Infinite Storage

Wed, Feb 7, 2024 Year 2, Autumn 06

Codey and Jonnie talk about Palia.

Timings

00:00:00: Theme Tune
00:00:30: Intro
00:01:12: What Have We Been Up To
00:09:33: Groundhog Day
00:17:59: News
00:39:26: Palia
01:42:20: Outro

Links

Wylde Flowers Eury’s Salon Update
Lightyear Frontier Early Access
Ages of Cataria Delay
Rusty’s Retirement Public Demp
Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge

Contact

Al on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScotBot
Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot
Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/

Transcript

(0:00:30) Codey: Hello farmers and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. My name is Cody
(0:00:36) Jonnie: And, my name is Johnny.
(0:00:37) Codey: And we are here today to talk about cottagecore games
(0:00:45) Codey: As always transcripts are available in the show notes and on the website
(0:00:49) Codey: And today’s podcast is about
(0:00:52) Codey: Palia Which is a game that Johnny and I have both played and we actually played it together Wow [laughs]
(0:00:59) Jonnie: So cool.
(0:01:00) Codey: - Wow, MMOs.
(0:01:05) Codey: So, we will be talking about Palia,
(0:01:08) Codey: and as always, we have some news,
(0:01:10) Codey: but a little lighter on the news this week,
(0:01:12) Codey: which is pretty cool.
(0:01:13) Codey: But first, Johnny, how are you?
(0:01:15) Codey: What have you been up to?
(0:01:16) Jonnie: I’m good. There is a game that I’ve been playing and I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. It’s called Palia.
(0:01:23) Jonnie: No, it’s not called Palia. I have been playing that one, but I mean you talk about Pal World,
(0:01:27) Jonnie: which they both start the same, so you know.
(0:01:30) Codey: Oh, you’re on the PAL world train.
(0:01:33) Jonnie: Well, I was on the Pal World train and I’m not off the Pal World train, like it’s a it’s a fine game.
(0:01:40) Jonnie: I just kind of got what I wanted out of that game relatively quickly.
(0:01:47) Jonnie: I hope there’s like zero interest in talking about the controversy around the game.
(0:01:53) Jonnie: It is just a survival game with Pokemon who do things in the world and there’s more like,
(0:01:59) Jonnie: I guess probably deeper combat as a result of there being Pokemon, which I liked Pokemon Legends Arceus, Arceus. I’ll edit out the one that’s right. I liked that game.
(0:02:04) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(0:02:08) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(0:02:16) Jonnie: I think this game has a similar-ish gameplay loop. It’s not as fast and fluid as Arceus and
(0:02:24) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(0:02:25) Jonnie: there’s a lot more of that survival base building aspect, which I don’t like survival games.
(0:02:27) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(0:02:30) Jonnie: I kind of just find that base building stuff boring and pointless. So I did like a tower and I did some of the boss battles and I was like, oh okay, I kind of get what this game is,
(0:02:35) Codey: Mm-hm.
(0:02:42) Jonnie: but there’s not a compelling narrative that makes me feel like, oh I need
(0:02:46) Jonnie: to go and do all of that. It’s kind of like, oh I did some of that and that feels like enough.
(0:02:53) Jonnie: That’s I guess my mini summary of Palworld. I also think the gun side of things is just a little
(0:03:05) Jonnie: 15 year old edgelord vibes. It comes off really cringe and a lot of things in the game kind of do
(0:03:08) Codey: Yeah.
(0:03:14) Jonnie: That’s where you’re like, killing the bad guys.
(0:03:16) Jonnie: And… you can… like the way you release Pokemon is with a Meat Cleaver and then you can eat them and it’s just like, ugh, it’s just all a bit like, stop trying so hard.
(0:03:17) Codey: Yeah.
(0:03:24) Codey: Yeah.
(0:03:28) Codey: Yeah, I, to me, it looked like Fortnite, Pokemon, Arceus, Breath of the Wild, I don’t know.
(0:03:37) Codey: And I just, that’s not a compelling enough thing for me.
(0:03:43) Codey: Um, so, I was not, I didn’t do it, but, um, yeah.
(0:03:51) Codey: I mean that’s…
(0:03:52) Jonnie: Yeah, I mean, it is more fun than Pokemon.
(0:03:54) Jonnie: Um, you know.
(0:03:55) Codey: Whoa!
(0:03:56) Codey: Partake.
(0:03:58) Jonnie: That is not a hot take. Pokemon has not been fun for a long time.
(0:04:01) Codey: Oh no.
(0:04:02) Codey: Oh no.
(0:04:04) Jonnie: So, you know, how’s that going for it?
(0:04:04) Codey: Um…
(0:04:05) Codey: Um…
(0:04:06) Jonnie: Um, but I think even there, right?
(0:04:08) Jonnie: Like, I, even if I don’t enjoy a Pokemon game as much, I am more likely to play through it to the end because I’m so used to the loop and the, you know, beating the Elite Four.
(0:04:20) Jonnie: I start the game knowing that beating the elite for-
(0:04:22) Jonnie: is the objective, and there was no real hook like that for me in PowerWorld.
(0:04:26) Jonnie: It was kind of like, cool, I experienced it.
(0:04:28) Jonnie: I’ve been part of the hot topic of the day, and now I’m keen to move on to other things.
(0:04:34) Codey: Mm-hmm, that’s fair.
(0:04:40) Jonnie: But that’s really all I’ve been doing. What do you mean up to Cody?
(0:04:45) Codey: Well, I just submitted a manuscript, so I’m very excited about that.
(0:04:55) Codey: Any grad student listening is probably screaming like excitedly for me because it is a huge undertaking to publish a manuscript.
(0:05:06) Codey: So it basically like took up a lot of my energy and time the last like month or so of trying like get it all organized and
(0:05:15) Codey: getting it like sent to different people and then I’ll like think that something’s really good and then one of my co-authors will be like no like actually fix this and I’m like heck and so like that’s it’s just to finally just have it like be in the hands of the editors or reviewers or whomever is just like so great other than that I also just finally got ADHD medication
(0:05:45) Codey: and for some reason my brain was like cool you can now hyper focus pretty effectively on things and shut your brain off why not build a fox shaped island in Minecraft so I’m building an island that is this in the shape of a fox a sleeping fox and I’m going to build a fox sanctuary on top of it and And also I’m.
(0:06:15) Codey: Building it large enough that it shows up as a Sleeping Fox on the biggest size map.
(0:06:24) Codey: Which ends up being.
(0:06:24) Jonnie: I… I have a question.
(0:06:26) Codey: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(0:06:27) Jonnie: Why?
(0:06:30) Codey: Because my ADHD brain has decided that this is what brings me joy.
(0:06:37) Codey: And it genuinely is so amazing.
(0:06:44) Codey: I mean, it might also be.
(0:06:45) Codey: It’s basically a testament to how much I hate writing, that my brain was like, “What could be more fun than this? Like, maybe this thing?”
(0:06:57) Codey: So yeah, it’s basically, oh hello. I have a cat rubbing against my leg right now. Hello, little man.
(0:07:03) Codey: It’s basically, I think we calculated it, it’s like probably 30,000 blocks, Minecraft blocks.
(0:07:15) Codey: And we’re using orange terrac- so I’m not doing it alone. One of my best friends, Devin, shout out to Devin, I love you, you’re one of my best friends.
(0:07:23) Codey: Anytime that either of us are going through anything in our lives, we’ll just like start up a Minecraft server.
(0:07:31) Codey: And so, last few months have been pretty stressful, so we started our Minecraft server, and we’ve been doing these like fun little projects like this, and I just decided to do this.
(0:07:39) Codey: And he was like, he had a moment where he was like, “Okay, okay, okay, we’re doing this.”
(0:07:45) Codey: I guess, okay. And so he’s been mining terracotta for me and dying it white.
(0:07:53) Codey: Luckily, like there’s this new biome that has orange terracotta that like naturally spawns, so he doesn’t have to make- to dye the orange ones.
(0:08:00) Codey: So he can just like make it, and we can just farm it, and then I use it to build.
(0:08:09) Codey: So yeah, I basically- he does that in the mornings, and then I log on in the evenings.
(0:08:15) Codey: And construct. It has a snoot so far, and I’m building up the top of the head.
(0:08:25) Codey: So listeners, if you’re interested in hearing the updates of Foxcraft, I’ll start posting about it in the Slack because it is- it’s gonna take probably a month to finish it.
(0:08:37) Codey: Like we’re not even halfway done with the head. And I have- the head is like- the head is like the-
(0:08:40) Jonnie: Great, I’m excited to get more updates on on Fox craft, but also the sound this sounds awfully a lot like a job
(0:08:45) Codey: the smallest part. No, no, no, it’s fun. It’s fun. I like. This is a- this is a- oh yeah, we do have shift work going.
(0:08:51) Jonnie: Mm-hmm, you’ve got shift work going you know
(0:08:56) Codey: This is another like one of those things where sometimes I’m like, “Am I autistic? Like, am I a little autistic? Do I have a touch of the tism? I think I do.”
(0:09:06) Codey: Like, if this- if this- this tickles my brain in a good way.
(0:09:12) Jonnie: Well, maybe we won’t self-diagnose, but we’ll just say you must really like foxes somewhere in there.
(0:09:18) Codey: Oh no, it’s more like my therapist was like, “Perhaps.”
(0:09:25) Codey: It’s a little bit past self-diagnosing, but anyway.
(0:09:26) Jonnie: Ugh.
(0:09:29) Codey: So yeah, but the most important thing really that I’ve been working on,
(0:09:33) Codey: I mean, this is sarcasm. The most important thing is Fox Craft, but
(0:09:38) Codey: sarcastically, I went to an event that happened today, Americans. This is, today is February 2nd.
(0:09:49) Codey: Johnny, what do you know about Groundhog’s Day?
(0:09:52) Jonnie: I know there is a terrible Bill Murray movie, which actually now that I think about it, like, do you need to say terrible before Bill Murray movie? I think that’s just implied.
(0:10:02) Jonnie: So, and the, like, I don’t know, I assume it’s a groundhog, but like, that’s the weirdest name for what, you know, basically just looks like a… I don’t know.
(0:10:16) Jonnie: a slightly larger rat comes out because I’ve been sleeping or whatever I don’t
(0:10:20) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(0:10:22) Jonnie: know why they come out they just do and Americans go crazy because they’re all in some weird cult that’s that’s that’s groundhog’s day right
(0:10:30) Codey: Yeah, I mean, you’re not wrong. Okay, so Groundhog’s Day is a tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2nd of every year. It derives, this is from the Wikipedia,
(0:10:43) Codey: it derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog, a groundhog is also known as a marmot or a woodchuck or my personal favorite, a whistle pig. A groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and sees its shadow. It will retreat to its den and winter will go on for six more weeks. If it does not…
(0:11:00) Codey: see its shadow, then spring will arrive early.
(0:11:06) Codey: So this sounds…
(0:11:09) Codey: That’s like, okay, cool, whatever.
(0:11:10) Codey: Like there’s probably a guy that like watches this groundhog come out right over. No, it’s a cult.
(0:11:16) Codey: 100%. So the ceremony is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania,
(0:11:22) Codey: which is less than two hours from where I am.
(0:11:24) Codey: So I’ve been wanting to go to this every year.
(0:11:28) Codey: And it just hasn’t, I just haven’t been able to make it.
(0:11:30) Codey: This year, I was able to make it.
(0:11:33) Codey: And basically it centers around what is what Wikipedia says is the semi mythical groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil.
(0:11:41) Codey: So he, Punxsutawney Phil basically comes out.
(0:11:48) Codey: And apparently like looks, I’m trying to find to see if I can find like the ceremony because this is ridiculous.
(0:11:56) Codey: He basically comes out and looks at him.
(0:12:00) Codey: He looks around and sees his shadow and the wizards who are called wizards, the guys that run Groundhog’s Day in Punxsutawney,
(0:12:14) Codey: basically listen to him so Phil comes out, he either does or does not see his shadow, and whispers to the wizard who can understand Groundhog ease.
(0:12:30) Codey: Phil tells them whether or not he saw his shadow and if he did, they literally have scripts that they read.
(0:12:38) Codey: People who go to this event every year, they know what the script is.
(0:12:44) Codey: There’s a certain part in the script where the guy doesn’t even finish saying everything.
(0:12:50) Codey: There’s a certain part where he says either “and his shadow fell upon him” or something, or “and a shadow he did not see”.
(0:12:58) Codey: And at that point the crowd.
(0:13:00) Codey: It goes crazy, but basically like thousands of people mock hawk flock thousands of people flock to this city in Pennsylvania and watch this ceremony and some of them show up at like midnight and the ceremony isn’t until sunrise, which was 730 this morning.
(0:13:18) Codey: We left at 430 to get there and we got there and there’s literally thousands of people around this little stage of any with these guys that like are all.
(0:13:30) Codey: Wearing like top hats and like black jackets and very like they look very New York investment banker of the 20s or something like that.
(0:13:42) Codey: And yeah, he was just it was just so crazy and he did not see a shadow so spring is going to come early to the United States. Praise be to our groundhog meteorologist.
(0:13:59) Jonnie: I have so many thoughts.
(0:14:02) Codey: Okay, yeah, yeah, that’s fair fair.
