Episode About a Game

The Harvest Season

Al and Kelly talk about Fields of Mistria

Timings

00:00:00: Theme Tune
00:00:30: Intro
00:05:39: What Have We Been Up To
00:13:12: November Game Releases
00:15:25: Stardew Concert
00:27:34: Game News
00:40:41: New Games
00:51:38: Fields Of Mistria

Links

Stardew Valley Symphony of Seasons
Sun Haven UK/Switzerland/NZ Switch Release
Everdream Valley “Family Time” DLC
Snacko “Builders Dream” Update
Spiritea “Phantom Friends” Update
Farlands 0.3 Update

Ratopia
Dreamland Farm
Ooze Keeper

Contact

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

Transcript

(0:00:30) Al: Hello farmers, and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. My name is Al,
(0:00:36) Kelly: And my name is Kelly.
(0:00:37) Al: and we’re here today to talk about cartridge core games.
(0:00:43) Al: Welcome back Kelly, how are you doing?
(0:00:46) Kelly: Pretty good. Enjoying the long weekend. It’s been nice.
(0:00:49) Kelly: It’s nice to be back, too. How have you been?
(0:00:51) Al: Yes, yes, good, good, good.
(0:00:54) Al: I’m, yeah, doing all right. Just, you know, I’m cramming in as many farming games as possible
(0:00:58) Al: before the end of the year.
(0:01:00) Al: My game of the year episode is as accurate as possible.
(0:01:04) Al: So busy.
(0:01:06) Kelly: - Good dedication, really dedicated.
(0:01:08) Al: Yeah, I mean, I feel like I probably could have played half of these in the first half of the year, but, you know, procrastination.
(0:01:13) Kelly: But yeah, where’s the fun without that?
(0:01:18) Al: Yeah, this is when the ADHD kicks in and goes, “Oh, deadline, great!”
(0:01:22) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, no, literally.
(0:01:25) Kelly: Do you have any things I did in like the 10 minutes
(0:01:27) Kelly: before I sat down to record this?
(0:01:29) Kelly: I think I ran through like five chores, just, why?
(0:01:30) Al: Yeah, classic. Well, this is also Kelly’s 10th episode on the podcast.
(0:01:40) Kelly: Whoo, I can’t believe it’s been 10. When you said that, I was so shocked.
(0:01:40) Al: It’s wild. Yeah, yeah. I was surprised as well. I didn’t expect it to be that many because
(0:01:52) Al: I guess it’s just been over a long time. Your first episode was in 2021. So we did Spirit
(0:01:56) Al: and then the Spiritfare DLC, and then you and Kev did.
(0:02:00) Al: Cult of the Lamb, and then you and Bev and Maddie did Potion Permit,
(0:02:05) Al: and then we did Fishing Break, you and Kev did Graveyard Keeper, and then we did Pumpkin Panic,
(0:02:11) Al: an episode called “What is Stardew still missing?” which I don’t even remember doing,
(0:02:15) Al: but apparently we did. Yeah, sure.
(0:02:16) Kelly: I remember that.
(0:02:17) Kelly: That’s when it came out for the PC.
(0:02:23) Al: I need to see how many episodes we’ve done on Stardew, and then the Dave the Diver story episode.
(0:02:29) Kelly: Oh, yes.
(0:02:30) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(0:02:31) Al: And then this will be your 10th one, wild, there you go.
(0:02:34) Kelly: So many fishing–
(0:02:35) Kelly: farming games, not fishing games.
(0:02:37) Kelly: Also fishing games.
(0:02:38) Al: Well, yeah, one of them was specifically a fishing game.
(0:02:41) Kelly: Yeah.
(0:02:42) Al: And the others almost all have fishing in them.
(0:02:44) Al: Does Dave the Diver count as fishing?
(0:02:46) Kelly: I wanna say yes, but I feel like no, because realistically to me it’s the mechanic of fishing.
(0:02:55) Al: Well, that’s why that’s why I’m questioning it.
(0:02:58) Kelly: Like I think the fishing is so different.
(0:02:58) Al: But like, there’s a lot.
(0:03:02) Kelly: Would you count scuba diving and animal crossing as fishing? No, that’s like it.
(0:03:07) Al: You’re not catching fish when you’re scuba diving, though.
(0:03:08) Kelly: Oh, you’re not? Oh, the dive thing? No.
(0:03:10) Al: No.
(0:03:12) Al: No, you only catch fish with a fishing rod in Animal Crossing.
(0:03:16) Al: You, there are, it’s quite, yeah, yeah.
(0:03:16) Kelly: Is it just like clams?
(0:03:18) Al: I think maybe as far as like a crab, but I don’t think there’s any fish.
(0:03:23) Kelly: Okay. No, I would not count David Diver as a fishing game, honestly.
(0:03:28) Al: Interesting. OK, that’s this is our controversy of the episode.
(0:03:33) Al: Listeners, tell us, do you think Dave the Diver is a fishing episode or not?
(0:03:40) Al: If you make me decide, I would say yes, it is a fishing game
(0:03:44) Al: because I think that fishing would be catching fish.
(0:03:48) Al: I don’t think you specifically have to use a fishing rod or a fishing net
(0:03:52) Al: to count as fishing.
(0:03:54) Kelly: I see your point. I think I’m going more off of the vibes of every other mini fishing game.
(0:03:58) Al: Yeah.
(0:04:01) Kelly: Because definition-wise, you’re correct. It is a fishing game. What else am I doing,
(0:04:05) Kelly: if not fishing? But I wouldn’t count it with the fishing games. It almost is kind of like
(0:04:06) Al: Yeah. I mean, I would say it’s a– Sure. Okay. I would say it is a fishing game,
(0:04:11) Kelly: that little controversy they had with the indie game thing. Okay, okay.
(0:04:18) Al: but not a cottagecore game, which is ironic because it’s a cottagecore podcast. And I feel
(0:04:24) Al: like we had the discussion about whether it was cottagecore or not, multiple times throughout the
(0:04:27) Al: summer. Anyway, five minutes discussion on the Diver who expected that. This episode, we are
(0:04:34) Al: finally going to talk about Fields of
(0:04:36) Al: Mistria. I realised that, apparently, Spotify has the
(0:04:40) Al: ability to leave comments and I went on and noticed there’s a
(0:04:43) Al: person on Spotify that has just been commenting regularly. Are
(0:04:46) Al: you going to cover Fields of Mistria? So, yes, here we are
(0:04:51) Al: covering Fields of Mistria. Shout out to you, our single
(0:04:53) Kelly: For that one Spotify–
(0:04:54) Al: commenter. I can’t even remember the name. Yeah, episodes as
(0:05:01) Kelly: I didn’t know you could comment on Spotify stuff, either.
(0:05:07) Al: Yeah, so there’s Jack. There we go. Jack, you’re the one who’s
(0:05:12) Al: commented multiple times asking for Fields of Mistria. As
(0:05:15) Kelly: Hey, Jack. I hope you enjoy this episode.
(0:05:16) Al: recently as nine days ago. Yeah, I mean, we had decided to do
(0:05:19) Kelly: This is personally for you, Jack.
(0:05:25) Al: this before I even looked at Spotify. But yeah, sure. So
(0:05:30) Al: we’re going to talk about Fields of Mistria. Before that, we
(0:05:32) Al: We have some news.
(0:05:36) Al: A bunch of new games and a bunch of updates.
(0:05:39) Al: First of all, Kelly, what have you been up to?
(0:05:42) Kelly: I have been playing a lot of Rimworld again, because I think it’s a
(0:05:49) Kelly: like, I don’t know what it is, Stardew is like a march game for me. And I think Rimworld is a
(0:05:57) Kelly: late fall game for me. So I am back to Rimworld, which is not cottagecore, but it is a lot of
(0:06:01) Al: Okay.
(0:06:04) Kelly: farming. I mean, I guess technically, you could play cottagecore style, because they do have like,
(0:06:10) Kelly: No violence mode, which I have
(0:06:12) Kelly: played because I just want to like build. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, no. And then I’ve also
(0:06:14) Al: yeah it’s a management game though isn’t it management style game yeah yeah I’m
(0:06:18) Al: not playing it then
(0:06:21) Kelly: been playing web fishing, which is really cute and fun and like, very simple, but like the core
(0:06:27) Kelly: mechanic of fishing that I just enjoy in every farming game without like the deadline of having
(0:06:33) Al: So.
(0:06:35) Kelly: having to go to bed at night.
(0:06:36) Al: So I have a question about that.
(0:06:39) Al: I have been interested in this, but not enough to play it.
(0:06:43) Al: But what do you do you interact with the chat room aspect of?
(0:06:50) Kelly: You can play alone, or you can join a random lobby, or you can play with your friends.
(0:06:55) Al: And what have you been doing?
(0:06:56) Kelly: I have been either playing alone or playing with friends. I’m not really a big like, go into random people’s lobbies.
(0:07:01) Al: OK, but you have you have done it with friends.
(0:07:04) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(0:07:05) Al: What does that actually like?
(0:07:08) Al: What is actually like? Is it audio?
(0:07:10) Al: Is it text? It’s text.
(0:07:10) Kelly: No, it’s text. It’s text. And then you kind of get the, like, Animal Crossing sounds as you hit send. It, like, does that.
(0:07:20) Kelly: On top of your little chat and it pops up above your head and like, you also have like a little chat message bar so you could like see what you’ve been talking about.
(0:07:29) Al: Okay. Okay. Okay. Because I hadn’t I know I looked through the screenshots and I hadn’t seen anything that actually showed the chat room aspect of it. It was all just like, you know, pictures of the fishing.
(0:07:37) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it’s, it’s like a cute little aspect. I like that. I think it’s good
(0:07:48) Kelly: that it’s like text. But very, very cute little game. Very cute. I just love fishing games.
(0:07:49) Al: Yeah, yeah for sure
(0:07:57) Kelly: I’m not going to lie. What have you been up to?
(0:07:58) Al: Fair enough.
(0:08:04) Al: I have obviously been playing Fields of Mistria quite a bit.
(0:08:09) Al: We’ll talk about that when we come to it.
(0:08:10) Al: I’ve also been keeping going with Marvel
(0:08:13) Al: Snap and Pokemon Pocket.
(0:08:16) Kelly: Oh, that’s the TCG one, right?
(0:08:18) Kelly: I’ve been playing that.
(0:08:19) Al: Yes, yes.
(0:08:21) Kelly: I keep forgetting to open my pack, so–
(0:08:24) Al: Do you not just open it when you get the notification, no?
(0:08:26) Kelly: I don’t have notifications for things.
(0:08:29) Al: OK, right, OK, so I turn off a lot of notifications, right?
(0:08:34) Al: But, right, if you forget things, which.
(0:08:39) Kelly: Yeah, but I’m just going to swipe the notification away.
(0:08:40) Al: Yeah.
(0:08:42) Al: No, you tap on it and then you open the app, open the gate, open the thing, right?
(0:08:46) Al: You just do it then, you do it there and then it’s so fast.
(0:08:46) Kelly: No, I’m not gonna do that.
(0:08:49) Al: This is so this one, but this is the beauty of this game is it’s so fast.
(0:08:53) Al: It’s like you open it and you press it and you get your five cards, you get your
(0:08:53) Kelly: It is, that is nice.
