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:
Devstream Highlights #3 + New UI Design Direction
about 3 years ago
– Sat, Feb 20, 2021 at 09:52:33 PM
Hey there lovely SunnySide friends!
Over the last week, we've been hard at work fixing our character model and actually adding him to the game so that Unreal's default mannequin can finally take a break from running and jumping around the map! We've also improved our UI and have taken a new approach to our entire UI design structure. So let's go over all of these updates!
If you like to check all of these features in a video, we had a Devstream yesterday on Friday the 19th, going over everything that's mentioned in this update. And we just finished trimming it and tidying it up as a highlights video! You can watch it just below:
Character Model Adjustments and Implementation
Allan, our talented character modeller has been hard at work improving the base model and adjusting him. After adding the model we showcased in the last update to the game, we realised there were some issues with how thin his body was, especially his neck.
We've also adjusted his face further to make him look even better!
The new and improved face on the right
The new model works better with our animation framework, but the lack of custom animations are still felt throughout the project. We are planning to get a mo-cap suit so we have the freedom of making as many custom animations as we need!
In addition to the new improvements, we've also added 3 new short hairstyles to the game. We'll continue making new hairstyles and clothes as the development progresses!
The three new hairstyles can be used on either the feminine or masculine body types.
UI Design Direction
If you're a member of our Discord community, you already know that we had a community poll over there to decide the new UI design direction of the game! (psst, you should join if you haven't :P)
We decided to go for a more out there and unique style of UI. One that is much more stylish and less bland and generic. Below you can see the difference in the clock design:
But this new design direction doesn't end with just a new clock! We've been revamping a lot of our menus and UI elements, including the inventory. We thought since SunnySide has this big emphasis on having a smartphone and how you can interact with the world using it, why not turn everything into a mobile app. Of course, for apps that require a lot more space, your phone will simply turn horizontal and go full screen. But they still inherit an app-like look. Below you can see the new Inventory menu:
Just like the icing on a cake, SunnySide won't be the same without its funky and jazzy tracks! This one was revealed yesterday on our Devstream and called Neon Nights. We currently planning to use this track for the town's night theme.
Kinder World is an amazing little mobile game that helps you with self-care and spreading love and kindness while taking care of a cute little plant! In their own words:
"Kinder World is a mobile game of houseplants, healing and practising kindness. Take care of your plants and yourself in a relaxing and lush atmosphere of your own design, completing daily acts of self-love that make the world a kinder place."
I absolutely love the idea of this game and adore its art style. I think with Covid and everything that's been going on around the world, this game is something we all need. The devs are really really lovely people too, say hi to them from me 😜
If you haven't joined the Discord do it now! We run lots of community polls and events and on top of that you will get the latest updates on the game, as they roll out:
And that's all form me! See you all in the next update ~
Original Character Models + Latest Updates
about 3 years ago
– Sun, Feb 14, 2021 at 11:59:46 PM
Hey there lovely SunnySide friends!
It's crazy to think it was only one week ago when we finished the campaign and reached double our goal! No matter how many times we say it, it's not enough, so thank you again for giving us this opportunity to bring you an amazing and memorable experience.
Latest on Devving
While we've been celebrating the success of the campaign, we've been hard at work cleaning, polishing and decluttering our code for a cleaner and more expandable foundation for the game. We've been optimising the hell out of it so that it can especially run smoothly on consoles like Nintendo Switch!
But one thing I'm most excited to share with you guys is that our character modeller has designed the base model of our masculine main character!! Here are some shots:
This should give you all a good sense of the art direction we're taking with the characters and how much they're inspired by Persona 5 in particular. While most farming games go with the more chibi style, we decided this would be the best style choice. It will fit the game perfectly both story-wise and thematically.
We're planning to send the surveys to you guys between the 20th and 25th of this month. As mentioned before you will have the chance to upgrade your pledge for one last time, or add additional game keys for a much lower price.
We are working on launching the Pre-order store on our own domain but for now, you can use our BackerKit store to pre-order the game. So if you or anyone you know wanted to get the game missed your opportunity of pledging, this would be the perfect place to pre-order the game for a lower price. You can pre-order on any console and even get yourself early access if you like! The sale will run for a limited time so get your copy before the price goes up back to normal!
We will also gradually add new items to the store as the development progresses. And for all of you mega fans, we're working on launching a merch store very soon!!
