Thoughts of a Doubter

[Followlon]

It would be great if no more nonsense was planted in the fields during events. I mean, in this game, you run a farm and thus have the opportunity to produce different raw materials. I can't understand why this isn't being used.

Example: Easter Event

There are probably chickens on every farm, so it shouldn't be a problem to get eggs. To dye the eggs, you could use the different flowers to achieve different colors.

For chocolate eggs, you first make chocolate from the cocoa beans. In combination with fruits (strawberries, cherries, etc.) or nuts (peanuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, etc.), you can create different chocolate eggs.

So, resources that already exist on the farm are used, and the entire process would even make sense because it would be understandable. This is certainly just a basic idea for now; the finer details still need to be refined, of course.

But I wouldn't be a real skeptic if I didn't doubt that something like this would ever be implemented. They're choosing the easiest way again: burying the most impossible things in the fields, then diligently watering them, and that's it. Just like in Part 1. That's why I'm not surprised when balloons are found in the fields.

[SoyUnBonus]

Originally posted by Followlon:

They're choosing the easiest way again

Why would we choose the hard way? We're a team of 6 people (2 programmers and 4 artists) and we're doing our best with the resources we can. We have to pick our battles very carefully, try not to have feature-creep, and release updates regularly.

What you're asking requires a way bigger team (and thus, bigger budget) and/or having way less updates. Also, we're still in Early Access, so it's hard to even keep up with making these 'simpler' events. The game doesn't have to be perfect, we just aim to be a fun and simple way to entertain people for a few hours (which usually end up in the hundreds).

It's fine if you don't like the game though, it is what it is. But I think having some fantasy items doesn't hurt. Sorry if I sounded a bit harsh, but we have to keep expectations realistic.

[Followlon]

Originally posted by SoyUnBonus:

We're a team of 6 people (2 programmers and 4 artists) and we're doing our best with the resources we can.

Thank you for the response to my comment and the little insight into teamwork.

Especially with a small team, priorities have to be set because the options are limited.
I completely agree with you and understand that. It's all a matter of organization. That's why I expected the main game to be worked on first and with the highest priority. Events could be addressed after the main game is finished. They don't have to be integrated during the development phase. I think most players would understand that.

Afterwards, it would be conceivable to hold one or two team meetings to discuss what the events should look like, what options are available, and how they can be implemented. What's the point of trying to integrate as many events as possible in the shortest possible time? What does that say about the quality of the events?

In my opinion, events are special occurrences that should be different from the normal gameplay, which isn't the case at the moment.

[SoyUnBonus]

Painting the eggs and all that sounds cool, don't get me wrong! but we have to think about the constraints of the game (and try to use the things that we already have in place).

Maybe paint an egg picture? I know it's not the same, but making unique mechanics and animations just for one timed event is a bit overkill.

Originally posted by Followlon:

"it would be conceivable to hold one or two team meetings to discuss what the events should look like"

The best place is the game's Discord: https://discord.gg/nm2qDf23
Right now you're talking with 50% of the programmers on the team :P
Although I'm more of a support programmer, doing mostly audiovisual stuff.

We have a #ft2-suggestions channel that we use a lot to know what players want and to discuss if and how we would be able to do things. We're fairly down to earth but if something is doable, we'll try to give it a chance.

Originally posted by Followlon:

"What's the point of trying to integrate as many events as possible in the shortest possible time?"

Players ask us when the next event will happen all the time. And it's not as if we're releasing tons of events, we actually skipped St.Patricks and we're barely being able to finish the Easter one.

Originally posted by Followlon:

"What does that say about the quality of the events?"

Quality is important, but so is quantity, otherwise players get bored, so we try to balance it out. And I don't think events are that big of a deal, I prefer quality in the core gameplay and just sprinkle events on top for a bit of fun.

At least for now, as we have to be VERY careful on how we spend our time, because we don't have much to spare. And we also don't want to grow the team, because we like being able to control as much of the game as we can.

If the team grew, we would need managers and it would feel more like a 'company'. Right now I like to think we're more like 'artisans' in a way, and we have a fairly flat structure.

[HardXcoreXdave]

The fact that you guys are only a small team of 6 is impressive , I really thought you guys had a larger team. This is not at all a complaint , I love your games and can't wait to see what comes next. I am actually trying to learn 3d design , I wish I was further along in my studies and could join your team , lol.

[SoyUnBonus]

Originally posted by HardXcoreXdave:

I wish I was further along in my studies and could join your team

We haven't had interns in a while as we don't have that much time to 'teach' lately (sadly, as I really like to explain the little we know!).

