Research Story cover
Research Story screenshot
Steam
Genre: Simulator, Indie

Research Story

📖 Mini-Devlog #8

[✨Update v0.4 is in development and will go live sometime in August!]



Greetings researchers!



Festivals and in-game events break up the pace in farming/life sims, show more NPC interactions, and build a sense of community between the townsfolk and the player. We're planning to add at least 1 festival per season, and some smaller events in Research Story. This will be done in parts as there's quite a bit of content to work through!

Spring and Summer Festivals 🌸☀️


The first two festivals to be added to Research Story are the Cherry Blossom Festival in Spring and Ice Cream Fair in Summer. Townsfolk have special dialogues as part of the festival. Festivals will also be unique in terms of minigames, festival shops, and other activities.

Note for players
If you're in season and don't wish to miss the festival, please save at least 1 day before the festival date! The festival will only be triggered when you sleep the day before it.
🌸Cherry Blossom Festival is on 11 Spring -> Save before/on 10 Spring.
☀️Ice Cream Fair is on 19 Summer -> Save before/on 18 Summer.
Of course, even if you missed the festival this year, you can still experience it in the following years!


🌸Cherry Blossom Festival🌸


Townsfolk gather to admire the transience of nature and the passing of time.

There's an activity called 'Spring Poems', where the player can participate in poem-writing and vote for their favourite poem (written by townsfolk)!
Spring Poems Board

☀️Ice Cream Fair☀️


Townsfolk enjoy the various ice cream made for the fair.

There's an ice cream-making activity for this festival! 🍦🍨 Players can gift their hand-made ice cream to the townsfolk and find out what their favourite desserts are. This is one part of the ice cream-making process:
Milk Pot Minigame

This v0.4 update should be ready a little later this month! If there's anything else you'd like to see in particular, we're always happy to hear from you!

Upcoming Soundtrack release on August 9


Meanwhile, we'll be releasing the Research Story Soundtrack on August 9, 6pm (PDT)! There are currently 31 tracks in the album ✨ More to come as we continue development!

These are all original soundtracks made for the game, from various artists: bosu, Shevone Seow, Tyd, Tomás Palazzi, and I have all made tracks for Research Story! If you'd like to support our amazing composers, do keep a lookout for it! 💚
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2483750/Research_Story_Soundtrack/

Stay tuned and thanks to everyone for all your support so far! <3
Miki

Hotfix v0.3.5
Fixed:
- Unable to use Origin Tracker after finding fish part and talking to Sesame.
- Stuck in fishing position after falling asleep at 3AM while fishing.
- Stuck in fishing position after sliding away from a water source while fishing.

Changed:
- Added a page counter to Research Shelf UI.

Thank you for your reports and feedback as usual!
Miki

Hotfix v0.3.4
Hello researchers! Pushing out another hotfix due to a crashing bug which I wanted to fix asap. There're also some minor QOL changes, as noted below. I'll be sharing about the progress for the next content update soon!

Fixes
- Fixed crash when walking into 'final room' in cave while animals are following.
- Blue Claw can now be used for the Magic Forge, just like other Fish Parts.

Changes based on player feedback
- In-progress and completed Research Samples now have differentiating icons in the inventory description.
- Composter ingredient additions:

  • Added Jellyshroom and Slimeshroom as Quality Fertiliser ingredients
  • Added Lavacress as Kelp Fertiliser ingredient

- Magic Forge ingredient additions:

  • Added Watercress, Lavacress, as well as various Fish Net drops as organic materials for the Magic Forge

- Some placed items now need to be hit twice in succession to be removed. This is to address the issue where some of these items often get accidentally removed while doing other things on the farm. These items are:

  • Well
  • Crafting Stations: Stone Forge, Magic Forge, Loom, Spinning Wheel, Mixer, Seed Sieve, Campfire, Dehydrator
  • Crafting Benches: Feed Crafter, Bait Press


Thank you for all your feedback and reports!
- Miki

Hotfix v0.3.3
A few more bugfixes!
- [Controller] Attempt to fix possible crash when interacting with the Auto-feeder.
- [Controller] Fixed being able to select two item slots when pressing Up and Left buttons simultaneously in the Auto-feeder Inventory.
- Fixed overlapping tooltip when cursor points to the trough and Auto-feeder at the same time.
- Fixed Journal UI's Information scrollbar.
- Fixed a missing collision bug when removing a bed while there is more than 1 bed in the room.

Thanks,
Miki

Mini-Devlog #7 Localisation in progress!

Hello Researchers!



This Devlog is about adding localisation to Research Story - it's a little more technical than our usual posts!

