Unity Caroline's Harvest Moon [Dev Thread]

[besimole]

Hello everyone. I haven't written anything for a long time, it's time to tell you how things are going.
To begin with, about the visuals: for the last couple of months, I drew several key frames for future animations.
Combat mechanics: I'll tell you a little bit about how I plan the fights to be. The fight consists of two phases - foreplay (teasing) and sex. In the first stage, Cara can fight with the harasser, and find a way to escape from his embrace, force the opponent to be satisfied by only the prelude, or quickly move everything to the second phase. In the second stage, Cara will just have to endure the sex or, on the contrary, try to stimulate her partner so that he comes sooner. Everything happens in real time, and the player's inaction will lead to defeat.
I made a prototype of the combat system, it worked and everything seemed to be fine, but it didn't suit me at all... The system was a bit illogical and not much fun. That's why I've rethought it and I'm going to redo the logic of the fights a little bit.

I'm continuing to work on the visual style of the combat system, refining the interface.


The plans for the future are to continue working on the combat system and the animations for it, as well as add all sorts of QoL improvements, like a quest log and other indicators.

 

[UnifoxStudio]

The picture look really nice ! I laughted for the threaten reference ( it is a reference right ?)

 

[besimole]

The picture look really nice ! I laughted for the threaten reference ( View attachment 3462333 it is a reference right ?)

Thank you very much! Indeed you noticed correctly c:
A lot of skills have references in their icons

 

[besimole]

Hey. I decided that I should remind you of my existence a little bit again, so here's a new progress report for you. Don't worry, the project is not finished, everything's in progress, I will not disappear without warning!

Have you ever made stupid mistakes? Me too. And so one of my stupid mistakes was that I decided to migrate the project to a new version of unity. It was a disaster, I practically had to reassemble the project from the ground up and I spent at least a week on all of it.

But fortunately there are also good things to tell. I've finished sketching out all the skills in the combat system... However... I don't like them at all. And most likely I will redo them, but it's definitely worth it to show something, so here's some frame. Oh and by the way, I've greatly redesigned the interface and, overall the way how the database in the combat system is structured. However, I don't like the fight logic at all and it will have to be redone again.

So far, I've put the combat aside and decided to work out a little bit on the second most important (after the combat) system - Caroline's passives. I wrote the logic for earning them, the conditions, and sketched the interface. There will be a lot hinged on the passive skills.


Further plans. They're not very complicated. I really want to post a playable build already. Even if there are no animations, finished graphics, with some temporary sounds and the duration of the demo version will be 15 minutes at best, but I would like to let people touch the game. All I have to do is finish working with the passive skills, refine the combat system a bit, add some sound, make another mechanic (I won't tell you what yet) and then just set up everything: dialogues, skills, passives.

I hope to finish the concept demo before September this year.
Don't forget to look at the banner! I spent a lot of effort to draw it с:

 

[besimole]

Greetings. Have you probably already forgotten about me and decided that I quit the project? But this is not the case. Of course, I didn't have time to finish the demo by the time I planned... But I would have made it if it hadn't been for my "perfectionism" that convinced me to rework the WHOLE game in a new way. Everything worked in the old version, but I didn't like how it worked... Over the years that I have been doing this project, I have learned a lot of new things and understand that many things can be redone and done much better than was done before. And that's exactly what I did... I started to redo all the mechanics of the game to make them look closer to what I originally intended. For example, NPCs now don't just say all sorts of phrases, they also take into account the location, the popularity of the heroine, and all sorts of other parameters. Due to my desire to rework everything, I do not know when I will finish the demo. But don't worry, I won't give up the project, I really want to finish the demo and let the players watch it. Thank you for your attention, until the next report!

 

[besimole]

Hey-hey-hey... I decided that I should remind you about myself. My project is still in development. Very slowly, but the development is still ongoing. Nothing new has been added there in the last six months, but I have redone a lot of things that were working poorly before. I am still confident that I will finish the main basic mechanics this year and release a demo version of the game. Unfortunately, its duration will be no more than 10 minutes. But after the demo version, I will be able to focus only on the content of the game, and not on the development of game mechanics.
At the same time, I am trying to slightly improve the graphic component of the game, for example, instead of slides in the introduction, I decided to make an animated one.
I will not make any promises about the deadlines, and I am really sorry that the development has dragged on for so long. But I will try to finish the demo as soon as possible!

 

[Kutushmurf]

Hi! Game Dev here. Take your time, slowly but surely if you need.
I think your project looks intresting! So keep up the good work

 

[besimole]

I decided that I should remind someone about myself a little bit and I'm in a hurry to do it.
The project is not dead and I'm still developing it. True, I only have time to work on it on weekends + I have a lot of health problems because of which I often go to the hospital... That's why the process is going extremely slowly. But I've done the largest part that I wanted to finish this year and then there are smaller modules left.
I can't give any deadlines for completion, but they are definitely this year
The current plan is to rework a few more mechanics, then fix a huge number of bugs.
After that, I'm going to start writing dialogues/phrases/passive skills. And in conclusion, I'll add some sound effects.

