Homegrown Devlog: Larger Farms!
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- čas přidán 20. 03. 2023
- Devlog video about "Homegrown", a casual farming game I'm creating using my own engine. This week I'm implementing a feature that allows the player to buy more land and expand their farm.
Support the channel on Patreon and get access to the code for this game, the city-builder, and Equilinox:
/ thinmatrix
My previous game "Equilinox":
store.steampowered.com/app/85...
You can follow the progress of the game on my social media:
Twitter: / thinmatrix
Instagram: / thinmatrix
Facebook: / thinmatrix
Trello: trello.com/b/W3zkIJTM/farm
Email: thinmatrix@gmail.com
Background music by Jamal Green:
open.spotify.com/artist/50jTM...
Outro music by Dannek Studio:
/ dannekstudio
#devlog #Homegrown - Hry
It's looking so pretty!
One idea, I think placing poles at the end of a fence section would look good - I feel like they end a bit abrubtly
Thanks! And yes, I totally agree! Having specific fence post models for corners, ends and gates is something already on my to-do list :)
@ThinMatrix Also, I strongly feel the fence should consists or two horizontal planks as one plank would not be as stable.
@@ThinMatrix also think about adding more models of fences, and pick them quasi-randomly to make fences look a little bit less repeatable.
Also, I think that it would be nice if it took some time to build the new fence, so you have to wait some time before you get access to new land.
Looking good! I personally would prefer the whole buying part to have its own "mode" so that we're not constantly seeing a ton of signs around the farm 😓
It could be a good idea to have the signs pop up out of the ground only when you mouse over a plot that you don't own so as to not disturb the aesthetics of the farm
That's a great point!
These devlogs are really relaxing to watch, yet very entertaining :)
I imagine you may have already thought of this or perhaps someone has already suggested it, but it would be so cool is you added a cooking mechanic to your game. It seems the natural extension to the farming aspect to be able to prepare meals at the end of the day with the produce your garden is providing. In some ways, the game would emulate your devlogs! Love every one of these videos and get so excited when I see a new one has been uploaded. Keep up the incredible work!
Maybe as an expansion pack? Just worried about scope creep!
I think that a nice animation when buying land would give the player some candy crush satisfaction :)
I love the soft bevel on all the models, it makes the game look really cute! Maybe you could make the fences drop down one by one when you buy a new plot like the roads in the city-builder game.
Thanks! And yeah, I plan to add an animation like that to the fences soon :)
Maybe it would be better (and easier to implement than merging low-land plots with others) to make price of plot proportional to the amount of land there is (i.e. small plots by the water would be much cheaper and easy to purchase for aesthetic reasons.
isn't waterfront property expensive though?
For sure, that would definitely also be an option. But even then, I still thought that having these occasional really tiny (2 or 3 tiles) plots was a bit weird. I'm probably not going to implement the merging until the next time I revisit this feature anyway though, so I'll be doing it the way you mentioned in the meantime.
I think the proportional cost would be a better solution than the merging, if it's only a few blocks the cost will be just a couple percent of the normal full-sized price, so if it ever comes to a land piece like that the player will immediately be able to afford it anyway
I came to the comments to make the same suggestion. I also think a combination of the two strategies makes the most sense: tiny plots are combined with the big ones (with a cost increase) and something as big as a half plot should be half price.
@@ThinMatrix I was thinking along the line of "price = farmableTiles * costPerTile" and then just automatically giving the player the plot of land "if price
It would look nice if when you purchase land your current fence would break off in sections floating up and disappearing then appear where the new edge is and plant themselves down into the ground. If it did this in a wave it would look great.
That does sound good!
Your devlogs are always a huge pleasure to watch!
Everything this guy does is ART. Cooking, developing, modelling, even his life is perfect. Amazing!
I genuinely love seeing these devlogs. It's so cool to see your vision come to life.
This looks great! Adding fish, sea weed and/or mussel farms to the game could be a motivating factor for players to purchase land towards the sea.
This is awesome ! A small improvement to the "plot" system would be to price the land according to the amount of blocks you gain (e.g. if a plot is limited/cut off by the water, you don't have to pay, say, the same fixed price for a smaller amount of land)
And a multiplication of the value based on how many plots have you already bought
A video where all the comment threads agree!
