Joshua Bossie

The driftwood will remind him about eternity

Author: Josh Bossie

  • State of the Village, vol. 2 – Let’s Try This Again

    State of the Village, vol. 2 – Let’s Try This Again

    Hello Villagers!

    Welcome to the 2nd State of the Village update, where I talk about how things are going with Village Monsters, as well as what’s coming next.

    To summarize the past month: the launch of Village Monsters was a supreme mess, and I’ve been trying to make things right ever since.

    However, I soon realized that releasing hotfixes every few days wasn’t working – there were simply too many big problems to fix things in piecemeal way.

    I needed to change my approach. So I took a step back, regrouped, and began work on a larger, more comprehensive patch.

    Village Monsters v1.1, which I’ve been affectionately referring to as the Let’s Try This Again Update, is the result of these efforts.

    What’s Coming in v1.1?

    First and foremost, v1.1 will fix the multitude of bugs that have been reported since launch. Some of these bugs were preventing entire features from working, so it’s been a real big effort.

    Next, I’ve gathered up all your feedback and have incorporated as many suggestions as I could. Expect many new quality of life changes, such as improved gamepad support, more sensible energy and time management, and more.

    Finally, a number of last-minute things cut before launch have been re-added back to the game.

    In short, Village Monsters v1.1 represents a complete do-over of the previous embarrassing launch.

    When is v1.1 Coming?

    News regarding Village Monsters v1.1’s launch date will be revealed within the 

    next two weeks. Look for an announcement as I get closer to the actual date.

    —

    it’s been a messy year. A combination of technical issues, naivety, supremely bad luck, and good ol’ fashion developer incompetence has lead me here.

    I can’t redo the terrible first impression I made, but I can make sure to do things the right way going forward.

    I hope the results speak for themselves when you play v1.1.

  • State of the Village, vol. 1 – Let’s Talk Turkey

    State of the Village, vol. 1 – Let’s Talk Turkey

    Hello Villagers!

    It’s been exactly one week since Village Monsters v1.0 was released.

    Village Monsters is my first ever creation. I am very proud of the work I did, and the many kind words I’ve received from players has been beyond heartwarming.

    I have notebooks from back when I was in 1st grade detailing a game where you live with video game monsters, and now nearly 30 years later… it’s real! People are playing it!

    But, to be frank, Village Monsters is in a very rough state right now. I’ve already released 5 bugfix patches, and after looking at the reports on my desk, I have a long way to go.

    I want to use this post to address the biggest problems, how they came about, and what I’m doing to fix them.

    The Problems

    My top priority right now is fixing the issues that were introduced during the final push.

    For context, a technical bug with my developer tools caused me to lose 2 months worth of work the literal night before the original launch date. It sucked. You can read more details here.

    I had already been crunching for months, so this last-minute disaster nearly broke me. In a fit of reckless optimism, I opted to manually stich the game back together over the course of a week. I had hoped adrenaline and the code being “fresh” in my mind would help pull off a miracle.

    I was stupid and exhausted. While my approach ultimately was “successful”, it has (predictably) introduced far more problems into the game than before.

    Over the last week, I’ve identified two of the largest ones.

    Problem #1

    World Flags are not working properly across the board. These flags control nearly everything in the game, such as holidays, events, and story cutscenes. The knock-on effects are tremendous, and it’s my top priority to fix.

    Problem #2

    There are many features that were disabled in the final moments of release. Some intentionally (due to time constraints), others due to bugs or source control issues. There are many lingering issues due to this. My next priority is to test, fix, and reenable these features.

    The Solution

    I’ve been investigating my code and player save files since last week. I have a really good idea of what needs to be fixed and how, and I’ve already started on working through it. Things are going very well, especially now that I’ve had a chance to sleep and regroup.

    You guys deserve a fixed and polished game, and no amount of words, roadmaps or timelines will get you that faster. To this end, I’ll continue doing rapid smaller patches to fix crashes and urgent bugs, but I’ll otherwise keep a low profile until I’ve finished the work necessary.

    I want to extend an enormous thank you to everyone who has supported me. From the very first Kickstarter, to 2019’s Early Access release, to last week’s v1.0 launch. I don’t take any of you for granted, and I won’t stop working on Village Monsters until it’s in a state worthy of your support.

  • Village Monsters v1.0 – “The Big One” – is now available!

    Village Monsters v1.0 – “The Big One” – is now available!

    Hello Humans!

    Sorry to keep you waiting!

    Village Monsters v1.0 – “The Big One” has launched! It is now available on all platforms.

    What’s New?

