Posted on 2016-07-302016-07-30 by EGadd

Staxel Reporter – Issue #17: Manure & Palette System Guide

Staxel Reporter – Issue #17

Hi everybody, in this issue of the Staxel Reporter we talk about animal manure and created a guide on how to make use of the new ‘Palette System’!

Manure

If you’ve been following us on twitter you’ve probably seen a few interesting screencaps. That’s because Bart’s just finished up the code that gets our cows pooping! Let’s have a look at what role manure fulfills on your farm.

Manure is an optional part of the crop crowing process, your crops can grow just fine without it. However, just a sprinkle of this golden brown fertilizer could be all it takes for your crops to go from good to A grade! Using fertilizer will make your crops grow faster and improve their overall quality once harvested. That’s definitely something a resourceful farmer should keep in mind.

Fertilizer will likely be purchasable from a local store, but why buy what your animals produce for free? “You’re telling me I can get dung off of the ground for free? No way.” I hear you saying, but I’m serious! Once you have livestock on your farm you can just pick up their fresh manure and BAM – free fertilizer! Some animals may produce more manure than others, right now we’re thinking pigs will produce the most.

It’s proving to be quite a challenge to resist all the jokes coming to mind so I’m going to end the article here. I hope I’ve given you a good idea of the benefits manure will have in your farming career!

Colour Palette Creation Guide

A palette is basically an optional colour scheme for a given accessory model. Models do not necessarily need to support palettes (you can have a completely unpalettable model designed to only have one colour scheme), but models which are designed to support palettes can essentially have any number of colour schemes limited only by the number of palettes defined

On a basic level, in the model designed for paletting, we use a set of colours which are then mapped to other colours which will replace them in the individual palette files.

It’s also worth noting that if you have a palettable model, not all parts have to be switched out with a palette colour – only the parts defined in the swap colours

Step one of paletting is to create a model with a set of colours that you want to represent what’s being switched out. (We use ugly greens as the base since they’re unlikely to be desirable as part of the actual colour palette and we recommend that you do the same.)

It might look something like this, where the greens are the colours we want replaced, and the others are colours that should always stay the same.

Step two is to create the .palette and accompanying images:

They always have to be defined in pairs of 16×16 blocks (one from colour, one to colour). Of course, you can define as many to/from as you want in a single palette image.

You also need a 12×12 icon for displaying the palette in the character designer, like this:

Now that we have our palette, we need to make the corresponding .palette file, which looks like this:

{
“code” : “staxel.palette.orange”,
“icon” : “staxel/palettes/orangeicon.png”,
“palette” : “staxel/palettes/orange.png”
}

Final step is to add the palette to the list of supported palettes in the accessory itself

In the .accessory file you’ll need to add some code that looks like this:

“palettes” : [ “staxel.palette.black”, “staxel.palette.darkbrown”, “staxel.palette.brown”, “staxel.palette.blonde”, “staxel.palette.grey”,
“staxel.palette.red”, “staxel.palette.orange”, “staxel.palette.yellow”, “staxel.palette.green”, “staxel.palette.blue”, “staxel.palette.purple”, “staxel.palette.pink” ]

And voila, you’ve made a palette!

Palettes can be used on any part of the playable character. That mean’s you can use palettes on skin, eyes, hair, and any piece clothing including hats and accessories. Hopefully this guide has been helpful to those of you looking to mod in your own palettes for existing models or your own custom made ones!

That’s it for this issue of the Staxel Reporter. You can grab ‘Staxel – Seedling Edition’ at www.playstaxel.com/store.

Thanks for reading!

–EGadd

Posted on 2016-07-092016-07-09 by EGadd

Staxel Reporter – Issue #16: Farm Animal Designs & New Character Creator

Staxel Reporter – Issue #16

Hey everybody, in this issue of the Staxel Reporter we talk about the new farm animal designs and have a look at the new (but work in progress) character creation screen.

More Farm Animals

Conor has been working on designing more farm animals. The first farm animal is nearing completion and we’re all getting pretty excited! Right now, we’ll be taking a look at the farm animal designs as they currently are. Just remember that these designs may or may not change in the future!

D’aww, how cute are these pigs? They have chubby, rosy cheeks and, if you ask me, they already seem to have a lot of personality! I can’t wait for these little guys to be in-game makin’ cute lil’ oinking sounds! (Pigs are my favourite farm animal… very excited!)

