CarrotsCritters

Build 0.41! Adventures~! And the Subby Plant?!

Added 2025-04-09 02:38:00 +0000 UTC

Download it here!

OK DEV TALK TIME. Whew, been a minute eh? This build has had a LOT of back-end shenanigans and clean up.

We've had a few persistent ways to lock up the game entirely, resulting in players NEEDING to chapter select to get out of the logic soft-lock. Not cool! So a while ago we came up with the concept of Adventures! Basically any of these problematic quests will become their own "class" of quest. Another issue with these particular quests is that they were KINDA LONG. And they would LOCK YOU IN to that quest, AND, you couldn't initiate it intentionally. So basically a critter would kidnap the player into doing something sometimes 10-20 minutes long xD!

Adventures solved multiple issues all at once, and it'll be how we handle a good chunk of Act 5 content. Now we've got these handy little zones you can run into when an adventure is available. And these zones/adventures are unlocked via Critters doing a "Hey Rascal!" sound bubble! This keeps it such that it's their idea to interact with you, but they give you the option to start it whenever, via the zone!

In Act 5/postgame, REPLAYABILITY is super important for a porn game like this! For the sake of porn experience, but also for our visiting/permanent residences. We don't want you to have to replay the whole dang game so you can show your friends your critter's involvement! So Vixel implemented these adventures such that they are replayable. But it's smart enough to merge content if you gain something form an adventure, or if you bail on the adventure, it's smart enough to not break anything either.

It also has a better visual indication that an adventure is starting/ending.

One particularly LARGE thing we've been running into by working on the same game for so long, is that some of the systems we're tackling, we haven't touched in literally years. Code wise, AND lore wise. So like, we need to go back and make sure these changes aren't becoming an issue. One way they HAVE been becoming an issue, is the game operating on rules that the player isn't aware of. To me, this starts to show some cracks in the design, and this Adventures concept was rearing a few of those cracks. But the better visual indication of starting/ending a quest, the actual entire method of initiating these adventures - To me this really solved those issues. We get really gamified cues that something is happening, so when there's slightly unique requirements or rules to this moment, it just fits and feels good. Before, too many things were happening behind the scenes, and it would leave opportunities for a player to not understand why something changed. Now it's a lot more clear!

WHEW, ok, so what's in this build?

So there are Six Adventures - but don't be too excited, it's all existing content that are now relegated to Adventures. Quests like:

Dungeons and Juices (Bunny sex dungeon with the boys)
Dungeons and Juices 2 (Bunny sex dungeon with the gals)
Blessing of the Bells
Season's Greetings (Small quest for finding a greeting card)
Mystery Meets (Oliver and Maverick's business venture with the small forest critters)

Vixel also thought it'd be fun to re-add the Vertical Slice content, and the Adventures was a great way to implement that. So at some point, Scarlett might tell you about a weird dream she had... To those who played the vertical slice YEARS AGO, will recognize it! If you never played the vertical slice, then you can see what some of our earlier proofs of concepts were. You can even hear the original track of the forest made by me! This adventure is called Lending a Paw.

If you have them unlocked, your progress should transfer over. But if not, they will likely show up via "Hey Rascal" dialogues, or through gossips! They are also ALL replayable once completed. Hit the pause button, and on the bottom left is a new button called "Replay Adventure." Like the chapter select button, this is a temporary measure!

So not really anything new there (sorta). BUT, there is some small new content! THE LONG AWAITED PLANT SUB-SCENE! Scarlett has a gossip available regarding the plant! She hinted at a possible submissive plant scene, and after all these years, it's finally in!

That's about it for this build!

Quick word on Act 3 for Itch.io - Vixel and I made a list of things we wanted to tackle before we put it up for free on Itch. Adventures was one of those things, and by far the most complicated one. But there are a few other fish we need to fry (Including... an in-game fish??) before we can post to Itch. Vixel's plan is to start tackling that list, and on the side implement some of the new assets for Act 4. On my end, I'll be plugging away at these ending illustrations. Then I need to come back to animating the final scenes.