Today, I’m excited to introduce our newest feature: The Ranchers Police District (R.P.D). 🎉🎉🎉
From the start, The Ranchers has given you tons of freedom to play the game your way. You can stick to the rules and enjoy a calm, relaxed experience, or you can mix things up—maybe even try something a little daring, like swiping NPCs' crops, cars, cows, or chickens, vandalizing public property, or even shaking up national security for a bit of mischief 😀
Ultimately, it’s your call, and you probably have your own reasons for how you play (don’t we all? 😀).
Before, if you got caught, the game would hit you with a fine to teach you a lesson—harsh and not very fun, especially in an open-world farming sim where freedom is key.
Now, things feel a bit more like real life (isn’t that what a simulation’s all about?): your actions have consequences. Each misdeed you commit will trigger a reaction from the Ranchers police, giving you the freedom to deal with it your way.
You can pay up, surrender, or even push things further with the R.P.D—at your own risk (and potential reward) 😀
Without further ado, here’s an example of how it works:
Pay your fines and carry on with your day:
If you commit a repressive crime, you'll find yourself in police custody:
When you're feeling brave and want to test your luck with the police!
Here's how the police chase mechanism works with its 5 wanted levels:
Wanted Level 1:
- Status: Code Green - Behavior: Police drones aim for a peaceful resolution. - Action: They won’t arrest or attack if you pay your fines. This level handles minor offenses—pay up, and you avoid custody.
Wanted Level 2:
- Status: Still Code Green - Behavior: No lethal force is used, but they strongly encourage you to surrender. - Action: If caught or if you surrender, you'll be taken into police custody, likely with a sentence.
Wanted Level 3:
- Status: Code Yellow - Behavior: Police drones use non-lethal, dissuasive tactics. - Action: Getting caught here means you'll be placed in custody with a probable sentence.
Wanted Level 4:
- Status: Code Red - Behavior: They’re now authorized to use light lethal weapons. - Action: Their goal is to end the chase quickly.
Wanted Level 5:
- Status: Code Black - Behavior: Heavy lethal weapons are in play to end the chase at all costs. - Action: The police will do whatever it takes to end the chase.
At any level, you always have a choice: surrender to reduce your sentence and bail, or try your luck evading the police.
Even if you lose the cops, their cars will continue searching for you briefly. If they catch you again, the chase restarts—but if you manage to stay hidden for a while, you'll eventually be considered evaded.
Surrender vs. Capture: What Happens Next?
If you surrender or get caught, you'll be taken into police custody and placed in a cell. There, you'll need to pay your fines and potentially serve some jail time depending on your crimes.
Getting caught results in the maximum fines and jail time, while surrendering at any wanted level will lead to lesser fines and fewer jail days.
Plus, while you're in custody, your friends (multiplayer) can join your game, visit you, and take care of your crops and cattle— isn’t that what friends and family are for? 😀
What happens if you successfully evade the police?
First off, congratulations—you’ve got skills! 😀
Your fines are wiped out, and you keep all your loot ;)
Inside the Police Station
This update introduces the police station interior, where you can visit friends in custody—or serve your own time! Let's take a look:
Hacking Mechanics
This update introduces a hacking tool that lets you manipulate various elements in The Ranchers' world.
Ever wanted to hijack an NPC's vehicle for a joyride? (We know you've got your reasons 😀)
Your hacking success depends on the security system you’re targeting. You’ll have a set number of attempts—fail too many times, and alarms (and the police) might be triggered!
As you progress, you can upgrade your hacking tool through the skill tree (coming soon) to hack faster and tackle tougher systems.
Here’s an example of hacking an NPC vehicle with a full police chase till the evasion:
This update also introduces two new shops:
QuickFix Garage:
QuickFix garages are scattered throughout The Ranchers’ open world. They can repair your damaged vehicle anytime—even in the middle of a police chase.
Auto Hue Garage:
Normally, Auto Hue lets you change your vehicle’s paint job. In trickier situations, they can even help you by changing your vehicle’s plate numbers, removing it from the police wanted registry.
Stolen Vehicle Mechanic
This update introduces stolen vehicles to The Ranchers' world. If you drive a stolen vehicle, the police chase will be triggered when you're caught—unless you visit an Auto Hue Garage to change the vehicle plates.
A stolen vehicle can display:
1. Red stolen Icon: Plates haven't been changed. The police will pursue you every time they're alerted.
2.Black stolen Icon: Plates have been changed at Auto Hue garage, allowing you to keep the vehicle without triggering a chase.
Keep in mind, stolen vehicles can still be sold—but they fetch lower prices than those acquired legitimately.
Vehicle Radios
This update also introduces two radio stations you can listen to while driving:
The Ranchers Radio
A favorite among ranchers, playing mostly country music and tunes that capture the essence of ranch life.
Sunvale Skyline FM:
A more cosmopolitan station featuring a mix of hip-hop, pop, rock, and reggaeton.
What’s Next?
With this update, we've definitely delivered that “GTA spirit” I mentioned before in previous updates, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Implementing the new police mechanic was a real challenge—finding the balance between action and keeping The Ranchers a chill, relaxing farming sim wasn't easy.
At the heart of it all, The Ranchers remains a game that offers immense freedom and a stress-free experience. It might be a bit different from what you're used to (isn't that why you try new games?), but I promise — you’re going to love it!
Now that this update is in the books, our next focus shifts back to the farming and ranching side of things. We're excited to finalize the suburb area and bring you the hunting mechanic!
If you're interested in helping shape the future of The Ranchers, feel free to join our The Ranchers Discord. And if you want to see more gameplay from this update, check out the live stream I recently hosted:
Thanks so much for sticking with me, and stay tuned for more updates! ❤️❤️❤️
Ethan
🏙️🏛️🚕🚦❤️The Ranchers DevUpdate - August 2024
Hello Ranchers!
Today is a big day!!! You can’t imagine how happy and thrilled I'm writing these lines!
