Inspired by classics like Harvest Moon with deep social sim aspects of a Persona game. Sunnyside is the next chapter in farming sims.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
September Update
over 3 years ago
– Fri, Oct 01, 2021 at 12:47:52 AM
Hello to all our SunnySide friends across the world!
Well, another month, another update!
This month was fraught with a lot more hurdles than we were expecting: a couple illnesses, a surprise national election, finishing up a Bachelor's Degree, and the surprising difficulty of shipping computer parts to Ireland...
More than anything this month, we were forced to face some really hard decisions: do we power through and work our butts off, or do we extend the timeline and focus on self care. With the continued support from you all, our amazing community, we were confident that we could slow down and focus on taking care of everyone's well-being. Knowing y'all have our backs and care about us really goes a long way towards relieving stress when wrenches keep getting thrown in our proverbial tires.
With all that said, let's get on to some updates!
The Influencer Alpha
We know it's the one thing everyone really wants to know about, so let's get it out of the way.
The alpha (and the whole timeline, really) have had to be pushed back a bit for a whole number of reasons, most of which revolve around the fact that we're still learning our workflow as a studio. I could make lots of excuses, but what it boils down to is just understanding how long it takes to implement various features, specifically mechanics and physical assets. Because we want to make a lot of our own assets and not rely too heavily on assets purchased from asset stores, this means that adding something as simple as a chair to the game takes at least 5 different people working on it. It's a bit crazy, tbh, how complicated everything can get, and it all ends up boiling down to the same thing: making video games is hard, y'all. We know it's a common thing to hear in game development, but we don't want it to be an excuse. We're still plugging away, changes are still happening, just at a slower pace than we had anticipated.
All of the influencers who expressed interest in being involved with the alpha have been contacted, and another email is going out to them today or tomorrow about the timeline and how we would like to proceed. There has been a lot of anticipation about it, and we are trying really hard to control "the hype" and create expectations that are actually attainable. So, worry not, it's still happening, just a little more "behind the scenes" right now. The most we can say at the moment is that it's coming soon, and keep your eyes peeled for announcements from your favorite influencers.
One of the biggest things we were waiting for in order to implement the Influencer Alpha was getting SunnySide on Steam. this was necessary as the easiest means of sending out game codes to all the Influencers, as well as streamlining the QA process for us. We're happy to say that we've finally finished all the approvals for Steam, and right now are just waiting on a couple more assets before we hit that "Go Live" button.
Publishers
We're still working on this. Talks are happening and there has been progress, but unfortunately we can't say anything more than that just yet.
Music
Matt has been focusing on mastering the current tracks recently so that they are clean and crisp for the Alpha. This means no new music just yet, but lots of improvements to the old ones.
Gameplay Mechanics and World Building
The Map
We have been going really hard on the new map, doing our best to capture the Japanese countryside feels. Lots of research is happening on a daily basis, and we're constantly getting closer. We don't want to give away too much just yet, so pictures will be a bit limited.
Fair warning, some of these images were taken in the engine on the highest settings with ray tracing and all that jazz. Some were taken with the camera in game with highest settings, and the last one is a simple screen capture - (you can tell because you can see the HUD). We want to give realistic expectations about the graphics of the game, while still showing how incredibly beautiful it can be.
Shop Interiors
4 Shop have now been added to the map: Sako's, Gabe's, Hiro's, and Kazuki's. Their interiors have all been modeled as well, and are in the process of being textured and placed.
Ren's work had to be put on pause while he dealt with things at his day job, but Lily has still been putting out animal art work. We don't want to show off all of it, but here are some sneaks:
Merino Sheep
Pink Pig
Pause Menu
Seems like a really simple and obvious thing for a game to need, but up to this point, SunnySide didn't have much of a menu system. But that's all changed now!
The old map we were on had a mini map, but the way it worked was bogging down the entire system and just absolutely tanking performance. It was a plugin that we had purchased, but Rainy realized that he could do better on his own. It took a ton more time than was expected, but man was it worth it.
Rainy's put a lot of effort into updating the cooking UI, and it's finally at a place we're happy with. The UI for the grill have been drastically upgraded, we've added a new cooking device - a Cutting Board - and implemented a CookBook app on the phone.
We had a new addition to the programming team last month, which took a huge weight off Rainy's shoulders as the only programmer on our team. His first task was tackling the animal AI in SunnySide, helping them figure out where to go and when, as well as implementing some more complex petting mechanics. They're so stinking cute.
While Kai was busy figuring out how to keep animals from spinning around like a record, Rainy was implementing a new "To-Do List" app mechanic. This is a mechanic that will allow players to pin recipes and building blueprints to their phone (with an option for them to also appear on your HUD) that will make resource collection and shopping a million times easier.
