Sure, it's been around since the enlightenment, but that was ages ago. If you're bored of physics, chemistry - and who isn't? Who wants to study rocks and rock-adjacent stuff? - Then perhaps it's time to look to the fringes? Alchemical Black Science! That's the really exciting stuff, and it's even more exciting because it's forbidden.
The bonus is you don't have to worry about all that pesky 'ethics board' nonsense. Watch the update video all about the new research lab: [previewyoutube="aeDp8B5R6aE;full"] Brains floating in a jar do all the work for us, how kind of them.
Adding a tech-tree full of research options has been a long time coming, and now the cackling mad scientist has arrived at last, I can continue to fill it up with all sorts of interesting additions, and 'New Stuff'. My plan is to first make the research tree of options broad (as in, at the very start of any game you can choose a wide array of ) and then deep (some research items need to be unlocked before others, and these can be chained together.) Do you 'go deep' on one particularly promising looking vein of research? Or do you instead dabble here and there in the shallow end?
Whatever you research; new monsters, new shops, upgrades and enhancements, they're going to improve your Zoo's Visitor Satisfaction Rating that we talked about last time.
One advantage of having a broad tech-tree is that you can start off a zoo in a very different way. There's no 'best build order', or at least, there'll be quite a number of viable options.
Guild of Cursed Zookeepers May Only Bonus!
Are you a member of the Guild Of Cursed Zookeepers? That's where you go to https://cranktrain.com/guild/ and link your Steam account to your Discount account for a free character named Kristof:
For the month of May only I'm also giving away 'Izsak's Skullish Mask':
It's a hat! Like in Team Fortress 2 or one of those games, just a fun bonus, and it exists as a Steam Inventory Item. If you head to the guild website and claim it now, you'll get it when the game comes out.
If it's something people (like you!) enjoy, perhaps we could have a free bonus gift like this every month? Let me know!
Till next time, Matt
What Makes A Monster Zoo Good?
What makes a zoo good? What makes a zoo bad? Obviously, when it comes to monster zoos, having some sort of fence-like-structure between zoo visitors and the terrible creatures is a good start, but what about the rest of the zoo? How important are litter bins, and illumination, and having enough food and drink shops, and bathroom cleanliness, and queue lengths for all these services? Well, they are important! Cutting corners is frowned upon for most zookeepers, and surely even more for cursed ones.
[previewyoutube="ifq1AFlQHxY;full"]
I hope you enjoy what is my longest and most in-depth development video yet! I think it gives the start of a good overview of what will make The Eldritch Zookeeper a deep, rich and super-rewarding game to play.
Game Design Philosophy Time:
Here's an opinion I have about certain management/tycoon games: sometimes, they're not really very deep or challenging.
Let me explain: there are some games where you build a Thing (a theme park, a hospital, a school, or whatever else) where all you do as a player is to build some things, wait for money to accumulate, maybe research some new things, build those things with the money, and repeat until there's nothing more to build. Don't get me wrong; lots of games with that sort of 'gameplay loop' are entertaining and relaxing, and it's satisfying to build a Thing the way you want to.
Still, something I want to accomplish in The Eldritch Zookeeper is to have the zoo simulation push back on you in different ways. I want there to be situations where certain aspects of the zoo you're building get stressed, or have more weight put on them, to test whether the zoo can handle them. The Zoo Satisfaction Rating system I talk through in the video is how I'm measuring where a zoo is at, where it's struggling and whether it's improving or floundering.
One nice aspect to the Zoo Satisfaction Rating is the way it looks at everything you do as a zookeeper. An important part of the Management/Tycoon subgenre is just letting the player build their Thing - in this case, a monster zoo - however they want. That sort of freedom and creative expression is something I want to encourage, and not squash by enforcing a certain Build Order, or 'Way You Have To Do Things'. If you want to focus on having lots of different, interesting monsters, the Zoo Satisfaction Rating system will reward you for that. If you want to focus on decorating your zoo nicely and making sure visitors get what they need, the rating system will do the same. Whatever you invest in will be rewarded, and at the same time there are the levers behind the scenes that can be tweaked to help you create a well-rounded zoo. And achieving that well-rounded zoo is, I hope, going to be a fun little puzzle for future players (like you!) to solve.