(0:08:56) Al: Dopamine hit, you swipe the app away the next-
(0:08:58) Al: and the notification comes up, you do exactly the same thing.
(0:09:00) Kelly: Al, listen. You’re right. I’m not going to try to fight you on this because you are 100% right.
(0:09:02) Al: Ten seconds.
(0:09:08) Kelly: However, many times I open the app and a message pops up that says, “You didn’t finish opening your card pack!”
(0:09:16) Al: did stop doing that then. Yeah, I do. I do that. Yeah, I have to say, yeah, that is a bit of a
(0:09:18) Kelly: So that is– [Laughter]
(0:09:21) Al: problem. I don’t know why this game is so obsessed with that. It’s like you open up, you open a pack
(0:09:26) Al: and you see it and then you write, close the app. And it’s like, I’ve seen my cards. I saw my cards,
(0:09:28) Kelly: Mm-hmm because I forgot to like swipe it up. Yeah
(0:09:32) Al: right? Don’t tell me I didn’t finish just because I haven’t gone and seen the 15 million animations
(0:09:37) Kelly: Yeah, exactly.
(0:09:37) Al: after that. It’s the same because it’s the same thing with, uh, with the battles, especially the
(0:09:41) Al: solo battles is bizarre, right? Because it’s like, if you, you know,
(0:09:46) Al: you do a battle and then you get annoyed because you lose. So you close,
(0:09:49) Al: you just swipe the app away in anger. It’s like a really satisfying thing to do.
(0:09:53) Al: And then you open it next time and it’s like, oh, did, you know, you didn’t finish this battle.
(0:09:57) Al: I’m like, I did. I lost because I didn’t go through this stuff. Don’t make me relive this.
(0:09:58) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, I actually I haven’t battled yet, but I completely understand.
(0:10:01) Al: Why are you making me relive this? Go away.
(0:10:10) Kelly: Yeah, but I do like the aspect of the whole idea that it is a two second app where you just open it open your card pack and then close it again.
(0:10:18) Al: Perfect. That’s fair. That’s fair. But the problem is you can
(0:10:18) Kelly: Like, I just want it for the cards I don’t want to really battle.
(0:10:25) Al: get more cards by battling. Oh, yes. Absolutely. I don’t I
(0:10:26) Kelly: Is it better than Pokemon Go?
(0:10:28) Kelly: I’m not sure.
(0:10:30) Kelly: Okay.
(0:10:32) Kelly: Maybe I’ll try it, maybe I’ll try it.
(0:10:34) Kelly: We’ll see. I gotta get more cards first.
(0:10:36) Kelly: Yeah.
(0:10:37) Al: don’t do PvP battles very much because like, you know, people
(0:10:41) Al: suck. But I do there’s a lot of solo battles in the game. And
(0:10:45) Al: know, there’s a new solo battle event going on right now.
(0:10:48) Al: now that has unique cards for winning things. So yeah, against the computer.
(0:10:51) Kelly: Oh, you can just play it yourself.
(0:10:53) Kelly: Okay, okay, I didn’t I didn’t even look at that.
(0:10:56) Al: The best bit is you can also tell the game to play for you. So you can have the computer
(0:11:02) Al: playing against the computer. Yes, but what I do is when I’m sitting at my desk and I want just
(0:11:04) Kelly: What? Kinda lazy? (laughs)
(0:11:10) Al: a couple of battles and I don’t care about it because I’ve already beaten these battles,
(0:11:14) Al: I just want to beat them more for more rewards
(0:11:16) Al: Then I just have it sit
(0:11:18) Al: In here I like just down on my phone
(0:11:22) Al: Stand it’s just sitting there and it’s just doing the battles and every so often
(0:11:27) Al: I look over it and see if I’ve won or lost and then I start again
(0:11:30) Kelly: that is nice. I agree. That is a nice feature. Oh, yeah, I should go check mine. I do really
(0:11:34) Al: Speaking of which I just got a notification that I’ve got packs. Let’s see. I’ve already got that already got that already got that
(0:11:39) Al: Already got that no new cards great
(0:11:43) Kelly: like looking at the card art, though. I think that’s the most fun of it.
(0:11:46) Al: I’m just in an
(0:11:48) Al: unfortunate position right now where I have most of the cards so most days I’m getting nothing
(0:11:52) Kelly: Hmm. I only started like a week ago, I think. Also, I’ve noticed I’m very biased. I like almost
(0:11:59) Kelly: never opened a Charizard pack. I know, I know. But I don’t want to. I know. I’m just, I have my own problem.
(0:12:00) Al: Yeah, some of the cards are specific to that pack.
(0:12:09) Al: I don’t know what to tell you.
(0:12:15) Al: Anyway, so yeah, Pocket and Snap, I am at 98 on Snap now, so hopefully I’ll get to 100 by
(0:12:22) Al: the end of Tuesday. We’ll see. And I’ve also started playing, speaking of playing games
(0:12:31) Al: until the Game of the Year episode. I’ve been playing Luma Island as well, so yeah.
(0:12:38) Al: I think it’s doing some interesting new things that I may or may not talk about in a week, and
(0:12:45) Kelly: - Okay.
(0:12:48) Al: I think I appreciate what it is doing, but I don’t know if it’s for me.
(0:12:56) Al: But I’ve only put in like 15 hours into it so far, so.
(0:13:00) Al: I’m gonna need more time to make that, isn’t it?
(0:13:02) Kelly: I think that that sounds like it’ll be fun to see where it goes at least,
(0:13:06) Al: Yeah.
(0:13:07) Kelly: you know, and sometimes even if the mechanics aren’t for you,
(0:13:09) Kelly: it’s like nice just to see people trying.
(0:13:11) Al: Oh, for sure, for sure.
(0:13:14) Al: All right, that’s what we’ve been up to.
(0:13:18) Al: Next is our monthly segment of the recent releases,
(0:13:22) Al: because this is only a second time doing it, but I decided that because there’s so many releases
(0:13:28) Al: of games.
(0:13:29) Al: And I’m always talking about the future.
(0:13:30) Al: Talking about the past, I felt like people might want a monthly recap on what’s out
(0:13:35) Al: in case they’ve heard of something that they’re like, “Oh, that’s something I want to play.”
(0:13:40) Al: And now you can.
(0:13:41) Al: So there have been four releases in November.
(0:13:43) Al: I know it’s now December when you’re hearing this, but this is for November.
(0:13:47) Al: So we have Farming Simulator 25.
(0:13:50) Al: So if you love that Farming Simulator, there’s your new one, it’s out now.
(0:13:55) Al: We also have Everhome, which I think…
(0:14:01) Al: I don’t think that was previously Early Access, was it?
(0:14:04) Al: No, I’m not seeing anything about Early Access, so that’s just a release now.
(0:14:10) Kelly: Oh, that one looks cute.
(0:14:11) Al: It does.
(0:14:12) Al: It’s definitely on my list of “I want to play this,” but that list is very long.
(0:14:15) Kelly: I’m going to add it to my list right now.
(0:14:18) Al: And then we have Petite Island, which I’m pretty sure was in Early Access.
(0:14:23) Al: So that is now 1.0.
(0:14:25) Al: Is that correct?
(0:14:26) Al: Oh, no.
(0:14:27) Al: No, it’s not saying anything about Early Access.
(0:14:28) Al: I was wrong.
(0:14:30) Kelly: Honestly, with the amount of games that are in early access for forever, it’s like,
(0:14:37) Kelly: who’s to remember anymore? Everything feels like it’s in early access.
(0:14:42) Al: And and then Luma Island as well, which is also not in early access.
(0:14:48) Al: So that’s four releases.
(0:14:49) Al: None of them in early access.
(0:14:51) Al: None of them have been in early access one unusual month.
(0:14:54) Kelly: That is pretty crazy is it is it like I wonder if it’s like a pre-christmas thing
(0:14:58) Al: Possibly, possibly.
(0:14:59) Kelly: You know
(0:15:00) Al: I do think a lot of I mean, a lot of games get delayed at this point.
(0:15:04) Al: Like you don’t get a huge number of games coming out just now
(0:15:06) Al: because they’ve either come out in October in time for, you know,
(0:15:12) Al: the Christmas sale or they come out next year because they didn’t quite manage it.
(0:15:18) Kelly: Mm hmm. Yeah, that.
(0:15:18) Al: They don’t tend to like to come out in December or November
(0:15:21) Al: because there’s too much happening.
(0:15:25) Al: All right, next, we’ve got the news.
(0:15:28) Al: The first news is a piece of news that I
(0:15:30) Al: meant to talk about in the last episode, but I forgot
(0:15:34) Al: because I didn’t write it down for some reason.
(0:15:36) Al: And that is that they’ve announced a new series of stardew concerts.
(0:15:40) Al: they had the previous series.
(0:15:42) Al: Stargie Concerts that were called Festival of Seasons.
(0:15:44) Al: The new ones are called Symphony of Seasons, and these are bigger.
(0:15:49) Al: It’s a 35 piece orchestra.
(0:15:52) Al: I believe the last one was under 20.
(0:15:55) Al: I can’t remember exactly.
(0:15:56) Al: I don’t know if it has it listed, but it was it was certainly much more intimate.
(0:16:01) Al: It called it a chamber orchestra.
(0:16:02) Al: Is that a specific number?
(0:16:04) Al: I suspect not.
(0:16:05) Al: Rona would be shouting at me if she was in the room.
(0:16:06) Kelly: I have no idea.
(0:16:07) Al: No, it just means just means small.
(0:16:12) Al: So we may if you’ve not listened to it, me and Rona did a greenhouse episode on
(0:16:18) Al: going to the previous Stargie Valley concert because Rona, my wife, is a big
(0:16:23) Al: musician. She enjoys music.
(0:16:26) Al: She does not play Stargie Valley.
(0:16:27) Al: So it was a fun discussion to have about the music versus the the game sort of thing.
(0:16:34) Al: I have successfully purchased tickets for the new concert.
(0:16:37) Al: one the one that they’re doing in Scotland which
(0:16:42) Al: obviously one is not very many, but we actually get one in many cases we don’t even get one.
(0:16:47) Al: So I’m very happy to actually have one.
(0:16:48) Kelly: Whoo! Whoo! Yeah, that is exciting. I forgot you went to the last round.
(0:16:55) Al: And the Yeah, yeah.
(0:16:58) Al: So that was earlier this year sometime, April or something.
(0:17:04) Al: And that was in a converted church in Edinburgh.
(0:17:08) Al: This new one is in 2026.
(0:17:12) Al: It’s over a year away, which is just because of the time of the year that makes it sound
(0:17:17) Al: even further away.
(0:17:18) Al: It’s actually only like a year and two months away or something.
(0:17:21) Al: I think it’s February.
(0:17:22) Kelly: - Oh yeah, it’s heavy, all right.
(0:17:22) Al: So it’s not that bad, but it does sound ridiculously far away.
(0:17:30) Al: But they’re doing that, and this shows you how they’ve gone up a little bit.
(0:17:32) Al: They’ve gone from a converted church in Edinburgh to the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow, which
(0:17:38) Al: which is, I think, three times the size.
(0:17:42) Kelly: It’s, it’s, you know, you know, Stardew is big, but I think when you see it like in this kind of aspect, it’s like, wow.
(0:17:48) Al: Yeah, this is their second world tour, and this one’s bigger.
(0:17:52) Kelly: Yeah.
(0:17:54) Kelly: The next one’s going to be stadium level concert.