    Everything!

    Story & Progression

    The biggest change in v1.0 is the addition of story and progression elements.

    You are a human who has arrived at Eidolon Village – a town of monsters – in surprising fashion. Unfortunately for you, humans aren’t welcome in this world anymore.

    As you await your fate, you learn that the village has something more important to worry about: it’s scheduled for imminent destruction.

    Soon after, your freedom is tied to the fate of Eidolon. The village is given a short two year reprieve, and now it’s up to you – through court-mandated community service – to save the village and win your freedom.

    More Stuff

    There’s more critters to catch, more fish to hook, more plants to grow, more treasures to discover, new secrets, new perks, new visitors, new events, new areas to explore, more dialogue, more cutscenes, more friends, more enemies.

    Chances are, if you liked something about Village Monsters before, there’s even more of it to enjoy now.

    Less Stuff…?!

    Features and content that weren’t working great in Early Access have been trimmed, simplified, or cut entirely.

    Some things may return in future updates – especially the things that were cut recently to avoid further delays.

    However, many are consigned forever to oblivion – and good riddance! I think everyone will agree that Village Monsters is a tighter and more complete experience without the extra baggage.

    Quality of Life

    An endless number of changes have been made to make the game easier, simpler, and more fun to play.

    The economy, energy expenditures, passage of time, and more have been tweaked and rebalanced to be smoother.

    Many new user interface elements have been added or modified to make things easier. Filters help you manage your inventory better, while new dialogue menu makes interacting with villagers more dynamic.

    What’s Next?

    First: I’m going to get some rest. It’s been a long week, month, and year. I’m ready to catch my breath.

    I then immediately have jury duty to worry about on the 23rd. Seriously. It’s been a weird few weeks, guys.

    Please expect a short amount of radio silence from me. I haven’t gone anywhere, I’m just recharging my batteries.

    After that, I’ll start on the usual round of bugfixes, quality of life changes, and incorporating your feedback. As always, you can submit feedback in game, send me an email, a Twitter DM, or a Discord message.

    I’m gonna level with you: I’ll be spending a good deal of time fixing bugs. My list of “known bugs” is pretty big already, and I only expect it to grow after lots of new people start hammering away at this monstrous release.

    I realize that sort of thing isn’t something you should admit, generally speaking. But it’s not like I can hide it. I’ve been more than transparent (for good or ill) about the woes I’ve been dealing with getting this release finished.

    Don’t worry, I’m here for the long haul. I got big plans for the future of Village Monsters.

    For now: welcome home, humans!

  • Building a Village: Open Heart Development

    Hello Villagers!



    This week, I reached a very exciting milestone: there are now less than 200 items remaining on my “Required for v1.0” to-do list!

    There were once over 1,200 items on this list, so being below 200 is a really big deal and signifies we’re close to the end.

    To celebrate this milestone, I’m doing something I hope you’ll find pretty cool: I’m making my entire Trello board public!

    This means that anyone can follow along as I grind down the remaining tasks for v1.0.

    Wait, what’s Trello?

    Trello is a project management tool that many developers use for tracking tasks, ideas, goals, and other things needed to make a game.

    You can think of it as a big, virtual to-do list. And because it’s virtual, I can easily share it.

    Whoa, there’s a lot there! Too much! What should I pay attention to?

    Most people will want to stick to the cards in the first column of the board. They are labeled “Read This First!” and “Burn Chart”




    The Read This First card will explain what you’re looking at and how to parse my crazy chicken scratch.

    The Burn Chart is probably the most meaningful thing here. This is a graph that tracks how many items are left on the Required for v1.0 list on a day-by-day basis, as well as a forecast for future days.




    This number serves as a countdown, and when it hits 0, that means Village Monsters is ready for release. For example, the above chart predicts completion by September 9th.

    Of course, some items are much harder to complete than others, and cards are constantly being added, modified, or removed from the list as new things are found and priorities shift.

    So don’t be too surprised if you see this prediction swing wildly around. What we really want is for it to be consistently trending downward.

    Does this board contain spoilers?

    Sort of. Like I said, this is the same exact tool I’m using to keep track of development, so it’s bound to contain info or hints about features and things you haven’t seen yet.

    However, almost all of it is in my shorthand and wouldn’t be easily recognizable unless you know what you’re looking for. Still, if you want to go in fresh then you shouldn’t let your eyes wander too much.


    —

    That’s all from me for now! The march to v1.0 continues, only this time you get to watch me marching from the comfort of your own home.

  • An Honest & Obvious Update on Release Dates

    Hello Villagers!