(Oh, and it's worth mentioning: if the player just wants to build for fun, in a relaxing way, without the game simulation seriously challenging the player, I absolutely want to allow the player to do that in a Free Build mode.)
Thanks for watching the video, I hope it makes you anticipate the game! Don't forget to wishlist the game, and if you want to join The Guild of Cursed Zookeepers simply visit: https://cranktrain.com/guild/ and follow the instructions. It's free! And in return you'll get Kristof, an exclusive playable zookeeper, as a Steam inventory item:
Thanks for watching and reading, I'll see you again soon! - Matt
Filthy Monsters Zoos!
Only a week since the last development update and here's another one! Take a look and watch the video below: [previewyoutube="7asepb85lM4;full"] Keeping your zoo clean is going to have a big impact on whether or not your zoo is successful and whether or not your visitors stay happy. If there's no incentive to build litter bins, why would you? But, of course, rubbish lying everywhere does not bode well for happy guests to your zoo - and reputation is important when it's directly linked to buying food for your monsters.
The user interface improvements shown in the video are just the start, part of how I'm reorganising the layout of what's-on-the-screen is also to make room for new display elements that I'll be talking about real soon...
Just like last week: if you want to get access to an exclusive and free new zookeeper character, Kristof, join the Guild of Cursed Zookeepers. It's quick and easy, and an excellent way to be involved in the development of the game. If I do a private beta for the game, it'll be rolled out to Guild members first (and, probably, no further than that) so, it's a good place to be.
More updates soon! - Matt
Character Customisation! Hats!
The first development update of the year! Here we go...
[previewyoutube="sQFN5EfTghw;full"]
As the video above goes into, I've really expanded the roster of different zookeepers that you can play as. My favourite is still Poppy:
She's just happy to be here, you know?
Kristof is exciting though, Kristof is a freely available zookeeper that is exclusive to The Guild of Cursed Zookeepers!
For everyone who visits the Guild website and links their Steam account, and joins the Discord server, they'll receive the Kristof, for free, when they get the game on release!
This is just a fun, extra little thing for people (like you!) who are following the game as it's being made, I certainly want to support and plug into the Steam community and ecosystem as much as I can. Things like Cloud Saves, Achievements, Trading Cards, and all that good stuff, are on my todo list, and if you have any requests or things that you like that other games do, I'm all ears. Free steam Inventory items is a good start though, I think.
More updates very soon! If you haven't added The Eldritch Zookeeper to your Steam Wishlist, please do! And, one more time, here's the link to join The Guild of Cursed Zookeepers: https://cranktrain.com/guild/
Until next time! - Matt
Bathrooms and Smoothie Shops!
Another game update for you! I've made another video and you can watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAi662Ehc1Q
In summary:
• Smoothie Shops! After having Ice Cream shops in the game, now it's not just food, there's drinks too
• Bathrooms! If there's both food and drink in the game, it makes sense the visitors will need something else, right?
I think a next step of mine is to let the player know exactly how well they are doing with meeting the needs of the zoo guests. Some kind of global Visitor Satisfaction Rating that runs from 0 to 100, and perhaps some way of breaking that down into specific needs as well. How well you're doing with satisfying visitor's desires is going to correlate with how popular your zoo is... which of course leads to how many new visitors are going to turn up, which in turn powers your economic engine that lets you keep expanding and feeding your existing monsters so they don't go absolutely mad and kill everyone. <- This is the Game Loop, as they call it.
That's it for now! Join us on our Discord for a closer look at development: https://discord.gg/cranktrain
Litter Bins, Ticket Booths and Benches for Visitors!
Another big ol' game update for you! Watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fvjXmE8rgw
In summary:
• Bins! Litter can become a big problem and lead to dissatisfied or even angry visitors. You'll have to build them at appropriate points all around the zoo, and keep them empty.