(0:14:02) Jonnie: First, Whistlepig Day would sound so much better.
(0:14:05) Jonnie: That’s just first thought.
(0:14:06) Jonnie: That’s just undeniably a better name.
(0:14:10) Jonnie: Second thought, the fact that there are wizards surrounding this is like, yeah, you’re right.
(0:14:14) Jonnie: This is definitely a cult, and it sounds like a cult I kind of want to be a part of, because any cult that has wizards dressed as 1920s bankers,
(0:14:15) Codey: It’s a cold.
(0:14:21) Jonnie: that sounds kind of amazing.
(0:14:22) Jonnie: I’m into this.
(0:14:23) Codey: Yeah.
(0:14:24) Jonnie: Third, based on your description,
(0:14:27) Jonnie: an alien landed on Earth, and they
(0:14:29) Jonnie: would legitimately think that you’re just describing another game.
(0:14:31) Jonnie: It is that sort of–
(0:14:34) Jonnie: that sort of…
(0:14:34) Codey: So, I actually, I was debating mentioning this that like, I kind of want a game about this.
(0:14:42) Jonnie: And that was going to be my final point. I think this is this would be a great basis for a cottage core
(0:14:48) Jonnie: game like you do the year, you know, it starts on Groundhog’s Day and
(0:14:53) Jonnie: Maybe I don’t know what you’re working towards but like that make that your sort of New Year’s event That sounds like a great little thing to do
(0:15:00) Codey: Well, so Punxsutawney, here, I’m going to try and find this information, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania has a population of 5,000 humans.
(0:15:12) Codey: So during this celebration, their population basically doubles.
(0:15:18) Codey: So imagine being in, like, Stardew or Coral Island or something, and one single day of the year, the population doubles,
(0:15:30) Codey: like, even though it was Friday and it was really, really early, all the stores were open.
(0:15:36) Codey: Like, the bookstore was open and they had free hot chocolate and, like, they had, like, a couple different craft shows that were going on in this.
(0:15:44) Codey: So it’s everyone, basically, in this community, basically, like, waits for this, like, this is their big, like, tourism thing every year.
(0:15:54) Codey: So I think the goal of a game like that would be to build up your store.
(0:16:00) Codey: Make sure you’re not going to run out of stock. Make sure that you have enough food for all of these people, enough, like, infrastructure, that you have enough parking because, like, we had to find parking and we almost had, like, some of the last parking spaces.
(0:16:18) Codey: And so, like, there’s all this stuff that you could totally do in a game and have the regular day-to-day thing that you’re doing, like, you know, farming or whatever, just kind of be, like, normal, but you are always building up to that.
(0:16:30) Codey: And so, like, you have to go to this huge event, annual event, where it kind of starts becoming, like, city skylines or something, where you have to manage, like, all these people.
(0:16:46) Jonnie: Make it happen internet. There we go. We’ve done the hard work. We came up with the idea right? That’s the hard part
(0:16:48) Codey: Yeah, make it happen.
(0:16:52) Codey: Well, now that we’ve spent probably 15 minutes talking about Groundhog Day, and listeners, let me know if you’ve gone to the place where Punxsutawney Phil is, is called Gobbler’s Knob. Let me know if you’ve gone there. And Gobbler’s Knob.
(0:17:04) Jonnie: But, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, it’s called what?
(0:17:11) Jonnie: This is definitely like, I call it that is… [Laughing]
(0:17:15) Jonnie: How is that a real name for a place?
(0:17:18) Codey: Yeah, it is.
(0:17:22) Codey: I’ll also post some pictures in the slack of me and my friends there, and also Stella. Stella went, “Oh, and the town has, like, Groundhog Day.”
(0:17:30) Codey: Groundhog statues outside of a bunch of the buildings. So, like, outside of the library, they have a Groundhog that’s, like, reading a book.
(0:17:38) Codey: And then outside of the bank, they have one that, like, has money. Outside of the fireman’s house, they have one with, like, a fireman’s axe holding a baby.
(0:17:46) Codey: So, they have all of these, like, the whole town has leaned into it, 100%. But, yeah, so it’s a cult.
(0:18:00) Codey: Okay, well, now that we’ve talked about cults, let’s talk about some news. Speaking of cults, Wildflowers…
(0:18:10) Codey: I don’t know if Wildflowers is a cult. I just, the way… Kev… Kev has cult-like devo… devotion for this game.
(0:18:12) Jonnie: Look, if it is, Kiv is definitely in that cult.
(0:18:22) Codey: So, there’s more details on an update that’s coming up. There is going to be a hair stylist’s salon named Yuri’s Soul.
(0:18:30) Codey: I’m just going to add a bunch of hairstyles. There’s a plushie coming. And I did a little bit of internet sleuthing, as someone who has not played Wildflowers.
(0:18:42) Codey: I did a little bit of internet sleuthing. The picture of the plushie that they have on Twitter, which you can find on the show notes, is, like, obscured.
(0:18:50) Codey: Like, it’s kind of in shadow. So, you can’t really tell what it is. But I think it’s a flying pig. What do you think?
(0:18:58) Jonnie: Uh, I’m sure flying pig sounds like a thing that a plushie could be.
(0:19:02) Codey: » Okay, okay, okay, yeah, so it definitely looks like the flying pig to me.
(0:19:04) Jonnie: I have done zero internet’s locally.
(0:19:12) Codey: I just kind of like looked up.
(0:19:18) Codey: Oh my gosh, sorry, I scrolled down and it went to discover more and Disney Dreamlight Family tweeted today and said,
(0:19:28) Codey: tweeted today and said we might not.
(0:19:30) Codey: I have groundhogs in the game, but what do you think a copybara seeing its shadow mean?
(0:19:40) Codey: They’re leaning into groundhog’s day.
(0:19:43) Codey: Um, so, but yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s flying pig. So flying pig plush coming to wildflowers
(0:19:51) Codey: Unconfirmed is that it’s a flying pig, but pretty sure it is.
(0:19:54) Codey: Yeah, I mean, have you played wildflowers? Have you? Do you have?
(0:19:57) Jonnie: No, the visual… I get that it’s better than it looks, but the visual style I just find very off-putting, and there’s just too much else that I want to play and can’t get to, that even though this game is meant to be really good, it’s just too much of a block of me to invest any time into this one, unfortunately.
(0:20:19) Codey: Yep, I am in the exact same boat.
(0:20:23) Codey: But I’m sure that we’ll hear all about Yuri’s salon
(0:20:27) Codey: Update and all of that from Kev, which would be great.
(0:20:32) Codey: Next up is Lightyear Frontier.
(0:20:35) Codey: The early access for this game is releasing on March 19th on Steam, Xbox, and Game Pass.
(0:20:42) Codey: There is a demo out now on Steam
(0:20:46) Codey: And this game will be a part of Steam next.
(0:20:49) Codey: Which starts on February 5th to the 12th so I believe by the time this podcast comes out, the next fest will be going on.
(0:20:58) Codey: So yeah, if you are interested in seeing some gameplay or anything like that, that would be a really good thing to tune into.
(0:21:08) Codey: What are your thoughts on this?
(0:21:09) Jonnie: Yeah, and Lightyear Frontier is the farming, but in mechs. That’s their gimmick, I guess.
(0:21:18) Codey: in like a, in space, in space for me.
(0:21:22) Codey: I saw on there, on this news from Steam,
(0:21:26) Codey: like, you know how we say like, hello farmers or whatever.
(0:21:30) Codey: They say exo farmers.
(0:21:32) Codey: So they said like something like,
(0:21:34) Codey: play the demo now exo farmers.
(0:21:35) Codey: And I was like, oh my gosh.
(0:21:39) Codey: Like that’s just kind of a cute little way of talking about them.
(0:21:42) Codey: I don’t know, I don’t know what exo means.
(0:21:44) Codey: Now that I said it and then now I’m like,
(0:21:46) Codey: what, wait, what am I talking about?
(0:21:48) Codey: What does this mean?
(0:21:51) Codey: Meaning outside, outer, external.
(0:21:57) Codey: Cool.
(0:21:57) Jonnie: Like like every farm every farmer is technically an exo farmer
(0:22:02) Codey: No, no, no.
(0:22:03) Codey: Cause it’s like outside, like outer worlds, like space.
(0:22:07) Codey: Like we call them exoplanets.
(0:22:09) Codey: Like exoplanets are outside of our solar system.
(0:22:15) Jonnie: I don’t know how that applies to farming, but it sounds made up.
(0:22:15) Codey: You know?
(0:22:18) Codey: It’s exoplanet farmers.
(0:22:22) Codey: You’re a farmer on an exoplanet.
(0:22:24) Jonnie: But they don’t say exoplanet farmers, they say exopharmers.
(0:22:27) Codey: No, they said exo.
(0:22:29) Codey: It’s just a little cute little conjugation.
(0:22:30) Jonnie: They should change it to remove the “e” and just be like “exo” like “Kisshag farmers”.
(0:22:35) Jonnie: That would be a much cuter way to say hello.
(0:22:37) Codey: I kind of want to re-record “Hello, Kiss Hug Farmers! Welcome to another episode of the Harvest Season!”
(0:22:43) Jonnie: What?
(0:22:49) Codey: Oh my gosh, we are off the rails. Um, yeah.
(0:22:53) Jonnie: Okay, um, are you going to try this?
(0:22:57) Codey: So, I’ve never been a big mech person. Like, growing up, like…
(0:23:07) Codey: uh… transformers, like, that kind of stuff. It was never my jam.
(0:23:13) Codey: Um, so I don’t… to be determined, um… but prob’s not. What about you?
(0:23:20) Jonnie: So I talked about this one a little bit on I think the upcoming Game of the Year show,
(0:23:28) Jonnie: where it’s on my list of games that I want to try but there may not be a priority.
(0:23:35) Jonnie: But I don’t think I knew at that point that it was coming to Game Pass, which it’s amazing how much Game Pass changes my willingness to try some stuff out, right?
(0:23:44) Jonnie: Because I’m way more willing to just jump in for a bit and see if it instantly grabs me or not.
(0:23:49) Jonnie: So I think it’s a long time.
(0:23:50) Jonnie: A lot more likely than I initially anticipated that I will give this a go, because I like the visual style, it feels distinct, I don’t have a particular affinity or non affinity for mechs, but I am interested to see what it means in terms of how they differentiate, you know, your traditional cottagecore farming game loop with the addition of something like a mech, because you can see a lot, you know, there’s probably more interesting ways to do tools and things like that when you have a mech,
(0:24:20) Jonnie: and I am really hoping they take full advantage of, and it’s not just like regular tools, but they’re just, they look like mech attachments, right? I’m hoping there’s something else that distinguishes them, which I guess technically I could find out because the demo is out, so I could probably find out or look into it a bit more, so.
(0:24:34) Codey: Yeah.
(0:24:38) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(0:24:41) Codey: But the demos… the demos on Steam…
(0:24:44) Jonnie: Yeah, yeah, demos are only on Steam.
(0:24:44) Codey: It’s not… not Game Pass.
(0:24:49) Codey: Yeah, I agree with you about the Game Pass thing.
(0:24:52) Codey: Like, it’s really opened up what I’m able to play.
(0:24:57) Codey: And I really like that.
(0:24:58) Codey: But I don’t think that your frontier will be that.
(0:25:01) Codey: Because again, like, we have so many other things.
(0:25:04) Codey: I want to play, so many other things I’m doing in my life.
(0:25:07) Codey: And something… if it’s a game that’s going to like pull me in like that,
(0:25:10) Codey: like Coral Island or something, it’s really got to grab me.
(0:25:13) Codey: So…
(0:25:16) Codey: Okay, so…
(0:25:17) Codey: Ages of… next… next up on our news list…
(0:25:20) Codey: Ages of Kataria…
(0:25:22) Codey: was meant to be coming out Q1 2024, so…
(0:25:26) Codey: anytime.
(0:25:28) Codey: But has been delayed until Q2 2025.
(0:25:34) Codey: It personally seemed a little late to be making that announcement,
(0:25:36) Codey: but I get it.
(0:25:36) Jonnie: Mm-hmm.
(0:25:40) Codey: Quote,
(0:25:41) Codey: “We have been working hard on Ages of Kataria,
(0:25:43) Codey: and our main goal is to find funding to expand the team and work full-time.”
(0:25:50) Codey: I’m about to read you a list of things that they’ve been working on.
(0:25:52) Codey: See if you can pick out the things that…
(0:25:56) Codey: one of these things is not like the other.
(0:25:58) Codey: Okay.
(0:25:59) Codey: Quote, “In the past few months, we’ve been working on building upgrades,
(0:26:03) Codey: customization.
(0:26:04) Codey: villager conversations, traits, events and quests, death,
(0:26:09) Codey: hunting, cooking, farming, animals, clicking to collect resources,
(0:26:14) Codey: villager pooping mechanics, and so much more, which we will be discussing and showing in future updates.
(0:26:21) Codey: Uh, Johnny, any of those, any of those jump out to you?
(0:26:24) Jonnie: Yeah, I’m really interested in these villager pooping mechanics.
(0:26:26) Codey: Save!
(0:26:29) Codey: What do you mean?
