How quickly this year has come to an end! There have been so many changes this year that it just flew by.
First of all, we would like to thank you all for your support over the years! Every comment, every wish list entry, every sign of life, no matter how small, is a great motivation factor for us! Continue to be patient and stick with us!
Life in the forest as indie developers We moved to the centre of Sweden and now live in a small village in the middle of the forest, an hour away from the nearest small town, and got married.
You often find game studios in the centre of big cities. However, we are not fans of such cities and like nature and also the possibility of being able to work from home at any time. For us, the location in the middle of the forest is perfect. We see a lot of wildlife (birds, deer, foxes, rabbits), we have snow in winter and it's quiet. At night you can hardly see the stars more clearly as the light pollution is not very strong. This leads to a good work-life balance. We also have the chance to see the Northern Lights here. And we also support life outside the cities. Young people in particular are being drawn more and more to the cities, which is a pity.
Magical Harvest It's hard to believe, but we've been working on the game for 2 years now. Starting in Unity, we have now switched to Unreal Engine 5. Our Unity game version is now officially a prototype.
But from the beginning: The year started with a focus on adding animals to our Unity prototype. The first daily routines of the NPCs were also implemented and with them the first part of the city.
The character creation feature and the creation of new character models took up a lot of time. This took almost the entire months of March and April. This was followed by a lot of visual revisions: The farm trees, the grass, more items in decoration mode and the ability to colour decoration items.
This was followed in August by the seasons in the game and the models & icons of all farm plants (except flowers and trees). The dialogue system was expanded and adapted to the mood of the NPCs and made more dynamic. But then came the radical change. In September, the game engine Unity introduced a new payment model and destroyed the trust of many users. We took this opportunity to try out Unreal Engine 5 and immediately fell in love with it. From October onwards, the game has been developed in UE5. This has the advantage that previous elements in the game can also be improved - in addition to the graphical jump forwards.
At the same time, we started to be part of the "Sweden Game Arena Coaching Programme"! Since then, we have been receiving support there, which is centred around setting up a company and putting together a team, in addition to information on how to get financial support.
Through the programme, we were able to take part at the "Sweden Games Conference" in October, where we were also a nominee for the best "Indicator". After the successful conference, things were a little more quiet from our side. The reason for this was that we focussed fully on the implementation of game features in UE5. In addition, the company "Moon Flame Games" was officially founded, which is now our game studio. Additionally, we had interviews with interns and are happy to announce that our team will grow by two artists in January and two in March. We are really looking forward to it! The whole process will take Magical Harvest to the next level! Especially visually.
Over the year, some of the Bachelors have been illustrated and we still love our artist Lura for this wonderful work! Outlook for 2024 Production has now started and we hope to implement all the basic features in 2024 and, of course, to be able to start with the story content beyond that. The progress of the game depends heavily on when we receive funding. The more we get, the bigger the team can become. Of course, you don't get financial support just like that. A lot of preparatory work has to be done and that takes time. However, we are very confident and are working hard to achieve this goal!
We are also planning a playable demo for April/May and are already very excited! We don't want to reveal anything about the scope at the moment.
The game will definitely be playable at the Nordic Game Conference in May. We're also planning to be at the Sweden Games Conference again in October and maybe even at Gamescom in Cologne - but that hasn't been decided yet.
End of the year The year has now come to an end and we are heading into the new year with a positive feeling! We wish you all the best from the bottom of our hearts and thank you again for your support! Special thanks also go to our Patreons on https://www.patreon.com/moonflamegames!
With warmest regards, Isa & Marie Hellström Moon Flame Games
Another milestone and bachelor Azriel
We are excited to share some significant milestones that have recently occurred at Moon Flame Games AB, marking the beginning of an incredible chapter in our journey!
Moon Flame Games AB is officially founded! With great joy and pride, we announce the official establishment of Moon Flame Games AB. Now, the real search for investors and publishers can begin!
Great Internship Interviews We've had promising internship discussions with talented artists eager to strengthen our team. The creativity and passion we've witnessed promise a positive future for Moon Flame Games.
Bachelor Azriel Azriel is finished! One of our most popular Bachelors has now his illustrations! And we love the result! What do you think about him? You can find more information here: Magical Harvest - Bachelors!