At this time, we can only confirm that we'll be localising the game to Simplified Chinese - we'll look into other languages in the future! Thank you to our Chinese fans who have been interested in the game and waiting for CN, it's on the way!~ ❤️

Localising the game - properly! 📝✨


Together with Electronic Sheep Games, who have been working on the localisation of the texts itself, I have been working on the implementation of the localised texts into the game. While our Demo has localisation, I wanted to do things in a better way for our Early Access version. This is so that when we plan to have more languages in the future, it wouldn't take as long to do so.

With over 5000 rows of texts in Excel and over 45,000 words (and counting), it's no simple task! This is a snippet of how Kipp's Dialogue data looks like:

It has a unique ID (state), English texts for normal dialogue and options, and the translated columns.

All other texts, from a single word in a UI such as "Research" to Item Names and Descriptions all require similar treatment.

I had to make sure that each line was read from the Excel Sheets instead of being written directly into the game engine itself. If there were any in the engine, I had to move it to the Excel Sheet and give it a unique ID to reference in the code. Even though a large part of the game was already written in the Excel, I still spent maybe 4-5 full days (8 hr+) replacing the remaining written texts with the unique IDs. I did so much Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V and other Ctrl Shortcuts that my left pinkie started hurting even after a night's sleep 😰😰 Glad to say it's all good now, and most of the intense copy-pasting due to my prior lack of foresight have been completed 🎉🎉


Being a Chinese Singaporean, I feel particularly excited when seeing CN in the game! Since I can read a bit of Chinese, it feels like I'm playing RS for the first time again - the texts are so refreshing. And yes, I was influenced by my Chinese roots when creating the General Store and its characters! ❤️

Other Visuals 🔍


Other than the game title, there aren't many texts in-game that was drawn as an image (thankfully!). The Darts Minigame is one part of the game that has drawn texts, which would require appropriate localisation too:


Keeping optimisation in mind 💭


In our Demo, there were some optimisation issues where adding CN led to longer loading times when changing the language and when returning to the main menu. This was mainly due to the loading of fonts, and I've prevented those issues from happening in our Early Access build!

What's Next 📝


We'll be doing QA for the localised build before offering it in one of the future updates. Again, shoutout to Electronic Sheep who has been doing great work!! We're excited to share the update with you when it's ready.

I'll be going back to bugfixes + ramping up the next part of content updates, which I need some time to think about!

Hope everyone's been enjoying the v0.3 update so far!

Miki

Hotfix v0.3.2
- [Controller] Fixed a crash that can happen when using the inventory/chests.
- Fixed a bug where Rhea's "Beginnings of a Bestiary II" quest shows up in the quest list even after completing it.
- Fixed a visual bug where Rugs are drawn on top of the bed, when placing a bed on top of a Rug.
- Fixed a bug that shows [Bug: Text cannot be read from file.] as dialogue when talking to Rhea.

Thank you for your reports! I've also been working on some localisation implementation, which I'll share more about in an upcoming mini-devlog!
Miki

Hotfix v0.3.1
- Fixed a rare bug that causes a crash when sleeping to the next day.
- Related to above, if you had placed any Auto-tappers in the Mushroom Forest, they will be removed after sleeping to the next day. You can still retrieve them before the end of the day.
- Fixed being able to place Auto-tappers on the ground.

Thank you for your bug reports!
- Miki

Alfie's Awesome Automations is Out Now!


Greetings Researchers!

We're happy to bring you our very first major content update, 'Alfie's Awesome Automations'!

This update focuses on automation in the game. We decided to work on this aspect of the game for a few reasons:

  • It gives a new progression goal for players to automate and optimise their farms.
  • It is an important part of base management, and contributes to overall QOL of the game by reducing repetition of tedious work.
  • Alfie's Shop exterior was already added the game, but with a placeholder to prevent entry as it did not make it for the initial release. Now, all existing buildings in the game can be entered.

Automation Features



Farming: Sprinklers, Sun Lamps! 💧☀️


Three tiers of sprinklers and sun lamps can be unlocked, covering a 3x3, 5x5, and 7x7 area. Sprinklers and Sun Lamps can be stacked to make use of the same tile.



Ranching: Auto-Collectors, Bell Tool 🔔


Auto-Collectors can be placed on the farm, and collect both creature drops and produce from adjacent pens.

The Bell Tool can be purchased for easier management of creatures. Ring the bell using Right Click to make creature followers go back to their pens. Ring the bell using Left Click to make all followers go back to their pens. The Bell only works in the Farm area, where pens are located.



Crafting: Bait Press and Feed Crafter 📦


We've heard feedback from several players, saying that crafting from the inventory can get tedious after some time when clicking through the menus. After considering several options, we decided to add two items: Bait Press and Feed Crafter, which can quickly craft some of the oft-required items. These crafters also pull from adjacent chests - one of the things we've heard players want to see!