Now that Allan has moved on from the Character Creator (for now at least) he's been working on new character models as well as updating some of the old ones. Last month Gabe got an update, and this month it's Kat!
Additionally, Models have now been made for Kazuki, Lucy, and very soon: Sebastian
New Characters
Even more exciting, generally we reserve character announcements for our live streams, but we've postponed livestreams for that last two months in favor of focusing on development. We didn't want to force everyone to wait, so we've been announcing new character designs in our Discord Server all month. If you're not in there, yet... it's really the best place to get up to the minute updates on SunnySide Development.
Allen Ritz
The last of out citizen characters, Allen Ritz is a former competitive runner who can often be found hiking and running around SunnySide and the surrounding countryside. He and Josh are great friends, he loves a good burger, is American, and romanceable.
Anahita Watanabe
This is Anahita. She is the daughter of Shadi, a Persian woman who sought refuge in Japan during a time of political upheaval in her home country; and Sota, SunnySide's very dedicated gardener. Anahita is highly intelligent and works as a research assistant at the local university's research station in SunnySide. She love puzzles, is very honest, hates small talk, and always seems to forget where she left her labcoat. Yes, she is romanceable.
Parsa Watanabe
Say hello to Parsa! He is Anahita's younger brother and works at his parents' garden center. Parsa is a talented martial artist who is training hard and saving up to teach his unique fighting style in his own martial arts dojo some day. He knows he's not nearly ready to be a sensei yet, so he's in no rush. He's just taking it one day at a time until he reaches his goals. He's super friendly, loves dance music, and is romanceable.
Stephanie Obeng
This is Stephanie! She is Fuyukaze's younger sister, a former soccer (American Football/Futbol) player, and is pursuing a business degree at the local university. She recently picked up knife throwing as a hobby, loves going on long runs through the park, and absolutely loves a good challenge. She is also romanceable.
Mayumi Okada
Say hello to Mayumi! She is the town's lead physician, has lived in SunnySide for about 6 of her 38 years and likes to do yoga in the park every morning. She is a strong willed woman, likes chocolate, practical jokes, has a cat named Hepburn who lives at the clinic. She is also romanceable.
Hanako Ishikawa
This is Hanako, the youngest granddaughter of Kazuki and Chiyo. She is a medical student working at Mayumi's clinic, grew up in the city, and doesn't quite like living in SunnySide as much as the rest of the residents. She's easily bored, likes trying new things, and generally has her nose buried in her cell phone. Screenname: Hanakoala. She is romanceable.
Blake Ortiz
Blake actually hasn't been announced on Discord yet, so y'all are the first to hear about her. Her concept isn't quite finished yet, but here's a taste.
She's the same age as Hanako, and the two have been friends ever since Hanako stayed with Blake on a study abroad trip when they were both in high school. A California native, Blake moved to Japan a few years ago to chase a medical degree, and is now serving out her residency with Hanako under Mayumi's watchful eye. Blake is kind and soft spoken, loves Mexican Soap Operas, growing succulents, and Geo-caching in her spare time. Blake is also romanceable.
Thank You!
That's it for this month! Continue keeping an eye on your favorite content creators for updates about the Influencer Alpha, and also stay updated on our Twitter and Discord as we may be doing a live stream to launch the Influencer Alpha in a week or two.
Thank you so much to everyone for your continued support. It's really easy to get bogged down by the stress of putting out an excellent product on time, and knowing that everyone cares so much about our well being is so motivating and heart warming. We're constantly talking about how lucky we are to have such an incredible and supportive community, and we're so excited to get this game in your hands!
And as always, a big huge sunny thank you to everyone who has supported us so far, and a bunch of hugs and kisses (with your permission, of course) for those who continue to do so. If not for y'all, there is no way we would have made it over all the hurdles this month, and it's because of all of you that we continue to be inspired by this project, and we are really counting on you all moving forward! Your impressions, feedback, perspectives, and ideas mean the world to us, so please don't hesitate to comment and let us know what you think!
And don't forget to join the Discord, if you haven't already. The application is incredibly simple to learn, friendly to PC and mobile, and full of nearly 3,000 people all chatting and loving on SunnySide! Almost 3000! We tend to post sneak peeks over there, stream live development, run contests, and even ask for suggestions from the community. If you join, just remember to message me (FemChefSR1) with your backer # so I can give you your Backer Tier Role.
That's it from me! Thank you again, and please don't hesitate to comment below! We love interacting with you all! <3
Cheers!
-Shay-
August Update
over 3 years ago
– Thu, Aug 19, 2021 at 02:50:14 AM
Hello to all our SunnySide friends across the world!
We decided this month that we won't be having a live stream, choosing instead to allow the influencers to show off what has been added to SunnySide over the last months.