    Today I want to give everyone an update on the schedule of the upcoming Village Monsters version 1.0 update.

    I’m moving the release window from Spring 2021 to Summer 2021. Given that I’m posting this on the literal summer solstice… well, it’s probably not a surprise.

    The game is in very good shape, and this decision wasn’t easy to make. However, this small delay is ultimately best for Village Monsters and for myself, even if it’s somewhat embarrassing to have to announce.

    Keep reading if you want to know more about the reasons behind this move.

    So, what’s taking so long?

    Since April I’ve had real life friends and family playing the final game. It’s been a ton of fun and extremely valuable, but their feedback has caused my “Required Before v1.0” to-do list to grow by leaps and bounds.

    By May, I realized that the math wasn’t working in my favor. I put off announcing a delay in case I could crunch my way to victory, but it hasn’t been sustainable, and it’s not healthy for me or for the quality of the game.

    Villager Monsters is my first game, and it’s incredibly special to me. I’ve been working on it full time for 4 years, but even years before that I was dreaming and doodling about the game.

    I know it’s a fool’s errand to chase perfection, but I still want it to be the best game it can possibly be. It has to be something I’m proud of, even if it means it takes longer to come out.

    What’s next?

    My main goal is to finish work on v1.0. Everything else takes a backseat until then.

    However, relaxing the release schedule also means I can stop crunching as hard, which will give me more time for social media, Discord, and dev diaries.

    It’s a somewhat tragic irony that the closer I get to the release the less time and energy I have to talk about it, so being able to to catch my breath is actually very important and valuable.

    I have a group of playtesters that I’m going to have play v1.0 in the upcoming weeks and months. This group will expand as the game gets closer to release, so if it’s something you’re interested in then keep an eye out.

    Until then, stay cool, villagers!

  • Building a Village: A Portrait is Worth a Thousand Words

    Hiya Villagers!

    It’s been awhile since I’ve done a proper devlog, so I want to start with something small. So small, in fact, that it’s only 48×48 pixels: today I’m talking dialogue portraits!

    Portraits are an important part of any game with a lot of dialogue text, but for a solo project like Village Monsters it’s absolutely essential.

    I have neither the skill nor money to create fancy animations or sexy cutscenes. Instead, I have to rely on writing and dialogue portraits to convey the personality of a villager and the tone of a conversation.

    Until recently, the portraits in game were just a villager’s overworld sprite scaled and touched up. It was a cheap solution, though a surprising number of people enjoyed the low fidelity look.

    But I knew I had to completely redo them for version 1.0, so for the last month or so I’ve been chipping away at my giant to-do list and improving portraits one by one.

    With over 32 villagers (and nearly that many minor NPCs), this has been no easy task! So let’s take a look at a few examples of what I have so far.

    Before // After

    As you can see, I opted to give each monster a full makeover as I went through them. I’m trying to minimize how many “rework” type tasks I’m doing this close to release, but I’m really happy with how these updated portraits are looking.

    I limited myself to a 48×48 base, but villagers are allowed to exceed these boundaries if they have particularly large distinguishing features. I mean, these are monsters – you can’t force them to fit into a box.

    Lip Sync

    Before I end today’s post, I want to share one last thing I’ve been experimenting with: lip sync during dialogue!

    Here’s an example:

    The new portraits make it easy to add (basic) movement like this, and I think it makes conversations feel much more dynamic. However, I worry it may be a bit too distracting, so I may tweak or get rid of it altogether.

    What do you think?

    In any case, Village Monsters v1.0 can be seen on the horizon, so I’ll have much more to talk about very soon. Later tater!

  • Playtesters needed!

    Hiya villagers!

    Village Monsters v1.0 is right on track. In fact, even as we speak the hype train is barreling down said track at over 400 miles per hour. Don’t worry, I have been repeatedly assured by the conductor that this is all perfectly safe.

    I’m now ready to recruit volunteers to help playtest the near-final version of the game! I’ve really benefited from the whole Early Access process, but playtesting is a different beast and requires a much smaller, more dedicated type of group.

    I’m looking for ~10-12 testers to play and share their thoughts on the game. Priority will be given to Kickstarter backers and Early Access owners of the game, though I do have a couple of slots reserved for new players.

    Your only requirement is to play the game normally and provide feedback + answer questions in a short survey. In return, I can offer some modest benefits: your name will be included in the credits under “Playtester” and you’ll get a Steam key of the game.

    The testing period will be this May and will be conducted through Steam’s new playtesting feature.

    If you are interested in becoming a playtester, then please fill out this form by May 3rd!