# Not-Animal Crossing (game project)



## Silversea (Jan 14, 2017)

I've been working on Animal Crossing inspired games for a while, and I've learned a lot about coding over the years. Now I think I am ready to actually create something great and this thread will be the documentation of this process.

My goal is to create a real-time game (with seasons and time of day based on the PC clock) in the style of Animal Crossing, although as original content and not a fangame. Much of it will be greatly inspired by AC however, and parts from other games too. The usual hobbies apply, with some new ideas I have had, and expansions on concepts we already know and love in the series.

I will be posting artwork and progress notes throughout this thread. Think of it as a gallery of themed pieces (the theme being the project tying them all together). I don't usually see threads like this the Museum so this should be interesting.

Some WIP screenshots below (August 2017):


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## Tobia (Jan 15, 2017)

That fox is really cute!
Good job on it


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## Stepheroo (Jan 15, 2017)

That's noice! I like it.


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## Silversea (Jan 15, 2017)

Thanks guys.

edit. I've never done isometric sprites before so I tried it out. That's the extra two sprites on this lineup:


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## Montavely (Jan 15, 2017)

>:0000 so cool!!! i wana do pixels this well!!


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## Stepheroo (Jan 16, 2017)

Silversea said:


> Thanks guys.
> 
> edit. I've never done isometric sprites before so I tried it out. That's the extra two sprites on this lineup:



You really pulled it off, I would say, perfectly. They can easily end up looking warped but that didn't happen here! GJ!!!


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## Silversea (Jan 16, 2017)

For fun, I made walking animations and made a little project in javascript. I went for mouse movement over keyboard since it was more fluid.

Now if I had lots of free time, I could even make a game out of it. There is some gif compression but it's quite close to what it should be.


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## Stepheroo (Jan 16, 2017)

Silversea said:


> For fun, I made walking animations and made a little project in javascript. I went for mouse movement over keyboard since it was more fluid.
> 
> Now if I had lots of free time, I could even make a game out of it. There is some gif compression but it's quite close to what it should be.



THAT LOOKS SO GOOD.

I am really amazed with where this is going, hoenstly.


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## Silversea (Jun 20, 2017)

Oops I forgot about this.

It looks a bit better now I promise






I guess I'm committed now (sorry, the gif quality isn't great).

And the dAMN currency doesn't display correctly but otherwise yay.


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## Yuckaiju (Jun 21, 2017)

You could probably recolor him as Chief pretty easy )


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## hana-mii (Jun 21, 2017)

Wow that's so cool! :00000
Good job!


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## Tee-Tee (Jun 23, 2017)

Love this~
Your so talented!


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## Silversea (Jun 27, 2017)

I'm still not quite satisfied with water animation so I've been messing with that (again the gif isn't saving colours properly but you get the gist of it).

The more bluish hues are because of the day/night cycle. Eventually the evening cycle will go from green-orange-blue but right now it just does green-blue.






Also a fishing rod because why not.


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## Silversea (Jun 28, 2017)

Clothing maybe??


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## Pinkbell (Jun 28, 2017)

This is so beyond adorable!


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## BrinaLouWho (Jun 28, 2017)

You're super talented you did a great job with this so far! c:


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## Tinkalila (Jun 28, 2017)

Ah, this is so adorable!! I hope this gets finished, it looks like an amazing project.


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## Seastar (Jun 30, 2017)

I like what I see so far!


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## Genjis-Mercy (Jun 30, 2017)

This is really good! I would love to play it when it is done


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## KaydeeKrunk (Jul 1, 2017)

This is really amazing! I think the animation looks really rad and I love the little pop-ups when they pick the flower and stuff, looks really neat!


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## Xerolin (Jul 3, 2017)

oh wow this is amazing so far! keep going, its lookin really good so far


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## Bowie (Jul 3, 2017)

I love it!


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## daughterofdawn (Jul 4, 2017)

Wow! I'm going to keep tabs on this! Keep up the great work!!