(0:17:58) Al: Yeah, I don’t think I would want to see stardew music in a stadium.
(0:18:02) Kelly: No, I think this is much cuter. Yeah. Yeah. But no, that’s so that’s so cool.
(0:18:03) Al: I feel like concert hall works best.
(0:18:09) Al: So, yeah, it was funny because
(0:18:11) Al: so there was a presale that if you signed up to the newsletter, you got the code.
(0:18:14) Al: I signed up for that and then we got the code
(0:18:17) Al: and then I forgot all about
(0:18:18) Al: it. And it was like, because I had my laptop next to my work, because it was 9am on Monday.
(0:18:24) Al: I had my personal laptop like next to my desk, ready to log on at nine, and then completely
(0:18:29) Al: forgot. It was really unfortunate. And then I looked at the time, there was, I can’t remember
(0:18:36) Al: what it was, I just randomly looked at the clock, and it was 11 o’clock and went, “Oh,
(0:18:40) Al: the concert. Oh, no.” And so I went on and thankfully they still had.
(0:18:49) Kelly: That’s good, especially because, like you said, you only have one night for Scotland,
(0:18:53) Al: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And well, yeah. And it’s like I could go to England, but there’s only
(0:18:54) Kelly: so it’s not like, “Oh, I could drive a few states over if I have to.”
(0:19:01) Al: two in England and one of them is London, which is like four hour train ride or yeah.
(0:19:06) Kelly: You wanna go to London?
(0:19:07) Al: And who wants to go to London? And it’s like, it’s always annoying when you, cause like
(0:19:11) Al: London gets the, cause I think you get like, obviously New York gets the, you know, Broadway
(0:19:16) Al: musicals first cause obviously Broadway, uh, it’s kind of in the name. Um, but then they,
(0:19:17) Kelly: Mm-hmm.
(0:19:20) Al: They tend to go to London next and they take forever.
(0:19:24) Al: You can always go to London for these things.
(0:19:26) Al: It’s like, I don’t want to go to London, oh my word.
(0:19:29) Kelly: Yeah, I don’t even want to go into the city for some of this stuff, so I feel you
(0:19:34) Al: London is one of them, and Manchester is the other one.
(0:19:36) Al: Manchester, despite being further north, is harder to get to than London.
(0:19:41) Kelly: Oh, really? I thought I thought that would be closer to you, honestly.
(0:19:44) Al: If you’re driving, it’s faster.
(0:19:46) Al: But if you’re getting the train, it’s more difficult.
(0:19:48) Al: It takes longer to get there.
(0:19:48) Kelly: Mm. That makes sense.
(0:19:50) Al: because they’ve got like a super fast train from Edinburgh to…
(0:19:53) Al: London. It’s like four hours on the train which is fine but then it becomes a whole weekend thing
(0:20:01) Al: rather than a night thing. Whereas this is, it starts at 7pm it’s like I can get my kids
(0:20:08) Al: mostly ready for bed and then head off and then be back in for midnight.
(0:20:13) Kelly: Yeah, you know, that’s nice. Yeah, that’ll be exciting. I didn’t realize it was, I mean,
(0:20:18) Kelly: like you said, it’s only like a year basically away.
(0:20:20) Al: Yeah, I think the American dates start in like August or something.
(0:20:25) Kelly: Mm-hmm. Yeah, end of August.
(0:20:26) Al: Yeah, the first dates in Seattle.
(0:20:30) Kelly: I will say it’s funny. There’s no New York City date.
(0:20:33) Kelly: It’s only upstate New York and New Jersey.
(0:20:35) Al: Oh, that’s funny. Is that because New York City is just stupidly expensive to?
(0:20:40) Kelly: That’s what I was about to say is it’s definitely because of that.
(0:20:42) Al: Of all the places, of all the places in the world, it’s like you do not want to do that.
(0:20:47) Kelly: Yeah. So that one makes a lot– because at first I was like, wow, there’s no New York City one.
(0:20:54) Kelly: but there is a new
(0:20:55) Kelly: New Jersey, which is close enough.
(0:20:57) Kelly: I would go there instead of Albany.
(0:21:00) Al: Yes, yeah, because, well, I don’t know where New York is, but New Jersey’s closer, I mean,
(0:21:06) Al: much of New Jersey is closer to you than most of New York, right? I know, because I read
(0:21:09) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
(0:21:14) Al: a lot of Ms. Marvel Comics, and she’s based in New Jersey City.
(0:21:19) Kelly: Yeah, those are my sister works, actually,
(0:21:21) Kelly: right across the water.
(0:21:23) Kelly: It’s nice there now.
(0:21:24) Kelly: They’ve been making it nicer.
(0:21:24) Al: New York is right there. You’ve got New York, and then you’ve got Manhattan, and then you’ve
(0:21:32) Al: got Jersey City, and then you’ve got New York. That looks… Yeah, that would… Yeah.
(0:21:33) Kelly: No, yeah, literally.
(0:21:38) Kelly: Oh, they put all their businesses on that side,
(0:21:40) Kelly: I’m pretty sure, because they’re like tax reasons.
(0:21:42) Al: Because there’s also casinos in New Jersey as well, isn’t there?
(0:21:43) Kelly: You know?
(0:21:46) Kelly: Mm-hm. We have them in New York now, just they’re more limited. Yeah, there was one that
(0:21:49) Al: Howdy!
(0:21:52) Al: I thought New York was quite strict with gambling.
(0:21:55) Kelly: they were, I think when I was like in my early 20s, stuff started to change
(0:22:02) Kelly: and they opened up a casino near where I lived. But I think they were, it wasn’t, you know,
(0:22:08) Kelly: as open as like other states are with the gambling even inside of there. You know,
(0:22:13) Kelly: like not every game I guess is allowed or stuff like that. Difference.
(0:22:17) Kelly: I don’t know what gambling rules are. I just go in and I pull the lever.
(0:22:23) Al: - Okay.
(0:22:27) Kelly: But yeah, usually people from New York would go to Jersey to gamble because it’s better over there.
(0:22:32) Al: It’s really funny, I’m just looking at the Google Maps and I knew there was weird stuff around
(0:22:36) Al: exactly who owned Ellis Island and Liberty Island and I noticed that on Google Maps it has most of
(0:22:44) Al: Ellis Island listed as New Jersey with like a big chunk of it including the Immigrations Museum
(0:22:52) Al: listed as New York. So it’s like because you’re over the line, technically the island is within
(0:22:53) Kelly: Oh, that’s funny.
(0:22:58) Al: New Jersey. So most of it is New Jersey, but then there’s like an
(0:23:02) Al: exclave of New York. We love border disputes. Did you know that Greenland and Canada now
(0:23:04) Kelly: I forgot about that whole debacle.
(0:23:13) Kelly: Who doesn’t?
(0:23:20) Al: have a land border due to a solved border dispute? Yeah, so there’s an island between
(0:23:23) Kelly: No, I did not
(0:23:27) Al: mainland Greenland mainland Greenland between
(0:23:32) Al: Greenland Greenland and like the very north of Canada.
(0:23:36) Al: What is that?
(0:23:37) Al: It doesn’t have a name. Nobody cares about it.
(0:23:41) Al: Which is like right in the middle of the water,
(0:23:44) Al: which is where they put the border between them.
(0:23:47) Al: So it like crosses the island.
(0:23:48) Al: So they spent decades arguing over who owned it.
(0:23:52) Al: And then eventually they decided they just split it.
(0:23:53) Al: So now technically it’s half and half.
(0:23:55) Al: So they have a land border there.
(0:23:57) Kelly: that’s cool. It’s kind of like the two little islands in the bearings straight between what
(0:23:59) Al: Thank you.
(0:24:02) Al: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(0:24:03) Kelly: are they called? Something with a D. I don’t remember. Yeah. Yeah. That one’s messed up though
(0:24:06) Al: Diomede, a big Diomede and little Diomede.
(0:24:10) Kelly: because like people live there and then they can’t, they got split up and now they can’t see their
(0:24:11) Al: Yeah.
(0:24:14) Kelly: relatives. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. But you can’t cross that ice. It’s not allowed.
(0:24:15) Al: Well, and it’s, and it’s essentially a land border half of the year anyway, because of the ice.
(0:24:23) Al: Well, not, well, yeah, not allowed is very different from Kant.
(0:24:27) Kelly: That’s true. That’s very true.
(0:24:29) Al: Anyway, enough about geography.
(0:24:32) Al: That’s the Stardew Valley Concert.
(0:24:33) Al: Are you going to go to any of them?
(0:24:34) Al: You’re going to go to the New Jersey one?
(0:24:36) Kelly: Probably not, no. Yeah, probably not.
(0:24:44) Kelly: It would be cool, but no. Yeah, no. I’m very excited for you. That is very cool.
(0:24:46) Al: I’m excited for it.
(0:24:52) Al: We don’t go to stuff very often because kids.
(0:24:54) Al: So this year we went to the Stardew Concert
(0:24:56) Al: and we went to Hamilton.
(0:24:58) Al: Hamilton were in Edinburgh.
(0:25:00) Al: And then next year, next year.
(0:25:00) Kelly: Oh, nice. What is that?
(0:25:02) Al: Next year, we’re going to see six.
(0:25:04) Al: I think that’s what it’s called.
(0:25:06) Al: So I believe it’s about Henry VIII’s wives.
(0:25:08) Kelly: Oh, you know what? I think I might have heard something about this, actually.
(0:25:11) Al: You’ll probably have seen music from it on TikTok.
(0:25:15) Al: It’s all over the place.
(0:25:15) Kelly: Yeah, that makes sense. TikTok is a great marketing ploy for that.
(0:25:17) Al: So yeah, so many, so many musicals I’ve learned about that, yeah.
(0:25:25) Kelly: Yeah, they’re really catchy. They get stuck in your head really well.
(0:25:31) Al: Yeah, it’s a modern retelling of the lives of the six waves of Henry VIII.
(0:25:36) Kelly: Okay. That’s cool. Yeah. No, yeah, yeah. Yeah, why not? And that’s fun. And now that you
(0:25:38) Al: All I know is the music’s catchy, and Rona wants to see it, and I was like, yeah, let’s
(0:25:45) Al: go see it, because I like the music.
(0:25:49) Kelly: can, like, now that the kids are a little older and can actually get out a little bit
(0:25:53) Kelly: more. It’s like, why not?
(0:25:54) Al: So that’s our one for next year.
(0:25:56) Al: And then we’ve got the Stardew concert the year after.
(0:26:01) Al: Maybe I’ll see Wicked in 2026.
(0:26:04) Kelly: Oh, yes, I want that to come out. I want them to release that on the streaming so that I don’t have to go into the theater for it.
(0:26:10) Al: So here’s an interesting thing for you, apparently you can go into the New York Public Library
(0:26:20) Al: and watch it.
(0:26:20) Kelly: Oh, but I didn’t have to go to Manhattan.
(0:26:21) Al: No, I know, I know, right?
(0:26:26) Al: But you can, at least.
(0:26:27) Al: I can’t.
(0:26:28) Kelly: Yes. Okay. Okay. Okay. That’s fair. That’s fair. That’s fair.
(0:26:29) Al: Yes, it would be work, but less work than going to the theatre.
(0:26:30) Kelly: It would be a trek to get there and then have to sit there and watch it.