The Ranchers' big overhaul is complete! And I couldn't be more proud and happy with the final result! ✨✨✨
It was by far the most reckless decision I've made in the last three years, and oh boy, was it tough—really tough!
After the Kickstarter campaign and the overwhelming support The Ranchers received from the community, I was completely humbled and grateful. I was just a gamer, building my dream game in my own little corner... I never imagined The Ranchers would become this popular, not even in my wildest dreams. Seeing gamers from all over the world sharing and supporting this vision gave me even more strength! It made me feel like I could do better—so much better—and deliver something even greater for our community!
It was never about building another farming sim game, I wanted The Ranchers to be something familiar, bigger and totally different.
Working night and day for the last 14 months with only The Ranchers' vision and loads of doubts wasn’t easy at all. Honestly, without the amazing support from our community and all the kind messages of encouragement and faith, I couldn't have made it to where I am today.
So I want to thank each and every one of you, reading these lines. I want to tell you that The Ranchers would never be where it is today without you being here with us in this amazing journey. Thank you for being here, thank you for being patient and supportive. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! ❤️❤️❤️
It was truly magical to watch our dream game come to life day by day, evolving into what feels like an entirely new game. I genuinely believe this overhaul has taken The Ranchers to a whole new level, and it was absolutely worth it.
Without any further ado, let’s dive into it:
🏙️ Sunvale's city center
This new update brought the biggest zone in The Ranchers open world, the city center.
The city center is designed as the bustling heart of Sunvale's city, characterized by a vibrant mix of modern and traditional architecture that reflects The Ranchers unique art style.
You can explore a variety of urban environments, from busy commercial streets lined with shops to serene parks and public spaces.
Let’s take you for a ride:
The city center features a lot of iconics buildings, that you can explore, Let’s start with the first ones:
🏛️ The City Hall
The city hall is where you can find Victor, the mayor and Meriam the city architect. It’s also a great place to meet other characters, make deals with the city, buy new lands and sophisticated building blueprints for your ranch.
Let take a look:
🏬 Leafy Markets
Leafy Market is Sunvale City's top grocery chain, offering fresh produce, seeds, and farming supplies. Known for supporting local agriculture, it's the go-to spot for both daily essentials and farming needs, ensuring quality for all customers. There are many of them scattered around the city center.
🛻 Versatil Motors
Versatile Motors is Sunvale City's leading utility vehicle supplier, offering a wide range of vans, pickups, and three-wheeled vehicles. Trusted by farmers and ranchers alike, it’s the top choice for reliable, hardworking vehicles that get the job done.
🌍Ranchers Community Shared Places: The Sunset Casino! 🎰
While the various shops and interiors are great places to meet The Ranchers' characters, I thought, why not create buildings where you can not only meet NPCs but also gather with players from around the world? Imagine being able to enter these places as seamlessly as any other building in the game, and use them to have fun and forge new friendships! And that, fellow ranchers, is what we now call the Ranchers Community Shared Places.
Features within Community Shared Places include:
- Text and voice communication through built-in chat and voice comms, allowing players to converse. - The ability to exchange resources and tools with other players. - Restrictions on equipping tools and weapons, as well as prohibitions on harming or stealing from others.
And, our first community Shared Places is The Sunset Casino!
Community shared places will first be available in EU and US during the preview and will be extended to other countries in the Early Access phase.
Let’s give you a sneak peek:
👫The pedestrians!
The pedestrians were essential to make the city center and the entire open world feel alive.
Even though implementing them came with its own technical challenges, I’ve always had a major issue with random NPCs in open-world games. They often feel soulless, and their dialogue tends to be dull unless they’re tied to a quest. They remind me of their “technical purpose” – merely filling space to make the player feel less alone.
While it's difficult to break away from that technical role, we took great care in crafting each pedestrian's personality. Every single one has a unique character and backstory that you'll be able to uncover as you explore.
- Each pedestrian follows a unique daily schedule that changes each day: whether they're enjoying Sunvale's parks, the beach, running errands, shopping, or even visiting interiors like the city center and the casino…
- Unique dialogues that change based on the time of day, season, their location, or the activity they're engaged in.
- They can offer you valuable advice and hints about what's happening in Sunvale City and its surroundings.
- You can even ask them about their families, jobs, beliefs, and life priorities!
- And of course, they are fully aware of everything happening around them, including other cars and traffic lights.
🚦New Traffic system
This update also features a new traffic system breathing more life to the open world.
Vehicles now obey traffic lights and pedestrian crossings, can overtake one another, and will navigate around obstacles like accidents or roadblocks to find their way.
🚗🚚🚛New vehicles and New driving system
This update introduces 35 new vehicles ranging from three-wheeler, classic cars, muscle cars, sport cars, trucks and pickups.
This update also introduces completely new driving mechanics:
- Each car, scooter, truck, and more now has its own physics system that takes into account properties like engine type, weight, and engine power, making each vehicle feel more realistic and unique to drive.
- All vehicles now feature a visual damage system, allowing you to see the physical effects of accidents or weapons, as well as the overall condition of the vehicle. This damage is generated in real-time based on your actions and also impacts the vehicle's performance. For instance, you could break your headlights or end up with flat tires, affecting how well the vehicle drives.
- Each vehicle now features a trunk (that you can open and close 😀), allowing you to store your belongings.
- Some vehicles also allow you to transport your farm animals.
- The trunk capacity and the number or type of farm animals you can transport vary with each vehicle, making each one uniquely suited to different tasks.
- And of course, all vehicles are drivable, including those in the traffic system—without consequences (for now 😉).
Let’s take a look:
🚕Taxi-Co Corporation
You can now take on the role of a TAXI-Co driver in Sunvale City!
Taxi-Co is the leading taxi company in Sunvale City. You can work as a Taxi-Co driver, earn big money, and meet interesting people along the way.
But before driving starlets home, you have to first earn your stripes.
Taxi-Co has 3 subsidiaries:
Taxi-Co Regular
That’s where everyone starts, from the bottom. You have plenty of time, small rides, small money.