But in the end it’s up to the dev of course :-)
Your content always have me in awe! It makes me feel like making my own game engine too 😅
Just need a few spare years to make one 😂😭
I work as a game programmer for a company as my day job. Watching your videos keep the dream of going full indie alive. Thank you!
Always a pleasure to watch your devlogs! Love to see the progress conveyed in such a relaxing format!
As you have separate fence posts already, it'd be really nice if they popped out of the ground in order from the nearest to the existing land, out to the furthest fence posts, so it creates a bit of a 'wave' around the plot once you purchase it :)
It would also make sense to include some weeds or other objects that need clearing away, and clearing them after purchase would grant you a little bit of money back, or potentially new seeds/extra compost. Could even find some tools hidden in overgrown grass or something!
Yeah, I was thinking something like this, but I actually like the idea of the posts like driving themselves into the ground.
Also, some little tufts of grass around the base of the fence posts, since it's hard to mow there.
I like the idea with the fence post wave, I think that would look pretty nice. I was actually planning something similar to the weed suggestion: the trees in the plots that you buy will be able to be cut down and then you can sell the logs, and I was also thinking of having rocks that you'd have to clear away. Smaller shrubs could also work too. And finding free tools also sounds quite fun!
@@ThinMatrix Regarding the trees, will the player be able to grow their own forest given enough time and space?
That fence system is very clever! So much nicer than having a menu or something like that.
I don't know how you do it, but all of your Homegrown devlogs are incredibly relaxing to watch. I particularly enjoy the bits of real-life urban farming, cooking and walks that you sprinkle in every now and then, but the game development is nice too :)
It's a privilege to get to follow the development process. I'm looking forward to play the game!
I truly love your work and I am always excited like a kid when I see your upload. A few questions and/or suggestions popped up in my head, but you addressed them right before ending the video. 😅 Great, and very inspiring work! Everytime after watching your videos I can't help myself to sit down and code something - maybe not as complex, as a 3D game, but usually something that will make my life or work easier. 😄 Best regards from Poland!
Beautiful work! Love seeing the development this game has gone through. Can't wait to see the final project, or even a demo build! Keep up the great work! Thank you!
For the subtle animations, I think for the fence posts, since you have them as individual posts you could have them spawn slightly above the ground and then have them fall into the ground at staggered times so that it looks like it's building itself from the current border out to the new border
I initially thought the water was snow. It lead me thinking I can expand the farm as large as my hardware can handle. It'd be cool to have different biome that affects the farm so a player would need to expand strategically in late game.
for the fence animation, You could make the fence pieces appear in front of the current one and a bit in the air and use a bezier curve to make it almost "fall" to the ground, combine this with a fast succession of every fence piece should result in a pretty satisfying animation
I agree, that would be very satisfying!
It'd be really cool if there was customization on the fences, like maybe you buy different types of fences.
Actually you could add customization for the house too, like different colors and stuff. You could even have a vendor specifically just for customization.
1st of all, I'm loving the devlogs! ❤
2nd, another edge case for the fences would be if the player buys 8 plots of land in a 3x3 square without buying the middle plot. I don't know if it's something you have considered or not, but great work!
Fantastic devlog as always! Your videos are always a treat to watch.
if you ever have some time in the future after the release of this game I would love to see a video covering the methodology and the considerations you made in both choosing to make an engine, and the thought proccess that went into it. Not a lot of indies roll their own engine and i think its an interesting topic as it is often even discouraged in the indie community. Thank you again for uploading
Love the plot buying and the fences rework. Game is looking really great.
Would love some shellfish farming added! For those semi-land/water plots. The fence could turn into like buoy nets in the water and you could grow scallops or oysters as well! Would add another atmospheric layer to the gameplay, and incentivize the player to expand plots if they want to go the more sea route.
It is turning out pretty damn well. I want to make something calm like this, in the future. Don't stop posting!!!
Just wanted to let you know that you are super inspiring. Thank you for giving me the motivation to work on my projects.
For the animation of the fence you could also try out letting it fall in place piece by piece, kind of like a wave, where pieces near the existing plots start of and the animation ends with the fencpieces farthest away. I think this makes more sence than having it come up out of the earth, since in real life you also have to place /hammer the poles in first. Keep up the great videos, love your content.
