive is a cozy, community-focused content creator. She streams Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Sims 4, Palia and the occasional other cozy game title. She first streamed in 2020 and has built a lovely and welcoming community across her Twitch and Discord spaces. She's also a big fan of Twilight, Gordon Ramsey, and her cat, named Kitty. Follow Olive on the following platforms: Twitch YouTube Twitter TikTok Keep in touch with us on social media: Kate's Twitter ✦ https://twitter.com/katerblossom Emily's Twitter ✦ https://twitter.com/aSpecificEgg No Small Games Twitter ✦ https://twitter.com/NoSmallGames No Small Games Instagram ✦ https://www.instagram.com/nosmallgames Want to learn more and weigh in on what games we should play in future episodes? Check us out and leave a game suggestion at nosmallgames.com
In Folge 70 ist Alex leider verhindert, daher spricht Mark eine Stunde lang über EVE Online, Crimson Desert, WoW und ganz viele Quartalsberichte. Davon abgesehen geht es um Throne & Liberty, Oldschool Runescape, Palia, Path of Exile 2 und, wie könnte es anders sein, New World. Danach sprechen wir über die großen 6, einen Streik bei Microsoft und natürlich gehen wir die letzte Frage der Woche durch, also schnallt euch an! In der Frage der Woche möchten wir wissen: Was ist die absurdeste Kollaboration, die ihr in Videospielen je gesehen habt? Unser Partner und Sponsor ist Instant Gaming. Dort bekommt ihr günstig Game-Keys, Gems für Guild Wars 2, Spielzeit für WoW und vieles mehr. Hier unser Reflink: https://www.instant-gaming.com/?igr=mmonews. MMO News erscheint jeden Donnerstag. Ihr könnt uns zudem eine E-Mail mit Feedback schreiben oder uns auf Twitter folgen: MMO News Alex Mark Oder unserem Discord beitreten. Wer möchte, kann uns zudem auf Patreon unterstützen.
Welcome! Jenna and Rachel discuss tabletop games we have been playing, games we are excited to play, and other nerdy news!Games RadarRaising RobotsCalicoGames ForecastShipwreck ArcanaRats of WistarOther Nerdy NewsLorcanaPaliaPlease reach out to us at friendlylgpmail@gmail.com, we would love to hear from you!
On this week's episode of the Massively OP Podcast, Bree and Justin talk about Raph Koster's Stars Reach reveal, Dawntrail's launch, Palia's surprising new home, Guild Wars 2's housing system tour, and the true shocking story behind Ralph Lobster. It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your question to the show, use this link. Show notes: Intro News: Raph Koster reveals Stars Reach News: FFXIV launches its latest expansion, Dawntrail News: Daybreak picks up Palia and Singularity Six News: Nexon launches The First Descendant News: Guild Wars 2 previews its housing system Mailbag: How did the "Ralph Lobster" running joke begin? Outro Other info: Podcast theme: "Dawntrail Battle Theme" from FFXIV Your show hosts: Justin and Bree Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, Amazon, and Spotify Follow Massively Overpowered: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Twitch If you're having problems seeing or using the web player, please check your flashblock or scriptblock setting.
We review the latest updates from Palia! From a totally revamped resource economy to cute new decor, the Singularity 6 team is putting their best foot forward. Check out what we loved and learned in Palia this week!P.S. you already know we logged in right after recording and learned EXACTLY how to do all the things we mentioned wanted to do in this episode...Texting a podcast? You know it! Send us a message about the pod with a text!Support the Show.Join our discord server for updates, feedback, comments, or just to tell us how to be better at games: https://discord.gg/NMSgXNbzCgCheck us out on all the socials:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/comfyclubpod/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@comfyclubpodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/ComfyClubPod/
On this week's episode of the Massively OP Podcast, Bree and Justin talk about Mists of Pandaria remix, Cataclysm Classic's prepatch, Blizzard's return to China, FFXIV's expansion benchmark, Sky Children of Light's PC launch, EverQuest progression servers, Palia's layoffs, and a fan-led games preservation movement. It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your question to the show, use this link. Show notes: Intro Adventures in MMOs: LOTRO News: World of Warcraft's Mists of Pandaria remix News: EverQuest and EverQuest II ready progression servers News: Cataclysm Classic pre-patch details News: Blizzard returns to China, hires for a mystery game News: FFXIV: Dawntrail's benchmark arrives News: Sky Children of the Light launches on PC News: Palia studio lays off a chunk of staff News: Games preservation movement Outro Other info: Podcast theme: "Monk Windwalker" from World of Warcraft Your show hosts: Justin and Bree Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, Amazon, and Spotify Follow Massively Overpowered: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Twitch If you're having problems seeing or using the web player, please check your flashblock or scriptblock setting.
Bienvenidas y bienvenidos a Recarga Activa, el podcast diario de AnaitGames en el que filtramos lo más relevante de la actualidad del videojuego en pildorazos de 15 minutos:1️⃣ Singularity 6 ha despedido al 35% de su plantilla tras el lanzamiento de Palia en PC2️⃣ Novedades en Xbox: Kareem Choudhry se va, y se crean dos nuevos equipos centrados en experiencia de usuario y en aumentar la compatibilidad3️⃣ Dwarf Fortress ha vendido más de 800.000 copiasSuscríbete para recibir el siguiente episodio en tu gestor de podcasts favorito. Puedes apoyar nuestro proyecto (y acceder a un montón de contenido exclusivo) en Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/anaitreload♫ Sintonía del programa: Senseless, de Johny Grimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Timecodes for your convenient navigation:00:00 Intro and guest presentation01:59 Key things to know about developing live service games07:22 Release process and release managers11:58 Building the culture of engineering teams 16:26 About the Palia experience: how to grow the team efficiently 18:18 Working at Gardens: what is Serge's role in the project19:45 Collective performance: what it means22:06 Tech debt. Examples of how to deal with it27:36 Riot experience: what Serge did good and bad30:38 AI tools for engineers In today's episode, we delve into the intricate engineering world with our guest, Serge Knystautas. With a solid background as a software entrepreneur in the gaming industry, Serge has held pivotal roles such as Director of Software Engineering at Riot Games, Head of Engineering at Singularity 6, and currently serves as the head of engineering at Gardens Interactive. Gardens Interactive gained significant attention last year for securing $31.3 million in funding to develop a fantasy action role-playing game. Join us as we explore the complexities of live service games, navigate their releases, and delve into the future landscape of AI and engineering environments. Don't miss out on this insightful episode! Tune in now.
On this week's episode of the Massively OP Podcast, Bree and Justin talk about that Guild Wars 3 thing, DCUO's 2024 roadmap, Monsters & Memories' plans, a sequel to Hellgate London, and why we're so mean to Palia. It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your question to the show, use this link. Show notes: Intro Adventures in MMOs: ESO, SWTOR, Valheim News: Guild Wars 3 is happening, according to NCsoft News: DCUO's unexpected 2024 roadmap News: Monsters and Memories aims for 2026 early access, is self-funding News: Hellgate London... is getting a sequel? Mailbag: Why are we so mean to Palia? Outro Other info: Podcast theme: "Main Theme" from Hellgate London Your show hosts: Justin and Bree Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, Amazon, and Spotify Follow Massively Overpowered: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Twitch If you're having problems seeing or using the web player, please check your flashblock or scriptblock setting.
Al and Jonnie talk about their first impressions on the 1.6 update for Stardew Valley. Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:19: What Have We Been Up To 00:10:59: News 00:39:12: Stardew 1.6 01:43:26: Output Links Fae Farm “Spring” Update Ikonei Island “Blooming Beginnings” Update Steamworld Build “Mechanicsl Meadows” Update Palia 0.178 Update Travelers Rest “Fishing” Update Tales of the Shire Teaser Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin Anime Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Al: Hello farmers, and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. (0:00:34) Al: My name is Al, and we’re here today to talk about cottagecore games. (0:00:36) Jonnie: and my name is Johnny! (0:00:42) Al: Today, well first of all transcripts are available on the show notes and on the website, as usual. (0:00:50) Al: Today we’re going back to our roots. (0:00:53) Al: Today we are going to talk about Stardew Valley 1.6, it’s finally here, and we have lots of thoughts. (0:01:00) Al: And I have 30 hours of stard you played this week. (0:01:10) Al: So we were going to talk about that. (0:01:13) Al: We’ll leave all that for the main section. (0:01:17) Al: Before that, we’ve got a bunch of news to talk about. (0:01:19) Al: First of all, Johnny, have you been playing anything other than stard you? (0:01:23) Al: » Okay. » Ooh. (0:01:24) Jonnie: Uh, I kind of have been so alongside alongside statue I’ve been slowly getting back into old-school landscape (0:01:32) Jonnie: Uh, I have a few friends who are playing (0:01:35) Jonnie: and (0:01:37) Jonnie: I don’t know what to tell you for a game. It’s terrible. It’s pretty fun terrible game and (0:01:44) Jonnie: I’ve been having a bit of fun playing that with with some with some friends and (0:01:48) Jonnie: Joking about it like it has farming in it, but it’s never a game that we would cover on the show (0:01:52) Jonnie: Uh, I I think the summary is (0:01:54) Jonnie: farming in that game pretty bad but you know pretty much everything in that game is pretty bad so yeah but I did do a quest last night that was all about frogs kind of taking over to humanity and you murder a frog unintentionally it’s it’s pretty great (0:02:16) Al: I accept our new frog overlords. They probably will do a better job than humans. (0:02:24) Jonnie: I don’t know, these frogs seemed pretty terrible. (0:02:28) Jonnie: I would be much more in favour of the penguins rolling over us. (0:02:32) Jonnie: Which is an entirely different story. (0:02:36) Al: Uh, dear. Cool. Uh, well, I mean, I don’t, yeah, I’ve, I don’t think I’ve (0:02:40) Jonnie: But that’s it, that’s it. What if you’ve been up to well? (0:02:46) Al: had any time for anything other than Stardew with my 30 hours this week. Uh, that’s almost a full-time job. Um, I am tired, but I did want to talk about my Animal Crossing Lego again. Um, do you have anything to say, Johnny? Which ones did you get? (0:03:02) Jonnie: yeah I have I have two of the animal crossing lego things um I i got the um tom nook and (0:03:12) Jonnie: blue cat I don’t know what the name of the cat is um (0:03:15) Al: Do you not have the box in front of you to look at? (0:03:18) Jonnie: uh I do not have the box in front of me the box in the other room (0:03:22) Jonnie: I got that one and I got the island camping um set and they are pretty great (0:03:31) Al: the island camping, what is that? The Bunnies Outdoor Adventures one. (0:03:36) Al: What I really like about, so I’ve done that one, I’ve built that one. I’ve not built the Tom Nook one. I’ve built the Bunnies Outdoor Adventure, the birthday party one, and (0:03:49) Al: the farming one. I’ve built those three. I haven’t built the Tom Nook one or Captain’s (0:04:01) Al: Boat one, but what I will say is, so Bunnies Outdoor Adventure, I love how, so they’ve got the little river bit, and Bunnie has a stick that goes into a bit that can then (0:04:15) Al: act like your, you know how early game you use the stick to get across the rivers? (0:04:20) Al: It’s like, it’s built into it. So yeah, so it’s built into it. So there’s a bit behind the river where you put the stick in and then they can literally vault over the river. It’s really (0:04:20) Jonnie: Yeah, it’s like the pole vault. (0:04:31) Al: really nicely done. I think it’s very close. (0:04:34) Jonnie: Yeah, I think that set is really well put together and as far as LEGO sets go it’s like pretty, uh, pretty affordable. (0:04:46) Al: Okay. Okay, I mean, I guess that’s one way of putting it, right? They are cheaper than other sets, but they’re also smaller than other sets. So I guess they’ve erred on the side of making them more affordable rather than making them bigger, and that’s fair. (0:04:49) Jonnie: Like, like a lot of LEGO sets are like into the hundreds of dollars and this one is not in the hundreds of dollars. (0:05:02) Jonnie: Yeah, I think when I say affordable, I think that it’s not very complicated to put together, (0:05:15) Jonnie: but it’s a cool set to have, and there’s a lot of modularity within the set. I think for (0:05:23) Jonnie: what you pay for a set of this size, I was relatively impressed. (0:05:32) Al: Yeah, I’ve also built the Isabelle one as well, I’ve been joining them all together as I build them, because they all have the same connections to put together, because they’re built on those, if you’ve had any of the Mario sets, you’ll know the same sort of things, it’s like the same small base plates that it’s all made up of, so you can, as you say, they’re modular, you can put them together how you want. So yeah, as I finish one I just connect it together. So I’ve just got this (0:06:02) Al: mess of an island growing beside my desk. It’s quite fun. I also I meant to mention this on the last podcast, but I completely forgot. I also went to the the Animal Crossing Lego Make and Take event at the Lego store because they were doing them and they did them and well, they did it in Edinburgh, but I was I didn’t go to the Edinburgh one. I actually went to the Glasgow one in Scotland and it was good fun. (0:06:08) Jonnie: Great. I love that. (0:06:32) Al: A little, it’s like a really maybe like a five to one scale version of the building that you get in the Isabelle one. So it’s because it looks it looks almost identical just tiny and it’s fun to have the two versions together like it’s a it’s a really small one like the base plate is eight eight by eight whereas the the fill size one is like. (0:07:02) Al: It’s probably about the same size as Nook’s Cranny that you’ve got in that set. It’s kind of like decent sized, but it’s fun to have the two of them together. But it was fun because it was my first Make and Take event that I’d been to at a Lego store and it was quite fun because you go up and obviously because it’s Animal Crossing it was really popular so really busy. A lot of not children there I will say probably not surprisingly and you stood in a queue for about half an hour. (0:07:32) Al: And then you got in and they had like all the different pots with all the different pieces and then you followed the instructions to put them together. (0:07:39) Al: They did say that if you wanted to, you could just grab a bag and put all the pieces in it and take it all home rather than building it there. (0:07:44) Al: But I was like, well, I’m here with my kid. (0:07:47) Al: Let’s do it while we’re here. (0:07:48) Al: Why not? (0:07:49) Al: And it was good fun to do that. (0:07:52) Jonnie: Nice, and do your kids get involved in helping you build the LEGO sets, or do they not even know they exist and you do them in secret? (0:07:57) Al: No, so Craig does… I mean Nathan doesn’t really care about Lego, right? He doesn’t have. It is just a care. Craig really likes Lego, but me and him do not build Lego together because I am not good at sharing that. And so much as like I just get really frustrated with how he does things. So thankfully Rona is a lot better than that at me, so she builds with him and then. (0:08:27) Al: I have my sets that I build on my own, so it’s fun to see him build it Lego and he’s like really creative with it as well, with not obviously not the sets like you build the sets like you build the sets and he’s quite good at following the instructions and I think with this one because it was such a small set it was it worked well kind of going right here’s the piece Craig where does this piece go and he would look at the instructions put it on (0:08:53) Al: but when it’s like a bigger set it just drives me insane trying to do it I would be the same with (0:08:57) Al: right it’s it’s not about him it’s just about the fact that I’m a control freak right so I need to do it myself but yeah so Rona quite often buy like will buy sets that are like the Lego city and stuff like that that they build together which is basically his sets and when he’s a little bit older he’d probably just build them by himself but he enjoys building (0:09:14) Jonnie: Nice. Yeah, I did the… (0:09:20) Jonnie: Awesome, I did the Animal Crossing sets with my niece, who’s five, and (0:09:25) Jonnie: we had a lot of fun, but it was very much the like “I’m trying to follow the instructions” and she’s like “Let’s put this piece here because it looks cool” and it’s just… so it was a lot of chaos and then when she went home, I immediately took apart everything she’d done because it’s not how it’s supposed to be. (0:09:30) Al: I suspect I’ll let him play with these once I’m finished because I think he’ll have fun putting them together and making a story out of it. He has that creative aspect of things. (0:09:50) Al: But yeah, not while I’m building them. He enjoys playing like I did a bunch of Mario builds like the Bowser’s Airship was particularly fun. (0:10:00) Al: And he loves to play with that. (0:10:01) Al: So I’m totally fine with him playing with these things. (0:10:03) Al: It’s just like when I’m building it, I like to build it. (0:10:06) Al: And it’s like involving anybody in that process takes all the fun out of it for me, you know? (0:10:15) Jonnie: Yeah (0:10:17) Al: But the small make and take event was fun enough to do it. (0:10:21) Al: Because I went into it knowing, this is a me and Craig event. (0:10:24) Al: This is what we’re going to do. (0:10:27) Al: It’s small enough. (0:10:28) Al: It was like 25 pieces or something. (0:10:30) Al: Like that. So it’s small enough that you’re not kind of getting overly stressed about anything. (0:10:36) Al: The biggest stress was trying to find the pieces because you had 10 people crowded around a table with 25 different boxes of different pieces. It was, it was. I can understand why some people would just take the pieces and leave because it’s, yeah. But I was like, no, I want to get it done here. I think it’s fun and we’re here. Why not? So, yeah, it was good fun. (0:10:44) Jonnie: Yeah, in many ways that sounds like a nightmare. (0:11:00) Al: Should we talk about some news? We have, this is going to be the episode of updates because there are so many updates. I don’t know why this week has suddenly been the (0:11:11) Al: let’s post an update. But the first of the updates is Fae Farm. They have their spring update, (0:11:16) Al: which is out now. It looks like they have kind of three main things, which is stuff on stuff, (0:11:22) Al: where you can put like things on, you can put items on tables and other things, presumably. (0:11:31) Al: Yeah, it looks like you put things on tables, barrels, crates, desks, display stands, carts, (0:11:42) Al: and a stack of books. Or does that mean you can put a stack of books on a stack of books? (0:11:47) Al: Need to see how tall a stack of books you can make. (0:11:52) Al: They also have a bunch of new cosmetics. Yes. (0:11:52) Jonnie: A question for you, Al. (0:11:55) Jonnie: Are you like this is a sort of update that’s like some people get really excited about but I’m like (0:12:02) Jonnie: If I don’t get into that phase of the designing phase of a game it within my first playthrough It’s highly unlikely that I’m ever gonna get there and I don’t know that this is the sort of thing It’s gonna bring in where are you at in terms of like designing farms cuz I don’t know if it’s anything that we’ve really discussed that much (0:12:17) Al: Yeah, I think I’m not very good at designing things. I will, like if we think about the stardew run I’ve been doing just now, I have been laying out my farm in a very specific way, (0:12:32) Al: but it’s very much like as many straight lines as possible. So it’s like I want to be able to go (0:12:40) Al: from the entrance to my greenhouse in a straight line sort of thing. So I will build paths. (0:12:48) Al: And fences in a way that makes it easy for that to do. I’m not really the sort of person that’ll be like, “Oh yeah, here’s our five by five bit and then I’ll put some bushes between this five by five crop section and the next five by five.” I’m like, “No, I don’t really care about that.” (0:13:10) Al: I’m very much a do the things, not necessarily make it look nice. (0:13:18) Al: So yeah, I mean, the fact that you can now put things on a table is definitely not going to encourage me to come back to this game, nor the extra cosmetics and stuff like that. (0:13:28) Al: I mean, they do have a bunch of extra things in the character creator, which is obviously good. (0:13:32) Al: But I tell you, there’s one thing that could possibly bring me back, (0:13:37) Al: which is the double day length setting that they’ve added into the game. (0:13:42) Al: So the standard setting for Faith Arm is an 18 minute day. The double day gives you… (0:13:48) Al: 36 minutes. (0:13:50) Al: However, having said that, I always feel like days are too long at the beginning (0:13:55) Al: of a game and too short at the end of a game. Do I really want a 36 minute day (0:14:03) Al: when I have almost no stamina? (0:14:06) Jonnie: - Yeah, I don’t know, like, to be honest, in general, (0:14:09) Jonnie: I’m kind of like, I know this is becoming a standard feature. (0:14:14) Jonnie: I think this is a feature that actually does a disservice to a lot of these games. (0:14:20) Jonnie: Like I understand why people think they want a longer day, (0:14:26) Jonnie: but one of the big limitations I think in these sorts of games is that people don’t often get all the way through, you know, a year. (0:14:36) Jonnie: Yeah, I think you and Bev talked about in the last episode, like people don’t necessarily always get to year two, right? (0:14:42) Jonnie: It’s lucky, you know, people are like excited that they hit winter in these sorts of games. (0:14:48) Jonnie: And doubling the day length, I think, means that there’s a large portion of the games that people will miss out on. (0:14:53) Jonnie: Coral Island has this feature and it’s not something that I think is a great choice to put in. (0:15:06) Jonnie: Once you get into the flow of one of these games, about a, you know, that 15 to 20 minute day length is about the right length. (0:15:12) Jonnie: I just, yeah, I don’t, we played FIFA and never felt like I wanted a longer day but I (0:15:22) Al: yeah I mean I didn’t want a longer day in fey farm but that’s probably because I didn’t really want to be playing it like I think as we discussed at the time I think the biggest thing that i enjoyed about fey farm was the traversal which I still stand on I still think that more games need to do that better but that was I mean nothing else about that game made me go this is amazing I need to keep playing this in general so yeah I didn’t want the day to be longer for that - Yeah. (0:15:52) Al: And I’m the same person that, you know, (0:15:54) Al: in the last episode I talked about how I speed run the game at the beginning anyway, because there’s not enough energy (0:16:03) Al: to do what you want to do. (0:16:04) Al: So just get through it and you get to the next day and that’s fine, you can do it then. (0:16:12) Al: Oh, it’s Friday, I need to go to the traveling cart. (0:16:14) Al: Sorry, I’m not playing the game. (0:16:19) Al: Yeah, I think it’s interesting. (0:16:23) Al: Also, I think I am more leaning towards trying out new things like Sugar Jew, (0:16:31) Al: what is that game called? (0:16:32) Al: Sugar Jew Island? (0:16:35) Al: Goodness me, get a better name. (0:16:38) Al: And it’s lack of a specific amount of day anyway, (0:16:45) Al: like it’s just you play the day and then you finish the day when you want to finish the day sort of thing. (0:16:52) Al: So being something like that would probably be more interesting to me than just, oh, it’s a longer day. (0:16:58) Jonnie: Yeah, I think that makes sense. (0:17:00) Jonnie: I think I’m with you, and it’s something Cody and I talked about on the “Palea” episode there. (0:17:07) Jonnie: I think I’m kind of just a bit over the regular day/night cycle. (0:17:13) Jonnie: And I’m more interested in games that are trying something different or just more tied to real time and getting rid of stamina mechanics. (0:17:21) Jonnie: My favorite thing about “Palea” is still the fact that they– (0:17:24) Jonnie: instead of stamina being this limiting thing, (0:17:26) Jonnie: They have a similar mechanic. (0:17:28) Jonnie: But it gets you more rewards for having high stamina and you just eat food to replenish it. (0:17:34) Jonnie: To me, that’s one of the best stamina variations that exist. (0:17:40) Al: Yeah, definitely try new things, let’s see what you can do. (0:17:45) Al: It does look like this setting is something you can change as you’re playing, so it’s the sort of thing I could definitely see myself going, oh, just having the normal day length, (0:17:53) Al: but then if I’m getting close to a point in the minds that I want to, just making the day longer at that point, I could see myself doing something like that. (0:18:02) Jonnie: Yeah, but even then the mines like the they’re not (0:18:08) Jonnie: The time is not a real limiting factor for them right because it’s because you can teleport to every floor (0:18:10) Al: I think it depends. I think, sure, okay, but wait, okay. More thinking, Skull Cavern. Like if you’re trying to go get Iridium, which is the thing that becomes a real limiting thing in these games at some point, is you need to go to Skull Cavern. And if you are, (0:18:35) Al: you know, 70 levels down, you’re getting really close to the area where there’s lots of stuff (0:18:40) Al: you’ve probably brought a bunch of food to keep your stamina up. There’s no way for you to extend the time that you can be down there for. And there’s a whole bunch of other stuff as well, (0:18:53) Al: but there’s stuff around characters and relationships. I’m sure they’ve not (0:18:58) Jonnie: I agree, look, I think where I’m at at Fae farmers, like we played it for the show, I thought there was a lot of potential there, but ultimately the game fell flat and there’s just so much else coming out, I can’t say that. (0:19:11) Al: Yeah, I still have, I bought the game physically and I still have it in my pile here and every time I go to sell some games, I’m like, I don’t think I’m going to play it, but I feel like I want to keep it just in case, but then I keep not playing it. So I think I need to set a deadline on myself. If I’ve not played it by me, then I get rid of it. I couldn’t, (0:19:38) Al: I, oh, no, I. (0:19:41) Al: I need to double check what there was a video and they said the name of the game and it was different. Ikone. It said, yes, so the it’s Ikone. That is what the video said Ikone. (0:19:48) Jonnie: I would guess, which is always a safe thing to do with pronunciation, econy? (0:19:58) Al: Ikone Island. So there you go. Finally learned I’ve been saying this name wrong the whole time. (0:20:06) Al: Ikone Island have released their Blooming Beginnings update. (0:20:11) Al: This marks the time where they are also out on PlayStation and Xbox. (0:20:16) Al: It looks like there’s lots of small things. The only kind of big thing that I can see is they have completely redone their UI. So if you have played this game, (0:20:27) Al: get ready to be annoyed by it changing. That’s my experience with with the The UI is changing and games is just being frustrated with it, even if it’s better. (0:20:40) Jonnie: Correct because you get used to whatever terrible things have been done and then it changes and your brain has to reset (0:20:47) Jonnie: It’s why it’s why UI is one of the most difficult things to get right in games (0:20:50) Al: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s kind of all I really want to talk about there. The patch notes are in the show notes. If you have played it and you want to go look at it. (0:21:03) Jonnie: I think it’s cool that it’s out on PlayStation Xbox, this is kind of one that was like on the back burner of my mind (0:21:09) Jonnie: Just because I think I prefer playing these games on on a console and so now that it’s on a console It’s something I’m like thinking about a little bit more (0:21:18) Al: Yes, and hopefully them releasing it at the same time as an update means that they’re going to then continue with updates coming to both at the same time. That’s always, I mean, that’s the advantage of bigger teams. (0:21:31) Jonnie: - Yeah, that would be… (0:21:35) Al: Steam World Build also have an update. Mechanical Meadows, they have a lovely little (0:21:44) Al: six bullet points of the things that they’ve added. They’ve added 11 player placeable decors, (0:21:50) Al: five environment decors, 10 mine decors, three agent decors, one tumbleweed, (0:21:58) Al: and one custom light and post. There you go, lots of things to decorate. (0:22:06) Al: Oh, that should be decor then, isn’t it? (0:22:08) Al: That’s why, that’s what that word is. (0:22:11) Al: That’s just the start of decorate, isn’t it? (0:22:13) Al: Decor, decorate. (0:22:14) Jonnie: I said your pronunciation, it was funny because your pronunciation was like just marginally off not but not enough that I was like not enough to mention it until we’ve now mentioned it (0:22:22) Al: I think I… I think I said “decor”, didn’t I? But it’s… If it’s short for “decoration”, (0:22:28) Jonnie: uh yeah yeah I was like ah whatever it’s (0:22:32) Al: I don’t say “decoration”, so it would be “decoration decor”. Anyway, if you want to decorate your town, I guess it’s a town? In Steam World Build? That’s out now. Speaking of updates, (0:22:42) Jonnie: I don’t know. Yeah, it must be town. (0:22:48) Al: Cali also have an update. They’re 0.17 (0:22:52) Al: update is out now. I mean at this point just call it update 178. I don’t know why it’s 0 point, right? People are so obsessed with 1.0 I don’t think it means anything. Just give us the number. It’s just update 178. (0:23:07) Al: Do you think you’re suddenly at 1 point going to go to 1.0? You’re not gonna do that when you’re at 0.178. (0:23:16) Jonnie: They will but they’re just gonna go at that after like, you know update 197 or something (0:23:20) Al: The theme of this patch is all about spring. They have added the temple of the roots, which is a new temple. Is temples a big thing in Palia? I still haven’t played it. (0:23:35) Jonnie: Yeah, so so temples are temples are kind of the big thing and it was missing one (0:23:42) Jonnie: They could always add more but the the setup was (0:23:43) Al: Well, well, yes, it says it says it won’t be the last temple, but they’re not going to say anything else about that now. (0:23:45) Jonnie: was for (0:23:49) Jonnie: Yeah (0:23:51) Al: That’s what it says in the in the thing. (0:23:52) Al: So. (0:23:53) Jonnie: No, that’s that’s not a surprise they’re kind of like the so they’re that they’re effectively like the big dungeons that a lot of the story (0:24:01) Jonnie: hangs off of in in Palia (0:24:05) Jonnie: They are interesting because it’s interesting to see the implementation of dungeons in a game with no combat (0:24:11) Jonnie: And some of them I think are really good (0:24:12) Al: Oh, there’s no combat in this. (0:24:17) Jonnie: Yeah, oh, I guess there technically is if you want to think of hunting (0:24:22) Jonnie: Animals and you know one-sided murder as combat, but there is nothing that attacks you back I guess (0:24:25) Al: One-sided murder. (0:24:32) Jonnie: Yeah (0:24:33) Al: I think that’s just called murder. (0:24:35) Jonnie: I Mean I guess but but you could always like you could try to move to someone and they can fight back right like this (0:24:37) Al: Yes, that’s not two-sided murder. (0:24:44) Al: That’s just not murder. (0:24:46) Al: That’s called attacking someone. (0:24:48) Al: It’s not murder. (0:24:50) Al: Oh dear. (0:24:50) Jonnie: Yeah okay, that’s fair. Look, it’s very early, and I’m saying things that barely make sense, so… (0:24:55) Al: [LAUGH] Fair enough. (0:25:03) Jonnie: But yeah, there is nothing that can attack you in the game, is probably the point. So I’m interested to see another dungeon of roots kind of make sense in the theming that all of the dungeons have been and what we got so far. I think there’s like a wind one. (0:25:20) Jonnie: There’s a lava one. There’s the first one that is kind of quite short and basic, and I don’t really remember if it had a theme or if the theme was “Hey, it’s a dungeon”. Yeah, a little bit, (0:25:30) Al: Was… yeah, was the theme tutorial. (0:25:36) Jonnie: if I remember rightly. So I haven’t really jumped back into Pahlia since we did the episode, (0:25:45) Jonnie: because it kind of felt like there was features missing, and I was waiting. (0:25:51) Jonnie: And this is getting me pretty close to thinking like “Okay, there’s probably enough stuff that’s been added that it might be a good time to jump back in and see what’s different in Pahlia.” (0:26:00) Al: That’s always the problem with these lots of little updates, right? Like with Stardew, (0:26:05) Al: it’s been like two and a half years since the last update. And so, you know, if you want to jump in, (0:26:11) Al: now’s the time to jump in with all these like little updates every month or two. You’re like, (0:26:18) Al: “Well, what point do I do this?” And I understand why they do it, right? Because if you’re, (0:26:23) Al: well, first of all, it’s obviously a game that they want to encourage people to be constantly playing, right? Like, that’s just how they’re doing things. (0:26:31) Al: But equally, they just want people to have stuff if they want to continue playing the game all the time, right? (0:26:37) Al: Like, there’s always new stuff for people. (0:26:41) Jonnie: Yeah, I think that’s a good point. I do consider there to be a bit of a difference though, like Stardew can afford to do that because it has such great brand recognition that a big update will cut through a lot of things and people are likely to jump back in. (0:26:59) Jonnie: I don’t know that that’s as true for a game like Palia. Like I don’t know if there’s as much benefit for them to have a big update versus a bunch of little updates and hope that people pick up like, (0:27:11) Jonnie: but I see Palia pop up from time to time. It seems like they’re doing a lot in that game, so maybe it’s worth checking out. (0:27:18) Jonnie: I wonder if there’s sort of two different approaches that can both work based on the size and cut through. (0:27:23) Al: That’s fair, but it doesn’t need to be, you know, either you do it every two and a half years or you do it every two months, right? You can have a… you can do it every six months and have bigger updates that way, right? Like, and I don’t think that would… I don’t think suddenly people are going to forget that your game exists if you take six months (0:27:44) Jonnie: Yeah, I think with weird games like Palia or Ato, I would rather have, particularly if I’m playing that game, I would rather just have consistent updates, because there’s still, you know, there’s still enough phase where there’s lots of little quality of life things and I wouldn’t like them to sit on that for six months to wait for a new temple to be done, right? (0:28:01) Jonnie: I would rather just have some of those stuffs built. (0:28:04) Al: Yeah, that’s fair. I mean, I guess you know being an online game. It’s it’s always gonna be slightly different anyway (0:28:11) Jonnie: - Yeah, and I guess to your point though, (0:28:13) Jonnie: I have been kind of ignoring a lot of their small updates because it’s just quality of life, (0:28:18) Jonnie: waiting to see something like this. (0:28:20) Jonnie: And I’m like, oh, okay, now they’ve got a new temple out. (0:28:23) Jonnie: This is the time that I personally want to jump back in (0:28:28) Al: Yeah. Yeah, I don’t think there’s an easy answer to these things. I just think it’s interesting. (0:28:36) Al: They also have climbing updates. I don’t know what that means. It doesn’t really describe (0:28:42) Jonnie: Yeah, I’m… (0:28:44) Al: just an improvement to climbing and traversal in the game. (0:28:49) Jonnie: Climbing was pretty… (0:28:54) Jonnie: I wonder if it’s just making it a little bit easier to understand, ‘cause you can climb up a lot of surfaces, (0:28:59) Jonnie: if I remember rightly. (0:29:01) Jonnie: It felt a little bit janky, but I don’t remember it feeling bad, maybe a bit slow, but it also wasn’t something… (0:29:05) Al: Yeah, I literally no idea what they’re talking about here because they just say we’ll be adding in the first of several changes behind the scenes that ultimately will result in an improvement to climbing. It doesn’t describe what is this. (0:29:20) Jonnie: Yeah, so I would guess that’s probably just more about the way like climbing was a little bit janky when you’re trying to get in and out of this, like just a little bit of like running into walls and stuff like that. (0:29:30) Jonnie: So hopefully it just feels a little bit more seamless. (0:29:32) Jonnie: But to be honest, climbing was one of those things that existed in the game, but you don’t really need it that much from a traversal perspective. (0:29:39) Jonnie: So it’s not like it’s huge, and maybe some of that’s because it felt janky, but I think I think this would just be one of those things that’s like, (0:29:48) Jonnie: if they didn’t say it, you would just be like, (0:29:50) Jonnie: this feels slightly better, but you wouldn’t actually notice when, right? (0:29:54) Al: yeah. And they have also - I just lost my tab - added in some placeable flowers and trees and more decor and outfits. (0:29:55) Jonnie: So, that’s cool. (0:30:12) Jonnie: Cool. (0:30:14) Al: So again, probably something you don’t care about based on our previous conversation. (0:30:14) Jonnie: Um, Hank? (0:30:18) Al: You’re not going to jump in and do a bunch of stuff with that, but good for the people who do care about, making their own. (0:30:26) Jonnie: Yeah, I am curious with the new outfits. So a lot of the outfits early in the game were (0:30:39) Jonnie: microtransactions, right? So you paid a premium currency for them, which to be clear is not a criticism. It was an effective way of monetizing the game, right? You can spend money if you’re really into this and have your character model look a bit different, but it doesn’t actually impact anything else in the game. (0:30:56) Jonnie: So when they say new outfits, I’m curious if they mean a wider range of outfits that you don’t have to pay for, or we’ve put in new things for you to buy. (0:31:05) Al: Yeah, good question. They don’t specify. So I guess we’ll need to see. (0:31:10) Jonnie: Yeah, but I will say I’m very excited for this update, and I might be jumping back into some more palettes soon. (0:31:18) Al: Speaking of updates. This is our last update, I promise. So many updates. Oh my word, everybody’s updating. (0:31:22) Jonnie: Just every transition, just speaking of updates. (0:31:27) Jonnie: Look, we could even use this transition in the main topic. (0:31:31) Al: Travellers Rest have their fishing update out now as well. I do need to clarify something I said wrong in the last episode. I said that… I’m pretty sure I said that fishing is an update to the fishing not the not that the fishing is new turns out that’s wrong fishing is new so there wasn’t fishing before this update now there is fishing before this update so yet another question of what was even in this game and so there we go fishing now in travel (0:32:08) Jonnie: Yeah, look, the “What is this game?” question is mostly just… (0:32:14) Jonnie: Every time I see an update, I’m very confused as to what this game had in it when it launched. (0:32:18) Jonnie: Because from what I can gather, it was nothing. You had a character model, and that was it. (0:32:24) Al: Yeah, because it didn’t have fishing, it didn’t have farming, it didn’t have your bar, which is the whole point of it. It’s an inn, you’re running an inn, and the inn didn’t serve drinks. (0:32:36) Al: So yeah, I really don’t know what the game had, but. Oh, I don’t even. (0:32:38) Jonnie: Maybe just maybe just hit romance [cries] (0:32:46) Al: Sugardew Island, please don’t add romance, I beg of you. I’m going to say this every episode now, please don’t do it. (0:32:54) Al: I know. Yeah, and there’s a trailer for the fishing update. So (0:33:01) Al: go have a look at that. That will be in the show notes. (0:33:05) Al: And the last piece of game news before the last piece of news is very much not news, (0:33:15) Al: but we’re talking about it anyway, because I mean, let’s be honest, especially on an episode with me and you Johnny, we’re going to take any opportunity to talk about this game is that we (0:33:24) Al: have a new, would you call this a trailer? A new, very small, well even it’s a video with sound and it shows, I don’t know, it’s not even, it doesn’t even feel like it’s long enough to count as a teaser. Yeah, it’s an animated picture, that’s what it is, but with a little bit of sound in the background. This is Tales of the Shire. (0:33:28) Jonnie: No. (0:33:42) Jonnie: It’s basically one step removed from just being a picture. (0:33:54) Al: I realised I hadn’t said the name of the game, so Tales of the Shire, which I feel like - so now underneath says “A Lord of the Rings game”. I feel like it didn’t say that in the previous stuff, but I might just not be remembering that. (0:34:06) Jonnie: I do not recall, but hopefully, you know, that’s obvious, but… (0:34:09) Al: It did. It did, because I was just talking nonsense. So yeah. There’s nothing new. They’ve just decided to remind us that the game is coming. And the replies are full of people (0:34:24) Al: give us a game please. So it’s meant to be coming this year. Still literally no information about the game, no screenshots, no nothing. Just it’s coming. (0:34:34) Jonnie: Yep, look, I’m very rapidly getting to the point of like, I will believe this game is coming when we actually, you know, get a release date, like, and, you know, some, some information I just, I just don’t want to become like those Silksong fans right who are like, it’s coming. (0:34:52) Jonnie: It’s coming. Trust me, it’s coming. We’re so excited. It’s coming and like, that game doesn’t exist. (0:34:58) Al: To be fair, I think we have more about this game than we do about Silksong, to be fair. (0:34:58) Jonnie: And that’s, that’s, that is entirely… (0:35:04) Jonnie: I just don’t want to get too excited until until we actually see some details, right, we have something to dig in. So, I mean, it’s good news that they’re posting and, you know, posting a thing because it does mean that the game still exists. (0:35:18) Jonnie: So, yeah, but, but there’s nothing to talk about. (0:35:18) Al: It’s been six months. It’s been six months since they announced the game and this is their first thing since that right six months ago They said hey, this is a game and we went collectively ah (0:35:30) Al: This is a game and now six months later. We’re getting the same information (0:35:36) Al: This is a game with I guess a slightly more detailed image, but it’s still not a screenshot or anything (0:35:44) Jonnie: No. (0:35:46) Jonnie: Definitely not. (0:35:46) Jonnie: Do you want to spend half an hour, like, analyzing every aspect of the image, or show you? (0:35:52) Al: Well, I see people in the comments speculating on characters in the game, (0:36:00) Al: but that would require us knowing the time in which this game is happening. (0:36:06) Jonnie: Yeah, I feel like, you know, pretty much any of this requires like a knowledge of, you know, anything related to this game, and we have none of that, so… (0:36:14) Al: So I do think this game will have fishing, cause I see someone fishing, so sorry about that. (0:36:20) Jonnie: I feel like that is so I am anti-fishing because I just don’t think it’s necessary in a lot of games I (0:36:28) Jonnie: think for a lot of the rings game it would be kind of silly to not have fishing given that like (0:36:35) Jonnie: It’s part of some of their (0:36:38) Jonnie: their law to an extent right like when (0:36:44) Jonnie: Smeagol found the ring they were in a boat, and I’m pretty sure they were fishing Um… (0:36:50) Jonnie: You know, so it’s it’s established that hobbits fish so I think I think (0:36:56) Al: I also see a chicken and a sheep, so presumably you will have ranching in the game. (0:37:03) Al: I also see what is either presumably a duck with a helmet on. (0:37:10) Al: And I’m very interested as to what that is about. (0:37:10) Jonnie: Maybe it just wants to feel… (0:37:13) Al: Why does a duck need armour? (0:37:19) Al: I mean, in the Shire, the safest place ever. (0:37:23) Al: I’m intrigued by that. (0:37:26) Al: There’s a bunch of different foods, cooked foods. (0:37:29) Al: So presumably they will be cooking in this game as well. (0:37:31) Jonnie: Oh my god, sorry, I just looked up there, that duck is super cute. (0:37:36) Jonnie: I’m a big fan of him wearing a helmet, like I don’t know. (0:37:38) Jonnie: I don’t understand what your problem is now. (0:37:39) Jonnie: Why, why are you so anti this? (0:37:42) Al: I’m not, not against the duck. (0:37:45) Al: I see a horse in the background. (0:37:48) Al: Yeah, OK, I’m done. (0:37:51) Al: There’s only so much we can talk about this game. (0:37:54) Al: Let’s overanalyze about something. (0:37:57) Al: Just before we talk about Stardew, we’re going to get there very soon, I promise. (0:38:02) Al: I know that’s why you’re all here this episode. (0:38:05) Al: But before that, we need to talk about the fact that Sakuna of Rice and Run is getting an anime. (0:38:14) Al: And I don’t know what to think about this. (0:38:14) Jonnie: I… I don’t know what any of this means. (0:38:19) Al: So Sakuna of Rice and Run, the game which was the (0:38:23) Al: ridiculously unnecessarily realistic. (0:38:26) Al: Rice growing game where you are, I mean Sakuna is basically like a god, I think, (0:38:35) Al: who was stripped of her powers and sent down to earth. I know, I know, it’s classic. (0:38:40) Al: And then you have to farm rice. I’m not sure why I really, really didn’t play that game very much. I apparently they’re making anime for it, so maybe I will watch that and finally understand the story, rather than having to play the game again. You’ve literally nothing to say. All right, let’s get into trouble talking about something else, which is Stardew Valley 1.6. It’s finally here, it is now out on PC, Mac, Linux, Steam. (0:39:00) Jonnie: Cool I have like I have literally I I know nothing about any of this I have nothing to say and I if I say anything I’m just gonna get myself into trouble (0:39:26) Al: GOG, all of the non-console places you can get it, which I mean is basically just Steam. Okay, yeah, not on console or mobile. Yeah, tablet, etc. I have been playing it on my Steam deck. What have you been playing it on, Johnny? (0:39:35) Jonnie: Also not on. (0:39:54) Jonnie: Ah, just on my laptop. (0:39:56) Al: Fair enough. We will have a link to the patch notes in the show notes if you want to go and have a look at them. There will obviously be spoilers in that. And if you want to play this game without having any information about the game, maybe stop listening to this episode now and come back when you’ve played it. Because we’re going to talk about a lot of things that we found, some things that are very obvious and some things that are maybe not as obvious. (0:40:23) Al: There’s not many, like, story-related things. (0:40:26) Al: But I know a lot of people are finding it fun to kind of go and find all the new stuff without knowing that it’s there. (0:40:36) Al: So if you’re that kind of person, you’re probably already turned off. (0:40:40) Al: So I think we need to start off, Johnny, by talking about the new farm layout. (0:40:46) Al: I obviously chose that. (0:40:46) Jonnie: I did. (0:40:47) Al: I think you chose the new farm layout as well, didn’t you? (0:40:51) Al: So you start out by getting your new farm late. (0:40:56) Al: It’s got a lot of water. (0:41:00) Al: It’s got like a big river that goes through it and a couple of small ponds. (0:41:04) Al: And there’s a lot of grass on it to start with and a lot of trees. (0:41:08) Al: But you also start up with a coop and two chickens. (0:41:11) Al: And (0:41:13) Al: this shouldn’t be surprising, but I was a little bit surprised when you wake up and you open up the package in your house and there aren’t parsnip seeds. (0:41:19) Al: There’s hay there instead. (0:41:21) Al: And it makes sense based on the farm, but I wasn’t expecting that. (0:41:24) Al: It was quite a fun. (0:41:26) Al: difference to be like, oh, this is not the same as what I’ve played before. (0:41:30) Jonnie: Yeah, I really liked it like it was just a nice indication of oh, this is actually different right and it was just one of those really clever little things of like (0:41:41) Jonnie: You know just just change that little brain itch to be like, hey, this is this is subtly (0:41:46) Jonnie: Not quite what you what you’re used to (0:41:50) Al: And your first quest, instead of growing parsnips, is get an egg from your chicken, which, yeah, (0:41:56) Al: is good fun. (0:41:59) Al: I also noticed there’s a lot of hardwood in this farm, and there’s the two different kinds of stumps. (0:42:05) Al: You have both of the two stumps. (0:42:07) Al: So you can get hardwood really quickly because you’ve got the big logs that you can only get with, I think, the golden axe, which, you know, there’s one (0:42:20) Al: of them to get into the other wood, the other forest that you can get the other stumps from. (0:42:27) Al: But the smaller, the stumps, rather than the log, you can get with an iron axe. (0:42:37) Al: But in normal games, you can’t actually access those ones because you have to have the gold one to get into the area that has those stumps. (0:42:45) Al: So it was quite fun. (0:42:46) Al: farm, you’ve got both of those so you can get hardwood as soon (0:42:50) Al: as you’ve got your second level of axe. (0:42:54) Jonnie: Yeah, it’s a nice little upgrade to to the farm and to the progression within a within a new server (0:43:04) Al: So, I think this is quite an animal-focused farm, obviously. There’s still a decent amount of area you can use for farming crops, but I think the idea of this one is you’re generally meant to be using animals, which I quite like because I’ve always been kind of like get animals as quickly as possible because they’re a steady thing. Without having to put much money into them, you can get regular money, right? You can very quickly get like several Programmed a day without… (0:43:34) Al: Putting any money into it (0:43:37) Al: After the initial cast obviously [clears throat] (0:43:40) Jonnie: Yeah, I I really like this as a set up I think a lot of these games I’m like I would I always go in with the intent of like I would like to do a (0:43:51) Jonnie: An animal based farm But by the time you get all of the set up to get the money to get the animals (0:43:57) Jonnie: You have a pretty decent regular farming setup And at that point transitioning to animals feels like it’s gonna waste a lot of well not not waste money (0:44:06) Jonnie: but you’re kind of like (0:44:10) Jonnie: Back in terms of progress a lot so you kind of just keep going with the farming and animals always kind of feel like this thing off to the side And putting them front and center is (0:44:20) Al: Yeah, agreed. I think it’s also, it’s made me more money focused. And this is where I admit on the podcast that I have gone the Joja route this time. So let me explain. Let me explain. Let me explain. Don’t worry. Right. Okay. Well, okay. How about before I explain myself, let me, let me tell you that I feel really bad about what I’ve done, especially (0:44:30) Jonnie: What? (0:44:33) Jonnie: Ow. Ow. (0:44:35) Jonnie: No, no, I’m just gonna sit here and judge you and talk over the start of your sentences. (0:44:50) Al: what, so I’ve, I’ve completed the Joja warehouse version of the community center. Right. I’ve got all of those upgrades. And let me tell you the cut scene where you’ve, when you’ve done that and you walk into the area and you go up to the Joja warehouse and all of the staff are out applauding you and you get told what a wonderful person you are for doing all this, it felt so bad. I was like, Oh no. (0:45:20) Al: What have I done? This is terrible. Um, was not a fan of that. Uh, but the reason why I did this is because I wanted to focus on money as any good capitalist does. And I wanted not to have to think about the bundles for once. And I thought it would be fun. I feel like as a professional. (0:45:50) Al: I’m a farming game podcaster. I need to understand all aspects of this game, and that includes doing the Jojo route. (0:46:00) Al: So that is my defense of myself. (0:46:01) Jonnie: So look this is where I’m gonna say I did not follow the Jojo route and that is so far is my biggest criticism of the 1.6 update is the bundles do not really work for the new farm (0:46:18) Jonnie: because you have the second set of bundles, the crop bundles, and all of a sudden you’re kind of reminded of, oh, I still have to actually engage. (0:46:31) Jonnie: With the farming piece, and look, I think, you know, getting a pass nip, a cauliflower, whatever is fine, but having five of the gold ones for that bundle, it was a huge disappointment that that hadn’t been changed to, uh, like five high quality animal products, right? (0:46:50) Jonnie: Like five gold lard jigs or something like that, um, because I got to like day, you know, 10 or 11 or whatever it was when I started to like, think about the community center. (0:47:01) Jonnie: And I get some of those things unlocked and I was like, oh, well, I’m probably not gonna hit the, the five gold pass nips, you know, this, this month. (0:47:12) Jonnie: And I don’t really want to try the five gold balance and it was a bit disappointing and I kind of wish that. (0:47:18) Al: Yeah, yeah, it’s interesting. I wonder, have you ever looked at the remixed bundles (0:47:28) Al: for the community centre? Because I know there is an option to do the remixed ones, but I don’t know. (0:47:34) Al: Ah, no, you’re still required. The quality crops bundle still exists. But it looks like there’s multiple different possible ones you can have, but you still have to have some gold crops. (0:47:47) Al: So, yeah. (0:47:48) Al: Yeah, I think it could be could have been fun to have done stuff like that. (0:47:53) Al: But this is where you have the option just to go the Georgia route. (0:47:56) Al: You can do it. (0:47:57) Al: It’s a thing you can do, you know. (0:48:00) Jonnie: Yeah, look, I think it’s the right thing to do. (0:48:01) Al: And you’re. (0:48:08) Al: Yes, I agree. (0:48:11) Al: It’s a good thing to do. (0:48:12) Al: Go the Georgia route. (0:48:14) Al: You definitely won’t feel bad and you definitely won’t have your friends saying, (0:48:17) Al: What have you done when the achievement comes? (0:48:19) Al: Which happened to me today? (0:48:24) Al: Kelly noticed that I got the achievement yesterday, and they were very disappointed in me. (0:48:32) Al: show. (0:48:34) Jonnie: I mean, look, they were right to be disappointed, but what’s the point in friends if you don’t have money? (0:48:40) Al: Exactly, exactly. So I think it’s been quite fun doing that, it makes you think about the game differently. (0:48:50) Al: And I do think that if you’re playing your first stardew through, the bundles is a really good way to be like, (0:48:58) Al: here are all the different things you can do in the game, do them all please. I think that’s really fun. (0:49:04) Al: But also as someone who’s played this game, hundreds and hundreds of hours, just going. (0:49:10) Al: I’m going to do as much as I can to make as much money as possible, as quickly as possible, and unlock as much of it as possible. (0:49:18) Al: I’m currently in winter of year one, I’ve not even finished the first year yet, and I have completed all of that. (0:49:26) Al: All five of the things to unlock with the community centre of Georgia, which is fun. (0:49:36) Al: like being at that point. It’s really hard to do that in… (0:49:40) Al: In fact, it’s impossible in year one unless you have the setting to make it possible in year one. (0:49:45) Al: So you have to wait till the second year. (0:49:48) Al: And even if you do have that setting on, it’s still really hard because you have to go really hard on the crops. (0:49:54) Al: Gold crops aren’t very easy to get. (0:49:59) Al: So yeah, that’s fun. It’ll be interesting to see. I know that the… (0:50:03) Al: I know that Ginger Island has some Georgia stuff in it as well if you go that route. (0:50:07) Al: it will be interesting to see that, although I’ve still never been to Georgia Island. (0:50:10) Al: I’m currently grinding to get the bars to unlock the boat to get to Georgia, to get to Ginger Island. (0:50:24) Al: As usual, I’ve hit my wall is I’m at Skull Cavern and trying to get as much of the ore as possible to actually get what I want. (0:50:34) Al: That’s always my frustration with this game, is I love everything about this game. (0:50:37) Al: I hate skull cavern. (0:50:38) Al: I hate trying to get. (0:50:41) Al: Why have I forgotten the name of this? (0:50:43) Al: What’s it called again? (0:50:44) Al: The purple stuff. (0:50:45) Al: Iridium. (0:50:45) Al: Yeah. (0:50:46) Al: I, I hate getting Iridium. (0:50:48) Al: It is the thing I, I just cannot stand with this game. (0:50:52) Al: So maybe I’ll just try and focus on doing year two as quickly as possible while getting enough to, to pass granddad’s test and then get the, the (0:51:14) Jonnie: Yeah, that sounds like a good plan, and I’m right there with you. I’m not a fan of Skull Kid, and I think the combat’s just not good enough in a game like this to really support what they’re trying to do. (0:51:27) Al: Yeah I think at this point you just you have to just save up as much stone as you can to get (0:51:35) Al: stairs to go down as quickly as you can find as much ore. Yeah it’s not the best and especially having played Coral Island like Coral Island I feel like has the balance better in terms of the minds and getting to know them. (0:51:57) Al: I’m getting the max of the, I can’t remember what they call their, they have another name for their above gold one, something like that. (0:52:08) Jonnie: Uhm, Oricallium. (0:52:12) Jonnie: Uhm, yeah, because I just recently completed the, uh, the mines in, uhm, in Coral Island and I think that was just significantly better, the accessibility of the, the fourth tier, uhm, or was, it was just way more plentiful, right? (0:52:28) Jonnie: And it was just like, cool, this is nice, like it’s just the next version of it, it’s the next level of progression and it doesn’t feel horrendous, like, yeah. (0:52:36) Al: Yeah and it doesn’t need to be easy, I think it just needs to be not horrifically difficult and (0:52:43) Al: certainly nothing in this update has made it any easier and I think it’s the thing that frustrates me most about this game that I would really like slightly changed. Obviously there is the thing you can get from your grandad when you’ve got a certain amount of stuff after year two but (0:52:59) Al: that only gives you a few per day which is obviously better than nothing but yeah it’s It’s just, it’s so slow to get. (0:53:06) Al: And to get to Ginger Island, you need 5 bars, which is 25 iridium ore. (0:53:12) Al: And obviously that then implies you haven’t used it for anything else. (0:53:16) Al: And you need, yeah, ugh, iridium. (0:53:20) Al: Need iridium. (0:53:22) Al: So, we’ll see. (0:53:26) Al: Um, okay, farm, anything else to say about the new farm? (0:53:30) Al: I think, oh yes, I had one small thing. (0:53:32) Al: very niche, but the layout of it is much easier. (0:53:36) Al: To line things up for paths and crops. (0:53:38) Al: One thing that really frustrates me about the, about Stardew is how (0:53:44) Al: things don’t overlap in the way that they should, right? (0:53:47) Al: So for example, in the greenhouse, it’s not a perfect number of (0:53:52) Al: the biggest sprinkler, right? (0:53:56) Al: It’s like 2.5 sprinklers wide and tall. (0:54:01) Al: And that, and the farm, if you have a path (0:54:06) Al: going from the entrance to the farm left, you’ll not line up nicely with things. (0:54:12) Al: And if you want to come down from the top to the bottom, (0:54:16) Al: you can’t just have one path that goes all the way down from the entrance. (0:54:20) Al: Like these things are really niche and probably don’t annoy many people, (0:54:24) Al: but they annoys me and I find the layout of this one is much easier to make it (0:54:30) Jonnie: I agree. I really like the layo