Taxi-Co Business
Now you drive CEOs and some wanna be: they are a bit in a hurry, they expect smooth driving and pay you a bit more. Taxi-Co Business is available starting from 3 driver stars.
Taxi-Co VIP
That’s where the real money is. You drive only Ranchers Country stars in limousines. They expect 5 stars driving talents and fast rides if you want to see their hefty tips.Taxi-Co VIP is available starting from 4 driver stars.
After each ride, the passenger will rate your driving and may tip you (or not), based on how fast and smooth the journey was.
🌳Harvest Hills!
Harvest hills is a homage to pastoral life, featuring sprawling farmlands, small forests, rolling hills, all designed to immerse players in the tranquility and beauty of rural living.
It's located in the countryside just outside Sunvale City, where your Ranch is also situated.
Let’s go for a ride!
🧔New Residents and romanceable characters❤️
This update introduces new polished main characters to The Ranchers world. All of them play a significant role in the game and have their own backstories and daily occupations.
Victor Lawson
The 52-year-old mayor of Sunvale City, Victor is a strong leader dedicated to sustainable growth and community well-being. Known for his empathy and decisiveness, he balances modern development with environmental conservation.
Meriam
Meriam is the architect in Sunvale, she is innovative, dedicated, and empathetic. She blends modern design with traditional charm, aiming to enhance Sunvale's urban landscape while preserving its cultural heritage.
Malcolm Tanner
A 45-year-old rancher in Harvest Hills, Malcolm is a hardworking, single father focused on running a successful cattle and sheep ranch. He is dedicated to his daughter Alicia and dreams of a prosperous future for their family.
Alicia Tanner
Alicia is a ranching influencer, she balances her responsibilities on the ranch with her online presence. Passionate about sustainable farming, she aims to modernize her family's operations while preserving their legacy. Alicia is one of the romanceable characters.
Angela Tanner
A 45-year-old poultry farmer in Harvest Hills, Angela is vibrant, strong-willed, and deeply connected to her community. She’s dedicated to expanding her farm sustainably and mentoring young farmers. She is Malcolm's twin.
Gigi Parker
Gigi is an agricultural engineer, she is passionate about sustainable farming. She is known for her innovative solutions and close bond with her brother Scott. Gigi dreams of starting a family while contributing to Harvest Hills' agricultural community. Gigi is one of the romanceable characters.
Scott Parker
Scott is a civil engineer and rancher, Scott is dedicated to both modernizing Harvest Hills and preserving his family's ranching legacy. Protective and caring, he seeks to balance his professional life with finding a life partner. Scott is one of the romanceable characters.
Dr. Susan Clark
Dr. Susan is the veterinarian of Harvest Hills. She is compassionate and highly skilled. She runs a successful clinic and has instilled strong values of empathy and care in her adoptive son, Malik.
Malik Clark
As an intern veterinarian, Malik follows in his mother's footsteps with a deep love for animals. He is gentle, observant, and dedicated to providing excellent care at his mother’s clinic. Malik is one of the romanceable characters.
Chris Langley
THE famous lawyer of Sunvale, Chris is cunning, greedy, and operates in the gray areas of the law. Driven by wealth and power, he uses his vast network of connections to manipulate situations to his advantage.
🐶Dr. Susan’s AnimCare Clinic
Now you can heal your sick animals at Dr.Susan’s veterinary clinic.
We did decorate the clinic walls from real pets pictures shared by our community on Discord.
Let’s take a look at it
[TAG-107]
📱And... those residents can now give you a call on your phone!
The main characters in The Ranchers can now send you text messages or call you on your phone.
Each character has a unique voice and may reach out to ask for help, offer tips, or simply check in with you.
And here is how it looks in-game:
🚀Enjoy!
First of all, congratulations for making it this far in this dev-update! Hopefully you enjoyed reading it and discovering all the new features and additions in the game.
If you are one of our kickstarter backers, you will be able to play the new version of The Ranchers (called The Ranchers “Preview”) starting from …. 🎉🎉TODAY! 🎉🎉
You can play The Ranchers “Preview”, on Windows, Linux/SteamDeck, and MacOs.
It's been a while since the last dev update, a lot of things did evolved in The Ranchers and I'd love to hear your feedback and thoughts on everything I showcased today. Feel free to drop a comment here or on The Ranchers discord.
It may also be a great idea to host a live stream with all of you to talk about The Ranchers future and answer any questions you may have? Let me know ;)
Thank you so much for your time and unwavering support! Stay tuned for more updates. ❤️❤️❤️
Cheers, Ethan
🧑🎨🎧🚀🍎🗺️The Ranchers DevUpdate - November 2023
Hello Ranchers, 👩🌾👨🌾
Hope you all are safe and doing great.
Since our last big update, I was hesitating about what the next move for The Ranchers' development will be. There were two paths: whether we should prioritize the mines exploration with the Monsters/combat system or the open-world production.
It was a hard question to answer as each choice brought its pros and cons.
For me, I want The Ranchers to be something that stands out from the other farming sim games, not another Stardew Valley clone with a bunch of upgraded mechanics or a “better” art style.
I want The Ranchers to be something big, and most of all, something different!
Like many of you, I grew up with games like Harvest Moon, The Sims, and GTA, and I played the hell out of games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing.
My vision for The Ranchers since the beginning was: what if all those games had a child? 😀
A new game that combines all the mechanics and fun I love about those classics? What will that game be? How can it honor the legacy of those classics while being different and take the farming sim genre to the next level?
Reconnecting with this initial vision made that prioritization choice a lot more lucid.
Since we’ve made great advancement on the farming and the Sims side of it, now it’s time to tackle how much of the GTA spirit should be put in The Ranchers. Moving forward with the Open World production it will be then.
Sooo, now it’s time for my favorite joke: We decided to cancel The Ranchers and start working directly on The Ranchers 2 😀 (I’m probably the only one who still finds this statement fun :D)
Joke aside, we took the opportunity of rethinking what the heart of The Ranchers is, to revamp and upgrade everything we weren't happy about in the current build, starting with the game visuals!