(0:26:38) Kelly: Yes. I’ve heard it’s a lot of sing-alongs in the theaters,
(0:26:42) Al: Goodness, thankfully, I live in a very, a place where it is unacceptable to sing.
(0:26:44) Kelly: which I’m happy for those theater kids, but you know, I don’t, I’m not a theater.
(0:26:54) Al: So when we went to see the film, there were not people singing.
(0:26:59) Kelly: I wish.
(0:27:00) Al: This is what is unusual.
(0:27:01) Kelly: My mom, actually. (chuckles)
(0:27:02) Al: This is what is unusual is actually the people clapped at the end of it.
(0:27:06) Al: I have never had people clap at the end of the film.
(0:27:07) Kelly: Oh, it’s like clapping when a flight lands.
(0:27:11) Kelly: I hate both of those.
(0:27:12) Kelly: I hate those kind of people. (chuckles)
(0:27:12) Al: There is one situation where clapping when a flight lands is acceptable,
(0:27:16) Kelly: Yes, yes.
(0:27:16) Al: and that is when you thought you were going to die.
(0:27:18) Kelly: Yeah. (chuckles)
(0:27:20) Kelly: Every other time, it’s just like,
(0:27:22) Kelly: that guy was just doing his job or her job,
(0:27:24) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(0:27:26) Kelly: like, this is how it should go, don’t clap.
(0:27:29) Al: If you thought you were going to die or you’re flying Ryanair.
(0:27:35) Al: All right, so let’s get into some game news now.
(0:27:37) Al: So the first in the news is Sunheavour.
(0:27:40) Al: I’ve announced their UK, Switzerland, and New Zealand release date.
(0:27:46) Al: If you’re not up to date with the weird situation here, I will just summarize it.
(0:27:51) Al: Sunheaven announced their America’s release date, and then they announced their Asian
(0:27:57) Al: release dates.
(0:27:59) Al: And then they announced most of Europe and also Australia, but not Switzerland, the United
(0:28:05) Al: Kingdom, and New Zealand.
(0:28:07) Al: And I, at the time, and still do think they just forgot.
(0:28:10) Al: Well, so the Switzerland and United Kingdom I noticed were alphabetically at the end of the list, after all the other countries, so I just think they just copied and pasted incorrectly.
(0:28:12) Kelly: ‘Cause I was like, what a weird bunch of countries to kind of like…
(0:28:26) Al: I’m not sure why New Zealand, maybe they just forgot it existed, but I’m not 100% sure what the system.
(0:28:34) Kelly: Because I would think New Zealand and Australia would be paired together like
(0:28:36) Al: Well, so, so, right, OK, so…
(0:28:40) Al: The weird thing about… So, the way the eShop works is there are, I think, six different regions.
(0:28:47) Al: There is one for North America and one for South America, one for Europe, Australia,
(0:28:55) Al: and New Zealand, and South Africa, I believe, and then there’s one for Japan, one for Hong Kong,
(0:29:02) Al: and one for South Korea. Was that six? That was six. I believe that’s all of them.
(0:29:04) Kelly: Okay. Yeah.
(0:29:09) Al: what I understand based.
(0:29:10) Al: So I think this is just them like cleaning up after their mistake and not admitting it,
(0:29:30) Al: which is weird. And I also think the reason that they got they released it region by region is
(0:29:36) Al: because they didn’t realize there were multiple regions until they’d already added it.
(0:29:41) Al: To the Americas one.
(0:29:42) Kelly: That’s so funny!
(0:29:45) Al: And the problem is we don’t know any of this because the Sunhaven developers are very bad
(0:29:49) Al: at communicating their discard after they announced the European release date before
(0:29:54) Al: they announced that also included United Kingdom Switzerland and New Zealand was just people
(0:29:59) Al: saying, so is it not coming to the UK? Is it coming a different date? What’s happening?
(0:30:03) Al: And it turns out it’s exactly the same date, which would back up my they just forgot to tell you
(0:30:08) Al: about it because there are two.
(0:30:10) Al: There is a possibility of that, but I mean, generally the regions are very similar politically.
(0:30:29) Kelly: which I could see because it’s like, aren’t some countries kind of
(0:30:40) Kelly: Yeah, that’s true.
(0:30:41) Al: But if that is the case, what happened was they ticked all of the boxes except the UK,
(0:30:48) Al: Switzerland, and New Zealand. They did not check those boxes and then they put in a different
(0:30:53) Al: release and checked just those three countries. Because it’s not even like an EU versus not EU
(0:31:01) Al: thing, because Norway was in the first release and is not in the EU, and obviously Australia is
(0:31:01) Kelly: No, it’s a, it’s a weird.
(0:31:06) Al: is not in the EU and Switzerland is not in the EU but for
(0:31:10) Al: and purposes regulatorily it is the same and the UK is mostly the same because obviously it was in
(0:31:17) Al: the EU until four years ago so it’s a bit of a mess I miss clicks or copy and paste mistake which
(0:31:22) Kelly: Yeah, that’s, that’s, that sounds like a misclick, a few misclicks, for sure.
(0:31:31) Al: is what I think I think they went and tried to copy the entire list and just missed the last two
(0:31:35) Al: of them.
(0:31:38) Kelly: and then did not even like acknowledge it or any like.
(0:31:41) Al: Yeah well that’s the weird thing right? Like people have been talking about this from the
(0:31:45) Al: moment they published their post about it coming to Europe and they said nothing
(0:31:51) Al: and so like if they had just it almost feels like they just don’t want to admit their mistakes
(0:31:56) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But they could just make a joke about it like this. People would
(0:31:56) Al: and but why in such a weird way? Yeah!
(0:32:01) Kelly: find it funny like it’s not a it’s an inconsequential mistake like nobody’s.
(0:32:06) Al: Yeah. And the people already think they don’t communicate. And so making this weird like,
(0:32:13) Al: oh, we weren’t wrong. We were right all along. Thing just makes it seem even weirder. Oh,
(0:32:22) Al: anyway, living on. We have one DLC release. So Everdream Valley have announced a family
(0:32:31) Al: time DLC. This is coming to Steam on the 6th of December and then in consoles.
(0:32:36) Al: Next year Q1. This has new story quests, new NPCs, new animals and new furniture. That’s
(0:32:45) Al: an interesting thing to put in a DLC. Well, quests, were quests, animals and furniture.
(0:32:52) Al: I guess NPCs like, I guess that’s not an unusual thing to put like new characters in, but the
(0:32:54) Kelly: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, like I could see, like a lot of games will do like a new DLC with
(0:33:03) Kelly: more quests. You know, so maybe. Yeah, yeah, that’s how I would take it. Yeah, like it’s
(0:33:04) Al: Mm hmm. Yes. Yeah. Okay. I guess. Yeah. They’re not saying like this is by the DLC to get
(0:33:10) Al: quests. It’s the DLC comes with quests. Okay. Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. The furniture
(0:33:13) Kelly: like additional furniture, additional quests, additional NPCs kind of thing that that’s I
(0:33:17) Kelly: could be wrong. But that’s how I would read it. Yeah, that’s just add on.
(0:33:19) Al: is, I guess, not weird because it’s just like that’s pretty common thing. And then we have
(0:33:24) Al: three updates to games. Snacko have released their builder’s dream update, which I’m sure
(0:33:30) Al: you can guess where that is. It’s a whole bunch of crafting building stuff.
(0:33:34) Al: Lots of good improvements. And I guess we’re not getting Snacko 1.0 this year.
(0:33:41) Al: We’re probably getting next year. Because that’s 0.9.5. So close.
(0:33:44) Kelly: They intentionally just decided we’re going to add a few more digits into this.
(0:33:55) Kelly: It looks so cute though, I wanted to come out.
(0:33:57) Al: Yeah, at this point I’m like, because I’ve not played it since the early access came out,
(0:34:01) Al: I did play a very early alpha of it. Because I’ve not played it since the early access
(0:34:07) Al: come out, at this point I’m like, I just need to wait for the 1.0, right?
(0:34:10) Kelly: Yeah. Yeah, because I feel like at this point, it’s like if you don’t wait for the 1.0,
(0:34:15) Kelly: like what are you getting out of the 1.0 when it comes out?
(0:34:17) Al: Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly. I will, I will say, I will say, Snacko Devs, listen to me.
(0:34:25) Al: We’re good friends, we’ve talked before.
(0:34:27) Al: Listen to me now, do not release this in December.
(0:34:30) Al: You released the early access last December.
(0:34:32) Al: Do not, do not do this.
(0:34:35) Al: I beg of you, January, January’s fine.
(0:34:39) Al: Do not release your 1.0 in December.
(0:34:41) Al: I will cry.
(0:34:43) Al: I will cry.
(0:34:44) Al: Thank you.
(0:34:45) Kelly: - You’re gonna release it December 31st at…
(0:34:48) Al: That’s OK, that’s December 31st is fine.
(0:34:50) Al: That’s basically January, because I will have recorded all the episodes by then
(0:34:54) Al: for the year. It’s not like I need to then rush it, right?
(0:34:57) Al: As a 2024 game, it was December the 31st.
(0:35:00) Kelly: Also, I just love in their little notes the difference in communication where they literally
(0:35:08) Kelly: have screenshots from the Discord talking about part of the updates here.
(0:35:10) Al: Mm. Yeah.
(0:35:13) Al: That is such a good point.
(0:35:14) Al: Snacko Dev is fantastic with communication.
(0:35:16) Al: Like they are literally just in the Discord talking to people.
(0:35:20) Al: Sunhaven, I have never seen a single one of them talk in the Discord.
(0:35:26) Al: Yeah, definitely.
(0:35:28) Al: Spiritity have released their Phantom Friends update, which adds a…
(0:35:33) Al: You can have your spirits as pets now.
(0:35:40) Al: Interesting change.
(0:35:40) Kelly: to like follow you around.
(0:35:41) Al: If, yeah, yeah, they follow you around and replace your existing…
(0:35:48) Al: No, they don’t replace your existing spirit companion.
(0:35:50) Al: They add to…
(0:35:53) Kelly: I wonder if I should give this game another chance.
(0:35:55) Kelly: It seems like they’ve added so much since I last played.
(0:35:57) Al: possibly, yeah.
(0:36:00) Kelly: But I have enough other farming games.
(0:36:08) Kelly: That’s that. That was my issue.
(0:36:13) Kelly: Yeah.
(0:36:18) Kelly: Now that is a good point, because I feel like I just at its core,
(0:36:21) Kelly: I felt kind of listless playing the game.
(0:36:25) Kelly: So, yeah, I think you do have a good point.
(0:36:27) Kelly: I just like I want to like it so much.
(0:36:30) Al: I agree. I also want to like it. Um, but I guess about it, that counts, right?
(0:36:36) Kelly: - Yeah, it does have very positive reviews,
(0:36:38) Kelly: so obviously other people are enjoying it.
(0:36:39) Al: Which is good, which is good. And it’s, you know, yeah. Yeah. Agreed. Agreed. Um,
(0:36:39) Kelly: So I’m glad, yeah, I’m glad.
(0:36:41) Kelly: ‘Cause I do like, I like the whole concept.
(0:36:47) Al: and it’s over 500 reviews as well. So it’s not, it’s not like they’re, they must be getting
(0:36:52) Al: enough. That’s, you know, 500 reviews means quite a lot more people buying it, right? Because
(0:36:57) Al: most people do not review your game.