(0:26:31) Codey: I’m like, I’m that meme of, um…
(0:26:34) Codey: of, uh…
(0:26:35) Codey: Oh my gosh, Katniss Everdeen’s…
(0:26:37) Codey: the… the friggin’ actress that plays her.
(0:26:40) Codey: Where she’s like, “What do you mean?”
(0:26:41) Codey: Like, “What do you mean?”
(0:26:43) Codey: On Hot Ones.
(0:26:45) Codey: Jennifer Lawrence, I think is her name.
(0:26:47) Codey: Um…
(0:26:49) Codey: I’m that meme when I read that.
(0:26:51) Jonnie: Yeah, I’d like that is wild to me. I mean I assumed the actual answer you were looking for is diff like [laughing]
(0:26:58) Codey: No, no, it was originally Villager Pooping Mechanics, but Death, I mean Death was like,
(0:27:04) Codey: that’s interesting.
(0:27:06) Codey: But that happens in-game, like everything else in this list is something that you would find in a Cottagecore game in some way or another.
(0:27:15) Codey: But Villager Pooping Mechanics just like comes out, just stands out so much, and I have questions.
(0:27:22) Jonnie: Yeah, and I mean I’ve kind of buried the lead somewhat but this update has
(0:27:30) Jonnie: I would say there are some concerning elements to it, right, you know
(0:27:35) Jonnie: They’re talking about looking for a publisher and this was a kick-started project
(0:27:41) Jonnie: And I guess if you are a kickstarter of it, this is an update that I guess, you know
(0:27:46) Jonnie: Would reduce the likelihood that you are actually going to get it and not saying whether it will or won’t happen
(0:27:52) Jonnie: There’s now some additional hurdles that they are now flagging up
(0:27:57) Jonnie: Which is unfortunate because I think this game looks like it’s got a great visual style to it
(0:28:06) Jonnie: So hoping they can find the funding that they need but I would not be putting much stock in that queue to
(0:28:12) Jonnie: 2025 date until there was more
(0:28:15) Jonnie: More updates on whether or not they they find a publisher or you know are able to sort of clearly state.
(0:28:24) Codey: They did have someone jump out on their Kickstarter three days ago, Shell M said you know so is it A that you needed more money and just didn’t tell anyone or B that you mismanaged the finances early on or underestimated how much you needed if B why weren’t we told about this before?
(0:28:45) Codey: Just fair.
(0:28:46) Codey: They got I’m trying to see $111,000 like like you people gave you money like you should at least let them know what what’s happening with that and it sounds like they you know $110,000 doesn’t really go that far and they had 10 people working on it originally and then when that money ran out some people had to leave and some people stayed to continue to work on the game but that a lot of people had to go back to working part-time and so it’s a lot of people’s time is now split and they’re not able you know if they still had the
(0:29:24) Codey: work full-time with the whole team of 10 or team of whomever many are on there now they probably could get it out a lot earlier but I mean I get it I’ve this manuscript that I just submitted was supposed to be done like a year ago so I get it but it does yep mm-hmm
(0:29:41) Jonnie: But I mean this is one of the risks around Kickstarter projects, right? You know, $110,000 is a lot of money in the context of an individual.
(0:29:50) Jonnie: But in the context of developing a game when you’ve got a team of ten, that’s even just considering salaries.
(0:29:54) Codey: Yep.
(0:29:58) Jonnie: That’s only a couple of months, if that worth of runway.
(0:30:02) Jonnie: And that’s not counting all of the, you know, server costs and all those other fun things that are very expensive.
(0:30:08) Jonnie: expensive so $110,000 to develop a game is not.
(0:30:11) Jonnie: I’m not sure if this is a game that’s not that much. It’s just the unfortunate reality of Kickstarter I guess.
(0:30:18) Jonnie: But hopefully they can find their way out of it because the game looks good
(0:30:18) Codey: - Yeah.
(0:30:25) Codey: I definitely, I think that the people at Third Pie Studios,
(0:30:30) Codey: and I’m assuming it’s Alex McCord,
(0:30:31) Codey: who’s the CEO and creative director,
(0:30:34) Codey: their post explaining the situation to the concerned people was very like the comment that they have on this.
(0:30:41) Codey: It was very thorough and very polite and very good.
(0:30:45) Codey: So, it does, it’s difficult, it’s difficult.
(0:30:48) Codey: And it’s always sad when you have to like, postpone something, but I think they did a good job of…
(0:30:53) Codey: Perhappeth, maybe, uh, let people know a little earlier, but it’s fine.
(0:30:59) Codey: Stuff happens.
(0:31:02) Codey: Um, stuff that, uh, should happen, might not happen, I don’t know.
(0:31:09) Codey: I’m so scared to play this game.
(0:31:11) Codey: Rusty’s retirement!
(0:31:13) Codey: Has a public demo that is out now.
(0:31:17) Codey: Oh, Johnny.
(0:31:18) Codey: I want to do this demo so bad, but it seems like it’s like a floodgate, you know?
(0:31:26) Codey: Like, once I push that button, am I just a slave to Rusty’s retirement?
(0:31:34) Jonnie: Yes, yes is the answer to that question yep .
(0:31:35) Codey: And keeping it going?
(0:31:39) Codey: But I want to play?
(0:31:40) Codey: And I want to help them?
(0:31:42) Codey: I want to give them feedback?
(0:31:43) Codey: I don’t know.
(0:31:44) Codey: I don’t know, what did you think about this?
(0:31:48) Jonnie: I mean, I’m in the same category as you, and Rusty’s retirement to serve him remembers as the idle farming game that’s being launched soon, but yeah, going into demo, I am equally concerned about this for all of the same reasons, and I think as…
(0:32:10) Jonnie: Yeah, because we first talked about this a few months ago, and since then I think the…
(0:32:18) Jonnie: Imagery and the, you know, like they’ve added more, we’re seeing more about how it will look on the screen and everything they add, I’m just like, oh, like it looks like it’s getting better, right?
(0:32:24) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(0:32:28) Jonnie: Like there’s those things that I have, like, you have those mental questions around, oh, how would this aspect work? And I feel like as time has gone on, I’m seeing those things come in in ways that’s like, yeah, that’s how I would want that to look.
(0:32:29) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(0:32:35) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(0:32:40) Jonnie: So I’m very nervous, you know, the, you know, how we would just reference memes to describe our feelings on this, this is very much the…
(0:32:43) Codey: Yeah, and…
(0:32:48) Jonnie: Oh, yeah, yep, that’s the one.
(0:32:52) Codey: Haha, I’m in danger.
(0:32:54) Codey: Yeah.
(0:32:56) Codey: Yeah.
(0:32:58) Codey: Um.
(0:33:00) Codey: So, yeah, I guess I don’t know if I’m trying to see.
(0:33:06) Codey: Oh, it is PC and Mac.
(0:33:14) Codey: I’ll probably do it.
(0:33:16) Codey: Um, so, listeners listen back.
(0:33:20) Codey: we’ll give feedback on this in maybe one of the next upcoming episodes.
(0:33:24) Codey: I will probably bite the bullet and do this now that I’m not I don’t have a deadline that is of the for like the manuscript that is fast approaching so.
(0:33:35) Jonnie: Yeah, and Al was telling me he’s gonna install this on his work PC, so he’s gonna have a very detailed show on it in a few weeks time.
(0:33:45) Codey: Sure!
(0:33:46) Jonnie: Just throwing Al totally under the bus, I don’t believe he’s not going to do that.
(0:33:52) Jonnie: But he could do it. He could do it. He could do it for you listeners.
(0:33:58) Codey: he’s probably screaming right now. okay so the last bit of news is for a game called Kamaeru a frog refuge and this has the same vibes as Usagi Shima so my brain was like oh let me figure out what Kamaeru means. in Japanese it means take a stand which is not what I was expecting it to be. I was expecting it to be like frog island or something because Usagi Shima is a bunny island.
(0:34:28) Codey: But no. Okay. So Kamaeru frog refuge, quote foster a sanctuary for frogs and restore the biodiversity of the wetlands in Kamaeru, a cozy farming sim where you raise frogs by playing minigames and decorating your habitat. Hop right to it.
(0:34:47) Codey: What do you have thoughts about this, Johnny? Are you? I have thoughts.
(0:34:49) Jonnie: yeah it looks it looks really cute right like it definitely gives off the same same vibe as usagashima but it looks a lot more detailed just lots of little things about you know so in usagashima like you you kind of placed decorations but that was it’s like I think the the idea of restoring the wetlands looks cool it seems like there’s lots of customization options which is which is pretty cool the frogs look super cute and like it looks like There’s like tons of fun color combinations, so I’m guessing there’s going to be…
(0:35:19) Jonnie: …a little bit of a Pokemon creature collection style aspect to this, which I know Usagushima had as well.
(0:35:26) Jonnie: And alongside, you know, maybe some some more human characters and some interactions in that way.
(0:35:32) Jonnie: This has the potential to be a really, really great game, I think.
(0:35:40) Jonnie: Usagushima didn’t really stick with me. I think one, because I didn’t really want a mobile game at that point.
(0:35:46) Jonnie: but also it just felt a bit shallow.
(0:35:49) Jonnie: And this looks like it kind of has the depth that I’m looking for like this.
(0:35:55) Jonnie: This is ticking a lot of boxes and I think for like this one is really interesting things in the cottagecore genre of
(0:36:02) Jonnie: really doing something
(0:36:04) Jonnie: Unique that doesn’t have to be like the whole thing doesn’t have to be a hundred percent unique, right?
(0:36:08) Jonnie: A lot of this seems inspired by Utsagushima. However, well, and it’s probably not, right?
(0:36:09) Codey: Right.
(0:36:13) Jonnie: It’s probably done independently given how closely they’re sort of coming out.
(0:36:16) Jonnie: But frogs is not an area that’s really been
(0:36:19) Jonnie: explored or is that common outside of like the only other time I can think of really even seeing frogs is catching them in a farm with their with their critter so yeah that was kind of like a weird brain mush of thoughts because this is the first we’ve heard about this game if I remember rightly
(0:36:23) Codey: Mm-hmm
(0:36:40) Codey: Um, yeah, so I think this is the game that I saw on Instagram or on Instagram,
(0:36:45) Codey: Twitter, and I tagged, uh, Al in it because someone tagged me in it because my friends know that this is the kind of game that I will just eat right up.
(0:36:53) Codey: This is the first time we’re covering it on the podcast.
(0:36:55) Codey: I just want, I wanted to grab my facts straight before I said anything, but,
(0:36:59) Codey: um, the developer of apico L, um, is actually also developing a frog breeding and collecting game called mud born.
(0:37:07) Codey: So instead of bloodborne, it’s mud born.
(0:37:10) Codey: Um, and it’s very, in the same vein, uh, looks a lot like, uh, apico.
(0:37:17) Codey: So it’ll be the same kind of thing, um, of, uh, going and helping a frog,
(0:37:25) Codey: uh, deity, um, rediscover her lost children.
(0:37:30) Codey: Um, this is in, uh, Elle’s con a message about it in March of last year.
(0:37:40) Codey: And the discord quote, um, I’ve always joked about making apico, but frog, but it’s never been much more than that with the game jam theme of pond.
(0:37:50) Codey: However, it seems like a good opportunity to make it a reality.
(0:37:55) Codey: Um, so he has been working on that, which is great.
(0:37:59) Codey: So there, there are other frog games coming out.
(0:38:02) Codey: Um, I just wanted to say that, uh, cause I really like it clearly, but this
(0:38:10) Codey: is, uh, looks a lot different and looks like it’s own little thing.
(0:38:13) Codey: And, um, I really like, like they actually have human characters in this game
(0:38:17) Codey: that Usagi Shima did not have.
(0:38:19) Codey: So there might be like kind of more of a social aspect.
(0:38:24) Codey: And then I also saw kind of a crafting system or like a crafting mini game or something that looked a lot like, um, spirit fairs, mini games, which I was also really interested in.
(0:38:36) Jonnie: yeah they looked really good and even little things like they was painting a birdhouse it looked like you know just as a little customization option which I
(0:38:36) Codey: So.
(0:38:40) Codey: Mm-hm, mm-hm, so yeah, right now it’s just coming 2024, we’re not really sure when.
(0:38:51) Codey: But it is also gonna be part of Steam’s next fest.
(0:38:56) Codey: So make sure to check in on that.
(0:38:59) Codey: And last, I was looking when I looked at their thing earlier.
(0:39:02) Codey: No, they’re not doing it anymore.
(0:39:04) Codey: Nope, maybe they are, they’re broadcasting.
(0:39:10) Codey: The developer is currently playing on Steam, and they are wearing a frog hat and have a bunch of frogs behind them.
(0:39:19) Codey: And it’s so heckin’ cute.
(0:39:21) Codey: So you could probably watch that stream video of them streaming the game.
(0:39:26) Codey: But it looks pretty good.
(0:39:27) Codey: Cool, well that was our news, woo.
(0:39:31) Codey: So on to the main topic, which is Palia.
(0:39:35) Codey: To remind people, Palia is one of the worst.
(0:39:40) Codey: The phrase they used was “A cozy world made for you.”
(0:39:44) Codey: It’s the free-to-play farming MMORPG game.
(0:39:46) Codey: We have been playing it, I played it, probably maybe played like 30 hours, but that might be a little bit much.
(0:39:58) Codey: Maybe like 20 hours around?