These sheep look ready to be sheared, of course, sheep are a special case as their appearance will be completely different depending on whether they have wool or not.

As you can imagine, sheep give you wool which will have various uses in-game.

Yup, we have ducks planned as a farm animal! They’ll most likely behave a lot like chickens. Laying eggs, hatching eggs and so on. I love their current design. They have a cheeky, mischievous look to them!

I’ll just come out and say it, I’ve never trusted ducks… or birds.

I hope you’ve enjoyed taking a look at some of our planned farm animals’ current designs. If you have any suggestions or input on these designs feel free to post them to our forums!

Character Creation Overhaul

If you’ve launched Staxel recently you’ve probably noticed a rather big change to the UI, especially the brand new Character Creation screen. We touched on it a little bit last time but now that we have a better idea of what we’re doing I thought I’d expand on it a bit more.

If you’ve played Staxel before then you’ll most likely remember this screen. This was the old layout for your Character Creation options, and while it served it’s purpose well, it was only ever meant to be temporary and has been replaced with the new UI which currently looks like this:

As you can see there are a lot of changes. The biggest change you’ll notice are the three tabs at the top of the interface, these will allow you to focus on the three different stages of character creation individually.

The first tab is where you’ll choose your character’s gender and species. Not much has been revealed about this yet but for now you’ll be able to choose between human and elf, the biggest difference being, well, elf ears.

The second tab is for customising all of your character’s body options. As you can see this is where you’ll choose your skin type, hairstyle and colour, and eyes.

The third and last tab is for changing the individual parts that make up your character’s outfit. You can already choose between a big selection of shirts, dresses, trousers, shoes and hats! Accessories are also being worked on so you’ll be able to mix and match for a unique look, remember, always dress to impress!

It’s worth noting that the Character Creation menu is still a work in progress. It’s all coming together nicely but there’s still a lot that needs to be done. As always, if you have any suggestions or ideas on things we could improve on, don’t be shy! Head by the forums and drop a post in the “Suggestions” section.

That’s it for this issue of the Staxel Reporter. You can grab ‘Staxel – Seedling Edition’ at www.playstaxel.com/store.

Thanks for reading!

–EGadd

Posted on 2016-06-252016-07-09 by EGadd

Staxel Reporter – Issue #15: Dresses & New Team Member

Staxel Reporter – Issue #15

Hey everybody, in this issue of the Staxel Reporter we talk about dresses that are currently being worked on and introduce you to our new team member!

Dresses

You might have noticed a few changes to the UI since the last update, specifically the new character generator screen. There’s still quite a bit more work to be done so it might be a little confusing for the time being but bear with us, when it’s done you’ll be able to customise your character’s individual features and clothing a lot easier.

Considering that character generation is the flavour of the week, we’ve been discussing how we can expand on the current selection of outfits and the subject of dresses was raised, and how they would work with the current character animations.

Screenshot_5 — A dress SteampunkStein made which is already in-game

RazzleberryFox has been working on different dress mockups to give us a feel for how dresses will look and things we need to address to make them work in-game. Take a look!

As you can see these dresses all look fantastic and will add a bit more glamour to character creation and your in-game wardrobe. There’s still much to be done in regards to clothing but we have some exciting plans. From formal to goofy, uniforms to something more casual, there will be outfits for all occasions!

Introducing MoombaDS

I’d like to introduce you all to Joe (MoombaDS)! Joe is the latest addition to the Staxel development team. He’s a programmer and, although he’s only been on the team for a few months, has already done a huge amount of work! Anyway, I’ll stop going on and let you all hear from him yourselves.

“Hello! The name’s Joe and for the past few months I’ve been working as a programmer (alongside my cat – he arguably writes more code than I do) on Staxel.

While I may be programming now, my first foray into the video games industry was as a composer, writing music for a few small indie titles here and there. Outside of game development, one of my primary interests comes in the form of writing fiction, particularly within the science fantasy genre. The cat insists that I collect far too much manga and spend an excessive amount of time watching anime.

I’m a huge fan of all types of games and have been since time immemorial, but RPGs and (of course) farm-life games hold a special place in my heart. As you can imagine, I leapt at the chance to get on board with Staxel and I look forward to adding many cool features in the long run!

Feel free to give me a shout on twitter any time @moombads! I don’t bite (the cat does though)!”