Resource Gathering: Fish Nets and Auto-Tappers 🐟🌳


The Fish Net can yield certain items every 3-5 days when placed in water with bait. It usually yield mollusks, shells, and other items but can sometimes yield fish. We balanced it this way so that Fish Nets don't diminish the purpose of some creatures that help with getting fish.

The Auto-Tapper works on Fir trees and Maple trees, getting tapped materials every 4 and 10 days respectively:
- Resin from Fir trees
- Maple Syrup from Maple trees

In the end, this scene looks very Stardew-esque. While I tried to add new things (e.g. Lily Pads that can be placed in water), this resource-gathering mechanic is just so simple and intuitive that I didn't change it much. I hope players will enjoy it regardless!

Decor Sets and Items 🪑


We've added some decor sets and items, along with some rotateable furniture (Chairs and Lily Pads to start with).


Full v0.3 Patch Notes


We've also added a bunch of other content, fixed bugs, and made some balancing changes to the game. They can be found in the full v0.3 Patch Notes here.

Research Story is on Sale until July 13!


During the Steam Summer Sale, Research Story is 10% off!

Thank you to everyone who has supported the game in one way or another. You've been an important part of the development of Research Story and I'm excited to continue building the game with you! If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, I'll be here to read them.

What's next 📝


I'll be spending some time on the outstanding bugs (I know there are some bugs that have persisted for a few patches, I'll be looking at them again ;; ). Along with that, I'll be cleaning up the code base, which may not translate to new things immediately but will be good for the game in the long term. It'll also mean starting to implement localisation (specifics TBA).

Once I feel more ready to tackle the next content patch, I'll share more about it! I'm thinking of working on NPCs next. As usual, I'll keep in touch using Mini-Devlogs and on our Discord!

Happy Researching!
- Miki

Research Story v0.3 Patch Notes


New Mechanics and Gameplay Improvements



  • Added Sprinklers that water crops automatically.
  • Sun Lamps can be stacked on top of Sprinklers. Their effects will be combined while only using 1 tile space.
  • Sun Lamps (and Sprinklers) show their area of effect before placement.
  • Added resource-gathering items - Fish Nets and Auto-Tapper.
  • Added Bell Tool that herds creatures back to their pens.
  • Added Auto-Collector to collect drops and produce from creatures.
  • Some items, such as Fish Nets and Lily Pads, can be placed on water.
  • Some items, such as Chairs and Lily Pads, can be rotated when placing.
  • Tilled soil can now be removed using the Hammer tool.
  • Ability to craft Cooked Fish & Cooked Meat with Campfire.
  • Added a 'Fishing' category to the Crafting Tab. Fish-related items, such as Fish Bait, can now be crafted from there (instead of from the Ranching category).
  • Added 'Crafting Benches' to allow for quick crafting of certain items.
  • Improved detection for Creature Pens and Troughs for Controllers.

New content


Items:

  • Automation:
    - Basic Sprinkler
    - Gold Sprinkler
    - Chroma Sprinkler
    - Gold Sun Lamp
    - Chroma Sun Lamp
    - Auto-Collector
    - Bell Tool (Upgradable)
    - Fish Net
    - Auto-Tapper
    - Bait Press
    - Feed Crafter
  • Decor Sets and Items:
    - Snowman
    - Mini Fir
    - Chestnut Furniture Set
    - Cherry Furniture Set
    - Maple Furniture Set
    - Fir Furniture Set
    - Furniture Sets include:

    • Bed
    • Bedside Table
    • Chair
    • Table
    • Round Table
    • Wardrobe
    • Dining Table
    • Wooden Seat
    • Buffet Table
    • Wall Shelf

    - Rugs:

    • Maroon Rug
    • Cherry Rug
    • Honey Rug
    • Forest Rug
    • Cream Mat

    - Flower Baskets:

    • Chamomile
    • Wild Violet
    • Sunflower
    • Eggbloom
    • Starburst
    • Caffodil
    • Hydranbear (Coral)
    • Hydranbear (Pink)
    • Hydranbear (Lilac)
    • Pitch Lily

    - Barrels:

    • Covered
    • Potato
    • Carrot

  • New items that can be found using the Fish Net:
    - Water Snail
    - Apple Snail
    - Mussel
    - Peach Mussel
    - Slug
    - Lemon Slug
    - Slimeshroom
    - Jellyshroom
    - Lily Pad
    - Lily Pad (Teal)
    - Lily Pad (Lime)
  • Food:
    - Cooked Fish
    - Cooked Meat
    - Maple Syrup
    - Lavacress
  • Misc
    - Fish Bait Crafting Recipe
    - Snowman Crafting Recipe
    - Mini Fir Crafting Recipe
    - Ground Beetle (chance to drop from breaking rocks/logs).