🧑🎨Fresh and consolidated Art Style.
There is a lot to talk about here but to make it simple and quick: The whole game art style was rebuilt from scratch for a more unique and modern look with a stronger visual identity.
Here is a quick sneak previews:
Now that the foundation of the new visuals is here, I will be sharing more details through new gameplay videos and screenshots with you all in the upcoming weeks ;)
🎧Studio-grade audio system
Last summer, I had the opportunity to work with two of the greatest sound designers in our industry. I did learn A LOT about sound, music, and how they can be a great vehicle for creating unique experiences and emotions in gameplay.
How little details can make a huge difference in terms of making what's happening on the screen more believable, more alive.
One of the more famous quotes I was hearing from all those very talented people is “The visuals are half the picture, the sound is the other one” (something like that :D )
Therefore, all the audio systems in The Ranchers were also rebuilt from scratch 😀
There is also a lot to talk about here too, but basically everything, literally every sound was remade and remastered from scratch.
To summarize it in a few bullet points:
New ambiance sounds that make each day feel different. The ambiance sounds also change depending on the player zone and time of the day (crickets, frogs, Owl... by night; different bird species sound per day...)
New Weather and Weather sweetener sounds: you can, for example, hear the wind sound changing (sweeteners) if you are near a metallic building or a wooden one. You can also hear different sound sweeteners if it’s raining and you are near trees with wet leaves…
New vehicle engine sound: engine power and power type (gasoline, diesel, electric engine) does now have their unique distinctive sound. You can tell about a vehicle's characteristics just by listening to its engine sound.
Livestock sound: all the animals' sound has also been revamped from scratch for every breed at every growth stage for better audio fidelity. Now you can also know what is “the state” of your animal (happy, sad, sick, angry…) just by listening to its audio.
A more rich player footsteps sound that changes depending on the surface type.
Every player interaction now has audio feedback...
60 new music tracks (Yes! 6 and 0 😛 ); Including 12 exclusive music tracks per Season to avoid any sort of repetition. The music is controlled by our new music algorithm (called MozArt - why not? 😀 ) that shuffles between music playing and silence in a very specific manner to avoid ear fatigue. It seems that music is all about the notes that we - don’t - play!
The whole game audio is now compatible with Stereo and Surround format: 5.1; 7.1 and 7.1.4 (Dolby Atmos)
🚀 Performance by design
Unleashing the team's creativity without any limit (no performance budget) was for me the best way to move forward and see how far we can take it further.
It’s totally irresponsible and foolish, but in the end who cares? We are making this game for fun! 😀
Oh boy! And I did pay the expensive price for it. Optimizing the new art style with all the details and the huge FOV/Zoom level was a nightmare! 😀
Now that all of it is behind us, I do look at it as one of my greatest journeys in programming! I had the chance to deeply explore the abyss of Unity game engine and learn how to get the most of every piece of it.
Today, I'm very pleased to share with you that The Ranchers, runs very smoothly on the Steam Deck (Linux), Rog Alley (Windows), and all the middle ranges PC handled in the market.
Now we also benchmark the performance of every new piece we do add on those devices before moving forward, making them our minimum target hardware.
Also, The Ranchers has now a native integration of AMD FSR2 AND Nvidia DLSS leading to more performance gain and wider hardware coverage. With those techs The Ranchers can also run on old/slow hardware and still be greatly playable without compromising any bit of its visual quality!
🍎One more thing!
I’m also thrilled to announce that The Ranchers is also coming to MacOS (Intel and Apple silicon) day one!
More explicitly, if you are one of our Alpha backers, you will be able to enjoy The Ranchers on your Mac starting from the next build update.
🗺️Now what’s next?
As you know by now, we are currently building the Open World of The Ranchers. Without spoiling anything, the world map is composed of 5 different main zones:
The “agricultural zone” is where your ranch is situated among other ranchers.
The city center
The industrial zone
Forests/Swamp zone
and the desert.
The “agricultural zone” production is done, and by the time I’m writing this book, we are heavily producing the city center. Other zones should follow a lot quicker now that all the foundations and tools are here.
It was a true headache knowing at which stage we could release a new build update for our Alpha backers. But because now the main game loop is heavily relying on the “agricultural zone” and the city center, releasing a working build can only be possible once the production of the city center is completed. At least when the first pass is completed.
I know that many of our Alpha backers were expecting all of this to be available right now, but it’s simply impossible given the new scope of the game/map and all the major changes we did introduce in the latest months. It still needs more work, and trust me it’s totally worth it!
Don’t be sad, don’t hurt me on discord or social media (please! :🙏😊 ), The Ranchers is a work of love and it’s your enthusiasm and support that get us out of the bed each day! ❤️🔥
The Ranchers will be released in early access in 2024 as expected. It’s truly gonna be great! And that’s what matters the most. It was never about the When but always about the What!
2024 it will be, and we are thrilled to be there! 🔥❤️🔥🔥
At the end, I sincerely want to thank you again for all the love and support we did receive from you all and count on us to bring to your keyboards and controllers the ultimate farming sim game! ♥️
As always I will keep you updated and I can't wait to share more with you in the upcoming weeks.
We want to celebrate this new step by showing you the very first update in this phase.
Let's take a closer look at the big changes in the new update:
🌟Revamped UI/UX
We have introduced a brand new, modern, and immersive user interface that enhances the player experience.
The entire game UI has been rebuilt from scratch, with careful attention to detail.
There is A LOT to list here, but i will keep it simple => Experiencing it firsthand is a must! (see the video at the end)
I have invested a significant amount of time learning about effective game UI design, ensuring that it enriches the gameplay without being intrusive.
Today, I'm incredibly proud of the final results, as it has truly taken the game to a new level. ⏫⏫⏫
💖I hope you love it too! 💖
⌨️ Inventory hotbar with shortcuts
The HUD now features a convenient hotbar for your inventory, complete with keyboard shortcuts. This includes equipping/unequipping items, pressing [M] for the map, [T] for the phone, and using [Enter] to display the multiplayer chat.