(0:40:02) Codey: What about you, Johnny?
(0:40:04) Codey: How are you playing the game?
(0:40:06) Codey: thoughts, that non-spoilery.
(0:40:10) Codey: kind of vibe thoughts about it to say before we jump in.
(0:40:12) Jonnie: Yeah, so I’m playing on the Switch, and it runs really well on Switch, right, like I feel like that’s an important thing to recognize early, because the Switch is very old at this point.
(0:40:23) Jonnie: Like it doesn’t run perfectly, I’m sure it runs a lot better if you’re playing via PC, but no real major issues in terms of how it plays.
(0:40:32) Jonnie: And I really like what they’re trying to achieve with Palia, however I find it difficult to recommend at this stage until…
(0:40:42) Jonnie: …there’s a little bit more from a content perspective in the game. It’s probably my very high level thought, but I really love what this game is trying to achieve from introducing that MMO aspect.
(0:40:53) Codey: Yeah, I echo that sentiment. I’m also playing on Switch, and I think it has a lot of potential,
(0:41:05) Codey: but that there’s some stuff that isn’t quite, some things that aren’t quite built out yet.
(0:41:10) Codey: And after playing MMOs for so long, like World of Warcraft or something, I mean, and that’s probably not a fair comparison. But after playing things like that, like some of the
(0:41:23) Codey: personality of the MMO side of it, and the world just seems, like it seems like you play for 10 hours and then you’re like, “Well, yep, I get it.”
(0:41:33) Jonnie: Yeah, I do want to come back to the WoW comparison, because I think my initial, like my very very early thoughts when I started playing, was it did feel a little bit like when you first started playing.
(0:41:45) Jonnie: Wow, obviously, like the combat is the big difference, but when I guess I think about how the world is constructed, it did feel like World of Warcraft where the world is big and your character feels a lot smaller than it typically does in cottagecore style games, which took a bit of like…
(0:42:03) Jonnie: It was a bit of an adjustment, right? When you get the first quest to walk into town and like actually takes a little bit of time and you’re trying to work out where to go, that was a little bit of a brain reset and exploring the map.
(0:42:15) Jonnie: Like the maps, so there’s two regions and they’re pretty decent size, and yeah, so there is that good early exploration element that I really like.
(0:42:30) Codey: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I will say I haven’t really explored the second area too, too much, but
(0:42:38) Codey: I agree that it feels like, like I feel like I’m still playing and exploring and still encountering things that are surprising to me. Or like, “Oh wow, I didn’t know this was here,” or “Oh, I didn’t,
(0:42:52) Codey: I’ve never been over here before,” or finding out there’s a whole underground,
(0:43:00) Codey: the city was really cool. So yeah, it’s got some, I think it’s got more good than bad,
(0:43:10) Codey: but it’s definitely maybe like, “Wait a bit.” But, well, let’s dive into a little bit about the story itself. Do you have a good grasp on the story and want to mention it?
(0:43:22) Jonnie: Yeah, so I think there’s two aspects to the story. Well, I think it’s all sort of one connected story. And there are a series of dungeons. There are currently three in the game, but there are at least, there’s at least one more intended. I’ve done all three of the of the dungeons. But it’s very closely tied, I guess, to the nature of people and
(0:43:52) Jonnie: the world. So none of the other characters, none of the NPCs in the game are humans. They’re a different race. I can’t recall off the top of my head what exactly they are. Yeah. But you’re basically, you know, every player character in the world is a human that’s effectively being reanimated by some form of of God. And…
(0:43:59) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(0:44:05) Codey: No idea. I don’t know if I have ever known…
(0:44:08) Codey: “Pallians.”
(0:44:22) Jonnie: That enables, you know, you have a stronger connection into some of the magic and the dungeons are about exploring sort of what happened to humanity. And it seems like in the wider context of the world, magic is kind of one of those things that’s known about, but also heavily suppressed and kind of taboo to engage with. But some of those restrictions don’t apply to humans. And so you’re kind of exploring that at the stage that I’m up to, which is
(0:44:52) Jonnie: to finish the story. But I guess a decent way through. There isn’t a… I don’t have a sense of what it’s building towards. I guess that’s that’s probably a big gap for me.
(0:45:04) Codey: Mm hmm. That’s, that’s my biggest concern with the story is like, basically you teleport or get reanimated or whatever, but your character just like shows up and someone’s just standing there and they’re like, Oh, wow, another human, like, please follow the chain of humans that are heading to the town. And then you go to the town and then they give you like a plot of land. Um, and then you can build like a house on it and stuff, but.
(0:45:34) Codey: Last that you’re just kind of free. I mean, there are like quests, but there’s not, it’s,
(0:45:40) Codey: it’s very open world in that way that like you, you could then never do the quest ever again. They’re like the story quests, I guess some of the quests you have to do to be able to improve your, um, your abilities. But a lot of it, like it just seems, it seems secondary to me or just like a non-
(0:46:04) Codey: existent almost so I would I would like that to be built up a little bit more and I also would like the characters to be built up a little bit more so there’s all the NPCs are basically pallions that live in this world that have have lived in this world and they have some like personality
(0:46:34) Codey: to them and they have relationships between them and stuff but for some reason I just wasn’t really connecting to them I don’t know what your experience was yeah
(0:46:41) Jonnie: Yeah I felt the same way. I think a lot of them, so a lot of the NPCs I would say that their role is to introduce various skills to you and there’s more skills than most cottagecore games have and it’s kind of like their whole, like they have one personality trait and that’s it so they’re very two dimensional in that way.
(0:47:06) Jonnie: you know, I think about the bug catcher and his whole thing is he’s a kid and he’s part
(0:47:11) Jonnie: of the local scout group or whatever their world equivalent is. And so he’s always excited and always kind of hyper and always wanting to catch bugs and that’s it, right? Like I didn’t feel like anything else from that character.
(0:47:16) Codey: Yeah.
(0:47:22) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(0:47:28) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(0:47:30) Codey: Or, like, the bookstore lady,
(0:47:32) Codey: which I didn’t know there was a bookstore for the longest time,
(0:47:34) Codey: but the bookstore lady, like, you go in there and she’s just, like,
(0:47:38) Codey: has the vibe of, like,
(0:47:40) Codey: “You hurt my books. I hurt your face.”
(0:47:44) Codey: your face. Like she’s just very like protective of her book.
(0:47:46) Codey: But then I don’t think I’ve talked to her about any like any time I talk to her. I don’t she’s not mentioned anything else Like I don’t know anything about her
(0:47:57) Codey: There’s not like a time when I’ll go back in the bookstore and she’s like, okay I guess you’re you’re nice or whatever like but that could just be me not really understanding how to progress the
(0:48:09) Codey: Like Hearts basically, I’m trying to think of how to like the progression of the of your
(0:48:16) Codey: With these characters It’s not clear to me how to do that
(0:48:21) Codey: After after a certain while you can gift them things but like half of the people I try and gift them something and they’re like No, I don’t want that
(0:48:29) Jonnie: Yeah, so there’s this whole relationship side to the game, and it’s probably for me the weakest aspect, so you can talk to NPCs, and you can ask them for a clue about what someone wants each week.
(0:48:45) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(0:48:45) Jonnie: They want four different gifts, and you can, you know, increase the relationship by talking to them, and some of those sorts of things, but it kind of all feels surface level.
(0:48:55) Jonnie: And I have to say, it’s very weird for an MMO.
(0:48:59) Jonnie: That’s the part that really doesn’t connect because it’s like, yes, there are 20 of us all trying to make friends with the same character right now.
(0:49:07) Jonnie: Like it’s it doesn’t feel particularly genuine and kind of feels at odds with everything else that the game is trying to do.
(0:49:14) Jonnie: And potentially one of those features that they put in because this is what console games do.
(0:49:15) Codey: Yeah.
(0:49:21) Codey: Yeah.
(0:49:23) Codey: I don’t really know how,
(0:49:24) Codey: like I’m trying to think of like how that could be fixed.
(0:49:26) Jonnie: I mean, just don’t have it in the game. I just don’t think it’s necessary.
(0:49:28) Codey: And I’m not entirely sure.
(0:49:31) Codey: Hmm, okay.
(0:49:34) Codey: I guess that’s also true.
(0:49:35) Codey: Like that was the other thing is like,
(0:49:36) Codey: you don’t really know, so you’re human.
(0:49:38) Codey: You don’t really know like why you’re here or if like you have some type of greater purpose
(0:49:46) Codey: like you’re gonna ascend or something like,
(0:49:49) Codey: or return to the dirt.
(0:49:51) Codey: Like there’s no idea, at least in the beginning and at least to the part where I’m in in the story.
(0:49:57) Codey: And so having romanceable aliens, basically,
(0:50:05) Codey: I was like, what?
(0:50:10) Codey: It just seemed a little like maybe not until
(0:50:15) Codey: later on in the game.
(0:50:16) Codey: What did that be something that I’d be thinking about?
(0:50:19) Codey: I don’t know.
(0:50:22) Codey: One thing that they just released though,
(0:50:24) Codey: which I really like this in just as an aspect of farming games in general,
(0:50:29) Codey: is there’s a character named Sabira and she’s like an older character.
(0:50:33) Codey: You can now romance her.
(0:50:36) Codey: They add it.
(0:50:37) Codey: So basically like she’s probably in her like fifties or sixties or something.
(0:50:41) Codey: And I think that farming games in general
(0:50:45) Codey: is a way to open up that type of like relationship with older humans because as someone who,
(0:50:52) Codey: I was married, surprise, like I was married
(0:50:56) Codey: and I was in a relationship for nine years without human.
(0:50:58) Codey: And then I left that relationship and then I was in my like late twenties and even like now if I were to be single in my thirties,
(0:51:06) Codey: like I don’t, when I play farming games or whatever or play these games where you have like romanceable whatever it’s always like.
(0:51:15) Codey: Yeah, early 20s are teenagers and it’s just like, but like, circumstances happen and other people need to find love as well.
(0:51:26) Codey: And so I just really wish that that diversity was represented in games.
(0:51:34) Codey: So yeah, I don’t know. I really liked that.
(0:51:36) Jonnie: Yeah, I think diversity is important.
(0:51:38) Jonnie: Um, yeah.
(0:51:40) Codey: Cool.
(0:51:45) Codey: Is there a character that like, stuck out to you that you really enjoyed?
(0:51:48) Jonnie: um unfortunately the answer is no like I like now I can think about it and I can recall all of the different characters but I it’s almost in the bad way where I think they’re all sort of a bit tropey actually the one character the one character that I do like is the the fishing robot um the fishing the fishing robot is cool uh I i’m a big fan of him and he like I think I think particularly because his trope is…
(0:52:01) Codey: I was literally about to say, “But what about the fishing robot?”
(0:52:18) Jonnie: Unexpected, you know, where he’s sort of like looking for or trying to find that zen spot and help other people find I bet they don’t call it the zen spot. I can’t remember what he refers to it as but
(0:52:30) Jonnie: I thought that was like a fun little twist on a robot character
(0:52:30) Codey: Mm-hmm
(0:52:34) Codey: Mm-hmm and his mannerisms are so cute and like
(0:52:38) Codey: There are throughout the world Sometimes you’ll find like these shiny pebbles or whatever and someone mentioned that he really likes them I think his name’s like Inar or something Someone mentioned that he really likes them and so every time I find one I go and bring it to him and every single time He’s like over the moon about these shiny pebbles and I’m just like yours honky you Cute!
(0:53:00) Codey: So, um, big fan of him for sure.
(0:53:08) Codey: Um, well, since we talked about fishing, let’s talk about, um, something they say,
(0:53:12) Codey: again, that’s part of this game is living off the land any way that you like.
(0:53:17) Codey: Um, so they have, I think it’s eight.
(0:53:20) Codey: Yeah.
(0:53:20) Codey: Eight different like skills that you can improve.
(0:53:26) Codey: Um, and some of them are, you know, fishing, hunting, mining, or fishing,
(0:53:31) Codey: bug catching, foraging, those are all things that are in most games, but they also have hunting, um, furniture making, and then, oh, I guess gardening is another, like, uh, like regular one in these types of games.
(0:53:42) Codey: Um, so let’s just briefly touch on these and like, talk about the pros and cons of each of them and the way that they do them, and if we really like it or not.
(0:53:51) Codey: Um, so what do you think about the fishing?
(0:53:53) Jonnie: I think fishing’s pretty good, so the mechanic requires a bit of, you know, you follow the fish around, you’re not just…
(0:54:00) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(0:54:00) Jonnie: I guess the minigame kind of makes sense, right? And it’s one of my big frustrations with a lot of fishing minigames, is often minigames kind of are like…
(0:54:10) Jonnie: Wait, what am I trying to do, and how does this align to the fish? Whereas this one’s like, keep the thing over the fish, reel it in.
(0:54:17) Jonnie: I think it’s straightforward in a way that makes a lot of sense, like it doesn’t take a lot of brain…
(0:54:24) Jonnie: It can be difficult, right? Like it’s not necessarily the easiest mechanic, but I think it’s a relatively good fishing mechanic, this from a person that hates most fishing mechanics.