Our Ko-fi page
Now if you've already pledged or just looking for a way to directly support the team further you can do so via our Ko-fi page. Some of you awesome people already donated to us and we're so close to reaching that goal over there! So check it our if you want to fuel the development, and give us a lil boost.
Devstreams
I know a lot of you've been looking forward to seeing more of the game, so I'm excited to announce that we're going to be live every Friday at 9:00 PM GMT with live devving and weekly updates on everything we've been working on.
I'm sure plenty of you have already seen this amazing game on Kickstarter, I mean how could you miss it with their AWESOME ART-STYLE?!
"Beacon Pines is a cute and creepy adventure game within a magical storybook. You play as both the reader of the book and its main character, Luka. Explore the world to find word charms. Use your charms to change the course of fate!"
We're so excited to show you the main character in-game and looking forward to seeing you all in the next stream. In the meantime, if you haven't joined the Discord do it now! And get the latest updates on the game, as they roll out:
See you all in the next update!
🎉 It's a wrap! 🎉
about 3 years ago
– Fri, Feb 05, 2021 at 10:42:12 PM
Hey SunnySide friends!
It's been the craziest 30 days of our lives and we managed to raise 211% of our goal, reaching both of our stretch goals! I know I've said it a million times but it's never enough so here it goes again. Thank you so much for making this happen. We are now well equipped to deliver you the best version of SunnySide and it's just a matter of time!
With our Kickstarter campaign finished we can retarget our focus on development and further building SunnySide!
But, this doesn't mean you don't have the opportunity to pre-order the game or even get yourself early access! The prices will be different from our campaign and you cannot get some of the rewards anymore to honour our backers, but we're going to be launching some extra goodies over on our BackerKit Store very soon.
As for the surveys, you will receive them by the end of this month. You'll have the chance to up your pledge and even add additional goodies like Digital Guidebook/Artbook to your order!
I wanted to sweeten this victory by releasing another track from our Original Soundtrack! This one is my personal favourite. So have a listen and let us know what you think! Matt, our composer is eager to know your feedback on the music of SunnySide.
I'm sure most of you if not backed already know about this awesome game, it's not often when you find a campaign that not only features a great game but also has an awesome dev behind it! If you haven't checked Ova Magica yet, I personally recommend it! It's cute, It's awesome and their pledge rewards make me jealous 😜 So check them out!!
Less than 24 hours left!!
about 3 years ago
– Fri, Feb 05, 2021 at 07:06:04 PM
Hey SunnySide friends!!
It's been a crazy journey the last 29 days, not only we managed to fund our dream project with your help but we found friends and awesome people that share the same passion as us! There's now only 24 hours left on our campaign with - as of right now - 176% funded.✨
Although only 24 hours are left on the clock, our second stretch goal still seems within reach!! So if you really want to try SunnySide co-op, share the game with your friends and communities!! You know what to do 😌
But the end of campaign doesn't mean you cannot get any more SunnySide goodies, we're opening a BackerKit page right after the campaign ends so if you miss this window you can still pre-order the game on your platform of choice.
To honour our backers, the game will be available for £24.99 instead of the £20 Early Bird pledge. You also cannot get the physical guide book anymore after the campaign ends, so if you really really want it PLEDGE NOW!! You'll still be able to get the digital version after the campaign is over.
Some awesome stuff happened in the last few days:
SunnySide became a "Project we Love"!!
The awesome people of Kickstarter decided SunnySide was great enough to be on their special list! This is not only great for the campaign but makes our hearts very very content.
We now have a character modeller!
Since the beginning we wanted SunnySide to have its own style and identity. To design our big cast of NPCs we needed someone with the skill to make us custom models from the ground up, thankfully Allan is more than up to the task! You can check out his other work over here.
He will start work this week and we cannot wait to finally show you some finalised character models from SunnySide!
Fans of our current characters like Sebastian or Kat, don't worry! We're not redesigning them, we're just overhauling them and taking away that default Vroid look. They're going to look basically the same, but have custom SunnySide models. More on them very soon.
Not only you will get a nice little role that corresponds to your pledge, but we run so many of our Kickstarter related content and information over there, so don't miss out!!
See you all in 24 hours!
Live Q&A Session + Campaign Countdown Stream!
about 3 years ago
– Fri, Feb 05, 2021 at 07:05:54 PM
Hey there SunnySide fans, I know we've already given you an update today but I thought I'd surprise you all with a last-minute Q&A live stream!