But I would say, learn blender and, if you want to apply to a particular studio, you need to match the quality of the things they do there! You don't need to make characters perfectly or anything, but even a 'simple' fence or bench might be harder that it looks.

You always have to keep an eye on the polycount, using UVs the best you can (as textures get compressed in lower qualities) and... also good practices like naming everything nicely and sorting everything into collections and such.

Also, check out our older games at milkstonestudios.com/games and see how amateurish they were! making games is not a sprint but a marathon! you'll get better over time with practice. Good luck and don't give up!

[HardXcoreXdave]

Originally posted by SoyUnBonus:

Originally posted by HardXcoreXdave:

I wish I was further along in my studies and could join your team

We haven't had interns in a while as we don't have that much time to 'teach' lately (sadly, as I really like to explain the little we know!).

But I would say, learn blender and, if you want to apply to a particular studio, you need to match the quality of the things they do there! You don't need to make characters perfectly or anything, but even a 'simple' fence or bench might be harder that it looks.

You always have to keep an eye on the polycount, using UVs the best you can (as textures get compressed in lower qualities) and... also good practices like naming everything nicely and sorting everything into collections and such.

Also, check out our older games at milkstonestudios.com/games and see how amateurish they were! making games is not a sprint but a marathon! you'll get better over time with practice. Good luck and don't give up!

Thank you for taking the time to respond to me , I have been trying to learn blender on and off and I haven't had much motivation lately but I will start studying more now for sure. I love what you guys do (my wife does as well) and have played a few of your games already. Thank you for the kind words and tips and who knows , maybe you will be hearing from me again someday in the future.

[Darkness Vortex]

I like a lot the idea of using normal things to make new things for Event things (like the eggs and flowers to make dyed eggs), but I also understand that it may be pushing the limits of what is feasible and practical at this time. Perhaps in the future after all of the core things are finished and things settle down, it can be considered? Maybe it could be easier as recipes? Like, the eggs are cooked and dyed as 1 recipe that takes eggs and flowers and the chocolates/assorted candies can be a second recipe that takes cocoa and fruit/nuts. (Maybe we could even have a recipe that combines those 2 recipes plus grains or so to make easter goodies baskets. ^D^ ) Again, possibly in the future when there is more resources available, like time and energy.

But I also like a lot the "fun" things to harvest in the fields. But I also understand that some people dislike that kind of thing and I like people to be able to play happily if feasible and practical. I considered if I would be content with sacrificing these "fun" things for the elevation of enjoyment of others and I came to the conclusion that my enthusiasm would not be as much and I would sadly long for the "fun" things some, but I would still have enthusiasm with the normal things and I would be willing to sacrifice that amount of enthusiasm for inclusivity of others' enthusiasm. But that would only take me into account and I think that there are players other than me that love the "fun" things in the fields.

BUT. Perhaps there doesn't have to be only one set of players or the other satisfied.

Perhaps, if the normal things/methods are implemented, they could work alongside the "fun" things in a way that a player could do either one (or maybe a mix of both) to increase that one number towards its goal (but not passed the goal so that they are not getting double points)? The numbers for the normal things could be made to equal the same time and effort as growing the "fun" things so that there is no argument that one is unfairly advantaged over the other and people that are strongly drawn/opposed to one thing can have an equal option that doesn't make them feel bad or dissatisfied.

Granted, I don't know the abilities, feasibilities, and practicalities of the systems involved (including but not limited to game systems and team systems) to know if that would at all be feasible or practical, and if it's not both feasible and practical, then it is still 100% valid to just stick with what is already in place and/or planned. :) (And I also recognize that even if it is both feasible and practical, if the devs don't want to do it for any reason, including "no reason", then it is still 100% valid to stick with what is already in place and/or planned or otherwise not consider it. xD {But I also posit that if the devs don't want to do it, then that makes it not practical...})

[Blossom]

Originally posted by Followlon:

It would be great if no more nonsense was planted in the fields during events. I mean, in this game, you run a farm and thus have the opportunity to produce different raw materials. I can't understand why this isn't being used.

Example: Easter Event

There are probably chickens on every farm, so it shouldn't be a problem to get eggs. To dye the eggs, you could use the different flowers to achieve different colors.

For chocolate eggs, you first make chocolate from the cocoa beans. In combination with fruits (strawberries, cherries, etc.) or nuts (peanuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, etc.), you can create different chocolate eggs.

