Hello Pachans!! This is a mammoth-and-a-half-sized đ update for the game! Weâve added irrigation, expanded caves, romance and dating, a complete overhaul to the ui, new character portraits, and more! (more info on those in devlog #19, #20, #21). In this devlog, we cover a few new ideas, trading, animal updates like racing, and a whole lot more listed at the bottom of the devlog.
We canât wait for Be-ta Backers to play (and send their feedback too!). For those anxiously waiting the game, weâll have a demo in June we hope youâll enjoy. đ„đ„đ„
Thereâs still a âroad to be walked,â with lots of content to develop, but weâre more than happy with the state of the game right now. To celebrate, weâll be doing a live stream with SharkyGameson Tuesday, April 12th at 10 am PDT on YouTube đ„łđ„ł Hope to see you there!
The Ideas of Ideas
"Ideas" are one of the most important aspects of the game. We implemented and tested a few processors in the Alpha that are now "Ideas" in the Beta. For example, you'll help Tare develop a Press that helps the clan juice more things.
Once you explore deep into the caves, you'll find tin that will spark an "Idea" on how to work with this new material. From there, you'll be able to upgrade your sickle and make a tin bucket that holds more water.
Make watering your crops even quicker by developing the Idea of irrigation with Garrek. After he sees you using your new tin watering can, he will have an idea he would like to discuss with you.
Trading
Our Pachan friend, Zelk, returns to the clan along with his partner, Nari, and their daughter Era, who have never met the clan before. Through Zelk, we'll get the "Idea" to trade with others, giving us the ability to get resources that are harder to find.
Social
We need each other to not only survive, but to thrive. In this update, we implemented more of the social side, which was many, many months in the making.
Dialogues
All characters now have a minimum of ten dialogues. The two romanceable characters in Beta Frer and Mana have over 50 and 40 dialogues, respectively. We feel this is a good "first coat of paint" on the social system and something we look forward to expanding upon for release.
Gifts
All characters have a set of loved, liked, disliked, and hated gifts that will affect your friendship with them with unique dialogue associated. You can also get an extra boost to friendship if you give them a gift on their birthday, especially a loved gift.
A Few New Looks
While redesigning the portraits, we gave a few characters a fresh look in the world that better fit their personalities and added to our cast.
New Place To Get Things
Decorate with things that Reese made. Visit her and find what items will help you turn your hut a home.
She will also have some extra fabric that will allow you to expand your belt and carry more items as you travel the land.
Animals
Racing
In the Alpha, we could only race with others in multiplayer. Now, you'll be able to race Mana and Jelrod every Saturday. It also will become part of clan culture and something near and dear to some of the characters. We look forward to telling you more about this as we expand this Idea.
Animal Updates
We had a few animals with color variations in the game, but we thought it was time for guanacos and bison (who are now rideable) to get some new styles. You can also gather fur from boars by shearing them.
Improved Mini-Game
Like fishing before it, we felt it was time to give this game a little more polish. To attune to an animal, you will play the game until you fill all the notes. It may take you one try or a few. Some animals will be harder to tame than others.
The Lore Expands
The story is something we don't want to spoil for those who wish to discover it for themselves, so we'll remain tight-lipped on many parts. So instead, we will tell you the question we hope to answer: what brought us to the Land Between Two Rivers?
Caves have been a spiritual place throughout human history and we aim to honor that legacy with a thoughtful experience and a dash of humor. We hope you'll enjoy the adventure.
Quality of Life
We now have full controller support! This not only offers us a better experience now, but it will help us when we develop for consoles later.
We now have an easier-to-navigate UI. This was a massive undertaking that took a lot of time and attention. You can read more about it in devlog 21.
Weâll have a Mac OS build in the near future. So our alpha and beta backers who prefer to play on mac should have access soon.
Mark Your Calendars!
After a busy few months, we wanted to hang out with the community again, so weâll start a new save and stream the game on Tuesday, April 12th at 10 am PDT on YouTube. Plus, weâll be raffling a few Beta Keys! We hope to see you in chat!
Weâve mentioned it a few times in the Discord, but we are excited to announce we will have a demo on Steam in June. We canât wait for people to play! Stay tuned for more info.
Hello Pachans! With only one month left of development until the Beta milestone, lots has been done in Roots of Pacha and thereâs still more to come. In this devlog, weâll focus on two big changes: the intro to the game and the new UI.
New Beginnings
With Beta backers gaining access to the game in a month, we thought now would be a great time to focus on and test out how players are introduced to the game. We wanted to create something that wasnât overwhelming for new players yet not too intrusive for those familiar with the genre.
In the stone age, ideas were passed on through stories and art. On day one, Igrork will introduce you to the concept of farming and youâll receive your first cave-art tutorial on how to farm. If you are familiar with the game or the genre, these âpop-upsâ are easy to close and will be something that people can revisit later in a future update.
After this initial tutorial, other timed events will follow, like introducing other ideas, the opening of the caves, beach, and savanna. Spreading out these events allowed us to tie them more closely to the story of the world without intruding too much on how the player spends their time.
The game will also have its first âquestsâ introduced that will reward you once you complete them.
The story of how you arrived to Pacha's lands will be further integrated into the early stages of the game, but the full story will be told at the gameâs launch.
New UI
Great UI helps with accessibility and clarity, so this is something weâve given a lot of attention to over the past few months with a complete overhaul. The new look and improved functionality will help us lay the groundwork for future integration with controllers and consoles later.
This new style gave us a chance to spruce up the charactersâ portraits. We loved the previous art, but this new look is far more expressive and a direction weâre excited to continue.