(0:37:00) Kelly: Yeah, no, I don’t think I think I’ve reviewed like two games
(0:37:00) Al: I don’t know if I’ve reviewed any of them on Steam.
(0:37:09) Al: They’ve also added new spirits, so that’s what you care about in the game, right?
(0:37:15) Al: The spirits.
(0:37:16) Al: So there you go.
(0:37:19) Al: And the final update is Far Lands.
(0:37:22) Al: I’ve released their 0.3 update.
(0:37:25) Al: This is the biggest update Far Lands has seen to date.
(0:37:30) Al: It adds achievements, which is always a good thing.
(0:37:34) Al: Another game we’re about to talk about later on in this episode could have.
(0:37:37) Al: That would be great.
(0:37:38) Al: Please and thank you.
(0:37:42) Kelly: I also love achievements.
(0:37:44) Kelly: It’s honestly one of the big things
(0:37:45) Kelly: that I really like from not playing
(0:37:47) Kelly: as many games on the Switch and switching over to PC.
(0:37:48) Al: Mm, yeah, I wonder if, well, almost every game feels a mystery. I wonder if, because
(0:37:51) Kelly: I’m like, oh, achievements in every game.
(0:37:54) Kelly: How nice.
(0:37:59) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(0:38:05) Al: obviously they have been slowly getting more and more features as they get a lot, you know,
(0:38:10) Al: like the 3DS added a bunch of stuff that other games, other systems had, and then the Switch
(0:38:16) Al: called Mostly Modern.
(0:38:18) Al: Maybe the next switch you’ll have.
(0:38:23) Kelly: Maybe. I always wonder, I didn’t know what the issue was, to be honest, because I know
(0:38:28) Kelly: when some people, what is it called, port the games to the Switch, like I know for HoloNet
(0:38:34) Kelly: I can’t do video screenshots. I could do plain image screenshots. Yeah, because I think it’s
(0:38:37) Al: Yeah, interesting. That, so I believe the video screenshots is something they can disable.
(0:38:46) Kelly: about how hard it is for the person porting it to, I guess… Okay.
(0:38:51) Al: I don’t think that requires any work on their point. I think it’s more a case of they didn’t
(0:38:53) Kelly: Which is, yeah, because it’s weird, because you can record it on every other device. But
(0:38:55) Al: want to add that feature. I’m not sure why, but… Yeah.
(0:39:03) Kelly: that was also one of the ones where I don’t have achievements, and I know there’s achievements
(0:39:06) Kelly: for that game. Yeah.
(0:39:07) Al: And some games add them into the game itself, like they’ll add, but that’s a lot of work.
(0:39:11) Al: The whole point of the achievements in Steam and stuff is that they’re very easy to do,
(0:39:16) Al: because it’s literally just, “Here’s my list of achievements,” and then you put in the code to say
(0:39:20) Al: when the achievement is hit. Yeah, because it doesn’t have… Switch doesn’t have an achievement
(0:39:22) Kelly: Oh, so that’s the issue is that it’s just hard to add them in on the switch, like the switch doesn’t make it okay.
(0:39:29) Al: system. So if you want to have it on the Switch, you have to build it entirely yourself. And it
(0:39:34) Kelly: Uh, I’m dumb. I understand now.
(0:39:34) Al: And it would be only within game because there are a.
(0:39:38) Al: Couple of games that have done that they’ve recreated the achievement system in their own game, but then it only works for that game and it takes a lot of work to do that.
(0:39:40) Kelly: Mm hmm.
(0:39:42) Kelly: Mm hmm.
(0:39:46) Kelly: Yeah, okay, that makes sense. That makes a lot more sense.
(0:39:47) Al: Whereas with steam and with Xbox and with PlayStation there’s a piece of code that they can call which just does the achievement for them so.
(0:39:54) Kelly: Okay, I knew it was something to do with how it set up, but I never looked into the actual basic why behind it
(0:40:02) Al: They’ve added to upgrade system as well.
(0:40:04) Al: They’ve added food, they’ve added house upgrade system, they’ve added new
(0:40:07) Al: furniture, they’ve added guests and better NPCs, one of which looks like a xenomorph.
(0:40:12) Al: Not sure why.
(0:40:14) Kelly: I like his jacket.
(0:40:14) Al: Legally distinct, legally distinct xenomorph.
(0:40:20) Al: Yeah, it looks like a pretty big update.
(0:40:21) Al: I haven’t played this game yet. I do want that.
(0:40:24) Kelly: Yeah, it’s on my list of games to check out. I just I tried to avoid most early access, honestly.
(0:40:33) Al: Good thing we’re not talking about an early access today then
(0:40:39) Kelly: Is it generally?
(0:40:42) Al: So that’s the game updates.
(0:40:43) Al: We now have three new games to talk about,
(0:40:47) Al: the first of which actually, no, let’s go the other way around.
(0:40:49) Al: Let’s talk about Dreamland Farm first,
(0:40:51) Al: because I think this will be the quickest to talk about.
(0:40:55) Al: Dreamland Farm.
(0:40:56) Al: Since childhood, you’ve dreamed of being close to nature,
(0:40:59) Al: but being born and raised in the city stood in the way of that.
(0:41:02) Al: The closer you were to adulthood, the more time you spent with your grandma,
(0:41:05) Al: who showed you all around her own farm, from crops to berries and mushrooms,
(0:41:09) Al: everything she knew, she taught you, she prepared you to be her
(0:41:12) Al: successor. I mean that’s just every farming game. I don’t know. I don’t know. And what
(0:41:16) Kelly: - Yeah, why do they all do that?
(0:41:19) Al: I find really interesting is like, so if you have a farming game, the description should
(0:41:25) Al: tell you what’s different about it. Don’t be like, oh, it’s a farming game. It’s like,
(0:41:27) Kelly: Yeah. This time it’s your uncle and not your grandpa.
(0:41:28) Al: yeah, we know that, right? It’s like, if you have, yeah, exactly, exactly. It’s like, come
(0:41:36) Al: on. Let’s not, let’s not pretend. This one looks…
(0:41:42) Al: Pretty… I don’t see anything unique in this, personally.
(0:41:46) Kelly: I only gave it a cursory glance and it does look pretty.
(0:41:52) Kelly: It doesn’t look like it’s breaking any boxes or molds or whatever though.
(0:41:56) Al: But equally I also didn’t think about Fields of Mistria and didn’t want to play that until I decided, until it got a lot of buzz and I was like okay it’s time to play this one, you know, like, sometimes you can’t tell without playing it, which is a PR problem, obviously.
(0:42:12) Kelly: Which goes back to your point of pointing out the differences
(0:42:14) Kelly: and not the similarities.
(0:42:19) Kelly: That’s what you need to get in touch with all the devs
(0:42:22) Kelly: about is changing their PR management.
(0:42:26) Al: I will be your PR.
(0:42:29) Al: No, no, I will not.
(0:42:32) Al: That is very much a conflict of interests.
(0:42:36) Al: This one interestingly, so it’s now it’s on Switch and Xbox, it is not on Steam, which
(0:42:41) Al: is interesting.
(0:42:42) Kelly: Oh, that feels so backwards.
(0:42:43) Al: Yeah, yeah.
(0:42:47) Al: I wonder why.
(0:42:48) Kelly: I wonder right too, especially if it’s on x.
(0:42:49) Al: Yeah, because it’s not like it’s they had an exclusivity deal with Switch, because then
(0:42:54) Al: and they wouldn’t be on Xbox.
(0:42:57) Al: And the Xbox version did come out like a week after the Switch version.
(0:43:01) Al: That’s not long enough for it to be an exclusivity.
(0:43:04) Kelly: - No. (laughs)
(0:43:04) Al: So yeah, weird.
(0:43:07) Al: I don’t know, I’ll keep an eye on it.
(0:43:09) Kelly: Hopefully it’s good.
(0:43:09) Kelly: Hopefully they got something unique in it.
(0:43:11) Al: Yeah, yeah, hopefully.
(0:43:13) Al: Hopefully.
(0:43:14) Al: It’s 10 pounds.
(0:43:16) Al: Is it 15 dollars?
(0:43:18) Al: Probably.
(0:43:20) Kelly: Probably something like that, yeah.
(0:43:22) Al: So it feels cheap enough to like buy it and play it.
(0:43:26) Al: And if you’re not bothered by it, then it’s not the end of the world sort of thing.
(0:43:30) Al: Next we have RATOPIA.
(0:43:33) Al: RATOPIA.
(0:43:35) Al: I keep wanting to say RATOPIA, but it’s only one T, so it’s definitely RATOPIA.
(0:43:38) Kelly: Uh, to be fair, I say rat topia
(0:43:41) Al: Yeah, but there’s no second T.
(0:43:42) Kelly: Well, he sounds better I know but it’s funner to say that way
(0:43:47) Kelly: For the podcast, I will say rat topia
(0:43:50) Al: RATOPIA. RATOPIA is a new game that is combined first of all, a new game, come on. What is
(0:44:01) Al: that? I just feel like sometimes I feel like this this podcast is just me editing and critiquing
(0:44:07) Al: the descriptions of games. Is a new game. Yeah, we know that. Don’t add that in. Also
(0:44:13) Al: just a point, you don’t need to put your name in the description because your name is elsewhere
(0:44:17) Al: on the page, right? Just right.
(0:44:19) Kelly: Uh, you sound like somebody’s like third grade English teacher critiquing their
(0:44:20) Al: I mean, this is just off the top of my head, I could probably do better, but you don’t
(0:44:25) Kelly: like a single paragraph.
(0:44:29) Kelly: You used I five times in this one paragraph.
(0:44:36) Kelly: I don’t think you’re wrong.
(0:44:37) Kelly: You’re not wrong.
(0:44:50) Al: need to do most of that sentence. You just need a strategic survival city builder.
(0:44:54) Al: There you go. That tells you everything you need to in that sentence. It’s also too many
(0:44:58) Al: words to describe your genre, but that’s a problem with every game.
(0:45:02) Kelly: that, but also I feel like they left out the fact that it’s like a top-down vertical game.
(0:45:08) Al: It’s not a say done. I’ve not seen the top down. I’ve not seen a top down view.
(0:45:09) Kelly: It is, but it’s both. You’d go up and down. You dig down. But then you can also move side to side.
(0:45:18) Kelly: I’m not a top-down view. You build up and down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is different than most.
(0:45:20) Al: Oh, you mean it’s you’re digging underground. I see what you said. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes.
(0:45:24) Al: Okay. It looks like you’re digging underground and creating a society underground. So, right.
(0:45:27) Kelly: Yeah. Listen, I may not have the words to describe it at the moment, but it is an aspect that makes
(0:45:33) Al: So here’s a good, because we love to compare games to games. Think about the boat in Spirit
(0:45:41) Al: Fair, but underground rather than building up from a boat. And graphics wise, it’s kind
(0:45:42) Kelly: Mm hmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(0:45:49) Al: I’m similar.
(0:45:50) Al: I’m similar-ish.
(0:45:52) Kelly: - Yeah, I would say it definitely has a similar feel
(0:45:55) Kelly: to “Spirit Fair” style-wise.
(0:45:58) Al: Let me finish reading their weird copy here with plenty of content available.
(0:46:01) Kelly: Yes, go on. (laughs)
(0:46:04) Al: Come on, goodness me, I told you, where?
(0:46:07) Kelly: - Can you finish reading it?