Unreal Engine 5 Updates Visually, not much has changed in the last month, but many game elements have been added. Progress in Unreal Engine 5 is faster than expected, and the learning curve is steep. So, we're looking forward very positively to the future!
<*>Item Creator A utility tool to input all item data into the game, all with just one button click. Currently, there are 634 items (excluding decorations). Quite a lot has accumulated there. <*> Farm Plants Creator Another utility tool to prepare all farm plants based on 3D models for gameplay. This includes creating an object in Unreal Engine and a system for growth phases. Within a few minutes, we had all the spring plants back in the game. <*> Using Items The logic for using items has been implemented, requiring some background work. <*> Sensor Tools or magic are used through the "Sensor." The sensor displays the corresponding positions on the ground that are influenced by a tool or magic. In fact, the sensor now works even better than in Unity.
<*> Farm Plants The logic for farm plants is implemented. They grow, can be watered, and eventually harvested. <*> Trees, Grass, and Stones These can now be completely removed with tools.
A lot of positive feedback!
Sweden Game Arena
We were at our first live event in Sweden – the Sweden Game Conference (25 & 26th October). It was an event for developers to share experiences, network and get feedback. There we had the incredible opportunity to show Magical Harvest, pitch the game in front of publishers and receive feedback! And the feedback was overwhelming! On top of that - we were also a nominee for the indicator of the year!
Some facts and reviews from the event <*> The most created species was the Drakys-Species (no one played a human or an elf) <*> Valariel is more popular than Azriel (which surprised us) <*> Magical Harvest was mostly compared to Stardew Valley, but MH feels more rewarding - especially in terms of farming (*happy *) <*> Using magic is very, very satisfying <*> The Unreal Engine 5 looks awesome and the switch from Unity to UE5 was worth it <*> The cross breeding is a very hooking feature <*> The Nomlings melt hearts! * Nom nom nom * We’ve been asked for plushies of them and more merchandise Many people were interested, we made new contacts and are ready to continue to the next phase of development.
Unreal Engine 5 And based on this follows a deeper insight into the UE5-porting. Since we’ve been asked a lot about a demo, I’ll be focusing on that, while I re-implement the features. In the last 4 weeks I couldn’t do much programming, because the focus was on the Sweden Game Conference which meant creating a pitch, preparing flyers, roll-ups etc for the event and getting as many visuals in UE5 done as possible to have a small showcase version. First, I had to learn the basics of UE, because Unity and UE are of course not the same and I had to learn the “Unreal way” first.
Already implemented:<*> The seasonal system with changing terrain and textures <*> Day-night cycle <*> The farm grid <*> The basis for creating a farm ground, planting & harvesting crops <*> The basis for removing grass, stones, and trees on the farm <*> A system for switching between maps <*> Basic UI-parts <*> First part of inventory system <*> Basic walk animation
So not much yet (because it’s mostly the basis and not fully implemented), but over the next weeks I’ll be focusing fully on UE5. The next steps include the most important basic parts: <*> Implementing the Item-creator to get the hundreds of items back into the game <*> Creating the “sensor” that is responsible for the multi-selection <*> Inventory drag and drop system
The list of features that need to be implemented is very long, but I have to start at one point. I can’t wait to see more progress again! The switch to UE5 is also a chance, to improve everything and make the game even more user friendly.
Best regards, Isa
Switch to Unreal Engine 5
This time there is not so much new to report. As mentioned last time, I tried out the Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) (due to the Unity disaster 2 weeks ago). And what can I say? I'm going to stick with UE5. There are a few reasons for that, and they don't just have to do with Unity.
In short: for my personal future and especially for Magical Harvest I see much more advantages in UE5 than in Unity. The biggest advantages lie in the graphical aspect. The game looks a lot better with much less effort than in Unity. It's also a very good opportunity to make the code base more stable.
Porting will take a few months. In the time I'll provide you with updates and pictures as best I can!
At the end of October we will be at the "Sweden Game Conference". There you can play Magical Harvest ( the last Unity version) and get the first glimpses of the Unreal Engine 5 version.
At the same time we will pitch there for the first time in front of publishers. Let's see what the results will be. Of course the event has to be prepared from our side and that takes time :(.
Oh and I have the new trailer ready (except for voiceover), which at the same time is already outdated again because of the switch to UE... Hurray or something.
Since there is nothing else to report, here are a few pictures in UE5. Next time I'll write a bit more about the UE5 implementation.