In case y'all missed the updates I posted to the community section of our YouTube or the Discord, we have had some delays due to the slow speed of setting up the legal end of running a business, and it's very important to us that our Steam Page be set up before we release what we are now calling our "Influencer Alpha" (previously known as the Streamer Demo). Because the Steam Page relies on a lot of this legal business stuff, we were forced to postpone the release of the Influencer Alpha to September. This means, however, that it may end up having more content, which is always better for everyone!
Continuing with the "business stuff" we've once again had a couple more additions to the team! We have added a new artist who will be helping us with Key Art that will be used in advertising SunnySide, as well as another generalist who will be focusing on helping Rainy with the programming end of things (some much needed assistance). Once again, here is an updated list of the team so far:
Producer/ Narrative Director: Sydney Stockdale (Fem/Shay)
Composer: Matt Thompson
Systems Designer/ Lead Writer: Kitty Hart
Lead Artist: Kaori Mitsuse
Character Modeler: Allan Mitsuse
Game Generalist- Models/Animation: Ken Heslip
Game Generalist- Models/Textures: René Simard (Ren)
Game Generalist- Programming/ Level Design: Kiril Kostadinov (Kai)
Key Artist: Elizabeth Steele (Liz)
Animal Concept Artist: Emily Eiswert (Lily)
Volunteer Linguist: Dante
Volunteer Modeler: Cherry
Nextly, we finally have a new website! D3stiny has been hard at work helping us design something new, so go check it out and marvel at his interwebs genius. ^_^ All of the current team are also now reflected on the website! <3 Check it all out a RainyGames.co.uk
We also had an art contest over on Discord during the month of July, and the winners were just announced a few days ago. The winning pieces of art will be featured around SunnySide, so pop into the Discord if you want to know what art to look out for in the future. A big congratulations to all our winners, and specially to JenTonic, a talented artist and tattoo artist who took first place. If you loved her art as much of the rest of the SunnySide community did, you can find her on her website: JenTonic.de
Publishers
This process is turning out to be long and tedious. We don't have any good news yet, but we are still in talks with some folks, just in case anyone has been worrying about this.
Music
Matt has been working on our battle tracks, and while we can't share anything on them yet, we just wanted to let you know that progress is still being made, and they are killer.
Gameplay Mechanics and World Building
A(nother) New Map
A few updates ago, we showed off a new map we had made for the demo that would be sent to Publishers. Originally, that was the sole intention of the map - a demo map - , but we got a little excited about it and thought we wanted to use if for the full game. After some time using it and showing it to everyone, we realized that the map we created was simply too large for the kind of game we wanted to write, and didn't quite fit with the Japanese landscape where the game's setting would take place. So, we reevaluated, did a ton more research, created some new heightmaps, and I tried my hand at Unreal's landscape sculpting tools. Honestly, we're pretty happy with the results.
From this point we just need to add the buildings back and add some roads, which shouldn't take too long. But this is the final map remake, we promise.
Shop Interiors
For anyone who watched DoctorDDub's video, you may have noticed some complaints about the shops being empty, so I just want to take a moment to reassure everyone that this is in no way permanent. As lovers of detail, we do have big plans for all the shop interiors... it's just going to take some time.
Here is a sneak peek at some progress though:
Credit to Ken for doing an incredible job.
Animals
Ren has currently moved to modeling food (more on that in a minute), but Lily has still be pumping out animal design concepts. Here are some fun ones that are waiting in the pipeline to be modeled:
Silkie Chicken
Brown Alpaca
There are lots others, but we don't want to go giving everything away ;)
Food
So much food. Ren, Ken, and Rainy have put in a lot of time fleshing out the cooking system, including modeling lots of finished food items, programming a stamina and hunger system, and modeling the next cooking station: the cutting board!
Animations
We're also really lucky to have an animator on the team now, and we have absolutely been putting him to work! Nothing has been added to engine yet, but here are some of what Ken's been creating:
Our biggest accomplishment over the last month has been an overhaul of the character model. It's been really important to us that the Character Creator be a fun experience for people of all shapes, colors, identities, and sizes, so we will continue adding more and more to it until we are satisfied. Additions so far are:
A body type slider that ranges from hyper feminine to hyper masculine and everything in between
A larger variety of short, long, and afro hair styles
A selection of skin tones (more will be added)
Face shape, eyebrow shape, eye shape and color, nose size, and mouth size options
As stated, still a ways to go, but it's coming along quite nicely.
Gabriel's Model
As Allan has continued making models, and as we've been able to pay him more for his time, he's only getting better and better. This means, however, that some of the original models made for the SunnySide project aren't quite as good as the newer ones. Because of this, we decided to have Allan go back and make some updates to Gabe. His old model is on the right below, and the new model is on the left:
New Characters
Even better than a new Gabe model is new character concepts! Kaori has been busy helping with the new character creator (designing hair and clothes) so we only have three more characters to share, but they're all Citizens from our KickStarter Campaign!