(0:46:10) Al: And more planned.
(0:46:12) Al: Enjoy a vast world to adventure and populate with citizens.
(0:46:15) Al: Build your own economical system,
(0:46:18) Al: economical economic system to sustain your ideal city of Ratopia.
(0:46:24) Al: Goodness me.
(0:46:26) Al: Right. So it’s
(0:46:29) Al: a side on city builder, underground with rats. There you go.
(0:46:32) Kelly: And also the other key aspect that they didn’t even address whatsoever is you play as a character, which is so different than like most of these other city builders.
(0:46:43) Al: Yes.
(0:46:46) Al: Which is, from my point of view, much better.
(0:46:48) Kelly: Yes.
(0:46:48) Al: I much prefer that way of playing.
(0:46:50) Kelly: It’s such an important aspect why wouldn’t they include that.
(0:46:54) Kelly: That’s like my favorite part about it that’s what got me to play the game.
(0:46:58) Kelly: Anyway, sorry, I’ll contain myself.
(0:47:00) Al: It’s all right. Yeah, this is interesting. So this is why so many games fail. Describe
(0:47:02) Kelly: You got to be mad about how dumb this is written.
(0:47:07) Al: your game better. We want to play good games. Although my whole “this is my game” is doing
(0:47:09) Kelly: There’s so many key aspects that they don’t tell people about in this, like.
(0:47:16) Al: well. It’s got over nearly 3,000 reviews and it’s very positive. So clearly they don’t
(0:47:21) Al: need my stuff. Apparently this first came out last year. How did I not know about this?
(0:47:25) Kelly: Yeah, I came out like last April.
(0:47:29) Kelly: I don’t know, I played it last winter.
(0:47:30) Al: How am I only? You didn’t tell me about this? Wow. Well, still is early access. How has
(0:47:32) Kelly: You know, I think I played it last February.
(0:47:39) Kelly: It was early access.
(0:47:40) Kelly: I don’t like to talk about early access games.
(0:47:44) Kelly: To be fair, I think I told Mark about it.
(0:47:48) Al: this game been out for over a year? And the most recent version is 1.0.0300 and it’s early
(0:47:56) Al: access but it’s 1.0, start right.
(0:47:58) Kelly: Yeah, every time I click on it, I get excited thinking that it’s officially released and then I do double take and realize it’s not.
(0:48:00) Al: Guys, you’re naming and you’re numbering strategy.
(0:48:08) Al: What are you doing?
(0:48:10) Kelly: Look, they’re a mess, but the game is great.
(0:48:10) Al: Like, okay, fine.
(0:48:15) Al: It’s on my list to play, we’ll see, it looks interesting.
(0:48:19) Kelly: It is, it’s very, you have like politics, you have city building, you have, you know, farming and like count management kind of stuff, a little combat.
(0:48:30) Al: Uh, and finally we have Ooze Keeper, which I’m just pointing out just now is a roguelite.
(0:48:38) Kelly: Yeah, I saw that.
(0:48:38) Al: So, uh, I will probably end up playing this.
(0:48:42) Kelly: It’s on my wish list right now.
(0:48:47) Al: It’s on my wishlist as well, but that doesn’t really mean much.
(0:48:50) Kelly: I literally saw Roguelike light and I was like, Oh,
(0:48:50) Al: I have about three, I have 170 games on my wishlist.
(0:48:54) Kelly: What is it why is out playing one of these again?
(0:48:57) Al: Well, I’m not, I’m not playing it yet.
(0:48:59) Al: That’s the point.
(0:49:01) Al: Look, if I stopped playing roguelikes and roguelites after the first couple,
(0:49:06) Al: I never would have played Cult of the Lam.
(0:49:09) Kelly: That’s true. That’s very true.
(0:49:09) Al: So, you know, there, there was one, there was one that I liked.
(0:49:14) Al: Maybe there’ll be a second.
(0:49:16) Kelly: Honestly, Cult of the Lamb is just so good too. It’s…
(0:49:19) Al: It’s like a, it’s like a perfect storm.
(0:49:21) Kelly: It really… and like I love dungeons. I spent so much of that time just farming. I would like actively not go into dungeons.
(0:49:27) Al: Yeah.
(0:49:32) Al: Yeah, yeah.
(0:49:32) Kelly: They really did crush it, but yeah, no see yeah, you got to try them.
(0:49:36) Al: Oozkeeper is a, sorry, we’ll see.
(0:49:37) Kelly: There’s there’s one for everybody
(0:49:39) Kelly: everybody.
(0:49:41) Al: Oozkeeper is a tactical roguelike that combines monster collecting and resource management.
(0:49:46) Al: That’s a much better statement, but also, again, you don’t need your name in the description.
(0:49:51) Al: The name is multiple times on the page.
(0:49:54) Al: Just put a tactical roguelike that combines monster collecting and resource management.
(0:49:58) Al: You’ll harness the unique abilities of various slimes.
(0:50:00) Al: Construct efficient structures and optimize resources to grow your farm and earn money
(0:50:05) Al: with each turn. Beware, miss your rent and it’s game over. I will hate this game.
(0:50:10) Kelly: Oh yeah. That’s interesting. Yeah. I’ll still play it. Yeah, I’ll absolutely still play it.
(0:50:14) Al: It does the roguelike bit that I don’t like, and I’m gonna hate it,
(0:50:18) Al: but I will probably play it anyway. Especially as it’s only £6.
(0:50:25) Kelly: But that’s a good paragraph. That, I feel like, you know, sums up
(0:50:28) Kelly: the key aspects of the game much better than the other ones. Yeah.
(0:50:30) Al: Much better, much better.
(0:50:32) Al: Just remove the name.
(0:50:33) Al: Just remove the name from the description.
(0:50:35) Al: Much better.
(0:50:36) Al: And this does not hide the fact there’s a roguelike
(0:50:39) Al: that a lot of games do.
(0:50:41) Al: This is good.
(0:50:42) Al: I like the kind of whimsical graphics of it.
(0:50:48) Al: I do enjoy a game that is like islands
(0:50:51) Al: that you’re building out more–
(0:50:52) Al: you buy more islands, and there are different biomes and stuff.
(0:50:54) Kelly: Yeah, and who doesn’t like a slime, they’re so cute.
(0:50:55) Al: I do like that.
(0:50:59) Al: Well, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(0:51:00) Al: And the beauty of it is, they don’t need to put much work into the designs of them.
(0:51:04) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, it’s just different colors.
(0:51:05) Al: So they can have a lot.
(0:51:07) Al: Well, it’s not just different colours, there’s things growing out of their heads as well.
(0:51:10) Kelly: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, but the base slime is,
(0:51:11) Al: Otherwise, you’re quite limited if it’s just colours.
(0:51:14) Kelly: the base slime is very standard.
(0:51:15) Al: Yeah.
(0:51:16) Al: I don’t know, maybe I will like it.
(0:51:20) Al: Maybe I’ll like it, who knows?
(0:51:21) Kelly: Oh, oh yeah, the little cactus slimes
(0:51:23) Kelly: They’re so cute, actually.
(0:51:25) Al: I look forward to hearing Slack complain when I say that I might like it.
(0:51:29) Al: the cows’ lambs.
(0:51:30) Al: “That is all the new games” and with that we’ve wrapped up the news.
(0:51:32) Kelly: Well, the cast lines are so cute, too. Anyway.
(0:51:39) Al: We are now going to talk about Fields of Mystery Art.
(0:51:42) Al: All the one person that has been asking for it.
(0:51:47) Al: So here…
(0:51:48) Kelly: - Ooh, Jack. (laughs)
(0:51:50) Al: Was it Jack? I can’t even remember, it’s been so long.
(0:51:51) Kelly: Yeah, that was his name. (laughs)
(0:51:53) Al: I don’t remember things.
(0:51:55) Al: So here’s an interesting thing.
(0:51:57) Al: How long have you been playing Fields of Mystery Art for now?
(0:52:00) Kelly: I started playing… When did I start? Right after I got back from Scotland, actually. So early October? The start of October?
(0:52:07) Al: Okay, so not that long not that long. Okay. I
(0:52:10) Kelly: No, because I try to wait for less early access.
(0:52:16) Al: Generally agree there’s been a few games that I’ve played in early access and
(0:52:20) Al: Sometimes I regret it. Sometimes I don’t
(0:52:22) Al: I try to avoid it in many cases purely because I quite often find that when the 1.0 comes out
(0:52:29) Al: I can never get back into it and that is always my worry
(0:52:32) Kelly: Yeah, that is 100% my issue also.
(0:52:37) Al: But this one was interesting because
(0:52:40) Al: I’ve heard so much buzz about this game. Like obviously we heard about it
(0:52:45) Al: I think it was first announced in a Nintendo direct interestingly considering it’s not on the switch yet
(0:52:52) Kelly: Yeah, every comment section about this game is like, “Put it on the Switch, please!”
(0:52:57) Al: Yeah, it’s like they clearly have a deal with Nintendo it’s clearly coming to the switch just calm yourself
(0:53:02) Kelly: - Yeah, the game isn’t even out yet.
(0:53:04) Kelly: We only have early access, people.
(0:53:07) Al: Look if you want to be an early access player you got to get a steam deck. I’m sorry. That’s just how it is
(0:53:14) Kelly: We’re just playing on your computer. I mean, I don’t have a great laptop. It runs
(0:53:14) Al: The
(0:53:17) Kelly: You
(0:53:18) Al: Yeah
(0:53:23) Al: Look if I what here’s the thing right? Okay, if I was not such a big Pokemon and Nintendo fan in general and I
(0:53:31) Al: Would probably be saying if you can only have one console sell the switch by a steam deck
(0:53:36) Al: I think that’s
(0:53:36) Kelly: Yeah, I agree. I think if I wasn’t I didn’t even have a steam deck.
(0:53:37) Al: I.
(0:53:42) Kelly: And I love my switch.
(0:53:43) Kelly: I played that thing so much.
(0:53:46) Kelly: And then I got a laptop that could run steam and I barely touch it.
(0:53:49) Al: Well, well, this is how much of that is like because of what it gave you.
(0:53:53) Al: It’s not about the console itself, right?
(0:53:55) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(0:53:55) Al: The console isn’t amazing.
(0:53:57) Al: Even when it came out, it was I mean, it was revolutionary in what it did,
(0:54:00) Al: but like it was still and I’m not trying to knock or anything, but
(0:54:06) Kelly: It’s limited. It’s limited.
(0:54:07) Al: it’s it’s limited and it’s like it is just what it is and your memories of it
(0:54:12) Al: are what you play on it and and it’s the same thing.
(0:54:14) Kelly: Exactly. And like, I played it on the…
(0:54:16) Al: It’s like you don’t play on your game
(0:54:17) Al: by anymore, despite the fact that you have many
(0:54:19) Al: memories of that. It’s just one of these things where things are done and you’re going
(0:54:20) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(0:54:23) Al: to stop playing your Switch Steam over the next couple of years and whether you replace
(0:54:26) Al: it with a new Switch, sorry, did I say Steam? You’re going to stop playing your Switch over
(0:54:31) Al: the next couple of years, whether it’s because you’ve got a new Switch or whether it’s because
(0:54:36) Al: you get a Steam Deck, that’s just going to happen.