Well there you have it, that was Joe. Make sure to follow him on twitter as he’ll be tweeting out Staxel tidbits of what he’s working on, screencaps and such in the future!

That’s it for this issue of the Staxel Reporter. You can grab ‘Staxel – Seedling Edition’ at www.playstaxel.com/store.

Thanks for reading!

–EGadd

Posted on 2016-06-112016-06-11 by EGadd

Staxel Reporter – Issue #14: In-Game Storage Mechanic & General Dev Update

Staxel Reporter – Issue #14

Hey everybody, in this issue of the Staxel Reporter we show off a storage mechanic idea we’re experimenting with and give a general update on some of what we’re working on.

In-game Item Storage

This week, MoocowTG started experimenting with item storage. We’re trying an unconventional approach here, as you don’t store your items in a 2D UI menu that pops up when you open a chest, but you actually place them on an in-game storage unit! There are some pictures of this below to demonstrate what I mean. I should mention however, that this approach to item storage could possibly change in the future.

This was the first pass on the in-game item storage, testing the concept. It looks great having your items visibly displayed in the actual game world. However, you don’t want to be limited to storing all your items in 2×2 crates, they’d be everywhere!

This is more like it! This is just a standard shelf unit, but it shows that storing items in-game looks great and could arguably replace having to navigate 2D menus for all your storage. You can almost imagine walking into a player made bakery where the shelves are stocked with all their freshly baked delicacies on display.

As you can see here the stack count is now displayed above a stack. This definitely needs some prettying up, but this mechanic has only been worked on for a couple of days. We’ll probably have something pop up when you hover over the item, displaying additional info for what you’re looking at, we’ll have to keep experimenting and see what works well! You’ll also notice that a lot of items look smaller than they actually are when placed in the world, this is pretty much necessary so that you consistently store any of your items in your storage unit of choice.

If we do decide to run with this idea, we’ll be able to do all sorts of different things. For example throw operational doors on some units, chests, mannequins, drawers, display cases. Let us know what you think of this mechanic on our forums, discord, twitter, reddit or facebook!

General Development Update

I thought I’d give you all a look at some of what’s been worked on this week. I won’t go into too much detail about each aspect but this should give you a good idea about a few of the things you can expect to be showing up in the game pretty soon.

We’ve made some good progress with our first in-game farm animal! This was featured in the last Staxel Reporter, but since then the cows have had their animations worked on, and improved AI code is currently being written.

This week we started working on the beekeeping mechanic, and how it’s all going to come together and function in the game. If you’re curious as to how the beekeeping mechanic is going to work, we did an article on it in the Staxel Reporter – Issue #11: Beekeeping & Modding Guide Spotlight.

We’re all very excited for beekeeping and we hope you are too!

As you can see we’ve continued to add more plant life to Staxel, right now we’re specifically working on adding fruit trees. I don’t know about you, but I’m really looking forward to creating a huge, colourful orchard with every type of fruit tree!

We’re very happy with our progress these past two weeks, it’s nice to see another main feature shaping up in the game, and makes us excited about everything else we have planned.

That’s it for this issue of the Staxel Reporter. You can grab ‘Staxel – Seedling Edition’ at www.playstaxel.com/store.

Thanks for reading!

–EGadd

Posted on 2016-05-302016-05-30 by EGadd

Staxel Reporter – Issue #13: Dev Update On Plant Life & Cows

Staxel Reporter – Issue #13

Hey everyone, in this issue of the Staxel Reporter we give an update on aspects of Staxel we are currently working on.

Farm Crops

This week, Conor and Razz have continued adding more variety to the plant life in Staxel! Let’s take a look at what they’ve come up with:

You’ll find berry bushes growing wild as you traverse the world, berries are gatherable so make sure you grab some on your way past. Berries come in all shapes and sizes, so if you take a liking to a particular variety you could always collect a few extra and try growing a few bushes of your own for easy access. There’s nothing quite like having nature’s bounty on your doorstep.

Berries can be sold at a vendor as an easy way to make some extra money while exploring, but keep in mind they also make fantastic ingredients, especially in baking, but only if you can resist snacking on them until you get home.

You’ll notice there are different kinds of trees here. Trees can be chopped down for the wood resource which is useful for building and crafting. On top of that however, some trees also grow delicious produce! Nothing beats an apple pie freshly baked with home-grown apples.
Just like with berries, if you find yourself spending a lot of time traveling to your favourite fruit trees and back, make it easier on yourself and try growing some of your own closer to home.