Kyle Sylvester
First up is Kyle. He's the town mechanic and also runs the town's harbor. He's a bit of a loner with a troubled past, and while he means well... he doesn't always quite make the best decisions. Kyle is romanceable ^_^.
Josh Newcomb
Josh was submitted by a Citizen tier backer who wanted to memorialize a friend of hers who is sadly no longer with us, so creating Josh was a bit of an emotional roller coaster for us all.
In game, Josh owns and operates SunnySide's bar. He's a gentle but free spirit who believes in experiencing everything life has to offer, and his warm smile and open heart make him an excellent bartender and friend. Josh is also a romance option, though he's a picky one.
Ryan Mezacoo
Lastly is Ryan, also known as Mez. He's an adjunct professor of photography at the University. He's been in SunnySide for a few years now, and is actually the one who inspired Lucy to pick up the skill, even gifted her very first camera. No one knows much about him, except that he seems to have a suspicious amount of money for a college professor. Ryan is Ace, and romanceable.
Thank You!
That's all for this month's update. Keep an eye on your favorite content creators in the next month or so for a look at the SunnySide Alpha, Influencer Edition. Once that is out, we will be putting our noses to the grind stone to get the beta out to KS backers ASAP. At our current rate, it is very possible, (and even likely) that things be delayed a bit more, but our whole community has been so supportive that we know you'll understand our motivation to put out a quality product, even if it means taking a little longer to do so. We couldn't do this without you all, so thank you for your continued patience and support.
On that note, a big huge sunny thank you to everyone who has supported us so far, and a bunch of hugs and kisses (with your permission, of course) for those who continue to do so. If not for you guys, there is no way we would have made it this far. It is because of all of you that we continue to be inspired by this project, and we are really counting on you all moving forward! Your impressions, feedback, perspectives, and ideas mean the world to us, so please don't hesitate to comment and let us know what you think!
And don't forget to join the Discord, if you haven't already. The application is incredibly simple to learn, friendly to PC and mobile, and full of over 1500 people all chatting and loving on SunnySide. We tend to post sneak peeks over there, stream live development, run contests, and even ask for suggestions from the community. If you join, just remember to message me (FemChefSR1) with your backer # so I can give you your Backer Tier Role.
That's it from me! Thank you again, and please don't hesitate to comment below! We love interacting with you all! <3
Cheers!
-Shay-
July Update
over 3 years ago
– Sat, Jul 24, 2021 at 01:40:29 AM
Hello to all our SunnySide friends across the world!
It has been an absolutely crazy couple of weeks, and we have some really exciting things to share with you all! But first, we just want to say thank you for sticking with us, believing in us, and continuing to motivate us as we push to create an incredible game for you all!
First thing to discuss: our Team! It's continuing to grow and grow, and we are so incredibly proud of everyone involved!
Producer/Narrative Director: Sydney Stockdale (Fem/Shay)
Composer: Matt Thompson
Systems Designer/ Lead Writer: Kitty Hart
Lead Artist: Kaori Mitsuse
Character Modeler: Allan Mitsuse
Modeling Generalist: Ken Hes
Game Generalist: René Simard
Animal Concept Artist: Lily
Volunteer Linguist: Dante
Volunteer Modeler: Cherry
We will be updating the website soon to reflect the changes!
Nextly, we need to take some time out to say a huge thank you to DoctorDDub for his incredible video that he put out about SunnySide. With over 130k views, it has really helped us get the word out there about the game, as well as help create some supplemental income while we are in talks with publishers. If you haven't checked it out yet, definitely do so. Toss him a like, a follow, and show him some love.
Devstream Highlights
We have had two devstreams on Twitch since the last update, #10 and #11. You can find their highlights below. In #10 we showcased the new demo, and in #11 we went over everything that had been added to the game since. Our Next livestream won't be for a little while, but if you're interested in catching it, definitely follow us on YouTube, Twitch, and Discord for the announcements. Links to all of those, if you don't have them, will be at the end of this update.
#10
#11
Music
Additionally, Matt has been super hard at work putting out new music for the game! We have a new summer theme, which has a music video below, as well as an accompanying Summer Night theme, and a whole host of "HangOut" Themes. You can find them all on SoundCloud now, as well!
Summer Days
Summer Nights
Downtime
Starlit Bridge
Gameplay Mechanics and World Building
Lore Building
It's a bit of a difficult thing to show off in an update, but we still wanted to let everyone know that our writers have been really hard at work behind the scenes outlining the stories and quests in SunnySide. We are making sure that absolutely everything that takes place is part of the story and has a reason, and we really hope that this creates a fun and immersive game for everyone.
