Hello, adorable players! This is YaMao, and I’m thrilled to see you here.
Welcome to the November 2024 monthly update for game development! If you’d like to keep up with these updates every month, please don’t hesitate to hit that follow button for Maowoo Games.
November has been an incredibly productive month, and one major motivation has been the official launch of the Shiba Sweet store page! Players now can check out the page for game details, screenshots, and descriptions—and even add it to their wishlist! Seeing this come to life has made everything feel more real and inspired me to work even harder to meet your expectations.
Here’s what we accomplished this month:
1. Game Development Progress
a. Completed Shiba’s Apron Designs
In Shiba Sweet, players can purchase a variety of aprons for their Shiba chef. After all, wearing outfits you love can make baking desserts even more enjoyable!
This month, we wrapped up all the designed aprons, applied textures, and imported them into the game engine. While there’s still programming work to add functionalities, the art side of things is officially complete.
b. Kitchen Wall Decorations Completed
From modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, to importing into the game engine, all wall decorations for the kitchen are now finished! Each piece is designed to match the game’s Japanese art style, including several sushi models as decorative items for the walls. I hope players will enjoy the aesthetic touches when they see them.
c. Dessert Baking Process Finalized
The entire creation process for all desserts is now complete, including visual effects for each step. Beyond the initial two desserts, more than twenty additional recipes were finished this month. I also spent some time optimizing the code to make it cleaner and more efficient.
d. Added Chef XP Calculation Feature
Since the game includes a progression system, I needed a way to reward players for their hard work. Now, when players successfully create delicious and adorable desserts, they earn chef experience points!
The basic functionality is ready, and the next step is integrating it with the UI and polishing the presentation.
e. Updated Ingredient Textures
Sometimes textures that look good during creation can appear dull or overly stark under the game’s lighting setup. When that happens, adjustments are necessary to find the best design and coloring approach for the game.
This month, I updated the textures for coffee and white chocolate packaging, as well as refined the colors for vanilla and sugar. These tweaks help the game visuals feel more cohesive and polished.
2. A Flurry of Promotions
For indie games, marketing can be just as challenging as development itself.
Since the Shiba Sweet Steam store page went live at the end of October, I’ve been focusing on creating and sharing short videos for promotion. Every day, I post at least one short video (Reels or Shorts) on various platforms, helping the game reach new players without a dedicated advertising budget.
I believe there are people out there who resonate with my style and vision—players who will love the gameplay and cute art style of Shiba Sweet. As fans of adorable games, we’ll recognize each other amidst the crowd.
Interestingly, I wasn’t very enthusiastic about marketing at first. It felt overwhelming and unfamiliar. But as I developed a routine of posting and analyzing data daily, I’ve grown more comfortable with it. Now, I even enjoy turning moments from game development into bite-sized videos that share the ups and downs of this journey with potential players. It’s become both fun and meaningful.
3. Wrapping Up
Looking back, I’m proud of how much I’ve accomplished this month being an indie game developer.
As the final month of the year approaches, I’m determined to give it my all, leaving no regrets behind. My goal is to package this adorable and delightful Shiba game and deliver it to players next year. Hope I’ll bring them joy and fun times.
Thank you for reading all the way to the end. See you next month for the next gamedev update!
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