Al and Codey talk about their hopes and dreams for the future of Coral Island Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:03:23: What Have We Been Up To 00:09:10: News 00:09:23: Game Releases 00:16:41: Game Updates 00:37:51: Other News 00:58:51: Coral Island Hopes And Dreams 01:41:49: Outro Links Chill Town Early Access Of Life and Land Early Access Critter Crops Release A Tiny Sticker Tale on iOS and Android Paleo Pines 1.3 Update Travellers Rest “Fishing” Update One Lonely Outpost Apology Stardew 1.6 Update Sugardew Island Kickstarter Pixelshire PS5 and Switch Window Garden Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:31) Al: Hello and welcome to another episode of The Harvest Season. My name is Sleepy Al. (0:00:37) Codey: And my name is Hyper Cody. (0:00:39) Al: And we’re here today to talk about Cottagecore games! (0:00:43) Codey: Whoa. (0:00:44) Al: Oh no! Oh yeah, what was that? (0:00:46) Codey: Whoa. (0:00:48) Codey: In a recent, I don’t know, I tried to like do the whole, (0:00:51) Codey: let’s go, like energy. (0:00:53) Codey: And it kind of just came out a little different. (0:00:56) Codey: I don’t know. (0:00:57) Al: I don’t think we need to make the energy differential any higher than it is, like an American and a Scottish person, when the Scottish person is tired and it’s late at night. Yeah. I also suspect you just go hyper when you’re tired. (0:00:57) Codey: Uh… [laughs] (0:01:03) Codey: U.S.A. (0:01:11) Codey: Well, I appreciate you doing this later. (0:01:22) Codey: I do. (0:01:23) Codey: Except for if it’s like really really like I go hyper and then I go like brain can’t word good when it like hit a certain point and so yeah but I am definitely at the hyper (0:01:29) Al: And that’s funny. Yeah. Rona my wife is the opposite. She goes like completely like comatose to start with and then it hits a point and then she goes hyper. And when she goes hyper you’re like, no, no, you should have already gone to bed by now. Yeah. All right, cool. (0:01:39) Codey: Mmm. (0:01:47) Codey: Why are you still conscious? (0:01:51) Codey: Mmm-hmm. (0:01:52) Al: So transcripts for the podcast are available in the show notes and on the website. This episode (0:01:55) Codey: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. (0:01:59) Al: we are going to talk about coral island speculation slash once. I haven’t figured out a good way to word this. Hopes, once, whatever. We’re going to talk about what we want (0:02:10) Codey: I like hopes and dreams. (0:02:10) Al: in coral island. Hopes and dreams. Coral island, hopes and dreams. (0:02:15) Codey: Yes. (0:02:15) Al: I was once in, here’s a fun fact for you, I was in as a child a Christian musical (0:02:24) Al: called hopes and dreams. It was quite something. (0:02:26) Codey: Oh okay. I was in a Christian musical called Children of Eden. (0:02:29) Al: the M. Wow they don’t [laughs] (0:02:34) Codey: Um, yep not. I am a non theist so it’s very very interesting but that’s what when you’re in high school and your director is like this is what we’re doing then you don’t really have a choice. (0:02:47) Al: I’ve got to love that separation of church and state over there. (0:02:52) Codey: Oh, you are very aware that that is non-existent. (0:02:55) Al: Don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re gonna talk about Carl Island, what we want from the game now that it’s hit 1.0 and we have some idea of what’s coming out in the next few updates. What do we want else that they haven’t said? Because there’s a bunch of stuff that they said they’re adding and I don’t think anything in our list is those. (0:02:56) Codey: In… yeah. (0:03:16) Al: So, what else? (0:03:17) Al: Before that, we have quite a lot of news. It’s been a very busy week, but first of all, Cody, what have you been up to? (0:03:27) Codey: Well the reason we had to record later in your evening was because my morning was spent getting a party shiny wurmple tattoo holding a pride flag so that is my most recent thing he’s a he’s just a little guy and he’s on my arm and his hat is glittery I will put him in the discord for what the slack for people (0:03:56) Al: It’s like we have a discard news to me we actually we do but me and you are the only people on it (0:03:58) Codey: I think we do have a disc, we do well I know I’m throwing him in the in the slack right now so that I’ve been doing that I’ve also been still working on fox craft my minecraft fox the head is complete so now I just have to do the body which is like at least twice the size of the head so it’s gonna take a a very long time. (0:04:27) Codey: But most of my time has been spent furiously preparing a bunch of specimens. (0:04:34) Codey: Just from my May sample from last year, I have 7,000 insects that I have prepared and identified. (0:04:41) Codey: And I did that so that I could make a poster for a conference I’m going to this weekend. (0:04:46) Codey: So, woo! Research. It is actually really exciting. I’ve had a lot of, um… (0:04:57) Codey: papers moving along and chapters getting published and stuff like that. (0:05:00) Codey: So, I’m feeling like a scientist. It’s very interesting. (0:05:04) Codey: I’ve also had people like… I know, right? (0:05:06) Codey: I also had people reaching out to me and being like, “You’re a recognized expert in the field of forest pollinators. (0:05:11) Codey: Can you review this paper about forest pollinators?” (0:05:13) Codey: And then another email that was like, “Hey, we’re putting together a journal in special edition about forest pollinators. (0:05:22) Codey: Do you have a paper that you would like to submit?” (0:05:25) Codey: And I was like, “Man, I don’t right now.” (0:05:27) Codey: But like, next year I totally would. (0:05:31) Codey: So pretty much riding the highs of PhD life with, I don’t know if I’ve been medicated yet since I’ve been telling people, but I am medicated for ADHD now. (0:05:43) Al: I don’t believe you. (0:05:44) Codey: It does not dull my shine. (0:05:45) Codey: It hones me. (0:05:47) Codey: I am honed. (0:05:49) Codey: I can, I can focus on things now. (0:05:54) Codey: Wow, rude. (0:05:55) Codey: - About what? (0:05:55) Al: About being able to focus, I mean, not about the shine, what was it, shine, shine, sparkle. (0:06:02) Codey: - It’s dulling my shine, dulling my sparkle. (0:06:06) Al: I do love, I do love how we talk about sparkle and it’s like, what exactly is the sparkle you’re talking about? (0:06:06) Codey: No, I can– (0:06:12) Al: the sparkle of it. (0:06:13) Al: No, I know, I know. I know. (0:06:14) Codey: Well, so some people, when you get some type of medication for that kind of stuff, some people get a little zonked, (0:06:21) Codey: but I’m clearly not zonked. (0:06:25) Codey: Clearly not. (0:06:29) Al: I have been playing uh spells and secrets uh which is not I mean it’s the worst kept secret right because on two episodes ago me and bev said we were going to play it and then talk about it but shh don’t tell anyone um I won’t I won’t give any opinions on the game just now because you know I need to actually say something on the episode that we may or may not be doing (0:06:40) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:06:44) Codey: Okay, I’ll keep it. (0:06:54) Al: so that’s it i’ve been playing it and I will have some opinions (0:06:59) Al: um i’ve also been playing pokemon uh doing all those raids enjoying enjoying those we’re on blast ice now enjoying those blast ice raids getting all the herba mystica (0:07:12) Codey: Mm-hmm. Are you coming to Go Fest in New York City? (0:07:14) Al: yeah (0:07:18) Al: I think you know the answer to that question (0:07:22) Al: no you think I would you think I would be uh doing well no no no (0:07:27) Codey: Come back soon. (0:07:29) Al: you think I would do two uh us you know cross atlantic transatlantic flights in in a year (0:07:36) Codey: yeah I do mm-hmm New York City is a lot easier because then you don’t have to like I mean I’m assuming your flight didn’t go from what would you fly out of Belfast London to like straight to LA right like you probably had something it did that is disgusting I am sorry yeah that is very disgusting um yeah well that never mind with the point I was trying to (0:07:48) Al: London. (0:07:52) Al: It did. Yeah. It was long. It was 11 and a half hours long. (0:07:59) Al: It was. It was not fun. (0:08:06) Codey: but you should still come to New York City so that we can hang out no I’m kidding it is it is it’s expensive it’s long I get it okay (0:08:16) Al: Yeah, not this year. I would like to do it sometime, but not this year. (0:08:21) Codey: per hapith next year cuz it’s I think it’s gonna happen again next year (0:08:25) Al: I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised that people seem to like that place where they did that event. (0:08:32) Al: It was getting a lot of positive stuff, and they have done it for two years in a row. (0:08:36) Codey: Mmm, this will be the second year. (0:08:36) Al: And I don’t think any… I think Chicago is the only other place that’s had two go-fests. (0:08:45) Al: And certainly, I think it’s– (0:08:46) Al: the only one that’s had two in a row, so… (0:08:50) Codey: I think someone said something about how they’ve like booked New York for three years, which would be cool I (0:08:56) Al: That sounds like something that somebody just made up. (0:09:00) Codey: I saw it on the internet and it the internet is correct always (0:09:01) Al: Yeah, cool. Awesome. Wow. Shall we get into this long list of news? (0:09:13) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:09:14) Al: So we have, I’m doing that thing where there’s so much news that I’ve split it up into sections. (0:09:17) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:09:20) Al: So our first section is releases. So we have four releases. (0:09:26) Al: First of all, Chill Town have announced that they’re releasing in early access on the 22nd of March. (0:09:33) Al: So this is one that I have backed on Kickstarter, so I will get that code and I will maybe play the game. (0:09:40) Al: We’ll see. I quite like the look of this one. I think it’s going to be interesting to see whether it does anything unique. (0:09:49) Al: I like its art style. It’s kind of chibiesque. So I guess we’ll see what happens when it actually… (0:09:55) Codey: It’s giving animal crossing, but without animals, (0:09:56) Al: …releases. (0:10:00) Codey: and with a 3D camera, and I guess there’s animals, (0:10:04) Codey: but it’s like your villagers aren’t animals. (0:10:07) Al: - Yes. (0:10:07) Codey: They’re people. (0:10:08) Codey: And like you have a cat that follows you around. (0:10:11) Al: - Yeah. (0:10:13) Codey: But, which is not my cup of tea, (0:10:16) Codey: but excited to hear your thoughts on it, when you, when it, (0:10:21) Codey: are you gonna play the early access then? (0:10:22) Al: No promises. We will see. We’ll see. I mean, let’s, let’s be honest, right? It’s coming out three days after Stardew 1.6, uh, and like a week before I go to the Isle of Man for two weeks. So I’m not promising anything at this point, but, uh, I will play the game at some point, whether I play it in early access or not. I don’t know. Um, I don’t even know like how long the early access will be. So well, uh, as of just now. (0:10:25) Codey: Womp womp. (0:10:26) Codey: Okay. (0:10:31) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:10:35) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:10:44) Codey: Okay. (0:10:48) Codey: And is that just steam? (0:10:53) Al: Um, just windows as well. Uh, not that it matters to me cause I’ll be playing on the steam deck. (0:10:53) Codey: Okay, cool. (0:10:58) Codey: Cool. (0:11:02) Al: Right. Uh, they estimate three months for early access. There’s no way that that’ll be three months in early access. Absolutely. No way. Absolutely. I would bet money on that. (0:11:12) Codey: Like you’re saying it’ll take longer for it to go from early access to 1.0, okay. (0:11:21) Al: three months. (0:11:22) Al: Like what are you even doing in three months? (0:11:25) Al: Three months is nothing. (0:11:28) Al: That’s wild. (0:11:32) Al: That’s wild that they’re suggesting that. (0:11:34) Al: Three months. (0:11:36) Codey: Ambitious. (0:11:36) Al: And it mark my words, right? (0:11:38) Al: Somebody clip this, mark my words. (0:11:40) Al: In a year, it’ll still be in early access. (0:11:42) Codey: Wow. (0:11:43) Al: There’s no way, there’s no way it is going to be not in early access in the next year. (0:11:50) Codey: okay okay not very trusting of something you put your money to right (0:11:56) Al: Well, look, I’m not saying they won’t release a good game. (0:12:00) Al: I’m just saying, if they’re releasing Early Access on the 22nd of March, (0:12:02) Al: that is not coming to one out of Early Access in three months. (0:12:06) Al: It’s just not happening. (0:12:08) Al: Of life and land, they have announced that their Early Access release will be on the 2nd of April. (0:12:18) Al: Woo! (0:12:18) Codey: I hadn’t looked at this, I don’t think, before, so I am very intrigued after I watched the trailer and I kind of looked at it. (0:12:30) Codey: It’s giving like Age of Empires, but Zoo Tycoon at the same time. (0:12:40) Codey: And I love both of those games, so I am curious. (0:12:45) Codey: So we’ll see. (0:12:46) Codey: I didn’t back it or anything, though, and I, again, like… (0:12:48) Codey: I think I also am a little sketched out by early access nowadays, so I probably also want… (0:12:54) Codey: But, like, when it hits 1.0 in a million years, according to you, um… (0:12:54) Al: Well, can I just point out they’re being a lot more realistic. They’re saying it will take a few years. So they are much more, and they’re not even saying like a year or two years, they’re saying a few years. Like that is the absolute right way to do not tell us when it will be out of early access. You don’t, you just don’t know. I think if you know when you’re going to give us a non early access, you probably shouldn’t have done early access. (0:13:10) Codey: Yeah. (0:13:14) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:13:24) Codey: true (0:13:26) Codey: So, yeah, I I will keep my eye on that game slash (0:13:33) Codey: Listen to the podcast and and keep your ear my eye on it (0:13:39) Codey: Listen to when you say (0:13:48) Al: - Yes, this was the one that was called Circle of– (0:13:52) Codey: Well, I still didn’t know what that was, so… (0:13:56) Al: Yeah, I’m just, I’m just saying, I’m just saying. (0:14:01) Al: I don’t think, I don’t think this was, was a Kickstarter. (0:14:08) Codey: think so it’s just (0:14:14) Al: not running out to buy it, but yeah. I want to see it succeed. I like its graphics. I don’t like management games, it’s not my thing, so maybe we need to get Kevin on this one. (0:14:32) Codey: - And Kevin. (0:14:35) Al: Critter Crops is launching, I believe not in Early Access, so they’re just launching 1.0 (0:14:42) Al: on the. (0:14:44) Al: The 15th of April what is with this that’s that’s less than a month we’ve got these three games releasing so it’s gonna be busy. (0:14:54) Codey: yeah this this one I meh I think that the the art style was really cute but um not not hooked (0:15:06) Codey: so listeners tell us how it is when it’s out (0:15:07) Al: you don’t you don’t want to grow magical critters (0:15:16) Codey: Especially like this like April 15th that time is like when I’m gonna be starting my field season. So (0:15:24) Codey: Your girls not gonna have the time (0:15:26) Al: This feels like it might be a fun game to play in October. (0:15:30) Codey: This is like a cozy like cuddle up when it starts getting too cold outside game and then by then they’ll have (0:15:38) Al: if there are any come on a tiny sticker tail is now out on ios and android uh so if you were wanting to play that game but you didn’t want to play it on pc or mac or a switch or steam deck now you can do it on your phone or your tablet (0:16:02) Codey: it does look very cute like using stickers to design landscapes but also like collect little critters and stuff it showed someone like putting a fishing pole sticker on a spot where there was like a black like space like a you know like in games when you’re fishing and there’s like a shadow they put like a fishing pole sticker on it and then when they clipped it (0:16:32) Codey: clicked it again. It was a fish. It was very cute. Um but yeah, not not my bag. (0:16:42) Al: Next we have a bunch of updates for games. So first of all we have Paleo Pines. They have released the (0:16:48) Al: 1.3 update which includes chocolate eggs and new dinosaur colors. They’re like gray scale. (0:16:59) Codey: well so I think what they’re doing is they’re currently grayscale like so that you can’t see it because it’s like supposed to be a mystery but like in the thing it has fake it has like letters (0:17:03) Al: Oh I understand. Yes. (0:17:15) Codey: almost like a hangman style thing and I legit cannot think of like I’m like looking at all of these colors and I’m like what what (0:17:15) Al: it’s like uh yeah that’s what I was thinking like hangman yeah (0:17:29) Codey: like what color has two s’s in the middle of it (0:17:32) Al: So apparently the Stegosaurus is sunflower? (0:17:38) Codey: okay how do you know this (0:17:42) Al: comments the t-rex is tyrant that doesn’t fit these are people saying in the comments but I presume they’re saying they found them so I’m presuming in-game (0:17:46) Codey: look at you having a brain (0:17:51) Codey: like tyrant colors are these confirmed or are these people’s (0:18:01) Codey: Tyrant does fit. (0:18:09) Al: Yeah, but there’s only two spaces after the R. (0:18:12) Al: Oh, no, I’m looking at the wrong one. (0:18:13) Al: T, Y, R, even T. (0:18:14) Codey: Oh yeah yeah. The other T-Rex. (0:18:15) Al: Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. (0:18:21) Codey: Is the one with two S’s Nissan? Because I really want it to be Nissan. (0:18:26) Al: I don’t know. (0:18:31) Al: The comments are mixed, shall we say. (0:18:44) Al: So if you want some other coloured dinosaurs, they’re not black and white, apparently, I misunderstood that, and you want chocolate eggs, go update your paleopines now. (0:18:55) Codey: it says that there’s only five chocolate eggs and they basically like max out or make a (0:19:02) Codey: I almost said pokemon make a dinosaur your friends like really easily um so yeah yep (0:19:09) Al: Instantly befriend. Instant befriending. (0:19:15) Codey: I mean anyone that gives me chocolate is instantly my friend too let’s be real so (0:19:21) Al: Travellers Rest have a fishing update. I just feel that I haven’t written with it. (0:19:27) Al: Yes it is out now. So this adds a new fishing system. It’s not just the first fishing system because Travellers Rest keep adding things in that were like I don’t how did you not have (0:19:39) Al: this already but no they did have a fishing system before this is just a new one and also new recipes new decorations a new area and new characters (0:19:40) Codey: they’ve just updated it okay (0:19:53) Codey: yep so the new area was the beach and there are new characters associated with the beach (0:20:01) Codey: eyes again not a game i’m playing or likely to play but I did really like one of the decorations that looked like um it’s like a painting that has a teal border on it um I think it’s part of the decorations are like the beach set decorations looks very good (0:20:17) Al: Yeah, you know, I think I’m starting to think that farming games are not a great early access candidate because like, I mean, if, you know, if I’d played Stardew the first time and you just couldn’t go to the beach, that’d be weird. I’m not sure I’d continue playing. (0:20:34) Codey: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. (0:20:41) Codey: Yeah, well, and then like also you have at least a little bit of understanding of what the mechanics are. (0:20:47) Codey: And so like if you, for example, don’t really like the mechanics, but it’s like say that you later would have played the game and you didn’t like the mechanics, but you really liked the exploration, then you don’t really have that in that early access. (0:21:00) Codey: So it kind of like… (0:21:04) Codey: limits that, I don’t know. (0:21:08) Codey: I do think, I think early farming games are weird to have in early access for sure, because like hitting like a time wall or hitting a, like not having all of the features is just. (0:21:23) Al: or even just story suddenly stopping. (0:21:28) Codey: Hint, hint, perhaps, talk about it later. (0:21:29) Al: Which we may talk about later. (0:21:34) Codey: That was also a little weird, so, but yeah, cool that they’re still. (0:21:40) Al: yes, yes, yes, yes. One Lonely Outpost. Oh boy, do we love a post like this? So they’ve apologized for the silence. They believe in their game and then I’ve put in brackets, (0:21:58) Al: your mileage may vary. Whether you believe in the game or not is up to you. You’ve quoted Did you want you want to or should I? (0:22:00) Codey: Oh, I was wondering what that meant. (0:22:09) Codey: Yeah (0:22:10) Al: I quote this and you can just say what your response was because I think you’re, I think maybe that works best. (0:22:15) Codey: Okay, go for it (0:22:16) Al: So, Corey has quoted some of the article and it’s, “We know many of you have concerns about the amount of content currently in-game and how long it is taken to get where we are today. (0:22:28) Al: It has been a long and bumpy road, but we wholeheartedly believe in the path ahead and are excited to begin sharing upcoming content now that we have handled the majority of bugs and made some highly requested, (0:22:42) Codey: - Okay. (0:22:47) Al: - Yeah, it feels like a weird, like, at this point, right? (0:22:53) Al: Like, if you’re being silent for months and then you’re coming back, (0:22:59) Al: I think that you need to give people something. (0:23:01) Al: And yeah, sure, you’ve got quality of life improvements, (0:23:03) Al: but like, there’s five different updates in this, (0:23:07) Al: but like, it’s added run toggle with left shift or L3. (0:23:13) Codey: Or like you don’t freeze in this certain spot anymore or it’s… yeah. (0:23:13) Al: Like. Yeah, like. (0:23:17) Al: Nothing is particularly, it’s now possible to manually save your game. (0:23:22) Al: Like, nothing is like, wow, this makes this game so different and so exciting. (0:23:22) Codey: » [LAUGH] (0:23:28) Al: Like, I feel like if you’re gonna, if you’re gonna come back with something, (0:23:31) Al: you need to come back with something big. (0:23:33) Al: No, here’s five releases with a few quality of life fixes and a bunch of bug fixes. (0:23:39) Al: And I promise we have more stuff coming. (0:23:43) Codey: Well, and these a lot of these should have just been like small patches that like you there were five like they have (0:23:50) Codey: It’s like patch five six seven eight not and it’s just (0:23:54) Codey: So much in all of those patches and like why didn’t why didn’t each of these patches just have like a small post along with them (0:24:01) Codey: like why did you not (0:24:03) Codey: Like why I can’t I guess I don’t understand if they’re releasing these all now like they just hit like a mass (0:24:09) Codey: release the patches button (0:24:12) Codey: or. (laughs) (0:24:13) Al: No, they have been releasing them over time. I do think they’ve been posting them on Steam. (0:24:15) Codey: But they haven’t been commenting? (0:24:18) Codey: ‘Kay. (0:24:20) Al: So there is that. But yeah, it’s I mean, the last one was in January. The last update, (0:24:30) Al: which they don’t even talk about here. They don’t even talk about that update in this post. And that was nearly two months ago. Their communication really needs to improve. (0:24:43) Codey: And they said that it’s going to, they said that going forward, they’re going to be a lot more transparent and give updates more frequently. (0:24:49) Codey: And that’s great. (0:24:50) Al: Cool, I don’t believe them. (0:24:50) Codey: Do that, um, for people. (0:24:53) Al: I don’t, like, I don’t, if you say, (0:24:53) Codey: Yeah. (0:24:57) Al: if you say that our communication is going to improve, (0:25:00) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:25:01) Al: you need to communicate better in that post. (0:25:04) Codey: Yeah. (0:25:04) Al: They’re not even doing that. (0:25:07) Codey: Yeah, so I mean (0:25:08) Al: The game came into early access on the 28th of June last year. (0:25:13) Al: And as of now, every update has been basically just quality of life. (0:25:20) Al: They haven’t done any new content in, what is that, eight months? (0:25:26) Al: This is why I’m saying that, you know, games aren’t in early access for three months. (0:25:28) Codey: Games shouldn’t be in early access. (0:25:31) Al: and I’m. (0:25:31) Codey: Yeah. (0:25:36) Codey: We’ll believe, well, positively optimistic, (0:25:39) Codey: cautiously optimistic, perhaps. (0:25:42) Al: Okay, if you say so. I mean, this game has been had issues for quite a while, right? (0:25:46) Codey: Just respond, okay. (0:25:53) Al: Because the original development team were essentially pushed out by the publisher, and the publisher put in a new development team, and then they completely changed the art style, (0:26:05) Al: and then they released an early access in June. They basically haven’t updated anything other than some bug fixes and quality of life improvements in 8 months. (0:26:13) Al: They’re now saying that they are going to get better at communicating after months of saying nothing. (0:26:19) Al: They don’t communicate well in the post when they apologize about not communicating well. (0:26:24) Al: And the every single comment on the post is, “Where’s the switch release?” (0:26:32) Al: The switch release, I don’t think, is going to come, like, and if it does come, it’s going to be terrible. (0:26:38) Al: I think this is just the standard now, is terrible switch ports. (0:26:43) Al: You played you played Carl Island on switch, right? (0:26:46) Codey: Yeah, sorry. No, no, no, I’m playing it on game pass. Um, I will say apico good switch port (0:26:46) Al: How was that? (0:26:47) Al: No, you didn’t, right? Okay. (0:26:50) Al: Oh, yes. (0:26:54) Al: Yes. (0:26:56) Codey: Hashtag not all cottagecore games, but um (0:26:59) Codey: But yeah, I you know If you’re struggling to communicate effectively at this level and then you try and add a whole (0:27:06) Codey: Like I know from like el talking about that like porting apico to the consoles was pain in the butt (0:27:14) Codey: So if you’re already (0:27:16) Codey: struggling with basic stuff, like just being a bit more bit ambitious perhaps. (0:27:22) Al: Yeah, okay, Carl Island is… (0:27:28) Codey: Yeah, I’m playing it on game. (0:27:30) Al: Yeah, I don’t know. We’ll see what happens. I think I’m mostly disappointed because I was originally very excited about this game because I think it could be really cool. I do own it. I haven’t played it. I kick-started it. And I haven’t played it because I’m not enthused by it. And it’s in early access and they basically haven’t done anything. So I’m not really sure why I would be enthusiastic about that at all. (0:27:56) Codey: Would you say that you’re not mad? (0:27:59) Al: I would say I’m not mad, I’m just- (0:28:00) Al: Disappointed, yeah, I would I would definitely say that there’s something about the new art style. That’s just weird (0:28:08) Al: It’s like bad paper Mario, it’s like if paper Mario does (0:28:14) Codey: I especially after playing Coral Island, I just don’t think I like the like spritish. (0:28:25) Al: Yep. Fair. Fair. Yeah. I think, I suspect, I think, so pixel art, I think only really exists now for nostalgia, right? Like it’s a thing that people do because it reminds them of the past. I think that probably the only reason you still like Stardew is because of nostalgia, but not nostalgia for pixel art, nostalgia for Stardew specifically. Right? (0:28:30) Codey: Stardew being the exception, I guess. (0:28:47) Codey: Yes, 100%. (0:28:51) Codey: Correct. (0:28:54) Al: Stardew is not the best farming game. (0:28:56) Al: That doesn’t mean it’s bad, right? (0:28:59) Al: It is, absolutely. (0:29:01) Al: It doesn’t mean that Stardew’s bad, and I don’t think it should be drastically different from what it is, but it does mean that it is essentially nostalgia. (0:29:13) Al: And even when we get updates, and I’m absolutely going to play the 1.6 update, and I’m sure I’m going to love it, but a lot of that is because it’s Stardew. (0:29:21) Al: Like if I hadn’t played Stardew and I was coming to Stardew now. (0:29:25) Al: I wouldn’t be playing it. And that’s okay. That’s fine. Like we don’t have to always like the same things. It’s been eight years since Stardew came out. You can’t expect to like something forever. (0:29:38) Al: It’s just a lot of games eight years ago, well probably more like seven years ago when it came out in Switch, decided to make that but X and a lot of them are finding that it’s really hard. (0:30:01) Al: Why is it 100 minus 100 Celsius in this game? (0:30:07) Al: There’s a screenshot I’m looking at on Steam and the guys outside farming and (0:30:11) Codey: Okay, is this one the only outpost still? (0:30:14) Al: yeah, and it says minus 1000 degrees Celsius. (0:30:17) Codey: 1,000, okay. (0:30:18) Al: No, 100, sorry, sorry, 100, 100. (0:30:20) Al: Minus 1000 wouldn’t make any sense. (0:30:22) Al: That’s below absolute freezing. (0:30:23) Al: Minus 100 degrees Celsius. (0:30:24) Codey: isn’t isn’t uh one lonely outpost like on a planet yeah it’s very it’s very cold on (0:30:29) Al: It’s on Mars, yeah, but… (0:30:32) Al: Yeah, but I think it’s the point not that you’re… (0:30:36) Al: …terraforming it. (0:30:38) Al: And he’s out there without a spacesuit. (0:30:42) Al: Is he meant to be in a dome then? Is that the idea? (0:30:44) Codey: If I mean if he’s in a dome and it is still negative 100 Celsius (0:30:48) Al: Well, I’m presuming the -100 is on the… (0:30:51) Al: If you’re in a dome, it’s on the outside of it. (0:30:53) Al: But it doesn’t look like that. (0:30:53) Codey: Yeah (0:30:54) Al: And I’m just very confused as to why it’s saying -100 and he’s just outside. (0:30:58) Codey: I mean, maybe they’ll just wave it hand wave technology. He took the warm potion (0:31:06) Al: Why is it exactly minus 100 as well? That’s weird. Suspicious. Also, there’s running water. (0:31:14) Codey: at minus 100? Are you sure it’s water? Okay. (0:31:16) Al: Yeah. Yeah. He’s watering crops with it, so… (0:31:24) Al: Minus 100. That’s where, like, boiling water freezes immediately, right? (0:31:28) Codey: Yeah. (0:31:32) Al: You’re not watering crops in minus 100. I need to… (0:31:34) Codey: You also shouldn’t be alive in minus 100. (0:31:36) Al: Yeah, that too. Like, if he was in a suit, sure, but still, the watering wouldn’t make any sense. (0:31:41) Al: Right, let’s stop talking about this game. (0:31:42) Codey: Okay, moving on. (0:31:45) Al: Last thing, there’s a romance update coming, right? Because that’s all we need. (0:31:49) Codey: Okay. (0:31:49) Al: It’s absolutely definitely what we need in the space farming game, is romance. (0:31:54) Codey: Can you romance aliens? (0:31:57) Al: Stardew 1.6. We have the date. Stardew 1.6 is coming out on the 19th of March. (0:32:04) Codey: Wow, very close. (0:32:05) Al: That is… (0:32:06) Al: One week after this… Less than one week after this episode comes out. (0:32:12) Al: So I hope you’re all excited. (0:32:15) Al: Interestingly, Concerned David did a interview with Polygon, (0:32:23) Al: and he said, I quote, “There’s a lot more of the update than people think.” (0:32:30) Al: And so I’m very intrigued to this because he’s already told us a lot of things. (0:32:35) Al: So, what’s he been doing? (0:32:40) Codey: Well, so I have you read Brandon Sanderson books (0:32:40) Al: No. (0:32:44) Codey: Okay, there’s an author named Brandon Sanderson and like he went on vacation once for a little bit And when he got back from vacation, he was like, hey, that was very restful I wrote four more books and like I feel like that’s also how concerned ape is is like he’s he’s like You know, I needed to take a break from making games. And so I made these other games (0:33:05) Codey: And I feel like so him saying that I’m like yep (0:33:10) Codey: makes sense like not surprised at all you know people are probably gonna be really excited there’s probably more than what he’s saying or he’s just a content machine he’s just pumping it out I also was really shocked so I thought that he was like a secret of who he was like secret identity type of thing and so I saw the picture in the polygon article the picture of him like at the Manhattan Orchestra concert thing that they had first of all (0:33:28) Al: » [LAUGH] (0:33:36) Al: The concert. Yeah. (0:33:40) Codey: if I had known he was physically gonna go I would have gone second of all not not what I expected a handsome dude yeah I don’t know I was just I was like oh he’s making an appearance and then very very shocked so but man are you excited Are you did have you blocked out like a week? (0:34:09) Codey: week. (0:34:11) Al: A week. Um, some time. Blocked out some time for playing this game and definitely haven’t put a completely unrealistic timeline on myself. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, totally. Totally. It’s all going to be fine. Um, it’s all going to be fine. Sarcasm or just like fear? (0:34:20) Codey: okay (0:34:26) Codey: the sarcasm um (0:34:31) Codey: oh hopefully not fear yike please don’t (0:34:32) Al: Not sure. We’ll see. We’ll see. Love, love to stress myself. Um, too late. Too late! (0:34:40) Al: Bye! (0:34:42) Al: Cool. (0:34:46) Al: Yeah, I really don’t know what to think because like he’s already said that there’s a new major festival, two mini festivals, newly gained content which expands on each of the skill areas, (0:34:57) Al: a whole bunch of new items and crafting recipes, Georgia alternatives to some of the end game quests, a hundred plus lines of dialogue, winter outfits for the visitors, new type of reward for for completing billboard requests, support for 8-player multiplayer. (0:35:11) Al: A new farm type, a new secrets, and he’s still saying that we have no clue how much there is like, “Dude, yeah, I’m really intrigued.” (0:35:18) Codey: Like there’s, but wait, there’s more like overwhelmed. (0:35:25) Al: It was funny, I was thinking the other day, I was thinking I’m going to start a new save for this update because he says that there’s stuff all through the game that he’s added when I really want to kind of experience that stuff as it comes, rather than just getting dumped into all an endgame. (0:35:39) Al: in the end game. (0:35:41) Al: And I was like, oh, maybe I should start the save now, just like get it ready. (0:35:45) Al: And then I was like, no, I need to know what this new farm is before I decide what I’m doing, right? (0:35:47) Codey: Gotta do the new farm, yeah. (0:35:49) Al: Like, not necessarily do the new farm, right? (0:35:51) Al: Because if it was something like the beach one where you can’t use sprinklers, right? (0:35:55) Al: I’m not doing that. (0:35:58) Codey: what if what if it’s a blimp a sky farm I don’t know I have no idea I just like thought of that in my brain and I was like that’d be really funny so if it comes out and it’s a blimp I’m just really smart my subconscious was very excited yeah (0:35:58) Al: But we’ll see. (0:36:03) Al: In the sky, what is this, what is this room factory? (0:36:16) Al: Well, we’ll see. We will see. Yeah, I do. Your point about, like, taking a break from making games to make games is very funny because, yeah, 100% what happened was he had an idea for a new game, so he started working on that. And then as he was doing that, his brain went, (0:36:36) Al: “What about all these other things you could do to your other game?” And so he paused and went into them. (0:36:38) Codey: Yeah. Yeah. Some of these people are so freaking creative and like I bow to them because the ability to just churn out things and things that are enjoyable, like it’s just magical and I am incapable, incapable of doing that. Um, the creation of (0:36:58) Al: Well, I mean, that’s the thing, like you look at Stardew and it’s like everything he adds is good. (0:37:07) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:37:07) Al: You’re just like, I don’t, you know, we’ll see eventually, eventually. (0:37:12) Codey: He can’t miss I mean he probably could miss like there’s probably something that he could do but I (0:37:20) Codey: Feel like he’s gonna you know He’s gonna let it die the hero versus having the game live long enough to see itself become the villain (0:37:29) Codey: I think we’ll be fine (0:37:36) Codey: I will listen to the podcast. I cannot get sucked back into that game. (0:37:41) Codey: I have a field season to plan. (0:37:46) Codey: I know. I’m gonna hear- I’m gonna listen to the podcast and just be like, “Dang it!” (0:37:52) Al: Next, we have Sugar Dew Island. This game, we talked about it a couple of weeks ago. (0:37:59) Codey: and how the name is stupid. (0:37:59) Al: The name is stupid. We don’t need to talk about the name again. I don’t even… Well, (0:38:03) Al: okay. No, we do need to talk about the game again, the name again, because for some reason they address this in the Kickstarter. So, okay. Point of the news… That was words. (0:38:15) Al: Point of the news is that the Kickstarter’s live and it has hit the base goal. (0:38:22) Al: So, the game’s being made. Apparently, it’s coming out in August this year. So, whatever. (0:38:30) Codey: 1.0? (0:38:34) Al: Good question. We’ll find out. It doesn’t say. Well, no, it does actually, because it says, yeah, there’s an early access tier and they say, we expect that you’ll be able to play two to six weeks earlier, which by the way, what a weird time. Two to six weeks. (0:38:52) Al: Like, what? That’s not early access. That’s just paid. (0:38:52) Codey: Yeah. (0:38:56) Codey: Well, so I guess that’s the actual word of early access. (0:39:01) Codey: Instead of it being early access being a trial period, (0:39:05) Codey: it’s more of that you paid for it, (0:39:07) Codey: so you’re getting access to the game earlier than other humans. (0:39:12) Al: OK, right, if I have to put my money on it just now, Early Access is coming out this year, main game is not coming out this year. We’ll see. I mean, it’s not real money, right? (0:39:20) Codey: - You’re putting your money down on a lot of things this episode. (0:39:25) Al: Like I’m not actually betting anything. Yeah, so the name, the name, the name, the name. (0:39:28) Codey: Okay. (0:39:32) Al: They said, I need to quote this because this is just stupid. OK. You know what? You know No, it’s right. Right. Okay. Wait, no, right. (0:39:32) Codey: The name. (0:39:42) Al: Hmm. You know that it’s stupid when they have to have a part of their Kickstarter addressing the name. Right. They say the name sugar dew island and then they have a little picture of your currency in the game and say an arrow that points to it and said this is sugar dew. Okay, great. Fantastic. (0:39:53) Codey: okay (0:40:06) Al: Thank you. As our in-game currency is called Zukertal in German. (0:40:12) Al: Zukertal translates to sugar dew in English and is a central aspect of our game. Yep. That’s how currencies work. It was crucial for us to include it in the game’s name. Given the island setting sugar dew island was a natural choice. Wow. Congratulations. Your imagination knows no bounds. (0:40:37) Al: You have a currency and you’re on an island. Well done. (0:40:42) Codey: just like my favorite my favorite game uh money valley and gold island (0:40:43) Al: It’s just, while we’re aware of similarities to other titles, although it wasn’t intentional, (0:40:58) Al: after much deliberation, we unanimously agreed that sugar dew island best encapsulates the game. (0:40:58) Codey: i’m sure (0:41:04) Codey: What I hear from that is we don’t have an imagination and we don’t want to come up with anything else. (0:41:10) Al: And then they’re like, “We also asked the community in a big survey, and the majority thought the name ‘Sugar-Jew Island’ was more fitting than ‘Sugar-Drop Island’.” (0:41:20) Al: And I’m like, “Oh, okay, like those aren’t the only two possibilities, though. It’s not like it has to be one or the other. Wha- what are you doing? I don’t- like you could have just literally called it like. (0:41:30) Codey: - German, German currency island. (0:41:36) Codey: - Yeah, that’s funny. (0:41:40) Al: The other thing that really amused me about this Kickstarter is in their platforms, they say, “We’re currently planning to release the game on PC slash Steam.” (0:41:42) Codey: - Yeah. (0:41:51) Codey: - Yep. (0:42:06) Al: I don’t know why that’s a slash, but whatever. (0:42:22) Al: They’re, they’re gonna, and they haven’t put up their stretch goals, but it sounds like what they’re saying is a stretch goal will be boating to the switch too. (0:42:32) Al: Don’t do that. Console doesn’t exist yet. Don’t do that. You have no idea what this console is. (0:42:37) Codey: Yeah. (0:42:40) Codey: Don’t even mention it. (0:42:40) Al: You cannot guarantee, you cannot guarantee that you will be on this console when you don’t even know what it is. (0:42:48) Codey: Well, and also doesn’t it depend on like if they actually want it to be on like you have to like, I’m pretty sure you can’t just like throw money at Nintendo and be like, let me put my game on your console like okay. (0:42:59) Al: No, no. But, I mean, basically Nintendo lets anyone on now, right? Like, unless there’s something very specific that they don’t like, they basically like anybody, you know? Like, (0:43:07) Al: which I think is the better way to do things than what they had been doing previously, (0:43:10) Al: which was it was really difficult to get on the 3DS. But yeah, like, you just literally have no idea. You have no idea what this console is going to be. You have no idea if it would even make sense. You don’t know that there ever is going to be another console for certain. (0:43:27) Codey: I was going to say, have they announced another console I was like, did I miss a big okay. (0:43:27) Al: Do not, do not promise. (0:43:30) Al: Do you want this to be on this console? (0:43:33) Al: No. (0:43:36) Al: No, they have not. (0:43:38) Al: No, you did not. (0:43:42) Al: Also, there’s a very big chance, (0:43:44) Al: there’s a very big chance that when the Switch 2 does come out, that it will. (0:43:47) Codey: Is it called the switch too? (0:43:48) Al: No, we don’t know that, of course, we don’t know that. (0:43:49) Codey: Okay. (0:43:50) Codey: Okay. (0:43:50) Al: I’m just that’s just what people are referring to as just now. (0:43:51) Codey: Okay. (0:43:56) Al: I wonder, do you think they called the Wii U, (0:43:59) Al: because somebody said the Wii 2 and they misheard it. (0:44:02) Codey: It’s going to be the switch do. (0:44:08) Codey: Oh, and then they have to be on it. (0:44:09) Al: I switched you switched you island And… (0:44:14) Codey: Switch do island. (0:44:17) Codey: Just double down that it’s going to be on the new switch thing and that they’re going to call it the switch do. (0:44:22) Al: Oh, like at this point just ask an AI for a name, you’d be like it’s a bad name. Right, (0:44:28) Al: whatever. Sugardew Island somehow is getting a lot of traction from people and I really don’t understand why. Yeah, but it doesn’t look like it’s doing… Okay, right. Full disclosure, (0:44:28) Codey: probably will. It, I mean it, it looks cute. It’s not, it’s not… (0:44:40) Al: I have backed this game, of course I’ve backed this game, right? Like you don’t need to get into this. If it weren’t for this podcast, I wouldn’t be backing this game because nothing about this This is exciting! (0:44:50) Codey: that you know. What if it’s on the switch do? (0:44:53) Al: » I just like, I mean, it looks cute. (0:44:58) Al: I will agree with that, but everything else looks pretty standard. (0:45:02) Al: The only different thing is, oh, you can run a shop. (0:45:05) Al: And that has never been done with. (0:45:08) Codey: I liked running the shop in Garden Paws, which is a game that Bev and I covered, but I mean it was just fun because you just throw stuff up in the shop and then there’s a never-ending line of the little characters that come up and just buy all your stuff and then you have to keep putting new stuff out and accepting all their money and stuff. (0:45:15) Al: Yeah, I didn’t try that one, so I guess it could be good in that, but I highly doubt it. (0:45:38) Codey: But like, and it’s really cute, but I wouldn’t say it was like the best. (0:45:46) Al: See, my problem with running a shop is, generally, you’re either very limited in how much you can sell, or you have to haggle and you have to figure out the right way to get enough money, which is just annoying, or it takes time out of your day, which is just without adding any fun gameplay, like, sure, it’s adding some gameplay, but that doesn’t mean that it’s fun gameplay. (0:46:16) Al: Maneko’s Night Market was fine, but only in so much as like that was a thing that happened as part of the week, like it was a process where okay now is when you go to the night market and there were lots of things that happened there and also you went and sold - you chose the things to take with you and you sold them and they did the haggling in such a way that you can make a loo- (0:46:46) Al: lot of money very quickly. (0:46:48) Al: I think that’s what it needs to be. (0:46:50) Al: Not just like, “Oh, you can make 10% more if you know the right thing to do.” (0:46:54) Al: No, it needs to be you can make five times as much if you know what you’re doing. (0:46:57) Codey: Yeah (0:46:58) Al: Like it needs to be worth it. (0:47:01) Codey: Yeah What if it so I could I could foresee like a game that? (0:47:06) Codey: You run a shop with friends. So you have someone that like is the storefront manager and (0:47:14) Codey: Organizes everything and then you have someone who like supplies the store. So you (0:47:22) Codey: Dude I want the shop owner. I would love that. Okay, cool (0:47:27) Codey: » When we get shop owner Villa game, the game. (0:47:36) Al: already a better name than Sugardew, I nearly call this Sugardew Valley, that’s part of the problem, right? (0:47:41) Codey: I will be the, yeah. (0:47:46) Al: Okay, fine. I feel like I’m finishing everything recently with let’s stop talking about this game. (0:47:54) Codey: Let’s just move on before my hope in humanity goes any further. (0:47:57) Al: Yeah, if you if you are interested in this game, go back it. If you’re not, then that’s fine. We’re not going to talk about until there’s something new about it. I’m not going to keep you up to date. (0:48:04) Codey: backed it. You backed on. (0:48:05) Al: I’m not going to keep you up to date on. (0:48:06) Al: Kickstarter every moment of every day. (0:48:10) Al: I did, yes, because I’m giving the people what they want. (0:48:13) Al: Because apparently what the people want is my pain. (0:48:17) Al: Well, I mean, look forward to next week’s episode, if that’s what you want. (0:48:21) Codey: Oh no. (0:48:24) Al: Pixel Shire. Pixel Shire have announced that they’re coming to PS5 and Switch. (0:48:24) Codey: Unfortunate. (0:48:30) Al: So that’s cool. It sounds like they didn’t. (0:48:34) Al: Well, I mean, why, what is good about this is the… (0:48:36) Al: I’m pretty sure the game’s done or almost done, and they wanted to get it all together and all ready before they actually said they were going to do it. (0:48:47) Al: I don’t think they’d ever said anywhere that they were going to be in these two consoles until now. (0:48:52) Al: So it sounds like they’ve done everything the right way. (0:48:54) Al: And it looks like, at least on my shop front, everything’s listed in pounds. (0:48:59) Al: So I don’t know exactly how this is working, but at least here it says the game is set to launch in summer 2024. (0:49:06) Al: Sounds to me like it’s all coming together at the same time, they’re going for, you know, cross platform simultaneous release. (0:49:14) Al: This team says 2024, I suspect in a month or so, a month or two months or something, we’ll get some idea. (0:49:24) Al: We, I mean, we mentioned at the end of last year that they’d said they weren’t going to do early access and just release 1.0 in 2024, so. (0:49:34) Al: Yeah, we’ll see what happens. (0:49:36) Al: But, I mean, I think they’re doing the right thing if they’ve got it all ready and they’re going to release it all at once and they haven’t told us until they know they can definitely do it. (0:49:46) Al: Which is good. (0:49:47) Al: So. (0:49:48) Al: There we go. (0:49:50) Al: Blah, blah, blah. (0:49:53) Al: Forager. (0:49:54) Al: My word. (0:49:55) Al: Never thought I’d be talking about forager again. (0:49:58) Al: So a little bit of history with forager. (0:50:00) Al: Forager came out in 2019, I think the first version was? (0:50:05) Al: Mm-hmm. (0:50:07) Al: I’m going to tell you, yeah, April 2019, the first version of Forager. (0:50:10) Al: Fantastic. (0:50:11) Al: They released three updates to the game with significant content. (0:50:17) Al: And then they were working on a multiplayer (0:50:20) Al: version and a multiplayer update, which in. (0:50:26) Al: Three years ago, 2021, they canceled the multiplayer update. (0:50:32) Al: Then there was a little bit of (0:50:34) Al: I mean, they said they said (0:50:36) Al: around, you know, kind of people who had previously been on the team, not being happy with the main guy and some nothing like significant, nothing like, you know, abuse or anything like that, just more kind of, you know, not being a great person and maybe being offered things that were not great and leaving the team and et cetera, et cetera. And then we got a post nearly two years ago. (0:50:49) Codey: - Right. (0:50:53) Codey: Just grottled, yeah. (0:51:06) Al: That said, don’t worry, Forager is not abandoned, we’ll hopefully have some news for you this year. (0:51:17) Al: So that was 2022. (0:51:18) Al: May of 2022, that was the last day. (0:51:21) Al: And then yesterday as we’re recording, so Wednesday the 6th of March, 2024, we suddenly get a post from Hopfrog the Creator saying, “I hope everyone likes adventure.” (0:51:36) Al: And a screenshot of something with the Forager guy in it. (0:51:42) Al: And another comment that said, “You guys have no idea how much stuff I have to announce.” (0:51:48) Al: So there’s nothing much to say at this point because they haven’t announced anything, except the fact that they have stuff to announce. (0:51:54) Codey: okay but but we were ghosted for two years (0:52:01) Al: They were ghosted for two years, and now suddenly he’s back. (0:52:05) Codey: I don’t know if i’m ready to be heard again I didn’t play this game though you played this game right you enjoyed it yeah (0:52:06) Al: I did, I really liked Forager, I really liked it. (0:52:16) Al: I’m not really sure like the Forager guy is big enough to hold up a franchise, which is what it looks like. (0:52:23) Al: This screenshot that I will post in the show notes if I remember, this isn’t the Forager game, right? (0:52:32) Al: That’s not how the game looks. (0:52:35) Al: So I don’t know what this is. (0:52:36) Al: It’s not forager forager is like a top-down isometric game this is a side on platformer maybe I don’t know what we’re looking at here (0:52:48) Codey: It’s giving platformer rides. (0:52:51) Al: so I don’t know what we’re looking at whether it’s I mean it could I guess be forager it like it could be a specific mode in forager it could be a forager - (0:53:03) Al: It could be something else, I don’t know. (0:53:08) Al: But it’s not what Forager was anyway, but that is the Forager guy. (0:53:16) Al: So yeah, I don’t know. We’ll see. (0:53:21) Codey: Mean as the forage or fan of the pod w
Let's dive into the world of Palia where we'll be discussing what the game is, early receptions and community activity, and my thoughts on the game both at the outset and its current state! Get cozy and let's sit around the hearth together! ‧₊˚ Sites mentioned: • Polygon article: https://www.polygon.com/23833110/palia-cash-shop-microtransactions-cost-outfits-cosmetics • What's with the community being so toxic? https://www.reddit.com/r/Palia/comments/15syezs/whats_with_the_community_being_so_toxic/ ‧₊˚ shoot me an email at gamershearthpodcast@gmail.com ‧₊˚ follow me across all of my social media platforms! • tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@laelindria • twitter - https://twitter.com/laelindria• podcast twitter - https://twitter.com/thegamershearth • instagram - https://www.instagram.com/laelindria/ ‧₊˚ join our cozy and welcoming discord community! - https://discord.gg/Ux9c5dh84V ‧₊˚ support me directly via tips and subscriptions and get a member-only bonus episode each month on ko-fi! - https://ko-fi.com/laelindria ‧₊˚ come hang out on twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/laelindria
We've been promising to come back to this game for months and we finally did it! Palia has had a load of updates since we first covered it and we want to share how the game is shaping up. From the biggest temple to a brand new villager, we cover the highlights of a game that is truly carving a path for quality cozy MMOs. Support the show
Al and Jonnie talk about Turnip Boy Robs a Bank Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:30: What Have We Been Up To 00:06:52: News 00:29:43: Turnip Boy Robs A Bank 01:01:06: Outro Links Botany Manor Release Date Moonstone Island Valentine’s Update Ikonei Island Festival Update Slime Rancher 2 Gadgets My Way Update Potion Permit on iOS and Android Wylde Flowers Beans Plushie Wylde Flowers on Apple Vision Pro Disney Dreamlight Valley Update 9 Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator Story Trailer Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Al: Hello farmers, and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. My name is Al, (0:00:36) Jonnie: And my name is Johnny. (0:00:37) Al: and we’re here today to talk about Gottagecore Games. (0:00:43) Al: Before we get going, just a reminder that transcripts for this podcast are available in the show notes and on the website. Today, we, me and Johnny, are going to talk about Turnip Boy robs a bank, because apparently I didn’t write it in the show notes. (0:01:00) Al: We’re going to talk about Turnip Boy robs a bank, the sequel to Turnip Boy commits tax evasion, (0:01:09) Al: and we’re not going to talk about it now, we’re going to talk about it later. (0:01:15) Al: Before that, just because we could easily fall into a discussion about it right now if we’re not careful. (0:01:20) Jonnie: Yeah, I was already head like in the line of things. (0:01:22) Jonnie: I was like, oh, I should not say this right now. (0:01:26) Al: But before that, we’ve got a bunch of news. (0:01:30) Al: But first of all, Johnny, what have you been up to? (0:01:34) Jonnie: What have I been up to? There is a game called Skull and Bones and apparently it has been in development since 2013 and it is apparently about to come out, but this weekend it is doing a public demo I guess is what it is where anyone can try the game for free, it will be over by the time you’re listening to this, although the game will be like a day or two from coming out. (0:02:02) Jonnie: And look I’m a bit of a slut for pirates like I love pirate games even though they’re just like (0:02:09) Jonnie: Piracy is so hard to do well in games (0:02:14) Jonnie: And I think in many respects Skull and Bones is kind of a (0:02:17) Jonnie: Testament to that like there are things that I really like about the game (0:02:21) Jonnie: But it’s gonna be a pretty hard game to recommend like people (0:02:26) Jonnie: Spend I think it’s assume is gonna be like a $70 game and I’d be very hard to recommend that anyone spend (0:02:33) Jonnie: dollars on a game. (0:02:34) Jonnie: Like this, unless you are super super into pirates. (0:02:37) Al: I’m not, so. I mean, pirates are fine, but I’ve never been like, “Oh yeah, I love pirates.” (0:02:43) Al: I’ve enjoyed some pirate-based media, but there’s a difference between, “Oh yeah, I like that,” (0:02:49) Al: and like, “Oh no, I must consume the pirate-based media.” You know, there’s a big difference there. (0:02:56) Jonnie: Honestly, I think the biggest problem with pirate-based stuff is ship-to-ship combat is really hard to do and to make fun and engaging. (0:03:06) Al: Yeah. (0:03:06) Jonnie: And everyone probably has a slightly different view on what it should be. (0:03:12) Al: Hmm. (0:03:12) Jonnie: And, you know, do they want it to be really fun? (0:03:12) Al: The fun bit, I think, there is key. (0:03:16) Al: It’s probably, you can probably make up a pretty accurate one, but it’s not going to be fun. (0:03:20) Jonnie: Correct, yeah. In many respects I think Skull & Bones has gone down how do we try and make it fun? (0:03:28) Jonnie: And I’m sure a lot of people will find the version fun. For me it’s a little bit too like, (0:03:32) Jonnie: you and your pirate ship mow down hundreds of other pirate ships which feels like… (0:03:39) Jonnie: That’s not what I guess I want from a pirate ship experience. I want to engage in one ship in a sort of long drawn out battle rather than mow down a hundred ships. (0:03:48) Al: Yeah, and I guess the difficulty is like, what are you focusing on? Because when you’ve got a ship, do you focus on the traversal? Do you focus on the combat? Do you try and do both and do both of them badly? There’s a lot to think of there. (0:04:10) Jonnie: Yeah, and I guess for me, the Skull and Bones, you have a character, but realistically in this one, (0:04:16) Jonnie: your character is the ship, right? You are controlling the ship, and that is the majority of the gameplay. And I think that’s one of the things that I’m learning about what I like in games over the sort of past few months is a strong narrative element, and in many respects, (0:04:32) Jonnie: I think that means I need a character that I feel tied to. Because I think my take on Skull and and bones is like I will have fun with it. (0:04:40) Jonnie: But I after this demo will likely have got what I needed to get out of it, which I had the same experience with (0:04:46) Jonnie: PowerWorld It’s like I experienced the thing and it was cool, but without that strong (0:04:53) Jonnie: narrative driven element or hook that I could find I bounce off it pretty quickly (0:04:58) Al: Yeah, yeah, that’s fair. (0:05:01) Jonnie: Yeah, but that’s what I’ve been playing. Al, what have you been up to? (0:05:04) Al: I was racking my brain because I’m like, (0:05:05) Al: have I played anything other than Turnip Boy? (0:05:07) Al: And I don’t think I have. (0:05:10) Al: This week has been quite, (0:05:11) Al: ‘cause I’m going to America next week. (0:05:13) Al: Like, as you listen to this, (0:05:14) Al: I will probably be on my way to America unless you’re listening to it straight away as it comes out. (0:05:20) Al: So yeah, I’ve not really been playing that much. (0:05:24) Jonnie: Are you feeling ready for your America trip? (0:05:26) Al: Are we ever, are we ever truly ready? (0:05:28) Jonnie: Well, if anyone is gonna like be a person that is ready for a trip, it’s probably gonna be (0:05:28) Al: Well, ‘cause the problem is that somebody who like, (0:05:36) Al: am I ready? Probably. (0:05:37) Al: But does that mean I feel ready? (0:05:39) Al: Like, those are two different things. (0:05:40) Al: And like, have I done enough to mean that logically, (0:05:43) Al: I know I will be fine? Yes. (0:05:45) Al: Does that mean that I, in my heart, (0:05:49) Al: feel that I’m going to be fine? (0:05:50) Al: No, of course not. (0:05:52) Al: I am convinced that I’m going to die in a fiery plane crash, right? (0:05:55) Al: So it’s just (0:05:58) Al: I think that the people who feel ready for the trip aren’t ready. (0:06:04) Jonnie: That’s fair, that’s fair. (0:06:05) Jonnie: And you’re going to America to play Pokemon Go, right? (0:06:08) Al: I am going to America to meet with friends, and I will also be playing Pokemon Go when I’m there. (0:06:15) Al: Yeah, my next recording I will be back having been to America, and that will be interesting. (0:06:22) Al: My first transatlantic flight, my first flight longer than two and a half hours, so we’ll see. (0:06:29) Al: Yeah, I honestly don’t think I’ve played anything else. (0:06:30) Al: I played some Just Dance, I guess. (0:06:32) Al: I’ve been doing that. (0:06:32) Jonnie: At home, or are you going to arcades and playing like just dance in an arcade? What are you? (0:06:35) Al: Thank you. (0:06:38) Al: Do they do have Just Dance in arcades? (0:06:41) Jonnie: I’m sure they do right? It’s gotta be. Oh, maybe I think of DDR (0:06:46) Al: Yeah, they had, obviously they had dance mats, but like I don’t think they have just dance in an arcade. (0:06:52) Al: Uh, cool. (0:06:53) Al: Should we talk about some news? (0:06:54) Jonnie: Let’s do it. (0:06:57) Al: Before I fall asleep. (0:06:58) Al: So our first piece of news is Botany Manor. (0:07:01) Al: They have announced that their release date is the 9th of April. (0:07:06) Al: So I don’t think this was out in early access at all. (0:07:08) Al: So this will be its like proper first release date, but it is a, a non-early access release. (0:07:15) Al: Rare. (0:07:16) Al: Rare these days. (0:07:19) Jonnie: It’s kind of novel, which I like. (0:07:22) Al: Ironically, you stick out now by not doing early access, (0:07:26) Al: whereas previously you would stick out by doing early access. (0:07:30) Al: No interest in this game, Johnny? (0:07:32) Jonnie: Not really. It’s hard, right? Because I want to be excited about all Cottagecore games. Because, (0:07:40) Jonnie: you know, you and I remember the time when it was Stardew, and Harvest Moon, and Rune Factory, (0:07:47) Jonnie: and that was it. And so we would be excited about anything new. And now we are in the opposite time, (0:07:54) Jonnie: where there is such an abundance of games that there has to be, I guess there’s specific things (0:08:02) Jonnie: and often I don’t know that I’m looking for it until I see it. And, you know, for me, Botany Manor, (0:08:10) Jonnie: yeah, this is not it. Botany Manor, kind of, just the visual style is not there for me. And it just, (0:08:20) Jonnie: I don’t know, it kind of falls into the natural. I’m trying to not be overly negative about a game I have not played. It’s just not kind of rising through everything else to be like, (0:08:32) Jonnie: that I feel like I’m putting on my list of games I need to do. (0:08:36) Al: I think it’s interesting because you mentioned the the art style. It’s very simple graphics except the plants which I get what they’re doing there because like the focus is the plants but it also feels a little bit weird that the plants are so detailed when everything else is quite simple textures. (0:08:54) Jonnie: Yeah, I think what you just said kind of triggered the thought for me that it feels almost like a game that a student would submit for an assignment sort of thing. (0:09:06) Jonnie: I’m sure there’s way more work that’s gone into this, and building games is very hard, but it’s kind of missing some of that polish that makes it look and feel like a finished product, which in theory it is. (0:09:23) Al: Yeah, I can see how somebody would like this, but yeah, I’m not, I don’t care about the detail of plants quite, I think, so that’s where it falls down for me. It’s like, it’s really focused on the plants, which would be good if you really care about the plants, (0:09:37) Al: but I don’t. Next, we have Moonstone Island, have a content update and a DLC. Let’s talk about the DLC first, because the DLC is very small. All of Moonstone Island’s DLCs are basically cosmetics, so it’s the Valentine’s DLC. (0:09:53) Al: You can get a heart rug, a heart house skin for your, a heart house skin for your house, (0:09:58) Al: that’s a very bad sentence, a heart box of chocolates, a heart archway brackets or heart way, and a heart lamp as well as a love seat. And that is three dollars ninety nine with a twenty percent launch discount. I will not be buying that DLC because I don’t care (0:10:23) Al: about those cosmetics. Yeah, they fit on really nicely with the game in general, and they are hearts, and they are detailed hearts. The heart house is not just a heart shaped house, it’s a heart shaped house with a heart shaped windows and a heart shaped hole on the, not the heart shaped door, that would be silly, and a bow on it as well with a little yellow heart as well. (0:10:25) Jonnie: But if you do care about that style of cosmetic, they are good-looking versions of those. (0:10:53) Al: It’s very heart-shaped, it is what it says on the tin. (0:10:59) Al: But it’s also coming along with the content update, the Valentine’s update, which is, (0:11:05) Al: you may well have guessed, it’s bringing marriage to the game. (0:11:13) Al: So it’s not bringing relationships, relationships already exist in the game, but they were quite limited in what you could do with them. (0:11:20) Al: There was no marriage in that. (0:11:23) Al: Even marriage, the marriage in this game, seems interesting. (0:11:33) Al: There was a thing, I need to double check in the trailer, because there was a thing that seemed like, so they move into your house, and then there was something about somebody sleeping on a couch, but I can’t remember what it was. (0:11:48) Jonnie: seeing this. (0:11:48) Al: Yeah, we’re missing a bunch of the details until it comes. (0:11:53) Al: I don’t think I can see myself spending much time (0:12:05) Jonnie: Yeah, that seems fair that it like it’s so one of my things is this game already has so much going on (0:12:12) Jonnie: Being that you know cosy creature collection, you know (0:12:18) Jonnie: just it feels like (0:12:20) Jonnie: marriage is just another another thing in a game that already has a lot of things (0:12:27) Al: The good the good thing is also comes with other things. So there’s five new spirits, (0:12:31) Al: including one that looks like a toaster with some bread in it and one that’s a robot dog (0:12:37) Al: and one that is a weird fish snake and I have a toxic thing. I don’t know what that is and a kiwi. (0:12:46) Jonnie: Yeah, we all love Kiwis (0:12:49) Al: There’s also a new taming system, but I have not seen any details about that. (0:12:56) Al: So… (0:12:57) Al: I don’t know what to think about that. (0:13:00) Al: And some more stuff, which is probably too detailed. (0:13:02) Jonnie: The Kiwi looks very stressed. (0:13:04) Al: This Kiwi does look very stressed, which is fair enough. Kiwi watch so it’s electric and… (0:13:16) Al: I feel like that’s an extra syllable than it should have been “key what”. (0:13:21) Jonnie: But yeah, that sounds much better. (0:13:21) Al: Hi, I’m Eamon Store Island, I have opinions on your names. (0:13:28) Jonnie: The toaster one’s very cute as well. (0:13:32) Al: Iconii Island have a new update as well, which is out now, the Lunar Union Festival update. (0:13:38) Al: It’s adding a new festival to the game. (0:13:42) Al: We probably don’t need to go into too much details, we’ve not even covered the game on the podcast yet. (0:13:45) Al: So. (0:13:46) Al: Yet that makes it sound like I’m going to. I don’t know whether we will or not. (0:13:49) Al: “Come celebrate the Lunar Union Festival, whether it’s and collect exclusive items. (0:13:53) Al: A lunar spirit will appear in the Hamlet. During the Lunar Union event, it will give a quest that will reward you with ribbits and beautiful rewards.” Reading these things when you’ve not played a game (0:14:04) Jonnie: Yeah. And I don’t really recall much about a Coney Island, like from covering previous stuff on the podcast, but it looks like a cool game. (0:14:14) Jonnie: And I guess more generally, like I’m pretty anti a lot of festivals in games because I think they’re kind of just boring and played out. (0:14:21) Jonnie: But one thing that I really like from like the last sort of, I don’t know, five to ten years is I feel like games have done a good job of amplifying festivals from other cultures. (0:14:30) Jonnie: and that’s been really cool to see and I think that like so these are the (0:14:34) Jonnie: sorts of festivals that I like because they often have much wider interpretations of what they are as opposed to like a Christmas Winter Festival which is kind of just like we’re gonna do something with snow and and presents and that’s that’s it so this looks cool and I’m excited and and happy year of the dragon (0:14:57) Al: Yes, slime Rancher 2 also have a new update out now and this is the gadgets my way update it includes a new gadget system (0:15:07) Al: So if you if you’ve played the game and you know how the gadgets used to work, it’s changed (0:15:13) Jonnie: So, I feel like every time you and I are on a show, there’s some sort of Slime Rancher update, and neither of us care about Slime Rancher, and I really, like, I thought this time, like, I’m really gonna try and care, and I was just like, mmm, like, Slime Rancher people, god bless, you do you, I’m sure you love it, or hate it, or whatever, it’s coming. (0:15:13) Al: There you go I I I I just… (0:15:34) Al: I feel like I need to play the game sometime but not yet maybe when maybe when Slime Rancher 2 is out of early access (0:15:44) Jonnie: Yeah. (0:15:48) Al: potion pyramid is coming to iOS and Android oh no it’s out now it is now on it’s not coming to it has come to it came (0:15:52) Jonnie: This… (0:15:56) Jonnie: Yes. (0:15:58) Jonnie: It did. (0:16:00) Jonnie: And I… (0:16:02) Jonnie: I’m curious. (0:16:04) Jonnie: No, I’m curious, right? (0:16:04) Al: still don’t care oh interesting (0:16:06) Jonnie: I like the idea of what Potion Permit was trying to do. (0:16:10) Jonnie: I was going back through, trying to find the… (0:16:12) Jonnie: I need to go back and find the episode that was done on Potion Permit. (0:16:16) Jonnie: I have the same reservation, you know, (0:16:18) Jonnie: like I think I did. (0:16:20) Jonnie: I have the same reservation, you know, like I– (0:16:22) Jonnie: I had full-star true Valley going on mobile, like how easy is it to play? (0:16:26) Jonnie: But this game has the right visual style for a mobile game, so I am curious. (0:16:35) Jonnie: I’m kind of in a phase where I don’t really mobile game much outside of Marvel Snap, so I don’t know that I’ll stick with it, but I’m at least curious. (0:16:40) Al: It is five dollars translate into five US dollars translate into your local currency. (0:16:51) Jonnie: I feel like that’s a good price point for a, you know, a sizable mobile game. (0:16:54) Al: It’s surprisingly yeah it’s pretty cheap. I’m surprised it’s that cheap because if it’s the full game ported to mobile that’s that seems suspiciously good. (0:17:10) Al: Too many tabs. Wildflowers. Two exciting things. One of which you can actually do anything with. (0:17:21) Al: The other one you probably can’t. So there’s a… they’ve even released what the plushie is. (0:17:28) Al: So it’s a beans plushie. That’s the flying pig. Both Kevin and Cody predicted that. They were both correct. (0:17:35) Al: It is up on make ship just now and it is almost finished. (0:17:40) Al: 50% funded with 16 days to go. So go do that if you want it. (0:17:54) Jonnie: Nah, I feel like if I’m buying a plush, I’m getting a Junimo plush. (0:17:59) Jonnie: Yeah. (0:18:02) Jonnie: And also everything about wildflowers just creeps me out. (0:18:05) Jonnie: I talked about this last week, but I don’t like their visual style at all. It’s so creepy. (0:18:06) Al: Well, I tell you what, we’ll definitely not make you like it more, which is the Apple Vision Pro version of the game. (0:18:19) Al: So this isn’t just the game in a screen. (0:18:24) Al: It is, but it isn’t. (0:18:26) Al: In so much as when you first look at it, it looks like it’s just the game with a weird border around it. (0:18:32) Al: menus and farming and other things like that pop. (0:18:36) Al: So when you’re in a menu, it will pop out to like one of the sides of the screen as a separate window. (0:18:46) Al: So it doesn’t like cover up your gameplay, which is an interesting way of doing things. (0:18:51) Al: And the farming pops up like in front of it, like down below, like an actual 3D farming plot that you can just like go on and grab things and move them and like. (0:19:04) Al: It’s really in, I think… (0:19:06) Al: I really like what they’re doing here. (0:19:09) Al: I think this is an interesting way of… (0:19:12) Al: They’re not just going, “Oh, let’s just put the game on,” right? (0:19:16) Al: They’re actually going, “What can we actually do with the new features of this that makes this different?” (0:19:21) Al: And I really like that. (0:19:23) Al: But… (0:19:25) Al: I suspect Apple gave them a lot of money to do this because there’s… (0:19:31) Al: Is anybody going to buy this and play this? (0:19:33) Al: because you have to have the headset (0:19:36) Al: which you can only buy in the U.S. just now and costs three and a half grand and you have to like the game and be willing to put in the time and effort. (0:19:47) Jonnie: Yeah, I agree. But I think it’s super cool that it’s happening, right? And for me, it’s one of those like, wow, prodigical games are really sort of like in the mainstream, given that this is, (0:20:00) Jonnie: you know, one of the first games realistically to sort of cross into that boundary. And I think some of the things that it looks like they’re doing in the that Apple Vision Pro space, they they make sense and they show the potential for what could be once a day. (0:20:17) Jonnie: We get out of the weird expensive prototype phase of this tech. (0:20:22) Al: Yeah, yeah, I mean this is this is I if I had an Apple Vision Pro I would be I would be playing this game on that right like I would absolutely be doing it to see (0:20:32) Al: At least to see what it’s like and if if not more than that like if I enjoy it doing more than that (0:20:38) Al: But yeah, like I can’t for two reasons (0:20:45) Al: Because of where I live and because of how expensive it is (0:20:50) Al: So yeah, it’s (0:20:53) Al: Yeah, I like what they’re doing. I like that they’re pushing different ideas. I think this is a good example of how (0:21:02) Al: VR gaming doesn’t have to be first person right first of all like I don’t I (0:21:09) Al: Don’t I don’t like most VR gaming because I don’t want to be (0:21:15) Al: First person I don’t want to do that. I don’t like that. I always feel claustrophobic going (0:21:20) Jonnie: Yeah, I get motion sick, so I just can’t do VR at all, and so this sort of gaming is like, (0:21:29) Jonnie: ah, so this is how I could game in an AR-style environment that would work, and it makes sense. (0:21:37) Jonnie: And I think the other important thing is this is a less of a step for game development to take than (0:21:45) Jonnie: into fully realized VR. I think it’s… well, I think… (0:21:51) Jonnie: In general, people underestimate how difficult game development is, and I imagine VR game development is another step on top of that, whereas this feels like a more reasonable step to take. (0:22:02) Al: for sure. For sure. Yeah. I think it’s very clever of Apple to have done this, right? (0:22:10) Al: Because wildflowers have their agreement with Apple, like, “Oh, we pay you money. You’re now on Apple Arcade, and they’ve obviously then gone on top of that. We’ll pay you more money. You will do this.” And I’m guessing they worked together because, like, I think got to have these ideas and… (0:22:32) Al: And then do them. (0:22:34) Al: And I think these ideas are really interesting. (0:22:38) Al: And I’d like that both Apple and Wildflowers were willing to do this and put in the effort and the time, even though this is not going to make its money back at all. (0:22:49) Jonnie: Yeah. One of the things I started thinking about, like looking at how this implementation went, (0:22:54) Jonnie: was games like Palia, and you know, where time continues moving in Palia, even when you are menuing, because it’s a MMO game, right? And the ability in this sort of environment to menu while still being able to fully see the world that, you know, or the screen or however you want it, you you know, that your character is in. (0:23:19) Jonnie: To me it makes a ton of sense, like you can, you’ve got that more seamless transition rather than looking at something different so (0:23:27) Jonnie: I don’t know, like just some cool, like it’s just cool to see this level of innovation and for it to be happening in the cottage core space (0:23:37) Al: I also think the farming is a really interesting