Devlog (Build 15) NPC and Farming (Patreon)

Yo everyone! It's the weekend, which means it's time to share some development news.

At long last, I finally got around to working on two features. I spent the entire week on them: NPCs and farming.

First, let's talk about NPCs.

I've changed a lot, and I still have even more planned.

Historically, NPCs were built in a very rushed way, basically whatever worked at the time. That's because I wasn't yet sure how I wanted to design them. As a result, the code ended up with a state machine that no longer reflected reality and an endless number of flags tangled together in the most ridiculous ways.

Well... I completely rebuilt everything.

What did that achieve?

First of all, NPCs now behave much more predictably. Navigation still has its quirks, but their overall behavior is much easier to understand, especially from a developer's perspective.

More importantly, this overhaul made it possible to add new features. I've already implemented several of them, and many more are on the way.

The list of commands you can give NPCs has been expanded. You can now ask them to go home, go to Lilrien's house, or follow the player.

NPCs also spend their free time in a much more realistic way. They can sit on benches, browse goods in shops, and go to sleep at night. The number of activities is still fairly small, but I plan to expand it significantly.

You can now dress NPCs however you like. Previously, their clothing wasn't treated as a proper ingame item. Now it is. Clothing has its own dedicated menu inside the interaction menu. You can still ask NPCs to take their clothes off like before, but now those clothes are actually placed into your inventory. You can also give them any clothing you want them to wear. Either way, the item is never lost - you can always take it back whenever you want.

Finally, NPCs now have an internal Horny meter. It determines how sexually frustrated they are. Sexual activities reduce this value, while it gradually increases over time. If it gets too high the NPC will have to deal with the problem on their own.

That's everything I managed to finish this week about NPCs.

Now I can finally talk about what's coming next.

At the moment, NPCs still can't interact with each other or have sex with one another. I simply didn't have enough time to implement it, but I consider it one of the highest priorities.

NPCs with a low relations level should also feel embarrassed by both their own nudity and Lilrien's.

I'd also like to visually represent how horny an NPC is. For example, they could blush.

And of course, I want to continue expanding the number of activities NPCs can perform. That one is simply a matter of time.

Now let's move on to farming.

First, shovels are no longer consumed when digging planting holes. Instead, digging now consumes all of your stamina. To balance this change, planting holes disappear automatically after you harvest the crop.

I've also significantly increased plant growth times and given every crop its own growth duration. On average, plants now take around 10 ingame hours to mature.

I've also added a large field next to Lilrien's house that you can use for farming. It's initially overgrown, and you'll need help from the Seed Trader to clear it before you can start planting.

I also have plenty of plans for this system.

First, I want to add fertilizers. At minimum, there will be two types: one that speeds up growth and another that increases crop yield.

After that, I'll need to properly balance the entire farming system so it feels rewarding.

I'd also like to add a watering system, possibly with some automation options. I'm still not sure whether that's actually a good idea, though, so let me know what you think.

And finally, I'd like to create unique sapling models for every type of plant.

One more thing...

I'm also working on a new creature.

But I'm not ready to reveal anything about it just yet.

One important note: whenever I say "I plan to add X," it doesn't mean I'm promising that feature for the next build.

You can find the complete list of changes in the full changelog below:

Main Changes:

Significantly refactored and improved the NPC code to make future expansion much easier

Added Follow Me button to the NPC interaction menu

Added a Back button to the NPC sex position selection menu

Added a separate menu for managing NPC clothing

NPCs can now be dressed however you like (the hat slot is still unavailable for now)

NPCs now save their clothing

NPCs can finally enter buildings. The issue was caused by excessive navigation recalculations

Increased the length of a full day

Added interactive objects that NPCs can use

NPCs now build up horny level over time. Once it becomes too high, they'll need to relieve themselves. NPCs with a low relationship level will be embarrassed if you're nearby, but as your relationship improves, they'll gradually become comfortable with your presence

Shovels no longer disappear after use. Instead, using them now consumes stamina

Increased plant growth times. Each plant now has its own unique growth duration

Added an additional farming plot. Seed Trader can clear it for you before it can be used

Plants continue growing while you're sleeping

Bug Fixes:

Plant growth timers are now saved correctly

Thank you all for your support and for playing the game. I really appreciate it.

Development continues!