🐮 Redesigned icons
All game items, tools, equipment, and vehicle icons have been redesigned to meet our new quality standards and align with the updated game UI. We revamped over 1200 icons! 🤯
🕹️ Full compatibility with joystick
All game UI elements are now fully compatible with the joystick, ensuring a seamless gaming experience.
🪓 Enhanced equipment interactions
Tools, equipment, and anything that players can hold now display all possible interactions with corresponding key bindings or joystick buttons. These interaction helpers are now grouped by equipment, making it easier to understand when you have items equipped in both hands simultaneously (such as a torch and an axe...).
🛒 Bulk crafting and buying
You can now perform bulk crafting in the Craft App and at workbenches. Additionally, all shops support bulk buying, and players can sell items in bulk to shop managers.
🎥 Camera customization
You can now move the camera using the middle button of your mouse. Adjustments for camera movement speed, zoom, and auto-zoom reset have been added to the settings app, allowing for more precise customization.
⚡Zesty Metrix Smartphone App
Introducing a new app called "Zesty Metrix" that provides real-time tracking of your ranch's energy efficiency.
👕 Extensive character customization 👗
We have introduced a comprehensive character customization system with an infinite number of combinations and possibilities.
We've added over 400 new customization items, including hairstyles, beards, shirts, hats, and sunglasses.
All clothing and accessories are now interchangeable between body types, and they seamlessly blend with each other without any mesh overlap.
📡 New HUD indicators
We have implemented new HUD indicators to show your online/offline status and whether your ranch is open for friends to join. You can easily toggle your ranch's exposure to friends in the game settings.
🔨 Enhanced hammer interaction
The hammer interaction system has been overhauled, making it easier and clearer to manipulate objects. Additionally, when the hammer is equipped, you can now interact with other elements in the game.
🚗Simplified vehicle interactions
Interacting with vehicles has been significantly simplified, allowing for easier animal transportation, manual refueling from any position around the vehicle, and more.
🌟 Building interiors loading time reduced by 80%
The loading time when entering or exiting a building interior (such as the Barn or Coop) has been significantly reduced by 80%! Now you can seamlessly transition between the outdoor and indoor environments, enhancing your gameplay flow.
🖧 Multiplayer autosave and save file integrity
In multiplayer mode, an autosave system will automatically trigger after each "important" action to prevent hacks, cheating, and item duplication. Save file integrity and authenticity are now verified server-side before any multiplayer session. The online integrity verification of save files does not impact offline mode. You can still enjoy The Ranchers at 100% when you are on the go or offline.
🎞️ how about a preview of those features?
⏭️ So, what's coming up next?
Since the update was entirely inspired by the valuable feedback we received from our amazing community and our next priority is to personally respond to each feedback posted in Feedback channels: https://open.codecks.io/ranchers/decks/18-community-feedback
On a broader note, I want to keep the details of the next big update as a surprise! 😄
That's all I can reveal for now, but expect more information in the upcoming weeks.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this, and stay tuned for more exciting news! ❤️
Best,
Ethan
Dev Update - Ranching v2 [Alpha] 🐮
Hello Ranchers 🧑🌾 Long time no see! Since the last time we posted, we’ve been busy with our alpha version of The Ranchers and with all the amazing feedback that we received from everyone who’s played this version. Thank you to each and everyone of you who’s taken the time to help us make The Ranchers the best possible version of itself for the future ahead.
Our latest and final update in the alpha stage entails a lot of new mechanics, Quality of Life updates and new elements to the gameplay:
Addition of new animals species 🌼
🐰 Rabbits 🐐 Goats
Read more here: http://wiki.ranchers.game/Ranching/Mammal-Animals
Additional new animal mechanics and QoL 🌼
🌱New livestock feeding system. Now each species has its unique diet. 🌱New Pregnancy mechanic for Mammals Animals. 🌱New Eggs hatching mechanic for Oviparous Animals. 🌱New Animal Sickness mechanic. 🌱All livestock can be raised outdoor without necessary having a barn or a coop. There will be consequences with time, but hey that also means you can have them early!
🌼 Addition of new farm fences and fence doors that can be crafted by the player
🌱Addition of 3 new Barns types with their exclusive interiors design. 🌱Addition of 3 new Coops types with their exclusive interiors design.
🌼 All the Barns and Coops can now have Feature Kits
🌱Auto-Feeding Kit, it will feed your animals automatically. 🌱Air Conditioning Kit, It will prevent your animals from becoming ill by keeping them warm in Winter and cool in Summer - You can see how your buildings/features kits are linked to each other by hovering your mouse on them with the hammer equipped. This whole building <=> feature kits "linkage system" will open a lot of great new game mechanics that will come in the future. 🌱All Coops and Barns doors can be opened or closed as you wish (with benefits and consequences of course). 🌱Introduction of Silos. 🌱Introduction of Water Towers - By combining Feature Kits, Silos and Water Towers you can now automatise your whole livestock feeding needs. 🌱Introduction of animal Troughs that can be crafted and placed in the ranch to feed your livestock when they are outside of the barn/coop or if you are raising them outdoor.
Read more here: http://wiki.ranchers.game/Ranching/Barn
🌼 All livestock do use a new "systemic food seeking" algorithm to find food and drinks sources in your ranch (Water troughs, different food troughs, wild grass, vegetables, etc). 🌱Addition of new models to the existing species: 2 new variations for the Rooster, new Calf's for cows and bulls and chicks for chickens to represent their early growth stage 🐓 🌱The quality of all the animals' 3D models has been upgraded for better visual quality 🌱Polishing round for all the livestock animations! 🌱Meat, Milk and Eggs are now animal specific (this is will make the cooking very precise!) 🌱Animals do play a specific sound to let you know if they liked your gifts or not! 🌱Animals can now be named!
🌼 Wild grass do produce Hay regardless of their growth stage.
🌼 New sprinkler 3D model for "basic sprinkler". 🌱Items that have "grid coverage" mechanic, like Sprinklers, Scarecrows and Silos do now show their coverage with a visible grid in game.