Thank you for your attention, have a nice day.
Moving towards the goal

 

[besimole]

Hello everyone. This is probably a pretty negative post, but I'll start with the positive.
First, I've finished reworking all the systems, all the content I wanted to make is completely playable, all critical errors have been fixed.
Now I just need to replace all the placeholders with ready-made materials.
To do this, I need to write dialogues, finish drawing some art, set up all sorts of systems, finish the effects. This is a large layer, but the most important... In short, I just need to make content for the game with:
But still, the most difficult part is behind and finished, only the creative part remains.
And now I'll move on to the bad... I'm in a deep and very protracted depression, it's hard to even understand its causes. But because of this, I'm practically incapacitated. It's very difficult to do a project in this state and it's been going on for over a month. I can't get out of this depressed state. I decided that it's worth suspending all activities in life for now, including work on the project. So, I'm going to take a break from the project for a while, hopefully not for long.

When I come back, I'm going to do all the content, I want to add sound, there are still quite a few problems in the mobile version of the game. I want to believe that I'll finish what I planned this year. I apologize.

 

[AlterxArt]

Hello everyone. This is probably a pretty negative post, but I'll start with the positive.
First, I've finished reworking all the systems, all the content I wanted to make is completely playable, all critical errors have been fixed.
Now I just need to replace all the placeholders with ready-made materials.
To do this, I need to write dialogues, finish drawing some art, set up all sorts of systems, finish the effects. This is a large layer, but the most important... In short, I just need to make content for the game with:
But still, the most difficult part is behind and finished, only the creative part remains.
And now I'll move on to the bad... I'm in a deep and very protracted depression, it's hard to even understand its causes. But because of this, I'm practically incapacitated. It's very difficult to do a project in this state and it's been going on for over a month. I can't get out of this depressed state. I decided that it's worth suspending all activities in life for now, including work on the project. So, I'm going to take a break from the project for a while, hopefully not for long.

When I come back, I'm going to do all the content, I want to add sound, there are still quite a few problems in the mobile version of the game. I want to believe that I'll finish what I planned this year. I apologize.

View attachment 5063513

Health always comes first, I'm sure this project is good enough that you can allow yourself to relax a little, everything will still be here when you come back.
Be safe out there!

 

[besimole]

I'm back with good news!
About a month ago I actively started working on the project further! Now my task is to finish writing dialogues, select soundtracks and of course fix all the bugs of which there are a lot.

And... I can already announce the window when I will release the demo! I remind you that there is actually no content in the demo, this was just preparatory work before filling the game with content!

The demo version will be released in the period from September 20-28!

 

[piercedbae]

It's rare that I'm excited about a game as much as I am about this. Love your art style, love the gameplay concepts, and I'm so excited to see it come to fruition. Best of luck throughout development, and be sure not to neglect your health ♥ Excited as we may be, we can wait, so don't go burning yourself out, least of all at the behest of horni online folks.

 

[besimole]

The demo version is now available!

Check this!
Thank you for your support. I'll take a short break now and then continue working on the new version. In the next post, I'll talk about my plans for version 0.1. Until then, enjoy the game and stay tuned!


https://f95zone.to/threads/carolines-harvest-moon-v0-038-besimole.271722/

 

[rrible]

The game is turning out really great! There aren’t many projects that focus purely on the tavern management aspect, so this one really stands out.
The art is awesome — you can clearly see the passion and effort the developer puts into every frame.
As for feedback, I’d tweak the lust bar mechanic for the tavern visitors a bit. It would be much more convenient if it filled up when you’re within their line of sight instead of having to stand right next to them. When the tavern gets crowded, it can be a bit tricky to manage.
Other than that — top tier! I’m really looking forward to the next updates (though yeah, the wait feels long sometimes ).

 

[besimole]

First, I'd like to thank everyone again for their support, as well as for the extremely valuable feedback!

During my downtime, I roughly outlined a plan for the upcoming release, and as I promised earlier, I'm going to share it with you, but first, I'll tell you about the work I've done!

I completely redesigned the main menu, adding various features and improvements, and also implemented an important feature: deleting saves directly from the game.
After that, I worked on reworking the in-game overlay and character information display.
The most important thing was adding pop-up tooltips.



And also Caroline's portrait depending on her current SlutLv level. It took me quite a while to draw each image of Caroline, but overall, I'm happy with how she looks at different stages of her depravity.



Also, one of the most important details was the rework of passive skills. In the previous version of the game, they didn't really do anything; I simply checked that they were displayed and that was it. Now, passives will truly impact gameplay, and you'll also know what each passive does:



Next, I've already created mockups for the tavern upgrades, but I've decided to put them aside for now to move on to what I consider most important: refining the combat system.