thing because in my opinion, most of the things I don’t like in farming games is the farming. And that’s not because the farming isn’t fun, (0:23:48) Al: it’s because of the way that you interact with it. It’s like, oh, you walk a step, you press a button, you walk a step, you press a button. And that’s why I like to automate it as quickly as possible because I don’t enjoy that part of the gameplay. But being able to go like, oh, I am in this environment, here is my plots, and I can just go with my water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water water (0:24:07) Al: or what like it’s that feels much more enjoyable to me because you’re like actively doing the thing rather than like push that button push that button push that you know it feels much more fun to me. (0:24:23) Al: Uh an equally big update is Disney Dreamlight Valley. Update number nine is coming soon (0:24:33) Al: And in that, you’ll be able to change your name. (0:24:37) Al: So, let me explain why I am personally excited about this. And this is because of a bug in the game. (0:24:38) Jonnie: It has shocked me how excited people have been for changing your name. (0:24:43) Jonnie: Like… (0:24:50) Al: So, if you start Disney Dreamlight Valley in Game Pass. Game Pass streaming, I think, (0:24:58) Al: specifically, you think you have to be doing the X-play or whatever it is, right? They’re streaming (0:25:04) Al: the game so you’re not downloading it and playing it which is how I play the game initially because I had game pass and I was doing it on my steam deck and the only way you can do that is with X cloud that’s what it’s called X cloud. If you if that’s how you start Disney Dreamlight Valley you cannot set your name it’s a bug in the game I presume it’s fixed by this point but when I started it wasn’t so your your player is called player. So the entire time that I’ve been playing Disney Dreamlight Valley across multiple different platforms now for What is it, a year and a half? (0:25:35) Al: Is it a year and a half? (0:25:37) Al: I don’t care about changing names, once I’ve set my name, I’m fine. (0:25:52) Jonnie: I feel like I didn’t know about that bug, and I don’t think it impacted me, so now this makes way more sense. (0:26:02) Al: But I never set my name, that’s the problem. (0:26:04) Al: I was called player. (0:26:07) Al: Anyway, I’m excited to have my name in the game. (0:26:16) Al: And our final piece of news is for the fantastically named Garden Life, a Cozy Simulator, which we have talked about before. (0:26:24) Al: I don’t really want to get into it too much, but they’ve released a trailer for their story. (0:26:29) Al: Johnny, do you want to complain about the name? (0:26:32) Al: You can complain about the name if you want. (0:26:33) Jonnie: No, I complained about the name on a previous episode, yeah. (0:26:37) Al: Right, fair enough. (0:26:37) Jonnie: Yeah, I did watch the trailer, and there’s some cool stuff. (0:26:46) Jonnie: Or like, so the trailer talks about the fact that it’s a community garden, (0:26:50) Jonnie: and the person that used to look after it passed away early. (0:26:54) Jonnie: Idea of community garden looked after by one person, you know, kind of doesn’t make sense. (0:26:58) Al: Well, you say it doesn’t make sense, I think that’s very likely what happens most of the time. (0:26:59) Jonnie: But you are the… yeah. (0:27:01) Jonnie: Yeah. (0:27:06) Jonnie: I mean, you’re probably right. (0:27:08) Jonnie: And you’re the new person to look after it. (0:27:11) Jonnie: I just, again, coming back to sort of the visual style, (0:27:14) Jonnie: I don’t like it. (0:27:16) Jonnie: This feels like a– (0:27:18) Jonnie: We talked before about VR games. (0:27:19) Jonnie: This game looks like a VR game to me, and… (0:27:22) Jonnie: Yeah. (0:27:22) Al: It does, doesn’t it? It does. It’s the first person. I don’t want to play first-person games. Like, I just, I don’t find it fun. (0:27:30) Jonnie: It makes sense in certain genres and certain gameplay styles, and I do not think this is one. (0:27:38) Al: But this is this is why I don’t play those games because I just don’t I just feel claustrophobic when I’m when I’m it’s a weird feeling but I want to be and normally most games I want to be my camera to be further away than it actually is I will always put the camera out to the furthest point because I want to be able to see as much as possible. (0:28:00) Al: So I was very happy when Pokemon Scarlet and Violet added the third camera zoom option that was great I loved that. (0:28:08) Al: I agree I don’t think I mean the the name aside which is just stupid on multiple levels I yeah it doesn’t look like a game I would want to play it feels like it feels a lot like Botany Manor talking about them so close together they feel like the same game it’s almost like two people had the same idea and instead of working together they both did their own take on it. (0:28:23) Jonnie: It does, yes. (0:28:34) Jonnie: Yeah, I think that’s uh, I think that’s very fair. (0:28:38) Al: And both coming out within two months of each other no I don’t think so not this close (0:28:44) Jonnie: Yeah, that’s like, that’s ages apart now, in, in… (0:28:48) Jonnie: Well, there’s still a chance one of them gets delayed, right? (0:28:52) Jonnie: No? (0:28:56) Jonnie: Right, well, I don’t think we’ll be covering either of these games, so we’ll see. (0:29:02) Al: Unless somebody suddenly gets really excited about them, we’ll see. (0:29:06) Jonnie: Well, if it does happen, I bet that my money’s on Kev, that it hits. (0:29:13) Al: I was gonna say Cody. (0:29:14) Jonnie: » Oh, yeah, that’s fair. (0:29:16) Jonnie: So Kevin Cody covering “Garden Life,” “Acoustic Simulator,” (0:29:19) Jonnie: and– [LAUGHS] (0:29:20) Al: They need to play both of them and compare them on the same podcast. So that’s the news. (0:29:25) Jonnie: Oh, yes, yes, there we go. (0:29:30) Jonnie: » Whoo. (0:29:32) Al: I can’t even remember when the wooing started. Why do we woo so much? I’m not a woo person. (0:29:37) Jonnie: » Because it gets over the awkwardness of not knowing how to do good transitions. (0:29:43) Al: Thank you. We’re going to talk about Turnip Boy Rob’s a bank. So just before. (0:29:50) Al: Before we get into it, I want to start out with a couple of things. So first of all, (0:29:55) Al: this is a sequel to Turnip Boy commits tax evasion officially. The first game was not cottage core. We covered it because you grow a plant at the beginning and then there’s no more farming and it is definitely not cottage core. But that’s why we covered it. Whatever. (0:30:17) Al: We can get past that. (0:30:18) Al: This game is even less. (0:30:20) Al: Less Cottagecore, and so I’m just going to put that out there. (0:30:24) Al: If you don’t want to listen to a game that is not Cottagecore at all, then feel free. (0:30:30) Al: We’re covering this because it’s a sequel to a game that both me and Johnny liked, and we were both going to play it anyway because we wanted to, and we’re covering it. (0:30:45) Al: So it turns out this game’s a rogue light. (0:30:50) Al: Johnny, I’m not crazy, right? (0:30:54) Al: That seemed to come out of left field, right? (0:30:56) Jonnie: it definitely did. So here’s the thing. You and I both really like Turnip Boy Commits Tax evasion. (0:31:06) Jonnie: Very clearly the weakest part of that game was the combat. (0:31:06) Al: Loved it. Fantastic game. (0:31:14) Jonnie: And in many respects they took the worst part of their game and said “Let’s make that the game.” (0:31:23) Al: Yes. Yeah, I think… Yes, you are correct. That is what they did. So listeners wonder why I do not generally like roguelites. (0:31:24) Jonnie: Which was a choice. (0:31:44) Al: Um, Johnny, I liked this game. So I was… (0:31:48) Jonnie: Ow! (0:31:53) Al: fully, fully expecting, right? I didn’t play this game until like two days ago, and I was fully expecting not to like it, right? I was like, I’m going to just play this for like two hours, and I’m going to hate it, and I’m going to be really disappointed, and I’m going to put it away. And I was mostly like that until I defeated the first boss. And then I realized that this game does things to solve the problems that I have with roguelites. (0:32:23) Al: And the reason why roguelites is that even though you like build up resources and you build up more skills and blah, blah, blah, every time you run through, it’s a clean slate, (0:32:33) Al: and you have to start from the beginning. In this game, once you defeat one of the bosses, (0:32:40) Al: they’re defeated. You don’t have to defeat them again, technically until the end. I’ll get to that. (0:32:48) Al: And that one thing for me made me like this game. (0:32:53) Al: If you had to defeat every boss in every run, I would have absolutely hated it, (0:32:59) Al: and I never would have got close to finishing it. I have been very close to finishing this game. (0:33:06) Al: I’ve been like one mistake away from finishing it six times now. The same mistake. It’s really frustrating. The last bit really frustrating. Basically, when you get to a point where you’ve you’ve defeated all the bosses and then you have to do one run where you defeat (0:33:23) Al: four bosses in one go. That wasn’t too hard. What was hard then is there’s like a special fifth thing at the end where like you’re having to run around doing certain things while being chased by another boss and that boss is so powerful that he can like kill you in like two hits. So that’s the frustrating thing. But I agree that the combat is not great in this game, but there’s still something about it that I’m finding very (0:33:53) Al: fun and I finding it difficult to explain. (0:33:58) Jonnie: you’re probably finding it difficult because I feel like you’re just on some crazy tools. (0:34:05) Jonnie: To be fair, I think your point about not having to beat the bosses again is a good one. I was kind of surprised, but it makes sense given the boss fights are significantly bigger than (0:34:23) Jonnie: the other aspects of the game, and ambiguous kind of the wrong word, but on a run in this game. (0:34:28) Jonnie: You’ve got a timer, and that time is only a couple of minutes. When you’re in a boss fight, (0:34:33) Jonnie: that timer pauses, but that boss fight itself takes like a couple of minutes to get through. (0:34:39) Jonnie: They are not fast fights relative to the length of your run, and not having to do those every single run I think was a really good choice, because that became one of the blockers for me with Hades. I really like Hades. I’m not very good at roguelite combat. (0:34:58) Jonnie: That being said, the combat in this game is so bad. The movement is terrible, (0:35:24) Jonnie: The range of the weapons is confusing. (0:35:28) Jonnie: Particularly the melee ones, where the range is significantly bigger than they look on the screen. (0:35:34) Jonnie: And so you’re consistently getting hit by these melee weapons when the enemy is not even close to you. (0:35:41) Jonnie: I just struggle to understand how anyone can like the combat in this game. (0:35:45) Jonnie: And that’s all this game is, is just the combat. (0:35:50) Al: So at some point you unlock a chainsaw and that makes every. (0:35:55) Jonnie: Right, I did not get to the chainsaw, so for reference, I beat the first boss, and I fought the second boss once, and I was like, “That cannot be bolted with this game anymore.” (0:36:06) Jonnie: That was as far as I got. (0:36:09) Al: That’s fair. I totally get it. And I totally get why you’re not a huge fan of it. But there’s something about it that just kept me going. I’m so frustrated that I didn’t manage to finish the game because literally like I’ve played, I’ve done that last level three times today and I’ve gotten so close to finishing it each time. And it’s so frustrating. But I know it’s going to be great when I do finish it. I think… (0:36:40) Jonnie: So, how do you feel about the humour in this game? Because obviously the humour was a huge part of Turnip Boy commits tax evasion. (0:36:49) Al: Yeah, I think in some ways, in some places, I think it has made me feel the same way as the first game did, but some of it has felt a little bit flat and I’m not quite sure why. (0:37:07) Al: Like it’s just it’s simple things like I there’s a point where where you come across a specific thing from a previous game, right? And it’s like, it’s one of these things that you tore up. (0:37:20) Al: Which is like, one of the main things in the last game is you’re tearing up random things. (0:37:24) Al: And some things it’s like, oh yeah, because you’re tearing up this tax letter and you’re tearing up this, you’re tearing up that. And there’s some random pointless thing that’s like, why did you tear that up? You know, it’s just stupid, it’s pointless, but it’s funny. And you come across one of the things that you tore up in the previous game, but the funny, it just, it then says, oh, (0:37:42) Al: but it’s laminated. And then the next thing is, they’re learning. It’s just that one comment. (0:37:49) Al: Like is funnier than most games, right? But then a lot of, especially the early game humor feels a little bit weird to me. And I’m not sure why it didn’t hit in the same way. (0:38:02) Jonnie: I have the same feeling, right? Like the game definitely still has those moments where it is (0:38:08) Jonnie: very funny. I think a big part of the reason it doesn’t hit is because it’s now (0:38:14) Jonnie: expected, right? And the construct of Rob’s a bank, right? Like if you’ve played (0:38:22) Jonnie: commits tax evasion, you have a good sense of the developers’ feelings on capitalism in general, (0:38:29) Jonnie: and a lot of it’s expected so so you now you come across (0:38:32) Jonnie: things and you kind of get where a lot of it is is going where I think and part of it is that the first one had that sort of joy of discovery of what’s the next documents that I’m going to find and rip up and some of them are very funny because not that they’re fully unexpected but they go in different directions right which I think is is one of the the bits of charm of that game that’s kind of lost it and I think early on they try and do a job. (0:39:02) Jonnie: They do a lot of callbacks to some of the humor from the first game or to significant bits from the first game but it doesn’t land on it. I think one of the downsides is one of the first characters you come across is the the streamer and they kind of just run back the exposure bucks joke and it’s it’s you know it’s just like yeah it’s fine and like they delve into new things like there’s some jokes about NFTs and all of the fun stuff that’s that’s developed in the (0:39:32) Jonnie: you know con people out of money and they have jokes about it it just is like yeah those are the jokes that I now expect from them and I think this game would have benefited by potentially pushing into a different commentary on society because that’s definitely an element of the game and I just don’t think a lot of them work. (0:39:57) Jonnie: Oh yeah. (0:39:58) Al: That’s fair. I think the humor that… kind of. Right, let me… I’m having lots of thoughts. (0:40:06) Al: So I think that actually there’s two things of the funniest bits in this game. One of them is (0:40:14) Al: some of the callbacks are very funny. Some of them are not, but some of them are very funny. (0:40:19) Al: So I don’t think it’s just like, if you don’t do the callbacks, I think you’re missing something. (0:40:25) Al: I think that’s fun. I think they might- (0:40:28) Al: I don’t lean into it a bit too much. I think there are too many characters in the game that were in the previous one. Almost every single character is in the game again, except the one you kill. That’s not to say there aren’t new characters, there are new characters, (0:40:46) Al: but it seems weird to have- it feels contrived why everybody else is in the game. But I also think that some of the funniest bits. (0:40:50) Jonnie: Mmm. Yes. (0:40:58) Al: So they start out quite simple, right? We’re going to spoil basically everything in this game listeners, right? So jump out now. If you’ve not if you played the first game and you think you might like this, you can get over the roguelite stuff. Stop now, go play it. You can get it done in a day or two. It’s not a very long game. (0:41:07) Jonnie: Uh, only a little bit. (0:41:26) Al: and (0:41:28) Al: depending on how good you are at the combat. So the lifts start out quite simple. It’s like, oh, here’s a part of the bank and you have to go through and you like jump over the lasers and you destroy the laser box and then you go back and you blah, blah, blah. (0:41:43) Al: Right. But as you as you defeat bosses and you progress in the game, they become more and more ridiculous. There’s, have you come across the cult? There’s a cult in the bank. (0:41:58) Al: And you come to the bank and once you’ve once you’ve figured out how to enter the cult, (0:42:03) Al: you can then enter the cult and then the cult members give you different things for defeating a certain number of enemies. And the stuff in the cult is really funny. And just the concept of having this random room in the bank that happens to have a cult in it is very funny. And there’s another one which is like a portal. There’s a portal to hell in this bank. (0:42:27) Jonnie: No! See, that’s the thing, I feel like I’ve played a decent chunk of the game and I haven’t come across anything that absurdist, which is one of the misses, right? (0:42:28) Al: Did you know that? (0:42:30) Al: Did you know there’s a portal to hell? (0:42:31) Al: I… (0:42:38) Al: Yeah. So I think part of the problem is those are the lent into the rogue light stuff of that. (0:42:45) Al: Those are randomized. So as you unlock, the lift can do more and more things, (0:42:52) Al: and you’re not guaranteed to see any of them in any run. And I think that’s where it (0:42:58) Al: falls down for me. I think if these rooms all existed in fixed places in the bank that you could go to. I think that would be better. (0:43:08) Al: Because then, you know, this is… (0:43:09) Jonnie: yeah or if there was a small a small pool and you kind of like you can still have some element of randomness but not as not as (0:43:20) Al: Yeah, maybe, maybe. I mean, yeah, I think, I think making it, the advantage of having a fixed place is when you look on the map, you see there’s a bunch of rooms and you’re like, “Oh, I need to unlock that room at some point then, and there’s going to be something in that room.” The problem is that all of these, you don’t know when you’ve seen all these areas, because they’re randomized with the lifts. There’s like some random underwater one as well, I think. (0:43:41) Jonnie: Yeah, that’s fair. (0:43:50) Al: And like, yeah, whatever. That absurdist stuff, I think, is very funny still. And yeah, some of the callbacks have been very funny. Some of the callbacks have felt very contrived, and yeah, (0:44:06) Al: it’s an interesting mix of those things. I think the problem is that if it wasn’t funny at all, (0:44:13) Al: I would be like, “Oh, it’s one and done. We’re done with this.” But the problem is, I think, (0:44:18) Al: they can do more of that. (0:44:20) Al: the same humour and still surprise me. And that’s where I’m like, don’t lean too hard onto the same jokes. Do the more stuff because I know you can do it. And if it needs to be a smaller game, then make it a smaller game. I’m okay with that. If there are going to be fewer characters in each room, that’s fine. Like, because the second, the room you unlock after the first boss is where, like, most of the previous game’s characters are. (0:44:50) Al: They’re just there. Why? Because their previous place doesn’t work and it’s like, “OK, you destroyed their previous place by killing Turnip God. OK, fine, sure. That’s mildly amusing.” (0:45:02) Al: Why are they in the bank? That seems contrived to me. That’s not even absurdist humour. That’s just contrived just so you can get these characters there. (0:45:14) Jonnie: Yeah, I think that’s fair in life because they do explain the reason for it and even the reason is like that feels like contrite reasoning. (0:45:26) Al: So, yeah, I think I don’t think any of that would have saved it for you. (0:45:34) Jonnie: No, I don’t think so (0:45:35) Al: I think it would have made me have more fun with it. (0:45:41) Al: But overall, I still enjoyed it. (0:45:42) Al: Would I have enjoyed it more if it wasn’t a roguelite and it was more like the previous game? (0:45:47) Al: Probably. (0:45:50) Al: But they did manage to make a roguelite that I like, (0:45:53) Al: which is a very rare thing. (0:45:56) Jonnie: Yeah, I mean, that’s a… (0:46:00) Jonnie: Honestly, I’m shocked that you like it, because when I started it, it was a rogue life. (0:46:04) Jonnie: And I was like, “Oh, I was expecting just the same as the previous game, but with guns as weapons now.” (0:46:12) Jonnie: I was like, “Well, Al’s gonna hate this, so we’re just gonna come out here and rage about this game for 40 minutes.” (0:46:12) Al: I mean, I do have more complaints. I can bring up more complaints if you want. So there are more weapons in this game than you can actually get in your base, right? So the way it works is like you’ve got your base and you go out to the bank, you do a run, you come back and you’ve got upgrades and, you know, your usual roguelite loop. The problem is… (0:46:21) Jonnie: Oh. (0:46:42) Al: that when you go out into the bank, there are quite a wide variety of different weapons that the guys that are making new weapons back at your base, say, are rudimentary, which a lot of them are. But some of them are better in ways that I find frustrating. The chainsaw is an incredible weapon that you unlock later on. But there’s other ones… there’s very, very few… (0:47:12) Al: I think there’s only… there is only one melee weapon that you can actually get from your base, (0:47:17) Al: which is very frustrating to me because I much prefer melee to guns because I’m not very good at aiming. Yes, yes, it’s very difficult. So I would have liked to have had more melee weapons that you can unlock. Melee, melee, melee! (0:47:26) Jonnie: And aiming in this game is bloody annoying. (0:47:40) Jonnie: Well, hey. (0:47:42) Jonnie: Yeah. (0:47:42) Al: Melee, melee… anyway, whatever you know what I mean. I don’t want to hear about my pronunciation, (0:47:44) Jonnie: Uh… (0:47:46) Jonnie: Ah. (0:47:46) Jonnie: Bye. (0:47:47) Al: please don’t tell me about my pronunciation, thank you listeners. I would have liked more of that because I don’t know whether it’s just something I’ve missed, but there’s almost no (0:47:56) Al: melee weapons that you can unlock, which I found a bit frustrating. (0:48:02) Al: So that’s my big thing. There’s no way to like… when you find something in the bank, there’s no No way to get it, except just picking it up. (0:48:10) Al: And if you die with it, that’s it. (0:48:12) Al: You’ve lost it. (0:48:13) Al: It’d be nice if you could recreate those things, (0:48:16) Al: because some of them are really nice weapons. (0:48:18) Al: I really like them. (0:48:19) Al: And this probably leans into the like, (0:48:21) Al: oh, well, that’s how roguelites work. (0:48:22) Al: OK, sure, fine. (0:48:23) Al: But the bits I like about this game are the non-roguelite bits. (0:48:27) Al: I’ve literally just spent 20 minutes telling you why this game is good, because it doesn’t do roguelite things in the same way that other roguelites do. (0:48:37) Jonnie: Yeah, I just, yeah, I find this game immensely kind of frustrating, and I think that weapon piece is a good example, where it just kind of feels needlessly difficult, why not just let us unlock all of the weapons at some point, you know, that’s kind of one of those things that’s like, there’s nothing wrong with being able to use all of the weapons, so let us use all the weapons. (0:48:56) Al: Yeah, maybe not all. There is one you get at the last boss, which is just a ridiculous weapon. (0:49:11) Al: It’s like four times the size of you. It’s very fun to use. It’s very slow. It actually slows your character down a lot, which is quite interesting. But as lovely video game logic, (0:49:24) Al: it only slows you down when you’re holding it. (0:49:26) Al: If you switch the weapons and it’s in your bag, you can run as fast as you normally do, which I just love, but whatever. (0:49:31) Jonnie: Amazing. (0:49:32) Jonnie: But see, even that would stand out more if it was the only instance of that, right? (0:49:37) Al: Yes, yeah, I agree. I think I would keep that one, especially because you can’t– (0:49:42) Al: although you don’t need to defeat any boss after you’ve defeated them, you can if you want. (0:49:47) Al: So it would give you a reason to go and do that. (0:49:50) Al: I would say maybe the four boss weapons, the weapons that the bosses have, those four specifically, (0:49:56) Al: has a specific weapon, the last one being the most ridiculous. (0:49:59) Al: But I would understand why those four, if you want that weapon, you have to go defeat the boss in this run. (0:50:07) Al: It adds an interesting element to that. (0:50:10) Al: But the problem is that all the other weapons are very random, and it’s hard to know. (0:50:16) Al: One of them, for example, you get by going through one of the weird lifts into the portal from hell, (0:50:24) Al: hell and you get up. (0:50:26) Al: a scythe that you can if you kill somebody with the scythe you can harvest their soul and then those souls are the second currency with which you can use to buy things. (0:50:38) Al: And. (0:50:39) Jonnie: Okay, that sounds amazing. (0:50:41) Al: It is very fun. It is very fun. There’s actually second weapon in this way there as well. (0:50:47) Al: But it’s it’s a gun. It’s a it’s a record like a vinyl record gun. (0:50:54) Al: Mmm. (0:50:58) Al: Which is very funny, but also the way that it works is very different because it’s records and not bullets. (0:51:05) Al: They bounce off walls, which means you can, if it goes through somebody and then hits a wall and then comes back and hits them, (0:51:13) Al: so if they don’t die in the first one, they die in the second one. (0:51:17) Al: I think this is the thing, there’s lots of really fun and creative ideas in the weapons, even if they’re not the best combat system. (0:51:27) Al: But you were never going to see those because you don’t have the enthusiasm for the type of game and so you miss out on that fun, which is disappointing. (0:51:36) Jonnie: Yeah and some of it I think speaks to the onboarding right because like even like fundamentally the premise of the game being that you’re robbing a bank and there’s like a huge cutscene that follows on from you know turn a boy commits tax evasion and where that game ended but ultimately it’s kind of like the but why yeah like there isn’t really a compelling reason for why you are even robbing the bank which I find like it’s just one of the things frustrating I did have a question how do you feel about the timer? (0:52:07) Al: So I don’t hate the timer and that’s because it is not a hard timer. So the way the timer works is once the timer hits the police come, but you it makes it makes everything harder because there’s more enemies, but you can still do everything. So you can infinitely do a run as long as you’re not dying. And I actually really like that way of doing it. (0:52:37) Al: Where they’re trying to force you to be quick about things, but if you’re like ‘oh I can just grab that one last thing’ and it means that the timer is going to run out, you don’t die, you just have to fight your way out. I quite like that. For what they’re doing, (0:52:54) Al: for everything that they’re doing, I think it works thematically and mechanically well with what they wanted to do. Is that fair? (0:53:02) Jonnie: Yeah, I think that’s fair. And for me, it’s another aspect of like, I just don’t like feeling time pressure in games, something that I fundamentally do not enjoy. (0:53:12) Jonnie: And when the combat is bad, and I would prefer a slower approach to it, like, I get why they did it because they’re wanting to put that sort of heist style pressure on. (0:53:26) Jonnie: And it’s kind of one of those ways that they can do to force you to do multiple runs, right, without the timer. (0:53:32) Jonnie: I think the game would be significantly different, and not necessarily better. I just don’t want a timer. (0:53:42) Al: Yeah, that’s fair. That’s fair. Yeah. Yeah. And I agree with you generally. I don’t like timers in games, but I can’t explain why, but I really like this game. I’m going to finish the game. I’m going to do that. I don’t normally, I don’t often do that with games that we talk about. If I’ve not finished it by the time we podcast and it’s not like (0:5
Let's try this again with the correct audio this time (: Does cozy gaming have a toxic positivity problem? Or rather, a cozy toxicity problem? We're exploring that topic today by using specific games such as Palia and Disney Dreamlight Valley as case studies. Get cozy and let's sit around the hearth together! ‧₊˚ Sites mentioned: • Toxic Positivity: https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer/toxic-positivity •Polygon Article: https://www.polygon.com/23914457/palia-early-access-development-conflict-endgame •For such a cozy, casual game this sub is negative as hell: https://www.reddit.com/r/Palia/comments/15nvahw/for_such_a_casual_cozy_game_this_sub_is_negative/ •Cozy Toxicity and the Palia Gaming Community: https://www.reddit.com/r/Palia/comments/15pvr6n/cozy_toxicity_and_the_palia_gaming_community/ ‧₊˚ shoot me an email at gamershearthpodcast@gmail.com ‧₊˚ follow me across all of my social media platforms! • tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@laelindria • twitter - https://twitter.com/laelindria • podcast twitter - https://twitter.com/thegamershearth • instagram - https://www.instagram.com/laelindria/ ‧₊˚ join our cozy and welcoming discord community! - https://discord.gg/Ux9c5dh84V ‧₊˚ support me directly via tips and subscriptions and get a member-only bonus episode each month on ko-fi! - https://ko-fi.com/laelindria ‧₊˚ come hang out on twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/laelindria
Codey and Jonnie talk about Palia. Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:12: What Have We Been Up To 00:09:33: Groundhog Day 00:17:59: News 00:39:26: Palia 01:42:20: Outro Links Wylde Flowers Eury’s Salon Update Lightyear Frontier Early Access Ages of Cataria Delay Rusty’s Retirement Public Demp Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Codey: Hello farmers and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. My name is Cody (0:00:36) Jonnie: And, my name is Johnny. (0:00:37) Codey: And we are here today to talk about cottagecore games (0:00:45) Codey: As always transcripts are available in the show notes and on the website (0:00:49) Codey: And today’s podcast is about (0:00:52) Codey: Palia Which is a game that Johnny and I have both played and we actually played it together Wow [laughs] (0:00:59) Jonnie: So cool. (0:01:00) Codey: - Wow, MMOs. (0:01:05) Codey: So, we will be talking about Palia, (0:01:08) Codey: and as always, we have some news, (0:01:10) Codey: but a little lighter on the news this week, (0:01:12) Codey: which is pretty cool. (0:01:13) Codey: But first, Johnny, how are you? (0:01:15) Codey: What have you been up to? (0:01:16) Jonnie: I’m good. There is a game that I’ve been playing and I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. It’s called Palia. (0:01:23) Jonnie: No, it’s not called Palia. I have been playing that one, but I mean you talk about Pal World, (0:01:27) Jonnie: which they both start the same, so you know. (0:01:30) Codey: Oh, you’re on the PAL world train. (0:01:33) Jonnie: Well, I was on the Pal World train and I’m not off the Pal World train, like it’s a it’s a fine game. (0:01:40) Jonnie: I just kind of got what I wanted out of that game relatively quickly. (0:01:47) Jonnie: I hope there’s like zero interest in talking about the controversy around the game. (0:01:53) Jonnie: It is just a survival game with Pokemon who do things in the world and there’s more like, (0:01:59) Jonnie: I guess probably deeper combat as a result of there being Pokemon, which I liked Pokemon Legends Arceus, Arceus. I’ll edit out the one that’s right. I liked that game. (0:02:04) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:02:08) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:02:16) Jonnie: I think this game has a similar-ish gameplay loop. It’s not as fast and fluid as Arceus and (0:02:24) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:02:25) Jonnie: there’s a lot more of that survival base building aspect, which I don’t like survival games. (0:02:27) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:02:30) Jonnie: I kind of just find that base building stuff boring and pointless. So I did like a tower and I did some of the boss battles and I was like, oh okay, I kind of get what this game is, (0:02:35) Codey: Mm-hm. (0:02:42) Jonnie: but there’s not a compelling narrative that makes me feel like, oh I need (0:02:46) Jonnie: to go and do all of that. It’s kind of like, oh I did some of that and that feels like enough. (0:02:53) Jonnie: That’s I guess my mini summary of Palworld. I also think the gun side of things is just a little (0:03:05) Jonnie: 15 year old edgelord vibes. It comes off really cringe and a lot of things in the game kind of do (0:03:08) Codey: Yeah. (0:03:14) Jonnie: That’s where you’re like, killing the bad guys. (0:03:16) Jonnie: And… you can… like the way you release Pokemon is with a Meat Cleaver and then you can eat them and it’s just like, ugh, it’s just all a bit like, stop trying so hard. (0:03:17) Codey: Yeah. (0:03:24) Codey: Yeah. (0:03:28) Codey: Yeah, I, to me, it looked like Fortnite, Pokemon, Arceus, Breath of the Wild, I don’t know. (0:03:37) Codey: And I just, that’s not a compelling enough thing for me. (0:03:43) Codey: Um, so, I was not, I didn’t do it, but, um, yeah. (0:03:51) Codey: I mean that’s… (0:03:52) Jonnie: Yeah, I mean, it is more fun than Pokemon. (0:03:54) Jonnie: Um, you know. (0:03:55) Codey: Whoa! (0:03:56) Codey: Partake. (0:03:58) Jonnie: That is not a hot take. Pokemon has not been fun for a long time. (0:04:01) Codey: Oh no. (0:04:02) Codey: Oh no. (0:04:04) Jonnie: So, you know, how’s that going for it? (0:04:04) Codey: Um… (0:04:05) Codey: Um… (0:04:06) Jonnie: Um, but I think even there, right? (0:04:08) Jonnie: Like, I, even if I don’t enjoy a Pokemon game as much, I am more likely to play through it to the end because I’m so used to the loop and the, you know, beating the Elite Four. (0:04:20) Jonnie: I start the game knowing that beating the elite for- (0:04:22) Jonnie: is the objective, and there was no real hook like that for me in PowerWorld. (0:04:26) Jonnie: It was kind of like, cool, I experienced it. (0:04:28) Jonnie: I’ve been part of the hot topic of the day, and now I’m keen to move on to other things. (0:04:34) Codey: Mm-hmm, that’s fair. (0:04:40) Jonnie: But that’s really all I’ve been doing. What do you mean up to Cody? (0:04:45) Codey: Well, I just submitted a manuscript, so I’m very excited about that. (0:04:55) Codey: Any grad student listening is probably screaming like excitedly for me because it is a huge undertaking to publish a manuscript. (0:05:06) Codey: So it basically like took up a lot of my energy and time the last like month or so of trying like get it all organized and (0:05:15) Codey: getting it like sent to different people and then I’ll like think that something’s really good and then one of my co-authors will be like no like actually fix this and I’m like heck and so like that’s it’s just to finally just have it like be in the hands of the editors or reviewers or whomever is just like so great other than that I also just finally got ADHD medication (0:05:45) Codey: and for some reason my brain was like cool you can now hyper focus pretty effectively on things and shut your brain off why not build a fox shaped island in Minecraft so I’m building an island that is this in the shape of a fox a sleeping fox and I’m going to build a fox sanctuary on top of it and And also I’m. (0:06:15) Codey: Building it large enough that it shows up as a Sleeping Fox on the biggest size map. (0:06:24) Codey: Which ends up being. (0:06:24) Jonnie: I… I have a question. (0:06:26) Codey: Yeah, yeah, yeah. (0:06:27) Jonnie: Why? (0:06:30) Codey: Because my ADHD brain has decided that this is what brings me joy. (0:06:37) Codey: And it genuinely is so amazing. (0:06:44) Codey: I mean, it might also be. (0:06:45) Codey: It’s basically a testament to how much I hate writing, that my brain was like, “What could be more fun than this? Like, maybe this thing?” (0:06:57) Codey: So yeah, it’s basically, oh hello. I have a cat rubbing against my leg right now. Hello, little man. (0:07:03) Codey: It’s basically, I think we calculated it, it’s like probably 30,000 blocks, Minecraft blocks. (0:07:15) Codey: And we’re using orange terrac- so I’m not doing it alone. One of my best friends, Devin, shout out to Devin, I love you, you’re one of my best friends. (0:07:23) Codey: Anytime that either of us are going through anything in our lives, we’ll just like start up a Minecraft server. (0:07:31) Codey: And so, last few months have been pretty stressful, so we started our Minecraft server, and we’ve been doing these like fun little projects like this, and I just decided to do this. (0:07:39) Codey: And he was like, he had a moment where he was like, “Okay, okay, okay, we’re doing this.” (0:07:45) Codey: I guess, okay. And so he’s been mining terracotta for me and dying it white. (0:07:53) Codey: Luckily, like there’s this new biome that has orange terracotta that like naturally spawns, so he doesn’t have to make- to dye the orange ones. (0:08:00) Codey: So he can just like make it, and we can just farm it, and then I use it to build. (0:08:09) Codey: So yeah, I basically- he does that in the mornings, and then I log on in the evenings. (0:08:15) Codey: And construct. It has a snoot so far, and I’m building up the top of the head. (0:08:25) Codey: So listeners, if you’re interested in hearing the updates of Foxcraft, I’ll start posting about it in the Slack because it is- it’s gonna take probably a month to finish it. (0:08:37) Codey: Like we’re not even halfway done with the head. And I have- the head is like- the head is like the- (0:08:40) Jonnie: Great, I’m excited to get more updates on on Fox craft, but also the sound this sounds awfully a lot like a job (0:08:45) Codey: the smallest part. No, no, no, it’s fun. It’s fun. I like. This is a- this is a- oh yeah, we do have shift work going. (0:08:51) Jonnie: Mm-hmm, you’ve got shift work going you know (0:08:56) Codey: This is another like one of those things where sometimes I’m like, “Am I autistic? Like, am I a little autistic? Do I have a touch of the tism? I think I do.” (0:09:06) Codey: Like, if this- if this- this tickles my brain in a good way. (0:09:12) Jonnie: Well, maybe we won’t self-diagnose, but we’ll just say you must really like foxes somewhere in there. (0:09:18) Codey: Oh no, it’s more like my therapist was like, “Perhaps.” (0:09:25) Codey: It’s a little bit past self-diagnosing, but anyway. (0:09:26) Jonnie: Ugh. (0:09:29) Codey: So yeah, but the most important thing really that I’ve been working on, (0:09:33) Codey: I mean, this is sarcasm. The most important thing is Fox Craft, but (0:09:38) Codey: sarcastically, I went to an event that happened today, Americans. This is, today is February 2nd. (0:09:49) Codey: Johnny, what do you know about Groundhog’s Day? (0:09:52) Jonnie: I know there is a terrible Bill Murray movie, which actually now that I think about it, like, do you need to say terrible before Bill Murray movie? I think that’s just implied. (0:10:02) Jonnie: So, and the, like, I don’t know, I assume it’s a groundhog, but like, that’s the weirdest name for what, you know, basically just looks like a… I don’t know. (0:10:16) Jonnie: a slightly larger rat comes out because I’ve been sleeping or whatever I don’t (0:10:20) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:10:22) Jonnie: know why they come out they just do and Americans go crazy because they’re all in some weird cult that’s that’s that’s groundhog’s day right (0:10:30) Codey: Yeah, I mean, you’re not wrong. Okay, so Groundhog’s Day is a tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2nd of every year. It derives, this is from the Wikipedia, (0:10:43) Codey: it derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog, a groundhog is also known as a marmot or a woodchuck or my personal favorite, a whistle pig. A groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and sees its shadow. It will retreat to its den and winter will go on for six more weeks. If it does not… (0:11:00) Codey: see its shadow, then spring will arrive early. (0:11:06) Codey: So this sounds… (0:11:09) Codey: That’s like, okay, cool, whatever. (0:11:10) Codey: Like there’s probably a guy that like watches this groundhog come out right over. No, it’s a cult. (0:11:16) Codey: 100%. So the ceremony is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, (0:11:22) Codey: which is less than two hours from where I am. (0:11:24) Codey: So I’ve been wanting to go to this every year. (0:11:28) Codey: And it just hasn’t, I just haven’t been able to make it. (0:11:30) Codey: This year, I was able to make it. (0:11:33) Codey: And basically it centers around what is what Wikipedia says is the semi mythical groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil. (0:11:41) Codey: So he, Punxsutawney Phil basically comes out. (0:11:48) Codey: And apparently like looks, I’m trying to find to see if I can find like the ceremony because this is ridiculous. (0:11:56) Codey: He basically comes out and looks at him. (0:12:00) Codey: He looks around and sees his shadow and the wizards who are called wizards, the guys that run Groundhog’s Day in Punxsutawney, (0:12:14) Codey: basically listen to him so Phil comes out, he either does or does not see his shadow, and whispers to the wizard who can understand Groundhog ease. (0:12:30) Codey: Phil tells them whether or not he saw his shadow and if he did, they literally have scripts that they read. (0:12:38) Codey: People who go to this event every year, they know what the script is. (0:12:44) Codey: There’s a certain part in the script where the guy doesn’t even finish saying everything. (0:12:50) Codey: There’s a certain part where he says either “and his shadow fell upon him” or something, or “and a shadow he did not see”. (0:12:58) Codey: And at that point the crowd. (0:13:00) Codey: It goes crazy, but basically like thousands of people mock hawk flock thousands of people flock to this city in Pennsylvania and watch this ceremony and some of them show up at like midnight and the ceremony isn’t until sunrise, which was 730 this morning. (0:13:18) Codey: We left at 430 to get there and we got there and there’s literally thousands of people around this little stage of any with these guys that like are all. (0:13:30) Codey: Wearing like top hats and like black jackets and very like they look very New York investment banker of the 20s or something like that. (0:13:42) Codey: And yeah, he was just it was just so crazy and he did not see a shadow so spring is going to come early to the United States. Praise be to our groundhog meteorologist. (0:13:59) Jonnie: I have so many thoughts. (0:14:02) Codey: Okay, yeah, yeah, that’s fair fair. (0:14:02) Jonnie: First, Whistlepig Day would sound so much better. (0:14:05) Jonnie: That’s just first thought. (0:14:06) Jonnie: That’s just undeniably a better name. (0:14:10) Jonnie: Second thought, the fact that there are wizards surrounding this is like, yeah, you’re right. (0:14:14) Jonnie: This is definitely a cult, and it sounds like a cult I kind of want to be a part of, because any cult that has wizards dressed as 1920s bankers, (0:14:15) Codey: It’s a cold. (0:14:21) Jonnie: that sounds kind of amazing. (0:14:22) Jonnie: I’m into this. (0:14:23) Codey: Yeah. (0:14:24) Jonnie: Third, based on your description, (0:14:27) Jonnie: an alien landed on Earth, and they (0:14:29) Jonnie: would legitimately think that you’re just describing another game. (0:14:31) Jonnie: It is that sort of– (0:14:34) Jonnie: that sort of… (0:14:34) Codey: So, I actually, I was debating mentioning this that like, I kind of want a game about this. (0:14:42) Jonnie: And that was going to be my final point. I think this is this would be a great basis for a cottage core (0:14:48) Jonnie: game like you do the year, you know, it starts on Groundhog’s Day and (0:14:53) Jonnie: Maybe I don’t know what you’re working towards but like that make that your sort of New Year’s event That sounds like a great little thing to do (0:15:00) Codey: Well, so Punxsutawney, here, I’m going to try and find this information, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania has a population of 5,000 humans. (0:15:12) Codey: So during this celebration, their population basically doubles. (0:15:18) Codey: So imagine being in, like, Stardew or Coral Island or something, and one single day of the year, the population doubles, (0:15:30) Codey: like, even though it was Friday and it was really, really early, all the stores were open. (0:15:36) Codey: Like, the bookstore was open and they had free hot chocolate and, like, they had, like, a couple different craft shows that were going on in this. (0:15:44) Codey: So it’s everyone, basically, in this community, basically, like, waits for this, like, this is their big, like, tourism thing every year. (0:15:54) Codey: So I think the goal of a game like that would be to build up your store. (0:16:00) Codey: Make sure you’re not going to run out of stock. Make sure that you have enough food for all of these people, enough, like, infrastructure, that you have enough parking because, like, we had to find parking and we almost had, like, some of the last parking spaces. (0:16:18) Codey: And so, like, there’s all this stuff that you could totally do in a game and have the regular day-to-day thing that you’re doing, like, you know, farming or whatever, just kind of be, like, normal, but you are always building up to that. (0:16:30) Codey: And so, like, you have to go to this huge event, annual event, where it kind of starts becoming, like, city skylines or something, where you have to manage, like, all these people. (0:16:46) Jonnie: Make it happen internet. There we go. We’ve done the hard work. We came up with the idea right? That’s the hard part (0:16:48) Codey: Yeah, make it happen. (0:16:52) Codey: Well, now that we’ve spent probably 15 minutes talking about Groundhog Day, and listeners, let me know if you’ve gone to the place where Punxsutawney Phil is, is called Gobbler’s Knob. Let me know if you’ve gone there. And Gobbler’s Knob. (0:17:04) Jonnie: But, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, it’s called what? (0:17:11) Jonnie: This is definitely like, I call it that is… [Laughing] (0:17:15) Jonnie: How is that a real name for a place? (0:17:18) Codey: Yeah, it is. (0:17:22) Codey: I’ll also post some pictures in the slack of me and my friends there, and also Stella. Stella went, “Oh, and the town has, like, Groundhog Day.” (0:17:30) Codey: Groundhog statues outside of a bunch of the buildings. So, like, outside of the library, they have a Groundhog that’s, like, reading a book. (0:17:38) Codey: And then outside of the bank, they have one that, like, has money. Outside of the fireman’s house, they have one with, like, a fireman’s axe holding a baby. (0:17:46) Codey: So, they have all of these, like, the whole town has leaned into it, 100%. But, yeah, so it’s a cult. (0:18:00) Codey: Okay, well, now that we’ve talked about cults, let’s talk about some news. Speaking of cults, Wildflowers… (0:18:10) Codey: I don’t know if Wildflowers is a cult. I just, the way… Kev… Kev has cult-like devo… devotion for this game. (0:18:12) Jonnie: Look, if it is, Kiv is definitely in that cult. (0:18:22) Codey: So, there’s more details on an update that’s coming up. There is going to be a hair stylist’s salon named Yuri’s Soul. (0:18:30) Codey: I’m just going to add a bunch of hairstyles. There’s a plushie coming. And I did a little bit of internet sleuthing, as someone who has not played Wildflowers. (0:18:42) Codey: I did a little bit of internet sleuthing. The picture of the plushie that they have on Twitter, which you can find on the show notes, is, like, obscured. (0:18:50) Codey: Like, it’s kind of in shadow. So, you can’t really tell what it is. But I think it’s a flying pig. What do you think? (0:18:58) Jonnie: Uh, I’m sure flying pig sounds like a thing that a plushie could be. (0:19:02) Codey: » Okay, okay, okay, yeah, so it definitely looks like the flying pig to me. (0:19:04) Jonnie: I have done zero internet’s locally. (0:19:12) Codey: I just kind of like looked up. (0:19:18) Codey: Oh my gosh, sorry, I scrolled down and it went to discover more and Disney Dreamlight Family tweeted today and said, (0:19:28) Codey: tweeted today and said we might not. (0:19:30) Codey: I have groundhogs in the game, but what do you think a copybara seeing its shadow mean? (0:19:40) Codey: They’re leaning into groundhog’s day. (0:19:43) Codey: Um, so, but yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s flying pig. So flying pig plush coming to wildflowers (0:19:51) Codey: Unconfirmed is that it’s a flying pig, but pretty sure it is. (0:19:54) Codey: Yeah, I mean, have you played wildflowers? Have you? Do you have? (0:19:57) Jonnie: No, the visual… I get that it’s better than it looks, but the visual style I just find very off-putting, and there’s just too much else that I want to play and can’t get to, that even though this game is meant to be really good, it’s just too much of a block of me to invest any time into this one, unfortunately. (0:20:19) Codey: Yep, I am in the exact same boat. (0:20:23) Codey: But I’m sure that we’ll hear all about Yuri’s salon (0:20:27) Codey: Update and all of that from Kev, which would be great. (0:20:32) Codey: Next up is Lightyear Frontier. (0:20:35) Codey: The early access for this game is releasing on March 19th on Steam, Xbox, and Game Pass. (0:20:42) Codey: There is a demo out now on Steam (0:20:46) Codey: And this game will be a part of Steam next. (0:20:49) Codey: Which starts on February 5th to the 12th so I believe by the time this podcast comes out, the next fest will be going on. (0:20:58) Codey: So yeah, if you are interested in seeing some gameplay or anything like that, that would be a really good thing to tune into. (0:21:08) Codey: What are your thoughts on this? (0:21:09) Jonnie: Yeah, and Lightyear Frontier is the farming, but in mechs. That’s their gimmick, I guess. (0:21:18) Codey: in like a, in space, in space for me. (0:21:22) Codey: I saw on there, on this news from Steam, (0:21:26) Codey: like, you know how we say like, hello farmers or whatever. (0:21:30) Codey: They say exo farmers. (0:21:32) Codey: So they said like something like, (0:21:34) Codey: play the demo now exo farmers. (0:21:35) Codey: And I was like, oh my gosh. (0:21:39) Codey: Like that’s just kind of a cute little way of talking about them. (0:21:42) Codey: I don’t know, I don’t know what exo means. (0:21:44) Codey: Now that I said it and then now I’m like, (0:21:46) Codey: what, wait, what am I talking about? (0:21:48) Codey: What does this mean? (0:21:51) Codey: Meaning outside, outer, external. (0:21:57) Codey: Cool. (0:21:57) Jonnie: Like like every farm every farmer is technically an exo farmer (0:22:02) Codey: No, no, no. (0:22:03) Codey: Cause it’s like outside, like outer worlds, like space. (0:22:07) Codey: Like we call them exoplanets. (0:22:09) Codey: Like exoplanets are outside of our solar system. (0:22:15) Jonnie: I don’t know how that applies to farming, but it sounds made up. (0:22:15) Codey: You know? (0:22:18) Codey: It’s exoplanet farmers. (0:22:22) Codey: You’re a farmer on an exoplanet. (0:22:24) Jonnie: But they don’t say exoplanet farmers, they say exopharmers. (0:22:27) Codey: No, they said exo. (0:22:29) Codey: It’s just a little cute little conjugation. (0:22:30) Jonnie: They should change it to remove the “e” and just be like “exo” like “Kisshag farmers”. (0:22:35) Jonnie: That would be a much cuter way to say hello. (0:22:37) Codey: I kind of want to re-record “Hello, Kiss Hug Farmers! Welcome to another episode of the Harvest Season!” (0:22:43) Jonnie: What? (0:22:49) Codey: Oh my gosh, we are off the rails. Um, yeah. (0:22:53) Jonnie: Okay, um, are you going to try this? (0:22:57) Codey: So, I’ve never been a big mech person. Like, growing up, like… (0:23:07) Codey: uh… transformers, like, that kind of stuff. It was never my jam. (0:23:13) Codey: Um, so I don’t… to be determined, um… but prob’s not. What about you? (0:23:20) Jonnie: So I talked about this one a little bit on I think the upcoming Game of the Year show, (0:23:28) Jonnie: where it’s on my list of games that I want to try but there may not be a priority. (0:23:35) Jonnie: But I don’t think I knew at that point that it was coming to Game Pass, which it’s amazing how much Game Pass changes my willingness to try some stuff out, right? (0:23:44) Jonnie: Because I’m way more willing to just jump in for a bit and see if it instantly grabs me or not. (0:23:49) Jonnie: So I think it’s a long time. (0:23:50) Jonnie: A lot more likely than I initially anticipated that I will give this a go, because I like the visual style, it feels distinct, I don’t have a particular affinity or non affinity for mechs, but I am interested to see what it means in terms of how they differentiate, you know, your traditional cottagecore farming game loop with the addition of something like a mech, because you can see a lot, you know, there’s probably more interesting ways to do tools and things like that when you have a mech, (0:24:20) Jonnie: and I am really hoping they take full advantage of, and it’s not just like regular tools, but they’re just, they look like mech attachments, right? I’m hoping there’s something else that distinguishes them, which I guess technically I could find out because the demo is out, so I could probably find out or look into it a bit more, so. (0:24:34) Codey: Yeah. (0:24:38) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:24:41) Codey: But the demos… the demos on Steam… (0:24:44) Jonnie: Yeah, yeah, demos are only on Steam. (0:24:44) Codey: It’s not… not Game Pass. (0:24:49) Codey: Yeah, I agree with you about the Game Pass thing. (0:24:52) Codey: Like, it’s really opened up what I’m able to play. (0:24:57) Codey: And I really like that. (0:24:58) Codey: But I don’t think that your frontier will be that. (0:25:01) Codey: Because again, like, we have so many other things. (0:25:04) Codey: I want to play, so many other things I’m doing in my life. (0:25:07) Codey: And something… if it’s a game that’s going to like pull me in like that, (0:25:10) Codey: like Coral Island or something, it’s really got to grab me. (0:25:13) Codey: So… (0:25:16) Codey: Okay, so… (0:25:17) Codey: Ages of… next… next up on our news list… (0:25:20) Codey: Ages of Kataria… (0:25:22) Codey: was meant to be coming out Q1 2024, so… (0:25:26) Codey: anytime. (0:25:28) Codey: But has been delayed until Q2 2025. (0:25:34) Codey: It personally seemed a little late to be making that announcement, (0:25:36) Codey: but I get it. (0:25:36) Jonnie: Mm-hmm. (0:25:40) Codey: Quote, (0:25:41) Codey: “We have been working hard on Ages of Kataria, (0:25:43) Codey: and our main goal is to find funding to expand the team and work full-time.” (0:25:50) Codey: I’m about to read you a list of things that they’ve been working on. (0:25:52) Codey: See if you can pick out the things that… (0:25:56) Codey: one of these things is not like the other. (0:25:58) Codey: Okay. (0:25:59) Codey: Quote, “In the past few months, we’ve been working on building upgrades, (0:26:03) Codey: customization. (0:26:04) Codey: villager conversations, traits, events and quests, death, (0:26:09) Codey: hunting, cooking, farming, animals, clicking to collect resources, (0:26:14) Codey: villager pooping mechanics, and so much more, which we will be discussing and showing in future updates. (0:26:21) Codey: Uh, Johnny, any of those, any of those jump out to you? (0:26:24) Jonnie: Yeah, I’m really interested in these villager pooping mechanics. (0:26:26) Codey: Save! (0:26:29) Codey: What do you mean? (0:26:31) Codey: I’m like, I’m that meme of, um… (0:26:34) Codey: of, uh… (0:26:35) Codey: Oh my gosh, Katniss Everdeen’s… (0:26:37) Codey: the… the friggin’ actress that plays her. (0:26:40) Codey: Where she’s like, “What do you mean?” (0:26:41) Codey: Like, “What do you mean?” (0:26:43) Codey: On Hot Ones. (0:26:45) Codey: Jennifer Lawrence, I think is her name. (0:26:47) Codey: Um… (0:26:49) Codey: I’m that meme when I read that. (0:26:51) Jonnie: Yeah, I’d like that is wild to me. I mean I assumed the actual answer you were looking for is diff like [laughing] (0:26:58) Codey: No, no, it was originally Villager Pooping Mechanics, but Death, I mean Death was like, (0:27:04) Codey: that’s interesting. (0:27:06) Codey: But that happens in-game, like everything else in this list is something that you would find in a Cottagecore game in some way or another. (0:27:15) Codey: But Villager Pooping Mechanics just like comes out, just stands out so much, and I have questions. (0:27:22) Jonnie: Yeah, and I mean I’ve kind of buried the lead somewhat but this update has (0:27:30) Jonnie: I would say there are some concerning elements to it, right, you know (0:27:35) Jonnie: They’re talking about looking for a publisher and this was a kick-started project (0:27:41) Jonnie: And I guess if you are a kickstarter of it, this is an update that I guess, you know (0:27:46) Jonnie: Would reduce the likelihood that you are actually going to get it and not saying whether it will or won’t happen (0:27:52) Jonnie: There’s now some additional hurdles that they are now flagging up (0:27:57) Jonnie: Which is unfortunate because I think this game looks like it’s got a great visual style to it (0:28:06) Jonnie: So hoping they can find the funding that they need but I would not be putting much stock in that queue to (0:28:12) Jonnie: 2025 date until there was more (0:28:15) Jonnie: More updates on whether or not they they find a publisher or you know are able to sort of clearly state. (0:28:24) Codey: They did have someone jump out on their Kickstarter three days ago, Shell M said you know so is it A that you needed more money and just didn’t tell anyone or B that you mismanaged the finances early on or underestimated how much you needed if B why weren’t we told about this before? (0:28:45) Codey: Just fair. (0:28:46) Codey: They got I’m trying to see $111,000 like like you people gave you money like you should at least let them know what what’s happening with that and it sounds like they you know $110,000 doesn’t really go that far and they had 10 people working on it originally and then when that money ran out some people had to leave and some people stayed to continue to work on the game but that a lot of people had to go back to working part-time and so it’s a lot of people’s time is now split and they’re not able you know if they still had the (0:29:24) Codey: work full-time with the whole team of 10 or team of whomever many are on there now they probably could get it out a lot earlier but I mean I get it I’ve this manuscript that I just submitted was supposed to be done like a year ago so I get it but it does yep mm-hmm (0:29:41) Jonnie: But I mean this is one of the risks around Kickstarter projects, right? You know, $110,000 is a lot of money in the context of an individual. (0:29:50) Jonnie: But in the context of developing a game when you’ve got a team of ten, that’s even just considering salaries. (0:29:54) Codey: Yep. (0:29:58) Jonnie: That’s only a couple of months, if that worth of runway. (0:30:02) Jonnie: And that’s not counting all of the, you know, server costs and all those other fun things that are very expensive. (0:30:08) Jonnie: expensive so $110,000 to develop a game is not. (0:30:11) Jonnie: I’m not sure if this is a game that’s not that much. It’s just the unfortunate reality of Kickstarter I guess. (0:30:18) Jonnie: But hopefully they can find their way out of it because the game looks good (0:30:18) Codey: - Yeah. (0:30:25) Codey: I definitely, I think that the people at Third Pie Studios, (0:30:30) Codey: and I’m assuming it’s Alex McCord, (0:30:31) Codey: who’s the CEO and creative director, (0:30:34) Codey: their post explaining the situation to the concerned people was very like the comment that they have on this. (0:30:41) Codey: It was very thorough and very polite and very good. (0:30:45) Codey: So, it does, it’s difficult, it’s difficult. (0:30:48) Codey: And it’s always sad when you have to like, postpone something, but I think they did a good job of… (0:30:53) Codey: Perhappeth, maybe, uh, let people know a little earlier, but it’s fine. (0:30:59) Codey: Stuff happens. (0:31:02) Codey: Um, stuff that, uh, should happen, might not happen, I don’t know. (0:31:09) Codey: I’m so scared to play this game. (0:31:11) Codey: Rusty’s retirement! (0:31:13) Codey: Has a public demo that is out now. (0:31:17) Codey: Oh, Johnny. (0:31:18) Codey: I want to do this demo so bad, but it seems like it’s like a floodgate, you know? (0:31:26) Codey: Like, once I push that button, am I just a slave to Rusty’s retirement? (0:31:34) Jonnie: Yes, yes is the answer to that question yep . (0:31:35) Codey: And keeping it going? (0:31:39) Codey: But I want to play? (0:31:40) Codey: And I want to help them? (0:31:42) Codey: I want to give them feedback? (0:31:43) Codey: I don’t know. (0:31:44) Codey: I don’t know, what did you think about this? (0:31:48) Jonnie: I mean, I’m in the same category as you, and Rusty’s retirement to serve him remembers as the idle farming game that’s being launched soon, but yeah, going into demo, I am equally concerned about this for all of the same reasons, and I think as… (0:32:10) Jonnie: Yeah, because we first talked about this a few months ago, and since then I think the… (0:32:18) Jonnie: Imagery and the, you know, like they’ve added more, we’re seeing more about how it will look on the screen and everything they add, I’m just like, oh, like it looks like it’s getting better, right? (0:32:24) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:32:28) Jonnie: Like there’s those things that I have, like, you have those mental questions around, oh, how would this aspect work? And I feel like as time has gone on, I’m seeing those things come in in ways that’s like, yeah, that’s how I would want that to look. (0:32:29) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:32:35) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:32:40) Jonnie: So I’m very nervous, you know, the, you know, how we would just reference memes to describe our feelings on this, this is very much the… (0:32:43) Codey: Yeah, and… (0:32:48) Jonnie: Oh, yeah, yep, that’s the one. (0:32:52) Codey: Haha, I’m in danger. (0:32:54) Codey: Yeah. (0:32:56) Codey: Yeah. (0:32:58) Codey: Um. (0:33:00) Codey: So, yeah, I guess I don’t know if I’m trying to see. (0:33:06) Codey: Oh, it is PC and Mac. (0:33:14) Codey: I’ll probably do it. (0:33:16) Codey: Um, so, listeners listen back. (0:33:20) Codey: we’ll give feedback on this in maybe one of the next upcoming episodes. (0:33:24) Codey: I will probably bite the bullet and do this now that I’m not I don’t have a deadline that is of the for like the manuscript that is fast approaching so. (0:33:35) Jonnie: Yeah, and Al was telling me he’s gonna install this on his work PC, so he’s gonna have a very detailed show on it in a few weeks time. (0:33:45) Codey: Sure! (0:33:46) Jonnie: Just throwing Al totally under the bus, I don’t believe he’s not going to do that. (0:33:52) Jonnie: But he could do it. He could do it. He could do it for you listeners. (0:33:58) Codey: he’s probably screaming right now. okay so the last bit of news is for a game called Kamaeru a frog refuge and this has the same vibes as Usagi Shima so my brain was like oh let me figure out what Kamaeru means. in Japanese it means take a stand which is not what I was expecting it to be. I was expecting it to be like frog island or something because Usagi Shima is a bunny island. (0:34:28) Codey: But no. Okay. So Kamaeru frog refuge, quote foster a sanctuary for frogs and restore the biodiversity of the wetlands in Kamaeru, a cozy farming sim where you raise frogs by playing minigames and decorating your habitat. Hop right to it. (0:34:47) Codey: What do you have thoughts about this, Johnny? Are you? I have thoughts. (0:34:49) Jonnie: yeah it looks it looks really cute right like it definitely gives off the same same vibe as usagashima but it looks a lot more detailed just lots of little things about you know so in usagashima like you you kind of placed decorations but that was it’s like I think the the idea of restoring the wetlands looks cool it seems like there’s lots of customization options which is which is pretty cool the frogs look super cute and like it looks like There’s like tons of fun color combinations, so I’m guessing there’s going to be… (0:35:19) Jonnie: …a little bit of a Pokemon creature collection style aspect to this, which I know Usagushima had as well. (0:35:26) Jonnie: And alongside, you know, maybe some some more human characters and some interactions in that way. (0:35:32) Jonnie: This has the potential to be a really, really great game, I think. (0:35:40) Jonnie: Usagushima didn’t really stick with me. I think one, because I didn’t really want a mobile game at that point. (0:35:46) Jonnie: but also it just felt a bit shallow. (0:35:49) Jonnie: And this looks like it kind of has the depth that I’m looking for like this. (0:35:55) Jonnie: This is ticking a lot of boxes and I think for like this one is really interesting things in the cottagecore genre of (0:36:02) Jonnie: really doing something (0:36:04) Jonnie: Unique that doesn’t have to be like the whole thing doesn’t have to be a hundred percent unique, right? (0:36:08) Jonnie: A lot of this seems inspired by Utsagushima. However, well, and it’s probably not, right? (0:36:09) Codey: Right. (0:36:13) Jonnie: It’s probably done independently given how closely they’re sort of coming out. (0:36:16) Jonnie: But frogs is not an area that’s really been (0:36:19) Jonnie: explored or is that common outside of like the only other time I can think of really even seeing frogs is catching them in a farm with their with their critter so yeah that was kind of like a weird brain mush of thoughts because this is the first we’ve heard about this game if I remember rightly (0:36:23) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:36:40) Codey: Um, yeah, so I think this is the game that I saw on Instagram or on Instagram, (0:36:45) Codey: Twitter, and I tagged, uh, Al in it because someone tagged me in it because my friends know that this is the kind of game that I will just eat right up. (0:36:53) Codey: This is the first time we’re covering it on the podcast. (0:36:55) Codey: I just want, I wanted to grab my facts straight before I said anything, but, (0:36:59) Codey: um, the developer of apico L, um, is actually also developing a frog breeding and collecting game called mud born. (0:37:07) Codey: So instead of bloodborne, it’s mud born. (0:37:10) Codey: Um, and it’s very, in the same vein, uh, looks a lot like, uh, apico. (0:37:17) Codey: So it’ll be the same kind of thing, um, of, uh, going and helping a frog, (0:37:25) Codey: uh, deity, um, rediscover her lost children. (0:37:30) Codey: Um, this is in, uh, Elle’s con a message about it in March of last year. (0:37:40) Codey: And the discord quote, um, I’ve always joked about making apico, but frog, but it’s never been much more than that with the game jam theme of pond. (0:37:50) Codey: However, it seems like a good opportunity to make it a reality. (0:37:55) Codey: Um, so he has been working on that, which is great. (0:37:59) Codey: So there, there are other frog games coming out. (0:38:02) Codey: Um, I just wanted to say that, uh, cause I really like it clearly, but this (0:38:10) Codey: is, uh, looks a lot different and looks like it’s own little thing. (0:38:13) Codey: And, um, I really like, like they actually have human characters in this game (0:38:17) Codey: that Usagi Shima did not have. (0:38:19) Codey: So there might be like kind of more of a social aspect. (0:38:24) Codey: And then I also saw kind of a crafting system or like a crafting mini game or something that looked a lot like, um, spirit fairs, mini games, which I was also really interested in. (0:38:36) Jonnie: yeah they looked really good and even little things like they was painting a birdhouse it looked like you know just as a little customization option which I (0:38:36) Codey: So. (0:38:40) Codey: Mm-hm, mm-hm, so yeah, right now it’s just coming 