Hello, everyone! Today I'm releasing Orange Season version 0.4, which changes a lot of things on the game:
The most important thing is that Rock Town and Orange Town were merged into one, with every Rock Town villager moving into Orange Town. While my initial idea was for the game to have three towns (Orange, Rock and Pudding), as I watched different people play the game I decided it was better to have everyone closer to the farm.
With the merge, Orange Town was redesigned to accommodate everyone. I also changed it so the whole town is loaded as a single area, to hopefully prevent people from getting lost on it (the map is still coming). Festivals are held on a special area on the north side of town, while your farm is now to the south (and bigger than before). The mountains and forests are on the same place as they were before, while the beach was temporarily removed.
The mountains and forests were also redesigned and are loaded as a single area now. Additional new forest areas were created to hold the special seasonal fields (all four of them are on the other side of the forest now, accessible only after the first fall season).
Those new huge areas may require a little more CPU power to run smoothly, so I took some time to make a lot of performance improvements to balance things out. I also added a new setting that will let you change the game to run at 30, 40 or 48fps if needed.
The art style was also improved, with changes to the grass, land and snow that reflect the changes made to the trees on a smaller update a few months earlier.
The fishing system and the way that the fish spawn was also changed. From now on, you'll see new fish shadows showing up and also disappearing as you walk by. If you use your fishing rod, they'll no longer swim towards your bait, so you need to throw it on their path. Bridges are usually the most effective places for fishing.
I've added many new conversations and cutscenes. I also changed some of the existing ones. From now on you'll start the game with a dog instead of getting one from Mia.
Due to some recent issues with the wild animals, this update will move all of them back to their original position. If you have already tamed any wild animal, you will need to pick them up again if you want them on your farm. The friendship level will not be lost.
Other than that, I've also balanced some item prices, changed spawn rates and fixed lots of bugs that had been reported.
If you haven't played in a while, there are also some more changes that were done on smaller updates that I didn't write any announcement for. Those changes include the possibility of crops dying, new hair and skin colors for your character, new types of fish and items, new options on the storage screen, new caves, new jewelry, a brand new database screen, the ability to jump over fences and a lot more. You can check the in-game changelog for a full list of changes.
Even though this update was huge, it is still not everything that I wanted to have ready for this version, so I'll be releasing a 4.1 update in a couple weeks to make up for it.
One last thing: yesterday the game completed 4 years in production. It's a very long time, a lot more than I expected it would take to finish the game, but things have been moving faster now, as I'm no longer working alone. While I'm still calling the shots on everything, I've three people helping me with the game now. They are:
Marcos Freire (RyanKamos), who has been working on the game art for over a year now.
Rafael Magnino (Rajuma), who's now helping me write the story, cutscenes and conversations.
And Bruno Nicodemos, who has already played the game for hundreds of hours and is now helping test and analyze bug reports.
Since I'm no longer alone, I'll soon be changing my dev name from Hudell Tales to "Tropical Puppy", the studio name we picked. This is just a heads up so you all don't need to worry if the name suddenly change. It'll still be me behind the game! Thank you all for playing it and I hope you enjoy the update. As always, let me know if you find any issue!
Orange Season Update 0.3
Hello everyone! Have you missed me?
It's been nearly three months since I released version 0.2.9 of Orange Season, but there's finally a new major version here: 0.3. This post will highlight everything that changed through every small update since version 0.2.9:
New Inventory
The main reason why this update took so long to complete, is that the whole inventory system of the game was remade. The previous system was more complicated than it needed to be (and that was one of the most common complaints that I used to receive). This new system is similar to many other PC games and should be much easier to use.
The main difference, is that you no longer pick items out of your backpack when you want to hold them. Instead, you only need to select a backpack slot to be the one that represents the item you're holding. The button that used to move items from and to the backpack (default to F and PageDown) is now used to change the selected slot. You can also press Ctrl + F to deselect the slot (leaving your hands free to use any tool). When playing with a controller, you can change slots with the triggers buttons (press both at the same time to deselect).