As you can see we’re still expanding on the selection of crops that will be available in Staxel. We’d like to have a wide variety of plant life for you to grow and discover. If you have any crop suggestions, or any suggestions in general, feel free to post them in the suggestion section on our forums, we check them frequently!

Farm Animal Progress

We’ve been working on implementing farm animals, and we all voted to start with cows. If you’ve been following our social media you’ve probably seen our progress. It’s been very exciting working on Staxel’s first farm animal, here are a few pictures of the progress from the very beginning:

Everyone starts somewhere, and as you can see here the Staxel cows started as a weird army of mooing people. Hey, it takes all kinds!

In Staxel you transport your farm animals with crates.

As you can see we’ve made a good bit of progress since the mooing people. These cows are happy to finally look like cows… but the sound they make is actually pretty spooky, we’re using a placeholder sound for now.

We’re very happy with our progress these past two weeks, it’s nice to see another main feature shaping up in the game, and makes us excited about everything else we have planned.

That’s it for this issue of the Staxel Reporter. You can grab ‘Staxel – Seedling Edition’ at www.playstaxel.com/store.

Thanks for reading!

–EGadd

Posted on 2016-05-142016-05-14 by EGadd

Staxel Reporter – Issue #12: Farm Crops & Qubicle

Staxel Reporter – Issue #12

Hey everyone, in this issue of the Staxel Reporter we talk about our plans for crops and have an article about Qubicle’s release on steam!

Farm Crops

As the resident farmer, one of your many jobs is to sow your crops and help them keep their ground. I’d like to give you all a better picture of what we’re planning for your farm’s fields.

Each of your crops will start from a seed, no surprise there really. What might surprise you though is the fact that each seed is brightly coloured, depending on what type of seed it is. This means you can tell at a glance what seed you’re looking at. Your bare fields will look pretty too!

Once you’ve tilled the earth and your seeds are planted, it’s up to you to take good care of them. Some crops may require special care, but most are pretty standard. Your crops need to be watered frequently or they will wither away! You can take additional steps to improve your crops’ quality, for example, adding manure

Some crops can only be grown in specific seasons, so take care to plant seeds in their compatible season. If you’re unsure what season a given seed can grow in, just check the packet! The packet is marked with one of four strategically placed symbols, each representing one of the four seasons.

It’s finally time for all that hard work under the beating sun and pouring rain to pay off! After harvesting your crops you can take them to market and make a well-earned profit. You can also keep some of your harvest aside for cooking, or perhaps trade them with friends for crops they’ve grown!

In conclusion, if you take care of your plants they will take care of you. We’re all very excited about the crops and hope you are as well!

Qubicle is now on Steam!

Minddesk have just recently released the Steam version of Qubicle Voxel Editor so I thought I’d take this chance to introduce you to it.

As many of you will know, Qubicle is the voxel editor we use to create all the models in Staxel. Everything you actually see in the game has been created with this editor so we can definitely recommend it to anybody interested in making their own content.

The base version will provide you with all the tools you need to make those voxel models you’ve been dreaming up. Qubicle is easy to understand and makes short work of tasks like importing models you might want to customise and exporting anything you create to the correct .qb format.

There are also a number of additional upgrade modules available which provide some more unique features if you feel like they’d benefit you. “Voxelizer” for example allows you to import a regular mesh and convert it to voxels.

So make sure to check out the Steam page here and remember, if you need any help you can always take a look at the Modding section on the forums, where you can find a wealth of information on creating mods for Staxel, or, visit the “Learn” page on Qubicle’s website where they’ve provided an in-depth guide on using the software as well as some basic tips on getting started.

That’s it for this issue of the Staxel Reporter. You can grab ‘Staxel – Seedling Edition’ at www.playstaxel.com/store.

Thanks for reading!

–EGadd

Posted on 2016-05-022016-05-02 by EGadd

Staxel Reporter – Issue #11: Beekeeping & Modding Guide Spotlight

Staxel Reporter – Issue #11

Hey all, in this issue of the Staxel Reporter we talk about our plans for beekeeping and spotlight an awesome modding guide a community member made!

