Hey everyone!
Development on Sproutmart is moving right along! I've been doing a lot of work under the hood recently, especially when it comes to making sure the online multiplayer experience is as smooth and synchronized as possible.
Here is a quick look at what’s been added and improved lately:
🌐 Multiplayer & Network Syncing
Smooth Box Handling: Added Networked Kinematics so holding and carrying boxes looks natural and syncs properly between players.
Employee Management: Synced the employee open/close lifecycles so everyone in the lobby sees the same store staff updates.
World Objects: Networked some objects and improved the multiplayer save/load system for a more stable experience.
🎣 Fishing Overhaul
Polished the fishing mechanics with a lot of visual fixes, including water-snapping and better fishing line visuals.
Added new fishing animations and fully synced the fishing flow for online play.
🏃♂️ Animations & UI
Character Selection: Added a brand-new, basic character selection UI before you jump into the gameplay scene!
New Movements: Implemented new watering animations, fixed jump animation triggers, and smoothed out how characters hold and plant boxes.
Store UI Upgrades: Added a new Plant Info UI, unified the box lid UI, and updated the hiring screen so that it now requires a specific store level to hire employees.
🌙 Ambience & World Updates
Added passerby traffic to make the world feel more alive.
Implemented a new Night BGM (Background Music) track for late-night store management.
And more...
What's Next? I’ve started laying the groundwork for a short tutorial at the beginning of the game. I haven't gotten quite as far on it as I'd hoped since the online networking took priority, but it's coming together!
My goal is still to release Sproutmart by the end of Spring. If anything changes with that timeline, I'll be sure to post an announcement and keep you all in the loop.
Thanks for your continued support and patience!