Another thing that changed is that you can no longer drop items on the ground. Once you pick an item you have to either use it, discard it or put it on a container (storage, shipping bin, etc). Dropping items was a feature that was rarely used on purpose, but many people often dropped items by accident while trying to gift villagers and other similar actions.
If you're using the mouse to play the game, you now need to right click food items on the item bar if you want to eat them. Right clicking anywhere else on screen won't do anything for food items. This should prevent you from eating items by accident.
The max number of items you can carry also increased. You now start with 10 item slots and can expand it to 30 slots maximum. The screen will only show 10 items on the itembar, but you can switch to the next 10 by pressing Tab (or back/select on the controller).
The ribbon tool was replaced by two separate skills: sleep and teleport. They work the same way as before, but you can now equip each of them separately.
New Interface
The changes on the inventory system required the interface to be reorganized too. I used this opportunity to redo the whole weather and health HUDs as well.
New Health System
The Sleepiness and Hunger hidden variables were removed from the game, while the fatigue level is no longer hidden.
The new system is based only on the stamina and fatigue levels. Basically, stamina depletes fast but can be recovered with items, while fatigue is only a problem if you work too much but can only be recovered by resting. You can now pass out if your stamina depletes completely.
Cooking System
The game finally has a cooking system. With 6 different cooking utensils and more than 80 recipe variations for 50 different dishes, you only need to expand your house once to be able to access it.
Time is now paused inside your house
Last year I opened a thread on the steam forums to ask everybody's opinion on pausing the time inside houses. After listening to the responses, I decided to change the game so that the time is paused, but only inside your own house. This way your house works as a safe space where the flow of time can't pressure you.
New Animations
Many game elements received new animations: pushing barrels, sleeping, passing out, waking up.
What's Next?
For the next two months, I'll stop adding new features to the game to start working only on content. This means that I'll be adding many new tasks, conversations, cutscenes, items, recipes and secrets. I'll also finally start working on the game's main story.
I hope you all enjoy the new stuff and please let me know if you find any bugs. Until next time!
Orange Season Update 0.2.9
Hello, everyone! Since the release of version 0.2.8, I have updated the game several times to fix bugs and include new content. I'm writing this new patch note to keep track of everything that changed. Here's the full list:
Moved Mia's house to Rock Town.
Added a Trash Can.
Added 9 new unlockable seeds.
Improved mouse support.
Trees will now become transparent when you stand behind them.
Added new gift reactions for Benjamin.
Made caves and night time become darker, but added light effects on the existing lamps.
The selected tool is now highlighted in the toolbar.
Changed blue crystal drop rate (small crystals are more common now).
Added shiny items random spawn.
Added Tomato Festival.
Auto Run is now enabled by default.
Changed the spawn rate of all items.
Added a lot of new items.
Added new option to choose a color scheme for the menus.
Added Dwarf Clouds.
Added Golden Oranges.
Changed default font and window style.
Improved interface elements on small resolutions.
Added achievements screen.
Fixed issue with empty item appearing on inventory.
Improved game performance.
New Setting: Max Frame Skip.
Several bug fixes.
Linux Version and Sountrack Available!
With the recent update, Orange Season is now also available for linux computers! To welcome the players from this new platform, the game is 20% off this week!
Additionally, starting today the game soundtrack is also available as a DLC for the game.
Orange Season Update 0.2.8!
Hello everyone! It's me again, with another new update for orange season! There's nothing big this time, but there are a lot of quality of life improvements:
Fixed hud flickering.
Fixed invalid location when moving between summer areas.
Added new villager conversations.
Improved calendar.
Changed general store layout.
Improved game performance.
Added Green Watering Can Update.
Added a New Shop Scene and used it on all stores.
Tool Upgrading now takes a few days to complete.
Added an option to sell animals.
Added an option to chat and gift villagers while they work.
Changed blue crystal drop rate to be less random.
Fixed issue that caused the rooster to never be delivered.
Fixed the Curupira's quest triggers.
Added option to shutdown the game from the pause menu.
Changed watered tiled soil color.
Fixed bug that could be used to duplicate items.
Fixed issue that caused objects to stop working if you were inside the mines at 6am.
Fixed issue that caused the game to crash on macs.
