Category: Village Monsters

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.

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!