I hope you are all doing well, whether you find yourself in the warming summer weather, or if things are beginning to cool off on your side of the world. Work has been steady as usual, with a lot of proofreading, designing, coding, and of course, a lot of packaging, as the last of the physical Kickstarter rewards were sent out last month.
Now, letās take a peek at whatās been underway recently and how development has gone over the last month.
Wholesome Direct
We were delighted to be back at the Wholesome Direct, after making our debut with the cozy showcase last year! Not only did we get to show off a small clip of footage which you can watch on our YouTube channel if you missed it, but we were also invited to have our own Tabbal added into the design of one of the two Wholesome Direct t-shirts being sold in support of the Galaxy Fund, uplifting BIPOC, femme, and queer game creators.
You can learn more about the fund and this yearās and previous recipients by visiting supportgalaxy.fund. Hereās the design below, can you spot Tabbal in the bunch?
Game Updates
A great deal of progress has been made since our last write-up. Last week brought with it the 'Marigold' (0.4) content patch which was bundled with a wealth of new features and changes. Trading in The Garden Path has seen a complete overhaul. Reflecting on user feedback, it seemed the currency-less philosophy was well-received in concept, but the mechanics could be confusing at times.
With small bars and big bars cluttering up the inventory, each with different colours and often-unclear meaning, trading could become mostly guess-work. The new system takes that guess-work away by bringing itemsā characteristics to the forefront. Characters will now make their requests through a series of 'slots' you can fulfill with the variety of items in your inventory.
The requests are seeded, meaning that while each request is uniquely generated, the generated result will always be the same depending on what you wish to buy. That way if you don't have what you need, you can return with the right items and be free from any surprises (although, the seeds may change between updates!)
'Popsticks' are a new collectible obtainable in the Garden, each representing the different available family of plants you can grow.
But, perhaps more importantly, you can spend your popsticks via the new garden 'projects', placing them to help you plan and visualise areas of your Garden. The new 'Garden Designer' helps you quickly plot out how you want your garden to look.
Projects are automatically named based on the size of the design, and the plants that you've selected to use. Projects are kept and remembered in your inventory, so you can put one down and start another, or as many as you would like.
The new Community Centre is open for business, now found in the starting acre just across from the shrine. The Community Centre is made of three parts, two of which are now available. The first: the Community Board. Currently you can take the projects from your inventory, and initiate them; taking the plan you've made and blocking it out into the actual game world, allowing you to easily plant the right seeds in the right places, and track your progress.
Soon you'll be able to assign different residents of the Garden to help work on your projects too. The Community Board will soon also be a hub of activity, giving you a clear idea of what's on, and what to look forward to in the coming days.
The second part is the new Compost Bin, found on the right-most side. Here you can dump any and all harvestables and botanicals you've collected in exchange for popsticks - the greater the quality of items you compost will yield a greater number of popsticks, and the greater variety, the rarer the popsticks you will qualify for. A good way to clear up inventory space, and build up your collection in return.
But who should come and collect the compost other than new garden-frequent, Worm! Worm has a penchant for fine bio-degraded garden waste and will be the one delivering your popsticks each day, should you have offered up items to compost the day prior. Keep an eye out, and be sure to say hi.
Finally, a large amount of under-the-hood work has at last been pushed to the public build as of 0.4.1, most importantly the new world-streaming system which should significantly reduce load times and memory use in short play sessions. This is an important stepping stone in making the game more stable and optimised, in preparation for our Kickstarter stretch goals - Nintendo Switch support and local multiplayer.
Your usual reminder!
And as always, here is your reminder that you can join our official Discord Community server, which you can join here. Here you can chat with the team, meet fellow backers, and help me shape The Garden Path. And of course, we encourage you to share your real-life gardening with your fellow gardening gamers. šŖ“
We are well on our way into Spring now and as we inch through the year we get ever closer to the release of The Garden Path! While work continues behind the scenes, we took a big step at the end of April as we placed 100 early access copies of the game on itch.io (with only 35 left)!
For now, though, letās head into whatās new in The Garden Path.
Game Updates
An updated character creator screen is now available, not only providing many more increments between each option but also including an entirely new slider to select your character's hair colour separate to skin tone. This means the total number of options has increased from 22 to almost 2,000! Changes also include better contrast from darker skin tones, as well as silver or greying hair.
Mulches have been added to the game, stocked and sold by Buttercup. Mulches are a way to further customise your garden. You can adjust the level of the soil to better accommodate different plants, choose to speed up, slow down, or totally halt the growth of the plant, and also cast the plant in a permanent state of spring, summer, autumn or winter, either to capitalise on certain harvestables, or change the look of certain trees throughout the Garden.
And coming very shortly: conker battles! Put your collected conkers to the test against residents of the Garden, collect winnings and build up a win streak. Villagers will challenge you to a match, and you'll pick which of your conkers you're willing to risk. Soon you'll be able to customise your conkers, and they'll change in hardiness and appearance depending on their age or which botanicals you apply.