Fixed issue that caused the game to give the player free items when they don't have enough money to buy something.
The next big update I'll work on is the cooking system. If you've been following the game for a while, you may remember there used to be a very basic cooking system available in the earlier demos a few years ago, but I recently had a new idea for it that I want to try and I think you're all gonna like it too. There may be one more quality of life update before the new system is ready, but it should be complete by next month.
As usual, if you find any bug in the new update, please report it so I can patch it ASAP.
Orange Season Update 0.2.7
Hello everyone! It's been almost two months since the version 0.2.6 of Orange Season was released, but there's finally a new one. And it's packed with content:
Companion System:
One of the main features of Orange Season is finally available. For this version, there are seven companions available: Annie, Benjamin, Devin, Julia, Nathalia, Raphael and Viktor. Once you reach a friendship of at least one star level with any of those, you can give them a special gift and they will ask if you want them to hang out with you.
Each one of them has a special skill that is activated automatically when they are with you:
Annie will let you teleport to additional locations with no stamina cost!
Benjamin will slowly increase your friendship with animals.
Devin will slowly increase your friendship with male villagers.
Julia will make the time slower, giving you more time to finish your daily chores.
Nathalia will slowly increase your friendship with female villagers.
Raphael can get you discounts on some stores.
Viktor will increase your chance of getting good ore pieces when breaking ore nodes.
With the exception of Annie, the better your friendship with your companion is, the better will be the effect of their skills.
Lifting the Forest Spell:
Using the companion system, you can join Raphael and together figure out why there is a spell on the forest. You can solve the quest as soon as Raphael starts it, but the spell can't be lifted until the first year's fall season.
Once you finally lift that spell, you'll be able to access a total of 7 new areas, including the Forest of Eternal Fall, where you can grow fall crops all year long.
A lot more!
The game now includes patch notes detailing everything that was added with every minor update, make sure to check it to see the fixed bugs and the smaller features that were included.
By the way...
Don't forget to check the useful links listed on the discussion board! There are a lot of stuff you can use to follow the game's development closer:
Hello everyone! It's me again, with another Orange Season update. Check out what's new:
New Areas:
The old Desert Area was replaced by a new Summer Area, accessed through a new cave on the beach. Eustace and Muriel live in this new area now, on their very own farm. To go further into the summer area, you'll need to give Eustace some fruits in exchange for permission to use his bridge. Across the bridge, there's an area where you can plant summer crops regardless of the current season.
The Winter Mountains now have one extra area, where you can plant winter crops at any time.
In the back of the Ancient Ruins, there's a new area where you can plant spring crops regardless of the current season.
There's no Fall Area yet, it will be added in the next big update.
Daily Tasks:
In the center of Orange Town, there's now a signboard where villagers may post item requests. Those requests are generated randomly, based on some patterns. You need to deliver the requested items on the same day, or you miss the chance (there's no penalty if you miss it). Successfully completing a daily task will increase your friendship with the requester.
In this version, there are 7 patterns of daily tasks, for the following villagers: Viktor, Phi, Bonnie, Annie, Benjamin, Chloe, Devin
New Items:
Snake Venom
Frog Legs
Spoiled Apple
Spoiled Orange
Acai Berry
Cashew
Yellow Mombin
Starfruit
Persimmon
Plum
Blackberry
Raspberry
And More:
Recolored some more object sprites, such as chicken nests, mine carts, fireplaces, etc.
Replaced the TV sprite with a new, much better one.
New Resolution Options
Removed Breath System. Running no longer consumes stamina.
Reduced the chance of rain in the Fall and Winter
New Teleport Destinations
Young Animals will now be smaller (they'll grow gradually)
Added more wild animals
Reduced number of crops you need to ship before unlocking wild bunnies and monkeys
Reorganized item drop rate
Many other smaller bugs were fixed.
Orange Season Update 0.2.5
Recolor:
The game went through a huge process of recoloring, making the scenarios brighter and more vivid.
Some of the Winter Season scenarios were redrawn.