• Ticket Booth! A new visitor flow for entering and exiting the zoo, centring around buying tickets for the waistcoated, friendly helper near the entrance. Don't mind the mask, it's got a smile on it! That counts for something, right? Right?
• Benches! The metal bench can seat three visitors, letting them rest and keeping them happy. If they don't have seating, visitors are going to be quicker to leave and go home, but if they're in your zoo they can spend their money! Like bins, they have to be positioned all around the zoo, for easy access.
That's it for now! Join us on our Discord for a closer look at development: https://discord.gg/cranktrain
Hello! I've been working on a load of secret stuff that I can't quite show you yet (sooon), but I've decided to do another little update video with some improvements I can show you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F9Dp2N_oBc
• One thing I forgot to mention in that video - the day-and-night cycle looks waaay better! The nights are darker, making building lampposts (and future illumination structures that I'm working on) way more important to build. Visually, the game is more interesting as the colours and shadows and light level changes every few minutes as time progresses.
• The User Interface additions are really helpful. They work at different resolutions and aspect ratios and, compared with how it appeared before, look great. Buying stuff, changing your build options, setting up your shop configurations, it's stuff you do all the time, so it should be carefully designed. That's what I reckon, anyway.
More fun stuff coming soon! Here's a question for you: have you joined the Discord server yet? You should do it! https://discord.gg/C6TdkaP
Hello! Work on The Eldritch Zookeeper continues to continue! I've made another development update video all about some new time-travel functionality:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TuxS2mHCVw
It's going to make playing the game a lot more fun. In that video I also go into some of the thinking behind the new Hypnollama and Hypnollama Queen monsters that were debuted just a few weeks ago in the brand-new trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVuMhw7S1Kw
I'm working on lots of things behind-the-scenes, so more videos will come soon!
Oh, also, have you joined the Discord server yet? You should! We're a nice bunch of people: https://discord.gg/C6TdkaP
Introducing the HypnoLlama! (And the HypnoLlama Queen!)
The Eldritch Zookeeper has a new trailer! To announce not one, but two new monsters to begrudgingly welcome to the monster zoo.
The HypnoLlama is a friendly-looking thing, indeed of all the monsters it appears, on first glance, to be almost normal. But looks can be deceiving, and that is why I never open my eyes, not ever. Because when the HypnoLlama gets agitated, maybe you've let it go hungry, or you've let it get too close to humans, or another monster is biting it - it has the tendency to grow angry and take over lesser minds. 'Lesser minds', in this case, are your zoo visitors. Hypnotised guests are filled with a thirst for destruction and, left unchecked, can quickly turn a nicely ordered zoo into a chaotic mess.
The HypnoLlama Queen, if you can imagine, is even worse. It... sort of looks like a bunch of HypnoLlama's have melted into each other? Perhaps that's exactly what has happened? On one hand, sure, it doesn't take up much space, and doesn't move around very much. But when angry it is an order of magnitude more dangerous than your everyday, run-of-the-mill HypnoLlama.
You'll also notice from the trailer a new voice! The definitely-evil skeleton who seems quite responsible for the zookeeper's cursed situation is played by actor Scott Gilmour. Some voice acting is a great new addition that I'm really excited about.
Oh! Also! We now have a Discord Server! We're a pleasant, chill group, so if that sounds like where you want to be, and to hear about the game as development continues, you can join us here: https://discord.gg/C6TdkaP
I'm still hard at work making this game, so follow along for more news:
Spring-y Fog! Levitating Visitors! Brand New Inventory!
Oh look, it's another development update! Have a watch of the video below and see all the new, exciting developments as the game keeps growing:
In short:
Fog is better than it used to be. Invisible springs are the secret sauce.
Levitating zoo visitors! This is an exansion on the magic hands ability that lets the zookeeper lift heavy boxes and throw them around - one of the few upsides of being cursed!
This led to a rework of the inventory system, including the new blueprint item for designing and building the zoo.
Game settings! Not very exciting, but every game needs them.
I'm still hard at work making this game, so follow along for more news!