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## tobiochan (Jul 4, 2017)

This looks wonderful so far! I'd love to see where this goes.


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## Silversea (Jul 4, 2017)

Thanks for the support everyone! I'm testing fish AI right now...plus, a bit more believable lighting for the day-night cycle.


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## lars708 (Jul 5, 2017)

Omg this looks so cool! Keep up the good work!


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## frogpup (Jul 8, 2017)

this looks amazing please keep us updated !!!! makes me wanna make games again


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## Pansear-and-Nana (Jul 8, 2017)

Woah!
Will there be villagers moving in and out? XD


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## Mu~ (Jul 8, 2017)

Looks cool, I wish I could do things like this too


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## quark (Jul 8, 2017)

i've just been scrolling through this thread and let me say this looks absolutely amazing and you make it seem so simple. if this does become a game there is NO DOUBT that i will play the heck out of it. i support this and i love your pixels so much!!!!!!!!


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## Silversea (Jul 18, 2017)

Fishing is ready to go. I'll post some screenshots soon. 

On a similar note, I've been working on bug and fish lists.


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## WarpDogsVG (Jul 18, 2017)

This is rad and very relevant to my interests. Excited to see where this ends up


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## Hanzoisbae (Jul 18, 2017)

this looks cool you should just make it a fox on a adventure  game instead of animal crossing


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## Silversea (Jul 18, 2017)

Hanzoisbae said:


> this looks cool you should just make it a fox on a adventure  game instead of animal crossing



The game will be copyright free. I don't have the time to dedicate to a specialized adventure game which is why I'm opting for the "village simulation" route. 

Bug and fish list is capped at 185 species.


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## daughterofdawn (Jul 18, 2017)

Silversea said:


> The game will be copyright free. I don't have the time to dedicate to a specialized adventure game which is why I'm opting for the "village simulation" route.
> 
> Bug and fish list is capped at 185 species.



I think having it as a village simulation would be better than just an adventure game. There are already so many average adventure games like this but a village sim. would be really cool I think! It looks awesome so far!


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## AlienLiaru (Jul 19, 2017)

This looks really awesome!


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## Silversea (Jul 19, 2017)

Some larger fish are swimming out of the water...need to fix this...then screenshots will follow.


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## Silversea (Jul 21, 2017)

I've been doing some "world building" tweaks recently. That means finding a way to animate the ocean, sorting out sand tiles, working on ponds. Maybe buildings eventually.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Fishing is more-or-less ready to go. It is apparently not possible to upload perfect gifs, so once again you'll have to just ignore the crazy graphic freakouts present:


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## WarpDogsVG (Jul 21, 2017)

Looks good!


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## Kanaa (Jul 21, 2017)

^
this looks amazing! I'm excited to see the end result!


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## twins (Jul 21, 2017)

I'm so impressed by this. I can't wait to see the end result! Your art on this looks awesome and it looks really fun to play!


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## Silversea (Jul 26, 2017)

Some more WIP screenshots:

A bit empty right now, but that'll improve.


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## Silversea (Jul 27, 2017)

I will start updating the original post soon...I promise.


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## Seroja (Jul 28, 2017)

this is so amazing!!!!!! wow I love love love this project! everything is super cute and beautiful! I'm rooting for you~~


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## Hen House (Aug 2, 2017)

I like the look of this too, I like the world, your art, your HUD, especially the weather bubble and compass.  Wait a second, what's the use of a compass?  I still like it.  I've always cared for Animal Crossing, and I wished we could play as the animal people.  If you're willing to reveal some of your plans, is this going to be a friendship simulator like Animal Crossing?  Do you intend to have NPC villagers?  If we're foxes can we eat the fishes we catch like Wendell?  It looks really tight and cozy, good luck.


