Sapling 1.3.52 (181129b)

New:

• Level Of Detail changes now smoothly fade in.

Changes:

• Changed model of an old duplicate Tracter Double Bed and hidden it from catalogues.
• Added a button to rename worlds without loading them.

• Better and more efficient distance fog. Distance fog is now disabled if Bloom is disabled.
• Minor adjustments to the steam launcher usability.
• Halloween changes have been removed. (Brick sells his original stock etc)
• Added some particles at the start of pulling up flowers animation
• Improvements to the steam launcher error if the game fails to start.

Fixes:

• LOD holes have been fixed.
• Fix caret position in the World name box being reset to the end all the time.
• Hardening towards certain Dialogue crashes.
• Some hardening towards save corruption.
• More retrying and hardening when loading files.
• Don’t have the server crash if world facade goes null.
• Suppressed some old world exceptions to do with bugs. Fixed on the spot now.
• Fixed multiple inventory full sounds happening at once.
• Fix some crashes with StaxelNet.
• Fixed a crash when the renamer was used yet wasn’t the active item.
• Fix gaps appearing in terrain at long distances.
• Fix some surrounding logic that may have caused NPC’s to read without a book.
• Don’t disable sound if the audio system goes out of memory. Some other minor audio changes.
• Keep trying to delete/move files for up to 15 seconds. Should help with sporadic issues with Anti-viruses and similar programs.
• Can no longer get Halloween mail by having an older world.
• Fix Character model showing when net issues window appears.
• Fix some cases of visual sliders (e.g. Gamma) going out of bounds and causing black screens.

Modding

• Items from mods that have been removed should be replaced with a “Missing Item” item. These should turn back into the original item, if added back in.
• Content Builder checks sounds exist on Plants and Tiles.
• Content Builder error messages should now provide all of the details upfront.
• Links in Content Builder error messages should now be clickable.
• Improved error message for empty Language files
• Fix Content Build Exceptions not showing the filename.
• Updated Plants and added sponges to the Asset Manager.
• Removed chain crafting behaviour as it wasn’t used in Staxel. If you want previous behaviour, use “DeprecatedChainCraft” : true in your reaction.

Halloween Update

Get your spook on with these creepy Halloween masks! Be the talk of the town, or the local boogie monster if that’s more your style.

These masks are part of the upcoming Halloween update that we’re currently working on! The masks will be craftable at the pumpkin carving table, and will also be a permanent addition to the in-game catalogue during the Halloween update so you can still pick them up after the holiday is over! I don’t know about you, but I’ll be sporting the zombie chicken head. I just hope my chickens don’t mind too much…

That’s all I can share for now, but it shouldn’t be a long wait for these new goodies to go live. We hope you’re as excited as we are!

---

Staxel on GOG.com

Over the past year we’ve had a lot of people requesting a DRM-free option for playing Staxel.
We’re pleased to let you know that if DRM-free is your jam, you can now pick up Staxel from the GOG store!

---

Next Major Staxel Update

Just to let you all know, Staxel’s next major update is in currently in the works.
We won’t be giving out too many details on this for the time being, but rest assured we’re all working hard to bring more interesting content to the game for you all to enjoy.

Keep an eye out for future issues of the Staxel Reporter where we’ll be posting updates and sneak peeks of what we’re working on.

---

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

Or you can wishlist us on steam at http://store.steampowered.com/app/405710/Staxel/

Thanks for reading!

Subscribe

 

–EGadd

After a lot of hard work, we’re very proud to say that ‘Staxel 1.3 – Friendship Update’ is now live! Let’s take a look at some of the new content you’ll be seeing in game.

The New Friendship System

The main aspect of this update is adding more depth to the villagers. You can now build relationships with your neighbours by talking with them on a regular basis, giving them gifts, doing them favours and completing their ‘Friendship quests’!

Befriending a villager comes with certain benefits; when you get to know them well you might receive some special gifts, and if you take a liking to one villager in particular, you can even invite them to become your roommate! It’s important to choose your best friend carefully though, as you can only have one roomie at a time!

Villager Behaviour

Along with all their new dialogue, the villagers’ daily behaviour has been upgraded too. You might find villagers doing more day-to-day activities like shopping in the local store, or having conversations with each other. We’ve found that these changes breathe much more life into the village, and Leif seems pretty happy about it too!

More Quests

Villagers each have special ‘Friendship quests’ for you to complete, if you choose to. I certainly don’t want to spoil the fun by going into detail here, but I will say you’ll really be seeing your neighbors’ personalities come out with this update. Each villager’s quests are unique to them, so by helping out you’ll learn more about them and build a stronger relationship to boot!

New Festivals

We’ve added a new fully-fledged Springtime festival, along with a ‘mini festival’ of sorts. Of course, I’m not going to reveal too much about either of these, but what I will leave you with this cheeky sneak peek.

New Content

Along with all these new systems, we’ve also added a lot of new content too. New outfits, accessories, furniture pieces, toys, and even new pets! Some of the new gear can only be collected in specific ways (for example, completing friendship quests), so I’m sure all of you collectors will have a blast gathering all the new loot!

This isn’t all you’ll find in 1.3 though, for further information on the changes you can read the changelist below (note that this isn’t an exhaustive list). The best way to find out what’s new is to update Staxel and give it a spin! We’re all pumped with how it’s turned out and can’t wait to see what you all think of it. Have fun!