2024, we’re not really sure when. (0:38:51) Codey: But it is also gonna be part of Steam’s next fest. (0:38:56) Codey: So make sure to check in on that. (0:38:59) Codey: And last, I was looking when I looked at their thing earlier. (0:39:02) Codey: No, they’re not doing it anymore. (0:39:04) Codey: Nope, maybe they are, they’re broadcasting. (0:39:10) Codey: The developer is currently playing on Steam, and they are wearing a frog hat and have a bunch of frogs behind them. (0:39:19) Codey: And it’s so heckin’ cute. (0:39:21) Codey: So you could probably watch that stream video of them streaming the game. (0:39:26) Codey: But it looks pretty good. (0:39:27) Codey: Cool, well that was our news, woo. (0:39:31) Codey: So on to the main topic, which is Palia. (0:39:35) Codey: To remind people, Palia is one of the worst. (0:39:40) Codey: The phrase they used was “A cozy world made for you.” (0:39:44) Codey: It’s the free-to-play farming MMORPG game. (0:39:46) Codey: We have been playing it, I played it, probably maybe played like 30 hours, but that might be a little bit much. (0:39:58) Codey: Maybe like 20 hours around? (0:40:02) Codey: What about you, Johnny? (0:40:04) Codey: How are you playing the game? (0:40:06) Codey: thoughts, that non-spoilery. (0:40:10) Codey: kind of vibe thoughts about it to say before we jump in. (0:40:12) Jonnie: Yeah, so I’m playing on the Switch, and it runs really well on Switch, right, like I feel like that’s an important thing to recognize early, because the Switch is very old at this point. (0:40:23) Jonnie: Like it doesn’t run perfectly, I’m sure it runs a lot better if you’re playing via PC, but no real major issues in terms of how it plays. (0:40:32) Jonnie: And I really like what they’re trying to achieve with Palia, however I find it difficult to recommend at this stage until… (0:40:42) Jonnie: …there’s a little bit more from a content perspective in the game. It’s probably my very high level thought, but I really love what this game is trying to achieve from introducing that MMO aspect. (0:40:53) Codey: Yeah, I echo that sentiment. I’m also playing on Switch, and I think it has a lot of potential, (0:41:05) Codey: but that there’s some stuff that isn’t quite, some things that aren’t quite built out yet. (0:41:10) Codey: And after playing MMOs for so long, like World of Warcraft or something, I mean, and that’s probably not a fair comparison. But after playing things like that, like some of the (0:41:23) Codey: personality of the MMO side of it, and the world just seems, like it seems like you play for 10 hours and then you’re like, “Well, yep, I get it.” (0:41:33) Jonnie: Yeah, I do want to come back to the WoW comparison, because I think my initial, like my very very early thoughts when I started playing, was it did feel a little bit like when you first started playing. (0:41:45) Jonnie: Wow, obviously, like the combat is the big difference, but when I guess I think about how the world is constructed, it did feel like World of Warcraft where the world is big and your character feels a lot smaller than it typically does in cottagecore style games, which took a bit of like… (0:42:03) Jonnie: It was a bit of an adjustment, right? When you get the first quest to walk into town and like actually takes a little bit of time and you’re trying to work out where to go, that was a little bit of a brain reset and exploring the map. (0:42:15) Jonnie: Like the maps, so there’s two regions and they’re pretty decent size, and yeah, so there is that good early exploration element that I really like. (0:42:30) Codey: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I will say I haven’t really explored the second area too, too much, but (0:42:38) Codey: I agree that it feels like, like I feel like I’m still playing and exploring and still encountering things that are surprising to me. Or like, “Oh wow, I didn’t know this was here,” or “Oh, I didn’t, (0:42:52) Codey: I’ve never been over here before,” or finding out there’s a whole underground, (0:43:00) Codey: the city was really cool. So yeah, it’s got some, I think it’s got more good than bad, (0:43:10) Codey: but it’s definitely maybe like, “Wait a bit.” But, well, let’s dive into a little bit about the story itself. Do you have a good grasp on the story and want to mention it? (0:43:22) Jonnie: Yeah, so I think there’s two aspects to the story. Well, I think it’s all sort of one connected story. And there are a series of dungeons. There are currently three in the game, but there are at least, there’s at least one more intended. I’ve done all three of the of the dungeons. But it’s very closely tied, I guess, to the nature of people and (0:43:52) Jonnie: the world. So none of the other characters, none of the NPCs in the game are humans. They’re a different race. I can’t recall off the top of my head what exactly they are. Yeah. But you’re basically, you know, every player character in the world is a human that’s effectively being reanimated by some form of of God. And… (0:43:59) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:44:05) Codey: No idea. I don’t know if I have ever known… (0:44:08) Codey: “Pallians.” (0:44:22) Jonnie: That enables, you know, you have a stronger connection into some of the magic and the dungeons are about exploring sort of what happened to humanity. And it seems like in the wider context of the world, magic is kind of one of those things that’s known about, but also heavily suppressed and kind of taboo to engage with. But some of those restrictions don’t apply to humans. And so you’re kind of exploring that at the stage that I’m up to, which is (0:44:52) Jonnie: to finish the story. But I guess a decent way through. There isn’t a… I don’t have a sense of what it’s building towards. I guess that’s that’s probably a big gap for me. (0:45:04) Codey: Mm hmm. That’s, that’s my biggest concern with the story is like, basically you teleport or get reanimated or whatever, but your character just like shows up and someone’s just standing there and they’re like, Oh, wow, another human, like, please follow the chain of humans that are heading to the town. And then you go to the town and then they give you like a plot of land. Um, and then you can build like a house on it and stuff, but. (0:45:34) Codey: Last that you’re just kind of free. I mean, there are like quests, but there’s not, it’s, (0:45:40) Codey: it’s very open world in that way that like you, you could then never do the quest ever again. They’re like the story quests, I guess some of the quests you have to do to be able to improve your, um, your abilities. But a lot of it, like it just seems, it seems secondary to me or just like a non- (0:46:04) Codey: existent almost so I would I would like that to be built up a little bit more and I also would like the characters to be built up a little bit more so there’s all the NPCs are basically pallions that live in this world that have have lived in this world and they have some like personality (0:46:34) Codey: to them and they have relationships between them and stuff but for some reason I just wasn’t really connecting to them I don’t know what your experience was yeah (0:46:41) Jonnie: Yeah I felt the same way. I think a lot of them, so a lot of the NPCs I would say that their role is to introduce various skills to you and there’s more skills than most cottagecore games have and it’s kind of like their whole, like they have one personality trait and that’s it so they’re very two dimensional in that way. (0:47:06) Jonnie: you know, I think about the bug catcher and his whole thing is he’s a kid and he’s part (0:47:11) Jonnie: of the local scout group or whatever their world equivalent is. And so he’s always excited and always kind of hyper and always wanting to catch bugs and that’s it, right? Like I didn’t feel like anything else from that character. (0:47:16) Codey: Yeah. (0:47:22) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:47:28) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:47:30) Codey: Or, like, the bookstore lady, (0:47:32) Codey: which I didn’t know there was a bookstore for the longest time, (0:47:34) Codey: but the bookstore lady, like, you go in there and she’s just, like, (0:47:38) Codey: has the vibe of, like, (0:47:40) Codey: “You hurt my books. I hurt your face.” (0:47:44) Codey: your face. Like she’s just very like protective of her book. (0:47:46) Codey: But then I don’t think I’ve talked to her about any like any time I talk to her. I don’t she’s not mentioned anything else Like I don’t know anything about her (0:47:57) Codey: There’s not like a time when I’ll go back in the bookstore and she’s like, okay I guess you’re you’re nice or whatever like but that could just be me not really understanding how to progress the (0:48:09) Codey: Like Hearts basically, I’m trying to think of how to like the progression of the of your (0:48:16) Codey: With these characters It’s not clear to me how to do that (0:48:21) Codey: After after a certain while you can gift them things but like half of the people I try and gift them something and they’re like No, I don’t want that (0:48:29) Jonnie: Yeah, so there’s this whole relationship side to the game, and it’s probably for me the weakest aspect, so you can talk to NPCs, and you can ask them for a clue about what someone wants each week. (0:48:45) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:48:45) Jonnie: They want four different gifts, and you can, you know, increase the relationship by talking to them, and some of those sorts of things, but it kind of all feels surface level. (0:48:55) Jonnie: And I have to say, it’s very weird for an MMO. (0:48:59) Jonnie: That’s the part that really doesn’t connect because it’s like, yes, there are 20 of us all trying to make friends with the same character right now. (0:49:07) Jonnie: Like it’s it doesn’t feel particularly genuine and kind of feels at odds with everything else that the game is trying to do. (0:49:14) Jonnie: And potentially one of those features that they put in because this is what console games do. (0:49:15) Codey: Yeah. (0:49:21) Codey: Yeah. (0:49:23) Codey: I don’t really know how, (0:49:24) Codey: like I’m trying to think of like how that could be fixed. (0:49:26) Jonnie: I mean, just don’t have it in the game. I just don’t think it’s necessary. (0:49:28) Codey: And I’m not entirely sure. (0:49:31) Codey: Hmm, okay. (0:49:34) Codey: I guess that’s also true. (0:49:35) Codey: Like that was the other thing is like, (0:49:36) Codey: you don’t really know, so you’re human. (0:49:38) Codey: You don’t really know like why you’re here or if like you have some type of greater purpose (0:49:46) Codey: like you’re gonna ascend or something like, (0:49:49) Codey: or return to the dirt. (0:49:51) Codey: Like there’s no idea, at least in the beginning and at least to the part where I’m in in the story. (0:49:57) Codey: And so having romanceable aliens, basically, (0:50:05) Codey: I was like, what? (0:50:10) Codey: It just seemed a little like maybe not until (0:50:15) Codey: later on in the game. (0:50:16) Codey: What did that be something that I’d be thinking about? (0:50:19) Codey: I don’t know. (0:50:22) Codey: One thing that they just released though, (0:50:24) Codey: which I really like this in just as an aspect of farming games in general, (0:50:29) Codey: is there’s a character named Sabira and she’s like an older character. (0:50:33) Codey: You can now romance her. (0:50:36) Codey: They add it. (0:50:37) Codey: So basically like she’s probably in her like fifties or sixties or something. (0:50:41) Codey: And I think that farming games in general (0:50:45) Codey: is a way to open up that type of like relationship with older humans because as someone who, (0:50:52) Codey: I was married, surprise, like I was married (0:50:56) Codey: and I was in a relationship for nine years without human. (0:50:58) Codey: And then I left that relationship and then I was in my like late twenties and even like now if I were to be single in my thirties, (0:51:06) Codey: like I don’t, when I play farming games or whatever or play these games where you have like romanceable whatever it’s always like. (0:51:15) Codey: Yeah, early 20s are teenagers and it’s just like, but like, circumstances happen and other people need to find love as well. (0:51:26) Codey: And so I just really wish that that diversity was represented in games. (0:51:34) Codey: So yeah, I don’t know. I really liked that. (0:51:36) Jonnie: Yeah, I think diversity is important. (0:51:38) Jonnie: Um, yeah. (0:51:40) Codey: Cool. (0:51:45) Codey: Is there a character that like, stuck out to you that you really enjoyed? (0:51:48) Jonnie: um unfortunately the answer is no like I like now I can think about it and I can recall all of the different characters but I it’s almost in the bad way where I think they’re all sort of a bit tropey actually the one character the one character that I do like is the the fishing robot um the fishing the fishing robot is cool uh I i’m a big fan of him and he like I think I think particularly because his trope is… (0:52:01) Codey: I was literally about to say, “But what about the fishing robot?” (0:52:18) Jonnie: Unexpected, you know, where he’s sort of like looking for or trying to find that zen spot and help other people find I bet they don’t call it the zen spot. I can’t remember what he refers to it as but (0:52:30) Jonnie: I thought that was like a fun little twist on a robot character (0:52:30) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:52:34) Codey: Mm-hmm and his mannerisms are so cute and like (0:52:38) Codey: There are throughout the world Sometimes you’ll find like these shiny pebbles or whatever and someone mentioned that he really likes them I think his name’s like Inar or something Someone mentioned that he really likes them and so every time I find one I go and bring it to him and every single time He’s like over the moon about these shiny pebbles and I’m just like yours honky you Cute! (0:53:00) Codey: So, um, big fan of him for sure. (0:53:08) Codey: Um, well, since we talked about fishing, let’s talk about, um, something they say, (0:53:12) Codey: again, that’s part of this game is living off the land any way that you like. (0:53:17) Codey: Um, so they have, I think it’s eight. (0:53:20) Codey: Yeah. (0:53:20) Codey: Eight different like skills that you can improve. (0:53:26) Codey: Um, and some of them are, you know, fishing, hunting, mining, or fishing, (0:53:31) Codey: bug catching, foraging, those are all things that are in most games, but they also have hunting, um, furniture making, and then, oh, I guess gardening is another, like, uh, like regular one in these types of games. (0:53:42) Codey: Um, so let’s just briefly touch on these and like, talk about the pros and cons of each of them and the way that they do them, and if we really like it or not. (0:53:51) Codey: Um, so what do you think about the fishing? (0:53:53) Jonnie: I think fishing’
Bev and Jonnie talk about Stardew 1.5 Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:25: What Have We Been Up To 00:13:31: News 00:43:41: Stardew 1.5 01:39:34: Outro Links Fae Farm 2.1.0 Fabledome A Wedding in a Chateau Update Research Story Steam Achievements Slime Rancher 2 Roadmap Usagi Shima Walking Buns Tales of Seikyu Kickstarter Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator Grimshire Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) : Hello, farmers, and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. (0:00:36) : My name is Jonny. (0:00:38) : And my name is Bev. (0:00:39) : And then there’s something else that the main host usually says, but by the bev or I, uh, (0:00:44) : I usually the ones that are. (0:00:46) : Oh, I knew my head states talk to you about cottagecore games. (0:00:50) : Woo. (0:00:51) : Woo. (0:00:52) : Getting there. (0:00:53) : And today we are talking about like the most cottagecore games. (0:01:01) : It’ll be, it’ll be very exciting today. (0:01:03) : We’re going to be chatting to you about Stardew 1.5, only like a year and a bit after it came out. (0:01:13) : So, yeah, very excited about that. (0:01:15) : Before you get into things, as always, recording and transcripts are available. (0:01:19) : Well, you’re recording and listening to transcripts are available in the show notes and on the website. (0:01:25) : But before we kick into the news, Bev, what have you been up to? (0:01:29) : I– (0:01:30) : I’ve been dying at work, but when I’m not dying at work, I’ve been putting most of my free time into Disney Dreamlight Valley, because I am trying to be a completionist with that winter star path event, and I want all the winter goodies, so hardly trying to get those those last star path duties, I guess, in so I can collect all the things. (0:01:59) : How are the events in Disney? (0:02:00) : I’m a fan of the events in Disney. I’ve been on two shows about DDV. I haven’t really done any of the events. I’ve mostly just like mainlined the core content of the game. So how do you feel about the events? (0:02:13) : I mean, I feel like it’s an event loosely, in very loose terms, because it’s mostly just a new questline that you’re following to my knowledge. There isn’t a story or anything tied to it. Not that I can recall. (0:02:28) : And I paid a little amount of money for it, and I paid a little bit of money for it. (0:02:30) : So I had a lot of extra for Moonstones to ensure that I got the exclusive winter version of Belle and Ariel, even though I technically don’t have those characters unlocked yet. (0:02:40) : But it’s been nice in that it’s forcing me to come back in and play it. But a lot of the quests or the duties are actually kind of hard to accomplish. (0:02:58) : and there’s like 80 of them. (0:03:00) : And I think I’m only at like 55 or so with like a handful of days left. (0:03:06) : So I’m a little, I shouldn’t say I’m stressing myself out, (0:03:10) : but I probably am a little bit by trying to get these these last questions question. (0:03:15) : Do you have to do all of them or just some of them? (0:03:18) : I mean, technically, I don’t think you have to do any of them. (0:03:20) : There’s just there’s a there’s on the like event page, (0:03:24) : there’s the duties page, which lists the different like Dreamlight, (0:03:28) : similar to Dreamlight due to– (0:03:30) : - Oh, you have to do all of them to unlock everything, I guess. (0:03:56) : No, no, no, what I. (0:04:00) : I do like that they have the option to allow you to see what what’s on the on the later pages. Like I can see up until the last page of number six what’s available. So I can kind of map out in my head of how much I want to do or how much of the like how much time I want to spend devoting to this event to acquire everything I want to get. (0:04:24) : So there’s there’s a certain level of guests like you kind of have to acquire a. (0:04:30) : A certain number of the duties in order to at least fully unlock all six pages, but not to the extent that you have to do it all to truly like take advantage of the event. (0:04:42) : And to my knowledge, there’s also a like like a free version without paying the extra premium like moonstones and then the premium version. I think in the basic version. (0:04:54) : They limit the number of duties to only three at a time. So it makes it a little harder to advance, but with the premium then they give you (0:05:02) : Nice, well, that sounds that sounds like a good fun and I like I know there’s a bit of controversy about then going from not free to play to free to play, but it feels like that implemented in a way that’s not like kind of forcing you to spend money. (0:05:19) : Yeah, so you can still take advantage of it, but it’s still kind of has that like free to play feel. (0:05:25) : I was playing polio for a while because I was also trying to take advantage of that winter. (0:05:30) : And I think I did everything I need to feel like I got the most out of it and then probably put it down to put all my time back into Dreamline. Yeah, yeah, I feel like I really enjoy Palia. (0:05:48) : But there’s some, it feels like there’s some content missing still from that game. (0:05:52) : Yeah, which makes sense. It’s still in early access. Absolutely. (0:05:59) : but uh what have you (0:06:00) : been playing what have I been playing uh so I have tried and when I say tried I’ve played like half an hour so I don’t have too much to say but I have tried pal world which is the the pokemon with guns game that’s got like a ton of controversy around it because they pretty blatantly just like (0:06:22) : copied pokemon designs um and oh wow yeah yeah it’s see (0:06:30) : seems like a really bad survival game is kind of my take and I don’t I don’t think survival games are that good to begin with and this one seems pretty pretty heinous like everything just feels more difficult than it needs to be if that makes sense like when I play a survival game I kind of want to be able to get into things quickly and feel like you know crafting and building stuff is really intuitive. And this game is not that. (0:07:00) : They just set you up with a bunch of quests. They don’t really tell you how to do anything. (0:07:06) : You’ve got a bunch of stats and like I get that it’s a demo, but A, this game is controversial because it seems like they stole a bunch of intellectual property. (0:07:15) : And B, it just seems like a boring and unfun game. So I don’t know that I have a huge elsewhere to say, other than it’s just like, don’t play this game, don’t support it. (0:07:29) : Yeah, I mean just looking at it. (0:07:30) : Like from screenshots and what’s on Steam, it’s very clearly that one can say maybe to be kind like we’re inspired by Pokemon art, but more likely they just took the designs that people liked and put them. Oh my goodness, yeah. What’s the deer Pokemon, the stag one? That looks exactly (0:07:54) : except for the antlers, like Pokemon. So yeah. (0:07:59) : Yeah, pretty much everything. (0:08:00) : I think that this thing looks exactly like a Pokemon where it’s like, oh, they just changed the color palette on this one, or, yeah, they removed one feature or added one feature so I didn’t even get to the point where, you know, a Pokemon had a gun, I think I caught one and then trying to work out what to do with it was was painful enough that it’s like I just don’t have the energy to put into this sort of terrible experience. (0:08:26) : And I kind of don’t want to give them the, you know, the, the, the, the. (0:08:30) : I was playing stat on game pass because, um, uh, I guess that’s the version of supporting the game there. (0:08:37) : So yeah, trying not to play that one. (0:08:40) : Yeah. (0:08:41) : I mean, I can, I suppose I can make an argument that like sure that the creatures there are very similar to Pokemon, but they’re spending, still spending a lot of time and like effort into building everything else. (0:08:50) : And I would hope that it’s better. (0:08:54) : It plays better than Scarlet Violet did, um, especially at the beginning. (0:08:58) : So if they’re able to accomplish that– (0:09:00) : Pokemon Company wasn’t, then that’s one point for them, I guess. (0:09:05) : Yeah, and they do have that point. (0:09:07) : The Pokemon don’t start around the world. (0:09:09) : So and the open world, because it’s an open-ish world, (0:09:14) : I assume it’s procedurally generated, (0:09:17) : but I’m not sure on that, it feels better than the Pokemon open world from the small section that I’ve played. (0:09:27) : And it kind of has the vibe of, I assume (0:09:30) : movement abilities or something like that. (0:09:32) : And that’ll be cool once you get those. (0:09:37) : But it doesn’t seem worth going through all of the effort of actually getting those. (0:09:42) : See, part of me almost wants to get it, (0:09:44) : because this is what I kind of want our guests to have been, (0:09:48) : where it was back in the days. (0:09:50) : So it was more of a survival-esque aspect, (0:09:53) : but it fell a lot short than what– (0:09:57) : in comparison, I think, to what Power World is maybe offering. (0:10:00) : Maybe we should start a multiplayer world, then. (0:10:05) : You’re telling me not to support me, (0:10:07) : and I’m making an argument why I want to support you. (0:10:09) : Because it looks like the Pokemon game I want to play. (0:10:14) : I mean, it might get good. (0:10:16) : We’ll see. (0:10:16) : We’ll see. (0:10:16) : Yeah. (0:10:17) : Yeah, it’s still early access, so we’ll see. (0:10:20) : Maybe these are just the initial ones. (0:10:22) : There’s so much good ideas for new Pokemon out in the either in the internet. (0:10:27) : I have hopes that they would just have like a small number. (0:10:31) : clearly copied, and then we’ll be a little bit more creative. I don’t know, but we’ll see, I guess. (0:10:35) : On that front, I will say, “Prepare for disappointment.” (0:10:39) : Okay. (0:10:42) : So that’s Power World. The other game I’ve been playing is Sea of Stars, (0:10:48) : which is a very cute little JRPG that came out last year. And it’s been a while since I’ve like, (0:10:55) : jumped into a good JRPG, and this one kind of just jumped out, and I feel (0:11:01) : like I heard enough, you know, people around me saying good things about it that I thought I would give it a go, and I’m really enjoying it. It’s just a really nice, like, that the writing (0:11:16) : feels better than your, like, I’m not like trying to say that the writing’s amazing, (0:11:20) : but JRPGs generally have pretty terrible writing. And this one has been pretty good so far, (0:11:27) : I’m enjoying that. I really enjoy the combat. (0:11:31) : There’s some small timing based stuff in the combat, which I normally don’t love, but it’s kind of like implemented in a way that’s just works quite well in this game. (0:11:43) : And they have some cool mechanics that they’ve layered on top, right? (0:11:47) : So like when enemies are doing kind of like their finisher or their signature attack, there’ll be there’s ways to break it. (0:11:58) : like see if you deal certain types of damage to them. (0:12:01) : You can interrupt it and stop that entirely, which is a really cool mechanic because it adds kind of like a fun short term puzzle aspect to the middle of fights. (0:12:13) : So it’s not just how do I get the health bar to zero, it adds the you know the interesting dimension of well this attack will deal less damage but it will deal the sort of damage that I need to need to do. (0:12:27) : So I feel like the combat’s really, really intelligent. (0:12:31) : It’s intelligently designed, you know, in similar ways to if you play games like Bravely Default or all those sorts of things that feels like kind of equivalent to what those did to the standard turn-based mechanic system. (0:12:44) : Okay. Sounds good. I picked up game, so I was a backer of Sea of Stars and didn’t get around to picking it up until before like the new year. (0:12:55) : And then dropped it immediately as soon as I realized there was winter events that I had to spend time in. (0:13:01) : I also had the same impression, like I really enjoyed, I think, like the few hours that I put into it for those exact same reasons and the art style is beautiful. (0:13:11) : So I’m, I think, excited to pick that up once I’m done grinding in my alley. (0:13:18) : Yeah. Well, maybe once you’re done, we can do a second harvest on Sea of Stars. (0:13:23) : Yes. Yes, I love that. (0:13:26) : Great. But that, I guess, is what I’ve been playing. (0:13:31) : And so with that, we will jump to the news, because there is a decent chunk of news this week. (0:13:37) : And to kick off, we’ve got Faith Farm. So their 2.1 update is out now, as of the time you’re listening to it. (0:13:47) : It’s not out now, as of the time of recording. There’s some cool changes in this one. (0:13:53) : So probably the biggest thing is if you’re in single player mode, the game actually pauses in menus. (0:14:01) : This is one of those little things, just those little annoyances that didn’t happen before, or if you’re in a menu, time just continued to pass. (0:14:09) : Which is a bit of a brain breaker, I think, for farming games, because if you needed to pause, you know, most games, you just open the menu and then have that be the way that you pause. (0:14:21) : But that does not work for Faith Farm, but now it will. So that’s cool that they’ve got that. (0:14:31) : I don’t recall. I was also playing that, I think, prior to the New Year. And don’t recall the, maybe not realizing that it didn’t pause, but I was also playing when I couldn’t sleep. (0:14:44) : So I guess I didn’t have much of a need to pause it. But yeah, that’s definitely a huge quality of life improvement. (0:14:50) : Yeah. And I don’t think it was hugely impactful for Faith Farm. Like compared to a lot of other farming games, you don’t spend a ton of time in the menus in that game. (0:14:59) : It’s not super noticeable. (0:15:01) : And it was never really one of those games where I struggled, (0:15:04) : like, or where I felt like the days were too short. (0:15:09) : So I think that’s it’s not it wasn’t a huge limitation for that game, (0:15:14) : but definitely just something that was out of step with, you know, (0:15:17) : I guess what’s become a standard quality of life feature. (0:15:22) : There are a few other small changes coming with 2.1. (0:15:24) : We won’t talk about them here, because it’s kind of one of those. (0:15:28) : if you hear, you hear, and if you don’t. (0:15:32) : There’s just a lot of small things, I guess, that are coming through. (0:15:36) : They’ve also shared a bit about the subsequent updates, Update 2.2. (0:15:42) : They’re talking about the expansion of romance mechanics, which if you’ve listened to previous episodes on, or a previous episode on Feyfarn, you know that Al and I, we were not enamored with the romance system. (0:15:58) : And I don’t know that I’m that excited to jump back in with the mix. (0:16:02) : But I think it’s something they should kind of not invest their time into, it’s not a good focus for this game. (0:16:10) : But they are, so we’ll see what they do there. (0:16:14) : And they say allowing further control of game time. (0:16:18) : I’m wondering if this is a feature that’s kind of more common in newer games where you can sort of control how quickly in real-world time you want the data pass. (0:16:32) : Maybe it’s, you know, if it’s 20 minutes, maybe you can make it half an hour or something like that instead. (0:16:38) : But we will see. (0:16:40) : And expansion, this next one’s I think planned for release before the end of June, which is still quite a bit away. (0:16:50) : Indeed. (0:16:50) : Cool. (0:16:52) : So our next is Fabledom, what they are calling the wedding chattel update, which is coming on the first of February. (0:17:02) : And I guess in terms of update names, I mean, I like this one. It’s very clear about what this update means. (0:17:10) : What this update is, you know, doing a wedding update close to Valentine’s Day, they’re getting some good holiday tie-in. (0:17:20) : Have you played Fabledom at all, Bev? (0:17:22) : I have not. I’m not sure if it will be one I pick up, but I do like the name of their update. (0:17:32) : Maybe that’s really spot on unless there’s like maybe it’s a wedding for NPCs and we don’t we thought it was for us. (0:17:40) : But it’s highly dead. (0:17:42) : No, it’s probably just a wedding that we can have ourselves in the game. (0:17:46) : But yeah, have you played it? (0:17:50) : I have not played it. (0:17:52) : But it does say in the in the dev diary that third dates are now available and each one comes with a unique structure with its own. (0:18:02) : A feature connected to the date’s objective. So I assume that applies to your character and their ability to go on a date. (0:18:08) : Once you complete your third date, you can finally get married. Wow. Three dates and then marriage. That is very fast. (0:18:18) : But you must, of course, throw a feast. And yeah, I mean, this is like a really cool update for a game like this that introduces like some some different building types. (0:18:28) : Um, like I like the look of- (0:18:32) : I feel like this might be the sort of gamer I might like search out like a YouTuber who’s doing, you know, a playthrough of it and watch someone else play a game like this. (0:18:46) : Because it’s kind of just very nice and relaxing to watch someone else who knows what they’re doing play a game like this. (0:18:52) : Yeah, exactly. And I find that like with city builders, I tend to like stress myself out like I want a structure like I would tell me where to put the building and I would be happy to build it but I- (0:19:02) : I’m not creative. I’m not feeling creative right now. I don’t want to build a city. This sounds like a too big of a project for me right now. (0:19:08) : And you’re like, look at all the promotional stuff you’re like, I would that’s exactly what I would like to do. And then you start playing like, turns out it’s really hard to build things like that nicely laid out with that much intention. (0:19:20) : And in terms of cool buildings, they’ve got a palace that’s been added and the palace looks very cool. (0:19:26) : That’s always in why I want this because it looks it’s giving me Shrek vibes. (0:19:30) : Um (0:19:32) : Just from like, sir, it was this like face like, uh, so far so far didn’t or I don’t remember his name, but the, the little icon, a little person in the, in the logo seems like it’s that person from Shrek. Um, yeah, if it had like two settings where it could be like a structured version or creative version, I’d be like all into it. Um, but I think without that, I’m, I might pass because I I have too many, I’m managing too many projects at work and I don’t. (0:20:02) : That is entirely fair. Cool. So that is a fabled in. I feel like you might be the best talk about this next piece of news research story. Now has Steam achievements. (0:20:20) : Yes. I’m just looking at like the update on the devlog and it’s the icons for the (0:20:32) : So cute. I want to get back in just a second and get these achievements. (0:20:38) : I feel like they would make really cute like little pins or badges. (0:20:43) : Research story, please get on top of that. I will take my money. I will throw money at you for for these for especially that that cat mushroom pin please. (0:20:53) : But yeah, let’s see. I think they’re also doing some other changes, but just minor fixes. (0:21:03) : Like adding flowers and herbs with a dehydrator looks like seeds can now be used for the campfire to get roasted seeds. So a couple other just smaller things like that and other quality of life updates. But I will be checking out what these steam achievements are. There’s 29 of them. (0:21:22) : Nice. And it’s just good to have you know small things like this added to games like research story that just kind of gives you that reason to keep coming back. (0:21:32) : You’re the completionist, which I think every Pokemon fan is. (0:21:36) : I think most cottagecore people are in some way a completionist. Maybe not, you know, (0:21:40) : maybe not a hundred percenter, but there’s that thing that you’re like, I have to do. (0:21:44) : Have to do. Yeah, that is a good point. And maybe why I’ve been liking more of the games that have like quest lines that are more structured like Fey Farm or Summer and Mara. (0:21:55) : Yeah, it’s what I think kind of sucked me into Palia as well, right? Like at the start, (0:21:59) : It’s got such a strong quest driven (0:22:02) : aspect to it that I really enjoyed. (0:22:05) : Same thing with Disney Dreamlight. (0:22:08) : Yeah, actually, that’s a great point at Disney Dreamlight Valley. (0:22:10) : That was all quest driven, so. (0:22:12) : Yeah, there’s nothing in there but quests. (0:22:16) : Cool, so next on the list we’ve got Slime Rancher 2. (0:22:20) : As Al’s described it, they’ve got a kinder roadmap. (0:22:23) : There’s an update coming in a few weeks that is going to allow players to (0:22:28) : do some more customization to the world around them with the ability to play (0:22:32) : it’s nearly anywhere in the world. It’s kind of hard to be more specific on the update because (0:22:40) : it’s kind of like a blog post that’s been written without a lot of specifics behind it. (0:22:45) : So I guess the thing is if you’re into Slime Ranch 2 then there are updates planned for (0:22:52) : summer 2024 or fall 2024 as well. But I guess just pay attention to Slime Ranch 2 if that is a thing that you care about. (0:23:02) : I don’t mind the more vagueness of the posts because it doesn’t really tie them into really hard deadlines or really hard features that they may not reach within the time frame. (0:23:18) : So I think this gives the dev team a little flexibility, which I will not fault them for. (0:23:24) : Absolutely. (0:23:25) : Well, the one that’s coming in a few weeks, it might be nice to know what’s in that one because that’s got to be pretty locked in at this point. (0:23:31) : True. (0:23:32) : But at this point, you’re either playing area or not, and the last update was Come Brain or Slime. (0:23:41) : So I suppose it would have been nice to have a name for the next update, but I don’t know. (0:23:48) : I feel like if you were going to be playing this game, you would already be playing this or be just waiting for a lull or something to pick it up again. (0:23:57) : Yeah. (0:23:58) : Definitely. (0:23:59) : Cool. (0:24:00) : Cheema. (0:24:01) : Ahh, looks like there is… (0:24:02) : There is a update coming that maybe lets you take your bunny for a walk. (0:24:07) : So Usagi-shima is the mobile bunny collecting game, I guess is probably the way to describe it. (0:24:14) : There’s an episode on it, it was December, that the episode came out. (0:24:23) : My assumption is that taking the bunny for a walk is kind of like another request that the bunnies might have like playing hide and seek or something like that with them. (0:24:32) : Like everything with Usagi Shima, it looks super cute, so if you’re into this game, then this is probably the way to… (0:24:39) : this is probably something that’s pretty exciting. (0:24:42) : Yes, it looks very cute. I have not been playing it, because I just can’t keep up with mobile games, except for Twisted Wonderland. (0:24:51) : I can apparently keep up with that one. (0:24:54) : What is Twisted Wonderland? Now I have to know. (0:24:57) : Oh, OK, so it’s it’s a Japanese Disney game. (0:25:02) : It’s a Disney gacha game specifically, so it’s. (0:25:08) : Exactly, it’s set in a school (0:25:12) : I think called the Raven Raven, I forget what was it on a call. (0:25:18) : Yes, there’s there’s different forms. (0:25:20) : There’s a Savannah claw, which is the scar dormitory, (0:25:24) : and there’s I believe six or seven other dormitories based off of other Disney villains. You have the Queen of Hearts. (0:25:32) : Ursula, you have Hades, and who else? I think there’s like one or two that… oh, the queen from Starlight, the evil queen, and… (0:25:49) : Is there Corella? Is Corella in this game? That’s what I want to know. (0:25:52) : No. Oh, wait, Corella is in the game, but as a teacher. (0:25:55) : What? No! I don’t know what you’re up to roll gutches for. (0:26:03) : Sadly, you cannot be in Corella’s house, but you can at least take classes from Corella, (0:26:08) : and there’s also Gaston, who teaches the flying lessons, and Lucifer from Cinderella makes the cat, makes an appearance as being one of the teacher’s pets. (0:26:20) : And they say. (0:26:23) : So the story is actually… there is a story element to it, and I really have enjoyed just slowly going through like the different books or the different chapters of (0:26:32) : each of the different domentories, because each of them has their own like book and each their own storyline and it is a gotcha game, but it’s not to the extent of like being annoying that Pokemon Masters has been for me or like even my Marvel Strike Force. (0:26:51) : So it seems it feels more achievable for the events and there’s a lot more story elements to it, which I enjoy reading about since I love these characters. So I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it. (0:27:02) : And the outfits in the game, like the art is just fantastic. So I would recommend checking it out at some point. (0:27:10) : I have maybe just downloaded this. The thing that seems most wild to me is that this is a like official like, like it has all of the vibes of being like a big sort of Disney game, but like it’s not sort of official license thing, which is I don’t know, there’s no reason that it’s a little brain breaking. (0:27:29) : feels I guess a little bit out of step for what does new. (0:27:32) : I’m enjoying it and that’s all I care about. (0:28:02) : Well, I’m going to be messaging you about this game because I am going to be. (0:28:06) : Oh my goodness, please. (0:28:07) : Please. (0:28:08) : So listeners, have you been playing Disney Greenlight Valley and you’re worried it wasn’t anime enough? (0:28:13) : Tell my distance. (0:28:15) : Yes, Jim. (0:28:17) : All right. (0:28:18) : We’ve got some news because, you know, if the one thing like this, there’s not that many cottage core games, you know, there’s only like, you know, two or three that come out a year. (0:28:27) : But excitingly, we’ve got some more to add to the list. (0:28:31) : That will be… (0:28:32) : There will be too many. (0:28:34) : There will never be too many. Oh my god. (0:28:36) : Alright, so first one we’ve got on the list is Tales of Psycute? (0:28:42) : I think so. That sounds right. (0:28:44) : Great. Probably without the implied question mark at the end. (0:28:48) : Yes. (0:28:50) : Their Kickstarter is live now, and it is already fully funded, which is exciting for them. (0:28:58) : And so this is a RPG farming sim. (0:29:02) : Where I guess the thing that makes it unique is a yokai inspired world. (0:29:10) : And in the trailer they show your character changing into… (0:29:14) : And I’m probably gonna get this wrong because I will live in it. (0:29:16) : I’m not like up to speed on yokai. (0:29:18) : But changing into various yokai I assume is the correct way of stating it. (0:29:25) : So and that’s how you can do a lot of the farming. (0:29:28) : so I think they show a boar-style character. (0:29:32) : They might be calling them “forms” and not like different “yay-ay-ay” or “you’re okay.” (0:29:54) : But they look fantastic. (0:29:57) : And it’s almost like the Pokemon-like new feature where you can just turn yourself into a- (0:30:02) : I feel like this is going to be better than that. (0:30:06) : I agree. Yeah, it looks really good. (0:30:09) : It does. (0:30:11) : My only concern, so they’re in a Kickstarter, right? (0:30:14) : Which is, you know, it’s how a lot of these games get developed and the trailer looks incredible. (0:30:20) : I don’t know if there’s anything that stands out as unique other than the changing into the different forms. (0:30:27) : The thing that is giving me a little bit of ports with this one is some of the features that are on this channel. (0:30:33) : roadmap feel to me like the sort of things that I guess I expect to be standard for these sort of games. So, you know, like the first stretch bar which they have already hit was to have a female protagonist further down the list. There are things like character customization and some things like that. It just gives me a little bit of pause around, I guess, how feature works. (0:31:03) : I feel like that was the exact reaction I had. Looking at the art, I was very excited by (0:31:14) : the look and feel of this game, but as soon as I was scrolling down the campaign and I saw that having a different gender for the main character was locked behind an update just felt icky to me. (0:31:28) : So that was like immediately turning me off. Like just either… (0:31:33) : have it from the beginning or don’t. It’s just kind of weird to have that as a stretch goal, (0:31:40) : but otherwise I feel like I really enjoy everything other than like the romancing of it so far. (0:31:50) : Yes, yeah the romancing in the trailer was a bit odd. I have no idea. (0:31:58) : Yeah, it looks like a cool game, you know. (0:32:03) : It’s funded, so I was going to say it’s happening, but you know, it’s Kickstarter, (0:32:09) : we’ve all been around long enough. I mean, I guess it means it’s not dead yet. (0:32:15) : I think there’s a lot of potential. It looks really exciting. They’ve really nailed the visual style. I think the proof of this one will be in all of these games, right? How does it play when you’re able to get your hands on it? Yeah, exactly. Just for the art style alone, (0:32:33) : beautiful like the three animation looks, I’m all into it. So I don’t know if I’ll back it or just wait for it to come out. I guess I’ll wait and see, but I would not be surprised if I picked this up at some point. Yeah, and I guess in terms of the Kickstarter, you know, to get access to the game whenever it comes out, you know, that’s about 20 bucks, which is I think pretty reasonable, like if you’re willing to take the risk, you know, like that’s… (0:33:03) : I assume a bit of a discount on what this game will be when it launches but you’ve got the additional, you know, risk of it not coming out. So if that’s something you’re into, I’m assuming Al has already backed this. (0:33:19) : I would retract what I said. I would be interested in backing it for the pets, the Kickstarter pets only. (0:33:27) : I have not come across the Kickstarter pets yet, but I’m sure it’s interesting. (0:33:33) : It’s like almost all the way down if you scroll down. At some point there’s a dog, like right at the end before like the development and platforms. (0:33:44) : There’s a Kickstarter exclusive cat and dog, which look very cute. (0:33:52) : Oh, they do look very cute. Right? Yeah. Is that a Shiba Inu? I think that’s a Shiba Inu. I think so. (0:34:00) : Yeah, yeah, these are pretty cute. (0:34:03) : How dare they use like rewards to make huge fish? (0:34:10) : How dare! (0:34:11) : Like, how like they know their audience too much. (0:34:15) : Like, we’re here for the cozy farming and for the pets. (0:34:18) : How dare you make this a Kickstarter exclusive? (0:34:21) : I think they will have different versions of cats and dogs, but maybe the specific like skin of the cat and dog is exclusive to Kickstarter. (0:34:31) : We’ll see. (0:34:32) : - That’s my assumption. - If not, you have– (0:34:33) : - Kai’s pets, so. - All right. (0:34:37) : So that is Tales of Saikou. (0:34:42) : Yeah, it looks really cool. (0:34:43) : But obviously, you know, like the estimated delivery date is December 2024, which is, (0:34:50) : you know, I would say an ambitious timeline based on, (0:34:55) : you know, how we’ve seen Kickstarter’s go in the past. (0:34:57) : So sign up if you’re interested. (0:34:59) : And if you’re not, we’ll be giving more updates as they come out. (0:35:03) : Right here on the harvest season, next game we’ve got is Garden Life, a cozy simulator. (0:35:10) : No, that is not a description of the game. (0:35:12) : That is in fact the title of, you know, a strong contender for the worst name in farming gaming. (0:35:20) : This is a relaxing gardening game in which you create your dream garden and peaceful, (0:35:24) : colorful world. (0:35:26) : Plant and add ornaments at your own pace, transforming an overgrown forgotten plot into a flourishing community garden. (0:35:34) : on the 22nd of February to Windows, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch, so to all platforms. (0:35:42) : And it looks like a first-person garden-growing simulator. (0:35:48) : I was trying to think when I was watching the trailer what the art style reminds me of. (0:35:55) : And it kind of reminds me of a lot of those puzzle games that I feel like, you know, kind of a popular like five or ten years ago where the (0:36:04) : movie is a bit more of a point and click. I don’t know, there was something about it. I couldn’t quite find the direct comparison I was looking for. But it’s kind of like that almost realistic without being realistic sort of art style. (0:36:22) : I feel like if you were to take like the Miyazaki films and make them more realistic. No, not Miyazaki, that’s the wrong, um, um, uh… (0:36:34) : CD Ghibli films and make them have a more realistic lens. This is what it would look like maybe. Yeah, I think that’s a really good description. I love it, even though the name is terrible. (0:36:50) : What is it about it that stood out to you? Uh, I think it’s just how floral and, um, like it truly has that cottagecore vibe to it. Like this is this looks like the skin that people have. (0:37:04) : People would want to add to your Stardew Valley like farm. Um, but just the whole world is designed in this very cottagecore like floral style and I love it. Um, but other than that, I don’t, that’s nothing more than that. I think just the art style. (0:37:22) : Interesting. Yeah, I get it. That makes sense because that’s probably the thing that didn’t really resonate for me. It’s not an art style that really, um, connects for me. And I think that’s to me, it seems like the determining. (0:37:34) : Each year for this game. Nothing really stood out as being super unique, but I think the idea of just sort of building a garden and hopefully that’s the smallest scale makes this for like a good version of what it’s trying to be. (0:37:52) : Also, I just googled it and Yazaki is the director of Studio Ghibli and that makes me feel a little better that I remember to cry. (0:38:04) : I don’t love the first person. I was that I don’t love the first person aspect of it though. Yeah, I think it’s a good call in terms of removing some of the stuff that we were just talking about with the previous game around like character customization and stuff like that. (0:38:18) : Like just doing first person is a great way to kind of not have to put that into your game. (0:38:26) : And actually, I’ve now this is useful because it’s not helped me connect with kind of what it gave me vibes of is games like power. (0:38:34) : I don’t think this looks quite as good as power or simulator, but that you know is that first person, you know, in a small environment where you’re sort of interacting with the world around you kind of gives me similar vibes to that. (0:38:46) : So, which is maybe like maybe talk to myself into liking it more because I really like. (0:38:52) : And the thought of like, you know, doing that first person, you know, growing or developing a garden is is actually kind of I’m getting tempted getting tempted. (0:39:04) : I am also getting tempted because it’s like if if I weren’t really guarding IRL, I feel like this is this is pretty close to how it would look like, I think, like first person and the realistic like art style. (0:39:18) : So I yeah, it’s going to scratch an itch. So I might get it. (0:39:26) : Cool. So that is garden life, a cozy simulator. And if you’re struggling to search for it, just turn every generic word associated with college. (0:39:34) : And it should come up coming out 22nd of it. (0:39:40) : And finally, we have Grimshire, a deadly plague threatens the village of Grimshire manage your farmland forage the bounty of the wilds provincial harvest from rotting away and keep the root cellar full. (0:39:52) : Can you help bring the community together and survive. (0:39:56) : So this is coming to you on 2025 to the access the it looks like. (0:40:04) : I guess you’re an animal in Grimshire rather than being a human character. They have some pre alpha footage on the steam page. (0:40:16) : I don’t know that I love the art style. It’s a very simple art style, which which doesn’t necessarily mean bad. (0:40:24) : It just feels to me the color palette feels very gray. So I’m kind of going to get some more color into it just to make the world sort of visually more appealing. (0:40:34) : art style could work quite well. I just, it’s just missing something for me. I guess I’m interested in seeing more about what the intent is behind the game. You know, with the name of Grimshire in the trailer, they sort of show the starting thing where it sounds like your village that your character lived in beforehand was, you know, destroyed or something like that. And so the sort of like dark overtone, true. (0:41:04) : The game is an is an interesting angle. I’m curious to see where they take it. (0:41:11) : Like if they’re going to lean harder into like a goblin core vibe as opposed to some of the other (0:41:18) : games. I am if they do, I feel like I’m definitely going to want this because I’m already (0:41:26) : very intrigued by like the apocalyptic feel. (0:41:31) : And I guess it’s, I don’t know if it’s going to be parts of it. (0:41:34) : I think that’s a fair description. And one of the things I’ll say for a game where, yes, (0:41:54) : it’s curated, but they’re showing pre-alpha footage. They show quite a bit in there. They They show everything that you would expect to see in a farming style. (0:42:04) : But they show some of the construction, building stuff where it seems like laying parts and things like that. (0:42:14) : You can actually draw the shape and then just place it all rather than having to place it tile by tile. (0:42:20) : So it looks like there’s some cool thoughts that I’ve got around, quality of life sort of stuff. (0:42:26) : Which I guess is just really good to see at a game that’s very early in the development life cycle. (0:42:35) : And I’m seeing that they had a previous game that they released this video and it’s called Bones Cafe. (0:42:43) : And now intrigued by learning a little bit more about this particular dev and maybe even looking into this other what appears to be a couch co-op cooking game. (0:42:58) : Yeah, this looks, Bones Cafe looks pretty cute, I’m gonna say. I am into the side. (0:43:04) : I love this. It’s giving very, it is giving very overcooked vibes, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. (0:43:12) : I haven’t played over card, so maybe this would be a more fun way to play it. It is indeed a similar play style or game. (0:43:23) : But I will actually be watching this one. I’m gonna wishlist it now. (0:43:28) : All right, that’s all of our news. How are you feeling after all that news, Beth? (0:43:34) : Wallet is gonna be very tired in the near future. (0:43:39) : That is entirely fair. But if your wallet is feeling tired and you need to go back to something that you already own and it has a great free update. (0:43:50) : Wait, let’s talk about Stardew Valley 1.5. (0:43:54) : That was an amazing segue. (0:44:01) : So, look, to kick off the conversation about Stardew Valley, one point… (0:44:05) : I just kind of want to talk generally about how you feel it fits into Stardew as a whole. (0:44:13) : Like, you know, do you feel like it adds more to the experience? (0:44:18) : And that, you know, now, if you went back and played one of the earlier patches, something would be missing. (0:44:25) : Do you feel it’s more like a, you know, good standalone piece of content? (0:44:30) : content. Where are you at on what was included in the 1.5 updated? And I guess just to be explicit, the main thing we’re talking about Stardew Valley 1.5 is Ginger Island. (0:44:42) : Mm hmm. I actually really enjoyed it. I thought it kind of fit into like the more like quirky aspects of the Stardew Valley. Like world, I guess it kind of fits into like the the wizard, like having the magics. (0:45:04) : It doesn’t exist inside the world and it’s not surprising that this island is off on the side, somewhere nearby from Sardu Valley. (0:45:16) : It feels along the lines of those quirky NPCs, maybe not some more your typical romanceable characters, (0:45:30) : but there’s like more of a story that I’m intrigued to know. (0:45:34) : newer NPCs that were introduced, there is a beach. I suppose it’s not unreasonable to think that there would be a tropical island located somewhere to the south or adjacent to Sartre Valley. I don’t know. I feel like it still aligns with the world as just introducing a different area of it. And I would be interested to see if… (0:46:04) : They explore that a little bit more in maybe future updates or what have you. But that’s kind of my feel then. What about you? (0:46:17) : Yeah, I think I’m similar. Overall, I love everything that’s in the 1.5 update. But I almost feel like it’s a separate game to play Sartre Valley. To me… (0:46:34) : I feel like I could go back and play Sartre Valley 1.4 and not feel like anything was missing. Because Ginger Island I think feels so disconnected. I’m sure there’s probably some quality of life stuff that’s included within 1.5 because it’s a huge update that I would probably miss a little bit. But it feels so separate. And I think for me, the biggest tension that I felt, because when we decided we were going to do a 1.5 episode, (0:47:03) : I went back and started and then… (0:47:04) : …entirely new farm, because I just wanted to see what was different and I feel like the first year felt like every other first year of Stardew Valley that I’ve played until I completed the community center unlocked the boat. (0:47:20) : But then I felt a really strong tension of like, but I’ve got this farm in, you know, my regular farm that I’ve invested all of this time and energy and care into. (0:47:34) : And I’m constantly being pulled to this island and so on Ginger Island, there is a new farm that you can develop and there’s a farmhouse so you can stay there if you want. (0:47:46) : I was kind of not interested in doing that because I developed a farm already, like I didn’t want to do that again. I was interested in everything else Ginger Island had to offer. (0:47:56) : But the farm piece, I guess, felt very disconnected and so I more interacted with Ginger Island in the same way that I do. (0:48:04) : The desert, right, where it’s a place I would go and I would go there almost every single day, but then I would still go back to my home farm every single night. (0:48:16) : I definitely agree with you there. I think initially was very frustrated with having an additional farm to manage. (0:48:26) : There was some pros to having it, like additional income to get, you know, crops faster or. (0:48:36) : Help me fulfill completion goals, like being able to sell all these different crops and certain numbers of them quicker than I might have been able to with only one farm. (0:48:48) : But I did find that after I essentially beat the game by, you know, the two years of getting grandpa’s approval. (0:48:58) : I did find that I was only just staying on Ginger Island because it was just too much to be going back and forth. (0:49:06) : And there were a few quality of life improvements that they included with this game and with this update, like the very small chests that you could access either way in each farm. (0:49:22) : But I was so, I think, frustrated in having to like essentially create two separate sets of chests with all the same materials, but located and available on each different island so that I can have everything I can. (0:49:34) : I think that’s something I need at my fingertips. I’m looking at Dreamlight Valley and how they I bought the DLC and how they did that. (0:49:46) : I very much prefer that version of it where they have the house essentially the same in either location. (0:49:56) : I think that’s something I would prefer to do. I would prefer to form two different organizational systems separately, but essentially exact copies of each other. (0:50:04) : I would have enjoyed that the farm itself if it was just a mirror image or if you could choose whether or not you want to manage two different farms. (0:50:14) : That was like a whole bunch of work and I was just like, I’m going to pick one island to stay on. So it’s either going to be original or the new one. (0:50:22) : And most likely I was at the new one to try to accommodate all the different goals that came out of the update. (0:50:30) : Yeah, cool, I was curious to get your opinion on that, because I wasn’t sure if– (0:50:35) : feeling was sort of out of the norm or not, but yeah, I think it was a it’s a good idea and it’s good to have the optionality there. I just I kind of almost wish there was just a version of the game where you’re just like, hey, just start me on Ginger Island, right? Like, just just start me with an Albion Ginger Island sort of based character. (0:50:58) : Ooh, it would be cool if they could almost mirror the storyline a little bit. Like there was a community center (0:51:05) : on Ginger Island. If you chose to start on Ginger Island as opposed to the regular rally and you would have to work towards beating essentially beating the game by unlocking the community center and then you can unlock the regular starting the area and then meet all your like regular NPCs so there could be pros and cons to starting on either island. So if you’re like Alan don’t want to talk to anyone, we can start to drag. Work. (0:51:35) : Wait for them to eventually visit the island and you just slowly start to like get to know them that way. And instead of letting them visit the island, you just build a wall to keep them all out. Oh my goodness. Yes. Yes. Just never open it up. (0:51:49) : Never fix it. But but it’s funny, right? ‘cause I think that’s a really good idea and I think there would be a really simple way to do it and it’s probably a good segue into one of the main features of Ginger Island, which is the the Golden walnuts. So they’re sort of like collectible that’s that’s on (0:52:05) : on Ginger Island. I think there’s like 100 and something (0:52:10) : golden. 130. 130. Yeah, I just checked my completion status. So (0:52:15) : that’s amazing. And I think that’s something that you could tie, you know, like you could if you wanted to do the community center thing, you could just tie unlocking because some of the golden walnuts you get through just doing things like farming or fishing on the island. But if you haven’t completed the community center. Maybe that’s a, you know, maybe there’s more (0:52:35) : specific challenges you have to do in order to unlock those (0:52:39) : those specific golden walnuts. (0:52:41) : I really like that because it’s, it’s definitely not easy to get to that point. And I probably put in as many hours as it took to unlock the community center. So I would agree. I think that would be a fantastic way to kind of juggle different versions of how to start this game. (0:53:00) : And what did you think of the golden walnuts in general? So I I guess just as a quick explainer. (0:53:05) : As Bev said, there’s 130. (0:53:07) : You get some through doing actions like fishing or farming or doing the mines. (0:53:14) : And then there’s a number that are locked behind various puzzles. (0:53:17) : And it could just be dig in a certain location or there’s certain areas based on the way the world works. (0:53:27) : We’ve got to walk behind this tree and it’s maybe not super obvious where the path is to get there and kind of getting to some hidden locations. (0:53:35) : And then there’s a few more that you get through some of the quests on the island and things like that. (0:53:40) : So what do you think of the Golden Mornuts? (0:53:44) : I almost equate them to the notes that are available on the base game, or base game base valley in the valley. (0:53:53) : So similar in that they’re kind of there if you want to actively try to collect them all, but it’s not really a necessity, if I recall correctly. (0:54:04) : What is it is (0:54:05) : in the aspect that you need Golden Walnuts to unlock various areas of the island. (0:54:10) : So the island kind of develops as you but you don’t need to collect all of them. I think you probably need about I think it’s about 80 I think you need in order to unlock most of the most of the core stuff on the island. Okay I’m looking at the wiki now and it looks like it’s 160 to unlock all the awards. But I don’t know, like some of those might be. (0:54:35) : Like once a farmhouse like mailbox, so I don’t think that’s that’s not necessary to really fully experience. I think the ginger island of it. So some of it could be it. You may not need all 116 is when I’m trying to get it. (0:54:51) : I would like I think I would like it better if there was some sort of tracking system to show like where and when you got them because I could see it being very frustrating to be like, okay, I have like 30 of them now. I don’t remember. (0:55:05) : How I got these and now I’m trying to actively collect more of them. So I have to kind of rule out by just checking out like the wiki or something else by verifying that I am on the path that I need to be in in searching where I need to search for additional walnuts unless unless I’m misremembering. (0:55:25) : But I don’t recall there being like a tracking system for that. So it’s not an explicit tracking system and I agree with your point. I think it needed it needed one. (0:55:36) : there is the parrots on the island give you hints about walnuts that you don’t have, (0:55:43) : which I guess is meant to be the version of that, which is, you know, that’s fine when you’re sort of in the mid stages and you’ve found all of the ones that are obvious and you’re not sure where to look next and you don’t want to open something out. But when you’re at, you know, you’ve got most of them completed, the hints probably not going to help you find it. And then, yeah, having to go (0:56:06) : to look it up is just a bit frustrating. It would be nice if there was a, you know, even if it was one of the last unlocks is like, hey, unlock the golden walnut tracking systems so you can see what ones you still have to collect or something like that would be quite nice. But in general, I think I enjoyed the idea of what they were trying to do with the walnuts, you know, just trying to get you to experience everything on Jigae Island. I thought it was a good variation on something like the idea (0:56:36) : of a community center, because that’s the same idea behind the community center, right? And I do like your comparison to the notes. For me, it’s probably between the community center and the notes somewhere in that realm. But I think it did a good job of getting you to sort of at least give everything a go on the island, right? Because I was probably not going to do any fishing on the island until I was like, oh, there’s golden walnuts in the water. I guess I’ll do some fishing now because I just don’t know. It was good in that respect. Yeah. (0:57:06) : I 100% agree with you, and it definitely forced me to think about, or not even. I just went to the wiki to find everything, honestly. So it has been a while since I, unlike you, did not start over to get into this game. I was working towards 100% completion status, so that’s where I was working towards. So I have all 130, but I don’t remember how I quite got to. (0:57:36) : But I’m currently like working on, I think 100% completion of the game. And it was I think a little frustrating at times to have to find them. Some of them were easier than others. (0:57:53) : But some of them were satisfying even after I figured out the puzzle. There was like one (0:58:01) : puzzle game. I think it was specifically a game that I failed several times. (0:58:06) : And that got a little frustrating to win it. (0:58:10) : What is that game? (0:58:12) : I don’t remember. (0:58:14) : It’s like really, it’s not at all. (0:58:16) : There’s the memory one, right? Isn’t it the same as the memory one? Yes. (0:58:21) : Yeah, I, as I have shown earlier with like my confusion about whether it was me as Ducky or Sooty Ghibli, (0:58:30) : my memory is not great, so I struggled along with it. (0:58:34) : Yeah, I think I failed that one quite a few– (0:58:36) : I don’t know. (0:58:38) : It got quite hard. They flashed quite quickly, I think. (0:58:44) : Cool. So in terms of what was on Ginger Island, so you’ve got, you know, there’s the (0:58:50) : four directions. You’ve got the north side of the island, which has the (0:58:55) : mine and the volcano. You’ve got the east side, which is where Leo, if I remember rightly, I think, (0:59:01) : because the kid’s name that’s where he hangs out. (0:59:04) : You’ve got sort of the South, which. (0:59:06) : Is your beach area and then the West, which has the farmhouse and kind of a, I guess, a slightly bigger area for for exploring. (0:59:15) : Maybe if we start with the talking about the volcano and what they did with the mines in in this one. (0:59:24) : What do you think of that? (0:59:26) : I feel like they took the skull mines and recreated them here. (0:59:30) : So the same level of stress was was prevalent. (0:59:36) : I think I got to the point where I could master it without dying too much. (0:59:42) : So I wouldn’t say I did not enjoy it. (0:59:46) : I do think spent most of my time in the mines during any playthrough, especially early. (0:59:53) : I’m usually that one that will, if I’m playing multiplayer, will volunteer willingly to go into the mines.