(0:54:38) Kelly: Yeah. No, exactly. And when I had to switch, it was perfect. Like I was going to work,
(0:54:43) Kelly: I was commuting to work, whatever. Unbeatable for that. Like I played it. I mean, I also played it
(0:54:44) Al: Mm hmm, oh, yeah, I never I never play my switch on the TV except when I’m playing just dance.
(0:54:48) Kelly: at home all the time in handheld mode, but like it was no. Okay. That’s fair. That’s a little harder.
(0:54:58) Al: Yeah, playing just dance on a teeny tiny screen.
(0:55:02) Al: No, thank you.
(0:55:02) Kelly: Yeah. Yeah. That’s the ring fit is the only time I think I ever plugged mine in.
(0:55:07) Kelly: But yeah, no, it’s true.
(0:55:09) Kelly: It’s like, uh, you know, it gets outdated, things move on.
(0:55:14) Kelly: The world moves on.
(0:55:15) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, but it’s an interesting question as well, like, because, yeah, how
(0:55:16) Kelly: It’s not to say it’s like done for like, I still go and play games on it every
(0:55:19) Kelly: once in a while, but like, I’m not buying new games on it in the same way.
(0:55:27) Al: much of the Switch’s success was because when it released and like, because they didn’t invent
(0:55:36) Al: the idea of a portable console with the Switch.
(0:55:38) Kelly: - No, but they definitely were the ones who…
(0:55:42) Al: The hybrid nature of it is obviously what was, I think.
(0:55:45) Al: The first big thing to do that, certainly with the controllers and stuff, and that was revolutionary.
(0:55:53) Al: But how much of it was because of when it was, especially because only three years later Covid happened?
(0:56:00) Al: And would we have been so big about that console if we had been in our houses all the time when it came out, sort of thing?
(0:56:08) Al: I know it’s wild to think that it’s been longer since Covid started than it was,
(0:56:13) Kelly: before the switch came out. Yeah.
(0:56:13) Al: then the switch had been out before.
(0:56:15) Al: Covid was like, that’s just, what is time?
(0:56:20) Al: Anyway, right. No, we’re talking about Fields of Mistria, right?
(0:56:22) Al: Fields of Mistria. So, I think it’s not just you, because it happens all the time.
(0:56:25) Kelly: Is it me? Am I distracting you? Do I? Am I the cause of these, these things?
(0:56:32) Kelly: Okay. Okay. Okay. Cool. Yeah.
(0:56:34) Al: It’s just ADHD, right? No, no, no, no. No, for sure. For sure not. You might not be helping,
(0:56:35) Kelly: I just wanted to make sure it’s not fully my fault for like tangiting. Okay.
(0:56:41) Al: But, you know, it’s all good.
(0:56:41) Kelly: No, I’m not. But okay.
(0:56:43) Kelly: As long as I’m not. Yeah. Okay, cool.
(0:56:44) Al: People love it. People love it.
(0:56:45) Al: So Fields of Mistria, when it was first announced, I did not think this was what the game was going to be, right?
(0:56:53) Al: Because they didn’t show any game.
(0:56:54) Al: They just showed like a pre-rendered video that was high quality graphics, shall we say?
(0:57:02) Kelly: Oh really? I don’t remember when it first…
(0:57:04) Al: It’s actually on it’s on the steam.
(0:57:07) Al: The first the beginning of one of the trailers is basically what it was up until they start throwing the up until they start
(0:57:15) Al: and the actual gameplay footage is that quality with like, and I was like, that was not, I wasn’t expecting a stardew like, right?
(0:57:18) Kelly: Oh, I see what you’re saying yes.
(0:57:24) Kelly: It’s like almost like a watercolory like yeah yeah yeah and then you get this very like retro.
(0:57:27) Al: Yeah, because that’s what this is.
(0:57:29) Al: This is this is a stardew like, right?
(0:57:30) Kelly: » Thank you.
(0:57:31) Al: That’s what this is.
(0:57:33) Al: That’s the description of it, right?
(0:57:35) Al: They say start your new life, build the farm if you’re OK, it doesn’t matter.
(0:57:38) Al: It’s a stardew like, you know what you’re expecting.
(0:57:40) Kelly: Yeah.
(0:57:40) Al: It’s a stardew like, but it has magic.
(0:57:42) Kelly: Yep.
(0:57:43) Al: and a lot of this will come.
(0:57:45) Al: That’s what comes down to a lot of what we think about this game, which obviously we’re going to talk about over the next hour or so.
(0:57:52) Al: Hopefully less, we’ll see.
(0:57:52) Kelly: I don’t know, I don’t know, but
(0:57:54) Al: Is how well it does what it does.
(0:57:54) Kelly: I do.
(0:57:56) Kelly: I do.
(0:57:57) Al: That’s what comes down to with a stardew like nowadays is how well it does it and does it do anything new and interesting.
(0:57:58) Kelly: I do.
(0:58:00) Kelly: I do.
(0:58:02) Kelly: I do.
(0:58:04) Kelly: I do.
(0:58:06) Kelly: I do.
(0:58:08) Kelly: I do.
(0:58:10) Kelly: Absolutely. Which is.
(0:58:12) Kelly: It’s so funny because I try so
(0:58:14) Kelly: hard not to do the stereotypical
(0:58:16) Kelly: like, oh, stardew or not.
(0:58:16) Al: I think we do a disservice if we don’t, because let’s not pretend like most people, that is the genre.
(0:58:18) Kelly: Thing, but like it’s almost
(0:58:18) Kelly: impossible to not do that anymore.
(0:58:20) Kelly: Yes.
(0:58:22) Kelly: That is true. I just hate, I hate the idea of like you made something and now immediately it’s just, I guess from like a creation standpoint, like as a creator it’s like, oh I made this piece of art, and now it will only be compared in terms of the Mona Lisa.
(0:58:39) Al: Yeah, but I mean, you could– well, sure, but that’s– I mean, yeah, but OK, if you make
(0:58:40) Kelly: It’s not a bad thing. I’m just saying that it’s always in the back of my head.
(0:58:47) Al: a picture that looks like the Mona Lisa, then you should expect that, right?
(0:58:50) Kelly: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, no, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(0:58:51) Al: Like, it’s not like you’re going to draw a picture of a cat and people will compare it
(0:58:56) Al: to the Mona Lisa, right?
(0:58:58) Al: Like, this is how these things work.
(0:59:00) Al: If you’re clearly inspired by something and you’re building off the back of something,
(0:59:04) Al: like how Stardew was building off the back of Harvest Moon, that is a thing that it–
(0:59:09) Al: War on its sleeve, it was very clear what it was doing, and yet it has become– it has
(0:59:12) Kelly: Mm-hmm. To become like the industry standard, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that’s true. That’s very true.
(0:59:14) Al: superseded that, and it has become the standard, and it becomes the thing that everything gets
(0:59:21) Al: compared to, but everything gets compared to something.
(0:59:25) Kelly: I guess some people just tend to use that concept as like a crutch,
(0:59:29) Kelly: or maybe I just see very negative opinions a lot of the time using. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
(0:59:32) Al: You mean in terms of describing what a game and like saying, oh, it’s bad because it’s just a stardew ripoff.
(0:59:38) Al: Oh, yeah, for sure. And I think I would like to point out, I’m not saying it’s a stardew like as a bad thing.
(0:59:44) Kelly: No, no, no, I don’t think you are, yeah.
(0:59:44) Al: I’m saying it’s a stardew like as a way to describe what it is so that then we can continue with that discussion with that knowledge.
(0:59:52) Al: And yes, we will be comparing some of it to stardew and saying that stardew did things better and it did things better than stardew because that’s just what life is.
(0:59:56) Kelly: Yeah. Yeah, no, that’s very true. Maybe I’ve been spending too much time in TikTok comments.
(1:00:02) Al: Just like how every 2D platformer will forever be compared to Mario as well.
(1:00:07) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, that’s very true. Every single, um, Hollow Knight-esque new Metroidvania is
(1:00:10) Al: Whether it’s good or bad, you know.
(1:00:16) Al: Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
(1:00:17) Kelly: now, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, now, now I gotta make a Hollow Knight-esque new Metroidvania.
(1:00:20) Al: A hollow night like.
(1:00:26) Kelly: Hollow Knight Light. To put it in my hallway, thank you.
(1:00:30) Al: Okay, so, I don’t-
(1:00:32) Al: Do we need anything more explaining- explaining-ing?
(1:00:36) Al: Do we need anything more to explain the concept of the game
(1:00:39) Al: before we get into more stuff?
(1:00:40) Al: It is stardew-like, but it also has magic.
(1:00:43) Kelly: and dragons, I mean, yeah, but dragons are cool.
(1:00:44) Al: And well, sure.
(1:00:46) Al: Dragon statue that talks to you.
(1:00:48) Al: Not actually seen any actual dragons yet.
(1:00:53) Al: Okay, so before we talk about the game, I want to know your game time.
(1:00:59) Al: So what is Steam- how long does Steam say you’ve been playing it?
(1:01:00) Kelly: Oh, um, 94 hours.
(1:01:02) Al: I also- wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
(1:01:05) Al: So I want to know your- I’ve got a list.
(1:01:05) Kelly: Sorry.
(1:01:07) Al: So I want to know your game time, what Steam says you’ve been playing.
(1:01:11) Al: I want to know where you are in a year, like what year you’re in and where are you.
(1:01:14) Kelly: Okay. Let me actually open the game. Okay. So according to Steam, I played for 94.1 hours.
(1:01:16) Al: And- Oh, there was a third thing.
(1:01:19) Al: What was the third thing I wanted to know?
(1:01:23) Al: Yeah, well, yeah, I can’t remember what the third thing was.
(1:01:27) Al: So nevermind, we’ll just do those two things then.
(1:01:29) Al: So I want to know how long Steam says you’ve played.
(1:01:32) Al: Thank you for watching.
(1:01:39) Kelly: I think between October like 3rd and October 18th.
(1:01:42) Al: Mm-hmm, I cannot.
(1:01:44) Kelly: Um, and then, oh no, the sound. I hope you can’t hear this. Okay. Again, I am in fall.
(1:01:52) Kelly: How do I tell what year it is? Uh, yeah, yeah. Uh, year two, fall 15. And my town rank. Is
(1:01:53) Al: Oh, that’s a good question. If you go, if you pause,
(1:01:57) Al: if you go to your inventory, the side, it says what year? Year X.
(1:02:03) Al: Interesting. Okay, so I, oh yes, that was the other thing. Yes, yes, what’s your town rank?
(1:02:08) Kelly: Is that what you were gonna ask, or Sapphire?
(1:02:12) Al: So that’s interesting. So I am at 45 hours, so about half of what you’ve done.
(1:02:18) Kelly: Okay
(1:02:19) Al: I am in spring of year two, and I am at town rank Sapphire. So,
(1:02:22) Kelly: Okay, okay, what was I doing?
(1:02:28) Al: so I suspect is one of these things where I tend to speed run the start of farming games.
(1:02:35) Kelly: Okay, you know what I tend to do is I tend to just leave my computer running with the game on yeah, that’s what it is
(1:02:39) Al: That that probably doesn’t help but yeah like but yeah like
(1:02:42) Al: the spring of year one for me lasts you know about three hours in total because I’m I’m
(1:02:49) Al: going out I’m doing the the crops I’m like speed running a couple of things you know seeing if
(1:02:54) Al: there’s anyone interesting to talk to doing the mines if I have any energy left and then I’m going
(1:02:58) Al: straight to bed like I’m quite often going to bed at like 11 a.m in spring year one because you just
(1:03:05) Al: you’re not you’re not spending money on getting more stamina you just it’s like I don’t understand
(1:03:10) Al: they’re like, “Oh, I want to get everything done.”