(0:54:36) Codey: Yeah, I think my only complaint about it is I if I’m remembering correctly it’s always a
(0:54:44) Codey: while after you reel out like that you’ve put it out that it
(0:54:50) Codey: Always like takes some time and then it’s always like one or two
(0:54:54) Codey: There are three bobs or something like there’s no
(0:54:57) Codey: It’s almost like boring with how methodical it can be until you’re reeling in then when you’re reeling in it’s fine
(0:55:05) Codey: about the other part of it.
(0:55:06) Codey: I was just like okay I know I’m gonna you know make sure my my bobber is in the circle and then I know I probably have to wait like I will have to wait like five seconds and blah blah blah but that’s a very minor minor complaint for the most part I give the fishing a bee. Foraging so I’m trying to so it’s interesting thing about foraging is it also includes cutting down trees which because you have an axe but you also have a pickaxe what pickaxe like to me my brain was like oh there’s eight things and there’s eight tools so each tool is going to align with one of these things and that is not the case so foraging includes for the forestry side of it where you cut down trees but it also
(0:56:06) Codey: stuff up you know like wild plants and stuff I think I was fine
(0:56:16) Jonnie: Yeah, I kind of feel like it’s a waste of a skill like I kind of just wish foraging included mining like having foraging and mining being separate I get it like I kind of go one is for natural stuff and one is for
(0:56:27) Jonnie: Rocks, which I guess are also natural
(0:56:30) Jonnie: One is for plant stuff and one is for inorganic stuff. However, like it’s it’s fine. It’s just
(0:56:38) Jonnie: I Don’t know like foraging including wood cutting is not normal. So that kind of broke my brain a little bit as well
(0:56:44) Codey: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, but I mean it, it works. I would give it a B minus maybe.
(0:56:54) Codey: The real A+ though is is hunting. I’ve killed so many deer.
(0:56:56) Jonnie: Hunting is so good.
(0:57:03) Codey: So they mentioned pretty early on there’s deer and then there are in the main like first area that you’re in. There’s there’s these deer and then these almost like raccoon-
(0:57:14) Codey: looking things and they someone specifically says that the raccoon things are invasive or they’re not meant to be here or something and he’s like if you could call that call them that’d be great.
(0:57:26) Codey: So you don’t feel bad about killing them I guess hunting them.
(0:57:34) Codey: But yeah, do you want to explain hunting?
(0:57:36) Jonnie: Yeah, so basically you have a bow and arrow, and depending on the quality of your arrows you deal more or less damage.
(0:57:46) Jonnie: And so when you’ve got to kind of get close enough, if you get too close you’ll spook them and they’ll run off.
(0:57:52) Jonnie: Sometimes you’ll hit them with an arrow and they won’t deal enough damage, and so they’ll run off and you kind of have to chase them round.
(0:57:58) Jonnie: This is probably the part where the performance suffers the most, because rather than running around,
(0:58:02) Jonnie: But the did the days kind of more teleport around the map
(0:58:06) Jonnie: So you kind of need to wait for them to stop running before you take another shot. I don’t think it’s like that on
(0:58:12) Jonnie: On PC, by the way, I think that’s exclusively a switch a switch switch feature [laughing]
(0:58:14) Codey: It’s so funny though, they run for like four steps and then they just are standing there and then they’re suddenly standing like 10 feet away and then they just keep doing that.
(0:58:25) Codey: It’s so funny.
(0:58:27) Codey: Oh my god.
(0:58:28) Jonnie: It’s pretty magical.
(0:58:30) Jonnie: And yeah, when you hunt them, you get a range of materials,
(0:58:34) Jonnie: which I think is the other reason that it’s quite cool.
(0:58:36) Jonnie: So you get their hide, which you can turn into leather, you get meat,
(0:58:42) Jonnie: and you can get horns, which I think are used in some high-level crafting stuff,
(0:58:48) Jonnie: but also sell for a decent amount.
(0:58:50) Jonnie: And it’s just really satisfying.
(0:58:52) Jonnie: We talked about Pokémon Legends Arceus.
(0:58:54) Jonnie: It kind of gives me the similar vibe, except instead of running around throwing Poké Balls,
(0:58:58) Jonnie: I’m putting an arrow into the head of all of these deer.
(0:59:00) Jonnie: And it’s just, honestly, it’s super satisfying.
(0:59:06) Codey: It’s just so satisfying to kill these deer.
(0:59:10) Codey: Yeah, we, the one, we’ll get to the MMO part later,
(0:59:15) Codey: but like the one time that Johnny and I,
(0:59:18) Codey: I guess we played a couple of times, I don’t remember,
(0:59:20) Codey: but we basically were just independently killing a bunch of deer the whole time.
(0:59:28) Codey: It was so good and I still really like it.
(0:59:30) Codey: Like this is still a very very good part of the game.
(0:59:36) Codey: Another thing that is a lot like Pokemon RCS is the insect catching.
(0:59:41) Codey: So in insect catching the little kid with the giant backpack who’s in the troops,
(0:59:47) Codey: the boy scout troop or whatever.
(0:59:51) Codey: He just gives you these like smoke bombs and you you literally hurl these smoke bombs at insects and like butchwood 100
(1:00:00) Codey: percent smish them but but I love it and it they basically become dazed for a second and then they’ll either become incapacitated in which case you can go and collect them or they’ll come come to they’ll become undazed and then they’ll run from you and then you have to try and hit them again with another smoke bomb which this was really satisfying to just run around and like throw things
(1:00:30) Codey: at insects. I think
(1:00:32) Jonnie: And sometimes the insects will pop out of like a chop down tree or a rock or something like that So it’s kind of one of those things that you always want to have on
(1:00:41) Jonnie: Because I think some of the rarer bugs, you know, they require those contextual events to happen first, which is quite cool
(1:00:46) Codey: mm-hmm I will say like I think I would there are certain areas where you just see the same type of like grasshopper like a billion times and I would I’d probably appreciate a–
(1:01:00) Codey: a little bit more insect diversity, but I get it, but I bet like hunting we would also like diversity of things to hunt since there’s only two things in the main area.
(1:01:12) Codey: And the other area has like what, three different things? And I don’t remember.
(1:01:14) Jonnie: Yeah, it’s an ad so a wolf
(1:01:16) Codey: It adds a wolf thing and then also the deer and the raccoons are a little bit heftier over there.
(1:01:24) Codey: But yeah, I think I would just like that to be fleshed out a little bit more.
(1:01:32) Codey: And have something that maybe like some way to like track them because they’re nine times out of ten I would basically almost be running over one before I saw it.
(1:01:42) Codey: And then it’s kind of this like, oh, like I got to get my stuff and like be able to throw this.
(1:01:48) Codey: But by the time I do that, it’s already like running away and maybe it’ll bury itself again or something.
(1:01:52) Codey: And I was just like really I would like a way to like maybe be able to like notice the insects better.
(1:02:00) Codey: Or something like maybe have that be something that that kid gives you like here’s some glasses that make you real good at detecting insects.
(1:02:10) Codey: I don’t know.
(1:02:12) Codey: I did enjoy it though.
(1:02:16) Codey: Mining and cooking. Well, I guess mining is self-explanatory. Nothing to say there.
(1:02:26) Codey: cooking, uh, starts off also not explanatory.
(1:02:30) Codey: Uh, or self-explanatory, like, you have a cook fire, but it gets, it gets a little complicated.
(1:02:37) Jonnie: Yeah, cooking’s so good!
(1:02:37) Codey: Um, you end up like, yeah, so you want to, I, I didn’t get super far into that, so can
(1:02:43) Jonnie: So as you progress with cooking and you add more stations,
(1:02:47) Jonnie: the stations add mini-games to what you are doing.
(1:02:53) Jonnie: So you might have to chop up your vegetables first,
(1:02:56) Jonnie: and that chopping will be a rhythm-based game where you kind of need to hit a thing,
(1:03:01) Jonnie: you know, hit on the beat eight times to effectively chop the vegetables,
(1:03:07) Jonnie: then to the pot, and so you’re progressively getting more complicated recipes and having to do more prep, and you’ve got a time constraint around it.
(1:03:14) Jonnie: So I think it’s typically like a minute,
(1:03:17) Jonnie: and at the end of that minute, if you don’t have everything in the pot,
(1:03:20) Jonnie: then I assume you fail to cook.
(1:03:22) Jonnie: I don’t actually know, I don’t think it’s not difficult, right, so I haven’t failed.
(1:03:25) Jonnie: But I think the addition of a lot of little mini-games that make a lot of sense is really good.
(1:03:32) Jonnie: And I kind of want to talk a little bit. I know I would talk more about the MMO part
(1:03:37) Jonnie: a little bit later, but this is one of the aspects where the MMO part comes in really well because what you can do with multiple people is you can cook together. So you’re all doing the minigame separately. And what that means is you don’t need to necessarily supply all the ingredients yourself and you can share the ingredients. So this is one of those skills that they’ve really put a lot of thought into and not just copied what the standard for Cottagecore is. And it’s a really great mechanic, I think, in the skills.
(1:04:02) Codey: Mm-hmm
(1:04:06) Codey: Awesome, yeah, I haven’t gotten to the part where you’re cooking simultaneously with people. I will say they do that with
(1:04:13) Codey: Cutting down trees and with mining there
(1:04:17) Codey: in the world there are some
(1:04:20) Codey: like trees that you’ll encounter or or mining nodes that you’ll encounter where there they have a special resource within them and they
(1:04:28) Codey: glow or they just stand out as that type of aura.
(1:04:32) Codey: And you can’t do it by yourself period in the story like you hit it and it heals itself so you actually need like
(1:04:39) Codey: multiple people who all have
(1:04:43) Codey: implements like the
(1:04:46) Codey: Pickaxe or the axe that is
(1:04:49) Codey: Improved enough so that they can hit it and and land the hit
(1:04:55) Codey: and You take it down as a group, which I thought was really cool You know, you’re running around and–
(1:05:02) Codey: someone’s just like, oh, there’s a–
(1:05:04) Codey: gosh, what do they call it– a flow tree?
(1:05:06) Codey: They call it a flow tree, because flow is like the magic system or whatever.
(1:05:09) Codey: Like, oh, there’s a flow tree right by Einar’s house.
(1:05:13) Codey: And then a bunch of people will be like, oh, I’m coming.
(1:05:15) Codey: And then generally, people wait.
(1:05:17) Codey: And they wait for you to show up.
(1:05:19) Codey: And then you all just start hacking away.
(1:05:22) Codey: And then it doesn’t take very long.
(1:05:24) Codey: But it’s something that kind of facilitates or encourages MMO side of the game.
(1:05:32) Codey: game even with people that you might not know, which I really enjoyed.
(1:05:34) Jonnie: Yeah, and the other aspect that I think is really smart about the way that the MMO side works is that if multiple people, say, hit a tree, shoot an arrow at the same deer, whatever it is, they’ll both get loot, so there’s no downside to someone else cutting the same tree, like it actually makes it faster for everyone.
(1:05:47) Codey: Yeah.
(1:05:48) Codey: Okay.
(1:05:49) Codey: Okay.
(1:05:50) Codey: Okay.
(1:05:51) Codey: Okay.
(1:05:52) Codey: Okay.
(1:05:53) Codey: Okay.
(1:05:54) Codey: Okay.
(1:05:55) Jonnie: So they’ve thought about some of that stuff, so there’s no competition for resources other than the deer like if you’re one-shotting them then there’s a bit of competition for
(1:05:55) Codey: Okay.
(1:05:56) Codey: Okay.
(1:06:04) Jonnie: those but in general most things don’t have competition for them you are better off working
(1:06:10) Codey: Yep. So I’m excited to get to that part of the cooking.
(1:06:16) Codey: Furniture making is also self explanatory, at least in the beginning. Does it get a bit different? Do you? Does it?
(1:06:23) Jonnie: I haven’t seen it get any different yet. I guess the cool thing about furniture making is when you start getting a new set So I think like the first set of furniture is like your your log cabin style
(1:06:36) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(1:06:36) Jonnie: Every time you build a piece your character then gets one of three options for the next piece of the furniture set to unlock
(1:06:44) Jonnie: So you kind of have to build all of the furniture and in order to unlock the full set so it really encourages you to
(1:06:50) Jonnie: to use the mechanic
(1:06:52) Codey: Yeah, I remember that because my my game glitched on the first time I encountered that
(1:07:00) Codey: But yeah so it’s like your character like builds the chair or something and then they get like a thought like thought bubbles and they get like This contemplative like thinking face of like hmm, and it says like you have ideas
(1:07:14) Codey: What what would you like to build next and it has these like shadowed out?
(1:07:22) Codey: Basically then get the recipe to make make the item which I think is really cool It’s basically it’s is there an NPC that teaches you this or is it all pretty much self driven?
(1:07:34) Jonnie: So there is an NPC who runs the furniture store and I think she sells you some of the recipes for later furniture sets.
(1:07:44) Jonnie: So you can kind of get started. So there’s lots or a few different furniture sets and she’ll sell you the initial recipes to get started.
(1:07:53) Codey: Mm-hmm, okay
(1:07:55) Codey: But I thought this was definitely one that didn’t seem like it didn’t seem like you had to
(1:08:03) Codey: Go to someone to develop it further
(1:08:08) Codey: Like it’s you don’t really get held back me, but I guess maybe if you have to go get the sets from her It might be that way
(1:08:11) Jonnie: Yeah, probably because there’s no specific tools associated with it.
