July 2024 Recap
Hi everyone!
We’ve moved off of Substack for the email list. It felt too heavy and I want to write shorter, lower fidelity posts. So look forward to more frequent (i.e. monthly) updates. I’ll add the caveat that the thoughts and updates I share are always in progress. The game and my thoughts about game making are always going to change.
The summer has been a wild time coming out of a hiatus and doing some large reworks to Wild Seasons. Most of the work in the last few months, and especially July, have been driven by the response from demo players. It was both really rewarding and intimidating to see players play on YouTube and to get direct feedback. And all that input helped me more clearly see what the game we had built so far was, and how far it was from what I had wanted. (Ultimately, I think we released the demo too early, but I simultaneously believe I would not have known it was too early without releasing it).
So for July, I committed to re-examining and rebuilding the gardening mechanics. We ran several experiments and rapidly iterated with the goal of doing one final pass on the garden mechanics, with that clarified vision from the demo release. The garden mechanics have been completely overhauled, with the biggest change being the removal of watering and plant health. I am really excited about what we arrived at, and also how we got there.
I’m considering, but am apprehensive about, releasing a demo beta with the new gardening mechanics, but without updating the rest of the game. Updating the rest of the game to match the new mechanics in both balance and content will take maybe another month or so. I can’t really decide if getting an unbalanced beta out sooner will garner useful feedback, or if it’s worth waiting.
One last thought before we end this recap, over the summer, a new philosophy for Wild Seasons has solidified in my mind.
I have a very clear artistic vision for what I want Wild Seasons to be, but I don’t know if it will ever get there. In fact, as it is my first game of this scale, I’m sure it will be riddled with little issues if not big ones. I am sure, as an intersection between two disparate genres, it will also be pretty niche. I am sure it will disappoint some deck-builder fans and I am sure it will disappoint some plant lovers. It may not be a commercial success, but I want to try to execute on what I imagine for Wild Seasons: as both a gardening, deck-builder, and story game. And I hope at least one person will appreciate it, flaws and all, when it is done. At the very least, I will be proud to have made what I set out to make.
Thanks for reading! I will try to keep up posts. They will, hopefully, not all be this sappy, and, hopefully, have more progress details. :> Hope you’re having a great day wherever you are!
Cheers,
jynnie and the beans