Impressions after 6 hours of gameplay!

[Sena]

I want to start off by saying I LOVE the cozy vibes, the character designs are TOO CUTE, the sound design is awesome, and the premise is really promising.

I'd love to sink my teeth in more, but after 6 hours, there are some things in the gameplay that repeat themselves and kinda break the flow. Hopefully, this list won't come off as unfair feedback. As a game designer myself, I KNOW making games is hard, so I'm really gunning for constructive criticism with this. Cozy caravan is in early access, yes, and I hope they keep building more on the gameplay content than visuals.

For context, the game was played on the deck.

1. The inventory - it's great we have tabs to better view our items, but then let me select the items from the tabs themselves!
For example,
- I have so many vegetables that I don't feel like moving down to find the book,
- so I just switch to the key items tab,
- see that the book is the first item listed,
- press A to pick it up,
- only to be immediately returned to the "all items" tab and have a random item selected for me.
I tried everything, and there's no way to select an item from any other tab. What's the point of having them then?

2. Speaking of inventory, when I open it, it doesn't show items from the top of the list, but from the middle?

3. There has to be a better way of marking a selection other than the squiggly green frame, because it's BARELY visible. I know it's a stylistic choice, but from a functional standpoint, it's going to make navigation a nightmare for anyone who has slightly poorer eyesight. The smallest thing, like making the lines thicker, or just having the square behind the item a different color (instead of the line) would make a world of difference.

4. Please unfreeze my character after I've waved or talked to NPCS. We're required to wait until the heart popping animation is over, and then we can move. I don't think there's any real benefit to it, aside from the first few times? Makes the game feel buggy.

5. When we get a recipe as a reward, could you please also write what recipe it is in the pop-up window? We just get an image, and it's not always clear what it is. I have to go to the caravan (which is sometimes far away) and then manually look through the book.

6. Why are mailboxes interactable, if I'm going to get a "Can't look through other's mail" prompt every time? Unless you're planning some content around it.

7. For several in-game days, I've tried to photograph the bee, frog, and butterfly, and the game registered only the butterfly pic. The NPC said how they still needed the other photos, but after a few days, it cleared up on its own?

8. I liked the whole idea of snooping around for the oracle that tells you what items will be popular on the market day. Sadly, I've found her only twice in the first in-game week, and then never again. Not sure if she bugged out, or if I'm just bad at looking.

9. The hearts from the sales don't seem to bring me that much happiness? It looks like I earn around two-three coins max from daily stuff around the map, and the weekend sales barely fill up the meter halfway. Not sure, cause the paw logo loading screen obscures the meter just as the sale finishes.

10. The book quest: I keep having to bring the book from the same NPC (the beekeper) back to Yas.

11. Like one other player pointed out, Gilligan tells me Flossy is at the lodge, I go there, and Flossy is nowhere to be found. I come back the next day - still not there. A few in-game days later, he appears as a hitchhiker.
Please don't give us directions to an NPC's location if they're not there. If we ARE supposed to find them there, but days later, then maybe that can be communicated somehow?

12. While on the topic of hitchhikers: I've noticed that, when I enter an area just as the day ends, and there is an NPC there, I don't get to pick them up because we set up camp. They disappear from that place the next day. All fine and good, no issue here, but I'm curious, do they always despawn at night, or does this happen only if we enter the area as the night falls?

EDIT: 13. Forgot to mention, a bug happens where sometimes, while riding the caravan, Bubba's and other characters' names get mixed up in the dialogues. I think my interaction with an NPC right before entering the caravan has something to do with it.

I know this is long-winded, I'm sorry, but it's the tiny things that can break immersion because they're gameplay related. Just quality of life things.

[SnappishOrc]

Hi, apologies for the necro but I'm considering buying the game. Have these issues been fixed?

[Sena]

Originally posted by SnappishOrc:

Hi, apologies for the necro but I'm considering buying the game. Have these issues been fixed?

Oh man, haven't played the game since writing the comment, so I can't say!

Best guess would be to look at recent negative reviews. At least, that's what I do, when I need info if there are some bugs I couldn't get over.

[Emmerson]

Originally posted by SnappishOrc:

Hi, apologies for the necro but I'm considering buying the game. Have these issues been fixed?

No, for the most part, but these issues are not game breaking and I would recommend the game despite its flaws.

[Malus]

Apologies for the delayed response.
I believe a number of those notes have been resolved.

1/2. Inventory
- There are still some niggling issues with the UI we are aware of, but nothing critical.
- I believe selecting an item in another tab no longer switches you across the the item in the 'All Items' tab.
- I think the focus iussie where it jumps around the page may occur still, it's an issue with focus which is something we'll attack closer to our plish phase as wghile it is annoying, it's non critical.

3. Highlight Frame
- We have added a block behind the currently selected item to help with this. Again during polish we'll tweak a lot of these Quality of Life issues.


4. Waving no longer waits for the target to respond before you are given back control.

5. Recipe names have been added under the recipe, this whole UI element has been updated. (still some improvements I'd like to make to readabilty.)

6. Mailboxes being interactive was a fun little thing I thought we should add. The intention was to have a few more interactive items with funny quips but honestly, it is confusing as it implies they have a use.

7. Photographing the Frog, bee, and butterfly should work now.

8. The Fortune Teller has been updated quite a bit recently. As has the entuiire market flow.

9. Happiness balancing is on going, it's quite fluid as we add new mechanics, and get feedback.

10. The book quest should now ask you to visit different townsfolk to retrieve books.

11. Flossy should be somwhat improved. For some reason they are a stubborn bug. :P

12. I believe hitchhikers despawn each night, so setting up camp will trigger them to leave.

13. Player names being mixed is a weirdly reoccuring bug, we fix it, and then a few weeks later it reappears...I believe its currently ok. I think its whether we've offended the gaming gods or not. :)

[SnappishOrc]

Originally posted by Malus:

Apologies for the delayed response.
I believe a number of those notes have been resolved.

1/2. Inventory
- There are still some niggling issues with the UI we are ware of, but nothing critical.
- I believe selecting an item in another tab no longer switches you across the the item in the 'All Items' tab.
- I think the focus iussie where it jumps around the page may occur still, it's an issue with focus which is something we'll attack closer to our plish phase as wghile it is annoying, it's non critical.

3. Highlight Frame
- We have added a block behind the selected item to help with this. Again during polish we'll tweak a lot of these Quality of Life issues.


4. Waving no longer waits for the target to respond before you are given back control.

5. Recipe names have been added under the recipe, this whole UI element has been updated. (still some improvements I'd like to make to readabilty.)

6. Mailboxes being interactive was a fun little thing I thought we should add. The intention was to have a few more interactive items with funny quips but honestly, it is confusing as it implies they have a use.

7. Photographing the FDrog, bee, and butterfly should work now.

8. The Fortune Teller has been updated quite a bit recently. As has the entuiire market flow.

9. Happiness balancing is on going, it's quite fluid as we add new mechanics, and get feedback.

10. The book quest should now ask you to visit different townsfolk to retrieve books.

11. Flossy should be somwhat improved. For some reason they are a stubborn bug. :P

12. I believe hitchhikers despawn each night, so setting up camp will trigger them to leave.

13. Player names being mixed is a weirdly reoccuring bug, we fix it, and then a few weeks later it reappears...I believe its currently ok. I think its whether we've offended the gaming gods or not. :)

Ooooo, perfect! That alleviated most of my concern

[Sena]

Originally posted by Malus:

Apologies for the delayed response.
I believe a number of those notes have been resolved.

Thanks for the response! :)
Glad to hear the game is still being tweaked, cause it is a little gem <3