For the small/half sized land chunks at the water's edge, you could include with the inland chunk and charge double (or just more) for "waterfront property". That way it is still a substantial amount of land for the price and feels more special
I love your devlogs, it's so amazing to see the progress on such a beautiful looking game :)
Great video! I really enjoy your programming, designing and editing style :)
Idea: you could make the cost of the land proportional to the actual amount of land the player is buying. That way if the player buys a plot of land with lots of water, he would pay less.
great video as always! it is nice to see the behind the scenes thoughts of what goes on developing a feature!
Please upload more videos continuously, I can't go a month without watching one
Your setup is just so awesome
Im really enjoying these Devlogs! Keep it up
Watching your videos creating this game makes me want to play it.
such good vibes. great art style. Thanks for sharing! i may go back and watch from the beginning
I've been watching since the first Homegrown devlog, and am absolutely astonished by the progress you have made. One thing I might reccomend, since you mentioned adding little animations to fences and signs when interacting. I absolutely agree, but I feel you should take it a step further: for example, the plants could blow in the wind every once in awhile, maybe little bugs or animals could roam around, or maybe even you would have to stop, say rabbits, from eating your garden or something like that. I know that this is polish type stuff, and you're not quite there yet, but definitely something to keep in mind?
I always look forward to watching these devlogs. Such a relaxing format.
Please do a video on your engines architecture! I would love to see it specifically on a generic level how you handle your game loop render cycles etc
I think his engine has similarities with the one he developed on the channel (there's a playlist for it)
Amazing work as always !!!
Fantastic! It'll awesome to grow from a tiny farm to a huge one.
Love your devlogs, massive inspiration to continue coding and game development
I just found your channel and man you are amazing 😭😭. Loved your content💙. You are awesome.
For the rogue fences you should prolly add a land area check, If a tile has land that is greater than a threshold, only then it adds the fencing on it and posts too maybe. It also doesn't make sense to plant at the edge of the water so that issue is resolved too. (IDK there might be plants that are planted on edges lol).
Always a pleasure to watch! Three things you might want to consider adding, don't know if you have anything of that planned:
1) Harvesting plants at different stages of it's growth, like paprika or asparagus for instance
2) Maybe some basic "processing" of products, nothing big since the main purpose of the game, as i assume, isn't to be a factory game. I.e. apples - sell them or press them and sell that product as juice - or even one step further and make wine from apples or grapes. But doing that with the same processor (i.e. the press) beeing able to process the different fruits since, as i assumed, it's not a factory game
3) "Spoiling" of plants: they loose their product after X minutes/seconds after it has grown to its final stage, or even the whole plant dies or gets old and dies/takes longer to grow it's product back/gives less product after X-Y harvests/seasons. That ofc for planttypes like i.e. bushes or in the future even trees where the plant isn't gone after harvesting once like its the case for leek
Thanks for the suggestions! 2) and 3) are actually already on my ideas list, but I hadn't considered plants that can be harvested at different stages. That's an interesting idea!
As a gardener student, I can't wait to play this game myself!
As a fellow gardener, I like the tools etc, shovels, wheelbolarrow, etc. It's storage that's needed. Simple but fun, might be the way to Go. Shed with aoe bonus on digging when you drop in your outleveld shovels. Well for watering can etc. Or some other mechanic that works:)
Interesting idea, thanks!
This was very fun! I was about to comment about how it would be cool if the fences flew away/plopped down piece by piece, and then you mentioned it. Nice! This game is looking great 🎉
I look forward every time you post new videos. they are so relaxing, interesting and educational. Keep it up, your game makes a very nice development! Greetings from Bielefeld :D
Looking Good, love the progression since the beginning. Cheers
Thanks!
the music gets stuck in my brain every single time :D
Looks amazing dude. I have been looking for a chill farming game for a while. Make sure there is good progression system
Very entertaining and inspiring video as always, thx for the good quality videos :)
Great video to brighten up my day
This game looks so good so far!
I would love to see some videos on how you are building your own games engine as that is super fascinating.
That overhaul makes a big difference 👀
Awesome update 🤗 really enjoyed it!
For the fences I would use an animation where the single parts of the fence would fall down on the ground after another. It would look like it is being built and not like it just spawned.
I've been following this since the beginning and it's been amazing to see the progress you've made. I like that the fence stops at the water, BUT I think it'd be neat if the fence continued into the water (But maybe a different style of fence like you'd find in the ocean near the shore) and you could plant water-based plants like Kelp, Lilly pads, and various flowers!
thanks for making these!
Some ideas:
- don't have the buy signs visible all the times. Some comments suggested that they get a "buy" mode other that they show up when you hover over a plot that you can buy.