Al and Codey talk about some ideas they have for new cottagecore games Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:05:04: What Have We Been Up To 00:13:29: News 00:27:56: Cottagecore Game Ideas 01:12:59: Outro Links Turnip Boy Robs a Bank on Steam Turnip Boy Robs a Bank on Switch Cult of the Lamb “Sins of the Flesh” Update Meetlight Alpha Info Chill Town Beta Info Rusty’s Retirement Mac Confirmation Immortal Life on Steam Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Al: Hello farmers, and welcome to another episode of The Harvest Season. My name is Al, (0:00:38) Codey: And my name is Cody. (0:00:39) Al: and we are here today to talk about cartridge core games. (0:00:46) Al: Cody, it’s been so long. It’s been a whole week since we talked. (0:00:51) Codey: A whole week, yeah. And this was a surprise. I didn’t realize I was gonna be on. I was like, (0:00:58) Al: I don’t think we need to talk about the fact that who is on this podcast has changed three different times. (0:00:59) Codey: oh man, I’m not recording for a while. And now, now I… (0:01:08) Codey: I mean, it’s just, yeah, I guess it’s just the fact of my travel plans got messed up. I was supposed to be home right now. (0:01:20) Codey: But for those in the United States, you will know that there is a huge winter storm happening back to back to back. There’s much weather. (0:01:28) Al: There is weather. Weather is happening. January weather. (0:01:30) Codey: There’s so much weather. And I was like, not… my flights got canceled like three times and I was just like, ah. (0:01:38) Codey: No, I’m just gonna stop. I’m just gonna stop trying to go home now. Which ended up working out because the whole… one of the whole reasons I was trying to go was because my grandma was supposed to have shoulder surgery and I was gonna like help out. (0:01:50) Codey: But then literally the day before I left, I was supposed to leave. That got scheduled to February and it was like not when I was gonna be there. So it works out because I can now make sure that I’m there for that. (0:02:02) Codey: But it just was frustrating because I was supposed to be on vacation. (0:02:08) Codey: But such is life and… yeah. (0:02:12) Codey: How is weather where you are? (0:02:14) Al: Yeah, it’s cold, but it’s not too cold. (0:02:20) Codey: Oh man, it heckin’… it heckin’ whimdy here. (0:02:20) Al: It’s just kind of standard winter cold for here. (0:02:26) Al: Yeah, I mean, it’s all, I mean, I’m coastal, so it’s always windy here, right? (0:02:30) Al: But which I think is part of the reason why it feels colder. (0:02:30) Codey: Ma’am. (0:02:35) Al: Because it’s like, it’s only minus one Celsius here, which is… (0:02:39) Codey: It’s like 30. (0:02:40) Al: - Yeah, almost exactly, but the wind, (0:02:44) Al: the wind gets you. (0:02:45) Codey: I have a european roommate. I know how to do these conversions. (0:02:51) Al: There are a few I know off the top of my head. (0:02:53) Al: That should have been one, because of course, (0:02:55) Codey: It’s fine. (0:02:56) Al: I knew that we should have been one, (0:02:59) Al: but for some reason, my brain, not worky. (0:03:04) Al: So. (0:03:04) Codey: Oh, I also did want to mention, uh, listeners, if you have any interest in listening to (0:03:12) Codey: an episode about, uh, the best version number systems. I was talking to my partner about it the other day and he like mentioned this very specific version number system and I was like, (0:03:28) Codey: Oh my gosh, we could make a whole episode out of it. (0:03:31) Al: Well, of course we could. It doesn’t mean we need to. (0:03:34) Al: Presumably it was SemVer he was talking about, semantic questioning. (0:03:34) Codey: But yeah, he was talking about some bear. So yeah, uh, listeners, if you want to hear about that. (0:03:37) Al: Yeah. (0:03:41) Al: The problem is that SemVer only really makes sense for things with interfaces, (0:03:48) Al: which, you know, user facing software is not, and people use it for that. (0:03:51) Al: But then it doesn’t really map in the exact same way. (0:03:53) Al: So you’re like, well, at what point are we going to do this? (0:03:56) Al: Because the whole point of that is that you only change a major version number when there’s something backwards incompatible. (0:04:01) Al: It doesn’t make any sense when you’re not an interface. (0:04:02) Codey: Well, that’s why we need to devise a cottage ver. Cottage semver. (0:04:05) Al: Are we doing it? (0:04:08) Al: Are we doing it or we just or we just don’t? (0:04:11) Codey: Caught semver. (0:04:12) Al: Well, I mean, I’ve already done it, right? (0:04:14) Al: I’ve said you just have two numbers, one when you’re adding new stuff, (0:04:17) Al: one when you’re adding when you’re fixing bugs. (0:04:19) Al: That’s it done. You don’t need any more. (0:04:20) Codey: Like one for content one for patch (0:04:22) Al: Don’t. Yeah, that’s all you need. (0:04:24) Al: You don’t need any more. Two numbers. (0:04:25) Codey: Okay, but we could definitely get into this in an episode (0:04:27) Al: No, that’s it. That’s it. We’re done. (0:04:30) Codey: listeners if you really want to You [laughing] (0:04:31) Al: Transcripts for this podcast are (0:04:34) Al: available in the show notes and on the website five minutes in. (0:04:38) Al: So, you know, as useful as that is this episode, we’re going to talk about some ideas that we’ve had for what we want people to make Cottagecore games off. (0:04:48) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:04:48) Al: So and then we’re going to argue about them, maybe. (0:04:52) Al: I don’t know. We’ll see. (0:04:54) Al: We so before that, we’ve got a bunch of news. (0:04:59) Al: I’m then first of all by. (0:05:01) Al: Not for bob, wording segways. (0:05:03) Codey: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. (0:05:05) Al: But first of all, Cody, what have you been up to? (0:05:08) Codey: I have been (0:05:12) Codey: Playing I’m still playing coral island (0:05:15) Codey: Still enjoying that but I was also am also playing Palia And so I was playing a lot of coral island because I was home and had my Xbox and I could play it And I knew that when I went on vacation (0:05:27) Codey: Hot I wasn’t gonna be able to play it because I don’t bring my Xbox on vacation (0:05:33) Codey: I am bringing my switch and so I was like, oh I can play so much Palia on my vacation But now vacation is kind of stalled, but I don’t know I’m still probably gonna be playing a decent amount of Palia here in the next few weeks But I’ve also been reading a lot of books. So I (0:05:52) Codey: Got into The Poppy War series by RF Kwang. I picked up some Joe Abercrombie books. These are all fantasy books I’m really trying to like pull out the fantasy (0:06:04) Codey: listeners here like come at me with your book recommendations because I freaking love them and then I (0:06:10) Codey: Finally caved and bought the second book in the fourth wing series iron flame (0:06:15) Codey: Because I read fourth wing. It was okay, but I do (0:06:24) Codey: So But there’s like a 40-week wait for my library and I found one (0:06:31) Codey: for pretty cheap, so I finally (0:06:33) Codey: just caved and bought that. So I have a giant stack of books that were for vacation. (0:06:39) Codey: So now I just have a giant stack of books waiting for when I can read them. (0:06:44) Codey: But yeah, so listeners hit me with those fantasy, fantasy wrecks on on the slack. I do love some fantasy books. (0:06:52) Al: Well, well, here’s a fun thing. (0:06:54) Al: I bet you weren’t expecting me to have some actual stuff on books. (0:06:57) Al: I don’t have not been reading, don’t worry. (0:06:59) Al: But you mentioned Iron Flame and I was like, oh, that is the book that I bought (0:07:04) Al: my sister for Christmas. So there you go. (0:07:05) Codey: Oh, yeah, there you go. (0:07:07) Al: Because it was on her wish list. (0:07:10) Codey: I mean, you might know some of the books. (0:07:12) Codey: So my partner, I’m in his apartment right now, and he has a book that was called like, (0:07:17) Codey: let me just find the picture of it, but it was really stupid. (0:07:19) Codey: And then he has another one here. (0:07:21) Codey: This is his bedside reading. (0:07:23) Codey: The Linux programming interface. (0:07:26) Al: Oh my word, what an arid. (0:07:29) Codey: Oh, and domain design. (0:07:31) Codey: But there was this one that was so funny. (0:07:36) Codey: It was… (0:07:39) Codey: Oh, I also yesterday had, I’m in New York City, (0:07:42) Codey: and I had a milkshake that had a whole ass piece of cake on top. (0:07:46) Codey: It was so goofy. (0:07:48) Codey: Made sense why it was $15. (0:07:50) Codey: Okay, the book is called Data Design for Mere Mortals. (0:07:54) Codey: Database Design for Mere Mortals. (0:07:56) Codey: So stupid. (0:07:57) Codey: Anyway, that seems like the kind of books that you would read out. (0:07:58) Al: Well, sure, in theory, like when I was in uni, I had to read a whole bunch of books like that, but I didn’t. I bought them and then I sold them. It’s just not like I don’t, (0:08:07) Codey: Okay, okay, that’s fair (0:08:13) Al: I’m not going to learn by reading paper about how these things, it’s just, it’s not how it works for me. (0:08:16) Codey: Mm-hmm. That’s fair. Yeah. Well, he said that he was going to be selling the database design from your mortals book. That wasn’t great. So don’t get that if you are a programmer. (0:08:26) Al: Well, you have reminded me just before I go on to what I’ve done, I was reminded of, (0:08:28) Codey: What about you, Al? What have you been up to? (0:08:34) Al: so you mentioned Coral Island, I had some feedback from John, listener of the podcast, (0:08:36) Codey: - Yeah. (0:08:40) Al: my brother-in-law, who we had been mentioning about the weirdness of how Coral Island kind of stops at some point, and he wanted to point out that not of the missing giant seems okay, it would be weird if they decided to add that later and had to shoehorn it in, but also I don’t think you need to resolve every single storyline, (0:08:50) Codey: Okay, yeah (0:09:10) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:09:14) Codey: Yeah. (0:09:14) Al: which I think is a fair point. What I replied to him was, “Yeah, that’s fair. I think I’m just a bit more miffed about it because of the bug with the quest.” That in and of itself (0:09:24) Codey: Yeah. (0:09:26) Al: was quite annoying. So that’s a fair point. I take that on board. Not all storylines need to be 100% resolved. That is totally fair. (0:09:36) Codey: Mm-hmm. True. Well, okay, and now what have you been playing? (0:09:40) Al: So basically just Pokémon. There is a game I’m meant to be playing for the podcast, but we delayed that episode because I’m really bad sometimes at playing games. So it got to Friday and I’m like “I’ve played 15 minutes of this game, can we delay this episode?” (0:09:56) Al: I’ve not been playing that, I have been playing Pokemon, because the epilogue came out this week, so I’ve played that. (0:10:04) Codey: Is that sword in Scarlet the Violet? (0:10:06) Al: Yes, yeah, so it’s the kind of extra random bit of story at the end after the two DLCs. (0:10:08) Codey: OK. (0:10:14) Al: So yeah, I enjoyed it, it’s not a huge thing, if you’re paying attention, it’ll take you like an hour and a half, two hours. If you’re zooming through (0:10:24) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:10:26) Codey: Hmm. (0:10:26) Al: it, you can get it done in like 40 minutes. But it was a fun little extra thing. So I’ve played that on both games. And now I’ve done my regular thing of remembering that my Pokemon living decks with all the forms, I’ve not completed all of the forms. So I’m doing some more of that. And I’m currently getting really annoyed trying to find an aqua Aldi and Taurus, (0:10:28) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:10:52) Al: they’re such a small… what’s the word… (0:10:56) Codey: drop rate? Yeah. (0:10:56) Al: Spawn rate. Yeah. So anyway, that’s fun. I enjoy it. Whatever. (0:11:03) Al: And then also I have watched… so I did my regular one month of Netflix to watch everything that’s on it. (0:11:11) Codey: Okay, yep (0:11:12) Al: And so I’ve watched a bunch of things. I’ve watched Wednesday and I watched One Piece, the live action One Piece. (0:11:19) Al: And I watched the new season of Sonic Prime and there’s a couple other things I want to watch as well. (0:11:25) Al: So yeah, I’ve been in. (0:11:26) Al: Consuming a lot of that of stuff that’s come out in the last year or two. (0:11:28) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:11:31) Al: And but I haven’t watched it because I didn’t have Netflix at the time. (0:11:34) Codey: Cool. Uh, yeah, I really liked Wednesday, um… (0:11:39) Codey: I didn’t… I’m not… I didn’t… I haven’t watched One Piece, and part of me wants to not watch the live-action because then what if I then want to get into the anime? (0:11:45) Al: What about it? (0:11:49) Codey: You know… (0:11:51) Codey: That’s a commitment. (0:11:51) Al: Well, yeah, but my point is like, I don’t… (0:11:56) Al: Oh, you mean, what if watching the live action makes you want to watch the anime? (0:11:59) Codey: Yes. (0:12:00) Al: I don’t think it will. (0:12:03) Al: And equally, I think that from what I can gather, the live action first series of the live action covers like the first 500 episodes or something insane of the anime. (0:12:12) Codey: Oh, yeah. (0:12:15) Al: Just there’s so much, like, you know what animes are like, right? (0:12:20) Al: They pad things out so much and there’s so many filler episodes. (0:12:23) Al: I might be a little bit exaggerating with 500, but certainly it was like, it was a lot of the episodes it covers with the first 10 episodes of the live action. (0:12:33) Al: So if they keep going with that, which they’ve said they’re doing a second season so far, (0:12:37) Al: it’s Netflix, so you never know. (0:12:40) Al: I suspect they would catch up pretty quickly. (0:12:44) Al: So. (0:12:45) Al: Yeah. I enjoyed it. I thought it was good fun. (0:12:49) Al: It is not at all what I expected it to be. (0:12:51) Al: I don’t know why I expected it to be, but I didn’t expect it to be Pirates. (0:12:54) Al: I didn’t know it was about… It’s about pirates. (0:12:56) Codey: You didn’t know one piece was a wildfire. (0:12:56) Al: Did you know One Piece is about pirates? (0:13:00) Al: Why would I know it was about pirates? (0:13:02) Al: I’ve never watched or read any One Piece. (0:13:04) Al: Why would I know it’s about pirates? (0:13:04) Codey: Okay, I mean I just I’ve not watched or seen any I’ve just I just have a roommate that really likes anime. (0:13:14) Al: Yeah, I have never had a conversation about One Piece that isn’t just “Oh, you’re going to watch One Piece? (0:13:21) Al: Haha, no, it’s very long.” (0:13:22) Codey: Okay, okay. Yeah, no, it’s about pirates. (0:13:28) Codey: Yeah, cool. (0:13:28) Al: So I enjoyed that. (0:13:30) Al: Shall we talk about some news? (0:13:34) Al: Turn it boy, Rob’s a bank. (0:13:36) Al: I don’t know when they announced that when this game was coming out, (0:13:39) Al: because apparently it’s coming out on Thursday. (0:13:43) Codey: - Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, the day after this comes out, right? (0:13:44) Al: No, yeah, Thursday. (0:13:46) Al: So, yes, yes. (0:13:49) Al: So I don’t know when they announced that, but apparently they did. (0:13:53) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:13:53) Al: And I’ve pre-ordered it on Switch. (0:13:57) Al: So there we go. (0:13:58) Codey: You excited? (0:13:59) Al: Oh, yeah, loved the first game. (0:14:00) Codey: You excited to rob a bank? (0:14:01) Al: It was fantastic. (0:14:03) Al: Absolutely. (0:14:03) Al: And I mean, the first game wasn’t really cottage core and it wasn’t really farming. (0:14:08) Al: You farm like you grow plants to use as a sword, (0:14:13) Al: which is about as far as the farming goes, and it’s very much not cottage core. (0:14:18) Al: But I enjoyed it nonetheless. (0:14:19) Al: This game, even less cottage core. (0:14:22) Al: I suspect because you’re robbing a bank. (0:14:26) Al: So yeah. (0:14:28) Al: I don’t know, playing fast and loose with the term “cottage core” here. (0:14:29) Codey: Well, you still gotta cover it, ‘cause you still gotta cover it, because we gotta know. (0:14:34) Al: Absolutely. Of course. Of course. (0:14:35) Codey: We need the deets, so. (0:14:39) Al: So there we go. That’s a thing. (0:14:40) Codey: Very exciting. (0:14:42) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:14:44) Codey: No. (0:14:45) Codey: No. (0:14:45) Al: Did you play the first? Well, the first is currently on sale on Steam. 66% off. (0:14:52) Codey: That’s crazy. Is it part of the communism? No, capitalism. (0:14:57) Al: Yeah, yeah, I saw someone. (0:14:58) Al: Post it like, “Oh, it’s capitalism sale, isn’t that just all sales?” (0:15:04) Codey: Yeah. (0:15:04) Al: Capitalism and Economy Fest, that’s what it’s called. (0:15:06) Codey: Yep. (0:15:08) Codey: Which will be done by the time the podcast comes out. (0:15:10) Codey: Sorry, y’all. (0:15:12) Codey: But I saw Parkasaurus was on it. (0:15:14) Codey: I was like, ooh. (0:15:15) Al: Park gazares. It looks like it’s also- (0:15:16) Codey: But… (0:15:18) Codey: Well, I have very little money in the world. (0:15:23) Codey: Especially because I just had to reschedule something. (0:15:26) Codey: I like… (0:15:27) Al: Turn it by. (0:15:28) Codey: Turn it boy. (0:15:30) Codey: like, uh, make planning my flights like so (0:15:34) Codey: many months in advance, so you, so it’s super, super cheap, but I am now having to reschedule to like less than a month and now I’m, I’m grumpy, but it’s fine. Turn it boy. Whoo. (0:15:36) Al: Mm. (0:15:41) Al: Stress. (0:15:46) Al: Pelt of the Lamb are releasing their Sins of the Flesh update. (0:15:54) Al: So we’re going to be nice and careful with this, (0:15:57) Al: because this is generally a family-friendly podcast. (0:16:00) Codey: Well it’s like in Pokemon when you breed, when you have eggs, because they are eggs. (0:16:01) Al: There is procreation now coming to the game. (0:16:05) Al: And, um… (0:16:06) Al: Yeah, exactly. (0:16:11) Al: Or in The Sims, where the babies happen. (0:16:14) Codey: Yeah you just, you just adopt them. (0:16:18) Codey: This is fine. (0:16:20) Codey: Yeah so you can now have that, they have this like nudity which is really cute because they they have just like a little leaf, which I thought was… (0:16:30) Codey: super cute. They have new progression systems, so some of your followers can be kind of beefier, I guess, and there’s more benefits for them. (0:16:44) Codey: One benefit in particular that I thought you were going to like, Al, is the improved automation. (0:16:49) Codey: So there’s now a janitor station and storage structures that you can build, and it allows helps so that your followers can take better care of themselves. (0:16:57) Codey: so that when you come back you’re not coming back to… (0:17:00) Codey: chaos. There’s a new gun that helps you fight heretics. You can build… I don’t remember what it was called but it’s like a… I think it’s the tailor and that allows your followers to have better fashion. And then my favorite part was on the Twitter link which will be linked in the show notes about this. (0:17:26) Codey: the Among Us Twitter responded with finally. (0:17:30) Al: Yeah, that’s just asking for them to be asked why they don’t have (0:17:31) Codey: It’s just like, why? (0:17:41) Codey: Like why, why Among Us doesn’t have nudity? (0:17:45) Codey: Okay. Are they people? (0:17:45) Al: Anyway, I noticed something funny. They have a URL shortener, their own URL shortener called cult.link. I just thought it was fun. (0:18:00) Codey: Very cute. I still really want to play this game, and I still haven’t played it yet. (0:18:06) Codey: So, have we done a second harvest on it? (0:18:10) Al: “Yes, I want to say that was me,” he says, searching. (0:18:14) Codey: Okay. (0:18:17) Codey: He says with a question mark at the end. (0:18:18) Al: Yeah, yeah, we did. Me and Bev did a second harvest on it. (0:18:22) Codey: Okay, well maybe I maybe I need (0:18:24) Al: And I think it was Kevin and Kelly who did the first. (0:18:26) Codey: Kelly. (0:18:30) Codey: Well, maybe I need to do, maybe me and Johnny will do the sins of the flesh update. (0:18:38) Al: Well, why not? I think we’re like, we’re very soon going to have our fifth episode on Stardew Valley, so. (0:18:40) Codey: Yeah. (0:18:44) Codey: Yeah. (0:18:46) Codey: It happens. (0:18:46) Codey: So, because I do really want to work with you. (0:18:49) Al: Fair enough. Meatlight, which still hate the name, they have delayed their alpha, which was meant to be coming out at the end of the year. (0:18:59) Al: It’s now coming summer 2024, with apparently the beta coming a month later. I highly doubt there’s going to be a month. (0:19:02) Codey: That’s what they said, but yeah, I also have some doubts. (0:19:08) Al: Between the alpha and the beta, that is not going to happen. But we’ll see. So that’s on Kickstarter. (0:19:19) Al: If you’re an alpha or a beta backer, you’ll get the information. (0:19:24) Codey: They also said that they’re going to reduce the amount of updates that they try and post because they want to be able to focus on development. (0:19:31) Codey: So they’re only planning to release updates every three months. (0:19:35) Codey: And they do have in this update that they have on Kickstarter right now, they have some information about new music, some information about one of the villages, some screenshots of a new room of a romance character, etc. (0:19:48) Codey: So stuff to look at to look forward to the alpha when it comes out in the summer. (0:19:56) Al: Chill Town have released their beta. (0:19:58) Al: So again, if you’re a Kickstarter of the beta level, which I’m not. (0:20:04) Al: I just did the base one because I know I’ve got too many games to play as it is. (0:20:08) Al: I don’t need to be adding on alphas and betas to that. (0:20:12) Al: Check your Kickstarter email. (0:20:13) Al: They’ll have sent you. (0:20:18) Codey: And they’re moving along. (0:20:21) Codey: They’re having a lot of stuff come out for it, which is really cool. (0:20:27) Codey: So I also hadn’t seen this game before, I don’t think. (0:20:29) Codey: And it looks very Animal Crossing. (0:20:33) Codey: But they have some wilderness that you can explore. (0:20:36) Codey: So you can choose a different type of island to go explore and just get ready. (0:20:39) Codey: resources from which is really cool and then they also added new flowers and fencing and stuff like that so it looks like they’re really active in development so good for them. (0:20:48) Al: Yup, yup, yup, yup. (0:20:49) Codey: Mm hmm. Yes. (0:20:50) Al: I’m looking forward to it. (0:20:51) Al: I think it’s an exciting game. (0:20:54) Al: One specifically for Cody, Rusty’s retirement is coming, confirmed, coming to Mac now. (0:21:00) Al: Wait, is this good or is this bad? (0:21:02) Codey: It’s good, because I wanted to play this. (0:21:03) Al: OK, right, but it’s bad because it’ll always be on your computer now. (0:21:08) Codey: That’s fine. (0:21:10) Codey: That’s fine. (0:21:11) Codey: I’ll just turn it on. I’ll just turn on the focus mode. (0:21:15) Al: OK. (0:21:16) Al: I mean, that requires like. (0:21:18) Al: Like discipline, which I’m not going to say you don’t have, that would be harsh. (0:21:22) Codey: Well, I don’t right now, but… (0:21:25) Al: But we’re very similar and I don’t have that discipline. (0:21:30) Al: So. (0:21:30) Codey: We are very similar. (0:21:32) Codey: You’re not wrong. However, I think by the time this comes out, I will have my medication. (0:21:38) Al: It’s, well, laddie dah, sorry for some. (0:21:42) Al: It’s one of these things, this is one of these things I was talking to my therapist about. (0:21:47) Al: She was like, “Oh, do you ever do these things, like positive reinforcement things?” (0:21:51) Al: And I’m like, I’m just, my brain knows I’m tricking it, right? (0:21:55) Codey: Yeah. Oh, yeah. (0:21:56) Al: It doesn’t care. (0:21:57) Al: It’s like, I can just, it’s like, oh, if I do this thing, I get a snack and it can go, (0:22:01) Al: I can just have the snack, right? (0:22:03) Codey: I can just do that. Yeah. (0:22:04) Al: I don’t, I can’t trick myself. (0:22:08) Al: I don’t know how this works. (0:22:09) Codey: Yeah, I try and like, like, they’re like, oh, just like, schedule it and impose, impose a deadline on yourself. (0:22:10) Al: So yeah. (0:22:16) Codey: And I’m like, well, yeah, but I know that I can just move the deadline so it doesn’t do anything for me. (0:22:18) Al: It’s a fake deadline! (0:22:25) Codey: And I’m hoping that when I get some type of ADHD meds, we’ll see what I get, I don’t know what they’re going to offer me, but hopefully I’ll have some built-in focus ability developed at that point. (0:22:38) Al: Look, I’m not, the deadline thing is funny, right? (0:22:41) Al: Because I’m not going to lie. (0:22:42) Codey: Uh huh. (0:22:43) Al: If you look at the the main episodes of the podcast and you look at the greenhouse (0:22:48) Al: episodes of the podcast, you could very much see the deadlines help. (0:22:52) Codey: Yeah, they do. (0:22:53) Al: Because every single episode of this podcast has come out on the day it’s meant to come out. (0:22:57) Codey: See, but that’s, that’s like, that’s a deadline that has another human, like other people. (0:23:01) Al: Yeah, no, that’s my point. (0:23:02) Al: That’s my point. Exactly. (0:23:04) Al: Like, I have a strict schedule and it works. (0:23:06) Al: it actually has done it. (0:23:08) Al: And there are some times that the episode has only come out because I say that there’s going to be an episode every Wednesday, right? (0:23:13) Codey: Exactly. (0:23:14) Al: There have been weeks where that might not have happened. (0:23:18) Codey: Yeah. (0:23:19) Al: And then you look at the greenhouse and it’s like, oh, there was nothing in April or May. (0:23:23) Al: And then there were six in June. (0:23:28) Codey: Yeah, but… (0:23:28) Al: Because it’s like, all I say about that one is, roughly two a month. (0:23:32) Codey: Yeah. (0:23:32) Al: And let me tell you, you got two a month last year, just not every. (0:23:36) Codey: Roughly. (0:23:38) Al: Every month you got an average, an average of two a month. (0:23:40) Codey: Over time. (0:23:43) Codey: Over time, you got the quantity, but they just did not release twice a month. (0:23:48) Al: There was no regularity to that. (0:23:51) Codey: Whatever people appreciate it. (0:23:52) Al: Thank you, my patrons. (0:23:55) Codey: They’d probably, I mean, TBH, the patrons probably appreciate the waiting for us to have things that we’re excited to talk about versus forcing content that we might not necessarily be as excited to talk about, so yeah. (0:24:03) Al: Well, that’s true. (0:24:06) Al: That’s true. (0:24:08) Al: Yeah. (0:24:10) Al: How many more Sonic episodes will we do? (0:24:13) Codey: Many. (0:24:13) Al: I don’t know. (0:24:16) Al: Immortal life. (0:24:18) Al: By the way, I enjoyed the Sonic Prime. (0:24:20) Al: Sonic Prime was good. (0:24:22) Al: Kevin said, “I’ve heard that it’s bad.” (0:24:25) Al: And no, I don’t think it is. (0:24:27) Al: I think it’s good. (0:24:28) Al: It is a self-contained three series arc, (0:24:31) Al: a very specific story and I think. (0:24:33) Al: It’s a really, it’s basically like multiversal Sonic, and I think it’s really fun. (0:24:38) Al: So if you’ve ever wanted to see three, four different kinds of Amy all fighting together, (0:24:44) Al: go watch Sonic Prime. (0:24:46) Codey: Mmm, okay. (0:24:46) Al: Really good. (0:24:47) Al: Immortal life. (0:24:51) Al: Join a flourishing settlement in an idyllic valley and seek a peaceful life as you search for a way to restore your recently destroyed (0:25:03) Al: Taoist clan. (0:25:05) Al: Farm, rebuild, make friends, explore and train. (0:25:08) Al: Will you find your way to immortality in this earthly paradise? (0:25:11) Al: I don’t know, will I? (0:25:14) Al: Good question. (0:25:15) Al: So I don’t think we’ve covered this game yet, despite the fact that it’s been in early access for quite a while, nearly a year. (0:25:18) Codey: - Mm-hmm. (0:25:24) Codey: And the fact that it’s coming out pretty soon. (0:25:24) Al: But yes, the 1.0 is now coming out on the 18th of January, which is the day after this episode comes out. (0:25:32) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:25:33) Al: Now we were talking about it. (0:25:35) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:25:35) Al: There we go. (0:25:36) Al: It… (0:25:38) Codey: Yeah, I mean I I like the look of it. Um (0:25:42) Codey: It the graphics kind of give me uh, okami vibes (0:25:46) Codey: Um, which I really like okami. It’s just kind of like the (0:25:50) Codey: brush stroke um look to it in the (0:25:54) Codey: Not not all of the graphics but like a lot of the background stuff looks like it was brushed on (0:26:00) Codey: um, which is really pretty (0:26:03) Codey: Uh, it to me like it looks like a stardew clone set in china (0:26:07) Codey: Um that includes some type of magical abilities to (0:26:11) Codey: Help you with farming and and the mines and stuff like that. It looks like there was some combat based magic system (0:26:14) Al: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s pretty fair. The stardew clone with magic set in China sounds pretty, pretty fair from what I can see, which is like, it’s one of these things where had this come out five years ago, would I be playing it? Probably like, I don’t think I’m going to spend the time to play this game because it’s like, I’m not seeing anything that really hooks me and says you must play this now. The crops look really nice. (0:26:40) Codey: Mm-hmm. Yeah, they do. I was gonna say the the crops themselves look pretty unique and pretty nice. (0:26:49) Codey: Um, yeah, I mean I’m in the same boat as you. I have too many games and too little money and too little time. So something has to have some uh a hook that’s really different and jumps out and and snags me to to make me play it. So, um, but looks cool and is gonna come out, so. (0:27:11) Codey: Yeah, check it out. (0:27:12) Al: Yeah, if it looks, if it sounds good to you, go get it. (0:27:16) Codey: Immortal life. What is it available? (0:27:18) Al: Immortal life. It is on Steam, just for Windows, as far as I can see. (0:27:26) Al: And it is coming to PS4 and Switch, but I don’t see anything about when it’s actually coming. (0:27:35) Al: It looks like they announced initially that it was coming out on PS4 and Switch, (0:27:41) Al: And then didn’t. (0:27:42) Al: See anything else about it, so maybe it’ll come out on switch. (0:27:46) Al: Maybe it won’t. (0:27:47) Al: We’ll see. (0:27:48) Al: But as of now, we only know about the Steam version releasing on the 18th of January. (0:27:48) Codey: - Okay. (0:27:52) Codey: - Woo. (0:27:53) Codey: Ooh. (0:27:53) Al: Woo, that’s the news. (0:27:57) Al: So we’re going to talk about Cottagecore game ideas is how I’m describing it. (0:28:03) Al: And basically, I mean, OK, this all comes down to I watched a show which we’re going to talk about soon, and I thought this would be fun as a Cottagecore game. (0:28:12) Al: I went, hey, let me see if I can talk about that. (0:28:15) Al: So we’ll get to that. (0:28:17) Al: But I thought there might be other ideas that we might have about games that people could make and you could take it and go make it. (0:28:26) Codey: Yeah, so devs, if you’re listening, and if you’ve been like, “Man, I don’t know what to make, but I want to make something,” get your notebooks ready, because we’re going to throw some golden nuggets out into the world. (0:28:27) Al: And there we go. (0:28:44) Al: Yeah, first of all, we’re going to chat a little bit about what Cody thinks. (0:28:52) Codey: I just thought that to have–okay, okay, come on. (0:28:54) Al: “The top three things that a cottagecore game needs”. (0:29:00) Codey: I thought that if we were going to have this type of conversation where we’re talking about here are some ideas for Cottagecore games, we should probably have some type of preliminary discussion about what we think a Cottagecore game is, because if we’re going to say, “Then don’t come at me,” just because you didn’t write your comments. (0:29:11) Al: I think that’s totally fair. (0:29:14) Al: I’m sorry, did I say something that was negative? (0:29:20) Al: I just said that these are what Cody thinks a God’s Code game needs, (0:29:23) Al: and we’re going to talk about them. (0:29:24) Codey: It’s a just it’s a discussion (0:29:25) Al: That’s all I said. (0:29:26) Al: Where’s the negative? (0:29:27) Al: And what I said, Cody? (0:29:28) Al: Always assuming the worst here. (0:29:30) Codey: It me (0:29:32) Al: What? (0:29:32) Al: Assuming the worst or the worst? (0:29:34) Codey: Yes, same same in both and yes (0:29:40) Codey: So I sat down for a super long one minute and thought about (0:29:48) Codey: Thought about like for me like what is a requirement for something to be a cottagecore game (0:29:54) Codey: and the three things that I (0:29:57) Codey: Kind of circled around is it has to have cozy vibes so it doesn’t have to have cozy vibes in every aspect of the game, but just at least in some part there has to be like a (0:30:08) Codey: Kind of an area that has a lot of plants a lot of green (0:30:11) Codey: It has to be a fairly low stakes games. Like you’re not you’re not out here like saving the world. It’s not an action game (0:30:20) Codey: It’s just about living your life like if you were in if you had a cottage and you were living (0:30:24) Codey: in a cottage. So cozy vibes and then there has to be some aspects of growing or creating things. (0:30:32) Codey: So whether that is like actually farming or like building things like if you’re mining resources and then building something from it and then there also is generally some aspect of collecting and exploring. So collecting could be something like fishing or farm or bug catching or (0:30:54) Codey: like fossils you know that kind of thing or just exploring. So you have an area a large geographic area and you explore it you explore the mines you explore the undersea area but yeah so those were those were kind of like what I fell on as something that every cottagecore game needs or the ones that we’ve discussed, like what they generally have. (0:31:24) Codey: So come at me, what do you disagree with here? (0:31:27) Al: I didn’t say I disagreed with anything. (0:31:32) Al: And now I’m going to disagree with it. (0:31:32) Codey: Heck yeah. (0:31:34) Al: So I think this is pretty fair. (0:31:39) Al: Part of me wants to say that the growing, creating things is an optional one. (0:31:44) Codey: Okay. (0:31:45) Al: Pretty common. (0:31:46) Al: Like I’m not saying it doesn’t have, like most of them, like 90% of them would have it. (0:31:50) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:31:51) Al: But I don’t think I would say that that would be a requirement. (0:31:54) Codey: Okay. (0:31:55) Al: I think you could totally have a cozy game. (0:31:57) Al: That is focused entirely around collecting things, and have no growing or crafting or anything like that. (0:32:08) Codey: Well, so growing could also be like building I also see that as building (0:32:14) Al: OK, well, if you’re going to change what words mean, then sure. (0:32:16) Codey: Okay, I’m not changing what words mean I’m just like that’s it’s it’s like (0:32:23) Codey: Hmm cuz I would save it like bear and breakfast (0:32:26) Al: For listeners, Cody has now changed the sentence to some aspect of growing/creating/building things. (0:32:34) Al: That building was not there before. (0:32:36) Codey: No, no. So I mean, this is good because you’re helping me like become with, come up with a better just definition. We’re creating this definition together, but no. So like that was part of that is like what I thought by creating. Like I thought of like in Minecraft when you’re creating like a, when you build stuff with the crafting table. Um, but that is part of like building things. So like in Baron breakfast, for example, you don’t really grow anything but you do build (0:33:06) Codey: um you collect resources and you build like the furniture that then goes into your your hotels or your inns or your whatever you want to call them um so like that I think that that is a big part of it and even if you have some type of collection game so i’m thinking of like a game where literally all you do is go out and collect resources or collect insects or collect fish or whatever you generally like then would probably come back and build a terrarium for them or build (0:33:15) Al: Yeah, that’s fair. (0:33:33) Al: Oh yeah, generally, generally, yeah. I think it’s more just a case of like, I could absolutely, (0:33:39) Al: this is not about like, oh this game doesn’t have it, but I could totally foresee a collection-based game that is purely collection-based. And like, well no, if it’s cosy. Right? Like, I think, (0:33:44) Codey: Well then would it not be cottage court, it would just be a creature collector. (0:33:52) Codey: Okay. So it has to have two of these things. (0:33:57) Al: so if we talk like, for example, I don’t consider Pokemon generally to be Cottagecore, right? (0:33:58) Codey: Mm-mm. (0:34:02) Codey: Yeah. (0:34:03) Al: But that’s because it doesn’t have that vibe. It is, it’s about, you know, animal fights, (0:34:08) Codey: Yeah. (0:34:11) Al: right? That’s not cosy. If Pokemon didn’t have the battles, I would probably argue that many of them would be Cottagecore. And some of them have some growing aspects to them, but it’s very limited, and they haven’t done that for quite a while. So yeah. But I think most would, and I And I think that it can often– (0:34:16) Codey: Yeah. (0:34:33) Al: improve the game if they do have that. (0:34:36) Al: Because as is always common with games, you have your primary gameplay loop, (0:34:41) Al: which is doing a thing, and then you have your secondary gameplay loop, (0:34:46) Al: which uses the primary gameplay loop to do something else longer over time. (0:34:52) Al: And if you don’t have that, you don’t have your longer-term thing, (0:34:56) Al: then you get bored of the game pretty quickly. (0:34:59) Al: Um… (0:34:59) Codey: I’d say there’s also usually like a design aspect so like so you said there’s like the primary gameplay loop and then there’s the secondary one but you could do I’m one of those people where I just do those gameplay loops period end of story but a lot of games will usually also have some aspect of you can design things so like you can decorate your house or you can decorate your characters or you can decorate like all this different stuff and I think (0:35:03) Al: What do you mean by that? (0:35:29) Codey: that is also another thing at least the ability to decorate or (0:35:33) Al: Yeah, I mean, these are generally just different primary gameplay loops. (0:35:37) Codey: oh okay (0:35:38) Al: A game can have multiple of them. (0:35:39) Al: It doesn’t have to be like, there is, it doesn’t have to just be like, here’s the one thing you do, which then, as you do it lots, it unlocks other things, which then does this other thing. (0:35:49) Al: Like, it doesn’t have to be all completely interconnected. (0:35:51) Al: They can be different strands and different related things. (0:35:52) Codey: Got it. (0:35:57) Al: All right, cool. (0:35:59) Al: So let’s talk, I want to talk about my first one first, which is the one that I, (0:36:03) Al: I watched the show and I went, I want this as a game and that is Pokemon Concierge. (0:36:06) Codey: Okay. (0:36:08) Al: I want a Pokemon Concierge game. (0:36:12) Al: So for those who haven’t watched the show, (0:36:15) Al: very minor spoilers for Pokemon Concierge, but let’s be honest, (0:36:19) Al: it’s very hard to spoil that because the enjoyment of that is in watching it. (0:36:23) Al: It is about someone who escapes their life, (0:36:27) Al: their nine to five standard life to go to an island and help. (0:36:33) Al: Work at a Pokemon hotel. (0:36:35) Codey: Mm-hmm. Like a resort? (0:36:36) Al: Sounds like a cottagecore game already, doesn’t it? (0:36:40) Al: So I want that. (0:36:42) Al: Like, obviously, you could go in so many different ways with this. (0:36:47) Al: You could be in the case of the show, it’s obviously just like a worker (0:36:52) Al: and it could be just that. (0:36:53) Al: You could be a worker at the hotel doing what needs to be done. (0:36:56) Al: Or you could have it where you’re running (0:36:59) Al: hotel kind of, you know, more “better than breakfast” style. (0:37:03) Al: But it’s that, but also with Pokémon. (0:37:08) Al: I want a Pokémon cartridge core game. (0:37:10) Al: And this, I think, would work really well. (0:37:10) Codey: So I think like I like the idea of like you’re saying that you could be a worker or you could be the person running it. (0:37:13) Al: Yeah, here we go. (0:37:26) Codey: This makes me think of like the Sims where you can flip between people. (0:37:28) Al: Mm-hmm. Mmm. Ooh, yes, yes. (0:37:32) Codey: And I think that would be so cool. We’re like, if you wanted you could just you could just go be the I’m trying to think of the the Vaporeon that’s helping in the laundry. (0:37:46) Codey: And there could be like a laundry minigame that like helps you clean the sheets or something. (0:37:46) Al: I hadn’t, hadn’t even considered being the Pokemon. (0:37:52) Codey: Oh yeah, like like flipping between them. (0:37:56) Al: Hmm. (0:37:58) Codey: And I mean, maybe like you have to build up your friendship level with these Pokemon before they’ll let you be them. (0:38:06) Codey: be them? I don’t know. I don’t know. But um… (0:38:08) Al: That’s a very weird sentence, but I know what you mean. (0:38:10) Codey: Before you can inhabit their body and and control everything. (0:38:16) Al: That’s worse. (0:38:18) Al: Stop it. (0:38:20) Codey: But no, I think that would be really fun like having it where you can build your relationships with these pokemon and then you can maybe like help them with their duties. (0:38:30) Codey: So then there could be like a minigame that is laundry. A minigame that is fold the towels or make the bed, or clean the, the wall. (0:38:40) Codey: whatever, um, make the food for the, with the, gosh, what, what Pokemon would be in the kitchen? (0:38:49) Codey: A Mr. Mime? I don’t know. (0:38:50) Al: Al Kremi. (0:38:52) Codey: Well yeah, but, so like there’s, there’d be Alcrummy, there’d be, yeah. (0:38:55) Al: Thank you. (0:38:58) Codey: There’d be, there’d probably be a, a Vanillux. (0:38:58) Al: Come on, Cody. (0:39:00) Codey: Some of these don’t have hands though, like how are they going to be doing? (0:39:03) Al: But Al Kremi has hands. Come on, have you not watched the anime? (0:39:05) Codey: Okay, okay. (0:39:08) Codey: Uh, no. (0:39:10) Al: The new anime series has a lot of focus. (0:39:10) Codey: Okay. I have not. But yeah, so it would be cute to, to be able to kind of flip between the different quote unquote characters, um, and be able to kind of inhabit all aspects of running a little resort. (0:39:32) Al: Yeah, I like the addition of minigames, because that’s very much in the spirit of Pokémon side games, right? Like they quite often have lots of minigames in them, (0:39:44) Al: and also I like the idea of playing as the Pokémon. You could either do it as you’re playing just as a Pokémon, or you’re playing both as humans and as Pokémon. (0:39:53) Al: Like there’s lots of room to come up with other creative ideas within this, I think. (0:40:00) Codey: Also, in the show, are the guests of the hotel people, or are they Pokemon? (0:40:06) Al: I think they’re prime. I think I think they’re both I’m madly Pokemon (0:40:10) Codey: Because I could see like, okay, because I could see like, kind of like Baren Breakfast, (0:40:16) Codey: where some people want rooms that have more of X, and some people have rooms that have more and more Y. (0:40:24) Codey: Like, have it where you have a room that’s great for fire type Pokemon. (0:40:30) Codey: And you have a room that’s great for grass type, and like you have these rooms, or you can quickly redecorate a room to be in the style of a different Pokemon typing, (0:40:42) Codey: and you’d get like a bonus for matching those. (0:40:47) Al: Yeah, yeah, I think I would. So I think in this game, I think it would make most sense for all of the guests to be Pokemon. I think thematically that would make most sense. And also then you’re not having to create human characters that you would actually ever care about. And you have like a built in, here are a thousand Pokemon that we can use. (0:41:12) Codey: what if and what if you have it you fill a polka decks with your guests and and you can also if your room is so great and your guests say you get an IV sore coming and you give it a room that it just loves what if it evolves while it’s there, because it’s so happy. Wouldn’t that be so? (0:41:18) Al: There you go. It’s a Pokemon game. Perfect. (0:41:39) Al: What? What? Yes. This is perfect. Right, Pokemon, you can have this idea. There you go. Make a… It’d be hilarious if they ended up coming out with it, like, on Pokemon Day they announce it and it’s like, “We had the idea, seconds technically, I guess, because you’ve been developing this for a couple years now.” (0:41:42) Codey: So cute. (0:41:44) Codey: Yep. (0:41:44) Codey: Yep. (0:41:44) Codey: Yeah. Yep. (0:42:03) Codey: Watch it like comes out tomorrow. (0:42:05) Codey: And… I don’t know. That’d be funny. (0:42:08) Al: I don’t think it would come out tomorrow. (0:42:10) Al: I think if it’s going to come out, it’s being announced on Pokemon Day, right? (0:42:13) Al: No, no new Pokemon things are being announced in January. (0:42:15) Codey: That’s true. No, no, you right. You right. They have they have a day set for it. That would be really fun, though. (0:42:16) Al: But that’s not happening. (0:42:22) Codey: Though I would want this to be a more fully fleshed out game. I’d be really sad if this was like a mobile game that was bare bones. (0:42:31) Al: Yeah, I think it could work well as a both game. (0:42:36) Al: Like, you’d have to have the… (0:42:38) Al: I think you’d want the interface to be slightly different between them. (0:42:41) Al: But I think you could have it as both mobile and Switch. (0:42:41) Codey: I would want Switch. (0:42:45) Al: All right, tell me about one that you have. (0:42:47) Codey: Yeah, so I thought about games that I haven’t seen that I would like, and dived dove, dove really deep into my own life about what parts of my life are not represented in a video game that other people might also enjoy. (0:43:11) Codey: So, the first suggestion that I had was a game where you run a wildlife rehabilitation center. (0:43:19) Codey: So I have always wanted to run like a wolf sanctuary or something like that, like ever since I was a kid. (0:43:26) Codey: I don’t think I want to do that anymore, but I do really enjoy wildlife rehabilitation and I have been volunteering at a wildlife rehab for about three years now. (0:43:36) Codey: So if we, it would be really cool to make it a game where you could learn about wildlife rehabilitation, and then maybe (0:43:44) Codey: also like, some of the proceeds of the game could go to local wildlife rehabs. Because some of the stuff that they need, it’s it’s not that expensive, or it’s like, like literally dog, dog food, or cat food, or whatever. So but we also make really specific formulas anyway, so that’d be part of the game. But so it would be kind of like a business simulator or like (0:44:07) Codey: roller coaster tycoon, like that type of like management game. (0:44:10) Codey: Um… (0:44:11) Codey: Which… (0:44:13) Codey: I’m trying to think of that way. (0:44:15) Codey: Like, do we call those Cottagecore games? (0:44:17) Codey: Or do we call them something else? (0:44:19) Codey: Yeah. (0:44:20) Al: what management games. I think some of them can be. (0:44:21) Codey: Okay. (0:44:23) Codey: I think this could be, because it could be really cozy. (0:44:25) Codey: You could make it… (0:44:27) Codey: You could make it really cozy, especially if you have, like, (0:44:29) Codey: aspects where you play with the animals and stuff, which you can. (0:44:31) Codey: Um… (0:44:33) Codey: So, you could also have really exotic animals. (0:44:35) Codey: So, clearly, you know, (0:44:37) Codey: in my neck of the woods, we only have… (0:44:39) Codey: we only have (0:44:41) Codey: a lot of the native animals like squirrels, rabbits, turtles, some songbirds, things like that that come in, but in this type of game you don’t have to do that. You could have like zebras or lions or tigers or pandas or like all of these different things that come in with some form of injury or illness and then you have to to heal them. And then you could also build enclosures. (0:45:11) Codey: You would prepare all of the meals, you’d clean after them. (0:45:15) Codey: So that is just kind of everyday stuff that you do at the Wildlife Center. (0:45:20) Codey: The idea of a wildlife rehab is that you receive the animals. (0:45:26) Codey: People find an animal in the wild that is either injured or ill in some way. (0:45:31) Codey: You receive them and they need to be rehabbed so that they can be released. (0:45:37) Codey: The whole point is always for them to be released. (0:45:41) Codey: A lot of these animals you don’t want to play with. (0:45:44) Codey: You don’t want them to get used to being held and cared for by people. (0:45:50) Codey: A lot of the animals we actually don’t really interact with a ton. (0:45:54) Codey: We put them in a container, like a little cage for them, and then we give them a bunch of food. (0:46:00) Codey: We’ll take them out once or twice a day for medication depending on the severity of their injuries. (0:46:07) Codey: But there are some that are unreleasable because of, you know, if they have. (0:46:11) Codey: An injury that is too difficult for them to be able to be released. (0:46:15) Codey: Those are the types of animals that we do keep as ambassador or education animals. (0:46:19) Codey: And we’ll take those animals to shows or fairs or just different events to educate people about wildlife and wildlife rehabilitation and the importance of maintaining areas for wildlife. (0:46:33) Codey: So those animals you could play with, you could have little mini games where you play with them. (0:46:41) Codey: Build enrichment with them, kind of design their cages a little bit more spiffy because it’s a place that they’re staying for their life. (0:46:51) Codey: I think the only thing about this type of game is that it could be maybe too macabre or too gory because we do have a lot of animals that come in that are kind of beyond healing. (0:47:08) Codey: And in those situations, we usually just hear– (0:47:11) Codey: you mainly euthanize them, which is better than the alternative of them being stuck outside and just slowly passing. (0:47:20) Codey: So I don’t know if maybe there could be some form of in-game currency that’s about the fact that you’ve done some form of kindness for that animal, (0:47:31) Codey: made it so that their last– (0:47:33) Codey: or if we do try and heal them, but their illness or injury was too severe and they end up having they end up (0:47:41) Codey: Anyways, the effort was there, like there was an attempt made, you know? (0:47:47) Codey: And so I don’t know if there could be like some type of incentive system for that where it’s like you get these points that could then maybe like be used to try and heal an animal later. (0:47:58) Codey: I don’t know. (0:47:59) Codey: I’m trying to think of like how to gamify that aspect of it because it is sad, but it’s also a fact of it. (0:48:07) Codey: Like it’s just, it’s, that’s what happens. (0:48:10) Al: Yeah, I think it’s it’s interesting. I’m thinking of how to make this different from just like a standard zoo tycoon game. And like, because obviously it’s not the same thing. I’m not trying to say it is the same thing, but in terms of like gameplay, how it would be different, (0:48:10) Codey: Um… (0:48:11) Codey: Yeah, I don’t know. Do you have any thoughts about any of that? (0:48:28) Codey: Right. (0:48:31) Al: because a lot of that is very similar. Not saying that’s a bad thing. I mean, that’s that’s fine. (0:48:36) Al: Um. (0:48:37) Codey: I think the biggest thing, the biggest difference is a lot of like, so the wildlife center I