With the new UI, youâll be able to track your friendship status and what gifts they liked (or didnât) and see when their birthdays are.
Thank you for your continued support. Weâre just making a game about community and the importance of kindness, but we canât help but hope life would imitate art a little more. Stay safe out there. If you can, weâd appreciate it if you did one extra kind act like buying coffee for the person behind you in line, donating to a worthy charity, or picking up litter. The little things add up. The world needs it right now. đ§Ą
You rock! The Soda Den Team
Devlog 20: đ A Deeper Meaning
Hello, Pachans! Love is in the air and the clan is feeling it too. In this devlog, weâll focus on two aspects of the April 8th update: romance and caves.
Depths of the Heart
Although Pachans donât celebrate Valentine's Day, theyâve been in a romantic mood lately. In the next update, youâll be able to date and form a union with Frer, Mana, and two other characters.
In an earlier update, Frer had 2 âworldâ cutscenes added to the game that told a little bit of his story. The upcoming build will have 3 additional âpersonal events.â
Whatâs the difference between âworldâ and âpersonalâ events you say? Glad you asked! World events are triggered by going to a specific location between certain times and will include all players, if playing in multiplayer. These types of events often carry over into the dialogue and daily routines affecting the world as well.
A âpersonal eventâ is player-initiated through dialogue and includes only that character and the person who initiated it. If playing in multiplayer, everyone else will go about their business as usual. These events are more like âdatesâ or hanging out with a friend, in some cases.
Once you gain enough flowers with Mana, Frer, or one of the other dateable characters, youâll be able to pursue a relationship with that special someone and give them a kiss for a small boost in your relationship.
Once you reach 10 flowers, you can form a union! A union consists of a short ceremony with a reception following right after. At the reception, youâll be able to walk around in your union attire and chat with guests before heading back to the village with your new partner in life.
This will continue to be expanded on beyond what will be in the next interaction of the build. We want your partner to be a meaningful part of your life and continue to have a life of their own as well.
Depths of the Soul
Youâll cross into the edges of the spirit world in the forest cave. There, youâll meet some totem guides that will help you through its mysterious depths.
Throughout the cave youâll find challenges to test your ability to observe the world around you. This iteration of the caves is just the beginning with more totems and puzzles planned for the future.
Depths of Gratitude
February 22nd is the one year mark from when we first launched the Kickstarter. Itâs been beyond a dream come true. Because of all the backers and the support of the community as a whole, this game will be something even better than what we first imagined.
Over the last month, thereâs been a resurgence of attention for our little game thanks to one of our artists posting on Reddit and an article on PC Gamer. To all those who have been around since Kickstarter or before, we hope you join us in welcoming the new folks to our community. The fact that so many people are interested in a game centered around discovery and kindness is truly inspiring.
You rock! The Soda Den Team
Devlog 19: đ§ Fresh Waters
Hello Pachans!
Weâd like to wish you all a Happy New Year! Let 2022 bring you plenty of warmth, bright moments, and happy memories. 2021 was an amazing year for us, full of surprises, events, and unwavering support from our community. To our Kickstarter supporters specifically, thank you for believing in us from the start, spreading the word, and giving us a chance to fulfill our dream. We quickly smashed the initial goal and ended up 1,115% funded!
It was a wild ride, hitting stretch goal after stretch goal, with many happy tears shed.
Following the Kickstarter, we were able to achieve another enormous milestone: a playable Alpha. Since then, weâve released 6 major Alpha updates, each containing new game mechanics, overhauls, and polish.
Your feedback has helped us improve Roots of Pacha and shape the game to become the best possible experience for players. As we continue to work on the game, please keep it up! Weâre paying attention to everything you have to say.
At the end of 2021, we spent time scheduling things for next year and evaluating the teamâs progress. Here are our plans for 2022:
Our next update will be Beta
Those who pledged at the Beta level will get access to the game on April 8, 2022! This will be a huge milestone for us and we canât wait for more players to try out the early version of the game. This date gives us an extra month in our development cycle so that we can polish this juicy update.
New Ideas
As ideas shape our world, they continue to do so in Roots of Pacha. New Ideas like Hammering, Trading, and Irrigation will find their way into the Beta.
Item Placement
Make your decorative mark on the village and place items where youâd like. Players will no longer be limited to placing items in the fields.
Dating and Marriage
Eyeing that special someone? We will add 4 datable characters with which you can eventually form a union. Each character will have their own series of cutscenes, so you can get to know them a little better. Their dialogues will be expanded following the Beta, but we can't wait for you to learn more about our first 4 datables.
Polish
Our mini-map reflects the village you create (including your crops), so it felt only natural to have it reflect the season as well.
Weâve been working on adding a new layer of polish to the game with new UI and updated character portraits.
And More
Weâll expand on these and other updates in the future as we continue to do our monthly devlogs. So stay tuned for more. đ„
If you still havenât joined our Discord, be sure to do so. We have alpha/beta key giveaways, mini-games, and much more to discover!
Release
After taking a hard look at what we wanted in our 1.0 release, and considering the increased scope that came with Kickstarter, we realized we need more time than our initial projection of Q2 of 2022. Our current plan is to release in late 2022.
This was not a decision we made lightly, as we strived to find the right balance of getting the game into your hands as soon as possible and how much content can be made to create a complete experience.
We take pride in our game, story, and community. Even if we too wished we could release sooner, we feel that given a little extra time, we can offer a more polished and meaningful experience - one that is worthy of you, who make this all possible.
We believe the future of this game is brighter than ever. The community centered around a game about kindness and cooperation has only grown. The team has only gotten stronger, and the dream of two brothers has become so much more.