New Areas:
Path to Winter Mountain - Can only be accessed in winter
Winter Mountain - Once you enter this area, you can take the mine cart in Rock Town to come back to it whenever you want. This area is always on winter season, regardless of the time of the year
Path to Ancient Ruins - A new cave inside the gold mine, unlocked with a task.
Ancient Ruins - The ruins of an ancient civilization, this area is always in spring time, regardless of the time of the year.
Sprinklers:
Although not initially planned for the game, sprinklers have been a popular demand ever since the first version released on Early Access. This version finally includes a basic sprinkler, capable of watering a 3x3 area around itself (8 tiles in total).
To unlock the sprinklers, you need to trigger a cutscene in Devin's plotline.
Other changes:
The drop rate of rubies (from ruby nodes) was decreased from 100% to 60%. With the new area, the game has a much larger number of Ruby Node Spawn Points.
From now on, your dog will always be near your house door when you wake up (unless you leave him in some other area)
Candy Day was moved to Winter.
Billy and Cinth can now accept gifts once a week.
Orange Season Update 0.2.4
Hello everyone! I've released a new update patch today, to finally includes horses in the game.
Horses can be bought from Stella and are super fast. They can even climb stairs, so you can ride them and go anywhere you want.
Here's the full changelog:
Bug Fixes:
Fixed issue that prevented chickens from being sold
Fixed issue that caused animals and objects left inside the house to disappear when the house upgrade is completed
Fixed Fatal Error that happened when hovering a villager crop with the hoe or watering can equipped
Fixed Fatal Error that happened if you tried to knock on a door in the middle of a tool animation
Fixed an issue that caused the player to automatically eat a fish when you used the Eat/Use button to stop fishing
Improvements:
Improved the logic used to determine the area of effect of some tools
Changed seeds so that they are used with both "use" and "action" buttons when hovering a tilled soil
From now on, newborn chicks will never have worse traits than it's mother
Changed the time hud
More perfomance improvements
From now on, the rocks in the caves will reset every day, so you don't need to destroy the ones you're not interested on.
Removed some useless data from the save files
Removed spawn of regular rock items in the mine and fields
Changed the order of tools in the toolbar
Restored the ability to run while holding items
Increased copper drop rate
Copper and Silver drop rate increased to 100% in Blue Nodes
New Stuff:
Horses!
Added a basic calendar to the pause menu
Added a new special day: Candy Day
Added a new task for Phi
Added new Rock Town Villagers: Amanda, Gabriel and Ilda
Added Dashing Player Sprites
New resolution option: 1600x900
You can now have a male character with the female sprite or a female character with the male sprite.
Added new items in the general store: Chocolate, Sugar, Flour and Tea Bag
For Modders:
Added method to include new icons from separate images
Added method to include new items
Added method to include new characters
Added method to add/change a character schedule
Changes to the festival manager to make it easier for mods to include new festivals
Orange Season Update 0.2.3
Hello, everyone! I know it hasn't been a week yet, but here I am again with another update. This is the changelog:
Added new characters: Cinth and Rory
Added Rory's Farm House
Improved Billy Routine
Added new animals: Yaks, Mountain Goats and Ducks
Added new seeds: Cabbage, Broccoli and Chillipepper
Added Pat-Pat (Nathalia's cat)
Fixed issue with Serge's Routine
New Items: Yak Milk, Mountain Goat Milk and Duck Egg
Renamed Chicken Feed to Bird Feed
Added new cutscene with Raphael and Devin
From now on, Breaking an Ore Node will always give you an item, even if it is just clay.
Changed the speed boost you receive when riding animals
Fixed issue that caused weeds to grow over tilled soil and crops
Fixed issue that prevented the game from loading mods when it wasn't run through steam.
Changed game to automatically load images from mod folders instead of loading regular game images. This allows mods to replace game graphics without any code.
Increased silver node spawn rate
Increased chance of finding blue crystals
Added a screen effect to indicate a cutscene is being played. Also paused the music.
Fixed position issue with player animations
Fixed Every clock in the game (They now show the correct hour)
Fixed some grammar issues
Fixed issue that caused animals and objects in the farm house to be left behind when expanding the house.
Modders:
I've added many new methods to the content manager, to allow manipulation of villager's dialogues.