Al and Codey talk about Coral Island Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:02:24: What Have We Been Up To 00:12:15: News 00:40:54: Coral Island 01:22:03: Outro Links Previous Coral Island Episode Research Story 0.7 Update Len’s Island Companions and Languages Update Song of the Prairie 0.7 Update Snacko Accessibility Settings Update Sancko Roadmap Paleo Pines 1.2.28 Update To Pixelia Alpha Update Ova Magica End of year Update Super Raft Boy Together x Turnip Boy Stadew Valley New Year Screenshot Piczel Cross: Story of Seasons Tales of Seikyu on Steam Tales of Seikyu on Kickstarter Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Al: Hello farmers and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. My name is Al (0:00:36) Codey: And my name is Cody! (0:00:38) Al: and we’re here today to talk about farming games. (0:00:42) Codey: Woo! (0:00:43) Al: Ah, hey Cody, we’re we’re gonna talk about… (0:00:51) Al: I don’t know whether it’s just Discord is is really out of sync or not, (0:00:54) Codey: Get it (0:00:54) Al: but I feel like you’re as delayed as Johnny is just now. (0:00:57) Al: Okay. (0:00:57) Codey: No, I I definitely am responding right after you say it (0:01:00) Al: Fair enough, well, we’re experimenting with new ways of doing things, listeners. (0:01:03) Codey: So there’s just a delay (0:01:07) Al: So we’ll see how that goes, but it appears that the current way we’re doing it is very delayed. (0:01:19) Al: So this is going to be the second harvest of Coral Island. (0:01:24) Al: So we did an episode, I think, quite early on in the early access. (0:01:28) Codey: Mm-hmm, you had Bev on. (0:01:29) Al: I can’t even remember who that was. (0:01:33) Al: Okay, it was me and Bev, that’s fine. (0:01:37) Al: So obviously now it is in 1.0, so we wanted to revisit it. (0:01:44) Al: And obviously, I have some different thoughts on it. (0:01:49) Al: Obviously, people know my overall thoughts if they listen to the Game of the Year episode. (0:01:55) Al: But we wanted to get in a bit more detail about some of the specific things. (0:01:59) Al: and Cordy has no play to do as well. (0:02:00) Al: Not as much as me, but I suspect that’s most people haven’t played it as much as me. (0:02:05) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:02:06) Al: So we’ll see how that goes. (0:02:09) Codey: Mm-hmm, I I feel like it it was robbed like it should have been (0:02:13) Al: Oh, interesting. (0:02:16) Al: Well, I agree, but what can you do? (0:02:22) Al: Before that, we have some news, quite a bit of news. (0:02:25) Al: But first of all, Cordy, what have you been up to? (0:02:28) Codey: Um, I have been up to the holiday break from my PhD, but I’ve actually been doing a lot of work during the holiday break, um, because I’m going to Oregon, which is where I’m from. (0:02:43) Codey: I’m going there for two weeks, um, here in about a week. (0:02:48) Codey: So I was just trying to get a lot of work done so that I can go home and just relax, (0:02:52) Codey: which is nice. (0:02:53) Codey: Um, but I have been playing Coral Island, surprise, surprise. (0:02:58) Codey: Um, and Palia, which I’m really enjoying, uh, the initial thoughts are good and, uh, (0:03:02) Al: Hmm. Do you want to share any initial thoughts on Palia or do you want to general? (0:03:10) Codey: I’m excited to possibly, I don’t know, may have talk about it sometime soon. (0:03:15) Al: What? I don’t know what you’re talking about. (0:03:21) Codey: Yeah. (0:03:21) Codey: What, what about you? (0:03:22) Codey: I’ll, what have you been up to? (0:03:23) Al: Yeah, I have also been up to, you know, Christmas and stuff, but now back at work and kids are back at school. It feels weird because I’ve not podcasted in quite a while, despite there being episodes every week. It was before Christmas that we did the last episode recording. That was the one that I slept through. (0:03:39) Codey: Which you didn’t mention in the podcast itself. (0:03:45) Al: Of course, I didn’t mention that. I wasn’t going to mention that. I was already, I was still grumpy about it. We were meant to be recording for the listeners. We were meant to be recording at 5am my time and I set an alarm for 4.45 and I was like, “Do I need multiple?” I normally set multiple alarms and then I always wake up with the first alarm. So, I’m not going to set multiple alarms this time because it’s just pointless. And then I woke up without an alarm and went, “Uh-oh, (0:04:15) Al: I’ve woken up naturally. There is no way I haven’t missed this podcast recording if I’m waking up naturally.” And I looked at the time and it was, of course, 7am. So, I had missed entirely the time that we were meant to be recording. So, I got back on and, of course, Cody had gone to bed because it was 2am Cody time. So, of course, you had gone to bed. Johnny was still up, though, because he is on the other side of the world. And then I was like, “Oh, do we try and rearrange?” Because this This was what the 23rd 22nd? (0:04:21) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:04:45) Al: 22nd of December? (0:04:47) Al: Like it was basically our last chance to record before Christmas. (0:04:50) Al: And then after Christmas, Johnny was going away on holiday. (0:04:53) Al: And like, obviously it’s the time between Christmas and New Year is not a good time to be recording a podcast. (0:04:59) Al: So I was like, well, let’s just do it, Johnny. (0:05:01) Al: Let’s just record. (0:05:02) Al: So I recorded that episode just before work and it was very much time boxed because I had my morning meeting, which we had to get done, obviously. (0:05:12) Al: So I think we had like an hour and a half at the absolute most. (0:05:15) Al: For both the main and greenhouse recording. (0:05:18) Codey: Well, you got it done. Yeah, I tried to stay up. It was almost one o’clock here. And I was so tired. And Johnny was trying to ask me questions about Palia because we were talking about Palia at that time. But my brain was just so like it just kept stuttering. And like I couldn’t form words. (0:05:38) Codey: And I was like, even if Al were to show up right now, I don’t think I could do this. So I was like, (0:05:46) Codey: Either you guys just record or Al can read. (0:05:48) Codey: I’m gonna go bed. I woke up and saw that y’all had recorded it. But… I mean the… (0:06:01) Al: So, apologies listeners for the lack of a Cody episode, but we’re making up for it (0:06:08) Codey: Well the games that I was excited about were mostly Palia and then also Tales of the Shire which I’m doing a second harvest on. I’m putting it here first. I’m back! (0:06:16) Al: Hmm. (0:06:18) Codey: I gave it a second harvest. So… whoever else wants to do the second harvest with me can fight for it because… (0:06:28) Al: I think we know it’s Bev, right? Bev’s already bagged that one as well. I don’t think we have had a game where we’ve had four people fighting over the episode for that game. (0:06:31) Codey: Yeah. (0:06:35) Codey: Oh okay cool. Yeah. (0:06:43) Codey: So I was doing dishes when I was listening to the episode and like I heard… (0:06:48) Codey: you say like “I’m doing it” and then clearly Johnny’s doing it because he’s like from New Zealand. He’s friends with the developer etc etc and I like heard you say that you’re bagging it and I like was like “No!” and I like started washing my hand like drying my hands off furiously so I could text furiously on the slack and then like as I’m like washing my hands and grabbing my phone you’re like “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I know other people are probably really excited to do that game (0:07:16) Codey: but I’m calling it and I was just like… (0:07:18) Codey: so grumpy. It was so fun though. (0:07:21) Codey: I’m excited to play that game and hear about it. (0:07:24) Al: I mean, maybe we should try and do our first four-person episode, what do you think? (0:07:31) Codey: That would be a thing, wouldn’t it? (0:07:38) Al: Yeah. (0:07:38) Codey: Or just have two simultaneous episodes. (0:07:42) Al: Mm-hmm. (0:07:42) Codey: Have the greenhouse be other two people. (0:07:46) Codey: Anyway, yeah. (0:07:48) Al: Just record two separate middle sections and stick them together. (0:07:49) Codey: Anyway, I’ll… what have you been up to? (0:07:54) Al: That sounds like it would either be an amazing idea or an absolutely dreadful idea. (0:08:00) Al: Did we not do something a while ago which was just like everybody recorded like a 10 minute thing on something and I smooshed them all together? (0:08:06) Codey: Yeah, wasn’t that… (0:08:08) Al: It kind of worked but it was also so much work. (0:08:10) Codey: Yeah, I was gonna say wasn’t that not fun to record? (0:08:13) Al: I think it was fine to record because everybody was doing it individually. (0:08:16) Codey: Right, sorry edit. I mean edit. Wasn’t it not fun to edit? (0:08:18) Al: Yeah. (0:08:21) Al: It was definitely the longest, the most amount of time I’ve spent editing an episode and considering the episode was less than an hour long and I’ve edited three hour long episodes, (0:08:33) Al: That’s, you know, that’s a lot, that’s impressive. (0:08:34) Codey: Yeah. (0:08:37) Codey: Yikes. (0:08:38) Al: All right, anyway, we’re gonna talk about some news. (0:08:40) Codey: Wonder what, yeah, what, yeah. (0:08:40) Al: Wait, I didn’t actually say what I’ve been playing. (0:08:42) Al: I’ve been playing Super Mario RPG, which turns out I don’t like. (0:08:49) Al: I think I figured out that I’m not a fan of games anymore where combat, (0:08:55) Al: like you go from the overworld to another place to battle. (0:09:00) Al: Because I don’t even like that in Pokémon anymore. (0:09:02) Al: It just annoys me, like just taking you out of the… (0:09:05) Al: It feels like - I know it’s not, because it’s - (0:09:08) Al: It’s still the game, but it feels like it’s taking me out of the game into another game at that point. (0:09:12) Al: And it just - I feel like I’m just at the point where I’m like, I don’t like that anymore, and I don’t want that. (0:09:18) Al: And therefore, I don’t think I like turn-based games anymore, because I don’t think it’s possible to do a turn-based game without doing that. (0:09:26) Codey: Yeah, I don’t think I’d like that either. (0:09:30) Codey: I also don’t really like turn-based games. (0:09:33) Al: Well, I used to say I only like turn-based games, right? Because like Pokemon was my thing and that was all it was. But I think at this point, I just, I don’t, I don’t want to like, I don’t want battles like that, right? And I like action adventure games where your battle is like joined into the overworld experience and you can just run away if you want. You don’t have to like get into this separate (0:10:03) Al: weird world that exists. Yeah, I don’t have to add whatever. I feel like I’ve explained that enough. I’m not a huge fan of it. So I’m not going to finish that. But I also playing Luigi’s Mansion 3, which I am enjoying. That is a very good game. (0:10:06) Codey: Yeah. Yep. (0:10:17) Codey: I couldn’t, so I tried to play the first Luigi’s Mansion and I did not get very far because I remember getting stuck on something and just being really grumpy about it. (0:10:26) Al: Hmm. Hmm. I’ve gotten to the point where with games, because I mean it’s essentially a puzzle game, right? I’ve gotten to the point where with puzzle games, if I’m annoyed with something, (0:10:27) Codey: But I could see how it could be a good game. (0:10:30) Codey: Right. (0:10:31) Codey: Yeah. (0:10:32) Codey: I’m sorry. (0:10:39) Al: just just just Google it. Right? Like I’m I’m if I’m enjoying the game in general, (0:10:45) Al: and there’s a specific thing that I’m stuck on, and I’m annoyed by it. What’s the point in continuing like the three options one continue to be annoyed to quit the game three Google it. (0:10:56) Al: And continue enjoying the game that you’re actually enjoying like it’s a no brainer to me now. (0:11:02) Codey: Yeah, I try. (0:11:04) Codey: So like there are some people though. (0:11:06) Codey: So there are some people that do that play games and they Google it immediately. (0:11:10) Codey: They like just, they’re like, (0:11:11) Codey: I don’t know where to find this. (0:11:12) Codey: And I’m like, you’re not even trying. (0:11:14) Codey: Like you’re not even trying to explore the world. (0:11:17) Codey: You’re not, you don’t look at the quest log where the quest log says exactly where the thing is. (0:11:22) Codey: This is something I’ve seen in Palia, (0:11:24) Codey: that people like on the, (0:11:24) Al: - Wow, just goodness me. (0:11:27) Codey: yeah, some people like on the MMO, like chat will be like, (0:11:31) Codey: where is this thing? (0:11:32) Codey: And I’m like, it’s literally in the quest log. (0:11:34) Codey: It tells you where to go. (0:11:36) Codey: So, but I agree. (0:11:37) Codey: Like I, if I can’t figure something out, (0:11:38) Al: Just say my name next time, Cody. (0:11:44) Codey: if I, if I like, (0:11:47) Codey: cannot, genuinely cannot figure it out, (0:11:49) Codey: that’s when I’ll Google it. (0:11:51) Codey: But other than that, (0:11:52) Codey: I’m not just gonna Google it immediately. (0:11:54) Al: Yeah, I think there’s different kind of tolerance levels, I would say, for these things, and do what you will. (0:12:04) Al: Whatever. (0:12:05) Al: Right. (0:12:06) Al: We’re on the same page. (0:12:08) Al: All great. (0:12:09) Al: Fantastic. (0:12:09) Codey: Yay! (0:12:10) Al: Lovely. (0:12:10) Codey: Woo! (0:12:11) Al: Right. (0:12:11) Codey: Woo! (0:12:12) Al: That’s what we’ve been up to. (0:12:13) Al: Shall we talk about some news? (0:12:13) Codey: Woo! (0:12:14) Codey: Woo! (0:12:17) Al: This is the first one’s Yours Cody research story. (0:12:21) Al: The 0.7 creatures and caves update. (0:12:23) Al: Have you looked into this? (0:12:24) Codey: Uh, other than this click, like clicking this link, no. (0:12:30) Codey: So the big issue that I have with some of these games when they’re, when they’re on steam or whatever is if they’re windows only, like in order to play them, I have to come into this very specific room of my house, which is the podcast recording room as well, which is fine, but it’s a room that I don’t cut, like it’s because of my ADHD, it’s like out of sight, out of mind. (0:12:51) Codey: Like I pass it every day, but I never go into it. (0:12:53) Codey: It has a lot of specimens. (0:12:54) Codey: It’s a lot of stuff that I’m trying to avoid, so I don’t come here very often. (0:12:59) Codey: I haven’t really been playing any games that require Windows specific on Steam, unfortunately. (0:13:06) Codey: This is really cute. This update looks really cute. (0:13:10) Codey: It has new things that you can research. (0:13:13) Codey: I think it was four creatures and some plants and some fish. (0:13:17) Codey: A new festival and they said that there’s a new creature behavior. (0:13:24) Codey: I blurbed this part that says, “During certain behaviors such as foraging and hiding, creatures will not be interested in players’ feed bowls. (0:13:35) Codey: Wait for the creature to start wandering again before attempting to tame them.” (0:13:38) Codey: That makes sense. If they’re foraging or if they’re scared and they’re hiding, they’re not going to be interested in what you’re trying to bait them with. (0:13:49) Codey: I think that’s really cool because it’s true to life as well. (0:13:56) Codey: I literally have a paper coming out about this, about how if you put out an attractive trap when there’s a lot of flowers, you’re not going to catch very much. (0:14:07) Codey: They don’t give a crap about your trap. There’s flowers everywhere. They’re not coming to you. (0:14:11) Codey: This is about bees. I like that. I like that a lot. (0:14:17) Al: Isn’t everything? (0:14:18) Codey: What about you? Have you done anything with research stories? (0:14:23) Al: No, no, I don’t. I don’t own it. I was going to say, Cody, there is a solution to your problem with needing to go on to your Windows computer. (0:14:31) Al: It is a solution that costs money, but that is by a steam debt. (0:14:34) Codey: Well, if the podcast wants to send me a Steam Deck, I will, I will, if a, if a listener wants to buy me a Steam Deck, then I will play these on the couch forever and I will cover anything people want me to cover. (0:14:42) Al: The podcast can’t even afford to buy me a steam deck. I had to buy that myself. You’re waiting quite a while. (0:15:01) Codey: Yeah, so I mean. (0:15:04) Codey: Research story cool. It’s cool to see that they’re continuing. (0:15:06) Al: Feels like a dangerous thing to say, Cody. (0:15:07) Codey: I know it’s cool that they’re like continuing to develop it and it’s continues to be something that we talk about. (0:15:15) Codey: I really like that. (0:15:16) Codey: There are some games that I was excited about or have covered before that just kind of drop off the radar, but this is cool to see. (0:15:22) Codey: Bye. (0:15:22) Al: Yep, awesome sauce. So if you’re enjoying that go, go play it. Go download the update. (0:15:28) Codey: Do it. (0:15:30) Al: Speaking of games that you have played, Cody, that have updates, here’s Lens Island as well with the companions and languages update. We did know about this update before. We knew there was adding a bunch of languages, but we had absolutely no idea what the companions part of that was. But we now know that you can have pet companions, including dogs, cats, (0:15:38) Codey: Mhm. (0:15:48) Al: wolves and tigers. (0:15:50) Codey: Mm-hmm. I also still am continuously wanting clarity on Simplified Chinese. (0:15:58) Codey: Um, because of what you discussed last time, like I don’t really know what they mean by that, (0:16:05) Codey: but it’s whatever. Uh, the companions are really cool. I’m really excited to play this again. This is a game that I have on my, uh, Mac. And since I’m going on holiday for two weeks, (0:16:15) Codey: this is something that is on our, this and Palia are the two things that are on my radar to (0:16:20) Codey: pick up again and get caught back up with. Um, the pet companions are really cool. So yeah, (0:16:25) Codey: dog, cat, wolf, and tiger. And, um, each of them are findable or tame-able during different times of the game. So like, for example, they mentioned that the dog is, uh, unlocked after you defeat the first dungeon, which is really cool. And they also have purposes. So it’s not just, um, (0:16:43) Codey: aesthetic. Uh, they’ll actually do things. So like dogs and cats can retrieve items for you. (0:16:48) Codey: Um, thank you. (0:16:50) Codey: They mentioned that the wolf and the tiger will like fight with you. (0:16:52) Codey: Like they’ll just be a part of your attack team. (0:16:56) Codey: Um, so yeah, I, I liked that a lot. (0:16:59) Codey: Uh, I am curious to know if you can customize the skin of the dog or the cat, because I do want to make my dog in every game. (0:17:09) Codey: So yeah. (0:17:12) Codey: Have you played lens Island at all? (0:17:13) Al: Fair enough. I played Lens Island for about 10 minutes, right when it first released, (0:17:13) Codey: Yeah. (0:17:14) Codey: Yeah. (0:17:14) Codey: Yeah. (0:17:20) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:17:20) Al: when it had no controller support, and I tried to use like a mapping to the mouse and keyboard sort of stuff, and it did not work really well. And I went, “I will come back to this when they add controller support.” And they now have controller support, but I’ve still not gone back yet. So I do plan to play it again at some point. I feel like it’s forever in the list of games. (0:17:43) Al: Is that we want to cover a– (0:17:45) Al: did we cover it eventually, or did we not? (0:17:46) Codey: We covered it once, so Bev and I talked about it once, (0:17:51) Codey: like right when it came out, (0:17:52) Codey: and it had the bare minimum at that point. (0:17:55) Codey: So it has come so far since then. (0:17:58) Codey: There’s so much more to it. (0:17:59) Codey: I haven’t played since all of that stuff changed, (0:18:01) Codey: so I’m really excited to rejoin the game and see all of the different things that they’ve added to it, (0:18:07) Codey: because I think when I did it, (0:18:09) Codey: there was only like three or four different crops that you could plant, and it was really simple, (0:18:13) Codey: And there was just the one dungeon. (0:18:16) Codey: And I mean, I was pretty far in it, but I hadn’t even fully explored that yet. (0:18:22) Codey: Um, there, it was just so simple and now it’s a lot more built out. (0:18:28) Codey: So I’m really excited to play it again. (0:18:31) Codey: So we should cover it again. (0:18:32) Al: Yeah, so it looks like it’s start… Yeah, definitely. It looks like it came out in early access in 2021. So it’s over two years now since it went into early access. Now, to be fair, their early access stuff, which they had to put up at the beginning, does say it will come out of early access between late 2023 and early 2024. So they aren’t late based on their own schedule. But I haven’t seen anything about whether that’s still the schedule or not, because that would assume it’s happening in the next few months. (0:18:52) Codey: Mm-hmm, yeah. (0:19:02) Al: And I haven’t seen anything about that. (0:19:02) Codey: I mean they’re still putting stuff out. (0:19:04) Al: Oh wait, no, no, no, I did. I did. (0:19:07) Al: They put the roadmap up. (0:19:09) Al: We talked about this last year. (0:19:11) Al: The roadmap says the final release will come out in July. (0:19:14) Codey: There you go, that’s that’s probably when we’ll cover it then cool (0:19:18) Al: Yeah. (0:19:19) Al: I can’t recover too much stuff that I just forget about these things. (0:19:23) Codey: Yeah (0:19:24) Al: Also, no, don’t say that, Cody. (0:19:25) Al: That’s not… (0:19:26) Al: We’re not saying that’s when we’ll cover it. (0:19:27) Al: I’m not promising that. (0:19:29) Codey: We’ll cover it sometime after July (0:19:32) Al: This is a dangerous time. (0:19:33) Codey: After July, I’m sure we’ll cover it at some point (0:19:35) Al: Maybe. (0:19:37) Al: Maybe. (0:19:40) Al: So I have Googled and some Chinese people have said that generally when people say Chinese, (0:19:47) Al: they’re referring to Mandarin, not Cantonese. (0:19:48) Codey: Okay. Okay. (0:19:50) Codey: Okay. (0:19:50) Al: So when they say simplified Chinese, what they’re meaning is Mandarin in simplified character. (0:19:56) Al: But I just, I feel like stop saying Chinese because like that’s not a language. (0:20:02) Codey: okay grumble grumble grumble (0:20:03) Al: Grumble, grumble. (0:20:07) Al: Song of the Prairie. (0:20:09) Al: Speaking of updates with 0.7 updates. (0:20:12) Al: No, speaking of games with 0.7 updates. (0:20:15) Al: Don’t know why this is the 0.7 update episode. (0:20:19) Al: But there we go. (0:20:21) Al: Song of the Prairie have a 0.7 update out. (0:20:23) Al: I didn’t actually read through this, did I? (0:20:25) Al: Added sec… (0:20:27) Al: Oh yes, yes. (0:20:28) Al: Yes. Yeah. So it’s mostly like small stuff, but they’ve added what they’ve called. (0:20:32) Al: The second homeland, which interestingly is like the 18th thing they mentioned on this list, right? (0:20:38) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:20:39) Al: The first seven are bugs. The next 10 are adjustments and optimizations. And then they finally talk about the fact that they’ve added a whole new area in the game as the 18th thing on the list. (0:20:52) Codey: Yeah, got to get those bugs out though, got to like mention what you’ve been working on and what you’ve been fixing before you can talk about what you’ve added. (0:20:59) Al: It’s just like some of these are like such random tiny things as well and you’re like maybe put the fact that you’ve added a whole new whole new region up at the top. (0:21:10) Codey: No, no, no priorities (0:21:12) Al: Dear, I’ve not played this game, you’ve not played this game. (0:21:21) Codey: Nope (0:21:22) Al: There’s a bunch of extra stuff, I don’t know, do we care about the extra stuff? (0:21:24) Codey: I just Like literally glanced through it and was like I see haircuts. I see a water balloon festival. I see romantic events cool (0:21:32) Al: Oh well, but a game I will play, and I suspect most people will play, is Snacko. They have come out with a, I mean, let’s, okay, so let’s start out with, they are absolutely smashing through updates. Like, I’m pretty sure I saw that they released an update on Christmas day, right? Like, their updates are coming thick and fast all over the place. So I think We certainly know what they’re– (0:21:33) Codey: Like I’m still not gonna play it. So [laughs] (0:22:02) Al: their plan is. (0:22:02) Al: But yeah, so there’s two things that most of it is like, here’s a new update with some bug fixes, right, fine, okay. (0:22:13) Al: But they have two specific ones I want to call out. (0:22:15) Al: The first is they had an update with some more accessibility settings, which is good. (0:22:21) Al: So this is just an example of how you can listen to people and actually change things based on their things. (0:22:28) Al: So they’ve added an ability to change the. (0:22:32) Al: Like saturation and contrast in the game. (0:22:35) Al: So if you have some eyesight issues and this helps, that’s great. (0:22:41) Al: Um, and secondly, they’ve released a roadmap, um, with, so they’ve said that these are roughly in the order. (0:22:50) Al: They will release them in, but not certain, but they’ve kind of given four (0:22:55) Al: updates that are going to come out. (0:22:57) Al: one of which is the gamepad support update which is (0:23:02) Al: obviously one that I’m very much looking forward to the progression update which includes house upgrades and tool upgrades the feature update which includes a bunch of stuff including the mines and festivals but also new shrines and buildables and marriage or which they’re calling bonding and the final one is the optimization improving stability improving performance. So I think assuming that that is the– (0:23:32) Al: or do they come out? That’s a good order for them to come out because we talked about this last year sometime where I was like, so often in early access, they leave the final update with this massive feature coming out that nobody has ever tested. And so they still end up in a situation where their 1.0 version is buggy. And it doesn’t sound like they’re going to be doing that. (0:23:52) Codey: I saw three things that I really liked in this news point. (0:23:58) Codey: So my first one is that the accessibility update is 0.9.05284, love that. (0:24:08) Codey: It’s great, that’s a great version number. (0:24:12) Codey: And then I loved how they said, (0:24:15) Codey: meow low in the roadmap post, that was very cute. (0:24:21) Codey: and then on the road map. (0:24:22) Codey: Sure, that pie looks really good, but no, I think this all looks sounds really good. (0:24:28) Al: Okay. (0:24:30) Codey: No, I think this all sounds really good. So, so similar to so similar to like House in Song of the Prairie. It’s like, cool, they’re adding stuff doesn’t matter. Not going to play it. (0:24:39) Codey: This is the opposite where I’m like, cool, they’re adding stuff. I’m still going to play it. Like, (0:24:44) Codey: this changes. Not much. Like, I’m like, uh-huh, just take your time. This looks good. (0:24:51) Codey: Excited for the final. (0:24:52) Codey: Good job, Eloise. (0:24:56) Codey: No wait, Arisa. It’s Arisa. (0:25:00) Al: Yup, mixing up your indie farming game devs. (0:25:04) Codey: I did. Eloise is lemon cake. Right? Cozy Bee Games. Yeah. Cool. (0:25:10) Al: Correct. (0:25:13) Codey: I know all, I mean, we just know all these people by name. I mean, there’s also Elle from Apico. (0:25:19) Codey: I mean, they’re all, I just know them all by their first name. They just get them all mixed up. (0:25:23) Codey: Because they all start with E. Okay, that’s it. I’m done. (0:25:28) Al: I feel like I need to talk about the version number thing because I’m about to complain about Paleopine’s version number so fine sure I’ll complain. Snacko feels so close to being like a good numbering system because clearly what they’ve done right is they’ve taken their build number 5284 and they’ve put that in the version number. Great. Why have we got this random 0.9.0 at the beginning? That has been the same for all of their versions so far. The first version that came out, (0:25:53) Al: Let me just double check the exact number just to make sure that I’m not giving you incorrect. (0:25:58) Al: Well, possibly. I’m not guaranteeing that, right? I bet it’s going to be 0.9.0 or some number. (0:26:07) Codey: But you bet it started with 0.9. (0:26:19) Codey: I love the underscore. I love how there’s points and then underscores. That’s just I love that chef’s kiss (0:26:24) Al: you just love it because it annoys me yeah I can’t see any other very (0:26:28) Al: person over before zero point nine point zero underscore four nine five six so snacko sort out your version numbers just use the if you just just use the build number right it’s fine like I don’t know why I don’t I don’t know (0:26:38) Codey: No, no, no. You do what you like. (0:26:45) Codey: You do what works for you, Arisa. (0:26:47) Al: I don’t know so like at the at the very least put it zero point nine point build number right why is there the zero there that is unnecessary because the whole point of that one. (0:26:58) Al: It’s because it’s like a patch update, but your patch updates you’re using as the build number after the underscore. (0:27:04) Al: I wasn’t going to mention it, and then you brought it up. (0:27:06) Al: I was obviously just so riled up. (0:27:08) Codey: We’ll continue to be riled up out because these next two news items also have version number issues. Let’s go (0:27:15) Al: Paleo Pines! (0:27:18) Al: It’s a major version update, why are they releasing it as 1.2.28? (0:27:22) Al: It’s just silly. (0:27:24) Codey: I mean what like I guess I don’t understand like what is there two two eight? (0:27:30) Codey: Let me let me go back. Let me look at what their other (0:27:34) Codey: Like it was the last one two seven. Nope the last one was (0:27:36) Al: This is now version number of the podcast. (0:27:40) Codey: Their last one was two two one point two point two three. Why have they gone up by five? (0:27:47) Al: Yeah, and that was like a bug fix update. (0:27:50) Al: This one is a content update. (0:27:52) Al: Why are they doing this to me? (0:27:54) Codey: They’re doing it by fives. Mmm. Nope. Nope. They did it by eight last time Ah. (0:28:00) Codey: Ah. (0:28:01) Al: I want to die. (0:28:03) Al: New dino colors. There you go. (0:28:06) Al: They’ve also added a nice looking feature, (0:28:10) Al: Seasoned Rancher Start, they’re calling it, which is basically just a new game plus. (0:28:14) Al: So after you’ve played the game the first (0:28:17) Al: new save and skip the first five days of the game, which is the tutorial. (0:28:21) Al: So this is good. More games should do. (0:28:24) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:28:26) Al: Cody’s like, I don’t really care. (0:28:27) Codey: No, I’m I was getting lost in the in the comments section of the update and I was like (0:28:34) Codey: Contemplating if I wanted to go down that rabbit hole, but I have chosen no, so (0:28:39) Codey: to pick Celia (0:28:40) Al: The 2px Elliot alpha is out now (0:28:44) Al: It’s only for Kickstarter backers who used who backed the alpha level (0:28:50) Al: So you have to get it through Kickstarter itself. It’s not on Steam or anything I wrote don’t version no no mention the version number, but I’ve not actually I can’t remember what that was cuz I didn’t actually Write it down (0:29:01) Codey: Cool. (0:29:03) Codey: Don’t blink it out of your mind. (0:29:04) Codey: Keep it, keep it. (0:29:06) Codey: The alpha’s out now. (0:29:07) Codey: If you back to pixelia, (0:29:08) Al: No, I need to find out now (0:29:12) Codey: if you back to pixelia, (0:29:14) Codey: you’re probably getting an email or something from Kickstarter to get your, (0:29:18) Codey: your code or whatever, but. (0:29:22) Al: if you backed it to at that level. I’m sorry I need to find this. What was I talking about? (0:29:24) Codey: Yeah. (0:29:28) Codey: You are fine. (0:29:31) Al: I can’t find it anywhere! (0:29:37) Codey: It doesn’t exist. (0:29:37) Al: What was I talking about? Did I write that or did you write that? I know it’s in my colour but (0:29:39) Codey: You wrote that. (0:29:41) Codey: You wrote that. (0:29:42) Al: I’m so confused. There’s no version number written anywhere. (0:29:45) Codey: Well, they knew that it was gonna bother you and so they deleted it from the world. (0:29:52) Al: This does feel like that a little bit, right? (0:29:55) Codey: It’s a little bit like a, (0:29:58) Codey: la moustache. (0:29:59) Codey: Have you ever heard of la moustache, the movie? (0:30:02) Codey: It’s a movie, it’s a French movie about a man that has a mustache and he decides to shave his mustache off and no one makes a big deal of it and he just had one for so long. (0:30:10) Codey: So he’s like, oh, I’m gonna really like, (0:30:11) Codey: I’m gonna get my friends. (0:30:12) Codey: It’s gonna be awesome. (0:30:13) Codey: So he shaves his mustache off and like no one reacts at all. (0:30:17) Codey: Like, and his wife doesn’t react. (0:30:18) Codey: And then finally when he just like explodes at her and it’s like, you haven’t mentioned my mustache. (0:30:23) Codey: I was so like, I did this. (0:30:24) Codey: And she’s like, what are you talking about? (0:30:25) Codey: You’ve never had a mustache. (0:30:28) Codey: And then it’s like, the whole rest of the movie is him. (0:30:31) Codey: Like, is he crazy? (0:30:32) Codey: Is it a plot? (0:30:34) Codey: Is he just delulu? (0:30:36) Codey: That’s you with this version number. (0:30:38) Al: Yeah, I do feel a little bit like it. I can’t see anything anywhere on the internet about this version number. Right, I’m just gonna move on and I’m sure it’ll keep me up at night. (0:30:46) Codey: And look it up later. (0:30:48) Al: No, definitely not. I’m not like scrolling there. (0:30:55) Codey: Did you back it on Kickstarter? (0:30:58) Codey: Maybe you wrote that or you put that in (0:30:59) Al: Yeah, but not alpha, so I won’t have I don’t have. (0:31:05) Codey: because you had mentioned the version numbers of the ones before. (0:31:09) Codey: So you were just like, we’re not gonna talk about it. (0:31:12) Al: I don’t know. Maybe that… I bet. Did I accidentally put that in the wrong thing? Was that meant to be in the Snacko one or something? I bet it was something like that. Anyway, moving on. OVA Magica. They have released their last update of 2023 and said that 2024 will, and This is a quote, “100% be the release year.” (0:31:24) Codey: Maybe. (0:31:40) Codey: Uh-huh. (0:31:42) Al: Look forward to Overmagica coming out in 2025. (0:31:44) Codey: Woo! (0:31:45) Al: It just feels like that was a mistake to say. (0:31:53) Al: Just put an eye out there. (0:31:56) Codey: but yeah, not much to say about that. (0:31:57) Al: They’ve also said that it probably won’t be before mid-2024. (0:32:04) Al: So there you go. (0:32:05) Al: That’s all we’ve got on that one. (0:32:09) Al: we have turn it by crossed. (0:32:12) Al: with super raft boat together. (0:32:15) Al: So there’s a game apparently called super raft boats together. (0:32:19) Al: I have not. This is not a farming game. (0:32:22) Al: But it does look quite crazy. (0:32:25) Al: And there’s a new level of it with turn it by. (0:32:29) Codey: You haven’t played either of these games, so cool. (0:32:32) Codey: Thumbs up. (0:32:36) Al: Yeah, I don’t really know what to say about it. (0:32:38) Al: I like turn it by. (0:32:40) Al: It’s an interesting crossover. (0:32:42) Al: I can see why they did it because it does seem like a turn it by kind of game. (0:32:47) Al: Like I could see myself playing this game at some point, (0:32:52) Al: but I also have too many games to play. (0:32:57) Al: Stardew Valley, that game. (0:33:00) Al: Concerned Ape has posted a screenshot, (0:33:04) Al: which has a lot of stuff in it, (0:33:07) Al: but it’s showing a new year festival, (0:33:10) Al: which honestly I’m surprised we didn’t. (0:33:12) Al: have a new year festival before. Did we not have something? (0:33:16) Codey: I don’t think so. I also don’t know. I think I’ve only ever gotten into the second year in Stode Valley once. So I don’t… I’m not surprised that I didn’t know that this was a thing. Or if it was a thing. This one looks cool. It talks about like fortune. People in the comments are absolutely losing their minds because they’re heart shaped fireworks. (0:33:41) Codey: But people always lose their mind every time Concerned Ape drops a screenshot so that’s (0:33:46) Codey: all. So I don’t know. It looks good. Excited that he’s still… mhm. He’s still pumping (0:33:48) Al: Yeah, he knows exactly what he’s doing. (0:33:53) Al: The other thing I found interesting about this is, so you look like you’re looking at a little card and it says “Good fortune to you in the coming year” and I wonder whether because obviously Stardew Valley, you might not know listeners, but Stardew Valley has a luck system. So each day you have like a certain luck number and that defines a bunch of things including how often you find ore in the mines. That’s kind of the biggest one. (0:34:18) Al: I wonder whether this will affect luck at all. Like, is this saying “Good fortune to you in the coming year”? Is that going to actually increase your luck for the next year by a bit? And if you get a negative one, is that going to… Or am I just reading into this too much and it’s just a random card that everybody gets? (0:34:34) Codey: Who knows at this point. It also has a cow on it, so I wonder if it’s whatever’s in the middle of the card, like what if there’s a good fortune to you in the coming year and the middle is like a fruit? (0:34:50) Codey: Like, is this luck for the cows? Is it? (0:34:56) Al: Well, so, I mean, luck is just luck in the game unless he’s completely changed it so that luck is different for each different thing. (0:35:02) Al: That would be a lot of unnecessary work, I think. (0:35:06) Al: Who knows? (0:35:07) Codey: I really think he posted he posted it on on Happy New Year what if it is literally just him posting something that shows him it’s him saying Happy New Year 12 a.m. January 1st yeah what if it’s just him saying Happy New Year there’s nothing (0:35:07) Al: It also doesn’t look like any (0:35:20) Al: Well, that’s a good point. That was at midnight in Eastern time, right? Yeah. Because I didn’t notice that because it was 5am my time, so I obviously didn’t notice that. But yeah, (0:35:36) Al: that’s midnight Eastern time. Well, great. So yeah, another concern to eat to talk about for an unnecessary amount of time. (0:35:48) Al: Next! (0:35:50) Al: We have Pixel Cross, Story of Seasons, and this is, I mean it’s like Picross, but obviously it’s not branded Picross, but it’s that kind of game. (0:36:05) Al: But Stardew, no Stardew, Story of Seasons version, so yeah, that’s a thing. (0:36:11) Codey: Yep, you know Micah’s gonna play this. (0:36:15) Codey: I really like Picross, but I don’t know if I would play like a Story of Seasons specific one or anything. (0:36:22) Codey: I usually just play the ones that are free on like that I can download and play and I’ll play it for like three weeks straight and just play a heck ton of it and then that’s it and then I’m done. (0:36:35) Codey: But this looks cute. (0:36:36) Codey: I’m sure other people will like it. (0:36:38) Codey: I know Michael will like it and it’s coming on the 27th of (0:36:44) Al: I sent Micah a message with just the link to the video that will be in the show notes on the 23rd of December and then on Christmas day he replied to me and said, “I passed out when I saw this and only just recovered in time to say Merry Christmas.” (0:37:01) Al: So I think he’s excited. (0:37:03) Codey: He might be excited. (0:37:08) Al: That is coming in on the 27th of February this year. (0:37:12) Al: Pokemon D. (0:37:15) Al: That’s me just double-checking. Yes it is February correct, that is. (0:37:18) Codey: I was just gonna go with it. (0:37:21) Al: And our final news update of the episode is another new game called Tales of Saikyu. (0:37:33) Codey: Psych psych you yeah, I mean you’re right sick you thank you (0:37:38) Al: We’ll go with that Saikyu. So this is coming to Kickstarter soon. There is a Steam page up. (0:37:44) Al: But obviously it’s not released yet. They’re planning to release apparently this year, (0:37:49) Al: which is interesting. So I wonder if this is just a get it over the money for the Kickstarter being marketing or whatever. Or maybe it’s just the 2024 is there under the access, who knows. (0:38:01) Al: Anyway, so the blurb for this is embark on Saikyu, a fantasy farming adventure amidst Yokai legends. Can you restore a countryside into its former glory? (0:38:14) Al: Forge connections with extraordinary characters and uncover the hidden wonders of this magical world. (0:38:19) Al: So it’s farming and it’s yokai. So what more could you want? (0:38:23) Codey: Nah. (0:38:27) Al: Wow. (0:38:29) Codey: I’m sure some people will like it. (0:38:31) Al: Okay. (0:38:34) Codey: I Uh. (0:38:35) Al: Um, it looks like, so it looks, it looks like the yokai bit is you (0:38:40) Al: shapeshift into other creatures and you can be those creatures. (0:38:44) Al: when you play the game. (0:38:49) Codey: I’m just not, I don’t know, I’m not into it, but no. (0:38:53) Al: still not interested. Fair enough. I think it looks interesting. It’s a 3d adventure game. It looks really cool like I just there’s a bit where like he runs jumps off a cliff and transforms into a flying creature and just flies around and then he’s on the farm and he transforms into like a boar type thing and tells the ground. It’s kind of like paleo pines right where you use the dinosaurs for things but you are the creatures. (0:38:54) Codey: No. (laughs) (0:39:23) Al: You’re transforming into them. (0:39:24) Codey: Mm-hmm. I look forward to seeing more of it. (0:39:25) Al: I think it’s cool. (0:39:28) Al: I think this has got the best fishing in any game as well because they literally, they transform into like this little water creature, jump into the water, see a fish and literally just suck it up. (0:39:38) Al: They just, I got it now. (0:39:41) Codey: The kirby-it. (0:39:43) Codey: I will say I loved the… (0:39:45) Al: Yeah, yeah, look, can’t be a fish. (0:39:53) Codey: My favorite thing was you doing the second noise and then saying, “I’ve got it now,” (0:39:58) Codey: but with like, “Your mouth is full.” (0:40:03) Codey: I got right now. (0:40:06) Codey: Oh, we’re off the rails. (0:40:08) Codey: That was lovely. (0:40:09) Codey: Yeah, I think I need to see more. (0:40:10) Al: I just… I… I don’t want to eat a fish that somebody has curbed. That’s all I’m saying. (0:40:18) Codey: But it’s a fish that you have kirby’d. (0:40:20) Al: Well, yeah, but surely the fish aren’t just like (0:40:23) Al: presumably I’m selling the fish, right? (0:40:26) Codey: But how are they gonna know? They’re not gonna know. (0:40:30) Al: They’re not gonna know. How are they gonna know? (0:40:32) Codey: How are they gonna know? They’re not gonna know. How would they know? Kirby that fish. Oh, oh did you? (0:40:36) Al: No. No car being fish and then selling them. It’s bad. (0:40:45) Al: So the Kickstarter launch is on the 12th of January, so presumably we’ll get more information. (0:40:51) Codey: Cool. Sounds good. (0:40:53) Al: » All right, that’s the news. (0:40:57) Al: We’re now gonna talk about Carl Island. (0:41:00) Al: So a little bit of housekeeping around this. (0:41:05) Al: Obviously, we did have a previous episode about that, (0:41:08) Al: which it sounds like Cody listened to again in preparation for this. (0:41:11) Al: I did not, I thought I should, but I didn’t. (0:41:14) Al: I will link that in the show notes if you wanna go have a re-listen to that. (0:41:19) Al: Was it probably around the end of 2022? (0:41:22) Codey: Ooh, I don’t remember, um, I just, let’s see who can find it. (0:41:28) Al: Yes. Oh, no, no. No, apparently May 23. Wow. That took a long time. Yeah. Why so long? (0:41:31) Codey: Okay. (0:41:33) Codey: Wow. (0:41:35) Codey: Uh, well. (0:41:37) Codey: I don’t know. (0:41:40) Codey: But it’s still, yeah, you, you had thoughts and now it’s out for real reals and so we can discuss that. (0:41:48) Codey: Um… (0:41:48) Al: Yeah, yeah, so I wanted first of all to get Cody, you’ve not been on an episode of a card island yet. You’ve given a little bit of like you think it was obviously good. Do you think it was robbed from its game of the year position? So give us a quick rundown of what you think about the game. We obviously don’t want to go into too much detail about specifics. We can get into that later, but yeah. (0:41:52) Codey: Mm-mm. (0:42:08) Codey: I mean, everything that you said on the Game of the Year episode, I echo the fact that I think that it does everything that Stardew does, but better, it does things that Stardew doesn’t do. (0:42:17) Codey: So like the museum is like it has, it has the quote unquote community center, which is the temple, but then it also has like a huge museum that you can use. (0:42:30) Codey: And so it has that that that’s really cool. (0:42:34) Codey: All of the characters are attractive. (0:42:36) Codey: I can’t find… (0:42:38) Codey: Can someone be a real human, please? (0:42:44) Codey: But I like the bug catching mechanic. It’s really cool. (0:42:54) Codey: Some of them are really fast, some of them are really slow. (0:43:00) Codey: Some you do get to creep up on and some you have to just yeet yourself at. (0:43:04) Codey: Um, like that the mines are more expanded. (0:43:08) Codey: Um, so I will say I am in, I think I’m on like the second or third day of my first summer. (0:43:17) Codey: So I’m not far in the game, but I am enjoying the level of automation, um, where. (0:43:28) Codey: So I just have a heck ton of sprinklers and they all do like the surrounding eight tiles. (0:43:34) Codey: So I just like the first day of the month, I… (0:43:38) Codey: …set up all these sprinklers and hoe everything and plant seeds and then I never have to worry about it again. (0:43:46) Codey: I just walk away and I do other things and I really like that. (0:43:50) Codey: And they’re not difficult to make. I felt like in Stardew they were a lot more difficult to make. (0:43:54) Codey: But yeah, so I think that’s like my general summary is I like it. It is largely positive. (0:44:04) Codey: I can’t really think of anything that’s negative, honestly. (0:44:08) Codey: Because I think I just need to play more. (0:44:12) Codey: Yeah, that’s where I’m at. So yeah, those are my thoughts. What about you, Al? (0:44:18) Codey: Okay. (0:44:20) Al: So let’s, I want to talk about the automation first thing, because you brought that up, right? (0:44:23) Al: Because I think, I think it’s fantastic, right? And I think it’s so much better than it was as well. So you’re right in that you’ve got the, you know, your standard, what they call sprinklers, (0:44:37) Al: and you can just use them as normal sprinklers, but they also got, first of all, they have like the nine by nine level of sprinkler. Interestingly, in the game of the year episode, I was like, (0:44:48) Al: Like they’ve got a five by five spring. (0:44:50) Al: I didn’t mean to say five by five, of course they have a five by five, Stargia has a five by five. (0:44:54) Al: My point is they have a nine by nine. Right. And that’s fantastic. Nine by nine. Amazing. (0:45:00) Al: Eighty one squares, eighty squares if you’ve got, if you’ve got your sprinkler. It’s eighty squares of automated farming. (0:45:08) Al: And not only does it automate your watering, but also you can get this additional thing. (0:45:14) Al: I don’t know if you’ve had this yet. Have you had the additions to the sprinkler? Yeah. (0:45:18) Codey: So the only addition that I’ve had is the fertilizing one. (0:45:20) Al: Okay. Yeah, cool. I mean, that’s good. Let’s get in and of itself. But let me tell you, when you upgrade to the highest level of addition to the sprinkler, (0:45:30) Al: this thing will sow your seeds. It will fertilize your seeds. It will water your seeds. It will harvest your seeds. Right. (0:45:38) Al: So now what I’m doing at the beginning of a season is I’m just buying a thousand seeds and a thousand fertilizer. (0:45:48) Al: I go put them in the machine. (0:45:50) Al: And then I never have to think about it again until the first day of the next season, and it harvests everything. (0:45:56) Al: It’s amazing. I absolutely love it. (0:45:58) Al: And obviously, it’s one of these things where I know some people enjoy the manual labor part of that. (0:46:04) Al: But I’m very much a progression kind of person in these games. (0:46:08) Al: Like, that’s fine to do to start with, and that’s kind of the monotonous nature of that part is fine to start with. (0:46:14) Al: But I want to see improvements on that, and this has automation everywhere. (0:46:20) Al: It’s absolutely ridiculous the level of this author. (0:46:22) Codey: How much money do you have? (0:46:24) Al: Oh goodness, I haven’t opened the game in a few weeks. (0:46:28) Al: Thanks. (0:46:28) Codey: Because like I have not gone more than like… (0:46:32) Codey: I think that at one point I had like 3,000 or 4,000 but then I ended up upgrading something so that I was back down to 1,000. (0:46:39) Codey: But each seed is like 20 or 30 monies. (0:46:43) Codey: So it would be like 20 or 30,000 if you’re buying a thousand seeds. (0:46:48) Codey: That’s bananas. (0:46:50) Al: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I have quite a lot of money, double check what my deal is, but yeah, it is crazy and I love it. It’s fantastic. I think being able to do all that, because like, I think maybe like half of my farm is now just plots of land with these automated things. Like it’s amazing. I love it. It’s fantastic. The game’s updating so I can’t actually check just now. (0:47:18) Al: Um, okay, cool. (0:47:20) Al: Automation, I don’t think there’s like, I think that that is what it is, right? (0:47:23) Al: If you like automation and farming games, the automation, this game is fantastic. (0:47:27) Al: Could they add more? (0:47:28) Al: Yeah, they probably could, but it’s still great because they’ve also put like some thought into the, what I find really annoying is when you’ve got like, Oh, (0:47:38) Al: here’s a sprinkler that does this many plots of land and there’s this, that has this many, and then the scarecrow does this, but it doesn’t really overlap in a right way. If you have everything maximum (0:47:50) Al: you’ve got the nine by nine sprinkler. You can have four of them completely contained within the biggest scarecrow. So you’ll have obviously one line through that that isn’t covered and stuff, but I use that for a path. But the four of those will fit perfectly inside a scarecrow, right? There’s no off by one or annoyances in terms of like how you lay out your farm, which I really appreciate. (0:48:19) Al: Obviously, there are still… (0:48:20) Al: I think it’s 3x3 and then 5x5, and then it goes up to 9x9. (0:48:26) Codey: There’s starts with three by three. I haven’t gotten there yet (0:48:40) Codey: Five by five seems right (0:48:43) Codey: So five five five five seems right. I think that’s what you and Bev were talking about when y’all were on the (0:48:50) Al: The 9x9 didn’t exist at that point, though. (0:48:54) Al: Most of the top level of things didn’t exist at that point, and almost all the automation stuff d
Al and Jonnie talk about the games they are most looking forward to in 2024 Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:02:07: What Have We Been Up To 00:09:54: News 00:20:55: 2024 Upcoming Games 00:51:04: Outro Links Terra Nil Travellers Rest Christmas Update Sprout Valley Winter Holidays Update Len’s Island Companions and Languages Update Tales of the Shire Snacko Mika and the Witch’s Mountain Rusty’s Retirement Go-Go Town Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom Horticular Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Al: Hello, farmers, and welcome to another episode of The Harvest Season. (0:00:34) Al: My name is Al, and we’re here today to talk about Cottagecore Games. (0:00:36) Jonnie: - And my name is Johnny. (0:00:41) Jonnie: - Whoo! (0:00:43) Al: Before we get into it, transcripts are available for the podcast and the show notes and the website. (0:00:49) Al: Hi, Johnny. (0:00:50) Al: How are you doing? (0:00:50) Jonnie: Good good. I’m feeling excited about today’s (0:00:53) Al: Hmm. (0:00:54) Al: Nice. (0:00:54) Al: Nice, nice, nice. (0:00:55) Al: Yes, today we’re going to chat about what games, well, what college school. (0:01:00) Al: We are looking forward to most this year and I guess we’ll try and keep the list too, not too long. (0:01:11) Al: Because, I mean, I wrote down three and then Johnny wrote down five and looking at Johnny’s five, of course, I noticed at least one that I forgot about, so. (0:01:20) Jonnie: Yeah, and that’s maybe part of the reason I put it on my list. (0:01:25) Al: Yeah, is it not in the list of release games or did I just not put a date on it? (0:01:28) Jonnie: It is not. I don’t think you’ve put it on. Maybe it’s there without a doubt. (0:01:32) Jonnie: Anyway, we’ll get to that. I also have some games that didn’t quite make my list. (0:01:36) Al: it is there. Yeah okay well let’s do some news first because we do have a few bits of news and just to point out we are recording this two weeks before release because I mean neither of us wanted to record on the last weekend of the year. So we are, this might be a little bit out of date and if we’ve missed anything then it’ll be in hopefully next week’s episode. So yeah. (0:01:37) Jonnie: So. (0:02:06) Al: Awesome. But before the news, Jonny what have you been up to? (0:02:10) Jonnie: What have I been up to? I’ve been up to Coral Island. It’s great, but doesn’t run great on the Xbox Series S and it crashes a lot and I kind of got a bit annoyed. (0:02:23) Jonnie: Just too many days where it crashes kind of at the end of the day and you lose the progress and it’s just very frustrating. So I have put it back down. (0:02:30) Al: Yeah, that’s disappointing. (0:02:32) Jonnie: But that game’s still really great. I think if you’re playing it on literally anything else, it runs fine. I think they’re just having problems with the Series S. (0:02:40) Jonnie: this. (0:02:41) Al: Yeah, they don’t seem to be the best at having optimised it yet, because like on the Steam Deck where I’ve been playing it, it runs really well, but it runs really hot and I get maybe like three hours of battery out of the Steam Deck, which is not a lot. So maybe not even that much, maybe it’s like two hours or something like that. It’s certainly not a huge amount of time. So I think it’s just really badly optimised just now and hopefully they can work at that and get it working better. (0:03:11) Al: Um, I, my, my hope is that as they get it working on the switch, which is what they’re currently working on, that they figure out better ways to optimize things. (0:03:21) Al: And once it’s actually working on the switch, they’ve passed those optimizations onto other things and it works better on, on the series S as well. (0:03:28) Jonnie: Yeah, I have to say given the current running I cannot imagine this game running at all on a switch in its current state (0:03:34) Al: No, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, which is not great. (0:03:38) Al: So hopefully they fix that rather than just release a terrible port on Switch. (0:03:42) Al: I guess we’ll find out sometime this year. (0:03:44) Jonnie: Yeah, and so since I put that down, the game I decided to pick up is Palia, which came out on Switch (0:03:53) Jonnie: last week, I think. Last week as we’re recording this, middle of December, I guess, based off… (0:03:58) Al: 14th of December, yeah. (0:03:59) Jonnie: Yeah, and I’m having a really good time with it so far. It’s… (0:04:05) Al: Interesting. (0:04:05) Al: It’s an MMO, right? (0:04:07) Jonnie: Yeah, I don’t really understand what the MMO aspects of the game are yet. (0:04:12) Jonnie: Great. (0:04:14) Al: Okay. (0:04:14) Jonnie: But it feels very like… I don’t know if you ever played World of Warcraft back in the day. (0:04:21) Al: Like very, very small amount. (0:04:23) Jonnie: Well, so the starting in many ways to me feels fairly similar to starting World of Warcraft. (0:04:28) Jonnie: Like there’s definitely a visual similarity. (0:04:30) Jonnie: And it’s just one of those things where you see other players running around in the world probably doing the same things you’re doing. (0:04:36) Jonnie: But you don’t really have any reason to interact with them at this point. (0:04:42) Jonnie: So I’m curious to see. (0:04:44) Al: Interesting. (0:04:44) Jonnie: What that is, but. (0:04:44) Al: And is the gameplay loop like standard farming game or? (0:04:51) Jonnie: No, it seems I guess a little bit more adventure based, so the the days run, (0:04:58) Jonnie: I think every 12 hours equates to kind of like half hour of real time and they’re kind of constantly running and it seems more designed by you have your home, (0:05:10) Jonnie: which is an instance area, so that’s that’s unique to you. (0:05:14) Jonnie: You spend a bit of time there where you’ve got your farm, you build your house, (0:05:17) Jonnie: a whole bunch of stuff there, and then you go out into the world to do quests. (0:05:25) Jonnie: And in addition to your usual sort of farming game or cottagecore, (0:05:28) Jonnie: Bevy of Skills, they have hunting and I because I don’t think there’s combat (0:05:33) Jonnie: outside of hunting, so I feel like that’s maybe one of the things that you’re (0:05:37) Jonnie: maybe more likely to do with other players, maybe there’s bigger creatures (0:05:40) Jonnie: that you go and hunt or something like that. (0:05:42) Al: Okay, okay (0:05:43) Jonnie: - Yeah. (0:05:44) Jonnie: Yeah, the gameplay loop seems to be more designed around do some stuff at your house, go out, (0:05:49) Jonnie: explore the world for a bit, come back, (0:05:51) Jonnie: progress things at your house because plants growing is tied to real world time. (0:05:56) Al: Okay, interesting. (0:05:57) Al: So I like that when you said that your home area is unique to you, so nobody else can go there, which means that you don’t have to worry about people destroying things and stuff like that. (0:06:07) Al: Okay. (0:06:08) Al: That’s interesting. (0:06:10) Al: I’m unsure if I want to try it. (0:06:12) Al: Like just MMOs have never really appealed to me, but it’s an interesting idea. (0:06:18) Jonnie: Yeah, I think it will be interesting to see how that finds its way into the game, because at the moment it doesn’t feel particularly obvious. (0:06:28) Jonnie: Oh, the other really cool thing that I like so far about Palia is you have a lot of control over where you can put stuff. (0:06:36) Jonnie: So it is not gridlocked. I mean, technically there is a grid, but the squares are way smaller than the items, so it’s not like you’re putting a thing on a square. (0:06:45) Al: Right. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. OK. (0:06:50) Al: I can see how that would appeal to you. However, for me, that just goes everything is going to look terrible, because I can’t line them up properly. (0:06:58) Jonnie: Oh, no, you can line it up. (0:06:59) Al: OK. All right. (0:07:00) Jonnie: They have really good tools to make sure you can line stuff up properly. (0:07:03) Jonnie: So they have they have thought through that. (0:07:05) Jonnie: So I think I think you’d be OK with it. (0:07:09) Jonnie: So anyway, yeah, probably like having a lot of fun. (0:07:12) Jonnie: I look forward to sort of sharing more thoughts as I get deeper into it. (0:07:17) Jonnie: But why have you been up to? (0:07:17) Al: we’ll sign you up for that episode then. I have basically just been playing Pokemon, (0:07:25) Al: so as is standard for me when I get into a game, I get into a game and yeah I’ve been finishing up all the DLC stuff for Pokemon. I have basically done everything on one of the games, so I just need to go and do it through in the other game and get the exclusives, and then I’ll have all that done and I’m just trying to not spend my entire time shiny hunting which is always a problem I have right like I could spend forever shiny hunting but I mean only for a limited amount of time because I’m now at what’s my number I’m now at almost I’m only a couple away from 900 unique Chinese so I’ve got 200 left to go hopefully when I get to that point I can then stop until the next game. (0:08:17) Al: I suppose I can’t be trusted. So yeah, I mean, I still really like these games. I mean, overall, it’s I think I’m more kind of disappointed in some of the performance aspects of things rather than that ruining for me. It’s just a bit annoying because I think like how good could these games be if they actually ran well? (0:08:20) Jonnie: I agree, we cannot trust you, so… (0:08:42) Jonnie: Answer, not theory. (0:08:47) Al: Anyway, I have been enjoying that. So that’s basically all I’ve been playing and considering they just announced the epilogue for January, I’m sure I’ll be playing it in January as well. Yep, so there’s an extra little epilogue that’s an extra story that they haven’t talked publicly about what the story is about, but there is actually story to it. And that’s tied to a new mythical Pokemon, which they’re releasing in January. (0:08:56) Jonnie: Oh, so there’s more to come. (0:09:17) Al: And you’ll get the epilogue and mythical Pokemon at the same time. So yeah, we’ll see how that goes. So that’s my deadline for finishing what I’m finishing. Although I’ll be finished, I think probably, probably today as we’re recording, I’ll probably be finished on one game. I need to go play the other game because there’s not a huge amount of exclusives in this DLC, which is nice. There’s like six in total, but two of them are at the after of the story. (0:09:47) Al: So I need to go to the after the story part first, before I can get those two. (0:09:52) Al: But it’s fine. It’s not very long and complicated. (0:09:55) Al: Anyway, should we talk about some news? (0:09:57) Jonnie: Okay, just this once. (0:10:00) Al: So one for you, Johnny. (0:10:01) Al: Terrenil is now out on switch. (0:10:03) Jonnie: Whoo! Yeah, I actually think, uh, so I think Kev and I did the episode for this one. (0:10:10) Jonnie: I think it’s which seems like a better platform for it. (0:10:15) Jonnie: Just, I don’t know, I didn’t love the controls on mobile. (0:10:19) Jonnie: I didn’t finish it, and this kind of makes me interested to jump back in, (0:10:24) Jonnie: back in, particularly because I’m going away to a place with (0:10:27) Jonnie: dodgy internet for a few days. So I feel like I might download Terran along the switch. It might be a good one to play over Christmas break with family and friends because it’s, you know, (0:10:36) Jonnie: turn based or like you’ve got time to think about what what actions you want to take, you know, you can just pause time and things like that. I feel like this might be a good game to pick up and well, by the time you’re listening to this, I guess the I guess the holidays are done. But that’s probably (0:10:52) Al: Cool. Yeah, I will probably play it at some point now, because it is on Steam, so I could have played it on the Steam Deck, but my assumption was it wasn’t going to work hugely well with controllers, which is probably a bit unfair, because it’s not a standard now for Steam games to work well with controllers. (0:11:10) Al: But now that it’s on Switch, it definitely will have to. (0:11:13) Al: So I will have a look into that at some point. (0:11:17) Al: Travelers Rest have a new Christmas event, which is out now. (0:11:22) Al: It’s mostly just festive-based stuff, (0:11:26) Al: and we know Johnny doesn’t like talking about festive-based events anymore, so. (0:11:31) Jonnie: Yep, partly I had one and I was just like, ugh, can we not? (0:11:35) Al: Sprout Valley also have a winter holidays update, (0:11:40) Al: which does have some festive-based stuff, (0:11:42) Al: but also brings in some really fundamental changes. (0:11:46) Al: I don’t know why they’ve called this the winter holidays update. (0:11:49) Al: This is like a 2.0 with some… (0:11:52) Al: Pretty fundamental changes and it also happens to include an event that makes it snowy on the ground, right? (0:11:58) Al: So first of all, like this is huge. You can now terraform. (0:12:02) Al: This was one of the things I really wanted in this game because I found it really frustrating how (0:12:08) Al: how little land you had and how it felt like you should be able to like expand onto other islands and stuff like that (0:12:14) Al: and now you can you can just craft land tiles and just put them on the ground and you can craft water tiles and you can (0:12:20) Al: bit them on the ground so you can you can. (0:12:22) Al: Terraform your island as you see fit, which is pretty, pretty huge. (0:12:26) Jonnie: Yeah, I feel like calling this update Winter Holidays when you’re including terraforming is… (0:12:31) Jonnie: It’s just bad marketing. (0:12:34) Al: Yeah. (0:12:34) Al: Yeah. (0:12:35) Al: I really is. (0:12:35) Jonnie: You know, this should have been called the terraforming update because that is huge for a game like this. (0:12:35) Al: It really is. (0:12:40) Al: Yeah. (0:12:40) Al: Yeah. (0:12:40) Al: Or call it the 2.0 or something like make it clear that this is quite a big update, um, because they also have, um, you can now grow your own trees and So previously if you like cut all them down (0:12:52) Al: you wouldn’t have any so now you can you can add more and um you’ve also double increased not in not doubled it’s more than doubled increased the inventory space to 16 and the chess space to 32. I still think it’s a little bit weird how restrictive it is but that is much less restrictive than it was. I think it was like six and ten or something like that so it’s quite a quite a big jump. Now there is a bot here in that it only works on new saves however (0:13:23) Al: as I mentioned in the episode where I talked about this the game is very clearly designed to be like play a save for a while and then build up a new save like it’s really very definitely designed to have like lots of saves that you’ve played for a little time it’s not like a play this game in this save for a hundred hours like Stardew or Coral Island (0:13:43) Jonnie: Yeah, that’s good to hear. (0:13:46) Jonnie: I just, for 2024, the one thing I want is can we just get rid of inventory space being a thing in these games? (0:13:52) Jonnie: Like it doesn’t add anything, you know, Fafarm wins the 2023 award for best inventory management because they have the one infinite size chest, which is great. (0:14:01) Jonnie: But I’m so sick of inventory management, can we not? (0:14:04) Al: Yeah, I think Coral Island has made some movement in a positive direction on that, where you can throw anything in any chest and then you can craft anything from anywhere using your chest. (0:14:17) Al: So that, much like Fae Farm is good, but they still have like a very limited, what you can carry around with you at one point. (0:14:27) Al: So it’s like, yeah, sure, you can craft anything you want, but if your inventory is full, tough, (0:14:34) Al: you need to go back and throw something, or you need to delete something, right? (0:14:38) Al: And that’s just really frustrating. (0:14:39) Al: And I feel like it only exists so that you can upgrade your bag, which is like, okay, (0:14:44) Al: sure. (0:14:45) Al: Fine. (0:14:46) Al: If you’re going to do that, make the final upgrade an infinite upgrade, right? (0:14:51) Al: Because it’s like, oh yeah, you can upgrade it, but then you can only upgrade it to four times its original size. (0:14:56) Jonnie: Well, even like, because even upgrading it doesn’t it doesn’t do anything like it’s not tied to anything else in the game, it feels like one of those, you know, things that is a legacy, probably like inventory space was probably originally added to these games because games couldn’t handle you having large inventories of stuff, right? (0:15:18) Jonnie: If you go back to like original harvest moon or, or whatever, like it was probably difficult. And now people think of it. (0:15:26) Jonnie: As this feature that a game has to have instead of an annoying frustrating mechanic that adds nothing. (0:15:33) Al: Yeah, yeah, that’s fair. Yeah. It definitely feels like something that came from games that had very limited like memory and storage space. And therefore we can only give you this much. Like if back to like the original Harvest Moon episode that we had where it’s like you literally have two spaces in your inventory and it’s for your, your tools and and everything else doesn’t exist in your inventory. (0:16:01) Al: Um, like that. (0:16:03) Al: Because everything else was basically just a counter of how much you have of each thing. (0:16:08) Al: Um, well, that doesn’t really exist anymore. And it feels like it’s like with games with lives, (0:16:14) Al: right? That’s a holdover as well. And so many of them like Sonic and Mario, um, have started kind of moving away from that. So Sonic, I don’t think has lives anymore in the newest game. And Mario doesn’t in some of its games and does in some of its games, which is just a bit of a weird kind of like it’s half moved away from it. (0:16:33) Al: I think the 3D ones don’t tend to have like, I don’t think Odyssey had lives, but Mario Wonder does have lives, but you can also get basically infinite number if you have, if you play the game as it is, right? (0:16:47) Al: Like it’s such a weird thing where like lives kind of exists in games still, but it’s like why does this still exist even though it was a clear holdover from arcade games and only existed to get you to pay more money. (0:17:04) Al: So yeah, I agree inventory space, make it infinite, we don’t care anymore there, especially with these games have so many different things you can upgrade, right? (0:17:12) Al: If you couldn’t upgrade your bag in Stardew or in Coral Island, no one would be like, (0:17:16) Al: “Oh, there’s nothing to upgrade.” (0:17:17) Al: Of course there is. (0:17:19) Jonnie: Right? There’s so much to do. (0:17:21) Al: And if you think you need more, you just have to think of one other thing to make it the same amount as it would have been, right? (0:17:28) Al: Like it’s just such a, whatever. (0:17:30) Al: Anyway, yes, great. Have I missed anything else on? (0:17:33) Al: This, uh, oh yeah, they’ve got more translations coming to Sprout Valley soon. (0:17:38) Al: So that’s good. (0:17:39) Al: What have we got? (0:17:39) Al: Polish, Portuguese, French, Spanish, German, Bulgarian, and Korean. (0:17:44) Al: That’s an interesting list. (0:17:45) Al: I wonder if that’s just people that they knew because like, it’s funny. (0:17:48) Jonnie: Sometimes, yeah, it can be hard to get access to people that can do a good job translating. (0:17:54) Jonnie: I think that is one of those things that is an underrated skill. (0:17:57) Jonnie: You know, it requires more than just knowing the language. It is a real skill. (0:18:02) Al: Yeah, because obviously Spanish and Portuguese and French make perfect sense. And then you got German and Polish, which are like, okay, fine. Kind of still quite fundamental European ones. (0:18:12) Al: And then you’ve got Korean. And that’s the only non-European one. Obviously, (0:18:19) Al: Spanish and Portuguese and French do cover larger areas than just in Europe because colonialism, (0:18:25) Al: but they’re still like based from Europe. It’s just really funny that the only kind of age and one they have is Korean, which I mean, I’m not saying, oh, they should definitely have more. (0:18:36) Al: I’m just saying it’s just a funny looking list. That’s exactly what I’m saying. How dare they? (0:18:36) Jonnie: No, you’re saying they shouldn’t have Korean right, Al. That’s what I… (0:18:41) Al: How dare they? No, it’s just funny list. Yes, Lenz Island. Yep, they’re companions and languages update, which I feel like we’re missing some information about this, but I couldn’t find (0:18:46) Jonnie: Uh, speaking of translations, Lenz Island. (0:19:02) Al: actually look directly on Steam. Let me check Steam, see if there’s anything. But nope, (0:19:08) Al: there’s nothing more about this. Literally all we have is a tweet, which says the companions and languages update launches this Friday, which is basically today as we’re recording. So soon. (0:19:19) Al: Actually, it should already be out based on what they said. They said two days ago, they said it’s coming out in 12 p.m. AEST tomorrow. So it should be out. Like that’s now. That was only a few hours ago. (0:19:32) Jonnie: Uh, yeah, that was many hours ago. (0:19:38) Al: they’ve not posted about it being a no they have not okay yeah all we know about is the they’re adding languages and presumably there’s gonna be something about your companions in the game but they haven’t said what so they’ve said they’re adding Spanish Thai German and Chinese simplified Chinese I always that is one of the languages I’d I never quite sure because like the language situation in China is very complicated because you’ve got… (0:19:40) Jonnie: Well, by the time this episode comes out, it will definitely be all resolved. (0:20:08) Al: Mandarin and Cantonese, and those are separate from simplified and traditional, which I believe both Mandarin and Cantonese can be either simplified or traditional. (0:20:19) Al: So when they say simplified Chinese, I don’t know what they’re talking about. (0:20:24) Jonnie: Me either if you know send us (0:20:26) Al: Because I believe that simplified and traditional is about the characters they use, but Cantonese and Mandarin are about how they use those characters. (0:20:38) Al: So that’s good. (0:20:38) Al: We like accessibility for people in games, and that includes being able to read in your own language. (0:20:44) Al: All right, that’s all the news. (0:20:46) Al: Not a huge amount, because as I said, we’re recording two weeks early. (0:20:50) Al: No, just a week early. (0:20:50) Al: We like accessibility for people in games, and that includes being able to read in your own language. (0:20:56) Al: All right, that’s all the news. (0:20:58) Al: Not a huge amount, because as I said, we’re recording two weeks early. (0:21:06) Jonnie: We recorded like three days ago and that’s why there’s not much use. (0:21:10) Jonnie: And also it’s it’s Christmas. I don’t know we recorded some number of days ago. (0:21:16) Jonnie: Four. Four days ago. Yeah time is weird right now when we’re recording because also that’s 2023 and this is coming out in 2024. No we recorded this Monday. Just gone. (0:21:16) Al: There’s still an episode to come out. (0:21:22) Al: Yeah, it’s a week and a half ago we recorded. (0:21:27) Al: Yep. (0:21:30) Al: No, we’re recording right now, Johnny! (0:21:33) Jonnie: Yeah, but the… (laughs) (0:21:33) Al: Oh, oh, I see what you mean. (0:21:38) Jonnie: I just… yeah. (0:21:38) Al: I know what you mean. (0:21:40) Al: Yeah, okay. (0:21:40) Al: I thought you were trying to do that thing where when this comes out, (0:21:44) Al: you’re saying we recorded four days ago. (0:21:44) Jonnie: Ah, no. (laughs) (0:21:46) Al: Right, no, what you’re saying is we actually recorded four days ago and that’s why there’s no news, because we get it all in the last episode. (0:21:52) Jonnie: Correct. Correct. (0:21:53) Al: I understand. (0:21:54) Al: I understand. (0:21:55) Al: We’re going to talk about what we’re excited about coming out this year. (0:21:58) Jonnie: Yeah, ‘cause 2023 was a dumpster fire, so we’re throwing it in the bin and we’re talking about what we’re excited for in 2020. (0:22:08) Al: Yeah, there’s a lot of games. (0:22:10) Al: I’m not going to do the thing that I did for the Game of the Year episode What I just list everything is on the list because that would. (0:22:16) Al: Be insane and there are. (0:22:17) Jonnie: Also, half of it might not come out, so… (0:22:20) Al: Half of it probably won’t come out. (0:22:22) Al: We currently still have 12 games that are currently still scheduled to release in 2023. (0:22:29) Al: And I don’t think they’re going to release in 2023, (0:22:31) Al: but they haven’t officially said they’re not going to. (0:22:35) Al: So at some point over the next week, I will just be changing all those to 2024 and assuming that they’re going to pretend that they’re going to release next year instead. (0:22:44) Jonnie: I think I need to go to TBA. (0:22:44) Al: So yeah. (0:22:46) Jonnie: Thanks. (0:22:46) Al: So, probably. We do have a lot of TBAs as well, and maybe some of them will release this year. Who knows? Oh, I forgot. We still have a new story of seasons. We have two new stories of seasons and two new run factories that have been announced. I wonder if any of them will announce next year. (0:23:04) Al: Let’s talk about what we actually know that they think… I say no that’s coming out next year. Actually, we don’t know this at all, because remember Snacko was the most… No, (0:23:14) Al: The neck hole was, and snackle, I think. (0:23:16) Al: have both been most anticipated multiple times, so who knows whether any of these will actually come out, but we’ll see. So there’s lots of exciting. So Johnny, do you want to give us one to start with? (0:23:30) Jonnie: Yeah, I’m going to start with my most exciting game for 2024, which is Tales of the Shire. (0:23:36) Al: Yeah. And I forgot about this game. Apparently I missed it in the list. It is in the list. (0:23:40) Al: I can see it in the list. It says 2024, but apparently I completely forgot it. How did I forget about this? I have no idea. Uh, we, we’re going to have to do this episode together. (0:23:48) Al: I think Johnny. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know other people will be excited about it, but sorry. I’m, I’m bagging it right now. It makes no sense. (0:23:48) Jonnie: I think so. Yeah, look, and if I’m not on it as a Kiwi, you know, like Lord of the Rings is basically our country, and I may know people that are working on this game and have not been able to talk about it for the last, you know, however many years they’ve been working on it. (0:24:12) Jonnie: But I am very excited to get my hands on Tales of the Shire. (0:24:20) Jonnie: So I’m going to start with the first one, which is a particular given how good Disney Dreamlight Valley was. (0:24:24) Al: Hmm (0:24:28) Jonnie: Not that I expected this to be similar, but it’s raised my bar for a cottagecore game based on a well-readed game. (0:24:32) Al: Yeah, I think, I hope it’s not like Dreamlight Valley, I hope it’s different. Because, I mean, (0:24:40) Al: as much as I like Dreamlight Valley, I don’t want that. But with Hobbits, right? I want it to be different. I think I agree with you. I think Disney have shown that you can do good tie-in games (0:24:55) Al: in cottagecore genre. Obviously, we’ve seen that with other games, right? Like the Spider-Man games are incredible. They’ve not just phoned it in with that. (0:25:02) Al: But a lot of tie-in games with existing IP are pretty dreadful and have been for decades. (0:25:11) Al: It was the standard thing that you make a film and then you make a terrible game about it. And people would buy that game because it tied into your game and so many of them are terrible. I played one of the more recent Transformers ones and it was dreadful still. (0:25:25) Al: They’re still making them, still making absolutely terrible ones. And then you have the really big ones that were also still terrible like the Avengers game. (0:25:32) Al: And stuff like that, apparently they’re still doing that. So I think Disney and I guess Sony (0:25:41) Al: with the Spider-Man games have proven that you can make really good tie-in games. (0:25:46) Al: And I hope this is also really good. And if it’s not, I’ll be right back. (0:25:52) Jonnie: Me too. I think that for me the biggest difference is that you know Disney has such a vast array of characters to pull from (0:25:59) Jonnie: And Lord of the Rings like the characters aren’t the appeal. It’s the setting so I think it’s gonna be really interesting (0:26:06) Jonnie: How I guess how much the world feels like you’re in in the Shire, right? (0:26:13) Jonnie: That’s that’s probably gonna be the thing for this game (0:26:14) Al: Yeah, absolutely, however, if Gandalf and Tom Bombadil don’t come visiting, I’ll be disappointed. (0:26:24) Jonnie: Oh, totally, right? You still want Gandalf, you want some of those big characters, (0:26:31) Jonnie: but it’s not. You don’t want to be interacting with them. You kind of want your own adventure (0:26:36) Jonnie: in that world where they are characters passing through. (0:26:38) Al: Yeah, you don’t want that to be everything, you want the cameos to be there, but you don’t want it to be everything in this. (0:26:44) Al: But we need the deep cuts as well. (0:26:46) Al: We need the tombombadils, we need the, I can’t think of any others off the top of my head, (0:26:50) Jonnie: Ah, like, we want, I want ints, right? We want ints. (0:26:50) Al: but we need the deep cuts. (0:26:52) Al: Yeah, yeah, definitely. (0:26:54) Al: In fact, I want to build a tree house on an end. (0:26:58) Jonnie: Yes. That’s… I’m right there with you. I think that would be great. (0:27:02) Jonnie: You know, like Radagast the Brown, you know, like all of those sorts of characters are the ones I want to see. (0:27:07) Jonnie: Like, I don’t really want to be talking to Aragorn in this game, I’ll be honest. That would be… (0:27:10) Al: Yeah, I want all the ones that I care about, and I also want ones that I have to Google that they’re so obscure. (0:27:18) Jonnie: Exactly. But we don’t know much else about– oh, sorry, you go. (0:27:22) Al: I was just gonna say, you don’t have the limited amount of time of a film, right? (0:27:27) Al: So you can add everything in, you don’t have to cut stuff, you don’t have to cut, you can add all the characters in. (0:27:33) Jonnie: Absolutely. And it doesn’t need to make sense, right? (0:27:33) Al: Do it. (0:27:35) Jonnie: Like, this is not the sort of game where you need to pick a time in the canon and have all of those characters show up and it be canonically. (0:27:41) Jonnie: Like, no one cares. No… well, a lot of people care. (0:27:42) Al: No, no. (0:27:46) Jonnie: And those people will be mad anyway, because nothing will be perfect, so… (0:27:48) Al: Yeah, but they’ll be mad, but they’ll also already buy the game, right? (0:27:52) Al: So, like, you’ve already got their money, they’re already gonna, you’ve already got their anger, (0:27:56) Al: so you may as well just continue to make them angry and just, just not, I agree. (0:28:00) Al: Don’t care about when it is, don’t care about where, like, bring back dead characters, right? (0:28:06) Al: We don’t care, right? Just set it in a nebulous time, everybody’s alive. What, what a surprise. (0:28:14) Al: Although, I do, I wonder whether, hmm, so here’s an interesting thing, I wonder if, (0:28:18) Al: if Bilbo is there, are you having to go to the, like, can you go visit the, I can’t remember what they call the, the, the, the, the afterlife world that they, they goes to. (0:28:32) Al: I can’t remember what that’s called. I’d love to be able to go visit that and then come back. (0:28:36) Al: I know it makes no sense whatsoever, right? Because the whole point is, it’s a one-way journey, right? (0:28:40) Al: but I still want to be able to go there and see. (0:28:42) Al: billable there. That would be fun. (0:28:44) Jonnie: I mean, I don’t know, because we’ve never really seen that in a… (0:28:49) Jonnie: I feel like that would be a great setting for a farming game. (0:28:52) Al: Yeah, yeah. (0:28:53) Jonnie: Now that I think about it. (0:28:55) Jonnie: But actually, if they do want to put it at a time frame, (0:28:56) Jonnie: I wonder if the time frame between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, (0:29:01) Jonnie: like the main series, would be a good time, (0:29:04) Jonnie: because you would have an overlap of a lot of the characters. (0:29:08) Jonnie: Like all of the big characters would be alive. (0:29:10) Jonnie: You would have good timing from a, you know… (0:29:14) Jonnie: Who’s there? And they would just be in their sort of like, (0:29:17) Jonnie: more beginner forms, right? Which would be fine. (0:29:20) Al: So I guess if you were going to do that, it would need to be reasonably early because you wouldn’t, because obviously that time period is known for starting to see evil come back into the world, and you don’t want that in a Cottagecore game, probably. (0:29:36) Jonnie: You could have elements of it though, like there could be that, you know, part of your motivation could be, you know, keeping the shire pure or a word that’s kind of less cringy. (0:29:36) Al: Like you don’t want… (0:29:46) Al: Maybe. I just feel like if you’re in that time period, you’ve got the kind of sword of Damocles holding over your head, like you know that an all-out war is coming and that doesn’t really set like a peaceful game. Like, “Oh, I know lots of people are about to die!” You know, it doesn’t really make you think about peacefulness. (0:30:10) Jonnie: I mean, I don’t know if you know, you know, Middle-earth lore that well, but there’s not a lot of times of great peacefulness. (0:30:16) Al: No, I know, but yeah. Anyway, that’s why I was agreeing with like, you just don’t set it in a time, just because then you don’t have to care about these things. You don’t have to care about the fact that there’s a war or there’s just been a war or whatever. (0:30:32) Al: Now, just put it at some non-descript time with everybody there and we’re all happy. (0:30:39) Al: But anyway, we’ll find out. I agree. I’m excited. Looking forward to this game. (0:30:39) Jonnie: Yeah (0:30:43) Jonnie: I love how for game that all we have is like a 30-second trailer that basically says it’s coming (0:30:49) Al: Yeah, yeah, there’s literally nothing about it. (0:30:58) Jonnie: All right, what’s your what’s your game now number one? (0:31:01) Al: So I have Snacko on my list again, and I know it’s in Early Access, but one, I haven’t played it since it’s come into Early Access because I’ve been too busy, so I’m looking forward to playing it, and two, obviously, I mean, well, the 1.0 version is meant to come out this year, so I’m I’m looking forward to that as well. So, um, it, it released. (0:31:19) Al: It’s so late this year that I was just like, just ignore it. It’s not a 2023 game. It’s a 2024 game, right? And its entire life cycle is going to be in 2024. That’s unless they obviously delay the 1.0 to 2025. Like I’m just going to consider it as a 2024 game. (0:31:35) Al: Like sure. Technically it’ll be like, Oh yeah, but the early access came out in 2023. Yeah, (0:31:39) Al: sure. If you say so, you know, it just, it will feel like a 2024 game to me, much like how Cordal Island released at the end of 2021. (0:31:49) Al: I think it’s going to be a 2022, but I played it a little bit then, but realistically, it was a 2022 game. (0:31:56) Al: No, 2023. (0:31:57) Al: Oh my word. (0:31:58) Al: Years. (0:31:59) Al: No, realistically, it was a 2023 game and that’s when it got the big press and that’s when I put more hours into it then than I did the previous time, blah, blah, blah. (0:32:10) Al: So Snacko is going to be a 2024 game and I’m looking forward to it and finally going to (0:32:18) Jonnie: I’m also looking forward to Snacko finally coming out into 1.0 so we can finally stop talking about it in these upcoming game of the year episodes. But honestly my confidence isn’t that high, (0:32:30) Jonnie: we might still be talking about this next year, so you know I’ll believe it when I see it. (0:32:32) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah. (0:32:36) Al: It was nearly four years ago that we interviewed the Snacko devs. (0:32:42) Al: So that’s the timeline. (0:32:46) Jonnie: Yep, like honestly, I think one of my concerns the wrong word, but I think one of the challenges is the development cycle for this game has been so long and it’s been publicly known for so long. (0:32:58) Jonnie: I just worry how much the world has changed since then and how well the game is going to, (0:33:06) Jonnie: you know, exist in 2024 gaming circles. (0:33:10) Jonnie: tools. (0:33:10) Al: I think that’s a fair concern, but I think that it’s not like Cottagecore has become less popular in that time, and I think exactly. (0:33:20) Jonnie: Now it’s become more popular, so there’s just more competition, right, and there’s more… (0:33:25) Al: There’s more competition, but I also think there’s more people willing to try different games, and I think good ones stand out. (0:33:33) Al: And I think that Snacko is different enough, that it won’t just be seen as, “Oh, it’s just…” (0:33:38) Al: Like, because I think Carl Island’s big issue is people look at it. (0:33:40) Al: And it’s like, that’s fair, but it’s also more than that. (0:33:47) Al: But because of first impressions, people aren’t really willing to give it that time. (0:33:52) Al: And you had the same feeling about it until you started playing it. (0:33:55) Al: And you’re like, “Oh, you know, this is really good.” (0:33:56) Jonnie: Yes, absolutely (0:33:57) Al: Um, and I suspect Snacko won’t have that issue because it looks very different (0:34:04) Al: and it’s marketing itself very different. (0:34:06) Al: And I think also people like playing as cats. (0:34:10) Jonnie: That is true. So it’ll probably be fine. I guess I just more hope that it’s actually a good game when it comes out and that (0:34:16) Jonnie: you know people don’t get interested and they play and (0:34:20) Al: That’s also true. But I have played the game like three, four years ago and I liked it back then. So I’m hoping it’s just that bit better. So anyway, Snacko, what’s your next one? (0:34:36) Jonnie: Next one I want to talk about is Rusty’s retirement. (0:34:40) Jonnie: So Cody and I talked about this one a few weeks ago. (0:34:43) Jonnie: It’s the idle farming game that just sits at the bottom of your screen and takes over your life. (0:34:48) Jonnie: Or that’s my assumption. (0:34:52) Jonnie: I don’t know that I have a huge amount more to say about this beyond what we said a few weeks ago. (0:34:56) Jonnie: It’s just that the idea of an idle farming, conical game seems really smart/evil. (0:35:04) Al: They go well together as an idea, and part of the problem with Ido games is that you have to keep going back to them and you keep forgetting about them. Well, certainly I do. (0:35:13) Al: Whereas obviously the clever thing about this is that you don’t forget about it because you don’t have to go into it because it’s just always there. (0:35:20) Jonnie: So I am excited/nervous for this one when it comes out, but I think it’s just a cool idea, (0:35:30) Jonnie: like the idea of a game that doesn’t take up the full screen and it’s kind of just sitting there, (0:35:34) Jonnie: and I hope it’s like an actual idle game. Some idle games tend a little bit too much into clickers that need to be interacted with a lot, and I’m hoping this tends more towards idle games. (0:35:42) Al: Yeah. Yes, I think it depends on how long it takes for crops to grow. Because if crops grow in five minutes, you’re going to get bored of doing stuff all the time. Whereas if they grow over the course of a day or something, probably, you’re going to be much more, I think, likely to go, “Yeah, yeah, (0:36:05) Al: I’ll play it for a little bit a day, and then maybe later in that day you’ll try and do something else as well, but you won’t feel like you have to do your stuff. (0:36:12) Al: Follow the team. (0:36:13) Jonnie: Yeah, and you just watch the crops grow over the course of the day I will say that they have announced that there is going to be a focus mode that slows down the pace that the crops grow (0:36:14) Al: » Exactly. (0:36:16) Al: Exactly. (0:36:23) Jonnie: So, you know, it’s at least something that they’re thinking (0:36:26) Al: Yeah, I just feel like with that, I don’t know what I I don’t know if I would want ever want to do that. Like it just, yeah, it just feels like, Oh yeah, I’m just going to deliberately slow down my gameplay. I don’t know. (0:36:34) Jonnie: focus. Oh yeah, our brains are not wired that way at all. But having the option is one of those things that makes us way more likely to, you know, give it a go, right? Because we know that we can, (0:36:51) Jonnie: even if we know that we never will. (0:36:53) Al: Yeah, maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Anyway, I’m intrigued to see what it’s like, but I think I probably need to not install it. But we’ll see. I certainly, you know, I work on a client machine, so I certainly can’t install it on my work machine. No, I’m pretty sure they are. They definitely I know people who have installed things and they’ve got a message from IT saying (0:37:10) Jonnie: I think you mean you shouldn’t. I believe that you can. (0:37:23) Al: uninstall that, please. It has happened before. Anyway, so I think this is on your list as well, but Mika and the Witches Mountain I’m very excited for. I feel like this game has been coming out for quite a while. GB announced like a whole bunch of games all at the same time and one of them has come out. So I’m looking forward to this one. I think it looks fun. I like flying games. (0:37:29) Jonnie: Yes. Right, next game. (0:37:53) Al: When the controls are good, and I think that one of the things that Chibig do well is controls. (0:38:02) Al: Their 3D platformer that came out this year was particularly nice to control. So hopefully (0:38:09) Al: that continues with this game as well. And flying is fun, right? (0:38:14) Al: You know? (0:38:14) Jonnie: Flying is fun, and this game just looks really cute. (0:38:20) Jonnie: You know, like, this probably would have been number one for me in a year that, you know, (0:38:23) Jonnie: Lord of the Rings didn’t have a game coming out. (0:38:26) Jonnie: And even then I think it was still close. (0:38:28) Jonnie: I’m probably just a little bit hesitant because it was supposed to come out in September of 2023 and (0:38:34) Jonnie: I feel like it’s gone a little silent on when it’s meant to be coming out. (0:38:39) Jonnie: I don’t think we have a confirmed date for it yet just early in 2024. (0:38:44) Al: Yeah, I think… did they say first half I think? (0:38:44) Jonnie: Yeah, I can’t remember exactly what they said, but I want to be more excited about this. (0:38:53) Jonnie: I just feel like until we get that date, it’s the sort of, you know, delay that makes me nervous because it’s the what’s gone wrong to the level that they don’t know how to fix it, that they’re not willing to do it. (0:39:05) Al: I think it’s more just like they’re doing the sensible thing of not saying the new date even though they have one internally because then they don’t have like if they if they find a bug last minute they can delay it by another month and not get have that negative press like I think that’s the way that people should do things like sure say vaguely when you’re going to announce right don’t say we have literally no idea when this is coming out say we’ll hope to release in 2024 right fine great but don’t give us an exact date that’s stupid. (0:39:36) Jonnie: Yeah, I hope that’s what it is and I think I just need to channel a little bit of my inner Kiv here and like just, you know, make some, yeah, super excited like that’s, that’s, you know, like I just as soon as we started talking about it I think I heard Kiv just like scream in excitement. (0:39:45) Al: Well, and I think that they have proven they can get games out and they can do it well. (0:39:56) Al: And like Summer and Mara came out when it was meant to and it was a Kickstarter, right? (0:40:01) Al: So like that was never delayed, I don’t think at all. (0:40:05) Al: So I think they’ve proven they can deliver games, they can deliver games that are fun to play and they have done multiple of them, right? (0:40:12) Al: They’ve now done what, four games? (0:40:15) Al: I’m not worried about it. (0:40:16) Jonnie: Yeah, I think the other thing I’m excited about for Mika is I feel like it’s one of the games that’s really starting to push into not farming being the core of the game. (0:40:26) Jonnie: You know, this being about you’re a postal person that I think is also that’s one of the things that is most appealing about this game for me is just pushing into those other cozy spaces and not being all about the farming. (0:40:26) Al: Mm-hmm. Yeah » Thank you. (0:40:30) Al: » Yeah. (0:40:40) Al: Yeah, yeah, I agree. (0:40:41) Al: Um, we can do, we can do a cottage core without, without it just being farming, which is good. (0:40:47) Al: A, what’s your next one? (0:40:50) Jonnie: My next one is one we talked about a few days ago from our time, many weeks ago in Listenerland. (0:40:58) Jonnie: Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom. That, you know, 30 second trailer that we’ve watched like 20 times. (0:41:05) Jonnie: I’m still really excited about it for all the reasons I was really excited about it last week. (0:41:09) Jonnie: It just looks dumb and stupid and fun and as much as I hate Apple Arcade, I don’t care. (0:41:15) Al: Yeah, I’m intrigued by this game, and I will probably play it, and I’ll probably get Apple Arcade again to get it. It’s next month, isn’t it? Oh, it’ll be out by the time this episode comes out, won’t it? It was like the 4th of January. (0:41:16) Jonnie: I’m gonna get Apple Arcade and I’m gonna play the hell out of some Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom. (0:41:30) Jonnie: Oh my god, that’s… Yeah, go play Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom. Do that. (0:41:33) Al: One, two, three… No, it’ll be coming out tomorrow when this episode comes out. It’ll be coming out tomorrow. Yeah, I will probably play it. (0:41:45) Al: I’m not as excited as you are. I’m intrigued to see what they’ve done with it, and see whether it’s just Hello Kitty Island Adventure with different characters. But I guess we’ll see. Yeah, I think that’s probably the thing that gives me most hope about it, is that makes it feel like it has character, and so hopefully that means there’s mo- but I just feel like the trailer other than- (0:41:57) Jonnie: We will see. I have watched the video of that stupid guy smashing his face into the rock like way more times than I care to admit. (0:42:15) Al: that point just feels incredibly generic. (0:42:18) Jonnie: Yeah, and it probably will be, and we will love it. (0:42:22) Al: Well, let’s see. Well, let’s see. I have no idea if this will be in anybody’s game of the year list next year or not, but I didn’t think Hello Kitty would be either. Okay, my last one is Go Go Town. (0:42:34) Al: I cannot- I’m just- I cannot explain how excited I am for this game. It’s just so ridiculous. I love how they are (0:42:45) Al: trying to do something just incredibly fun and stupid but also building in new ideas and mechanics for things like no game has a chainsaw yet right and this game has a chainsaw to cut down trees and I love that idea of not having to use an axe or I don’t know whether you upgrade from an axe to a chainsaw at some point that would make sense but like yeah I just I love that and the the movement looks so much fun you can you know there’s like a (0:43:15) Al: unicorn trike that you can go on that looks really fast and fun and everything about this game screams just do what you want and do it fast right and but not in a like stressful way in our this is just how you move kind of way which these games are always slower than I want them to be (0:43:34) Jonnie: This game looks awesome. This is the one that I forgot from my list, until I saw it on yours. (0:43:40) Al: Ah. (0:43:42) Jonnie: When I watched the trailer, I was like, “I forgot that this game existed, and I’m so excited to be reminded of it.” (0:43:48) Jonnie: To me, it kind of looks like someone looked at the terraforming aspect from Animal Crossing and just said, (0:43:56) Jonnie: “How do we make this absurd and insane amounts of fun and just make that the game?” (0:44:02) Jonnie: the game and it looks stupid stupid fun. (0:44:04) Jonnie: Distinct visual style as well, I don’t quite know how to describe it, but it’s very distinct from everything else that we have in the genre at the moment which I really like. (0:44:14) Al: Yeah, it’s quite cartoony. That’s the only word I have for it just now. (0:44:18) Jonnie: Yeah, I would say anime inspired, right? Or cartoon inspired. (0:44:21) Al: Hmm, yeah. Yeah, I’m super excited. I just love how they’re not just kind of doing the same thing. (0:44:28) Al: They’ve got loads of interesting ideas into it. And it’s not like a static town. (0:44:36) Al: It’s not like a static town, like so many of these games are. There are, as you say, (0:44:41) Al: this terraforming. But you can you just (0:44:44) Al: even just the idea of being able to expand your town is different than most Cottage Co. games. Right. Which is it’s fine because like a lot of a lot of times it’s like, oh, (0:44:54) Al: you’re moving to a village and you don’t want to cheat, you want to fit into the village. (0:44:58) Al: And like that makes sense. Right. But also sometimes you just want to you just want something to grow with you as well. Right. Like there’s a balance to be had there. (0:45:06) Jonnie: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think it’s one of the, you know, to go back to Animal Crossing, it’s one of the fun things about that game, right? (0:45:12) Jonnie: Is as you progress through it, the town builds up kind of as much as you want it to, which is fun. (0:45:20) Jonnie: And I think this is going to push that to an even stronger level. (0:45:22) Jonnie: Do we have a release date for this? (0:45:26) Al: We do not. I am actually even just assuming that it’s coming out next year. They haven’t said it’s coming out next year. They just say to be announced. But based on how they’ve been doing their playtests and stuff like that, I just have a feeling. So we will see. (0:45:40) Jonnie: Ah, that’s why I missed it from the list. (0:45:43) Jonnie: Okay, great. (0:45:45) Jonnie: I thought I was losing my mind, but I am excited. (0:45:47) Al: Yeah, there’s lots of other, like I’m just looking at some of the stuff they said, like They’ve got a thing that allows you to just skip some of the day. (0:45:56) Al: I can’t be bothered waiting for things to happen. (0:45:59) Al: Let me just skip a few hours, which is pretty cool. (0:46:03) Al: Um, yeah, I’m excited. (0:46:05) Al: What’s your last one? (0:46:07) Jonnie: My last one is, oh, I don’t know how to say the good name of this game out loud with that, like it’s… (0:46:14) Al: Heart heart heart. It’s heart icular. I think (0:46:17) Jonnie: Yeah, that sounds so particular. It just sounds not well thought through. I’ll say that much. (0:46:24) Al: What a name being not ideal. That’s never happened before, Johnny. We’ve never complained about names before. (0:46:28) Jonnie: Right. (0:46:30) Jonnie: But I feel like… (0:46:32) Jonnie: I feel like this falls into a new category of games you should have said out loud once (0:46:37) Jonnie: Maybe not that one. Maybe let’s pick something different (0:46:41) Jonnie: anyway, horticular (0:46:43) Jonnie: this game intrigues me in that it’s described as a (0:46:47) Jonnie: farm base building game and (0:46:51) Jonnie: I don’t know that I (0:46:53) Jonnie: have fully grokked what it is that you’re trying to do other than build out like a cool-looking garden and grow stuff and I (0:47:02) Jonnie: Think that there’s something like I yeah a garden base builder is enough for (0:47:07) Jonnie: That interests me. I like the visual style of what’s happening here. I don’t really understand what all of that means together (0:47:14) Jonnie: But I feel like if it’s pushing into that sort of puzzle ish (0:47:20) Jonnie: Kind of RTS without really being RTS is is interesting to me (0:47:24) Al: Yeah, I don’t think I have a huge amount to say about this game. I’m not particularly excited about it. I guess I would say, yeah, sure, I understand the interest in it, like I’m interested in it. But there’s nothing that really grabs me as like, “Oh, I must play this.” I like the kind of the animal aspect of it, like it’s one of the more kind of environmentally conscious ones, which we always like. (0:47:54) Al: But yeah, there’s nothing that grabs me and makes me go, “I must play this game.” (0:48:00) Jonnie: Yeah, I think for me, this kind of feels like I feel like last year, you know, I had I talked about above snakes as, you know, something that looked like it was trying to do something interesting and ultimately, you know, I didn’t end up playing above snak
It's a battle for the ages in one of the best spreads we've ever had on the show! Two video games: Palia and Marvel's Spider-man 2. One movie: Godzilla: Minus One. One TV show: Blue Eye Samurai. Who will emerge victorious with the Ace of Geeks award? Find out! Donate to the Entertainment Community Fund here: https://entertainmentcommunity.org/ Make sure to check out our two other podcasts, "Yavin Radio" and "The Edge of Reality" You can find The Ace of Geeks at aceofgeeks.net Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/M3MYrdkP2X On Twitter @aceofgeeks On Facebook facebook.com/aceofgeeks Please check out The League of Swords, a high octane sword fighting experience that combines the best of pro wrestling, fighting games, and cinematic sword fights at leagueofswords.com You can find Mike @VengeanceGOD on Twitter and Bluesky, @VengeanceGOD2 on TikTok, and @brokeninfinityfilms on Instagram Jarys' writings on spirituality and magic are available at firstchurchofthemorningstar.com Rowan's music is at: https://soundcloud.com/user-791152727/sets/here-we-go-again-i-guess/s-MajqJOLqfUR?si=27f9ee3d25414bb3b91a77991ac01d7a&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Codey and Jonnie talk about Disney Dreamlight Valley Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:02:25: What Have We Been Up To 00:07:41: News 00:39:07: Disney Dreamlight Valley: The Second Harvest 01:23:09: Outro Links NPR Best Video Games 2023 Moonstone Island Update and DLC Dredge x Dave The Diver Palia Coming To Switch Harvest Moon 64 On NSO Lego Fortnite Ooblets Plushies Loose Leaf Rusty’s Retirement Home Free Bug and Seek Contact Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Codey: Hello farmers and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. My name is Cody (0:00:35) Jonnie: And my name is Johnny (0:00:36) Codey: And we’re here today to talk about cottagecore games (0:00:43) Codey: Though I am also prepared to talk about goblin core games because I just got a goblin core (0:00:50) Codey: Coloring book and it has a lot of like moths and snails and other like cute things And I really like it. I’m excited to color in it (0:01:00) Codey: Probably the Cody season cuz everyone says I am I am Goblin Corps. (0:01:00) Jonnie: name like what would the harvest season be if it was if we went full goblin core (0:01:08) Codey: [LAUGH] Nobody, nobody wants that. (0:01:08) Jonnie: all right welcome everyone to the Cody season (0:01:15) Codey: Transcribs are always available in the show notes and on the website. (0:01:19) Codey: So you can go there to find those if you need them. (0:01:21) Codey: Today, Johnny and I will be doing a second harvest of Disney Dreamlight Valley. (0:01:25) Codey: Johnny, you’re on the original episode, yeah? (0:01:28) Jonnie: Yeah, that was my first appearance on The Heart of Season because I loved Disney Dreamlight Valley. Do I still love it? We can find out. (0:01:36) Codey: Stay tuned. (0:01:37) Codey: So yeah, we’re going to be talking about that. (0:01:40) Codey: I started playing it a couple of months ago, maybe, (0:01:43) Codey: because of this episode. (0:01:44) Codey: So you’re getting someone from really early on and the early access to someone who is more recent. (0:01:50) Codey: And then it came out two days ago as of this recording, (0:01:54) Codey: three days ago as of this recording. (0:01:57) Codey: Three days for me, four days for you, Johnny. (0:02:00) Codey: And so we might have– I think that they’re– (0:02:06) Codey: there were some changes. (0:02:06) Codey: Some things changed when the 1.0 came out. (0:02:11) Codey: So we’re going to discuss those, discuss our thoughts. (0:02:13) Codey: Before that, there is, of course, always news. (0:02:17) Codey: A shocking amount of news, given that I just recorded about news without two days ago. (0:02:24) Codey: Oh, how things change. (0:02:25) Codey: But first, we’re going to talk about what we’ve been up to. (0:02:27) Codey: Johnny, what have you been up to? (0:02:28) Jonnie: What have I been up to? I tried to jump on the Coral Island train and I was playing it on Xbox and (0:02:36) Jonnie: Unfortunately, the game is in a state where there’s some pretty game-breaking bugs early on. So I really like what I’ve played (0:02:44) Jonnie: but currently there’s a bug where the game crashes when you donate your 10th item to the museum and (0:02:50) Jonnie: I like donating things to museums and games and I (0:02:55) Jonnie: I kind of hit that bug and it really just made me not want to pull it. (0:02:58) Jonnie: So I like the idea of Coral Island but I had to put it down to wait for bugs to be fixed, which is a bit of a shame. (0:03:08) Jonnie: And other than that I’ve been playing Forza Motorsport because the new one of those just dropped and there’s something nice about car racing games where you can kind of switch your brain off, like not fully. (0:03:20) Jonnie: You know, just enough to be like “when do I brake? When do I turn?” and I like the more sort of simulation style. (0:03:28) Jonnie: I kind of like the Forza Horizon, which is more arcadey style racing. (0:03:33) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:03:34) Jonnie: So I’ve kind of just been enjoying that, where you sort of jump on, do a race, it takes like 10-20 minutes or something. (0:03:40) Jonnie: And then it’s kind of just a nice little reset. So I probably won’t stick with it for that long because it’s just on Game Pass, which is nice. (0:03:48) Jonnie: And Game Pass continues to just be awesome. (0:03:51) Codey: Yeah, I agree. So I have been, I got it, gosh, I got it for, actually I got it for Farming Simulator with you. (0:03:59) Codey: And then I forgot to get rid of it, and then I was looking at what was available on it, (0:04:04) Codey: and I saw that things like Disney Dreamlight Valley, Menacos Night Market, Coral Island, (0:04:09) Codey: like all of these different things were available on it. (0:04:11) Codey: And so I was like, hmm, well, guess I’m gonna stick with Game Pass for a while, because it is really nice. (0:04:17) Codey: nice. It’s giving the opportunity to play. (0:04:21) Codey: Do you play Trackmania? (0:04:22) Jonnie: Yeah, and it’s just a nice way to to try some stuff out right without expending a bunch of money (0:04:28) Codey: Do you play Trackmania? (0:04:30) Jonnie: I do not play track mania. I feel like I need to look up track mania (0:04:31) Codey: Okay. So Trackmania is kind of like what you’re saying, like it’s a race style game that’s not, it doesn’t feel like an arcade style. (0:04:43) Codey: It feels like kind of more of a real thing, but you’re basically racing against your own time. (0:04:49) Codey: time. You know now that I’m talking about (0:04:50) Jonnie: Ooh, okay. (0:04:51) Codey: it it sounds like an arcade one but it does it it feels really cool and there are whole there are streamers that play trackmania that have like setups that mimic cars that do like the pedals actually like are pressure sensed so they’ll like gas as much as they as they push and stuff like that it gets really crazy so there’s a decent amount of people out there doing it I believe it’s free that’s pretty cool (0:05:20) Jonnie: I might have to give that a go. (0:05:21) Codey: Yeah, definitely. (0:05:24) Jonnie: But yeah, other than that, I haven’t been gaming too much, so that’s where I’m at. Cody, what have you been up to? (0:05:30) Codey: I have been playing Disney Dreamlight Valley surprise surprise, but also my Tetris game as always (0:05:40) Codey: Hilariously I think over the last (0:05:44) Codey: Two days I’m loading it right now. I am almost at a million points (0:05:51) Codey: 986,000 points and (0:05:53) Codey: There is a cruise available right now. That is one and a half million (0:05:58) Codey: They have a thing going on right now where you get five times bonus points. I honestly have no idea. But I’m getting like five times the amount of VIP points that I have been. I don’t know, it’s like a whole other thing. So I’ve been playing quite a bit and I went from I think I was like five hundred fifty thousand about a week ago and I’ve just been Tetris-ing up a storm. So that’s exciting. Crews on the horizon. I did calculate it. So the (0:06:31) Codey: points pay for the cabin, which is about a thousand dollars. But I still have to pay a lot of money. (0:06:38) Codey: So it’s not like it’s a free, it’s not a free cruise. No, I always want to have that cruise in my back pocket. But yeah, so this… Well, you say Tetris-cult, there’s… (0:06:42) Jonnie: See, this is how they get you. (0:06:46) Jonnie: Cody, I feel like we might need an intervention. (0:06:56) Jonnie: Well, you and your titress cult seem to be going well. (0:07:00) Codey: it’s a cult of one. I don’t know anyone else that I’ve gotten into this game. I don’t… like everyone just makes fun of me for it. And I’m spitefully going to play it more because of that. (0:07:12) Jonnie: Sorry, the Tetris cult that you are blindfully a part of and haven’t realized yet. (0:07:15) Codey: Oh, okay, cool. Yes. If you are also part of the Tetris cult, please, please reach for it. Reach out. (0:07:20) Codey: I would… I don’t… I don’t want to be alone in the Tetris cult. Yeah, so that’s… I mean, (0:07:29) Codey: And those are, I’ve been playing. (0:07:30) Codey: I’ve been really focused on research and life, life stuff, so, um, yeah, that’s what we’ve been playing. (0:07:40) Jonnie: All right, well, shall we… yeah, shall we talk about some news? (0:07:41) Codey: Woo. (0:07:42) Codey: Yeah, we should. (0:07:44) Codey: Well, so some of it, um, NPR put out their best new games, 2023 article. (0:07:46) Jonnie: Because it’s been two days, so there’s only like, you know, an hour’s worth of news here to talk about. (0:07:56) Codey: The article is linked in the show notes. (0:07:58) Codey: It’s games. (0:07:59) Codey: I think for all it’s (0:08:00) Codey: it’s not just Xbox PlayStation and Nintendo. I think it also has like Steam games and stuff on it. (0:08:07) Codey: But so each they basically NPR went around to a bunch of their (0:08:13) Codey: production people like the people who make NPR run and asked them for game recommendations and what games they thought were the best games of this year. And some of the games include things that like that you would expect like Baldur’s Gate. But there were also some that were games that we have covered on this pod. (0:08:30) Codey: And I think it’s nice to just shout them out a little bit. (0:08:34) Codey: So first we have Terranil, which was recommended by Alex Curley, (0:08:38) Codey: who is the product manager in distribution. (0:08:41) Codey: Chia by Graham– oh, Raboon. (0:08:46) Codey: I’m going to butcher half these names. (0:08:48) Jonnie: Sure (0:08:49) Codey: A software engineer in publishing, Venba, (0:08:52) Codey: which was suggested by Rakisha Chase-Jackson, (0:08:56) Codey: who’s the project manager and member partnership. (0:08:57) Codey: Hello Kitty Ireland adventure suggested by (0:09:00) Codey: Nina Phil project coordinator and training and then we have a couple here that have like (0:09:05) Codey: because each of these they don’t just like say the name they also have like kind of a little blurb about the game um and recommending it and some of the blurbs had some pretty funny things so I have a couple that I pulled out here so Fey Farm which we did the Fey Farm episode didn’t we um I was about to say you did that episode I’m like no no I was also there um Arfy Getty the producer of one (0:09:22) Jonnie: We did. (0:09:31) Codey: said quote but while Fey Farm nails many elements of cozy games it doesn’t compare to Stardew Valley’s deep cast of characters to court and befriend Azoria’s residents ring hollow with extremely repetitive dialogue if I hear quote I’m looking forward to planting my spring crops one more time I’ll snap though the game doesn’t offer many surprises I still find myself coming back to it um I think I remember you saying this right that you thought that the characters were very two-dimensional. (0:09:58) Jonnie: Hey. (0:10:00) Jonnie: Two-dimensional, and I think I kind of came to that realization on like day one. (0:10:05) Jonnie: So, for me reading this I was like, yes, that is exactly how I feel about a farm. (0:10:12) Jonnie: Though I don’t know that since we did that episode I felt a strong pull to go back to that game, (0:10:17) Jonnie: because it’s kind of like a pretty exterior. But as Aafi says, it’s hollow on the inside. (0:10:24) Codey: Oh no. My comment for this is that it seems like a bad relationship. Can someone please check on Arfy for us? Thank you. And I will be checking on Johnny. Nina Phil recommended still the project coordinator from training. Also recommended Meneko’s Night Market. And I loved her blurb here. Quote, “There are so.many.cats.” First you have to evade the the secretive suit-clad agent. (0:10:54) Codey: the suit-made agent. (0:11:20) Jonnie: Or alternatively listen to the episode that is it Kevin now who who did the minifres night market episode (0:11:24) Codey: Mm-hm. (0:11:27) Jonnie: It’s it’s a great cozy little game. I I agree with pretty much everything That was that was said here except I kind of now want to see the vomiting of hairballs on screen That sounds kind of funny to be honest (0:11:27) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:11:36) Codey: No, I’m good. (0:11:39) Codey: Do you have you owned a cat ever? (0:11:41) Codey: Okay, that is like the one thing I always love like my dogs. (0:11:47) Codey: I I’ll sleep through anything. (0:11:49) Codey: I will sleep through my dog like, like literally like ripping apart an entire toilet paper roll before I’ve done that like I’ve woken up and been like, it looks like a toilet paper roll just like exploded in my room. (0:12:06) Codey: I’ll sleep through a lot of things, but cats throwing up is not one of them. (0:12:12) Jonnie: Mean it’s not great, but that’s kind of why I want to see it in a game like this because I think it’d be pretty funny (0:12:18) Codey: It would be cute if it was if they were vomit if they were if it was a cute hairball, but it’s really hard to make that cute. (0:12:26) Codey: Um, though if they could minute the people at Meneco would be able to do it. (0:12:32) Codey: of seasons a wonderful life. So our last two blurbs come from back. (0:12:36) Codey: Becky Brown, Becky, you, you nail in this, uh, broadcast recording technician. Um, first one was for story of seasons, wonderful life. Quote, I am more romantically attracted to the games spreadsheets than any of its wooden bachelor or bachelorettes who never changed their small talk even after you dutifully court them for three months with milk, soup and old coins. The obligatory divinely delivered child that you produce with your chosen spouse (0:13:06) Codey: or conversation. But remember, if you’d like to encourage their artistic talent, refuse any physical affection and schedule the play dates with the local pyrotechnics. Pyro technicians. (0:13:18) Codey: Like your child communicates so well that if you want them to be an artist that you have to like send them off to the, the local emos. Okay. (0:13:22) Jonnie: I mean, I love this description, it’s so good. (0:13:32) Jonnie: I mean, that’s how good artists get made, right? (0:13:36) Codey: You have to have some sort of solitude, some sort of deep. Yeah, for sure. Uh, and then Becky’s final suggestion was Moonstone Island. Quote, whatever genre mashup Moonstone Island may present itself as it’s ultimately a floating islands creature collector. Such a burn. Like, (0:13:56) Codey: I mean, she still recommended it. It’s so it’s like a burn, but it’s also, it’s like a self, it’s like a self aware burn of like, I’m playing this game. I recommend this game, (0:14:06) Codey: like it’s doing. And I’m just going to tell you, this is what it’s doing. So. (0:14:08) Jonnie: Right? (0:14:10) Jonnie: I feel like that’s so many cottagecore games in 2023 though, right? They’re like, (0:14:14) Jonnie: “We are a dick building, cozy, farm, life sim, MMO, RPG, (0:14:21) Jonnie: roguelite.” And it’s just like, just be one of those. Just one. That’s all. (0:14:22) Codey: Yep. And then, and then the DLC will add a rhythm based game, like the DLC will change something like change the game completely. So stupid. (0:14:38) Codey: Yeah, so that was that. There are a bunch of other games that they suggest some of which are good