Hello lovely player! This is Ya Mao.
To all the players who enjoy the demo, I’d love to invite you to leave a positive review on Steam. Whether it's long or short, every bit helps. As an indie creator without a huge marketing budget, your reviews are incredibly important to me. They help other cozy game lovers discover this project and give me the confidence to keep creating more adorable games for you in the future.
Thank you so much for the feedback you provided in the surveys. I’ve been prioritizing improvements based on your input, and here is what has been fixed so far:
1. New Kitchenware Settings
Kitchenware now functions like the tables. You can directly swap ingredients or semi-finished items between your hands and the equipment.
2. Visual Clarity Improvements
Some players mentioned that the graphics looked a bit blurry. Previously, I lowered the rendering quality to optimize performance, but I have now switched to a different shadow calculation method. Please help me test if the game still runs smoothly on your computer. If you experience any lag, please let me know via the quick report form or the comments.
3. Menu Transition Animations
To prevent eye strain caused by UI elements closing too abruptly, I added transition animations for the dessert cabinet, ingredient storage, and mailbox. These menus now fade out smoothly to protect your eyes.
4. Economic Balance Adjustments
Regarding the cost of kitchenware needed to unlock the third dessert, I originally planned for a higher price in Shiba Coins. However, I’ve lowered the cost to make purchasing new equipment a bit easier and less stressful.
5. Two New Languages Added
By popular request, the game now supports German and French. Please feel free to recommend the game to your favorite German or French streamers for a playtest!
6. Cursor Offset Fix
A previous issue with the full-screen settings caused the button trigger areas to shift downward. This also made it difficult to place wall and floor decorations in lower positions. I have reset the full-screen configuration, so please try again to see if this has improved for you.
7. Audio Balancing and Polishing
Some players reported that the music was too loud upon startup, so I have adjusted the overall volume levels for a more comfortable initial experience. I also polished certain sound effects to make them softer and less jarring. For example, the confetti sound effect played after finishing a dish has been refined.
8. Steam Deck Compatibility
I encountered error messages myself when trying to launch the game on Steam Deck. After many configuration changes and tests in the Steam backend, this issue should now be resolved. If you own a Steam Deck, please give the demo a try! I’ve also adjusted the UI layout to ensure important buttons and info aren't cut off on different screen sizes.
9. Controller Responsiveness
I am still working on this area. Xbox controllers should work perfectly fine right now. However, PlayStation controllers currently require additional drivers. Personally, I use DS4Windows to emulate an Xbox controller on my PC, which allows the game to run smoothly.
10. Other Quick Fixes
(1) The checkmark issue in Challenge levels is now fixed and will display correctly.
(2) The "Salt" button in the ingredient shop is now much easier to click.
(3) Fixed a bug in the beginner tutorial where an empty, unclosable window would pop up at the counter.
Thank you all for your patience and support. This entire game is a solo project with no outsourced art or programming. While I try my best to be efficient by spending every waking hour outside of eating and sleeping on development, there are limits to what one person can do. The upside is that I am very flexible and truly value your feedback. Please don't worry about whether your ideas are "good enough." I listen to everyone and see how I can fit requested features into the schedule.
If you think the game is great as it is, then we must be kindred spirits! Sending you a long-distance hug. If the game isn't quite your cup of tea yet, that’s okay too. Perhaps you’ll prefer the polished full version or even my next project.
You are more than welcome to record your gameplay and upload it to YouTube. I love watching your videos while I work on the game. Sometimes I spot tiny bugs that are hard to find otherwise, and it’s wonderful to hear your honest thoughts. Seeing your excitement when you unlock a new recipe really cheers me up.
To those who requested the ability to rotate kitchenware during construction, the rotation feature for floor objects is already on the development roadmap and will definitely be in the official release.
Additionally, I am considering adding cute NPCs to help you in the kitchen or deliver ingredients to lighten the workload. If you’d like to see this feature, please let me know in the comments or the report form!
To get the latest updates on the game or to report bugs with screenshots, feel free to join our new Discord server: https://discord.com/invite/UGUTf6p6qV
Thank you for reading. The Steam Next Fest is coming up, and Shiba Dessert Shop will be participating. See you in the game!