I've already created the layout for the new combat system interface and have also begun working on implementing the combat system logic I originally planned. In the reworked combat system, I plan to animate all skills and add several new skills I originally planned, including "Seduction" skills for Caroline.

By the end of the year, I expect to finish refining the first stage of combat and then move on to developing the second stage of combat, tavern customization, and new features like the quest log and mail.

I'm not sure yet whether I should release the new version immediately after reworking the first stage of combat, or whether it's better to finish the second stage and advance the storyline a bit before releasing the update. I'll definitely decide by the end of the year.

Thank you all for your attention, please share your opinions—they're very valuable to me!

 

[Albareto]

Thanks again for making these dev logs; I love to follow along with the development process. I like the addition of tooltips, as before I was guessing as to what exactly the first symbol (reputation) was referring to when playing for the first time. Luckily, it seemed I guessed correct in what it was and how it worked after playing for a bit, but the clarification will really help going forward. Same with the passive descriptions.

Speaking of reputation, I'm not sure exactly how it's calculated, but from what I gather it seems like serving customers on time appears to be the biggest factor. It's difficult to actually lose reputation unless you have a crazy high popularity (700-800+) of which Kurt can't make the food fast enough for you not to be late serving lol. I'm well aware the demo wasn't meant to go on that long, as I'm sure that future updates will have hiring employees to help with that, but I was having too much fun playing haha. Anyways, if reputation controls whether unsavory customers come, then would the groping and engaging in combat affect it too? Because currently, it feels like playing efficiently makes it less likely for lewd customers to come even if they're harassing Caroline often.

The additions and changes to the UI look great and the art is amazing as usual. I'm really looking forward to seeing the combat being refined and fully animated! Personally, I think releasing an update after finishing the first stage of combat would be a good idea as you can gather player feedback and make any changes/fixes before starting the second stage or moving on to different mechanics.

I wish you luck in creating the new update! As a beginner artist, I can't imagine the amount of work that you put into creating all those hand-drawn animations!

(I didn't know where to write this, but I also wanted to mention that loading a save resets all the food and drink prices back to their default values.)

 

[besimole]

Thanks again for making these dev logs; I love to follow along with the development process. I like the addition of tooltips, as before I was guessing as to what exactly the first symbol (reputation) was referring to when playing for the first time. Luckily, it seemed I guessed correct in what it was and how it worked after playing for a bit, but the clarification will really help going forward. Same with the passive descriptions.

Speaking of reputation, I'm not sure exactly how it's calculated, but from what I gather it seems like serving customers on time appears to be the biggest factor. It's difficult to actually lose reputation unless you have a crazy high popularity (700-800+) of which Kurt can't make the food fast enough for you not to be late serving lol. I'm well aware the demo wasn't meant to go on that long, as I'm sure that future updates will have hiring employees to help with that, but I was having too much fun playing haha. Anyways, if reputation controls whether unsavory customers come, then would the groping and engaging in combat affect it too? Because currently, it feels like playing efficiently makes it less likely for lewd customers to come even if they're harassing Caroline often.

The additions and changes to the UI look great and the art is amazing as usual. I'm really looking forward to seeing the combat being refined and fully animated! Personally, I think releasing an update after finishing the first stage of combat would be a good idea as you can gather player feedback and make any changes/fixes before starting the second stage or moving on to different mechanics.

I wish you luck in creating the new update! As a beginner artist, I can't imagine the amount of work that you put into creating all those hand-drawn animations!

(I didn't know where to write this, but I also wanted to mention that loading a save resets all the food and drink prices back to their default values.)

You're right in many ways. I'm trying to balance the game so that the late game doesn't become chaotic, but that's why things don't go as smoothly as I'd like in the early stages.

I've already figured out a way to get around the growing reputation issue. After sex, your reputation will drop significantly more.
if you avoid combat, your reputation will grow.

 

[d0wnbadc00mer]

Great job on Caroline's portraits man.
It's good to see that you've got a clear idea of how you want to progress with the game and that you've got some new features planned too.
I also think that an update after the first stage would be better. It's up to you ultimately, but I definitely urge you to make more devlogs like this, a progress report every month would be great for example.

 

[RaimonG]

Решил заглянуть сюда что бы быть в курсе прогресса, все выглядит очень интересно.
Продолжай в том же духе, и желаю тебе по больше сил и здоровья, надеюсь сейчас с этим все по лучше.

 

[Mister Wake]

I wish I could fall asleep, wake up a year or two from now and experience this game in the future.
Its unfair to be human sometimes. Brilliance and creativity takes time, I know that. Yet my animal ape brain keeps me checking back this website to see if anything new was made when I damned well know it is selfish.

I just love this project.