Beekeeping

They say the sweetest things in life are free, and it couldn’t be more true when it comes to honey (except when you buy it). So, seeing as we’re currently implementing bugs in Staxel (not the bad code type of bugs, the creepy-crawly kind), I thought I’d take this opportunity to share some of our plans for bees and their noble contribution to the gameplay.

To start off with you’ll need to get yourself a basic beehive, makes sense really. You’ll find one of these at a vendor’s shop in town. Next up is to get out there and find yourself a Queen Bee. All of the bugs in Staxel will be able to be caught and will make up one of the several collections you can try and complete in the game. Keep an eye out for more info on this in the future.

Once you’ve caught your Queen Bee you need to introduce her to her new palace. Place her inside the beehive and once she’s settled in she’ll start to produce some worker bees.
After a short time they will start producing that sweet nectar of the heavens (that’s honey to us common folk). And there you have it, your first fully-functioning beehive is up and running.

All that’s left for you to do now is collect it. First things first, it’s time for our busy little friends to have a well-deserved rest. You’ll need to use the smoke puffer tool to give them the right idea. Begin by puffing the smoke over the hive to send your bees to dream land, then you can start collecting the honey.

“How often should I collect the honey?” I hear you asking. Well every few days should be long enough, you’ll notice some subtle signs around the hive which will let you know it’s ready to be harvested. You should also know that your bees will not produce honey in Winter, they’ll be inside trying to keep warm! And come Springtime your bees will fly off in search of a new hive so you’ll have to go a-hunting for a new Queen Bee.

Now is the time all your hard work pays off! You can use honey as an ingredient when cooking or baking, maybe bake some tasty ‘Honey Muffins’, or you might decide to take your jars of honey to market for some profit. Honey also makes a fine gift to sweeten the life of the person who already has everything.

A Very Useful Guide to Modding

Community member and avid modder, Mighty_Borlaug, has written up an excellent guide to modding different items into Staxel. It’s so informative that we thought it deserved a spotlight in the Staxel Reporter.

You can have a good read through it on the forums by clicking here.

A bunch of items Mighty_Borlaug created and modded into Staxel.

Mighty_Borlaug’s tutorial explains how to make and export models using a voxel editor, offers an in-depth explanation on how collisions work in the game and covers various other topics which will be very helpful to anyone who wants to try their hand at modding.

If you haven’t done so already, why not take this opportunity to sign up for the forums and get involved in our community? You can also check out Mighty_Borlaug’s mega thread which is updated often with new modded material he’s been working on.

That’s it for this issue of the Staxel Reporter. You can grab ‘Staxel – Seedling Edition’ at www.playstaxel.com/store.

Thanks for reading!

–EGadd

Posted on 2016-04-162016-04-16 by EGadd

Staxel Reporter – Issue #10: Gathering & New Furniture Set

Staxel Reporter – Issue #10

Hey all, in this issue of the Staxel Reporter you’ll learn some of our plans for the ‘gathering’ system and get a sneak peak at a new furniture set!

Gathering

With such a rich world and a host of different environments, gathering becomes almost second nature, and the sooner you get started the better! A good deal of Staxel’s gameplay hinges on the various things you’ll be picking up as you navigate the world. Building, for instance, will require the crafting of materials, most of which are created with resources that can be harvested from your world like stone, wood, clay etc.

Many cooking ingredients will also have to be sourced by foraging around looking for things like berries, fruits, mushrooms and fish. You don’t have to grow everything on the farm when nature provides it for you. And if you come across a particular flower you like the look of, why not just pick off the seeds and grow some yourself?

Gathering is also going to be the first step you take towards completing any collections you decide to start, and with some of the “collectables” only being available in certain seasons you’ll be outside gathering all the time!

Finally, you can always make a little extra money from gathering. You’ll be able to sell a lot of the things you pick up on your travels to the vendors in town. This will come in handy, especially early on when you’re just starting up and need a bit of cash to keep things ticking over.

So there you have it, a little bit of insight into the possibilities that good gathering techniques will open up for you. So remember, any time you’re out exploring you could be catching bugs, mining for materials, picking fruits and flowers, fishing and collecting all sorts of other things to your heart’s content. Just make sure to bring the right tool for the job!

New Furniture Set

Ever walked into your home and thought “I really wish there was a Contemporary furniture set”? Well have I got news for you!

World-renowned designer RazzleberryFox has just revealed her latest range of furniture, affectionately named “The Contemporary Furniture Set”.