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## Ray-ACP (Aug 2, 2017)

Haha i love the look of this! Could you make me a random animal crossing style signature with just a screen shot from your game please? = D i'd love that


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## Silversea (Aug 2, 2017)

Hen House said:


> I like the look of this too, I like the world, your art, your HUD, especially the weather bubble and compass.  Wait a second, what's the use of a compass?  I still like it.  I've always cared for Animal Crossing, and I wished we could play as the animal people.  If you're willing to reveal some of your plans, is this going to be a friendship simulator like Animal Crossing?  Do you intend to have NPC villagers?  If we're foxes can we eat the fishes we catch like Wendell?  It looks really tight and cozy, good luck.



I forget sometimes that not everyone can immediately work out where east or west is, even in English-speaking countries. There will be conversations talking about location of objects in regards to cardinal direction. It also fills a space on the screen that has nothing currently 

The top-left interface was redone a few days ago so it is more compact, but the design is much the same.

I'm aiming for a sort of combination of Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon. There will be NPC characters for sure. There will be more tasks than Animal Crossing (for instance mining, foraging, etc.). I haven't worked towards a survival aspect or rather just interactions with items in that manner, but it is something I have thought about.

Remnantique, sure, but there is much to add to the overworld until it is really screenshot worthy. Bushes. Grass patches. So on


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## Hen House (Aug 2, 2017)

Thanks, I think the big bubbly HUD is cute, it looks like clicking the weather or time of day orb might toggle the rest of it.  The compass looks good, it might better earn its space if it has more uses; maybe you'd like to add dynamic item markers to it, to simulate the player character's animal senses, so they can follow their noses by following the compass markers, to friends food and fun... or fights.  
Since you mentioned survival, have you thought about including dangers?  It blew my mind the first time I was bit by a spider in Wild World and my character actually fell down, at the time apparently dead.  That may not be a fit for your game though, dunno.


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## Silversea (Aug 5, 2017)

Proof that I still exist below. Since I want to start working on trees and background stuff, it is time to code in the seasonal and day-night changes. I'm going beyond the "Add a dark layer over the screen and its night time" approach, and actually changing the colours of many things. That makes the time of day cycle feel more legitimate (or at least I feel it does).

Also preview of the new interface w date and time.

Top two are summer, bottom two are spring. Full size here: http://i.imgur.com/wa2dG25.png


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## Balverine (Aug 5, 2017)

Awesome!!
Keep up the work, you're super talented!!


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## Silversea (Aug 13, 2017)

Happy to report that fishing is finalized. Just need to draw all the fish.






I'm starting to work on text boxes, which means I've been experimenting with how I want to handle portraits. I'm happy to admit I'm pretty poor at portrait art but it'll do for now. The bottom part will be covered by clothing, based on what the NPCs are wearing.


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## WarpDogsVG (Aug 14, 2017)

I really like the portrait. Also just want to say I really love how colorful your UI is! It pops.


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## Silversea (Aug 14, 2017)

Thanks! Yeah that's the plan. I am a fan of colours that's for sure...

Speaking of colours, I just finished this. The great thing about those sorts of holographic stamp/foil things is even if the art isn't that good, it still looks amazing:






The bottom part is biased green so that it doesn't distract from what it will be covering in that area.


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## pawpatrolbab (Sep 9, 2017)

this looks amazing, will you be doing a Kickstarter or something for it?


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## Silversea (Sep 11, 2017)

pawpatrolbab said:


> this looks amazing, will you be doing a Kickstarter or something for it?



I expect so, but I would like a demo of sorts before then. As soon as the tools and equipment are set I will start working on buildings and NPCs, and the game should fall together nicely.

I had a 5 minute debate with myself earlier on whether I should make the koi the same shape as the carp, as Animal Crossing always had, or opt for the more realistic koi which is much more slender. I went for the latter.


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## WarpDogsVG (Sep 13, 2017)

Your fish are so cute, omg!! I love them


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## Silversea (Sep 14, 2017)

Speaking of, I'm testing the encyclopedia right now.