🌼 All the crafted buildings give 50% back of resources when destroyed accidentally.
🌼 All the tools, animals, vehicles, and so on, can now have multiples rarity variations that will affect the item internal statistics (price, storage capacity, speed..)
🌼 Addition of a new section in "the end of the day summary" that will have all the important notices that happened during the night (ex. new animal give birth)
🌼 In "the end of the day summary", if nothing happened (results at 0 Coins and 0 notices), the animation duration is much much faster!
🌼 New Player animations: <*>When eating and drinking. <*> Filling the watering can. <*> Tired and holding the phone or the gun/rifle. <*> Aim with the gun/rifle. 🌱Balancing the Player energy and health. 🌱Long range weapons can now be used when player is in the air (jumping, falling, etc.)
🌼 A new day will only start when you hit "Start new day" button in "the end of the day summary". And that's how you can pause the game. This also works when playing in multiplayer.
Besides from all these features, we have also improved on the general experience when playing The Ranchers and fixed various Bugs and Crashes in the game:
🌼 As part of our optimization efforts, we have reduced the game's memory usage (VRAM) by a whopping 45% through some wizardry and extensive "cleaning", resulting in a much more stable game even during heavy load/stress!
🌼 A much faster loading time, between menu screen and when the gameplay start. (reduced by 20.4% to be precise )
🌼We are thrilled to announce that The Ranchers now runs natively on Linux, SteamOs, and the Steam Deck! Read more here: https://wiki.ranchers.game/en/HowTo/TheRanchers-Linux-SteamDeck-Version
🌼 We have also balanced the summer weather by reducing the amount of rain and fog.
🌼 We have significantly reduced the mass of birds' physics to prevent them from causing traffic mayhem when they collide with NPC cars.
🌼 All known "ropes bugs" have been fixed!
So, what's next? 🌼
The next update will be a Community Update! We will be studying and implementing all the great alpha-feedback we have received from you with a big focus on quality of life and in-game onboarding!
—-----------------------------------------
For more information about everything, check out our Wiki page: http://wiki.ranchers.game/
Click here to see our dev update videos for Ranching v2: https://youtu.be/uRmIeA0xS5Q
Click here to see our Roadmap for the development: https://open.codecks.io/ranchers
Click here to joining our Discord to make sure that you don’t miss a thing: https://www.ranchers.game/discord
🐐Ranching v2 update and The Ranchers enter the Beta phase!🐮
Hello Ranchers 🧑🌾
Long time no see! Since the last time we posted, we’ve been busy with our alpha version of The Ranchers and with all the amazing feedback that we received from everyone who’s played this version. Thank you to each and everyone of you who’s taken the time to help us make The Ranchers the best possible version of itself for the future ahead.💕
Our latest and final update in the alpha stage entails a lot of new mechanics, Quality of Life updates and new elements to the gameplay:
🌼Addition of new animals species
🐰 Rabbits 🐐 Goats 🐓 Addition of 2 new variations for the Rooster, new Calves for cows and bulls and chicks for chickens to represent their early growth stage
🌱New livestock feeding system. Now each species has its unique diet. 🌱New Pregnancy mechanic for Mammals Animals. 🌱New Eggs hatching mechanic for Oviparous Animals. 🌱New Animal Sickness mechanic. 🌱All livestock can be raised outdoor without necessary having a barn or a coop. There will be consequences with time, but hey that also means you can have them early!
🏡New Barns, Coops, Silos, Water Towers, Troughs and Fences!
🌱 Addition of new farm fences and fence doors that can be crafted by the player. 🌱Addition of 3 new Barns types with their exclusive interiors design. 🌱Addition of 3 new Coops types with their exclusive interiors design.
🌼 All the Barns and Coops can now have Feature Kits
🌱Auto-Feeding Kit, it will feed your animals automatically. 🌱Air Conditioning Kit, It will prevent your animals from becoming ill by keeping them warm in Winter and cool in Summer - You can see how your buildings/features kits are linked to each other by hovering your mouse on them with the hammer equipped. 🌟This whole building <=> feature kits "linkage system" will open a lot of great new game mechanics that will come in the future. 🌱All Coops and Barns doors can be opened or closed as you wish (with benefits and consequences of course). 🌱Introduction of Silos. 🌱Introduction of Water Towers. 🌟By combining Feature Kits, Silos and Water Towers you can now automatize your whole livestock feeding needs. 🌱Introduction of animal Troughs that can be crafted and placed in the ranch to feed your livestock when they are outside of the barn/coop or if you are raising them outdoor.
🐄 All livestock do use a new "systemic food seeking" algorithm to find food and drinks sources in your ranch (Water troughs, different food troughs, wild grass, vegetables, etc).
🌱Addition of new models to the existing species: 2 new variations for the Rooster, new Calf's for cows and bulls and chicks for chickens to represent their early growth stage 🐓 🌱The quality of all the animals' 3D models has been upgraded for better visual quality 🌱Polishing round for all the livestock animations! 🌱Meat, Milk and Eggs are now animal specific (this is will make the cooking very precise!) 🌱Animals do play a specific sound to let you know if they liked your gifts or not! 🌱Animals can now be named!
🌟Quality of Life updates
🌱 Wild grass do produce Hay regardless of their growth stage. 🌱 New sprinkler 3D model for "basic sprinkler". 🌱Items that have "grid coverage" mechanic, like Sprinklers, Scarecrows and Silos do now show their coverage with a visible grid in game. 🌱 All the crafted buildings give 50% back of resources when destroyed accidentally. 🌱 All the tools, animals, vehicles, and so on, can now have multiples rarity variations that will affect the item internal statistics (price, storage capacity, speed..) 🌱 Addition of a new section in "the end of the day summary" that will have all the important notices that happened during the night (ex. new animal give birth) 🌱 In "the end of the day summary", if nothing happened (results at 0 Coins and 0 notices), the animation duration is much much faster! 🌱 New Player animations: <*>When eating and drinking. <*> Filling the watering can. <*> Tired and holding the phone or the gun/rifle. <*> Aim with the gun/rifle. 🌱Balancing the Player energy and health. 🌱Long range weapons can now be used when player is in the air (jumping, falling, etc.) 🌼 A new day will only start when you hit "Start new day" button in "the end of the day summary". And that's how you can pause the game. This also works when playing in multiplayer.