Your usual reminder!
And as always, here is your reminder that you can join our official Discord Community server, which you can join here. Here you can chat with the team, meet fellow backers, and help me shape The Garden Path!Ā And of course, we encourage you to share your real-life gardening with your fellow gardening gamers šŖ“
100 Copies of The Garden Path are now on offer on Itch.io! ššæ
Hello gardeners,
I'm just stopping by with a small but exciting update for you all today~
I'm thrilled to announce that 100 early access copies of The Garden Path are on sale RIGHT NOW on Itch.io ahead of the full launch on PC, Nintendo Switch, and Linux later this year! š
Itch.io is the place to be, to walk The Garden Path early, to make friends, to make tea.
While this decision came partially from the desire to give those who missed out on backing The Garden Path during our Kickstarter last year another chance to support the game, this limited release also serves as a thank you to everyone for everything you've done to encourage and strengthen this game, this community, and myself and the team. Truly none of this would be possible without you!
"Farm, fish, and befriend enchanting residents as you explore the old garden and welcome your role as the new gardener in this pensive taste of the simple life."
This launch features early access to the full game, which means some features are still missing and some bugs are still lurking along the path. Your feedback will help guide me in making sure The Garden Path is as polished and charming as it can be in time for the full release later this year, and I appreciate every piece of feedback or bug-spotting you share!
This early access build will also receive all future updates to the game and will be updated regularly as development continues with your help.
Oh, and did I mention the price will be cheaper than at full launch!?
For those of you who have already backed the game here are some answers to what you might be wondering...
š± If you chose Itch.io as your preferred platform then you will be getting access to this same early build of the full game! Expect to see that pushed on the Itch.io dev log, or keep an eye on our Discord server! š± If you chose Steam as your preferred platform then unfortunately the wait continues. You'll have access to the game at full launch, as soon as possible. If you would like to switch to Itch.io then just send us a message here on Kickstarter and we can link that request for you and make it happen!
Thank you so much as always, whether you backed the game last year, will be buying the game on Itch.io, or are just hear reading and supporting The Garden Path!
March Update ~ Introducing Buttercup and more game updates! š·
Hello gardeners,
If you follow The Garden Path on other platforms such as Twitter or TikTok, then youāll likely have met some of The Gardenās vegetable-headed residents. From Caroline to Art, Molly to Otto, Iāve been sharing some facts about the folk you might meet during your play.
I thought it would only be fitting to share a little bit more about some of the animal travellers that will wander through The Garden from time to time - sharing wares in addition to some wise words.
Who else could we start with, then, on National Pig Day?
So please welcome Buttercup...
Buttercup is a British Landrace Pig who loves digging through the earth and mud. With a cheery, cheeky attitude, Buttercup is a classic āsalt of the earthā kind and is a treasure to meet.
Most of her time is spent underground mining for irrigation. However, itās not unlike her to get lost on occasion and sheās known for scrambling up and stumbling into growing gardens ~ much like your own.
Still, getting lost is a difficult business. As such, Buttercup is likely to take a break and treat herself to a reinvigorating cup of tea while taking her well-deserved rest.
Because of her time underground, Buttercup has managed to collect an impressive cluster of different soils. If youāre lucky enough to catch her while sheās above-ground, then be sure to offer her a fine brew, and maybe youāll get a sample of her collection in exchange.
Game Updates
The player map is being revisited, now generating itself automatically according to the layout of trees, rivers and bridges. It still needs a bit of work, but helps to provide a more accurate overview of the garden, and will change now as the garden changes. It also alleviates my task of hand-drawing each map portion, as it was done previously.
Bunk's new artwork has finally landed, along with a refresh to the tea-pouring visualizer.
New reeds and rocks decorate the rivers and water-ways, helping them visually settle into the garden's landscape.
A subtle new foliage effect has been added to the game, where the artwork slowly fades in and amongst itself, giving it a better feeling of depth, and a more ethereal mood to the garden, without being distracting.
Caoimhe will now find their way into the garden, and will be stocking up on the latest garbs and trends for your character to don.
...And because small touches are important, there's now a subtle dust animation when the player runs, and you'll leave behind little footprints in your trail.
But there's more that's yet-to-come this month.
Soon, depending on how keen-eyed your character is, you'll begin to notice spots for treasure, either buried underground or tucked into the nooks of trees. Among other goodies, you can begin to unlock the old gardener's journal this way, and learn more about the old garden.
And finally, Cold's Pass will soon be arriving to the game, an end-of-year ceremony to say goodbye to the cold weather, and welcome in the new spring. Seems particularly fitting this time of year...
Itās still Winter, still cold. But work on The Garden Path hasnāt been hampered by the chill here in the UK. On the contrary, work has been in full force and I am pleased with the place itās in right now.
Letās head into the update to see whatās new.
