Hello, lovely players! I’m Ya Mao, and here’s the April & May game development update for Shiba Sweet.
Shiba Sweet will be participating in Wholesome Direct 2025, hosted by Wholesome Games this June!
To prepare for the event, I’ve been working hard on a brand-new game trailer that will debut during the showcase. Most of April was dedicated to creating this new preview, which includes many adorable new scenes and user interface elements. In May, my focus shifted to building a playable demo and developing new features to further polish the game.
Here’s a more detailed look at what I’ve been working on:
1. Upcoming New Game Trailer
(1) Creating the New Trailer
This new trailer takes a different approach compared to the first one. It presents the game from a developer’s point of view. Before production began, I created a storyboard and wrote the voiceover script. Then, I recorded gameplay footage according to the plan. Sometimes I captured multiple takes to select the best moments. I also recorded spoken English narration and edited everything together into a fast-paced and engaging preview.
(2) Drawing the New Ingredient Shop and Storefront UI
The previous UI layout was quite basic, using simple blocks. For this new trailer, I wanted the shop's visual identity to feel more complete. I hand-drew small UI elements and imported them into the game engine, where I fine-tuned the layout. This helped the overall look better match the game's cute and casual theme.
(3) Adding Shiba’s Cozy Bedroom
After a full day of running the dessert shop, the Shiba returns to a small and cozy room and gently drifts into a warm sleep. The bedroom features cute wall decorations and an ultra-adorable bacon-and-egg toast bed. This room also serves as the location for autosaving progress during gameplay.
2. Developer Demo Testing
(1) Setting Up a Beginner Tutorial
To help players get used to the controls and become immersed in the story, a special tutorial now starts the first time the game is played. In this tutorial, Grandma Shiba guides the player step-by-step to create their very first dessert. Players collect ingredients and practice making sweets. I designed this process to feel simple and enjoyable, imagining what I would appreciate as a player myself.
(2) Developing a Flexible Customer Ordering System
After many rounds of debugging and adjusting the logic, I created a versatile system for customer orders. The goal was to let players freely decide which desserts to prepare each day. Based on what is made, adorable animal NPCs will place orders. The system also calculates order accuracy and final profits, and triggers appropriate NPC animations as feedback. Hopefully this adds depth and personality to the gameplay.
(3) Navigating the Endless Sea of Debugging
I feel an unpolished game is like an iceberg. What you see looks fine, but hidden beneath are countless bugs. I’ve been running repeated tests to identify and fix each issue, trying different methods to solve them efficiently.
One example involved a frustrating issue where the game ran perfectly in the engine but failed when packaged into an executable. After researching, I discovered that Unreal Engine may execute code in a different order between the editor and the packaged build. This caused errors in parts of the code that depend on a specific execution sequence. Once I adjusted the code order, the issue was resolved.
3. Wrapping Up
Game development naturally comes with many challenges. Sometimes unexpected problems arise, or promotional events don’t go as planned. Even rejection from applications is something that happens and will likely happen again. These experiences are all part of the journey.
I believe there are players out there who will connect with the spirit of this game. They might smile at the jokes, feel soothed by making cute desserts, and treasure the game as a happy part of their lives. That belief is what keeps me moving forward every day.
Thank you for reading this far. See you in next month’s devlog!
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Follow my development journey:
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Maowoo-studio
TikTok Channel: https://www.tiktok.com/@maowoo_studio
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shiba__sweet/