Best regards, Isa
Unity!!!
What a week! Unity (the game engine I use for Magical Harvest) has introduced a new payment model, which has caused quite a bit of unrest among users of the engine. A large number of indie developers use this engine.
What's the issue? Unity's initial post with the new features stated a payment model where developers have to pay a fee to Unity for every install of their games over a certain amount and install count. So if you install and uninstall the game 100x, 100x that fee ($0.20 per install) is charged from the developer (they have since backed down from that and say each install on a new device costs). Now consider how many pirated games there are that don't even make money for an install.
I'm not too worried about the fees themselves with Magical Harvest. The threshold is set really high (with a monthly subscription account, that's $1m in revenue AND 1m installs). But the trust in Unity is gone and people don't want to continue supporting this company. Many negative things (technical things, promises) have been overlooked so far, but this has now taken the cake. Whether this would be allowed in Europe is another matter altogether...?
How does this effect Magical Harvest? I have to elaborate a bit more on this. Currently I am in a coaching program to establish a game company, to prepare myself for pitching to publishers and to find a publisher to pay team members I would like to have for support. This of course leaves me with a decision to stay with Unity, since I'm already very far along with it and can present presentable gameplay - or to take longer and switch to Unreal Engine 5. Switching would mean it would set me back a few months. You don't just switch engines and be 100% efficient with it like before. It's a new learning process. Of course, it's easier to switch than to start from 0.
So Unity or Unreal Engine 5 (UE5)? Many game companies (even smaller ones like me) are just switching to a different engine with their Unity projects, some of which are already 2 years old. I'm still undecided (because of the publisher thing), but have started looking into UE5. I want to give it some time to see if it's really worth it for me personally or not. My personal future also depends on it, because UE5 offers quite some advantages - also on the job market.
So it remains exciting in this area and I will keep you informed about my decisions.
But what has happened in the last 2 weeks? I could not do everything planned, because somehow a lot of smaller things came in between or demanded more time:
- Flowers: 23/40 flowers are finished in their first phase. Their color variants and icons are still missing. Because of the color variants and the number of flowers I changed the whole system of how color variants are handled in the game. This took the longest time. But now color variants can be inserted for several Items without any problems. Also for e.g. crops (if there is a need - keyword: golden apple or something like that).
- New rocks: there are new rocks! They are now used consistently everywhere in the game! - New mine: because of the new rocks the mine has got a new shape, too.
- Sequence from developing field plants to the next magic level - A trailer sequence for the change of the wasteland to the magic forest for the trailer
Planned for the next two weeks: - Working on a trailer - Working on a "showcase" demo for the "Sweden Game Conference - Working on a pitch for the "Sweden Game Conference - Flowers: adding color variations for spring and summer.
And I'll keep looking at the Unreal Engine on the side. Let's see if it convinces me.
NPC-Mood and Herbs
Hey everybody!
One thing first: do you know that we have a Discord server? Join and share your expectations and wishes and be part of a community! Discord
Some news! The good: we have a really good story writer with a focus on romance! The bad: not until we have funding, because of course I want to be able to pay this person. I'm also starting to get serious about this now. Unfortunately, a lot of time is spent on things like taxes and setting up a company - before the publisher/investor search begins. But well...
In spite of everything, the work in Magical Harvest does not stop. In the second half of August some smaller things have been added or changed:
Dialog system The dialog system is still being expanded. The NPCs now have a "mood bar". Depending on the course of your conversations, they will be happier or in a bad mood. Some conversation options or their outcome will depend on your mood (for example: you won't be able to propose to an NPC who is in a bad mood).
Herbs 15 different herbs (3 x 5 pet levels) are now in the game, as well as animal food.
Storage boxes Like the inventory, storage crates now have multiple sections. This means the smallest box has 50 item slots, and the largest currently has 150.
More small deco assets <*> More fence options <*> Signs showing the icons of the crops (the icons can be selected at any time) <*> Don't feel like watering every day? Then get the magic sprinkler! It waters the fields automatically! Unfortunately, however, no design and visual effect yet.