SunnySeed
We hinted at this a bit in the last update, but now it's fully functioning part of the game that we want to point out. Unlike lots of other farm sim games where there is mysteriously a shop in town to sell seeds to you, the only farmer for miles, instead we wanted to touch on something that is very realistic to the modern home gardener/farmer: Online Seed Stores. Now when you need seeds, rather than going down to the local general store, you will be able to purchase seeds "online" through your in-game phone.
Speaking of buying things, we've started working hard to balance out the economy of the game. The first step in this process was deciding what we would be calling our in-game currency. We decided to call them cupules.
Cupules, as it turns out, are what botanists call the tops of acorns. Seemed fitting.
New Camera and Save System
Rainy has been hard at work implementing a new camera to the game. Making it work properly also meant cleaning up the save system, so now both are fully operational!
We are constantly adding more items to the build mode, with the most recent items being vertical item placements (Lamps on walls!) and storage solutions like cardboard and plastic boxes.
Additionally, we realized in the last update that we had grown so used to the presence of the drone in the game, that we completely forgot to share it with everyone! The drone is a large mechanic in the game, acting as a means to access build mode as well as another in-game camera (All the photos!). Later, we will be adding a lot more mechanics that we are sure everyone is going to love.
This is one of those things that has been in the works for quite awhile, and we are so incredibly thrilled to finally be able to share them with you. Our artist Lily and modeler Ren have been hard at work creating new custom animals to replace the "place holders" we have been using up until now. We are happy to say that all animals from here on out will be completely unique to the world of SunnySide!
SunnySide's Character Creator is the main focus of most of our team right now, as we want to be certain that it is going to be absolutely perfect. We are completely overhauling the character model and trying something that we aren't sure has been done before. Rather than having you, the player, choose from a preset feminine or masculine figure, you will instead start with a gender neutral model and slide a bar left towards feminine or right towards masculine. From this center point, the body will morph slowly from one gender to the next and everything in between, giving full control over the shape of your character's body.
In order to make this happen, our Character Modeler, Allan, has created three models; a feminine, a neutral, and a masculine. From there, the engine will do the work of morphing them.
This whole process is still under work, and all of the clothing is being remade to suit this new system. With this rework, all clothes will now fit all models. Yay!
There is still a ton more to be done on the back end, but the whole thing is coming together quite nicely, and we are excited to show it off in the Streamer Demo.
NPCs
In the last update, we teased a new character without talking about her. Additionally, 4 more character concepts have been drawn up!
Lucy Reed
Lucy is Gabe's (only) daughter. She is 19, autistic, an avid photographer, and loves nature and animals. She wasn't born in SunnySide, but has lived there for most of her life, and likes to spend her days wandering around town or the surrounding natural areas while taking photographs of whatever inspires her.
Sebastian Nakamura
Sebastian runs his mother's restaurant in town, and dreams of one day turning it into a cafe. He is 20 years old, loves poetry, and always has a notebook and pencil on hand in case inspiration hits. You can usually find him at the restaurant or milling about town and having conversations with the residents of SunnySide.
Natalie Takahashi
Natalie is the older of the two Takahashi sisters, and they couldn't be more different from each other. Where Katherine is fun and outgoing, Natalie is more reserved and quiet. Where Kat likes to talk and try new things, Natalie is more responsible and feels the full pressure of her parents traditional values. She is also attending the local university and studying journalism.
Zander Wyatt
Zander is a former member of the US Navy and hasn't been in SunnySide for long. He moved to Japan shortly after the end of his contract, and spends his time working at the local mill with Yumma while he figures out what to do with the rest of his life. Zander is 26, likes to scuba dive, and enjoys making cakes and other baked goods... but he doesn't like to talk about it and will deny it if asked.
Fuyukaze Obeng
Fuyukaze, or Fuyu for short, is our first Citizen Character! You may recall that 5 lucky people were given the option to purchase their own character in the game, and we are super excited to show off the first one! Fuyu is 21 and in his final years at the local university, studying music and video game design. He moved to SunnySide with his family when his grandparents passed away, which was about 10 years ago. He hates being out in the sun and often spends his free time sitting around town on his laptop.
Sparky
Everyone knows and loves Sparky by now, as he has been SunnySide's mascot since the beginning. However, we wanted to announce that Sparky's design has gotten a major overhaul! As your constant companion in the game, it was important to us that he not only look awesome, but adequately fit the theme and setting of SunnySide's story.
Thank you!
That's it for this month's update! From here on, we will be focusing on creating our Streamer Demo which is going to be sent out in waves to streamers and content creators in the end of August. We have decided that we are going to prioritize small streamers first for this roll out, because Indies need to support other Indies!If you are a content creator and are interested in this process, please send an email to [email protected] to be considered, and include your backer number.
