Hey there, guys! Been a while since last update! 

I've been making a bunch of progress these days with the coding as I understand how to properly use the new engine now. I've probably accomplished more in the past week compared to the previous 1-2 months (it took hours to do the simplest thing because I was dumb, also I got confused with project scene structure which made me too confused on where to begin :v). Still, all those learning has come to fruition at last as I've been not needing tutorials these days to code the game! Still not the best coder out there obviously, but I can at least attempt to make the survival game I've been envisioning!

I've managed to incorporate gameplay stuff that I couldn't before which is neat. There's also no lag whatsoever that was encountered in previous version made in Renpy even with the more complex gameplay, I'm starting to feel like all this engine migration trouble is worth it (I really wondered whether it was a mistake a few months ago... =D)

Anyway, here are some things that have been accomplished so far! (attaching GIF in itch.io is a pain due to the very low size limit, so enjoy the screenshots instead!). 

Swimming around + footsteps effect

When there is a water area, you can swim around. This allows for better exploration as you can swim around to find new islands as well (that's the plan, anyway). 

Also, as an aesthetic thingy, there will footprints when you walk on the sand area, as well as water ripples when you walk on water surface 

Cutscene / Dialog system

Ended up remaking the dialog system instead of using the prebuilt one to allow for more flexibility with cutscene. Portraits and CGs will be tinted according to the current time cycle. Intro cutscene has successfully been made! =D

I've posted the intro cutscene video on Twitter! If you want to see the video, check out the tweet below!

Intro cutscene test part!

--#GodotEngine #gamedev #indiedev pic.twitter.com/tEfYdPiXaw
— Meyaoi @ Baradise Escape & Banana Ranch (@meyaoigames) December 12, 2022

Foraging / mining / farming / fishing + skills level

Overall survival skill is determined by average of all the other skills. Will determine your base attack / defense / max health

Better time of the day lighting effect + other effects

Night lighting was really odd looking in Renpy because it was just a darker image overlay on top. Using Godot's CanvasModulate (with the inbuilt light system) makes it look a lot better and nighttime-like. There's also dawn, dusk time scale. Portraits and CGs will also be tinted accordingly. Sparkles are also made using the in-built particles system, which looks a lot more appealing! (unfortunately I can't showcase it here lol).

Action battle (changing weapons change the appearance, you can also use bow to attack)

Really want to add some kind of simple magic (like fireball) as well, but that will have to wait until later rendition!

Enemies and preys

Preys will try to escape from you while enemies will chase you around.  I want to make some kind of bosses monsters in the future with more complicated attack patterns, but again, that will wait until later :p

Cook / craft mechanism

Ignore the nonsense recipe materials, btw, they're still placeholders.

Shop mechanism

You can buy / sell items / blueprints. Certain purchase amount also can upgrade your membership with the merchant and unlocks more inventory.

NPC schedule

Have made an easily extensible system to allow for more schedules! Can't really showcase this, but it's working anyway. 

Unlock more item slots with the Statue God 

(Am shamelessly inspired by Zelda BOTW Korok Seeds mechanism...)

Teleporting 

Use teleportation orb (yeah, such a creative name xD) to instantly return back to the previous statue you visited. Consumables, but can be bought easily in-game.

Art progress

Last but not least, artist is still working hard to finish up the rest of the characters' CGs. They're working on Lex CGs batch right now (look at the header pic, doesn't it just look amazing *_*)

Super early sketch for Alan bathing scene xD (which will be shown when you decide to take a bath at lake / river water source)

Anyway, I've basically made the barebone system that I want to include in the game, the remaining to do is fill up the game with content, namely:

• Design the proper maps for locations to be showcased in the new demo
• Add in intro story cutscenes & some bond quests as well (I've been waiting for so long to use the amazing CGs!!) 
• Add in the enemies, resource spots, items, recipes, etc. etc.

These are the "fun" part of game-making, btw, which I've been looking forward to doing!

I'm targeting the end of this year to finish up all these, so that by year 2023 I can concentrate on finishing up Yolkie's route (Banana Ranch) as the CGs for him are almost done now (currently artist is on 2nd to last batch with 15/21 CGs done and 3 CGs in lineart stage). 

Anyway, wish me luck as I will speed through this all during the holiday season *_*