Also, the rough concepts for the 40 different flowers have been sketched ... why do we have 5 different Tier stages of each type again? ... (2 flower types per season * 5 Tier levels = 40 different flowers)
Outlook <*> Further development of the dialog system: the NPCs should start with a basic mood, depending on their characteristics. Morning grouches will not be so enthusiastic in the morning or before holidays most will have a good mood. <*> The flower assets (I really shudder at those! They are truly not exciting to make!) <*>Looking for further preparations in terms of publisher/investor. <*> Finally an actual trailer! Or at least working towards it.
And try to do more towards social media somehow. If anyone has ideas... go for it =D Thanks for stopping by and see you next time!
Best regards, Isa
Crops, Dialogues, Inventory
News-Time! Hey everybody!
Based on a Reddit post in r/cozygames, I made some design changes that I think are very positive: the dialog system with the NPCs and the inventory space.
Dialog system Before: typical dialog system like in most farming games: you talk to the NPC 1x a day for the friend points bonus and can give gifts. Now: Dialog system like in "The Sims": several dialog options with different results. But: not all of them increase friendship points (but you can't lose any, but the NPC can get mad at you for the day if you are not nice). Gifts can still be brought daily.
Inventory space Originally, a maximum inventory of 60 slots was planned. However, inventory management is generally quite annoying and especially in Magical Harvest with the 5 different tier levels, the items in the inventory can pile up quite a lot. Now a maximum of 300 items can be carried around - in bags with 50 item slots each. The items can be moved back and forth between the bags and thus be separated.
Storage boxes Not yet implemented, but also planned, will be the size of the storage boxes. Like the inventory, different tabs will be implemented there to manage items even better. Originally, a space of 60 items was planned here as well... But it is clearly too little, if not the entire farm is going to be crowded with boxes.
Farm plants My focus in the first half of August was on the cultivable farm plants. Apart from the herbs, flowers and trees, ALL crops are now implemented. Both the assets and the icons. This was quite a bit of work and some still need some sprucing up, but they are there for now! 15 base crops, each with 5 tiers, makes 75 different base field crops that can be discovered over the duration of the game (for the MVP status of the game).
Leaf Sheep Slug One of the creatures that can be caught. And no, this is NOT a magical creature. The Leaf Sheep Slug really exists and lives in the ocean (the green variant)! Crazy, right?! And it is super cute! The 3D model is now finished!
More Deco In between I create decoration-assets every now and then. This time a few new paths. And of course you can color them and create interesting combinations!
Outlook * Dialog system Still the dialog system of the NPCs. It works, but it needs to be better represented in the game engine for future use as a developer to get a better overview of the options. What you don't see: behind the speech options is a system of conditions when the NPC should say what or which options should be available when.
* Herbs For the 2nd part of the month the remaining herb assets are planned. Herbs will not be available in the variety as crops and they will also be cultivable in multiple seasons.
* Animal fooder This also wants to be able to be planted, harvested and used.
* Storage boxes Storage boxes should also get multiple slots for inventory storage.
So, for half a month this has become quite long. Thanks for reading and looking in! See you in September! Time really flies...!
Best regards, Isa
Visuals and more!
Hey everybody!
Currently, a lot is going on regarding the visual aspects of the game. Summarized:
- Concept art for Azriel (elf bachelor) and Kyle (human bachelor, name will change)
- Added a captivating, magical creature - a furr-ball with ears, awaiting a name worthy of its cuteness!
- Added the in-game transition from badlands to the magical forest and the assets for it
- Added season transitions (spring, summer, autumn and winter) and their assets (further color-adjustments will follow)
- Added secondary characteristics to the farm animals, e.g. intelligence, size. They can be increased through breeding and will be useful for animal-minigames or contests.
- I'm so crazy and started creating all the 3D models of the missing crops - that's the spring crops T4 and T5 and all the summer, fall and winter crops. I'm halfway done with them. Herbs, trees/bushes and flowers will follow....
- Revision of the Steampage & webpage (I still need to create a new trailer and screenshots as soon as the visuals are better)
Outlook for the next two weeks - All other crops on the farm, perhaps also the herbs. On a day I create about 2 plant types. A plant type consists of 5 levels (2 non-magical and 3 magical) and these consist of about 4-6 growth levels each. That means each crop has 20-30 assets. 4 plants per season (more can follow later) are 80-120 assets per season and 320-480 for the whole year. OOF! - The icons for these and add everything to the game - Smaller assets or improvements
Best regards, Isa
Bachelorette Ky'rah and Paint feature
Hey everybody!
finally, some news again! First: do you prefer more detailed news or just a summary like this one? Write it here in the comment section! :-)
Now... as previously announced, June was a bit more relaxed regarding the development of Magical Harvest due to appointments, vacations and our wedding. Nevertheless, the work didn't stop completely:
Paint feature for the decoration system It is now possible to color some objects. For some of them up to two different colors are possible at the same time (the limitation had to be there to guarantee a good performance). Actually, I only wanted that you can color crates to be able to distinguish them better... it ended up with a complete standalone feature...