A big huge sunny thank you to everyone who has supported us so far, and a bunch of hugs and kisses (with your permission, of course) for those who continue to do so. If not for you guys, there is no way we would have made it this far. It is because of all of you that we continue to be inspired by this project, and we are really counting on you all moving forward! Your impressions, feedback, perspectives, and ideas mean the world to us, so please don't hesitate to comment and let us know what you think!
Better yet, join the Discord!
That's it from me! Thank you again, and please don't hesitate to comment below! We love interacting with you all! <3
Cheers!
-Shay-
A Quick Update
over 3 years ago
– Wed, Jul 07, 2021 at 04:18:43 AM
Hello to all our lovely backers!! We hope everyone had a lovely 4th of July Weekend (for our friends in the US) and a super lovely Canada Day to our Canadian pals!
This Update is not going to include all the normal game development updates (that one will be a little later this month) but instead, I felt it would be good to update everyone on some major developments.
Firstly, it seems that SunnySide has gotten some attention lately, and we are incredibly excited about it. DoctorDDub, a lovely backer and YouTube/Twitch content creator, made a wonderful video about SunnySide, and it has really taken off. At the time of this writing, the video is at 30k views! From there, it was also picked up by a TikTok content creator named Cozy.Games, and her video has received over 25k likes!
So we wanted to give a little shout out to these two incredible creators, specially to Doc for taking the time to piece together footage and music to make something that really highlights SunnySide's development thus far. Here are some links to their content, so please show them some love!
Nextly, there is another KickStarter Campaign that we think could really use some love right now. It is a game called CloudScape, an action adventure survival game with an open world map that seems to be coming to PC and major consoles. It has some adorable top down 2d art and animation and a ton of farm sim elements, and we are just in love with it. They've reached some stretch goals and have raised a little over 100k so far, so let's give them a boost and show them some support!
That's all for now. Another update will come in a couple weeks to show off all the new content that has been added to the game as we gear up for our Streamer Demo in August.
Cheers!
-Sydney
A finished Demo and a long road ahead
over 3 years ago
– Sat, Jun 19, 2021 at 11:30:21 PM
A Big hello to all our SunnySide friends across the world!
Let's start off by saying this: it's been a wild two months. When I first joined the SunnySide team, my role was originally to step in and help coordinate the SunnySide community, both on Discord and on social media. You all were incredibly welcoming, and I appreciate you all for it!
However, it quickly became apparent that Community Manager wasn't going to be enough. With Lauren returning to school, we were suddenly down a writer, and so I was asked to step in and fill that role. Since then we have taken on another team member: Miss Kitty Hart. She has been acting as concept writer, researcher, and systems designer (and doing an INCREDIBLE job at that!). We've also, sadly, lost a member. Austin regrettably left the team due to time constraints.
With all those crazy changes, here is what the team looks like now:
Our Current Team
Creative Director/ Lead Developer: Siavash Shahlaei (AKA Rainy)
Narrative Director/ Lead Writer: Sydney Stockdale (AKA FemChef / Shay)
Composer: Matt Thompson (AKA The literal best composer ever)
Systems Designer/ Writer/ Researcher: Kitty Hart (AKA Hot Little Boss)
Character Artist: Kaori Mitsuse (AKA Mewtsuse AKA the character queen)
Character Modeler: Allan Mitsuse (AKA the most patient man alive)
We will be updating the website soon to reflect these changes, as well as many other things. We would also like to give a big shout out to Kyle, AKA D3stiny, who has been helping us with networking, Perforce connections, and QA. <3
With that out of the way, let’s get on to the updates, because there are a LOT of them. This is gonna be a long one folks, so buckle up. :)
Business Things
Social Media
Social media is the most valuable tool available for indie developers, so we have been working our butts of to increase our presence through these medium. We now have accounts on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Twitch, Youtube, and Discord, and it would mean the absolute world to us if you could help us grow on those platforms. Please toss us a like, a share, a follow, and help us spread the word far and wide about SunnySide. Often it isn't about collecting likes, but having enough engagement on our posts to be picked up by platform algorithms. Every little bit helps, and I love and appreciate you all for your continued support and dedication. You can find us @RainyGamesUK on most platforms, but here is a handy list:LinkInBio
Updated Release Schedule
When we found out that publishers might be interested in SunnySide, it changed the whole game for us. What was going to be a fun and simple farming game sort of took on a personality of it's own, and before we knew it there were concepts for very meaningful stories and a huge cast of characters. With the backing of a publisher, we will be definitely be able to reach these grander goals, but it does alter the timeline just a bit:
June 20, 2021 – Publisher Demo -This is the milestone we just hit.
Mid July, 2021 - Steam Page - Might seem like a silly milestone, but getting our Steam page up and running is a huge step that we are looking forward to and really working hard towards.
Mid August, 2021 - Streamer Demo - This is a slightly expanded version of the demo that will go out to streamers and YouTube content creators interested in testing the game and helping us with a little marketing. If you are a backer and fall into this category, please contact us so we can get you on the list of Creators for this demo.