So, resources that already exist on the farm are used, and the entire process would even make sense because it would be understandable. This is certainly just a basic idea for now; the finer details still need to be refined, of course.

But I wouldn't be a real skeptic if I didn't doubt that something like this would ever be implemented. They're choosing the easiest way again: burying the most impossible things in the fields, then diligently watering them, and that's it. Just like in Part 1. That's why I'm not surprised when balloons are found in the fields.

What you are proposing is logical but it will make the game more hardcore and then the game won't be funny and relaxing any more. There are plenty of hardcore games. This game is unique. I love the antistress mode and I don't want that to be destroyed.

[Blossom]

Originally posted by SoyUnBonus:

Originally posted by HardXcoreXdave:

I wish I was further along in my studies and could join your team

We haven't had interns in a while as we don't have that much time to 'teach' lately (sadly, as I really like to explain the little we know!).

But I would say, learn blender and, if you want to apply to a particular studio, you need to match the quality of the things they do there! You don't need to make characters perfectly or anything, but even a 'simple' fence or bench might be harder that it looks.

You always have to keep an eye on the polycount, using UVs the best you can (as textures get compressed in lower qualities) and... also good practices like naming everything nicely and sorting everything into collections and such.

Also, check out our older games at milkstonestudios.com/games and see how amateurish they were! making games is not a sprint but a marathon! you'll get better over time with practice. Good luck and don't give up!

Hi it's me again. Greetings from Greece. A small suggestion. Can we have a big 2x2 or a small Gazibo 1x1 like the stall the farmhands using to rest? Can we have a bush with flowers on it and not just green, white and pink color please?

[Followlon]

Originally posted by Blossom:

What you are proposing is logical but it will make the game more hardcore and then the game won't be funny and relaxing any more. There are plenty of hardcore games. This game is unique. I love the antistress mode and I don't want that to be destroyed.

I admit that I didn't think about the players when I came up with this idea, and therefore didn't consider the possibility that some players might find it overwhelming because it goes beyond the usual "click and wait." But cooking in the house also requires multiple ingredients for one dish.

[Catronia]

Originally posted by SoyUnBonus:

Originally posted by Followlon:

They're choosing the easiest way again

Why would we choose the hard way? We're a team of 6 people (2 programmers and 4 artists) and we're doing our best with the resources we can. We have to pick our battles very carefully, try not to have feature-creep, and release updates regularly.

What you're asking requires a way bigger team (and thus, bigger budget) and/or having way less updates. Also, we're still in Early Access, so it's hard to even keep up with making these 'simpler' events. The game doesn't have to be perfect, we just aim to be a fun and simple way to entertain people for a few hours (which usually end up in the hundreds).

It's fine if you don't like the game though, it is what it is. But I think having some fantasy items doesn't hurt. Sorry if I sounded a bit harsh, but we have to keep expectations realistic.

You guys are incredible.

[puzzlesplaneswalkers]

The guy who made Schedule 1 is a solo developer. He must never sleep.

[SoyUnBonus]

Originally posted by puzzlesplaneswalkers:

The guy who made Schedule 1 is a solo developer. He must never sleep.

Same as Balatro! or Stardew Valley. But having such a big success is like winning the lottery. A one in a million chance.

I would like to know how much time did Schedule took before putting it on Steam, because those other two games took quite some time time.

Players only see the success, but it usually takes years to get there.

[avadream]

During events, just give us big quests with normal crops/trees/fish/livestock.

This is easier for the devs and even better: way more realistic and fun, instead of the current silly event crops making the game look like a spreadsheet vs a fun light farming simulator.

[cherryvanilla]

Originally posted by SoyUnBonus:

Originally posted by puzzlesplaneswalkers:

The guy who made Schedule 1 is a solo developer. He must never sleep.

Same as Balatro! or Stardew Valley. But having such a big success is like winning the lottery. A one in a million chance.

I would like to know how much time did Schedule took before putting it on Steam, because those other two games took quite some time time.

Players only see the success, but it usually takes years to get there.

This isn't a direct comparison, as it's a different type of game, but Kitori Academy has been in development since at least February of 2022 and is still not available to anyone other than those backers who paid for alpha access. Sadly, I did not notice this option when I backed it so I'm waiting on the beta...I really wish I'd seen the alpha option, I'm kicking myself...

They also have a small team and rather than releasing early, they've just kept the game super limited. You can wishlist it on Steam but that's it. And while that bothers some people, it also clearly bothers people when games come out earlier and aren't 100% finished. It's a lose-lose situation for small teams.