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## Silversea (Sep 15, 2017)

Shaking trees definitely working as intended:






The great thing about programming is coding always works as expected. Where the hell did the fishing bobber come from???

edit: 2 hours later and it really _is_ working as intended, that's another one checked off the to-do list.


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## KaydeeKrunk (Sep 16, 2017)

Everything is looking so amazing. The tree shaking reminds of Gaia Towns a lot. The fish looks great! I love watching this develop.


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## Silversea (Sep 22, 2017)

Working on villagers right now...






This is my first time succeeding at drawing coloured keywords within the text, which is something I've tried and failed to do many times in the past. Obviously, shirts are not ready yet...There are 14 frames of emotion for each villager so far, and I'd like to keep it at that number if possible.

Eventually houses will be in the works, and that will be an exciting time...


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## WarpDogsVG (Sep 23, 2017)

Very cool!


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## Emilie (Sep 24, 2017)

This is amazing! ♥ I really hope you're able to make it into a game one day! I would play in a heart beat ♥


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## Silversea (Sep 25, 2017)

Thanks all!

The 14 emotion frames is now 18. I think everything is covered...soon I will start designing other villager types.


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## Pnixie (Oct 14, 2017)

Amazing, great job !


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## KaydeeKrunk (Oct 14, 2017)

Can't wait to see some of those other animal designs! Do you have a list of which animals you're planning on doing?


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## Silversea (Oct 14, 2017)

I have a work in progress list. Wolves first of course (I'm still seeing if foxes are doable, given they look so similar). Probably lynx or some other cat after that. I'm tempted to do bats although I already have a bat NPC. Hrm... 

First I need to get the basic villager code working. So conversations (almost done), followed by their house. 

Copy and paste from the rest of the list:
-Gazelle
-Horses
-Rabbits
-Sheep
-Seal? Aquatic mammal
-One of the Mustelids (stoat/otter/weasel).
-Dragon (?)

Obviously many ideas, and plenty of animals to choose from.


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## Hen House (Oct 14, 2017)

When peoplifying animals it's tempting to give them all the same proportions so they can all wear the same clothes and use the same bathrooms, but emphasizing their original size differences enough to notice gives them more animal character.  Hope there's space to make wolves at least a pixel or two taller than foxes.
I like all your animal ideas, and wonder if the stoats' bodies will wiggle like a noodle as they walk.
Super excited for your project, keep pounding away.


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## Hinata825 (Oct 14, 2017)

This is adorable! Really hope this becomes a full fledged game <3


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## KaydeeKrunk (Oct 16, 2017)

Oh my lord, a stoat or ferret would be the cutest thing ever. LONGBOIIS! <3 

And you could always pull a page from Nintendo and just make one body type to cover a few "species" so the fox and wolf can just be coloration of the same base. I think the stoats and ferrets are similar enough to do the same there. AND HOLY COW A BAT NPC I am already in love. <3 

Also can't wait to see a sheep because the sheep in ACNL are my favorite.

And if you want to do a dragon, you should totally do a lizard species and have one of them BE a dragon. Like the alligator/crocodile species in ACNL is neat, but if it was broadened to lizards I think it'd be so cool. So many options!


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## Silversea (Oct 16, 2017)

We'll have to see. I'm working on tilesets right now so that the world feels less bland.


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## Mary (Oct 16, 2017)

It looks so good so far! Excited to see the progress!


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## Seroja (Oct 18, 2017)

I'm so happy to see you still working on this kickass project! such a brilliant idea <3


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## Silversea (Oct 20, 2017)

After some arguing with code (much of it my own fault), the menu and villager dialogue/emotions are now done.

I will need to decide if I continue with the "lagoon" idea for the beach, or move to rock pools (which Stardew Valley did, I believe).

Upcoming ideas, in no specific order:

-clothing (finally!)
-the shop!
-shells on the beach
-all trees
-all flowers
-all bushes
-leaf piles


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## Ably.Saucey (Oct 24, 2017)

This is going to be a very neat game if you ever release it, good job!


