Last week I released the first public Village Monsters demo in quite some time. The response has thus far been fantastic!

As usual, the release of a new demo always seems to result in at least one update. I’ve dubbed these Feedback Releases, and I’m happy to announce that the Feedback Release for the latest demo is now available! Download links and patch notes below.

New

• MAJOR: Added the Odd Jobs board near town hall. This board lists requests (in the form of minigames) from villagers. Completing them earns you silver and increased friendship with said villager
  • One job is available each day
  • Valentine needs help weeding his fields
  • Dr. Klaus is looking for a new test subject for… something
• MAJOR: Implemented a refined new lighting system
  • Lighting color at night has been altered for a more cozy feel
  • Overlapping lighting will no longer appear as discrete circles
  • Artificial lighting now only pops when the transition to night lighting is finished
  • Interior lighting should now be more even
• MAJOR: Changed the “Music Toggle” option in the system menu to a music level changer. You can change volume levels of background sounds from 0% to 100% (Default: 40%)
• ULTRA-MEGA MAJOR: Tamed critters can now follow you on your adventures
  • You can only have one follower at a time and it may be especially prone to bugs
• EXPERIMENTAL: Music will no longer restart upon entering a new area and is instead one continuous track.
  • It’s hard to explain and should be more obvious in-game. The upshot is you’ll be able to experience the entire track more easily and you won’t get sick of the first 30sec of a song if you frequent the same area a lot
• Added a number of new fish and bugs to the demo spawn tables

Improved

• MAJOR: Vastly improved gamepad movement by tweaking deadzone
• MAJOR: Adjusted initial volume levels to be slightly less jarring
• Increased player movement to be slightly faster than before
• Modified intro message to be less obtrusive to your first moments with the game
• Adjusted Edmund’s schedule so that there’s a greater chance of bumping into him in the demo
• Also improved Edmund’s sprite and portrait
• Added and improved some snippets of dialogue to encourage folks to check out the shrine south of town
• Made some big changes to Pioneer Square’s layout
• Added some inspect text to locked doors to make it more obvious that they are indeed locked
• Reworked some of Gully Raine’s dialogue (the weatherman) to make his forecasts a bit more clear
• Adjusted the trophy background to make it more readable in all resolutions
• Made it a bit easier to catch critters by adjusting collision of your net
• Added pleasing click sounds to every Journal list
• Slightly lowered pause between a trophy showing up and being able to click through it

Fixed

• MAJOR: Fixed crash related to butterflies fleeing
• MAJOR: Fixed crash when attempting to “Sell All Junk” to Pishky
• Added proper “blocking” to the very first room to prevent strange overlap
• Corrected the price of the homestead deed
• Fixed schedule placements for Tarn and Taswell
• Fixed collision for pool table
• Fixed an incorrect doorway issue in town hall
• Fixed sprite issues when facing west while swinging your bug net
• Stopped animating when standing still while stalking
• Corrected a large number of truly embarrassing typos
  • A larger number of equally embarrassing typos still exist, though