Featured features
With new content being implemented behind the scenes, The Garden Path has a whole host of new features to mention
Furnishings for the garden can now be layered, allowing you to hang smaller items on trees or place them on tables or cabinets.
Many new plants and flora have also been added to the game, including marigolds, pansies, daffodils, chrysanths - but youāll need to find the seeds to plant them!
The movement system has seen some updates, including the base speed for the character increasing, increased base stamina, and faster sprint speeds, which should help you get to where you want to go in good time. A new sprint animation has also been added, so you can really feel the wind in your hair.
The new pathfinding system has been introduced to the game, which will eventually allow characters to traverse more intelligently across the map, but for now should provide shorter loading times ~ something weāre working on whittling down further.
The game has been moved over to GLES3, which should provide better performance on newer systems, especially in areas with many lights.
Tents have made a triumphant return. Theyāre now easier to place, and no longer require a loading screen to enter or exit, simply walk up to the tent, unzip the door and youāre in. A great way to start your corner of the Garden.
A Little Bit of Fun
Something our Community Manager, Alex, has been working on lately was a little personality quiz based on some of the animal travellers you might find in The Garden Path, and now you can give it a go.
Itās short and sweet but great fun. I spent too much time answering the questions myself! Find out which character you are here, and be sure to share your results in our Discord server or in the comments.
2021 was a pivotal year for The Garden Path, and surely one to remember. From officially announcing the game, to launching a Kickstarter; growing a team, to releasing new builds ā itās been as daunting as it has been exciting.
While it hasnāt yet been a full year since the game was officially announced, it is only fitting that we celebrate how far we came in 2021 as we see in the new year.
A retrospective
Perhaps the best marker for how far the game has come over the last 12 months is going back to watch the gameās āFlash Talkā for the 2021 digital Godotcon, which aired close to a year ago today. The game really was hanging on by a thread at the time, and to see how much has changed visually and mechanically is hopefully a good sign for what we can achieve in 2022.
Following that, spring was a busy and exciting time for The Garden Path (which might be fitting for a game about gardening).
On May 26th the game held its official press announcement and was met with an incredibly humbling response. I couldnāt have asked for a warmer reaction.
Nearing the end of Spring, The Garden Path was lucky enough to be featured in the Wholesome Direct Showcase as part of E3 2021. It was surreal seeing the game being played alongside a whole host of great games.
After some long talks and some trepidation, we launched our Kickstarter in the summer. It was a challenge that, when beginning work on the game, I never imagined I would undertake. It was good fun designing and drafting the rewards for each tier, which I hope helped capture some imaginations along the way.
The gameās time on Kickstarter came to a close at 152% funding with an amazing Ā£30,474 pledged ā a feat that could only have been achieved thanks to the trust and support of the gameās backers and followers who did so much in lifting the game to the finish line and beyond.
Thanks to everyone who supported the game, that extra 52% helped us to hit both of our stretch goals and is now helping us to bring The Garden Path to Nintendo Switch and multiplayer.
The demo from the Kickstarter, and later for the Steam Next Fest in October, proved to be invaluable as sources of feedback for the game, and where things could improve moving forward.
Following that feedback, many things were reworked, rewired, rewritten, to make the game better to play as well as more accessible. In early December, Kickstarter backers got access to the beta version.
Weāve still got a little way to go from here, but letās take a look at the work thatās already been going on over and under the hood since the betaās release.
Game Updates
Thanks to the help of willing backers, there's been a real effort already in testing the game, finding bugs, and fixing them on the community discord. If you were a backer that opted for the itch.io version and would like to join in, hop on over to our Discord.
Many dozens of bugs, from quirks to crashes, have already been fixed since then, but I've also been focusing on providing new features and tweaks to hopefully make the game better to play.
A big request from the start of the game's inception has been the availability of multiple saves, and we now have a rudimentary system in place to support them. You can hop between your different gardens from the main menu, and starting a new game will no longer overwrite your old work. Soon the system will receive more polish, allowing you to delete old Gardens you no longer want.
A big quality-of-life improvement was added in the form of 'Nearby Indicators', which now appear when an NPC is off-screen but close by. This makes finding that NPC you're looking for even easier, without the need to pause and search the map.
The function of the player's map has also been given a redesign, now allowing you to sweep the map with a reticle rather than by the acre. Today I implemented pins which you can place across the map to aid you as a reminder. Soon the pins will be integrated into the Nearby Indicator system, making it even easier to find your way around the Garden.
In-the-works and soon-to-be-available is a big overhaul of the game's mapping-navigation system which will allow for better character movement and placement. Some NPCs that are currently on the bench rely on this new system so will be soon to make an appearance. It should also speed up the game's loading time by some margin.
Development is back in full swing in 2022, and Iāll be sharing as much progress as I can along the way.
And there we go. Thank you so much to everyone who has followed and supported The Garden Path this year, I owe it to all of you for sharing this turbulent and exciting year with me.