games that I have played or seen and wanted to play. (0:14:48) Codey: but obviously it was like 90 games or something. (0:14:52) Codey: It was a lot of games on that list, so if you want to see what other games the NPR folks have, that link is in the show notes. (0:15:00) Jonnie: And if you’re like me and surprised that MTS still exists. (0:15:05) Codey: Does New Zealand not have an NPR? (0:15:10) Jonnie: I mean, I feel like the era of NPR podcasts being the thing is dead, and the world is better for that. (0:15:17) Codey: Well, it’s not just podcasts, so it’s just national public radio. (0:15:17) Jonnie: I do not like their style of podcasts. (0:15:26) Codey: I can tune into it on my car ride to school. (0:15:28) Jonnie: Oh yeah, we definitely don’t have that. That’s another thing. (0:15:30) Codey: Okay. (0:15:31) Codey: Yeah, because it’s something I listen to on my car ride. (0:15:35) Codey: They have podcasts or certain section segments of NPR that they put out in a podcast form, (0:15:45) Codey: but it is not solely podcasts. (0:15:47) Codey: It’s for me, it’s mostly “Wow, it’s eight and I’m driving to school. Let me see what’s on the news.” (0:15:55) Codey: And two seconds later I’m like, “That’s enough.” (0:15:59) Jonnie: Yeah news is depressing except for the news that we have because you know our news is very uplifting (0:16:00) Codey: The world sucks. (0:16:04) Codey: Like the Game Awards? (0:16:05) Jonnie: This is this is just be our only news source. Well, I say that and then we go into the game awards, which you know Game Awards sucks. So (0:16:12) Codey: Yeah, uh game awards were yesterday Baldur’s Gate seemed to sweep I actually didn’t even see if they won best game or anything, but I’m assuming so they I was scrolling through to find (0:16:22) Codey: Anything that’s relevant to this to this podcast and I was like baldur gate. Mm-hmm. Yep. Mm-hmm. Yep, but (0:16:30) Codey: for the games for impact category, which is a category that is (0:16:35) Codey: The winner is a thought-provoking game with a pro social meaning or message the winner with this year was Chia (0:16:42) Codey: so awesome Chia is the (0:16:44) Codey: super cute little game set in New Caledon. (0:16:47) Codey: and it has a lot of culturally aware and culturally relevant material from New Caledonia and that’s awesome. (0:16:55) Codey: So yay Chia, good job. (0:16:58) Jonnie: I refuse to acknowledge the game awards. (0:17:01) Codey: Okay, cool. (0:17:04) Codey: Cool. The Game Awards, you mean Moonstone Island, which is our next piece of news. (0:17:10) Jonnie: Yes, yes. (0:17:10) Codey: We honestly should have put the Game Awards before the NPR thinks then the Moonstone Island news would have flowed seamlessly. (0:17:15) Codey: Al if you can just like (0:17:17) Codey: Do some edit wizardry editing. No, don’t do that (0:17:22) Codey: This island has a new free update and paid DLC coming (0:17:27) Codey: Paid DLC is called December lovely cozies, which is (0:17:30) Jonnie: Yeah, I feel like every time I’m on an episode Moonstone Island just has more DLC coming out. So I (0:17:38) Jonnie: Think it’s cool that they have kind of that constant stream of stuff and they seem to be doing a balance between (0:17:45) Jonnie: free and paid which I think is is cool, so (0:17:50) Jonnie: Great. I haven’t I haven’t dipped into Moonstone Island at all. I don’t know if you have (0:17:54) Codey: Nope. Nope. (0:17:56) Jonnie: But yeah, it seems it seems like they’re putting stuff out so (0:18:00) Jonnie: maybe that’s something we will get to in 2027 when some space frees up in our respective gaming calendars (0:18:06) Codey: You think I’ll be available then? I’m booking out to 2030. (0:18:09) Jonnie: One of us one of us one of us might be a (0:18:12) Codey: That’s true, that’s true. I will say the snowboard in the paid DLC, paid DLC is just $3.99 USD. (0:18:19) Codey: The snowboard looks pretty cool, especially if you can change the color of the snowboard. I’m not a big pink human, but being able to have a snowboard in a game is kind of unique, (0:18:31) Codey: especially if it allows you to move faster or something. (0:18:36) Codey: And then the free DLC includes festive decorations, more ice spirits, you can name your spirits, and even bigger barn owl and caps, and a bunch of different things. So if you are playing Moonstone Island and you maybe like we’re taking a break because you’ve done everything, here you go. This is coming, it’s already out. It’s already out. Well it’s the next news item that you know more (0:19:02) Jonnie: - Correct. (0:19:05) Jonnie: Next news item is Dredge and Dave the Diver are doing a crossover. (0:19:10) Jonnie: So to be clear, this is DLC for Dave the Diver and it’s a crossover with Dredge. (0:19:16) Jonnie: So for those that don’t remember, (0:19:18) Jonnie: you can go back and listen to the Dredge episodes that Kev and I did earlier this year as part of fishing month. (0:19:25) Jonnie: But Dredge is the sort of Lovecraftian horror of fishing game. (0:19:29) Jonnie: And now that’s bleeding its way in. (0:19:32) Jonnie: I’m going to play it again to Dave the Diver, which is concerning, because Dave the Diver does not seem like the sort of game that Lovecraftian horror is necessarily a great fit, but it is a great fit in terms of that, you know, indie game sort of doing cool DLC that sort of takes the game in a different direction. (0:19:52) Jonnie: I haven’t had a chance to play Dave the Diver yet, and this kind of just reminded me that I want to play Dave the Diver, but it doesn’t necessarily make me want to play it. (0:20:02) Jonnie: More, even though it’s a cool crossover. And I just like to see, you know, different developers kind of working with each other and, you know, utilizing their brand awareness to, you know, hopefully get more people playing more games, which is cool. So this looks cool. (0:20:23) Codey: A lot of games do weird crossovers lately. (0:20:29) Codey: Which in a couple of news items will be more relevant. (0:20:35) Codey: Next news item is about Palia, which is a really cute little MMO. (0:20:39) Codey: I believe it’s been out for a while. (0:20:41) Jonnie: I have no idea. (0:20:42) Jonnie: I forgot about this game until it popped up in the news. (0:20:45) Codey: Pretty sure it’s been out for a while. (0:20:46) Codey: Oh, there’s an open beta. (0:20:48) Codey: So yeah, it’s the longest of open betos. (0:20:53) Codey: You build a life with friends and are cozy sim MMO set in a high fantasy world. (0:20:58) Codey: It’s gorgeous. (0:20:59) Codey: It has a lot of ability to change things. (0:21:05) Codey: What is it? (0:21:06) Codey: Creativity? (0:21:06) Jonnie: Just like, yeah, creativity and, you know, like, I think the thing that stood out is when they were decorating the house, you could like adjust things, it wasn’t just the four degrees or four, you know, rotations, you could rotate anything to any direction to lay out things in in a way that you really wanted to, which that really stood out to me. (0:21:07) Codey: Creativity. (0:21:28) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:21:29) Jonnie: Yeah, that looked awesome. I kind of forgot this game existed and and watching the trailer a gave (0:21:36) Jonnie: me like strong World of Warcraft vibes, but like, you know, slightly more up to date art style. And it kind of just made me interested in the idea of a cozy MMO. Like, I don’t really understand how that would work. But I’m into the idea and I’m maybe keen to find out. (0:21:58) Codey: Yeah, um, I am also interested in finding out so if you may have one play together and let me know. (0:22:05) Codey: Um, and (0:22:06) Jonnie: Hell yeah. Let’s do that. Let’s do that. (0:22:08) Jonnie: Ah, do we actually say the news that it’s coming to Switch on the 14th of December? (0:22:13) Codey: We’ll get to that eventually first let’s let’s come up with what day next week. Are you available? No, I’m kidding. (0:22:19) Codey: So yeah, it’s coming to switch on December 14th and (0:22:25) Codey: It’s you get specific Nintendo switch (0:22:28) Codey: awards if you link your account and log on with Nintendo switch live you get a leap froggy outfit a mushroom glider and a froggy bucket I don’t know why they’re frog themed whatever available and that’s until January 14th 2024 so if you really want that froggy froggy outfit you gotta you gotta do it you got to get on it. They are cute little outfits, I’m not going to lie. (0:22:58) Codey: Yeah, looks like a really cute game. So, is this game leaving early access? No idea. (0:23:07) Codey: But, Palia, very cute. (0:23:10) Jonnie: Yeah, I think you’re more excited about this next news item than I am, so why don’t you- (0:23:15) Codey: I mean, I’m not excited at all. I think both of us were like, “Ugh.” (0:23:24) Jonnie: Correct. (0:23:25) Codey: R has been 64 is now on Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. (0:23:30) Codey: That’s it. That’s the news. The next thing, so this is going back to cool crossovers (0:23:37) Codey: and questionable crossovers. Lego Fortnite. (0:23:40) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:23:42) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:23:44) Jonnie: I, so I’ve never been a Fortniter. (0:23:48) Jonnie: I’ve never played Fortnite. (0:23:50) Jonnie: I’ve never had any interest in playing Fortnite. (0:23:53) Jonnie: I really, really wanna play this. (0:23:55) Jonnie: It looks friggin’ awesome. (0:23:58) Jonnie: Like, it makes so much sense. (0:24:00) Jonnie: Like, so, like, first of all, (0:24:03) Jonnie: before we get too much into this, (0:24:05) Jonnie: is this like out now? (0:24:06) Jonnie: ‘Cause that’s the, the trailer is like, (0:24:08) Jonnie: “Hey, just find it in Fortnite.” (0:24:10) Jonnie: So I assume this is out now. (0:24:11) Jonnie: That’s my assumption, right? (0:24:12) Jonnie: I’m gonna log off this call I’m gonna go download Fortnite. (0:24:14) Jonnie: That’s what I’m doing. Is that right? (0:24:15) Codey: Well, don’t do that. (0:24:19) Codey: Seeing as how there’s a LEGO Fortnite status Twitter page. (0:24:27) Codey: I think it is. I think it is. (0:24:30) Jonnie: Yeah, I’m so excited. So the trailer, basically like it’s just like now there is Minecraft in Fortnite and it’s LEGO. That’s what this is, right? And it makes so much sense, right? Like Fortnite has (0:24:32) Codey: Oh my god. (0:24:48) Jonnie: the infrastructure, the building mechanics, everything done. All they were missing is like (0:24:55) Jonnie: What’s the reason? And then LEGO pops up and is like, “Hey, we exist.” (0:25:00) Jonnie: And it just makes sense, like… (0:25:04) Jonnie: And I would say, I was in the category of people that was like, “If you asked me yesterday, will you ever play Fortnite?” (0:25:08) Codey: Why would I do that, no it’s disgusting. (0:25:10) Jonnie: I would be like, “Hell no. Fortnite is a stupid game for stupid babies.” (0:25:15) Jonnie: It’s gross. I don’t want to be associated with Fortnite. (0:25:18) Jonnie: But all it took is LEGO, and now I am like, “I am in. I want to do this.” (0:25:23) Codey: so the thing that gets me is that I will say I haven’t played fortnite in a hot in a hot minute (0:25:30) Codey: but this doesn’t even this looks like this it it’s not fortnite yeah it’s minecraft lego with a fortnite skin (0:25:37) Jonnie: It’s not Fortnite, it’s Minecraft with LEGO! (0:25:46) Jonnie: Yeah, well, so I assume that this is kind of the next evolution of fortnight where the game itself is so popular (0:25:52) Jonnie: using it as a base for (0:25:54) Jonnie: Essentially new games like this just looks like a new game like this is not like oh if you’re in for if you like fortnight There’s now Lego fortnight. It’s like no. Do you like minecraft? (0:26:04) Jonnie: If so download fortnight and play Lego Minecraft like this is this looks like it’s made for (0:26:11) Jonnie: listeners of the harvest season because there’s there’s farming this building, you know (0:26:16) Jonnie: Lego kind of gives it a more cozy vibe. Like I’m not really a minecraft person. I just never quite clicked with me I know you’re you’ve been a bit of a minecraft person (0:26:25) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:26:26) Jonnie: So I feel like we’re just gonna get lost in this one. Like it’s just it’s inevitable This is this is what our lives are gonna be now like (0:26:33) Jonnie: Palia yeah, we might try that but Lego fortnight. This is gonna be what we do for the next year of our lives (0:26:37) Codey: Be careful how you say “our.” (0:26:40) Codey: I’m… you’re… (0:26:41) Jonnie: Look I know I know how you operate you’re gonna get sucked into this I guarantee (0:26:45) Codey: I don’t… I don’t want to do this. (0:26:48) Codey: So, Al wrote, “Fortnite is a farming game now, apparently.” (0:26:51) Codey: I said, “How does this have anything to do with Fortnite?” (0:26:54) Codey: Al said, “It is the game, Fortnite. It has something to do with it, (0:26:58) Codey: in the same way that Jack Skellington has to do with Disney’s Dreamlight Valley. (0:27:02) Codey: It is in the game. (0:27:04) Codey: Lego Fortnite is part of Fortnite. (0:27:07) Codey: Fortnite for some reason. (0:27:09) Codey: The for some reason just got me. (0:27:13) Codey: I could like read it in his words and like the sass. (0:27:19) Codey: Cause he also wrote that comment at like very late last night. (0:27:22) Codey: It was really funny. (0:27:23) Codey: He’s just sick of my, sick of me, sick of my goober stuff. (0:27:27) Codey: Yeah, I will watch, I’ll watch other people play it. (0:27:28) Jonnie: Yeah, I’m excited for this stuff. (0:27:31) Codey: But gosh, darn, I miss me with the epic. (0:27:36) Jonnie: So you will live in denial for a few weeks and then eventually you will come over to the dark side. (0:27:37) Codey: Okay, cool. (0:27:44) Codey: I would also go over to the dark side for a clomper plushie, (0:27:49) Codey: which is our next news item. (0:27:54) Codey: Clomper and Glanter Plushes. (0:27:57) Codey: These are, these are creatures from Ooblets. (0:28:00) Codey: Those plushes are now available in the United States and they are joining Shrumbo. (0:28:05) Codey: Clomper. (0:28:07) Codey: Look at look at him’s little face. There is not a thought inside those eyes. (0:28:14) Jonnie: I mean, I think the clump like I’m a no one ooblets hater, right? (0:28:19) Jonnie: My problem is like I agree the clump of plush super cute when I saw in the news (0:28:24) Jonnie: clumpering Glanta Plushers are out. I (0:28:27) Jonnie: Couldn’t even give you a guess as to what they looked like until I clicked on the link and saw the picture like Shrumbo (0:28:29) Codey: You were like, “Oh yeah, right, that one.” (0:28:33) Jonnie: Shrumbo. Yeah, Shrumbo is the one name that like I was like, yeah, okay I think I’m pretty sure I know what Shrumbo is but I mean, come on like (0:28:36) Codey: Yep, yep, very cute, very cute. (0:28:42) Jonnie: Just do better ooblets do better (0:28:44) Jonnie: But very cute. (0:28:51) Codey: I just realized that these next items I didn’t, I don’t even know if there’s news about, I I don’t know what the news is or if they’re just new games that. (0:28:59) Codey: Have recently been introduced and I believe that is the case. (0:29:03) Codey: Okay, so we have. (0:29:04) Jonnie: I believe that is the case. I don’t think we’ve talked about any of these. (0:29:07) Codey: Yeah, I think that the last of the last one I added. (0:29:11) Codey: And I believe it’s already out. So that one is going to be coming soon. (0:29:16) Codey: Like I you will hear more about it. (0:29:18) Codey: But these other three, these are new games that just just popped up on our horizon. (0:29:23) Codey: So the first one is called loose leaf. It is a tea witch simulator. (0:29:27) Codey: later. (0:29:29) Codey: It looks really cute you it’s a very hyper-realistic tea brewing simulation (0:29:34) Jonnie: yeah so I’m gonna call with heat hit peak which no more witches if you are working on a game we are at peak which we do not need any more witches do (0:29:38) Codey: Peek with it (0:29:43) Codey: So I mean I’m I agree I think that’s if they just said (0:29:48) Codey: Brew tea and read folks Tarot’s like if they said the psychic simulator or something I would have been more the word which was in it and I was like miss me like miss (0:30:00) Codey: Not interested. It looks really cute. I like the concept of (0:30:04) Codey: reading people’s Tarot (0:30:06) Codey: I am NOT a Tarot of human personally, but I did I have a friend who collects Tarot decks I believe that they’re gorgeous and I understand the usage of Tarot to self-reflect (0:30:17) Codey: Because you can kind of read what you want (0:30:19) Codey: Whenever you’re if you have something in mind, but you’re like not sure what you want (0:30:24) Jonnie: Yeah, and I liked the I liked the look of this game. So I tried a few of the (0:30:29) Jonnie: There was like those Bureau brewing sort of simulator games that came out in the last few years (0:30:35) Jonnie: and None of them really clicked because they were sort of missing an interesting game (0:30:40) Jonnie: Element where you were kind of just going through the motions to make a thing and then sell the thing and there was (0:30:45) Jonnie: It’s kind of just missing that game aspect. I think the addition of that tarot card reading and the trailer sort of shows um (0:30:54) Jonnie: you know some some activity that looks like you know you do some interpretation and and that being very tied to the tea that You’re brewing for your customer to me. It just was like oh, this feels like a more complete (0:31:04) Jonnie: game experience that that does appeal to me I (0:31:08) Codey: Yeah. (0:31:09) Jonnie: Also, just really like vibe with them calling it the most in-depth tea brewing simulation ever like there is this plethora of tea brewing simulation out there (0:31:16) Codey: Yeah. (0:31:18) Codey: Yeah. (0:31:20) Codey: It’s like it is the most in-depth shred junk mail simulator and turn shredded junk mail into planting planters to give to children and dogs simulator. (0:31:36) Codey: It’s like, oh, there’s so many games that (0:31:38) Codey: it’s scratching that itch. (0:31:42) Codey: So, so goober. (0:31:44) Codey: Also, the fact that they say ever makes me think that like what if someone comes out with a more in-depth one and then they have to make theirs more, more in-depth. (0:31:52) Jonnie: Yeah But the release date on this one is to be announced so (0:31:57) Jonnie: My guess would be probably not too late 2020 for early 2025 at the earliest (0:32:02) Codey: Ooh we getting some some estimates from Johnny. (0:32:06) Jonnie: Cody I think we have a problem (0:32:08) Codey: What’s up? The next one? (0:32:10) Jonnie: This this next game is gonna be a huge problem in my life (0:32:15) Codey: Yeah literally my first comment is no this is dangerous. (0:32:22) Jonnie: I saw that comment and I opened the link and I was like, “I don’t know, and this is fine.” (0:32:26) Jonnie: And then I read about what is going on with this game and I was like, “Oh, oh no.” (0:32:29) Codey: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. (0:32:32) Codey: So this game is called “Rusty’s Retirement” and it’s on Steam. It’ll be available on Steam. It’s not available yet, but whenever it is, Lord help us all. (0:32:41) Jonnie: Q1 2024. (0:33:00) Codey: So this is like… (0:33:03) Codey: Like, imagine you have a Chrome screen up. (0:33:08) Codey: This is at the bottom of it. (0:33:10) Codey: Perpetually. (0:33:12) Codey: So you’re trying to work, you’re trying to code, you’re trying to write a paper, (0:33:16) Codey: but you’re like, “Oh, my crops are ready.” (0:33:18) Codey: “Oh, oh, my automation is… I need to ref… I need to fix that.” (0:33:24) Codey: “Oh, I don’t like the way I organize.” (0:33:27) Jonnie: We’re going to be sitting here recording episodes of the harvest season and it’s just going to be like five, five minutes of silence in the recording. (0:33:30) Codey: playing (0:33:32) Codey: I detect no lines yeah in this game it just looks so peaceful and pleasing and it looks like things are floating around I don’t even remember if there’s a but there oh yeah (0:33:49) Jonnie: Yeah, no video yet, but coming out soon. (0:33:51) Jonnie: And the thing that, you know, I’ve talked a few times about the idea of an idle farming game, you know, like a (0:33:59) Jonnie: trims or something like that, and I think this is such a (0:34:04) Jonnie: smart/evil way of doing something like this, where it’s just omnipresent on your screen. (0:34:10) Jonnie: You can kind of just do it in the background, and I think this is, you know, (0:34:14) Jonnie: the pixel art style in general is very overplayed in a cottagecore, but in this case, (0:34:19) Jonnie: it makes a ton of sense, and I like the pixel art style. It does feel visually distinct from a lot of other games. (0:34:25) Codey: Yeah, I love in their blurb they say multitasking. (0:34:30) Codey: Rusty’s retirement is built to sit comfortably at the bottom of your screen, (0:34:34) Codey: allowing you to do other tasks while caring for your farm. (0:34:36) Codey: Zoom in or out for less distracting view, (0:34:38) Codey: or alternatively, turn on focus mode, (0:34:41) Codey: which slows down crop production. (0:34:43) Codey: They don’t say turn the game off. (0:34:45) Codey: They say turn on focus mode. (0:34:48) Jonnie: We help you focus by making the game move slightly slower. (0:34:51) Codey: It’ll move slower. (0:34:53) Codey: We know you’re not gonna turn this game on. (0:34:55) Codey: We know it. Oh my gosh, this game. (0:34:59) Jonnie: The other thing I like is automation with robots. (0:35:03) Jonnie: I think that’s such a cool way of doing automation and there’s a GIF part way down on the page that sort of shows all of the robots coming out from what looks like a shed to harvest crops or do a bunch of other things. (0:35:15) Jonnie: And I’m just like, oh my God, (0:35:17) Jonnie: This looks so visually… (0:35:18) Jonnie: …satisfying for how this game is gonna play, so I’m afraid. (0:35:27) Codey: I’m afraid. (0:35:29) Codey: Ha ha, I’m in danger. (0:35:37) Jonnie: Yeah, I just need to jam all of my productivity in now so that when this comes out, I, you know, I can, yep, yep. (0:35:44) Codey: Don’t have to be productive (0:35:48) Codey: Okay Two more games first one. I don’t have a lot to say about this home free quote developed by acorn lab (0:35:56) Codey: Acorn land labs home free is a solar punk off-grid video game. That’s more than mere entertainment It’s a bridge to a possible future one where we might return where we return to the essence of living in harmony with nature (0:36:07) Codey: Drawing direct inspiration from free life technologies this game offers an immersive guide to simpler sustainable and self-sufficient living (0:36:14) Codey: Innovative methane digesters solar ovens efficient folder voltaics biomass heating (0:36:19) Codey: Biogas cooking and elegant composting solutions all exist today explore them in home free (0:36:28) Jonnie: Yeah, I don’t know that I have a huge amount to say either, like it’s cool to be sort of taking a sustainable approach and a look toward the future of what could be possible and using a game as a vehicle for making people aware of this sort of stuff, which is a cool thing to do. (0:36:44) Jonnie: Um, but equally I think I think you need something more to kind of make a game like this land and I’ll just need to see more before it’s like actually something that interests me or not, but cool idea. (0:36:56) Codey: Yeah. Yeah, for sure! And finally, the game that I have already purchased and just need to play, (0:37:04) Codey: it’s called Bug and Seek. And I literally wrote, “I don’t care if this isn’t Cottagecore, this podcast is now Cottagecore Games and Bug Games for Cody.” So I guess I didn’t have to say that the Goblincore version of this podcast is the Cody season. We can just call it Bug Games for Cody. (0:37:25) Codey: So yeah, Vug N Seek quote. (0:37:26) Codey: Catch bugs and clues in this cozy bug catching sim creature collector styled like an 8-bit classic. (0:37:33) Codey: You’ve bought the local bug museum, abandoned after a mysterious robbery. (0:37:38) Codey: Fill orders, build your collection, and upgrade your skills and equipment while exploring Bugberg and uncovering its secrets. (0:37:49) Codey: As someone who works in a museum. (0:37:49) Jonnie: I like the idea that you own the museum. That’s a very cool thing to me. (0:37:56) Codey: And would not be an insect museum and would not be upset to continue to do that as a career. (0:38:06) Codey: I color me intrigued. (0:38:08) Jonnie: Yeah, and I’m just watching the trailer for it now. (0:38:12) Jonnie: And it looks like that there is incentive to catch bugs multiple times, which– (0:38:21) Jonnie: and what I mean by that is in games like Animal Crossing or Coral Island or whatever where they have bug catching, (0:38:27) Jonnie: you catch the bug the first time and you donate it to the museum. (0:38:29) Jonnie: And then after that, it’s just like, hey, (0:38:31) Jonnie: now it’s a source of money. (0:38:34) Jonnie: But it looks like they’re tying some sort of leveling up or skills. (0:38:38) Jonnie: This is just a cool little idea. I think it’s only out on Steam currently. (0:38:46) Codey: Yeah, but it is on Steam, Mac and Windows, so I’m buying it because I can play it on my Mac. (0:38:55) Codey: So that when I am doing bug science and then I need a break, I can play. (0:39:03) Codey: Yeah, that was all the news. A lot of news, but we can shift on over to our main topic of Second Harvest of Disney Dreamlight Valley. (0:39:15) Al From The Future: Hi listeners, just a very quick note from Al from the future here. (0:39:20) Al From The Future: This episode, this discussion of Disney Dreamlight Valley does include some (0:39:26) Al From The Future: reasonably heavy topics, so if you’re not emotionally in a place to deal with those sorts of things, then just bear that in mind. (0:39:34) Al From The Future: On with the topic. (0:39:36) Codey: I will mention that this game was already the topic of a podcast called “I Listened to Goofy” on October 19th, 2022, and that had Alan Johnny. (0:39:52) Codey: And so if you want to hear kind of like, how does this game play, how does it, what are the benefits, like, what are our goals? (0:40:06) Codey: Or our, like, critical review of it or whatever, that’s where you’d find that. This is kind of us just, like, talking about the game on a more casual, less structured way. (0:40:16) Codey: I have some thoughts that I, and questions that I’ve written down, and I also have notes that I, like, on the, uh, what are these things? Show notes. (0:40:26) Codey: Uh, but also in a physical form that I can read through and look through. (0:40:32) Codey: Um, but also just hearing what Johnny’s thoughts are, uh, a year. (0:40:36) Codey: Um, and are you, are you still playing a Disney dream in my Valley? (0:40:40) Jonnie: So over the course of the year, I’ve kind of like dipped in and out as content has come out. (0:40:47) Jonnie: I think what they’re going for is a game that kind of wants you to check in daily. (0:40:54) Jonnie: I don’t find that’s how I want to play this game. (0:40:58) Jonnie: I find I want to play it for like, you know, intensely for like a week or two and churn through a bunch of the content and then put it back down. (0:41:07) Jonnie: So that’s probably more what I’ve been doing over the course of the year. (0:41:10) Jonnie: I’ll play it a lot for a week and then I’ll put it down for a week. (0:41:18) Codey: I mean that’s I feel like that’s a good way to play it as well. It’s like (0:41:23) Codey: You know you play the content that’s available and then but they’re they’re releasing a good amount of stuff like consistently (0:41:32) Codey: So you’re not like really ever bored (0:41:36) Codey: too too much and I think another benefit of playing daily because there are (0:41:41) Codey: kind of like in Animal Crossing where (0:41:45) Codey: There’s like the money rock every day or whatever. (0:41:48) Codey: Right? Like a rock. One rock that you hit with the shovel and then it just will give you a heck ton of bells. (0:41:52) Codey: This has similar things. (0:41:56) Codey: There’s like the night thorns. There’s always at least one night thorn that has popped up overnight that just gives out a heck ton of coins. (0:42:04) Codey: So you can like find that and get rid of the night thorn. (0:42:08) Codey: Gear Valley. (0:42:10) Jonnie: I just think, you know, my reflection, you know, since we recorded the first episode on on what I like about this game is it’s not, it doesn’t hit the same parts of my brain as a game like Animal Crossing, that’s like I’m much more driven by the character story quest side of this game than I am the daily chicken, life sim aspect of this game, which I think is why I don’t like, (0:42:40) Jonnie: stuff absolutely exists. And it’s, you know, I think that’s what they’re going for is that daily chicken style. That’s just not the part that this game hits for me. (0:42:52) Codey: Mm-hmm. Yeah, what is it? Like what is the appeal of it for you then? (0:42:57) Jonnie: It’s the characters, right? (0:42:59) Jonnie: So the way I think the characters interact in this game is magical. (0:43:07) Jonnie: To me, that’s the real highlight of the game. (0:43:10) Jonnie: And it’s not just, oh, I have nostalgia for this series of Disney characters. (0:43:17) Jonnie: And it’s a fun way to interact with them. (0:43:19) Jonnie: It’s actually that the Disney characters from different properties interact with each other in ways that are really thoughtful. (0:43:27) Jonnie: Um, and add a lot to those characters and what you like about characters. (0:43:33) Jonnie: And for some that you potentially don’t know as well, um, kind of present them in a way that makes them, you know, it makes you want to go and watch a movie about them. (0:43:42) Jonnie: So, so an example of that is, um, uh, as part of Skaar’s storyline, he’s, you know, (0:43:49) Jonnie: on the hunt for food and Remy keeps trying to find food for him to cook. (0:43:53) Jonnie: But obviously being a life-some game, there’s not a strong focus on meat (0:43:57) Jonnie: of fish, right? It’s not like you can just go and kill a cow and get a steak. (0:44:01) Jonnie: That’s what Skaar wants. (0:44:02) Jonnie: And Remy interacting with Skaar is not something that I ever had on my bingo card. (0:44:04) Codey: Mm-hmm (0:44:08) Jonnie: I’ve never watched Ratatouille. (0:44:10) Jonnie: But this made me want to, you know, this made me want to go and watch Ratatouille after seeing them interact and have the storyline together. (0:44:11) Codey: Right (0:44:17) Codey: Yeah Yeah, I think gosh, I can’t remember what the what the ones for me were (0:44:25) Codey: Maybe it’s like Merlin and Ariel (0:44:28) Codey: Or like no, it was Ursula and stitch. I (0:44:32) Codey: I think, because Ursula… (0:44:34) Codey: …hates Stitch and Stitch ends up going and apologizing to Ursula because he’s, you know, annoyed her or whatever. (0:44:42) Codey: And I was like, “This is crazy.” (0:44:45) Jonnie: Right? (0:44:48) Codey: And the characters are so genuine. (0:44:50) Codey: Like, and they don’t make the villains like a good guy. (0:44:56) Codey: Like, they’re still pretty clearly a villain. (0:45:00) Codey: Um, pretty clearly, I mean, they try and- (0:45:04) Codey: like, help the- the- with, uh, keeping the- the- the Valley alive or whatever, like, they- they’ll help a little bit, and you can, like, befriend them and stuff, but- (0:45:16) Codey: like, Scar isn’t- there’s, like, one moment where I- I- I thought he was trying to poison me. (0:45:22) Codey: Um, you know, stuff like that, and it was like, “Oh, you! I got my eye on you!” (0:45:28) Jonnie: Yeah, it’s a sky roll all the time is like are you sure you’re the right person to be in charge cuz I’m really really good At being a charge (0:45:34) Codey: I could be better. Oh, I tried to poison you. Oh, I thought that would work. (0:45:41) Codey: And then I could be in charge. It’s like, excuse? (0:45:46) Codey: Yeah, so I guess, so you’ve hit credits. Okay. I have not hit credits. The story kind of like (0:45:57) Codey: in the Valley, you come to it and they, everyone keeps talking about this ruler that used to exist. (0:46:02) Codey: Um… (0:46:04) Codey: I guess here is a mild spoiler, I don’t know how spoiler we want to get and I obviously like I don’t want you to spoil the ending for me so like we’re like spoiling like kind of midway. (0:46:16) Codey: Um… (0:46:16) Codey: You were the ruler? (0:46:18) Codey: Uh… (0:46:20) Codey: But part of you, like your inner child, like ripped itself out of you? (0:46:28) Codey: Um… and that part of you has a lot of bad feelings and negative thoughts. (0:46:34) Codey: And you are trying to help heal that part of you. (0:46:38) Codey: And it was… man there was like what? There was literally a part, oh my gosh I took a picture. (0:46:44) Codey: There was literally a part where I was playing and it like is going to go into the backstory of the character. (0:46:52) Codey: Um… like into your history. (0:46:54) Codey: And it literally gives you like a content warning. (0:47:00) Codey: Um… (0:47:02) Codey: If you’re scrolling back through to where… (0:47:04) Jonnie: Yeah, that part of the game is sort of the main story that revolves around your character, I think is exceptionally well done, particularly for, you know, likely people that are listening to this podcast, right, because a lot of us have the connection to these characters from our childhood. (0:47:24) Jonnie: And I think the fact that you were the past ruler is not a spoiler. I think you pick that up in sort of the first 10 minutes of the game. It’s heavily implied. (0:47:30) Codey: okay okay well because because people are like I don’t know where the ruler went you look really familiar and it’s like okay (0:47:34) Jonnie: Right. That. Yeah, so it’s not revealed but it’s very heavily foreshadowed very early on in the game but I think it’s and in the story of that, you know, this being an important part of your youth and reconnecting with the characters, but in a slightly different way is a really great storyline. (0:47:58) Jonnie: It’s also presented in a way that doesn’t I think like it’s not like the game I don’t think wouldn’t land for you know younger players that they may not pick up on all of the aspects but I don’t think it’s presented in a way where they would be like not having fun with the game you know like little things like the night thorns effectively or the overall thing that’s happening is called the forgettening or something right which which you know you can pretty cut represents you know you as the character sort of forgetting about (0:48:34) Jonnie: this aspect of your childhood or becoming more distant from it and a lot of the negative things in the world being sort of the result of you becoming distant from from Disney and from these characters so I think it’s just a really good setup and one of the things that stands out to me so would have been really easy for it to come across as like kind of hokey or cliche And it doesn’t like it sometimes it gets (0:48:59) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:49:04) Jonnie: close to that line particularly with characters like Mickey and Minnie and Goofy because they’re kind of just like overly earnest characters anyway but as you progress through the game like I think the story is handled really really (0:49:16) Codey: well even like those characters are positive and like they just have this like never-ending like enthusiasm and stuff but like (0:49:25) Codey: they do The people that designed this game do them pretty dirty (0:49:30) Codey: Because it starts off and Mickey’s in the world But he can’t find Minnie and then she’s like kind of a ghost for a while and then you finally like (0:49:42) Codey: Make her real again, but she doesn’t remember anything. She doesn’t know who Mickey is (0:49:46) Codey: So imagine like missing the person you love and then you finally find them, and they’re just like who you? (0:49:56) Codey: Oh my gosh, so I found I found the thing so when you’re doing these forgotten memory quests You’re basically like trying to regain your your memories (0:50:04) Codey: as the (0:50:07) Codey: The other version of you is called the forgotten (0:50:10) Codey: And it says the take care the forgotten memories quests deal with some difficult emotions and themes such as sadness loneliness (0:50:16) Codey: Anger if you’re not in the right space to deal with these themes consider returning to your village (0:50:22) Codey: Until you feel prepared to face them, so it’s basically the game being like if you can’t do this right now (0:50:30) Codey: Go go fish for a bit go play with your villagers for a bit like you don’t have to do this (0:50:36) Codey: But it helps you kind of understand like why the forgotten became the forgotten and I think that’s another thing that’s really important is you know some of us go to places in our lives and we (0:50:47) Codey: Like are really harsh critics of ourselves (0:50:51) Codey: Because we’re not where we think we should be or whatever or we’ve made a lot of mistakes (0:50:59) Codey: But that happens and sometimes you need to revisit those moments and have grace and compassion for yourself (0:51:04) Codey: And when you as you revisit them you kind of come back and you talk to someone about them And they’re like what did you learn and you’re like? (0:51:11) Codey: Wow, this person’s really sad (0:51:14) Codey: And sometimes it do be that way (0:51:16) Jonnie: Yeah, I agree. I think like so for me yet like I think the the story is is what goes best And you mentioned you know the the Mickey mini storyline the another one. That’s sort of in a similar vein (0:51:30) Jonnie: Is the (0:51:33) Jonnie: Anna and (0:51:36) Jonnie: What’s what’s his name his name is just walked out of my brain (0:51:39) Jonnie: Kristoff we’re at one point in order to save the Valley (0:51:46) Jonnie: I have to forget or she
Ready to get your cozy on? Syp and Syl take you into the relatively new life sim Palia to explore its down-home-on-the-player-farm tunes. Is this a little TOO laid-back and boring, or is there a rural charm to this soundtrack? We'll be the judge of that. Episode 230 show notes Intro (feat. “Home Sweet Home,” “Palia's Kilima Village Daytime Theme,” and “The Creation”) “Daiya Farm Badruu's Melody” “Main Theme” “Chapaa Chase” “Einar's Cave” “Daydreams, Sunsets” “Maji Market” Which one did we like best? Jukebox Picks: “Not Tomorrow” from Silent Hill and “Lost in Random” from Blake Robinson Outro (feat. "Hygge Living and Building") Talk to the Battle Bards on Twitter! Follow Battle Bards on iTunes, Stitcher, Player.FM, Google Play, iHeartRadio, and Pocket Casts! This podcast is produced using copyrighted material according to Fair Use practices as stated under Section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act.
On this week's episode of the Massively OP Podcast, Bree and Justin talk about Ethyrial and Fractured Online's woes, Palia's latest patch, the re-emergence of City of Titans, World of Warcraft's three-day headstart snafu, and Guild Wars 2's weapon proliferation beta. It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your question to the show, use this link. Listen to the show right now: Show notes: Intro Adventures in MMOs: LOTRO, Fallout 76, WoW, Project Gorgon News: Ethyrial and Fractured Online suffer horrific hack attacks News: Palia's beta patch adds more story News: Could City of Titans stage a comeback? News: World of Warcraft takes heat for paid expansion headstart News: Guild Wars 2 kicks off weapon proliferation beta Outro Other info: Podcast theme: "Digital Death Dream" from City of Titans Your show hosts: Justin and Bree Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, Amazon, and Spotify Follow Massively Overpowered: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Twitch If you're having problems seeing or using the web player, please check your flashblock or scriptblock setting.
Palia has had some BIG updates since we last checked in with it and we're here to catch you up. Support the show
Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 and the Phantom Liberty Expansion, WoW Hardcore, Starfield, and SWTOR are on the menu. Plus we discuss some news about Star Citizen Alpha Update 3.20, Palia, and more. All that on this episode of the New Overlords Podcast with Sema and Jeff aka @MaxTheGrey. MP3 Direct Download Link YouTube Link Catch us … New Overlords Podcast 483: CP2077, WoW Hardcore, Starfield Read More » The post New Overlords Podcast 483: CP2077, WoW Hardcore, Starfield first appeared on NEW OVERLORDS.
Starfield, Star Trek Online, and Star Wars The Old Republic are on the menu and we pull in guest and guild friend, Dent to talk about our time there! Plus we discuss some news about Cyberpunk 2077, Palia, Forever Skies, and how Microsoft is *not* buying Nintendo. All that on this episode of the New … New Overlords Podcast 482: Starfield, SWTOR, Star Trek Online Read More » The post New Overlords Podcast 482: Starfield, SWTOR, Star Trek Online first appeared on NEW OVERLORDS.
Dear Everyone, this is Hannah. Sorry I am the slowest editor in the world lately. Please enjoy this episode that we did record like a month before it is being released. Love you so much. Hannah loves microtransactions. Erin has many obsessions and many shoutouts to Chloe. Ben is sleeping a lot. Y'all ever heard of this sleeping thing? Seems pretty awesome. HOMEWORK: Visit playpalia.com to join the Palia open beta Watch the cinematic trailer for Palia Read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir Play The Last Campfire on Switch Play Baldur's Gate 3 Do a big yawn and sleep CALL US OR TEXT US AND TELL US YOUR OBSESSION! 774-326-0420 @Hannahandhercats on tiktok Erin's Lesbian Lending Library: lesbianlendinglibrary.com Watch Ben on twitch.tv/discogreg Watch Erin on twitch.tv/ernbrnog Follow WayTooBroad on IG and Tiktok Email us at waytoobroad@gmail.com www.waytoobroad.com or waytoobod.com or nameyourselfjame.com or nameyourselfjameeagan.com or jameeagan.com for anything you want www.ernben.com for anything you need DOWNLOAD FRIENDS OF THE CHAOS' MUSIC! THEY WROTE OUR THEME SONG! https://friendsofthechaos.bandcamp.com/track/way-too-broad Please leave us a rating/review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening!
We we get into a game we REALLY get into a game. After taking a short break, we came back and only had one game on the brain. See what else we hadn't yet discovered in the world of Palia!Support the show
Chelsea and Wade are back for a second episode discussing Palia, a new cozy sim MMO currently in Open Beta on PC. This time around they are discussing what it's like playing together and if this game is worth it playing with your friends.You can check out this free game by clicking our referral links below!https://accounts.palia.com/sign-up?referral=b65a4598-d977-487e-bea0-94f43fc30a73ORhttps://accounts.palia.com/sign-up?referral=ff08a3d2-ac78-4237-9b16-f6f329ee5217Don't forget to like, follow, or subscribe, and leave us a review! Let us know what you'd like us to cover next! Follow us here!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poddemastered/Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodDemasteredFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodDemasteredHave any topic requests, questions, or general comments? Send us an email at demasteredpodcast@gmail.com.Music: Switch Me On by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
WoW Classic Hardcore, Sea of Stars, SWTOR, Palia, BG3, the first two episodes of Ahsoka, and tons more. We are joined by Ken (aka Lars) for all that on this episode of the New Overlords Podcast with @AIESema and Jeff aka @MaxTheGrey. MP3 Direct Download Link YouTube Link Catch us in Discord at http://newoverlords.com/discord for … New Overlords Podcast 479: WoW Classic Hardcore, Sea of Stars, SWTOR, and more! Read More » The post New Overlords Podcast 479: WoW Classic Hardcore, Sea of Stars, SWTOR, and more! first appeared on NEW OVERLORDS.
This week on PodQuest we start with a discussion about the Playstation Plus price increases and how that does or does not impact us. We also hear Chris' thoughts on the X-Men event Sins of Sinister, and Walnut got to play some of of Palia the upcoming farm sim MMO. We also have our latest book club discussion talking about Yellowcard's 2003 album Ocean Avenue and Ludo's 2010 album Prepare the Preparations, plus Droo had time to play through the 2000 Gameboy color classic, Pokemon Trading Card Game via the Switch Online. Our next book club is going to be an actual book! We'll be talking about the 1990 Michael Crichton classic 'Jurassic Park'. We'll be breaking this up and talking about the book in two halves, the first discussion will be on September 14th. Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:03:27 - Agenda 00:04:43 - PS+ Price Increases 00:38:58 - Book Club! 01:08:28 - Our next book club is. . . 01:21:15 - X-Men Sins of Sinister 01:30:08 - Pokemon TCG (GBC Game) 01:36:40 - Palia 01:54:32 - Outro Support One-Quest https://www.Patreon.com/OneQuest Follow Us Email - Social@one-quest.com Twitter - @One_Quest Instagram - @One_Quest Facebook - OneQuestOnline Follow Chris on Twitter - @Just_Cobb Follow Richie on Twitter - @B_Walnuts Follow Drootin on Twitter - @IamDroot Check out Richie's streaming and videos! Twitch b_walnuts YouTube BWalnuts Kick b-walnuts TikTok b_walnuts Intro and Outro music Mega Man 2 'Project X2 - Title Screen' OC ReMix courtesy of Project X over at OCRemix
With Mishka and Phil living it up with all our lovely listeners at Gamescom, and Ethan to busy building to play pundit this week, it's everyone's three favorite hosts - Kress, Jen and Laura - holding down the fort without any deadweight dragging them down :) This week the crew goes deep on cozy games following the successful beta for cozy MMO Palia as well as discussing Gossip Harbor and the latest trends in the Merge game genre. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/deconstructoroffun/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/deconstructoroffun/support
On this week's episode of the Massively OP Podcast, Bree and Justin talk about Wayfinder's insanely messy launch, Palia's pet-laden patch, DCUO's next big steps, Guild Wars 2's new expansion, and how much of an expansion should developers spoil. It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your question to the show, use this link. Show notes: Intro Adventures in MMOs: LOTRO, Guild Wars 2 News: Wayfinder's early access launch is an instant dumpster fire News: Palia adds adorable pets! News: DCUO announces next episode and modern console launches News: Guild Wars 2 brings out Secrets of the Obscure Mailbag: How much should developers reveal about an expansion? Mailbag: What MMO rogue server will you be playing in the future? Outro Other info: Your show hosts: Justin and Bree Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, Amazon, and Spotify Follow Massively Overpowered: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Twitch If you're having problems seeing or using the web player, please check your flashblock or scriptblock setting.
Chelsea and Wade discuss their first impressions of Palia. This cozy farming sim MMO currently available on PC is now in Open Beta.You can check out this free game by clicking the links below!https://accounts.palia.com/sign-up?referral=b65a4598-d977-487e-bea0-94f43fc30a73ORhttps://accounts.palia.com/sign-up?referral=ff08a3d2-ac78-4237-9b16-f6f329ee5217Don't forget to like, follow, or subscribe, and leave us a review! Let us know what you'd like us to cover next! Follow us here!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poddemastered/Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodDemasteredFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodDemasteredHave any topic requests, questions, or general comments? Send us an email at demasteredpodcast@gmail.com.Music: Switch Me On by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
After a bit of a break for summer vacation and sick kids, we return with "Cozy MMO" Palia which is now in Open Beta. As promised, we've also been playing Baldur's Gate III. Just first impressions for now, so expect more Baldur's Gate III on future episodes this month! Over in the news, Netflix is testing games on TVs (and soon PC/Mac), THQ Nordic had a showcase, and Xbox highlights their new strike system to address bad behaviour.
Video games hosts Paul, Ryan and Josh bringing you the week's hottest video game news like no other gaming podcast can. This week we break down the best video games shown off in the recent THQ showcase, then we lament another re-release with no upgrades before Paul gives the breakdown on his time with Palia's open beta. Thanks to our LEGENDARY supporters: Skippy, Kiitaclyzm, Gideon Is Lit, Toro, Scrump, Gaius, Remi, MarbleMadness, Dr. Catatonic, Blackstar (DQ), Glapsuidir, Phelps, Michele B, Redletter, Nevo, Waynerman, TFolls, AceofShame, Jake, RangerMiller, and Ad Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/multiplayerpodcast Join our Gaming Discord: https://discord.gg/Dsx2rgEEbz Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/multiplayerpod/ Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/MultiplayerPod Subscribe to us on YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCU12YOMnAQwqFZEdfXv9c3Q Visit us on the web: multiplayerpodcast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Email the show / Leave us a Speakpipe / Discord Channel / Patreon Page PMGB: Figment 2: Creed Valley Next week: Arcade Paradise Does it Hold: Walking Dead Season 1 Stu The Walking Dead Venba Figment 2: Creed Valley Duke Rocket League: Mes amis! Palia open beta New World ChronEscher Humble Cozy Bundle: Cat Cafe Manager and Lemon Cake Chinny Walking Dead Season 1 Figment 2: Creed Valley Coffee Golf
It's Baldur's Gate 3 week over here as both Paul and Jon are playing it. Paul also checks out Neon Noodles, Palia, and Monster Hunter Now. Sean plays through the first two Expanse episodes, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie, and Overwatch 2's new PVE mode. Quake 2 gets a surprised release this week, Devolver hosts a Devolver Delayed, and Red Dead Redemption is coming to the Switch. Top Down Perspective is listener funded. If you enjoy the show, and would like access to a ton of bonus content, consider supporting it at https://www.patreon.com/topdownperspective
It turns out that we all play other games in addition to SWTOR. Oh we talk about SWTOR but add in some Palia, Baulder’s Gate, WoW Classic and a few other things we’ve been into. That and more on this episode of the New Overlords SWTOR Escape Pod Cast with @AIESema, @MaxTheGrey and Astromech EPC-476. … SWTOR Escape Pod Cast 476: SWTOR, Palia, BG3, and More! Read More » The post SWTOR Escape Pod Cast 476: SWTOR, Palia, BG3, and More! first appeared on NEW OVERLORDS.
On this week's episode of the Massively OP Podcast, Bree and Justin talk about Palia's soft launch (with persistence!), WoW Classic's date for hardcore realms, ArcheAge 2's hopeful arrival this year, Nightingale's perspective swap, and relaxing MMO activities. It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your question to the show, use this link. Show notes: Intro Adventures in MMOs: SWG, LOTRO, Star Trek Online, News: Palia starts its soft launch News: WoW Classic's hardcore realms are coming on August 24th News: ArcheAge 2 aims for the second half of this year, ArcheAge shutdown rumors News: Ashfall's closed beta, Nightingale's third-person perspective Mailbag: Relaxing MMO activities Outro Other info: Podcast theme: "Palia Announcement Trailer" from Palia Your show hosts: Justin and Bree Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, Amazon, and Spotify Follow Massively Overpowered: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Twitch If you're having problems seeing or using the web player, please check your flashblock or scriptblock setting.
In this week's episode of The Game Informer Show, returning guest Kenneth Shepard (Kotaku, Normandy FM) joins us to discuss why Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the best RPGs of 2023, despite the fact we're still working our way through the massive game. Additionally, Marcus clues the crew in on his time spent solving puzzles in Viewfinder and his preview impressions of Palia, an MMO-like life sim currently in closed beta. Follow us on social media: Alex Van Aken (@itsVanAken), Marcus Stewart (@MarcusStewart7), Charles Harte (@Chuckduck365), Kenneth Shepard (@ShepardCDR) The Game Informer Show is a weekly gaming podcast covering the latest video game news, industry topics, exclusive reveals, and reviews. Join host Alex Van Aken every Thursday to chat about your favorite games – past and present – with Game Informer staff, developers, and special guests from around the industry. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Matt Storm, the freelance audio editor for The Game Informer Show, edited this episode. Matt is an experienced podcast host and producer who's been speaking into a microphone for over a decade. You should listen to Matt's shows like the "Fun" And Games Podcast and Reignite, a BioWare-focused podcast. Jump to the timestamps to get to a particular point of discussion: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:39 - Talent Show Update 00:06:36 - Kenneth Shepard Re-Introduction 00:12:55 - Baldur's Gate III 00:58:32 - Palia 01:11:47 - Viewfinder 01:16:09 - Housekeeping
On this week's episode of the Massively OP Podcast, Bree, Carlo, and Justin talk about Blizzard financials, Diablo IV's disastrous nerf patch, Palia and Wayfinder's early access, and the next generation of MMO players. It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your question to the show, use this link. Show notes: Intro Adventures in MMOs: LOTRO, ESO, Diablo II, Diablo IV, Black Desert, SWG, Garden Galaxy News: Blizzard financials News: Diablo IV kicks off its first season -- with a huge nerfy patch News: Palia is hitting the early access scene in early August... News: ...followed by Wayfinder later that month Mailbag: Where's the MMO player new blood? Outro Other info: Podcast theme: "The Fae Forest" from Project Gorgon Your show hosts: Justin, Carlo, and Bree Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, Amazon, and Spotify Follow Massively Overpowered: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Twitch If you're having problems seeing or using the web player, please check your flashblock or scriptblock setting.
On this week's episode of the Massively OP Podcast, Bree and Justin talk about the return of Fractured, the possible 2023 launch of Palia, more word about the SWTOR transition, the end of The Realm, MMOs' combat obsession, and overall Dragonflight excitement. It's the Massively OP Podcast, an action-packed hour of news, tales, opinions, and gamer emails! And remember, if you'd like to send in your question to the show, use this link. Show notes: Intro Adventures in MMOs: LOTRO, SWTOR, Diablo IV News: Could Palia be coming in 2023? News: SWTOR devs attempt to reassure players News: Fractured returns after a long absence News: The Realm is shutting down, 20th anniversaries of SWG and Second Life Mailbag: What's going on with Dragonflight excitement right now? Mailbag: Could MMOs be more than just combat? Outro Other info: Podcast theme: "Man Down" from World of Warcraft Your show hosts: Justin and Bree Listen to Massively OP Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, Amazon, and Spotify Follow Massively Overpowered: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Twitch If you're having problems seeing or using the web player, please check your flashblock or scriptblock setting.
In this week's episode, we're unpacking the smorgasbord of games Nintendo announced at the recent direct: Get ready to explore the hidden treasures of the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet DLC, and race into a brand new Sonic Superstars adventure. We'll delve into the lush world of Palia, get tactical with Persona 5 Tactica, and solve mysteries in Detective Pikachu Returns. Hear us break down the thrilling details of the Super Mario RPG remake, Batman Arkham Trilogy on Switch, and more! Switch gears with us as we dissect the courtroom drama of Microsoft vs. FTC, with revelations ranging from Xbox exclusivity deals to the company's ambitions of acquiring Sega. What's the future for major titles like Indiana Jones and Starfield in light of these corporate tug-of-wars? Lastly, we dive into the digital debate: Are digital-only releases the future for big games? Bethesda's recent tweet about Starfield's disc-less physical edition and Remedy's Alan Wake 2 digital release raise some crucial questions. Tune in to our podcast to explore the impact of this trend on gamers and the gaming industry at large. Expect hot takes and trash opinions.
FEATURING: (00:00:00) We spend way too much time discussing Everbody 1-2 Switch!(00:12:32) 2 hours of conversation about the June 21st 2023 Nintendo Direct: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero for Pokemon Scarlet or Pokemon Violet. Sonic Superstars. Palia.(00:21:31) Persona 5 Tactica. Splatoon 3 Splatfest. Detective Pikachu Returns.(00:30:27) Super Mario RPG. Princess Peach game. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. Silent Hope. Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince.(00:59:21) Pikmin 4. Pikmin 1+2 HD. MGS Collection. Penny's Big Breakaway. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Pack.(01:25:34) Star Ocean The Second Story R. WarioWare: Move It!(01:36:28) Super Mario Bros Wonder. Final thoughts (where was Metroid Prime 4, and what was Metroid Prime Remastered about, then?).
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