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## Kazelle (Oct 25, 2017)

I admit, I really like all the pixels in this! They just look really adorable ^-^
Were you looking for any critiques?


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## Silversea (Oct 27, 2017)

Kazelle said:


> I admit, I really like all the pixels in this! They just look really adorable ^-^
> Were you looking for any critiques?



There is a lot to do and much will be redone before even any demo comes out, but critiques are welcome. Just be aware that what ever was critiqued and fixed may not even stay in the game


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## KaydeeKrunk (Oct 28, 2017)

Can't wait to see some clothing samples! Poor wolf has been cold and nude! XD


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## Silversea (Oct 31, 2017)

Clothing delayed in favour of finally getting off my backside and coding eye colours. I mean no one will actually notice, I guess.







NPCs in order, which means working chat boxes, chat dialogue options, emotions, and fun (except asking for errands, which is another time).

Next up: shirts

Then: flowers or shops, idk.


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## Hen House (Oct 31, 2017)

Will shirts be optional?  Their fur already looks very cute, your fox could really pull off Crazy Redd's outfit.  I'd notice their eyes, even if I really have to look to see, I like learning their colors.


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## Silversea (Oct 31, 2017)

Optional shirts?? Hmm now that's an interesting idea.


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## Nikolai_Mayor_Of_Aquafire (Oct 31, 2017)

You Should Also Add Online Multiplayer I Would Love That Please Consider~Nikolai


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## Silversea (Oct 31, 2017)

Nikolai_Mayor_Of_Aquafire said:


> You Should Also Add Online Multiplayer I Would Love That Please Consider~Nikolai



I'd love to, but the game is pretty optimistic as it is. If that were to happen, it would be after it is finished.


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## Hopeless Opus (Nov 7, 2017)

uhhh this is adorable and i had a blast scrolling thru this thread, the art of vincent was really cute! i'm excited to see more of the villagers


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## Silversea (Nov 16, 2017)

Not forgotten: just been busy recently. Clothing system pretty much finished, just need to add some buttons and it is good to go. Then I'll need to update portraits to show said clothing...

And then...hmm...maybe it is time to add the net to the game. Although, first I need to draw all the fish so that system is over and done with.


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## Hen House (Nov 16, 2017)

Does an option of shirtlessness still interest you too?  Your portraits didn't look compatible with no shirt at all last time.  Just... wondering.
The net!  Our strongest weapon against villagers we don't like.  I wonder if yours will hit us back. oo;


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## Silversea (Nov 17, 2017)

Yes I will probably have a "no shirt" option in at least for testing purposes. The portraits have a temporary line indicating where shirt would be, but that is easy to remove.


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## daughterofdawn (Nov 17, 2017)

So amazing watching the progress of this! Excited for the demo whenever it comes out (I'm literally willing to wait years - this looks amazing!)


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## Silversea (Nov 17, 2017)

It won't be this year I expect. Could not estimate a time yet, sometimes things come up and I'm busy for a while.

A demo though will occur when the following are complete:

-shops
-player house (maybe villager houses if time permits)
-intro sequence
-basic tree and flower types
-benches and environment stuff


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## daughterofdawn (Nov 17, 2017)

It sounds so good! Keep up the great work !


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## Silversea (Nov 24, 2017)

Proof that clothing is being worked on (I just need to make the clothing actually apply to the character):







The catalog will be a bit different to Animal Crossing. When you receive an item, you'll have the option to add it to the catalog, which is permanent. However from that point on it'll be usable at any time. No more closets full of items...


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## namiieco (Nov 25, 2017)

your game looks great omg
i can't wait for a demo


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## Silversea (Dec 1, 2017)

Took me a moment to realize that this is not a glitch, but that it really is December. This year has gone way too fast.





Clothing is implemented and I'm doing a tree update right now. Willow, maple and cedar trees first up, followed by the various fruit trees. Several new fruit trees involved, including plum.

I realized that my town currently has more spaces than Wild World (but less than the Gamecube games). Just over 6000 spaces.