- Since this is a farming game I don't know if it suits but I thought about some passive farming with boats. Where you can set up fishers that have little boats that swim around and collect fish (in your waterplots) or something like this.
- Let the plots towards north be buyable but have 4 plots where the house currently is resevered. Now when someone buys atleast x plots in one direction (let's say at least 3 of the 5 next plots at the house in the eastern direction) the house "upgrades" itself and gets bigger but towards this direction (in this case east), when you buy in every direction you have a bigger house in the end.
I don't know if this is understandable but those are some things I thought off while watching this
Wow your office looks so cozy
I want moooooore this is so great i love watching your devlog keep the good work 😊
Looks amazing. I was thinking addding some defaults items by the water when you buy plots, like a dock or a small both or something around this idea
Looking forward to test this game! You are really good at making content. As for the boundaries, I would have just made the land cost less if you have less land to purchase.
Keep up the great work!
I think a nice animation for the fences would be to let the existing fences sink in the ground (+some particles) and the new fences pop out the ground with some bounce (maybe start from the existing edges and the next pieces with a bit delay).
Thank you for the nice relaxing video. An idea for the "small" water areas, calculate the price based on the amount of usable land.
you could make an "invisible" border on the place of the fences, so the player can put the fences anywhere if he wants to.
Another great update 😊
What I would love to see is instead of fences ending when water starts they should change to string of buoys, thus maybe also allowing for gardening of some water plants such as rice :)
took me a while to refind this channel I can't believe I didn't sub last time I was here! looking forward to future vids for now I will catch up to the other ones
I would never buy such a game, but I've seen him build it for ages that I'd probably want to try it. I guess this build log is a pretty useful marketing sales tool too.
5:33 literally an edge case! ^^
Looks great so far! One suggestion for the fence animation would be for all the individual posts to drop one after another like a wave. Would look very satisfying!
Homegrown ist really looking so so good!!
I'd like to throw an idea into the ring regarding the plots:
I really like the way plots are combined into groups in games like Software Inc. by Coredumping
They group 3-5 squares together into one buyable plot. This leads to fun shapes, because you have less control over how your plot develops.
It's turning out great!
Here's my morning calming video.
dude you are ridiculously talented....
Very pleasing for the eye. So calm, coherent and kinda soft. I'm watching your videos for a few years now, when equilinox was still in development. It's great to see the progress. As a programmer I would be interested in some video about the code itself, you are showing glimpses of it, but I bet you have a lot of knowledge about the project organization and game engines. Also - when are you starting a cooking channel? :D
Honey, wake up! wake up! Thin Matrix has a new video!
Amazing job!
What if there was specific plants that can only grow in the water? Could be a cool late game concept because the player could have to spend money to get to the water first. Water chestnuts or rice would fit this catagory.
Love the videos!
loving this series :D
Great work 🙂
Really nice graphics style :)
Liking the new graphics. Still looks like a "ThinMatrix" game. One thing you might consider adding is a cost for removing rocks and trees. These things have been the bane of farmers throughout history, and are not cheap to remove. You could even consider adjusting the cost of a plot up or down a little based on how many things need to be cleared.
Anyway, my 2c. 😁
instead of constant plot sizes, plots can have various sizes. i think this will encourage player to choose between functionality or aesthetic of their farm while playing and this will solve the tiny plot problem too.
I would love to play this game!
One idea would be, you could put a garage with a car or pick-up and it being the way for you to travel to the village instead of having a ui element in the top right corner.
Of course it is just an idea and I can also understand if you wanted to keep it there for accessibility purposes.
Great inspiration to all Java game devs out there!
This is my favourite cooking channel now lol
I really like the approach you are using. You create fairly simple representations of a model or UI element not spending endless hours fine tuning the design, but once you are on it the next time you improve them.
I think a great idea would be to have different types of land mixed in with each other and how much of what type in packs of price. Different types of someone able and disabled you from doing certain.
For example extra fertile land cost more. Land that is full rocks is cheaper. Or it might contain a rare endangered animal or plant that makes a land very cheap, but you need to take care of it or the forfeit.
You can also explore adding variance to terrain levels to the land you have. Many many farms don't exist on level ground.
You could have a large part of land that's haunted, and can't grow crops until you fulfill the ghost's last wish.
I hear "finished" a lot in this episode - looking forward to the launch!