CHANGELIST

Major new content:

• Friendship system: Befriend the villagers by giving them gifts, conversing with them, or completing daily quests.
• Roomies: Help out a villager enough, become their best friend, and maybe they’ll agree to move in with you! All you need to do is given them a certain special item and make sure you set up your own home’s signpost!
• Gifts: You can now give villagers items by pressing the correct button with the item selected.
• New quests: More than 35 new quests spread across 11 villagers, spanning several friendship storylines (Leif, Eris, and Jamie will receive theirs in a future update).
• New pet type: Unlock an entire new species of pet through Rosemary’s quests! Not even the whole dev team knows what it is!
• New faces: New storylines bring with them interesting new individuals!
• New hats: Who doesn’t want more hats?
• New furniture and tiles: Even more ways to decorate!
• Quest items: These specially marked items are extra hard to lose:
  • They can’t be dropped or thrown away.
  • They will always end up in your inventory, even if it is full. They’ll even throw out a random item to make room if necessary!
  • Placeable quest tiles will always return to the inventory when broken.
• A new festival: Springtime brings with it a tiny disaster.
• New building tools: Tape measures simplify judging sizes, along with many other handy tools to make building a cinch!

Detailed 1.3 Changelist:

Added:

• Reputation and reputation levels
• Reputation icons displayed in nametags
• Reputation can be gained by:
  • Talking
  • Giving Items
  • Completing daily quests
• The ability to invite villagers to be your roomie upon completing their questline
  • Roomied villagers will hang out at your house
  • Roomied villagers will have extra special dialogue
• A new species of pet
• A new festival
• Dozens of new quest items
• New hats
• Conversations with Murmurs (Merchants)
• Postboxes and signs can have extra criteria:
  • Must be away from town
  • Must not overlap with another totem
• Villagers can go shopping in the village
• Villagers can converse with each other (only used in quests for now)
• Dialogue can be used to spawn villagers, tiles, and more

Fixes:

• Allow all numpad buttons to be mapped; some were missed by mistake

• Fix pets colliding with doors while following their owners
• Fix some cases of Journal entries duplicating
• Fix an issue where postbox/totem sale pools couldn’t be expanded with new tiers
• When checking for an item in a players inventory, the clothing slots were skipped
• Fixed some dialogue issues, which resulted in getting stuck in conversations

 

Modding:

• Added a large number of extra Dialogue Commands
• Added functionality to fishables to be active during certain quests, or while certain totems exist
• Added functionality to plants to drop seeds when broken at certain stages
• Allow villagers to be farm animals
• Added village global variables for dialogue
• Added personal cross-villager variables for players in dialogue
• Add the ability to defer dialogue commands, limited to a small handful of commands for now
• More extensive dialogue validation
• Regards are now included in villager npc files
• Dialogue pools blocked by friendship levels are included in villager npc files
• Fixed an issue where a misnamed dialogue command could still be validated
• Fixed an issue where farm animals, and pet models were not checked
• Fixed bodytype layers in some animals
• When creating translation files for dialogues, the content builder will now filter to .dialogue and .npcconversation files.

 

Plus countless other minor changes lost to the wind.

 

---

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

Subscribe

 

---

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!

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!”

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

Subscribe

 

---

Staxel Reporter – Issue #5

 

Hey all! In this issue of the Staxel Reporter we announce some exciting news and give you a little insight into our plans for Staxel’s flowers.

---

Introducing A New Team Member

 

Let’s start with some great news, the Staxel team has just gained a new member! More specifically, we’ve brought in an additional artist.

She’s currently working closely with SteampunkStein and they’re coming up with all sorts of exciting new things to add to the game. So, without further ado, here’s RazzleberryFox!

“Hi! I’m Razz… I am a 3D Modeller and digital artist. I have been making 3D models for a few years now.

I started in University and never stopped. I made models and art mostly for Minecraft, I worked closely with quite a few mod makers, also made a mod of my own, Decocraft, and decided that video games were more than a hobby to me, they were my passion and I have been working toward making games look pretty ever since!

When I heard the Staxel team was looking for a new member and considered me I was super excited, and now I can finally get to doing something I love and sharing it with all of you!

So feel free to follow me on twitter @razzleberryfox and talk to me! I will try my very best to work with SteampunkStein and the rest of the crew to make Staxel as beautiful as we can!”

---

Flowers

 

SteampunkStein is currently doing a lot of work on the flower models and on implementing growth stages, so I thought this would be a good time to give you some insight into our plans for flowers in Staxel.

Flowers work differently to crops in a few ways. Firstly, flowers won’t wilt if you forget to water them, this will make it a lot easier to create your stunning garden without having to think about the upkeep of all the plants in it.

Secondly, colours play a more important role when it comes to harvesting seeds. At first, flowers will only be available in their standard colours but eventually you’ll be able to grow flowers using a wide spectrum of colours and combinations.

Staxel’s extensive collection of flora is designed to give you endless possibilities when creating your gardens, but you’ll be happy to know that they all follow the same growth pattern. To keep things simple all you really need to do is plant the seeds and then water them until they’re fully grown.

I haven’t mentioned everything to do with the features we’re thinking of but I hope this gives you all a better idea of how this system is going to work.

---

Well, 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

Subscribe