Storage boxes and symbols There are crates of 3 different sizes in the game. The last storage box size will include several design variants. Symbols can be assigned to the boxes.
Bachelorette Ky'rah Ky'rah is our Ki'shen bachelorette. The illustration has now been completed by Lura Bachelorettes
More assets e.g. for the decoration system (incl. icons)
Outlook - Assets: the Environment will be in focus again. The "Badlands" and more forest assets. - Website: this needs to be updated again, as well as the presskit.
The next news will be on August 1st and from then on again 2 times a month.
Best regards, Isa
1.5 years Magical Harvest & Bachelor Valariel
Hey everybody!
This news is going to be a little longer, as I won't be writing again until the beginning of July. First of all, something personal: It's been 1,5 years since the project "Magical Harvest" started. Since then, a lot has happened and I'm expanding my skillset more and more. The visuals of the game are getting better and better as I learn new things. The same goes for programming. I've never worked on such a large project that involves so many features that have to be coordinated with each other! It's even more gratifying that programming is becoming more and more of a sideline as it gets easier and there are fewer bugs. I still enjoy working on MH so much that 12-14 hour workdays are no problem.
However, there is still a long way to go before the game gets MVP (minimum viable product) status. Above all - this in advance - it will not be a 2nd Stardew Valley or Sun Haven with zillions of items. That is not possible for a (currently almost) single person. However, my plan after the first release is to constantly expand the game, as it was the case with Animal Crossing, for example. In Animal Crossing, more than half of the decorations found their way into the game after release.
I'm still planning a Kickstarter campaign, but not until next year, since another farming game is already launching a campaign this year in October and I want to offer better graphics and content first. If the campaign is successful, I would like to hire at least a 3D artist and a writer to support it.
But now to the updates of the last 2 weeks:
GamePlay trailer In the first week I was busy with bugfixes, while I spent more time on video recording. This resulted in a temporary short GamePlay trailer. This shows the current state of the game. Based on feedback, I have already received more suggestions to improve the game visually. Another improved trailer will follow as soon as significant changes have been made (August, September).
Bachelor Valariel Valariel is finished - at least his illustration is. I'm still working on his model. Valariel is the Drakys bachelor and my own special character. I "invented" him already more than 7 years ago, so I connect more with him. You can find more information about his actual creation and personality in Magical Harvest here on Patreon.
Map of Hyldena Already in the last news I reported that I started with the world map/area map of Hyldena. This is a lot of work and takes a lot of time. I only take this time on weekends, so it is going slower. But here you can see the current state (UNFINISHED! Work-in-Progress!). There may still be sections that I'm not satisfied with yet.
Grid System In the game itself, my current focus is again on the grid (for decorating or placing farm plants etc). The grid was previously only very simplified for the farm usable, but now I have expanded it to incorporate more complex grid systems into the game. There is now also a grid in the house. Unlike Harvest Moon or Story of Seasons, all furniture in the house (including the bed) can be moved. The walls can be covered with different wallpapers, as well as the floor. Almost a bit like "The Sims". Also, there is no distinction between interior decoration or exterior decoration. So have fun with a garden in the house! Of course, there are small limitations. A barn or greenhouse cannot be built inside the house. Wall decorations and wallpapers are only possible for indoor spaces - since there are walls there.
Outlook June will be a bit of a slow month. I have some appointments in early June that will keep me from working. We are going on vacation at the end of June for a few days (premature honeymoon), Midsommer-Fest and after that my fiancée and I have visitors from Germany, as our wedding will be on July 1. So, plans for Magical Harvest are a little lower for this month.
- Deko-system: it will still play a role, as the functionality for the controller still must be built in - Map of Hyldena - 3D model of Valariel - Visual improvements / expansion of the assets
From the 2nd week of July I will be back for you. Until then all the best and enjoy the beginning of summer!
