I'm so happy you like the new bunny speech feature~I've improved the speech UI again. Maybe I'll polish it a little more in the future if I have time.I hope future players can open the game, spend around two happy hours here—about the length of a movie—and occasionally remember the cute little bunnies afterward.
A few days ago, I saw someone comment on an indie game:
"The developer cared too much about self-expression, and forgot to make the game fun."
I stared at that for quite a while. It made a lot of sense.And I realized I may have made the same mistake.Of course, noticing a problem doesn't mean I suddenly know how to solve it. Game design has always been difficult.Recently, I've been thinking about the whole game again. I'm a little worried that I've focused too much on expressing myself and not enough on how players actually feel.
Recently, I've spent a lot of time lying down, scrolling endlessly through the internet, moving from one page to another.December is getting closer, and I'm slowly accepting that this game may simply be a dead end.The rational part of my brain no longer has much energy for repetitive work that feels meaningless: animations, props, dragging parameters around...Before, I could tell myself, "Maybe the game will become more fun someday."Now I understand that working harder may not change anything. The rational part of my brain is tired and doesn't really want to keep walking.(No need to worry about me! I'm just normally sad. I'm simply pretty good at expressing it~~)So this update was originally supposed to say:"I'm sad. I'll update again after I feel better."But unfortunately, another part of my brain is still trying very hard, even though we're clearly at a dead end.A little annoying, honestly.That overly hardworking brain dragged itself up and made Wheat's food shop.So yes. I'm developing while being sad.Why work so hard when I'm too sad to get out of bed?Because a sale is coming soon, and sometimes new players arrive during sales.My hardworking brain always thinks:"Maybe one more feature can save it.""Maybe new players will feel differently.""Maybe the feedback will be different this time."At this point, I'm a little too tired to argue with it.So I guess I'll just let it work as hard as it wants.Maybe by December, even my stubborn brain will finally accept reality. Then I'll rest for a while and start thinking about something else.It's kind of funny. Since I started making indie games, people have occasionally told me to try doing something else.My first reaction is always:"I've already tried telling myself that. It didn't work."Maybe after suffering enough, my brain will finally find its way somewhere else.At least this new area turned out quite pretty.Leaves falling from the trees look lovely.I like eating under big trees, so I think the little bunnies probably do too.
Next, I won't be writing more stories or designing more props.Instead, I'm going to write a knowledge base for the entire game.All the notes about its logic and design.Because my overly hardworking brain says:"What if we want to update the game again someday?"If I don't write everything down now, I'll probably forget how the code, animations, VFX, shaders, and all those parameters work.Maybe one day I won't even remember how to open the game anymore.So... alright.I'll write it all down next.
That's everything for this update~Thank you for continuing to interact with me and the game.The game is slowly moving toward its final curtain, but it's been wonderful knowing that there are players and friends in different parts of the world who spent time with my little game.Thank you for becoming part of Bunny Island~