[h2]Howdy, partners![/h2]
Hello, friends! Big news: [b]new progression system![/b] đ
Weâve got super exciting news to share with you! Weâve been working very hard these past few months, and weâre quite proud of the result. And what is that? [b]Completely reworked progression[/b]! Not to brag, but âCowboyâ [b]feels like a whole new game now[/b]âŚ
[b]What was progression like before?[/b]
Honestly⌠it wasnât great. You could only [b]unlock things by progressing the narrative[/b]. For example, you couldnât build or craft anything unless you finished a specific quest.
And, more importantly from our perspective, managing the progression was incredibly hard. The simplest change, like wanting a certain craft to be available even a bit earlier would require tinkering with the quests and narrative, and those are a very delicate web, especially in a non-linear game like ours!
[b]Whatâs it like now?[/b]
So, we decided to [b]add a completely new layer[/b]: good old fashioned [b]experience points[/b], so you can level up! And not just one set for those, though. We added [b]three experience pillars[/b]: Farm, Fame, and Frontier!
â [b]Farm Points[/b]: Earned by upgrading your farm.
â [b]Fame Points[/b]: Earned by helping and interacting with NPCs, and doing quests.
â [b]Frontier Points[/b]: Earned by exploring and making new, more advanced things.
You can see your points and levels in the [b]âProgressionâ menu[/b]. It also shows what cool stuff youâll unlock at each level. [b]Need points fast[/b]? Complete fun challenges under each pillar to get more!
[img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35775841/c08c4eb8177f98f39fddab4774c5aeba4a15ba6e.jpg[/img]
Hereâs a sneak peek into our work-in-progress of the progression screen. Do not get too attached to it just yet, we are working on overhauling the UI too!
[b]What can you unlock?[/b]
Thereâs a lot of freedom when it comes to that. Depending on which progression tree you want to go with, rewards may vary. They include:
â new buildings
â item crafts
â forage possibilities
â entire game features
â special dialogue lines
... and many others!
And, these new dialogue lines arenât just for chatting â they [b]start quests[/b], and even [b]whole storylines[/b].
[b]How does it work?[/b]
Say youâre talking to an NPC, and you see[b] a greyed-out dialogue line[/b]. It says you [b]need Farm Level 3[/b] to select it. You check your âProgressionâ menu â youâre at Farm Level 2 and need more points ...
... What can you do about it?
â complete a farming quest on your farm (like sowing fields)
â complete some challenges: there's lots and lots of those, so thereâs always something to do!
Boom, now youâre [b]Farm Level 3[/b] â go back to the NPC and unlock an awesome quest!
[b]Was that an easy rework?[/b]
Well, it wasnât â the new system [b]has to work with all the other systems[/b], and itself be easy enough to manage and maintain. Also, now we canât simply say âyou canât build that before that quest is completedâ. You can [b]gain experience through many different activities[/b], so the [b]math has to be perfect[/b] if we want the game to be balanced.
[b]So far though, itâs looking good![/b] Now, if we want to give the player some craft earlier on in the game, we just change its availability level from 10 to 7. Done!
All in all, we think that âCowboy Lifeâ is now way more engaging because thereâs always something to do. On the other hand, if you donât want to do quests, and meetings, but simply explore, farm, and make a mark on the land, you should also get some experience, and level up.
[b]So what do you think[/b]? Donât hesitate to reach out, comment, suggest, or share a laugh! Follow us and shoot us a message [b]at our Instagram [/b]â @odd.qubit. Weâd also love to have you over on our [b]growing Discord server[/b] â hereâs the [[url=https://discord.gg/C8qr3S6WwX]link[/url]].
Happy trails, friend.
[h2]Wishlist âCowboy Life Simulatorâ today![/h2]