Here is the player info which I don't believe I've shown yet. The clothing is accessed through there.


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## KaydeeKrunk (Dec 2, 2017)

Love the look of the snow! Glad to hear there's going to be more fruit varieties as well! Coming along amazingly!


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## PunchyTheCat (Dec 2, 2017)

Wow. This looks amazing.


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## ~Unicorn~ (Dec 2, 2017)

woooow

I want to try a beta of this


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## G0DFlesh_88 (Dec 13, 2017)

Wow the art looks really nice. Good luck with this project. Are you using the Unity engine or Game Maker? I heard both are good 2D engines.


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## Silversea (Dec 14, 2017)

G0DFlesh_88 said:


> Wow the art looks really nice. Good luck with this project. Are you using the Unity engine or Game Maker? I heard both are good 2D engines.



This is with Game Maker. 

Notes: Right now I'm actually working out a plan of attack for buildings. I want to first focus on the player's house, which means designing the layout and also furniture placement. 

Soon after I want to finish the fish system, which may mean Museum is close by. I have to work out the net from scratch and that may take a while, so I'm putting it off for a little bit.


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## Silversea (Feb 28, 2018)

2018 update: I have a habit of switching projects to keep interest. I'll be back to this shortly.


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## Hen House (Mar 5, 2018)

I was still hoping you weren't gone for good, thanks for clarifying.  This is still the greatest upcoming game.


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## John Wick (Mar 5, 2018)

Well done though. 
This is amazing! ^_^


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## ThomasHasntPlayedAC (Mar 7, 2018)

Looks great! I'd play that.


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## dedenne (Mar 7, 2018)

Amazing game ^_^

Also fixing thread


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## Hen House (Nov 9, 2018)

*Appreciate you.*

Please pardon my bumping, but have you continued working on this?  I still like everything you've shown us very very much, it gives me the same positive feelings that Animal Crossing's style did.  I don't want you to quit!  Pleasant Fall.


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## Snowesque (Nov 9, 2018)

This is so cute. I hope that you're still working on this as well!


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## smonikkims (Nov 9, 2018)

Oh my goodness! Amazing, I would love this very much. If it's still up and running and you need crowdfunding I'm sure it would get some support!!


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## G0DFlesh_88 (Nov 10, 2018)

Hopefully this project is still in the works. The art style reminded me of something that I would have loved to have seen on the Nintendo DS back in the day. which I like. Hope all is well with the creator of this. Game development can be tough with life and work.


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## Silversea (Nov 26, 2018)

Hi all, just a note that is still on my mind. I've been out of town a bit recently (including 2 months overseas), so I've had zero time to work on anything. Most of this is unexpected hence why I've always refrained from giving demo dates and stuff. If I could work on it full time I would


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## Stella-Io (Nov 26, 2018)

*wheeze* i CaN bE a FoX?

Serious note thou, that's super cute. I love the idea of the moue being the walking thing.

Also cute avatar. I love dolphins.


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## steele (Nov 27, 2018)

this looks really promising! keep us all updated on the progress for sure. I love the design and I think it strays from AC enough to be original but has the same "spirit".


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## K1ND (Nov 29, 2018)

This project is incredible!! I absolutely love your interface and your textures and color pallets!
Wishing you well ♥♥


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## Funfun11 (Dec 20, 2018)

This is adorable!! I'll definitely play it when the demo comes out!


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## Kub (Dec 20, 2018)

This.. Looks amazing! From the bottom of my heart! Good luck with working on it, I'll be so excited when the demo is released!


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## Rosie977 (Jun 12, 2020)

Bump for this amazing thread! Did you ever finish the game, it looks amazing and I'd love to play it!


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## SugarMage (Jun 12, 2020)

Looks so cute~


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## Hen House (Jun 24, 2020)

I'd buy or Patreon it, I still haven't seen any games as sweet and pretty as this. Imagine zoning out in this like those old website collectibles games. Silversea you picked the best style.


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