🐧The Ranchers runs natively on Linux and Steam Deck!
While performance optimization is an ongoing process, this update is a significant step toward our goal of having The Ranchers fully optimized for its release day and certified Steam Deck ready!
Besides from all these features, we have also improved on the general experience when playing The Ranchers and fixed various Bugs and Crashes in the game:
🌼 As part of our optimization efforts, we have reduced the game's memory usage (VRAM) by a whopping 45% through some wizardry and extensive "cleaning", resulting in a much more stable game even during heavy load/stress! 🌼 A much faster loading time, between menu screen and when the gameplay start. (reduced by 20.4% to be precise ) 🌼 We have also balanced the summer weather by reducing the amount of rain and fog. 🌼 We have significantly reduced the mass of birds' physics to prevent them from causing traffic mayhem when they collide with NPC cars. 🌼 All known "ropes bugs" have been fixed!
Finally, I hereby announce, with the delivery of this update and the full legislative authority granted to me by The Ranchers Country, that the Alpha version is officially deemed complete! 🎊🥳
🥳Let's start the Beta chapter! 🥳
So, what's next?
The next update will be a Community Update! 🎉 We will be studying and implementing all the great alpha-feedback we have received from you with a big focus on quality of life and in-game onboarding!
If you haven't given your feedback on the alpha yet, or if you have anything else you want us to seriously consider, now is the time to share your thoughts with us! Feel free to post your feedback here: The Ranchers - Official Roadmap & Community feedback
💖 Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and stay tuned for more exciting updates! 🔥
Click here to see our dev update videos for Ranching v2:
The Ranchers, Ranching v2 update! 🐐
Hello Ranchers 🧑🌾
Long time no see! Since the last time we posted, we’ve been busy with our alpha version of The Ranchers and with all the amazing feedback that we received from everyone who’s played this version. Thank you to each and everyone of you who’s taken the time to help us make The Ranchers the best possible version of itself for the future ahead.💕
Our latest and final update in the alpha stage entails a lot of new mechanics, Quality of Life updates and new elements to the gameplay:
🌼Addition of new animals species
🐰 Rabbits 🐐 Goats 🐓 Addition of 2 new variations for the Rooster, new Calves for cows and bulls and chicks for chickens to represent their early growth stage
🌱New livestock feeding system. Now each species has its unique diet. 🌱New Pregnancy mechanic for Mammals Animals. 🌱New Eggs hatching mechanic for Oviparous Animals. 🌱New Animal Sickness mechanic. 🌱All livestock can be raised outdoor without necessary having a barn or a coop. There will be consequences with time, but hey that also means you can have them early!
🏡New Barns, Coops, Silos, Water Towers, Troughs and Fences!
🌱 Addition of new farm fences and fence doors that can be crafted by the player. 🌱Addition of 3 new Barns types with their exclusive interiors design. 🌱Addition of 3 new Coops types with their exclusive interiors design.
🌼 All the Barns and Coops can now have Feature Kits
🌱Auto-Feeding Kit, it will feed your animals automatically. 🌱Air Conditioning Kit, It will prevent your animals from becoming ill by keeping them warm in Winter and cool in Summer - You can see how your buildings/features kits are linked to each other by hovering your mouse on them with the hammer equipped. 🌟This whole building <=> feature kits "linkage system" will open a lot of great new game mechanics that will come in the future. 🌱All Coops and Barns doors can be opened or closed as you wish (with benefits and consequences of course). 🌱Introduction of Silos. 🌱Introduction of Water Towers. 🌟By combining Feature Kits, Silos and Water Towers you can now automatize your whole livestock feeding needs. 🌱Introduction of animal Troughs that can be crafted and placed in the ranch to feed your livestock when they are outside of the barn/coop or if you are raising them outdoor.
🐄 All livestock do use a new "systemic food seeking" algorithm to find food and drinks sources in your ranch (Water troughs, different food troughs, wild grass, vegetables, etc).
🌱Addition of new models to the existing species: 2 new variations for the Rooster, new Calf's for cows and bulls and chicks for chickens to represent their early growth stage 🐓 🌱The quality of all the animals' 3D models has been upgraded for better visual quality 🌱Polishing round for all the livestock animations! 🌱Meat, Milk and Eggs are now animal specific (this is will make the cooking very precise!) 🌱Animals do play a specific sound to let you know if they liked your gifts or not! 🌱Animals can now be named!
🌟Quality of Life updates
🌱 Wild grass do produce Hay regardless of their growth stage. 🌱 New sprinkler 3D model for "basic sprinkler". 🌱Items that have "grid coverage" mechanic, like Sprinklers, Scarecrows and Silos do now show their coverage with a visible grid in game. 🌱 All the crafted buildings give 50% back of resources when destroyed accidentally. 🌱 All the tools, animals, vehicles, and so on, can now have multiples rarity variations that will affect the item internal statistics (price, storage capacity, speed..) 🌱 Addition of a new section in "the end of the day summary" that will have all the important notices that happened during the night (ex. new animal give birth) 🌱 In "the end of the day summary", if nothing happened (results at 0 Coins and 0 notices), the animation duration is much much faster! 🌱 New Player animations: <*>When eating and drinking. <*> Filling the watering can. <*> Tired and holding the phone or the gun/rifle. <*> Aim with the gun/rifle. 🌱Balancing the Player energy and health. 🌱Long range weapons can now be used when player is in the air (jumping, falling, etc.) 🌼 A new day will only start when you hit "Start new day" button in "the end of the day summary". And that's how you can pause the game. This also works when playing in multiplayer.
🐧The Ranchers runs natively on Linux and Steam Deck!
