Hello, lovely players! I’m Ya Mao, and here’s the November game development update for Shiba Sweet.
This month, development has been moving forward at a steady pace. I finished the discount system for the ingredient shop, added a night-time reminder feature, began building the environment for the Chef Challenge Day, completed the long-term save system, and created many new art assets, including profile icons for the Black Shiba Merchant and the Bunny Host, as well as new outfits for the animal NPCs.
The Black Shiba Merchant’s shop now occasionally offers sweet half-price deals, giving players a chance to stock up on ingredients at a very good price. This update includes the logic that triggers ingredient discounts along with a new discount icon that highlights special offers. These limited-time deals will help players earn even more profit from selling dessert bento boxes.
In this game, any ingredients not placed in the pantry before the day ends will lose freshness and turn into trash the next morning. To prevent players from accidentally buying ingredients at night with nowhere to store them, I added a special reminder that appears the first time they enter the shop at night. This helps players review this important rule before making a purchase.
This month I began constructing the full environment for the Chef Challenge Day. This includes new 3D objects such as dessert tables, judge tents, and outfits for the judges and the host. I also completed the host’s dialogue. During the challenge, players will be greeted not only by the judges and the host but also by many adorable audience NPCs who clap and cheer with genuine enthusiasm, offering heartwarming support throughout the event.
Previously, the game already had a temporary save system that helped preserve important player data when switching between maps. Building on that foundation, I implemented the full long-term save system this month. It ensures that when players close the game, all essential information is safely stored so their time and effort running the shop are never lost.
Although this wasn’t originally on my task list, developing a game alone can sometimes feel tiring. When that happens, working on something fun and refreshing helps keep the momentum going. I spent some time designing new outfit textures for the NPCs. Players will notice these cute costumes both at the shop counter and throughout the town as animals stroll by.
I would like players to feel the emotional tone of each conversation in the game. Sometimes cheerful, sometimes calm, and these moods can be conveyed through a character’s profile icon. While drawing the new icons for the Black Shiba Merchant and the Bunny Host, I added different expressions to help represent these emotional shifts more vividly.
Recently, developing this game alone feels like hiking up a mountain in the dark, finding the path step by step and slowly carving out a road that belongs to both me and the game I am creating. The scenery along the way is difficult to describe with words. Only by experiencing it firsthand can one truly feel the warmth and atmosphere of the journey. I am very lucky to have met many wonderful players who walk alongside me, hand in hand, toward the finish line of this game.
A large playtest is planned for December. If you would like to experience the game early and help track down the little bugs hiding in the code so the game can continue moving toward a better direction, I warmly welcome you to join the test in mid-December. I will make an announcement when sign-ups open.
Thank a lot for reading this far. See you in next month’s devlog!
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