NPCs:

  • New Townsfolk: Alfie the Tinkerer. Alfie arrives in Shimmerbrook on 16 Spring of Year 1.
  • New Shop: Alfie's Awesome Automations.
  • 100+ lines of additional dialogue among the NPCs. More dialogue will be added as we continue development!
  • NPCs can sometimes talk about another NPCs' gift preference.
  • Updated NPCs' gift preferences for the new items.

Music:

  • 5 new OSTs! One new track per season + one additional track for rainy days. Thanks to Bobby, DT, Shevone, and Tomás for their beautiful soundtracks! <3
  • Updated Main Menu music.

Balancing Changes



  • Increased item pickup radius from 14 to 18.
  • Brown Wool adds 3 ticks instead of 2 to the Spinning Wheel.
  • Increased time taken for wild animals to eat from a feed bowl from 3 to 5 seconds. The duration shortens to 0.5 seconds once the creature has been tamed.
  • Shipping Price of a Stick decreased from 2G to 1G.
  • Adjusted drop rate of Sticks from trees.
  • Moved the unlocking of Mines from 14 Spring to 10-11 Spring (depending on when/whether conditions are met).

Bugfixes



  • Fixed incorrect line breaks for item descriptions in Shops.
  • Fixed being able to 'drop' important items such as Research Scrolls onto the ground when sorting chests with full chest and bag inventory.
  • Fixed one instance of being unable to interact with animals/wild plants which happens when switching from a Watering Can to a different tool while trying to water a tile.
  • Fixed Wall Decor incorrectly overlapping with some items during placement.
  • Fixed items incorrectly overlapping with Beds.
  • Fixed one of Yan Yan's favourite gift dialogue not being triggered when gifting the item.
  • Fixed incorrectly completing objective during 'Unidentified Fish Part' Quest when researching an item that is not a Fish Part.
  • Fixed 'Research Complete'! popup showing when fishing even after research was completed and before the scroll is claimed.
  • Fixed a bug where Hydranbear (Lilac) would have an error in its sprite drawing.


Happy Researching!
- Miki

📖 Mini-Devlog #6

[✨Update v0.3 is in development and will go live in early July!]



Continuing from our Mini-Devlog #5, we're implementing several new items and mechanics to the game. Here are some highlights:

Bait Press and Feed Crafter 📦


One of the common feedback we hear from players is that the crafting system in the game gets tedious when having to craft certain items (such as feed bowls) frequently. While we'd like to keep the current crafting system, we also wanted to introduce ways to reduce tedium in crafting. Introducing - Bait Press and Feed Crafter! These Crafting Benches take from the players' inventory and surrounding chests to craft all types of bait and feed. If players like it, we'll consider adding more benches in the future!


Auto-Tapper and Fish Nets 🌳🐟


We added the Auto-Tapper and Fish Nets for players to gather more types of resources. Some new crafting recipes require Resin, so the Auto-Tapper would be a consistent way to gather the material!

As for Fish Nets, we wanted another way to gather fish passively. In the beginning, we planned to add an 'Auto-Fisher' - but after thinking about it more, we decided that Fish Nets was the way to go. When I hear the phrase 'Auto-Fisher', I think of a machine that can catch lots of fish quickly. This wasn't the route we'd like to take, as 1) it diminishes the fishing mini-game, and in turn 2) makes certain creatures related to fishing less useful. A Fish Net would still have a chance to catch fish, but also all sorts of items, ranging from Water Snails to Lily Pads.


Removing Tilled Soil with Hammer 🔨


Finally adding this!! I know it's been on the wishlist of some folks. Soon :)


Decor Sets, some rotatable furniture 🪑


We've added more decor to the game, and will continue to build on top of the current system and content in each major update! Here are some furniture in the 'Cherry Wood' set. Currently, only certain decor can be rotated, but we have plans to expand on that in the future too. Ideas are always welcome!


Thank you to the Research Story community! 🥰💖


Some of these changes, such as the Feed Crafter, was inspired by our Discord community! Be it the Discord, Steam, or even Google Forms, I'm always grateful for all the feedback and comments from players. These comments directly impact how the game is being developed. Being mostly a single developer, I'm always reading what players have to say and trying to reflect them in the changes I make.

As I was working on the update, I felt very thankful for all the support we've had for our game so far. Your support has allowed and encouraged me to continue building the game to the best of my ability. So, thank you all so much! <3

See you soon!
Miki
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