Mid to late December, 2021 - KickStarter Beta - This is the beta you are all excited for. For all those who backed at beta tiers, this is when the party will start! It’s been delayed a bit from the original plan, and we hope that is alright with everyone. <3 At this point, BackerKit will close.
Early February, 2022 - BackerKit Beta - This is for everyone who purchased beta early access through the BackerKit AFTER the KickStarter ended. This is to help preserve the fun for those who got in early on the KS, while still giving plenty of love to those who might have joined a little late.
Mid March, 2022 - Steam Early Access - By Early Access, we hope to have the game about 70% complete, and would like to begin QA at this point. We want EA to be an awesome experience for everyone who wasn’t able to back earlier, and we want it to be about what Early Access is supposed to be about: a great experience for the players and a little feedback for us, the developers.
Mid June, 2022 - PC Release - This is the planned full release for PC.
Mid November, 2022 - Switch Release - The Switch port is going to take a little time. This date is only planned for now, and may change in the future depending on what publisher we sign, access to a Switch Dev Kit, and a few other factors. We do plan to prioritize a Switch release over other consoles.
Mid March, 2023 - PlayStation + XBox Release - This is the planned date for the PlayStation and XBox ports, and is also subject to change depending on the same variables that the Switch is subject to.
Devstream Highlights
There have been quite a few streams since our last update. If you missed them, you can find the highlights for streams #7, #8, and #9 below. #10 is Sunday, June 20th @6:00 pm BST. We will be showcasing the demo that was just finished, so you DEFINITELY won’t want to miss this one.
#7
#8
#9
In addition, we have also put out two music videos for the new versions of both the Spring Day theme and the Spring Night theme from Matt Thompson, the literal best composer ever. These videos were put together by Rainy, and they're BANGIN'.
Spring Day
Spring Night
Nuclino
In the last update, we talked about a new project management tool we had started using called Asana. It worked for awhile, but is designed more for business related projects rather than creative ones. After a little digging, we found an incredible interactive Game Design Document program called Nuclino where we can not only manage the project, but also input every single piece of information that game development will need into one easy to access place. A small update to you guys, but a HUGE improvement for us.
Now for the stuff you all really care about: the GAME
Gameplay Mechanics and World Building
A new Map
The original map, while very lovely, didn’t have the right “real world” feel that we were going for. The landscape didn’t match what might actually be found in Japan, and in general it was just causing us headaches. It has now been replaced with a temporary “Demo” version of the map that is slightly smaller than what the final map will look like.
It is an Island for now, but more land will be added later to make it more of a peninsula.
Don't worry, the images taken on this map are just as gorgeous as the old one:
A New Farm
A new map means a new farm for your character! We decided to extend the land quite a bit, giving you, the player, a lot more room to expand and have fun. We've also started planning out where the other purchasable lots will be. Here is your starter Farm:
We feel like this two tier set up not only calls back to the tiered farm lands of Japan, but also allows for more fun possibilities and customization for the players.
Mechanics
Honestly, there has been so much added to the game at this point that it would take a whole lot of text to tell you what's been added as far as mechanics go, and I don't want you to have to read any more than necessary. Instead, here is a simple list of all the mechanics that are now fully functional in SunnySide, and all of them will be showcased in the upcoming Devstream as well as the highlights video on Youtube later.
Cell Phone Apps - Your cellphone now includes apps for accessing the settings of the game, your inventory, a weather app, save files, text messages from NPCs (updated from the original version), a farm companion for monitoring animals, SunnySeed (the online seed store), and a building drone for placing building blueprints on the map.
Natural Resource Collection - You can now chop down trees, mine rocks for ore, use solar panels to convert solar rays into energy, and collect and store water with both a hand pump and an electric pump.
Farming - This mechanic has been about 90% implemented into the game, and is only missing a couple more complicated growth stages. You can now dig (and fill in, if you're unhappy with placement) both small and large plant spaces, as well as water and harvest them. The watering system is something that we are incredibly proud of, as we have finally done away with the "classic" and annoyingly inefficient system that nearly all farming sims share: watering cans. Instead, you now have a handy hose to water your plants from, and a water tank to store collected water.
Cooking - So far only the first level of the grill has been implemented, and there is still a long way to go, but it's functional, pretty, and makes baked potatoes.
Farm Animals - So far, only (the old) chickens have been added back to the game, but they are fully functional with growth cycles, self preservation, and they even lay eggs! We have 8 more farm animals planned, each with a few varieties, as well as 6 different pets (each with different varieties available and with different benefits to your farm), and 5 different kinds of wildlife that will... well... NOT benefit your farm. We decided to scrap the old animal models, so these will all be custom to SunnySide. Once the pet and wildlife mechanics are worked in, it will be as simple as dropping in new models once they are completed, and we are super excited about it.