(1:08:16) Jonnie: The other thing that I think is a bit unfortunate with furniture making is furniture isn’t sellable, and I understand why.
(1:08:24) Jonnie: Because it would kind of just mean that every resource you get you would otherwise need to put into furniture making, and it would kind of, you know, effectively create a non-option for players to not engage with it.
(1:08:34) Jonnie: But it is kind of frustrating that you can’t do anything with furniture making other than decorate your house.
(1:08:41) Jonnie: It feels a little bit lost at the moment in terms of its place.
(1:08:46) Jonnie: This would be a good, you know, where we talked about the relationship aspect earlier and how to make it better.
(1:08:50) Jonnie: Maybe donating furniture to the NPCs would be a good way to incorporate that, you know?
(1:08:54) Codey: Ooh, yeah, yeah, or like have like a house.
(1:09:01) Codey: Hmm.
(1:09:03) Codey: I’m imagining like almost like a homeless shelter or something like a community center that you could donate those things to.
(1:09:11) Codey: And then maybe like after a while it starts populating into the, like into the building and so you can see like a building being created, but it’s being created by someone not you so you don’t have to.
(1:09:24) Codey: design it I hate designing things um my my house is is nothing right no it doesn’t have anything in it except for like yeah
(1:09:34) Jonnie: But while we are talking about furniture making, the other thing I’ll say that is cool is
(1:09:39) Jonnie: there’s a lot of flexibility with how you place furniture. So you can get very detailed, you can turn things so you’re not stuck on a grid system where you can only rotate things 90 degrees.
(1:09:42) Codey: mm-hmm
(1:09:52) Jonnie: But there is a really fine underlying grid system so you can line things up in a way that’s really satisfying, but you’ve also got the flexibility. I think this is for almost any other game they they should be looking at how you play.
(1:10:04) Jonnie: furniture in this game and try to replicate it as much as possible.
(1:10:06) Codey: Yeah
(1:10:08) Codey: Yeah, it gave me
(1:10:10) Codey: Like Sims vibes, but in a more satisfying because you get you actually can like build the things
(1:10:20) Codey: So I really I really enjoyed the little bit the little four or five items that I did place
(1:10:28) Codey: That I got for free I was I was like, oh this is satisfying This is really I actually feel like I could if I had the home decor jeans
(1:10:36) Codey: In my bones, like I could I could do some cool stuff with this house And then I guess the other aspect of that I
(1:10:45) Codey: Guess is another week. I’ll save that for the MMO part
(1:10:49) Codey: The final skill is gardening
(1:10:51) Codey: Which is just farming. I’d say gardening but it’s farming
(1:10:56) Codey: To me gardening is the difference is like gardening is maintaining something to be aesthetically beautiful
(1:11:05) Codey: versus like farm.
(1:11:06) Codey: Farming is like for sustenance and you are you’re planting things that you will harvest.
(1:11:14) Codey: So I would call this farming. Anyway, I really like we we both talked about how this was a really satisfying system.
(1:11:24) Jonnie: It’s so good.
(1:11:26) Codey: Yeah, do you want to you want to get into it?
(1:11:28) Jonnie: Yeah, so I guess most of it’s normal, some small differences, like when you’re
(1:11:34) Jonnie: hoeing the land, you’re sort of…
(1:11:37) Jonnie: It’s not just hoeing a tile at a time, you’re sort of having to scrape over the tile,
(1:11:42) Jonnie: kind of like you’re painting over it, I guess, and that’s kind of satisfying. But the really big
(1:11:48) Jonnie: difference is that plants have effects that they can bestow on plants of a different type.
(1:11:54) Jonnie: So for example, I think tomatoes mean that the surrounding plots need to be watered less.
(1:12:02) Jonnie: And so it leads to this really fun, I guess we’ll call it a mini-game, where you are
(1:12:11) Jonnie: trying to work out how am I going to lay out my plot of things to get as many beneficial benefits onto as many plants as possible. Really, really cool little mechanic, and also makes total…
(1:12:24) Jonnie: sense, like it’s inspired by some aspects of the real world, biodiversity sort of elements, but done in a really simple way that I love. I think it’s so good.
(1:12:29) Codey: Yep
(1:12:33) Codey: Yeah, I remember reading and finding out that tomatoes had that property and then buying a
(1:12:41) Codey: metric heck ton of tomatoes and then like designing like where in my plots I wanted tomatoes to be like the centerpieces because
(1:12:51) Codey: At least to my knowledge so far if you don’t water things they don’t die, but they just don’t really grow
(1:12:58) Jonnie: Yeah, so because the game’s on a real-world timer, so every 12 hours is half an hour.
(1:13:05) Jonnie: I think a full day cycle is an hour and I think on, you know, like every half hour is sort of when things like plants growing and stuff tick over.
(1:13:18) Jonnie: And because it’s tied to the real world, if they aren’t watered, they won’t die.
(1:13:22) Jonnie: They’ll just stop progressing, which I think makes total sense because in this game you will go out into the world and you might get stuck.
(1:13:28) Jonnie: You might get distracted and do a whole bunch of stuff out there and not be sort of checking in on your farm.
(1:13:34) Jonnie: And I think if they died because they weren’t watered that would be more frustrating than fun.
(1:13:40) Codey: Yeah, it wouldn’t let you explore as much. So it’s that’s really nice
(1:13:45) Codey: The watering is
(1:13:48) Codey: straightforward
(1:13:50) Codey: You hold a watering can over it and it fills up a little bar and then it’s like, okay, I have enough water now Thank you. So
(1:14:00) Codey: Yeah, and then you can use those for cooking or you can just eat them raw I don’t really there’s your standard onions wheat
(1:14:08) Codey: turnips maybe I don’t remember.
(1:14:10) Codey: They did just add two new crops and two new forgibles which is really nice so it is cool to see that they’re still adding to this game and they do have so moving on to like the MMO part properly I guess.
(1:14:10) Jonnie: Yeah, it’s just kind of usual. There’s nothing particularly interesting or unique about the crops that you can grow.
(1:14:28) Codey: They have an event going on right now called the Magi Event which this is very akin to what I think of as an MMO like when you play World of Warcraft you…
(1:14:40) Codey: So there’s the New Year’s Day event that you play and you can get things that are specific to that holiday period or it was always the freaking Halloween because I wanted the dude’s skeletal horse, the headless horseman’s horse and he only showed up in Halloween and I never got that horse.
(1:15:01) Codey: So it was things like that and it has that where you can play these games with other people.
(1:15:10) Codey: There’s like races and cooking events together and some things. I haven’t played since this event has started which started literally two days, three days ago or whatever. Have you been able to play it at all?
(1:15:22) Codey: Mhmm.
(1:15:22) Jonnie: No, I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, but it seems like a big step up from the Christmas event.
(1:15:27) Jonnie: So the Christmas event was very single player and for whatever reason they gave everyone like
(1:15:34) Jonnie: 20 snowballs every single day to the point where it was just like I felt like my character was drowning in these snowballs. And so I think it’s cool to see like this is the sort of event that is like oh cool I do want to jump back in and check that out.
(1:15:49) Codey: maybe we should do that in the next couple days. Um, together.
(1:15:51) Jonnie: Maybe we should do it after we stop.
(1:15:52) Jonnie: Maybe we should do it while we’re recording.
(1:15:56) Codey: If I had time,
(1:15:59) Codey: I contemplated playing this while we were recording, but I was like,
(1:16:02) Codey: I don’t want to heck up my internet bandwidth while I do that. Um,
(1:16:07) Codey: but yeah, it, it looks really nice. Um, there,
(1:16:11) Codey: it’s good to see that they’re adding new things.
(1:16:13) Codey: I think my biggest discontent with the MMO part of it.
(1:16:19) Codey: Is that it makes it switches servers all the time, like, when you go into a new when you go to your plot, you kind of go into this solo, but you can invite friends situation.
(1:16:35) Jonnie: Yeah, you go into a pride you’ve got your plotters on a prime
(1:16:36) Codey: Yeah, it’s a private instance.
(1:16:41) Codey: And so you don’t have other people running around and make sense.
(1:16:45) Codey: And then like, Johnny could come to my place or I could go to so like, that’s one benefit
(1:16:49) Codey: of, you know, the furniture designing or whatever, or even just plot designing in general as you can share plots with people and that seems really fun, or like explore each other’s,
(1:17:01) Codey: each other’s farms and visit farms and stuff.
(1:17:04) Codey: But when you’re in the overworld, I get so many messages that are like, you are in a new server, you are in a new server.
(1:17:13) Codey: And it makes it really hard because there have been a couple people that I’ve like played
(1:17:19) Codey: with, and I didn’t add them or whatever.
(1:17:22) Codey: And I didn’t really like talk to them enough to feel comfortable, like reaching out to them and being like, do you want to play together sometime?
(1:17:31) Codey: Where if you so how like, well, the work after it was you, you, you were always on you chose the server.
(1:17:37) Codey: So you knew that you were always going to be on the same server with the same people.
(1:17:42) Codey: And that wasn’t the case.
(1:17:44) Codey: And then also, I know when you and I tried to play together, it kept–
(1:17:49) Codey: saying we weren’t on the same server, and we tried to join each other’s things,
(1:17:57) Codey: and it just was a big– it was really difficult.
(1:18:00) Codey: And we ended up being able to join a party, but not–
(1:18:05) Codey: could we ever see each other?
(1:18:06) Codey: I can’t– my brain is fuzzy.
(1:18:07) Jonnie: I don’t think we ever actually managed to see each other.
(1:18:12) Codey: We were like, and we’ll figure it out later.
(1:18:16) Codey: I mean, but it was fun to just jump on a Zoom call together
(1:18:19) Codey: while we played that for hours.
(1:18:24) Codey: And I do remember playing one of the times and telling you,
(1:18:29) Codey: oh, I’m just going to go back to my house real quick.
(1:18:31) Codey: And then 45 minutes later, I was like, oh, no, it’s midnight.
(1:18:34) Jonnie: Yep. (laughs)
(1:18:36) Codey: I really need to go to bed.
(1:18:39) Codey: OK, this time I really mean it.
(1:18:42) Codey: And it’s just a lot of fun to be able to play simultaneously with people in that way.
(1:18:49) Codey: I would have really appreciated, and I hope they’ve fixed it by now.
(1:18:52) Codey: Maybe we’ll get an update to that and post it in the Slack,
(1:18:57) Codey: of being able to actually play next to each other.
(1:19:02) Jonnie: » Yeah. Yes. I think to build off that frustration,
(1:19:02) Codey: Have our characters be in the same world would be really nice.
(1:19:10) Jonnie: not being easy to link up in the same world and continually changing servers is,
(1:19:16) Jonnie: we talked about how there’s the MMO aspects in terms of the resource gathering.
(1:19:21) Jonnie: Unfortunately, that’s where it stops.
(1:19:24) Jonnie: I don’t know what their plans are for going forward,
(1:19:29) Jonnie: but in other MMOs like the point.
(1:19:32) Jonnie: The point is that the very end game content is meant to be stuff that you do with other people.
(1:19:36) Jonnie: And usually that’s combat focused, so I don’t know how they’re going to get that.
(1:19:37) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(1:19:41) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(1:19:42) Jonnie: But the dungeons that are in the game are single player dungeons.
(1:19:46) Jonnie: They are not something that you do with other players at all.
(1:19:46) Codey: Yeah, I was gonna ask.
(1:19:51) Jonnie: And that is the thing I think I would really be looking for.
(1:19:57) Jonnie: as I want the dungeons to have, you know, those
(1:20:02) Jonnie: the hard versions or whatever that you have to do with other players because that’s ultimately a part of the appeal is if I’m playing an MMO I want to play with other people and it’s been interesting following some of the communities around this game because there’s definitely the contingent that just want to play on their own which I think is fine in MMOs right it shouldn’t be an expectation that you have to play with other people but a big part of MMO is having that content that encourages you to play with other people and it doesn’t feel the
(1:20:13) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(1:20:32) Jonnie: game is there yet. It feels like there’s a pathway for this game to go which is why it’s difficult to recommend just yet but a really solid foundation but I’m interested to see how they amplify the MMO aspect because at the moment it feels more like a gimmick so they can say that they’re an MMO rather than being a true MMO experience.
(1:20:53) Codey: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I agree and I am really excited to see where they come with it because go with it,
(1:21:01) Codey: because I agree there’s a really solid foundation here and I see the potential,
(1:21:07) Codey: but if this is where it stays forever, like it would be it would fall a little flat for me.
(1:21:14) Codey: For sure. I do, I would like if you could expand upon, I didn’t ever do a dungeon,
(1:21:20) Codey: So I would like it if you could talk a little bit about that.
(1:21:22) Jonnie: Yeah, cool.
(1:21:24) Codey: So are they procedurally generated or are they a fixed map?
(1:21:28) Jonnie: No, so they’re a fixed map. They’ve got a heavy story element to them.
(1:21:33) Jonnie: There will be some number of the NPCs that are accompanying you to kind of give you quests to guide through the dungeons.
(1:21:41) Jonnie: The dungeons reveal, I guess, a lot of the backstory as to what’s happening in the world.