This set contains the following pieces of furniture:

Table
Large Table
Side Table
Coffee Table
Single bed
Double bed
Wardrobe
Dresser
Chair
Arm chair
Love seat
Sofa
Vanity
Stool
Long stool
Futon
Credenza
Lamp
Foot lamp
Desk

Now I know what you’re thinking. “Gee Liam, that’s a whole lot of furniture, how will I fit it all into my freshly built home?”

I have no idea, maybe expand your house? That question is really outside my area of expertise.

This new furniture set will be arriving in Staxel in the coming week, so keep an eye out for the next update!

That’s it for this issue of the Staxel Reporter. You can grab ‘Staxel – Seedling Edition’ at www.playstaxel.com/store

Remember, Staxel’s price will be raised to $10 USD on May the 1st (2016).

Thanks for reading!

-EGadd

Posted on 2016-04-022016-04-02 by EGadd

Staxel Reporter – Issue #9: Farm Animals & Update from SteampunkStein

Staxel Reporter – Issue #9

Hey everyone, in this issue of the Staxel Reporter you’ll find out a bit about the plans we’ve got for animals in Staxel.

We also have a general development update from SteampunkStein, enjoy!

Animals

Before we get into it I need to mention that these are only our current plans for the animals in Staxel, everything you read here is subject to change at any point.

So with that out of the way let’s get started.

Animals are going to play a major part in Staxel, after all, what would a farm be without it’s residents? Once they have arrived and get out in the open they will quickly make themselves at home, interacting with the environment and soaking up all the love and care you could ever give them. As you’d expect there will also be a lot of new items accompanying the arrival of our farmyard friends but we’ll touch on that a bit more later on.

Currently, the farm animals we’ve got planned are:

Cows
Chickens
Sheep
Pigs

– Purchasing

You might’ve been wondering how you’ll get hold of some of these adorable new companions. Well I’m sorry to say it, but nothing in life is free. To start off with, you will have to spend some of your hard-earned money to purchase them from your local livestock merchant.

Each animal will cost a certain amount depending on what it is, and once you’ve made your mind up the merchant will take his payment and have it delivered straight to the farm! Which brings us to our next point:

– Transport

All the transportation of your animals will be done via custom made crates, each type of animal arrives with a crate of it’s own unique design.

You’re probably thinking “Oh great… more packaging… It seems everything these days comes in a box that needs to be recycled or ripped up and…” Let me stop you there. These are special crates that you would do better to keep around, believe me. Let’s say you wanted to move your cow to that new field you’ve spent days building. Instead of just opening the gate and letting your cow use it’s own initiative, put it in a crate and have the job done in seconds!

Or maybe, whoops! Somebody did a shoddy job with the fences and now all the chickens are loose! Whip those crates out and get wrangling!

The possibilities are endless when you have these crates at hand. Also, if you look closely, there’s something magical about these crates. Not only can they shrink your beloved animals down, small enough to fit in your pocket, they also have inside them everything your animals need to keep them happy and safe for as long as they’re in there.

– Produce

You’ll be pleased to hear that the new inhabitants won’t just be cute ornaments. Everyone needs to earn their keep on the farm! Your animals do their part by producing goods that you can collect and sell to merchants. Cows can be milked daily, chickens lay eggs, sheep provide wool and pigs make.. well.. “fertiliser”. Nothing far fetched here!

Selling your animals’ produce is another way to make money on your farm and comes in handy especially in Winter when you won’t be growing as many crops.

– Care

Looking after your livestock properly is very important. If you don’t take good care of your animals they could become sick, and nobody wants that. When you decided to make that purchase and bring them home to your farm you signed up for a lifetime of responsibility you know. Your animals rely on you for their well being, and if that doesn’t tug on your heartstrings, how about I play on your purse strings? Sick animals won’t produce any goods the entire time they’re sick!

Proper care will consist of daily feeding, access to water, grooming and other such things which we’ll explain closer to the time.

That’s about it for animals, but keep an eye out because we’ll keep you updated with any new information or changes that happen.

Back from GDC!

Hey all, Conor (SteampunkStein) here! We’ve been back from GDC for a while and rested up, so here’s a lil’ update.Bart, Razz and I had a great time at the conference. We spent most of our time at the convention centre, meeting with lots of other devs, and seeing some awesome projects that people are working on. I’m definitely looking forward to quite a few games that are coming out soon! On top of that we got some really good input from everyone who’d played Staxel.