Crafting - So far, only one half of crafting is implemented, and this is the player Workbench. Here, the player will be able to construct various building pieces needed to build on the farm. As of now, there are about 10 different blueprints available to craft, and a TON more planned. The part of crafting that has not been implemented yet is food crafting. That's a big beast that will be tackled down the road.
Foraging - As of right now there are only 3 items that can be foraged: junk, sand, and mushrooms. However, the mechanics have been implemented and are fully functional.
The Building Drone - There are about 10 building blueprints currently operational in the demo, and they can all be accessed through the building drone that can be activated either through a phone app or via a hotkey on the keyboard. Once placed, blueprints can be deleted if desired, and the player will receive all their resources back. They also visibly upgrade every time new materials are added. It's honestly pretty awesome.
Dialogue & Pathing - The characters placed in the game are now fully functional. They walk around town, can be interacted with, and spoken to.
Player Income - Three stores have been added to the game, which means that you can now purchased necessary game play items as well as sell your goods in town.
Shops and Vendors
Speaking of player income, these shops have now been implemented, modeled, and are fully functional.
Gabe at The Riverside Barn - This is where the player will be able to purchase anything they need to raise happy and healthy animals. This includes hay, some food items, bird feed, and even the chickens themselves!
Hiro at Tech Hero - At his shop in town, Hiro's frugal nature has led him to develop recycling machines capable of dealing with the metal and plastic rubbish the player may find around SunnySide. He then resells various plastic and metal bits that the player can use in crafting, as well as apps for your phone that he developed himself.
Sako at The Oak Tree - Sako's General Store carries a wide variety of items the player may need, and she is also the best location for selling goods and making monies!
We decided to also take a slighty different approach with the sleep screen in SunnySide, and it's a nice mixture of classic Stardew Valley with new age Persona vibes ideas. Because there is no "sell box" in SunnySide, there is no need to tally up your income at the end of every night. Instead, you will be shown a calendar for what day it is (that includes any upcoming events), as well as a weather graphic to show you what the weather is looking like that morning.
One of the tasks we have been dreading most is making the character creator. This is often a point of contention in games, and we knew that it would be a huge and important step in development. Well, we're really proud to say that it's been made. It is not in any way complete, and there is still a lot missing from it, but this is just a small taste:
Since the last update, four more characters have been conceptualized, drawn, and been given portraits. Two of these have models in the Publisher Demo, and the other two will be available in the Streamer Demo.
You already know Katherine and Gabriel, so let's introduce Hiro, Sako, and Kazuki just in case you missed them in previous streams.
Hiro Iwasaki
Hiro comes from a large, and rather poor, family in the city. This as given him a fairly frugal nature, and he sends most of his earnings back to his older parents to continue supporting his younger siblings. He's a bit of tech genius, and always seems to be tinkering with or inventing something.
Sako Uchida
As mentioned, Sako runs the General Store in town. The store has been in her family for generations, and she took over running it sometime in the 70's. She has no children, and her husband passed away recently. In fact, he was the one who left the tech shop to Hiro!
Kazuki Ishikawa
Kazuki is the town blacksmith, is married, and has two children who have since moved away, as well as a granddaughter that now lives with him while pursuing her medical career in SunnySide. Blacksmithing has been in his family about as long as the general store has been in Sako's, and he is incredibly proud of that history. This traditional mentality often puts him at odds with Hiro's desire to modernize.
Yes. There is another character. But you'll have to tune into the Devstream to learn more about her. Let's also take a moment to shout out Kaori and her incredible ability to bring these characters to life.
Music
We've already shown off the music videos for Matt's new take on the seasonal themes, but we just wanted to reiterate how incredibly thankful we are to have him on the project. He's working on the summer track right now. It's not finished, but we will be playing a little bit of it at the beginning of the dev stream, so be sure to get there early!
Thank you!
Now that the demo is completed, we will be able to hit a more natural pace towards our next goals. We are more cohesive and in sync than ever before, and are also hoping that a publisher will allow us to hire more incredibly talented people very soon! From here on out, we will commit to providing monthly updates, but this will be the last in-depth one for awhile. If you want more of the fine details about new characters, story updates, and other development landmarks, be sure to join all our socials and keep tabs there.
A big huge sunny thank you to everyone who has supported us this far, and a bunch of hugs and kisses (with your permission, of course) for those who continue to do so. If not for you guys, there is no way we would have made it this far, and we are really counting on you all moving forward. Your impressions, feedback, perspectives, and ideas mean the world to us, so please don't hesitate to comment and let us know what you think!
Better yet, join the Discord!
Thanks again! We hope to see you all at the live Devstream tomorrow, Sunday, June 20th @6:00 pm BST on Twitch.