While performance optimization is an ongoing process, this update is a significant step toward our goal of having The Ranchers fully optimized for its release day and certified Steam Deck ready!
Besides from all these features, we have also improved on the general experience when playing The Ranchers and fixed various Bugs and Crashes in the game:
🌼 As part of our optimization efforts, we have reduced the game's memory usage (VRAM) by a whopping 45% through some wizardry and extensive "cleaning", resulting in a much more stable game even during heavy load/stress! 🌼 A much faster loading time, between menu screen and when the gameplay start. (reduced by 20.4% to be precise ) 🌼 We have also balanced the summer weather by reducing the amount of rain and fog. 🌼 We have significantly reduced the mass of birds' physics to prevent them from causing traffic mayhem when they collide with NPC cars. 🌼 All known "ropes bugs" have been fixed!
Finally, I hereby announce, with the delivery of this update and the full legislative authority granted to me by The Ranchers Country, that the Alpha version is officially deemed complete! 🎊🥳
🥳Let's start the Beta chapter! 🥳
So, what's next?
The next update will be a Community Update! 🎉 We will be studying and implementing all the great alpha-feedback we have received from you with a big focus on quality of life and in-game onboarding!
If you haven't given your feedback on the alpha yet, or if you have anything else you want us to seriously consider, now is the time to share your thoughts with us! Feel free to post your feedback here: The Ranchers - Official Roadmap & Community feedback
💖 Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and stay tuned for more exciting updates! 🔥
Click here to see our dev update videos for Ranching v2:
🍷Vintner & Brewmaster🍺 Unlocked + 🎁Our gift to this incredible community!
Hello Ranchers !!
We did it !!! The 🍷Vinter & Brewmaster🍺 stretch goal is unlocked! Thank you sooooooooo much for making our dreams game come true ❤️❤️❤️
Now you will be able to transform a variety of fruits and even vegetables into exquisite wines, beers and whiskeys and other exotic liquors! You can also transform your truffles, corns, sunflowers to delicious oil that can be used to cook your favorite dishes!
The quality of your liquors will depend on:
The type of water used (when applicable) - Some secret receipt needs Ocean water!
The quality of the fruits and vegetables
The duration and conditions of the “Fermentation” and the “Aging” process.
You can add one secret ingredient to each liquor that will give it its unique flavor and greatly boost its quality! (If you know what you are doing 😉)
Like anything else in The Ranchers, the final quality of your liquors will highly affect its statistics and therefore its value! Some liquors will give you an energy boost, some can increase the “pain tolerance” of your character for a limited duration of time and others can be used to flavor your dishes or to celebrate with your friends and loved NPCs!
And of course, you have to use them “in moderation” otherwise they can also bring a lot of negative effects :)
Crafting liquors is a very profitable business too! You can sell your liquors to other well-paying NPCs, shops, restaurants… or to other players via the Auction Market!
This stretch goal also brings new elements that can be placed in your ranch/house like bottles holders, wine/whiskey displays and other elements to store your collection proudly!
As always, we are open to more ideas! Leave a comment or join our discord server to let us know what you have in mind ;)
What’s next?
It has been an incredible kickstarter campaign and words will never be enough to thank you all for the love and support we have received from the whole community!
As a thank you gift for this incredible community! We decided to unlock the "🐈Helpful Pets🐕" stretch goal and have it implemented in priority before the final release of the game!🥳
And yes! Your kickstarter exclusive pet (with his special statistics), will now also help you protect your ranch, go hunting with you and fight beside you when you are diving deeper into the mines!!!
We are truly thrilled to have you all with us in this incredible journey and we can’t wait to see you all playing The Ranchers Alpha, having your feedback, ideas… and more importantly continue shaping the future of The Ranchers together!
🚨Also, Only 12 hours left to our kickstarter campaign. If you didn’t secured your 🌟exclusive access to The Ranchers Alpha🌟 yet, this is your last chance ;)
Our first Stretch Goal is reached!! 🥳 We've unlocked "Birds & Insects" thanks to your amazing support and trust!❤️🔥
The Ranchers sky will now be populated with flying birds and insects making it more alive than ever!
We are introducing a variety of flying birds and insects including -but not limited to- Crow, Parrot, Pigeon, Seagull, Eagles, Vultures and colorful other birds and butterflies!
Some birds and insects will only appear in some specific zones, some only on a specific time of the day, weather conditions and/or specific season!
Thanks to The Ranchers systemic engine, birds and insects are totally aware of their surrounding, they will be able to land on the open world elements (NPC houses, city buildings, light pole ...), on your own custom buildings (player house, tent, fences...) and they will adapt their behavior by making autonomous decisions based on what's happening in the open world!
Not all birds and insects are just here to fly around and make your day in The Ranchers open world enjoyable! Some can be harmful to your plantations by feeding them self from your crops and planted seeds, and some can take advantage of your livestock!
“Can I hunt/catch the harmful ones?” Of course you can!
Catched/Hunted birds and insects can be used to decorate your house, sold to well-paying NPCs, help accomplish quests or donated to The Ranchers Museum to help document them all!
As always, we are open to more ideas! Leave a comment or join our discord server to let us know what you have in mind ;)
What’s next?
At 130K, we will be expanding the cooking mechanic… Adding Bee Houses and introducing a totally new gameplay when it comes to how storage conditions will affect the quality and the value of your veggies, fruits and cooked dishes.
🚨If you haven’t taken part of Kickstarter campaign yet, this is your chance to secure your exclusive access to our 🌟closed Alpha🌟 by supporting us on Kickstarter: https://ranchers.game/ks while also helping reaching the next stretch goal!!
Let's go Ranchers!
Thanks for reading, Ethan
🎉The Ranchers is officially funded!🎉
You are all AMAZING!!!😭❤️ This launch has completely blown us away!
The Ranchers has reached its funding goal in less than 18 HOURS thanks to your overwhelming support!
I can’t believe we’re making our dream game come true and we couldn’t have gotten here without all of you!! THANK YOU!!!