While at GDC we met up for a design session and discussed a few things we want to implement in the next few months (although I can’t reveal too much) 😉

We’re really pushing forward for our next update which we’re nicknaming ‘Sprout’. This update should contain a lot more gameplay elements and complete the growth cycles.

One cool thing we’re looking forward to is animals! I know there’s a more detailed post for that but we’re excited to finally start adding one of the bigger features to the game. Keeping animals should be a fun change compared to the tending of your crops and you’ll have to make sure your animals are happy to make the most of them. We hope everyone will be pleased with this feature and have a lot of fun!

On another note our release for Seedling Edition did super well and we’re thankful to everyone who’s been playing and giving us feedback, it’s been exciting to see the amazing stuff that people from our modding community have been making with the game too! A lot of them have even uploaded their work so check out the modding section on the forums and try them out!

Thanks again for all your support, and if you haven’t yet picked up a copy of Staxel from the store page then make sure to do it soon! Keeping in line with the plans we made regarding pricing, we’ll change the price to $10 USD shortly. But don’t panic, the price will only change on the 1st of May 2016, so you’ve still got a good while to grab it for $5 USD.

In addition to being able to play Staxel during the development phase, purchasing at this point will reserve your username and you’ll also receive a Steam key for Staxel as soon as we make it available on Steam.

That’s it for this issue of the Staxel Reporter. Remember, you can grab ‘Staxel – Seedling Edition’ at www.playstaxel.com/store

Thanks for reading!

-EGadd

Posted on 2016-03-182016-04-02 by EGadd

The Staxel Reporter – Issue #8

Staxel Reporter – Issue #8

Hey everyone, this issue of the Staxel Reporter shows off our new village built especially for GDC and a brand new furniture set!

GDC Village Demo

As many of you will no doubt know the Game Developers Conference is currently in full swing in San Francisco! Some of the Staxel team have made the trip to see check out what’s new and catch up with some other devs and we thought this would be a good opportunity to build a new village just in case they bump into anyone who wants to have a look at the game.

So here’s a little showcase of the “GDC Village”! See if you can spot the new items:

Firstly we have a picture of the farm, we tried to keep it a bit more civilised than the last farm with a nice rustic cobblestone path between plots. To the right we have the tunnel entrance which leads out to the main village. Outside of the shot to the left is a paddock and barn, complete with some of the new long grass objects that are also now available in game.

This is the view we have of the new village. Upon exiting the tunnel from the farm you’ll be greeted by a handful of cottages in this sleepy village. But don’t let the olde-worlde chic fool you, each home is outfitted with the latest modern appliances and most comfortable of stylish furniture. Overlooking the village is the mayor’s house, feel free to drop in and take a look, he’s never home.

Here we have our local amenities surrounding the town square. On the left is the village store, catering to all your most extravagant needs (and with prices to match!). In the centre is the village hall and on the right we have the tavern, complete with tea garden!

Lastly we have a postcard-worthy picture of the town well. Beautifully restored to it’s original condition, RazzleberryFox whipped this up for us on request and it looks great!
If you want to check it out for yourself you’re more than welcome to. It’s currently on the “alpha” server.

Come and visit today but remember, we only open access to our test server periodically so you’ll have to hurry if you want to make your mark!

Groovy Furniture Set

Tired of keeping up with all the latest trends? Shelling out every two weeks to get the latest version of exactly the same thing?

Well now you can get an incredibly old version of exactly the same thing with the all “new” Groovy Furniture Set!

The set is available in-game now and contains the following pieces of furniture

Double Bed
Single Bed
Table
Chair
Armchair
Couch
Floor lamp
Small lamp
Stool
Cupboard
Dresser
Chest of drawers

Acclaimed designer Conor had this to say about his latest set:

“The Groovy set is super wild, check it out and get your disco on yo!”

We dared to ask this accomplished fashionista what else we can expect from his upcoming range.

“I’m going to try a new style soon, thinking something dark and Gothic, but maybe it’s just a phase.”

Well there you have it folks, straight from the horse’s mouth. Expect to see a gothic furniture set in the near future!

That’s it for this issue of the Staxel Reporter. Remember, you can grab ‘Staxel – Seedling Edition’ at www.playstaxel.com/store

Thanks for reading!

-EGadd