(1:21:47) Jonnie: the world and they introduce some unique challenges like you’ll have to…
(1:21:52) Jonnie: you had to go around and one of them was very sort of puzzle-heavy where you were solving mazes and a few other sorts of puzzles.
(1:22:00) Codey: Okay
(1:22:00) Jonnie: One I recall, you had to kind of go around and find objects that were sort of hidden on the map and there’s lots of great verticality.
(1:22:09) Jonnie: There’s a glider in this game which I don’t think we’ve talked about so you need the glider to get over certain things.
(1:22:15) Jonnie: And there was air currents pushing you up and some that would push you down.
(1:22:19) Jonnie: So like they felt like good dungeons, like they were-
(1:22:23) Jonnie: Well, there were some design issues in some of them, but in general they were largely well-designed.
(1:22:29) Jonnie: Like they felt like a good dungeon for a game that has no combat, right?
(1:22:33) Jonnie: I was kind of like how are you going to do a dungeon in a game with no combat, but they did a really good job.
(1:22:38) Jonnie: I guess it’s just then how does that expand into a dungeon that has a purpose when there are multiple people there?
(1:22:45) Jonnie: Because currently they’re all just sort of single player content.
(1:22:52) Codey: Yeah, that’s because I hadn’t done any of those. I did see these like the mines, the different like mining areas, and there are ruins. So there’s and the world is really, like it’s really pretty in that way that a lot there’s a lot of the ruins are really pretty looking. And there is that that mystery of like, what happened here? Like these ruins are apparently aren’t from the people that were here. And there’s the archaeologist lady who’s trying to figure out what the heck’s going on.
(1:23:22) Codey: It’s cool that you can like help her do that and and stuff. So I’m excited to see a little bit more about that as well. So when you said dungeons, I was like, what?
(1:23:33) Codey: But yeah, that’s something that I’d be really interested to to check out.
(1:23:36) Jonnie: And what I didn’t get to, so this is…
(1:23:41) Jonnie: I don’t think it’s a spoiler, but I get that some people are very precious about spoilers, so
(1:23:46) Jonnie: whatever. But the other thing that’s locked behind the dungeons is the version of the bundles,
(1:23:52) Jonnie: or community center upgrades. So their bundles are very much seemed to be geared towards late-game content. I haven’t completed any, so I’m not clear on what the rewards for them are.
(1:24:02) Codey: Mm-hmm
(1:24:07) Jonnie: But that’s where that sort of thing is hidden, and it is in the game,
(1:24:11) Jonnie: so it’ll be interesting to see where it goes from that.
(1:24:14) Codey: Yeah, I did see that like I had unlocked that chamber the like dragon chamber or whatever it’s called and
(1:24:24) Codey: Unlocked I think the wind thing and
(1:24:29) Codey: Aren’t the water one I don’t remember and so I did one of those things I don’t know if that’s considered a dungeon like what you’re considering a dungeon where you you do that and then it gives you
(1:24:41) Codey: It unlocks like some of the things that you can
(1:24:44) Codey: community center, which I guess I did that one, but.
(1:24:48) Jonnie: Oh yeah, so then you have done one of the dungeons. You probably did the first one, right?
(1:24:52) Codey: OK, cool. Yeah, it’s yeah, well, it’s the one that you and I were talking once before recording a different podcast and you had gotten stuck at the.
(1:25:03) Codey: At a riddle, and I was like, oh, is it this?
(1:25:05) Jonnie: Yes.
(1:25:06) Codey: And you were like, oh, maybe it is that.
(1:25:08) Codey: And then you’re like, it is.
(1:25:09) Codey: And then when I encountered it again, I was like, oh, right, this.
(1:25:14) Codey: And that one, so I guess I get what you’re talking about with them being puzzles.
(1:25:18) Jonnie: Yeah, so that’s the first dungeon. I think the first one is significantly smaller compared to the other one.
(1:25:24) Codey: Yeah, it was just a little bit of a riddle and a little bit of finding your way through the ruins. So, but yeah, I mean.
(1:25:35) Codey: I really like it, and I see the potential and I want to see where it goes.
(1:25:38) Codey: And and I definitely I think like I would encourage people if this game is something that you’re–
(1:25:44) Codey: you’re interested in, play a little bit of it to get the base understanding of– or start building up your fishing, foraging, hunting, all of those skills.
(1:25:56) Codey: But be prepared to come back to the game.
(1:25:59) Codey: If you’re wanting a game that you’re going to be able to complete–
(1:26:02) Codey: I mean, I guess MMOs don’t operate that way,
(1:26:05) Codey: where you hit an end point or whatever.
(1:26:08) Codey: But I could see myself playing this game every now and then working on my fishing scale or working on whatever.
(1:26:14) Codey: But then not touching it for a month.
(1:26:17) Codey: And then picking it back up and being excited by changes they made, and then setting it down for another couple of months.
(1:26:24) Codey: And that doesn’t bother me.
(1:26:26) Codey: But I know some people are very game guzzly and want to do everything right at the beginning.
(1:26:33) Codey: So probably not for those people.
(1:26:36) Jonnie: Yeah, I think I kind of feel the same, and I think it’s fairly similar to how I felt about Disney Dreamlight Valley.
(1:26:43) Jonnie: You know, where I played it when it first came out, and I had a really good time, and I enjoyed it, and then I put it down for a good six or seven months, and they added a lot more content, and then I jumped back in and sort of finished it.
(1:26:55) Jonnie: You know, I played a lot more of it that way, and I think that’s probably where I’ll be with Palia, and I think for me the thing that I’m really looking for is, you know, can…
(1:27:07) Jonnie: Cody, Bev, you know, Al and I will jump in and play a game together. That’s probably going to be the thing that will pull me back in the most.
(1:27:10) Codey: Yeah
(1:27:14) Jonnie: The rest of the game is good, but it’s that MMO thing that I’m really like, I really want to see how far they can push that in the Cottagecore genre.
(1:27:24) Codey: Yeah, for sure.
(1:27:27) Codey: I would love it if they really set the standard.
(1:27:30) Codey: And I think the bones are there.
(1:27:32) Codey: Like, they can– they have the framework to be able to set the standard for what a farming MMO looks like, that other people can emulate.
(1:27:41) Codey: Kind of like how Stardew was the foundational whatever for just farming games in general.
(1:27:46) Codey: Like, the same.
(1:27:48) Codey: I think it could be the same.
(1:27:52) Codey: So caution.
(1:27:54) Codey: So the one thing I just really, I needed to gripe about something and you’ve already mentioned it.
(1:28:02) Codey: So this is what I wrote earlier when I just wrote, please for the love of God,
(1:28:08) Codey: let me get rid of event items like the wallpapers and also just furniture in general.
(1:28:18) Codey: Some of the characters will like gift you a wallpaper and they’re like, my
(1:28:24) Codey: favorite color is yellow.
(1:28:25) Codey: So here’s a yellow wallpaper.
(1:28:27) Codey: And I’m like, cool.
(1:28:28) Codey: I don’t give two hoots about decorating my home.
(1:28:32) Codey: I’m going to throw this away or I’m going to sell this and you can’t sell it.
(1:28:36) Codey: And for, I can’t figure out how to throw it away.
(1:28:40) Codey: Um, unless it’s really, really simple and I just haven’t figured it out.
(1:28:43) Codey: But even, even then I have like my hoarding tendencies of like, well, I don’t want to like throw it, like what if I want it later, you know?
(1:28:49) Codey: Um, so, and the one downside that I.
(1:28:54) Codey: Think is that all of the chests that you make are linked.
(1:29:00) Codey: Um, correct me if this is a later game thing where this does not happen.
(1:29:08) Jonnie: Ah, they are all linked, um, and I think so, so, like, the storage is kind of, it’s just poorly designed, like, I kind of just feel like they should just give you infinite storage,
(1:29:10) Codey: Okay, cool.
(1:29:20) Jonnie: and for whatever reason, they’ve decided not to, and so the storage is very limited, but furniture doesn’t count towards the limit, so you’re, yeah, so like you say, like, you get a lot of it, and you’re not incentivised to throw it out, um, there are lots of tabs that sort of sort stuff for you, but, um, the inventory system’s just a bit overwhelming,
(1:29:37) Jonnie: I think it would be better if–
(1:29:38) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(1:29:38) Jonnie: if there was, like, you had a pantry that you went to, and that was where all of your food stuffs were stored.
(1:29:42) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(1:29:44) Jonnie: And you had, uh, you know, your chest is where maybe all of your resources are stored.
(1:29:48) Jonnie: And you had a furniture room, and that’s where all of your furniture was stored.
(1:29:53) Jonnie: ‘Cause it’s just a bit overwhelming when you’re going through the menu trying to work out what you have and don’t have,
(1:29:59) Jonnie: and what tab does that thing live in.
(1:30:01) Jonnie: And then there’s, like, quest items that you–
(1:30:03) Jonnie: ‘Cause sometimes you uncover a quest item before you have the quest.
(1:30:06) Jonnie: and it just gets a bit…
(1:30:08) Jonnie: confusing. So I’m not a huge fan of the storage and I think they should just go infinite storage and some better
(1:30:14) Jonnie: organization options to help you navigate that and so you don’t need to build
(1:30:19) Jonnie: a thousand or eight because I think it’s the maximum you can have eight chests that sort of just randomly dot your land
(1:30:24) Codey: Yeah, I think for me they could solve it just by having a type of chest that you can build,
(1:30:32) Codey: or a pantry that you could build, or whatever, and have either a toggle where you can lock it or something and say that like, “I only want this to be…” When I open this item,
(1:30:46) Codey: this chest, I only want to see things that I have specifically put into this chest. Because
(1:30:54) Codey: you can build 10 chests, but then when you open any of them, you are opening the same inventory. And it adds, like you can build… I almost want to build like a hundred chests and just put them in the back of my property and never look at them, because that just adds, like each chest adds like, I want to say like 200 space or whatever to your inventory space in your storage system, but then you have to have all these chests all over the place.
(1:31:24) Codey: And it’s just like, where do you put them? And if I could have a chest that’s like a locked chest, and I could just throw all the furniture stuff in there, and then that stuff did not show up in my global inventory, that would be great. Because, I mean, especially after playing Minecraft for so long and having dedicated chests, or even Coral Island, like this is the chest that I put my mining stuff in. Here’s the chest that I put my food in.
(1:31:54) Codey: Or like food for like going out and exploring things. And then I’ll go put raw foods in the fridge. Like that helps organize things so well. And that was my one gripe with this game is I get real frustrated by the storage system and the inventory system, which…
(1:32:13) Codey: So that could definitely be revamped. Okay. Mmm.
(1:32:14) Jonnie: Yeah, I’m gonna see your gripe and add another small one
(1:32:18) Jonnie: So when you upgrade the tools
(1:32:20) Jonnie: the tools get
(1:32:23) Jonnie: Durability and you have to repair them. I just have no interest in repairing tools. I hate durability mechanics
(1:32:32) Jonnie: Like occasionally they make sense in games
(1:32:34) Jonnie: But but this is not one of them. I’ve upgraded the tool just let me have it and if it breaks you have to
(1:32:40) Jonnie: rebuild the tool, you can’t repair it, which requires more.
(1:32:43) Codey: You can repair it.
(1:32:45) Jonnie: You can? Oh.
(1:32:46) Codey: There are repair kits that you can make, but you have to craft them.
(1:32:48) Jonnie: Oh yeah, so you can repair it, but if it…
(1:32:51) Jonnie: Yeah, yeah, so you can repair the tool, but if it fully loses its durability, it breaks,
(1:32:55) Jonnie: and you have to rebuild it. It’s just a terrible mechanic, it adds nothing to the game other than being a way to, you know, sort of like drain resources out, which I get MMOs sometimes need those sort of things, I just don’t want it to be in a durability mechanic that’s for the tools that that I use to gather resources.
(1:33:12) Jonnie: It’s…
(1:33:14) Jonnie: It’s just a bit frustrating to be honest. I’m not a fan. And it leads to weird things,
(1:33:17) Codey: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
(1:33:20) Jonnie: right? So like for hunting, because you’re a higher level bow doesn’t increase your damage,
(1:33:27) Jonnie: it only increases your range. And the range on the standard bow is pretty good. Like there is no incentive to upgrade the bow. You are totally fine to just use the basic level bow.
(1:33:36) Codey: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
(1:33:37) Jonnie: Which is, it’s just a bit silly and unnecessary, right? Because I want to buy the upgrade, but if there’s no point to it.
(1:33:44) Jonnie: There’s no value to it. It’s just going to drain resources then, then why bother.
(1:33:48) Jonnie: I want to do some final thoughts, because I feel like we’ve hit on a lot of negatives,
(1:33:56) Jonnie: but I’ve played a lot of this game. I’ve probably put like 40 hours into it, and I’ve had a really really good time with it. I think the gameplay loop of this game is super fun. The other thing that this game made me realise is I hate just day/night cycles. The Stardew Valley, your day lasts for 17 minutes, and you don’t have to do that.
(1:33:56) Codey: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
(1:34:12) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(1:34:14) Jonnie: I just want to run around and do stuff. I’m so over the stamina mechanic, all of those sorts of things I’m over.
(1:34:24) Jonnie: We haven’t talked about the stamina mechanic in this game, because it’s so good.
(1:34:26) Codey: or the or the focus.
