May Devlog!

Prepare for gifs!

Chop, chop!

One of the first changes we experimented with after returning from ECGC was adding action elements to the sushi crafting game. Now after selecting an ability you get a brief, Paper Mario-esque minigame. Succeed and you'll get a small bonus. Neato! We're still undecided about how these minigames will evolve over the course of the game. Like any RPG, most of the complication comes from making decisions about which ability to use and when, not to mention the strategy of simply deciding which dish to make in the first place. Still, these games are a nice way to mix a little action in and give your brain a break.

Who are these animals!?

One the most important distinctions in Rolling Hills is the difference between neighbors (the animals who live within Rolling Hills, running shops and generally living the good life) and tourists (customers with silly personalities and outfits). Because this distinction is important to the gameplay and story, we decided to make the residents of Rolling Hills animals and the tourists humans, that way it's a very clear contrast. The demo we took to ECGC didn't feature animals outside of a brief cut scene, so we decided to put one in the restaurant right away. Meet Bolt! He's a jack of all trades who always wants to impress those around him.

We'll have about 10 animal neighbors in the game all with unique and heartfelt stories to follow and be a part of, plus a bunch of human tourists all in pursuit of tasty sushi. As you can see, every tourist has a unique personality, too. The tagline for Rolling Hill is "Make Sushi, Make Friends" and we intend to make sure you can befriend every character you meet, whether they're your customers or neighbors.

What's Next?

This is an older screenshot but I end up using it often because I love these two characters and their expression. Take a closer look and you'll notice they're sitting in front of a conveyor belt! Yes indeed, an earlier version of Rolling Hills included a conveyor belt sushi mechanic that we loved but could never quite figure out in design terms. Recently we had a breakthrough and we'll be experimenting with bringing the belt back as it could solve a couple big, long term problems for us in addition to just being very cool and mesmerizing.