(1:34:29) Jonnie: The focus, yeah that’s what I mean. So in this game, instead of stamina, you have a thing called focus.
(1:34:34) Jonnie: Focus gives you extra XP for doing tasks, and you get focus by eating food and doing stuff drains your focus.
(1:34:41) Jonnie: So rather than being punished for having.
(1:34:44) Jonnie: Low stamina, you get rewarded for having high stamina, which is amazing.
(1:34:49) Jonnie: It’s just a really subtle change, but it all of a sudden you’re like, I want to cook.
(1:34:53) Jonnie: I want to engage with these mechanics.
(1:34:55) Jonnie: I want to have high focus all the time, um, brilliant, brilliant mechanic.
(1:34:59) Jonnie: I love that.
(1:35:00) Jonnie: I love the fact that it’s just, you know, uh, an hour is a day, night cycle.
(1:35:06) Jonnie: All that does is it affects, you know, where the NPCs are and what critters and fish are available.
(1:35:12) Jonnie: But other than that, I can just play.
(1:35:14) Jonnie: I’m not worried about the game, I’m not worried about what day.
(1:35:19) Jonnie: Is it month 2 of season 3 and I have to wait 30 more days before I can do the thing that I want to do?
(1:35:26) Jonnie: I get why it’s a thing in farming games, I just want to say I’m kind of over it and I’m excited for this season 3 world.
(1:35:34) Codey: Yeah, and the not only season free because like they could have seasons in this game,
(1:35:39) Codey: that’s fine, but like in tie it to real life, right? So like they’re going to have events and I during the Oh, you right. You’re right. Well, wait, did you just have the winter event?
(1:35:44) Jonnie: Are they going to tie it to Northern Hemisphere or Southern Hemisphere because I’ll say if it’s Northern Hemisphere
(1:35:55) Jonnie: yeah we had the winter event which it’s one of those things
(1:35:58) Codey: So it’s tied to Northern hemisphere.
(1:36:00) Jonnie: yeah but it’s kind of weird right because like and that’s why I’d be very against seasons because I don’t want to be playing a game in actually it’d be better if it was tied to Southern Hemisphere seasons because then in winter which is cold in the northern hemisphere
(1:36:14) Jonnie: you’ll be having your summer season which is actually a good time to be you know it’s when you want to people to be playing the game right like
(1:36:14) Codey: Wasn’t there a game that did that?
(1:36:24) Jonnie: I’m sure there was but it seems
(1:36:24) Codey: What am I thinking of?
(1:36:29) Codey: Because there was a game that did that and like, oh it was Animal Crossing.
(1:36:34) Codey: Because like you were on the southern hemisphere and I was on the northern hemisphere and like our seasons were flipped.
(1:36:40) Jonnie: Ah, no no no no no no oh wait, was it?
(1:36:41) Codey: So I could go visit you.
(1:36:43) Codey: No?
(1:36:44) Codey: I thought so because I think I came and visited your area because you were in summer and I was like, “Well, I want some of the summer buns or some of the summer fish.”
(1:36:48) Jonnie: Ah yeah it was, no sorry I think you’re right.
(1:36:58) Jonnie: That’s right, it was too.
(1:37:01) Codey: And that was really cool to have that happen.
(1:37:04) Codey: I guess it wouldn’t work as well for the events because…
(1:37:09) Codey: Or maybe I guess you could do it.
(1:37:13) Codey: people.
(1:37:14) Codey: You might go to a different hemisphere to experience wintery events when it is your winter versus our summer.
(1:37:26) Jonnie: I don’t think it would work for the MMO aspect, right, because then you have to divide your servers by what hemisphere.
(1:37:26) Codey: But it is cool when…
(1:37:34) Codey: Yeah When I remember that being one of the concerns because you were on like the Pacific
(1:37:41) Codey: Server or whatever or not server realm and I was on the US one and it was kind of this like oh Is it are we even gonna be able to play together, but we figured it out. So it’s fine
(1:37:53) Codey: But yeah that might be an issue that would be really cool to I
(1:38:00) Codey: I did enjoy that in games and I do also really agree.
(1:38:04) Codey: Especially some games and I’ve mentioned this before how in some games I’m playing and by the time I feel like I finally hit my stride in a day and I finally feel like I’m making good progress on like farming or something, my character is suddenly like I’m going to pass out.
(1:38:23) Codey: I am very tired, I am going to pass out, not because of stamina but because of time, just because it’s 1am, you know.
(1:38:34) Codey: I’m like but I still have so much stamina.
(1:38:37) Codey: So I am also starting to detest that system and really enjoyed it about this game that it was just continuous.
(1:38:46) Codey: And yeah I guess I agree with the fact that like we were per hapith a little negative but I want to say most of my vibes about this game are positive and I’m really positively looking forward to the future of this game.
(1:39:02) Codey: Um, this is not a game.
(1:39:04) Codey: Like others that I’ve covered sometimes where I’m like, and I can uninstall this now and never think about it again like this game is something I will continue to return to
(1:39:14) Codey: Check in with whenever they have these events like the Magi event right now
(1:39:18) Codey: and And just be excited when a new when a friend a new friend starts playing, you know
(1:39:25) Codey: if I hear that
(1:39:27) Codey: Al gets into this game and has started playing it. I’m gonna be like, oh, let’s go. Let’s go show out like let’s go
(1:39:34) Codey: You know walk him through the game and like help him build up his his area
(1:39:39) Codey: And give him resources that he might need or whatever. So
(1:39:44) Codey: Definitely feeling good about this game
(1:39:46) Jonnie: Yeah, me too. And I think a lot of the, you know, probably we were overly critical because we both really like it and we see the potential, right?
(1:39:53) Jonnie: It’s not it’s not criticism with nowhere to go. It’s actually like there is a ton of room for this game to be
(1:40:00) Jonnie: to be something truly magical
(1:40:02) Codey: Mm-hmm. Yes. I think it is already a step up from other games, but there’s potential.
(1:40:15) Codey: So much potential. So yeah, I mean that’s what I had to say about the game Downy. Do
(1:40:24) Jonnie: So the only other thing very quickly is just on monetization, so it’s all through cosmetics.
(1:40:31) Jonnie: You know, it’s standard, over-pray.
(1:40:35) Jonnie: If you’re really into the game, you can pay a lot of money to have your character wear a pirate hat or whatever it is.
(1:40:42) Jonnie: It’s the sort of cosmetics, you know, like it’s the sort of monetization that I’m totally fine with.
(1:40:47) Jonnie: It doesn’t impact your gameplay other than how your character looks on the screen, and If you want to pay for that and support the game that way, you can.
(1:40:54) Jonnie: And you overpay for it because the game is free to download, right?
(1:40:59) Codey: Mm-hmm.
(1:40:59) Jonnie: It’s free to play.
(1:41:01) Jonnie: So, you know, it’s one of those trade-offs where, you know, occasionally online you’ll see people complaining about the price and it’s like,
(1:41:08) Jonnie: “Yes, but the rest of the game is free. They have to make their money somewhere.”
(1:41:11) Jonnie: And this is a totally fine way for them to make their money.
(1:41:15) Jonnie: So, that’s good, or cool, or whatever.
(1:41:21) Jonnie: I mean, it’s just good that they’re making this game accessible and…
(1:41:24) Jonnie: and they’re monetising it in ways that don’t feel predatory.
(1:41:28) Codey: Yeah, it definitely like there’s not really a way that it could be pay to play.
(1:41:33) Codey: So I don’t I mean, unless someone bought like in game currency with real money,
(1:41:38) Codey: but even then, like, people can do whatever they want with their own money is fine.
(1:41:42) Codey: There’s not like a competitive aspect with other players against other players in this game. So I really enjoy that. I mean, and I when I found out where the money the that store was, I was like,
(1:41:55) Codey: Like cool, just don’t have to go back to this.
(1:41:58) Codey: Like I’m, I really liked the game, but I’m, you know, personally not in a place to be able to buy like a cute little pet or something like a cute little thing to follow you around or like, I think I saw someone with like wings or something.
(1:42:12) Codey: There’s these different like cosmetic things you can do that are really cool, but, um, not right now.
(1:42:19) Codey: So, okay.
(1:42:21) Codey: Well, that was Palia.
(1:42:24) Codey: Um, I’m sure we’ll probably be doing a second harvest because we do have other
(1:42:28) Codey: humans who are playing this game, um, so, uh, where can people find you on the interwebs, John?
(1:42:37) Jonnie: As always, if you want to find me, the easiest way to do that is to go to patreon.com/thspod support the show. With that you get access to our Slack channel where you can see Cody’s updates on everything from Fox-based Minecraft islands to Pylia to whatever other games we might all be playing in there.
(1:43:02) Codey: Oh, and my, and my Groundhog’s Day pictures that I still have to post.
(1:43:05) Codey: Um, yeah, you can find me, um, on Twitter, which I don’t really use anymore.
(1:43:12) Codey: Uh, just my name, Cody Mathis.
(1:43:13) Codey: You can find me on Instagram, hiking beagle be eagle.
(1:43:17) Codey: Um, I’m more active on that and I share a lot of memes to my stories.
(1:43:22) Codey: So for sure.
(1:43:23) Codey: Follow me on that.
(1:43:23) Codey: If you want to see things that make me laugh.
(1:43:27) Codey: Um, if you have any issues with podcasts, you can complain to Al.
(1:43:32) Codey: Or if you think that, gosh, Cody is so annoying.
(1:43:40) Codey: Uh, you can tweet Al at the Scott bot on mastodon.scot and Twitter.
(1:43:46) Codey: Um, you can follow the pod, uh, at Tumblr and on Twitter at THS pod.
(1:43:51) Codey: You can give, uh, other feedbacks, uh, and find the links at the website at harvestseason.club, where you can also find a link to the Patreon that Johnny mentioned.
(1:44:00) Codey: Johnny, thank you so much.
(1:44:02) Codey: This was a lot of fun to talk about this game that we both really enjoyed.
(1:44:06) Codey: Thanks for joining me.
(1:44:06) Jonnie: Yeah, it’s always fun when you and I get to come on and do a show together.
(1:44:10) Codey: I know, I am…
(1:44:12) Codey: Oh my gosh, did you hear that episode where I talked about how I like gasped aloud when Al said that you two were doing Tales of the Shire?
(1:44:21) Jonnie: Yes. (laughs)
(1:44:24) Codey: I was like doing dishes and I was like,
(1:44:28) Codey: No!
(1:44:29) Codey: And I like, wash started drying my hands.
(1:44:32) Codey: So I look forward to doing the second harvest with you, Johnny.
(1:44:36) Codey: I am also.
(1:44:38) Codey: I know, I know, I know there’s people who, other people who, hosts that probably wanted to play this game.
(1:44:44) Codey: I’m sorry, but I’m pulling rank.
(1:44:46) Codey: And I was like, “Oh!”
(1:44:48) Codey: So I look forward to doing the second harvest with you, Johnny.
(1:44:53) Jonnie: Great. I’m looking forward to talking a lot about that game.
(1:44:54) Codey: I am also.
(1:44:56) Jonnie: Uh, when- when and if it comes out, I feel like it’s been forever, even though it hasn’t really been that long yet.
(1:44:56) Codey: I am also.
(1:45:02) Codey: It’s fine, we will wait as long as it takes, I am so excited.
(1:45:07) Codey: Listeners, let us know if you’re also excited about Tales of the Shire or anything else that you think that we should be playing or excited about.
(1:45:15) Codey: Or if you’ve, again, if you’ve been to Punxsutawney and you’ve seen Phil, let me know how your experience was.
(1:45:22) Jonnie: Or if you’re playing any of the demos because it seems like we’re entering a bit of a resurgence of demos So if you play a demo and you think wow that game is way better than I expected or way worse than I expected
(1:45:31) Jonnie: Like we want to hear about it because we’re not always playing all of the demos or all of the games that exist too much So so please tell us
(1:45:33) Codey: Yes, we would super appreciate it.
(1:45:40) Codey: Well, yeah, thanks for listening, guys.
(1:45:43) Codey: Thanks, Johnny, for joining me.
(1:45:45) Codey: And until next time, have a good harvest!
(1:45:48) Jonnie: Have a good harvest.
(1:45:48) Theme Tune: The harvest season is created by Al McKinlay, with support from our patrons, including our pro farmers, Kevin, Stuart and Alisa.
(1:46:04) Theme Tune: Our art is done by Micah the Brave, and our music is done by Nick Burgess.
(1:46:08) Theme Tune: Feel free to visit our website, harvestseason.club, for show notes and links to things we discussed in this episode.
(1:46:24) Codey: Have a good harvest
(1:46:24) Jonnie: Have a good harvest. What? I stopped and I’m…
(1:46:28) Jonnie: Hold on, hold on. Let’s try that again.
(1:46:30) Codey: Okay, okay and until next time have a good harvest
(1:46:34) Jonnie: Have a good harvest. Oh my god, that was terrible. Oh well, I will make it work.
(1:46:41) Codey: Al I want you to auto-tune it actually like I
(1:46:47) Codey: Actually want him to
(1:46:49) Codey: convert it to groundhog ease. I want to hear it and
(1:46:54) Codey: groundhog ease. Yeah, I mean it’s easy. Yeah, you can do it.
(1:46:54) Jonnie: Oh yeah, that really easy request.