(1:03:12) Al: And, you know, in as little in-game days as possible,
(1:03:16) Al: except as like a one-off challenge type thing.
(1:03:18) Kelly: Oh, no, I was I was chugging berries to.
(1:03:21) Al: Oh,
(1:03:23) Kelly: So there’s I have some tricks that we could talk about later.
(1:03:23) Al: fair enough.
(1:03:27) Al: Sure.
(1:03:29) Kelly: Oh, my other question was, what level are you?
(1:03:30) Kelly: That was, I think.
(1:03:31) Al: What level?
(1:03:32) Kelly: So in the info menu, it’s fall year and then level.
(1:03:33) Al: Oh.
(1:03:37) Al: Oh, so that’s that’s the that is the town rank.
(1:03:40) Kelly: Oh, OK, OK.
(1:03:40) Al: Just, there’s like 10.
(1:03:42) Al: 10 with it, so you’ll be 50 something because the sapphire is 50s.
(1:03:46) Al: So I’m 58.
(1:03:46) Kelly: - Yeah.
(1:03:48) Kelly: - Okay, I’m 50.
(1:03:48) Kelly: I think I quit right after I…
(1:03:50) Al: Nice, nice.
(1:03:51) Al: I beat you.
(1:03:56) Al: So fine.
(1:03:57) Al: Great.
(1:03:59) Al: Let’s talk about, I just, I feel like that information is just for people.
(1:04:03) Kelly: No, it is because I, you know, and we’re both clearly at a similar point in the game.
(1:04:08) Al: Yeah, yeah.
(1:04:09) Al: I think we’ve, we’ve basically both done all of.
(1:04:12) Al: in-game story that exists, the main quests, yeah, yeah, because you’ve done the, the
(1:04:14) Kelly: - Mm-hmm, that’s what I kind of, once I did that,
(1:04:18) Kelly: I was like, “Okay, I’m done.”
(1:04:21) Al: barn expansion, right? Yeah, yeah, that’s. Yeah, yeah, yes, yes, you’re down at level
(1:04:22) Kelly: Mm-hmm, I hit like every roadblock that I possibly could.
(1:04:27) Al: 40 in the mine, you’ve done the barn expansion, you are maxed out on all the levels, except
(1:04:28) Kelly: Yep. (laughs)
(1:04:33) Al: the ones that you just cannot be bothered constantly doing and getting up to level 45.
(1:04:36) Kelly: Yeah, literally.
(1:04:37) Al: Uh, great. Okay, so let’s talk about the, uh,
(1:04:42) Al: the start of it, the character creator. Um, one thing I noticed, everything in this game
(1:04:50) Al: is changeable after the initial thing, except your birthday. And this is excellent.
(1:04:54) Kelly: Yes, which is I like, I like, yeah, I like that a lot.
(1:04:58) Al: Absolutely. Like, and it’s not just like, it’s your name, it’s your, your pronouns,
(1:05:01) Kelly: This is
(1:05:03) Al: it is literally everything is changeable. And I absolutely love this. Um, your farm,
(1:05:09) Al: farm name, you know, your hairstyle like
(1:05:12) Al: everything is changeable after the fact. And this is fantastic because one of the
(1:05:17) Al: thing a lot of people have is the “oh no, I can’t decide on what to do”. That is a huge thing of
(1:05:25) Al: starting with these games. And that’s not… yeah. This is the thing, this is why every single game,
(1:05:26) Kelly: Do you know how long I wait to start some of these games because I literally just sit there
(1:05:31) Kelly: on the naming screen?
(1:05:34) Al: I just go, I just, my name is Al, my farm is the name of my house. These are just, this is what I
(1:05:38) Al: I do, I don’t do anything else because I don’t have the imagination for that.
(1:05:41) Kelly: Well, you have cute names for your houses and stuff. We don’t have that here.
(1:05:42) Al: Well, most people don’t.
(1:05:46) Kelly: What am I going to do, name my house like 90 or something? That’s not fun.
(1:05:47) Al: Most people don’t.
(1:05:50) Al: Most people don’t.
(1:05:51) Al: It’s not, it’s not, it’s not super common for you have a name on your house.
(1:05:54) Kelly: Oh, really? I thought it was my workout…
(1:05:56) Al: No, no, it probably depends where you are and stuff.
(1:06:01) Al: But yeah, no, like most houses don’t have a name.
(1:06:04) Al: I’m the only one on my street that has a name.
(1:06:08) Al: And I’m fine with them not making, letting you change your birthday because like, I
(1:06:12) Al: you can’t change your birthday in real life, right?
(1:06:14) Al: Like that’s, it’s the one thing on that list that is a thing that you can’t change.
(1:06:19) Kelly: That is true.
(1:06:19) Al: Everything else is something.
(1:06:21) Al: And that’s, you know, even, you know, cause you don’t even have to go into the
(1:06:24) Al: whole, oh, change your pronoun.
(1:06:26) Al: It doesn’t, shut up, right?
(1:06:28) Kelly: - Yeah. (laughs)
(1:06:28) Al: Like there are so many reasons, like if you make a mistake, if you just can’t
(1:06:31) Al: decide, there are so many reasons why these things should be changeable.
(1:06:34) Al: And yes, also, also, obviously it’s good for people who would like to change their
(1:06:38) Al: gender, which does happen.
(1:06:38) Kelly: Mm hmm. Inclusive all around for the indecisive idiots and those who can’t want to change their
(1:06:40) Al: Um, so that’s good.
(1:06:42) Al: And the other accessible, inclusive thing that I liked, you can be bold, which many
(1:06:56) Al: games you can’t. So it’s, it drives me insane. Cause you’re like, you’re looking as like,
(1:06:58) Kelly: - You know, I didn’t even consider that, that is true.
(1:07:01) Kelly: You really can’t be bald in most games.
(1:07:06) Al: I don’t like any of these hairstyles and I don’t really have hairs. Like I have the shortest
(1:07:10) Al: hair possible while still having hair.
(1:07:12) Al: Um, and they don’t eat most games don’t have that hairstyle either.
(1:07:15) Al: It’s like, oh, you’ve got short hair.
(1:07:17) Al: And I’m like, that hair needs cut that is really long hair.
(1:07:21) Al: Do not tell me that that’s short hair.
(1:07:23) Al: Right.
(1:07:24) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(1:07:26) Kelly: And it makes no sense, too, because you
(1:07:27) Kelly: think it’s just the base character.
(1:07:29) Al: Yeah.
(1:07:30) Al: Yeah.
(1:07:30) Al: Just don’t put hair on them.
(1:07:31) Kelly: Just don’t put hair on it.
(1:07:33) Kelly: There obviously something exists underneath that short hair
(1:07:36) Al: Yeah, exactly.
(1:07:37) Al: Exactly.
(1:07:38) Al: Uh, so yeah, the, the character creator is quite good.
(1:07:41) Al: It’s got quite a lot of
(1:07:42) Al: stuff to start with. And then obviously you unlock more clothes as you go on.
(1:07:47) Al: I was quite happy with the character I created. It didn’t take me too long to get something I was
(1:07:51) Al: happy with. That’s not a problem for me. No, I don’t, I legitimately don’t think I have
(1:07:52) Kelly: Yeah. I think I spent more time trying to figure out what crazy colors to use.
(1:08:00) Kelly: You know, that’s always the hardest part. What color hair do I want to have?
(1:08:07) Kelly: Clearly, this time.
(1:08:12) Al: problems with the character creator. Pretty good. Happy with that.
(1:08:15) Kelly: No, I liked it. It was good.
(1:08:16) Al: The other thing I wanted to talk about, I like to talk about early is the tutorials
(1:08:20) Al: because I have many opinions about them and lots of things. Every tutorial in this game is optional.
(1:08:25) Al: It says do you want to see this tutorial and you say yes or no. And then the tutorial is like a
(1:08:31) Al: slide deck of this is what you do and you can go backwards and forwards, sorry, forwards and
(1:08:37) Al: backwards, which is key, that going backwards is very important, because
(1:08:42) Al: how many times do you click on and then you realize you hadn’t read and you
(1:08:45) Al: can’t go back? Not great.
(1:08:46) Kelly: Every time.
(1:08:48) Al: The one thing I’ve not checked is, can you actually go back and see those after the fact?
(1:08:56) Kelly: I thought there was something.
(1:08:57) Al: I can’t see them in the menu.
(1:09:00) Kelly: Let me re-open the game in a second.
(1:09:01) Kelly: But I will say, as someone who typically does not
(1:09:04) Kelly: like hand-holding tutorials or tutorials for the most part
(1:09:07) Kelly: in general, I thought these were structured really nicely.
(1:09:10) Kelly: And I really liked the option that you could skip them
(1:09:10) Al: I agree. Same. But if I do a second game, I will be skipping them straight away, which
(1:09:12) Kelly: and that I honestly did not skip most of them
(1:09:15) Kelly: just because I was like–
(1:09:21) Kelly: exactly.
(1:09:21) Al: is why I like when they do that.
(1:09:24) Kelly: And also, even if you didn’t skip them,
(1:09:26) Kelly: it’s like, oh, I’m just going through slides.
(1:09:27) Kelly: Like you said, it’s not some long cut scene
(1:09:30) Kelly: that you actually have to pay attention to
(1:09:32) Kelly: because if you want to understand
(1:09:34) Kelly: what’s actually happening,
(1:09:35) Kelly: like there’s just some slides to look at.
(1:09:37) Al: I agree. Um, yeah, I can’t see anything about being able to view the tutorials later on.
(1:09:43) Al: So that would be one change I would make is give us a thing in the menu that allows you
(1:09:46) Kelly: - I don’t either.
(1:09:46) Al: to go back and see them. And that’d be good. But so far, you know, our accessibility is
(1:09:49) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, I agree.
(1:09:52) Al: doing pretty well. Let’s talk about mechanics. Um, so I guess overall, you know, movement
(1:10:01) Al: and controls and tools and stuff, I think is mostly pretty good. There’s a few things
(1:10:07) Al: that took me a while to figure out. Um, like the, by default, the button for an action
(1:10:14) Al: is, so this was on the steam deck. So obviously I don’t know whether it works differently
(1:10:18) Al: in terms of what it shows you when you’re not on the steam deck, but there was no mapped
(1:10:23) Al: button that does the use the weapon or use the, the ax over and over again, for example.
(1:10:29) Al: So you had to like press it and then press it and press it because that one was the charged
(1:10:33) Al: one which obviously you don’t have access to at the beginning right because most of them they
(1:10:37) Al: just start off with you just using it on one square and so I had to remap because I couldn’t
(1:10:43) Al: stand that I couldn’t stand just that constant pressing to to cut down a tree you couldn’t know
(1:10:46) Kelly: You couldn’t hold down just without remapping. Oh, that’s annoying because I could just hold down. Yeah, I
(1:10:51) Al: yeah yeah so I that drove me insane so yeah so I there’s two buttons though presumably one for
(1:10:52) Kelly: Was on keyboard though, so
(1:10:57) Al: charge the one for the multiple use one right on the keyboard but on the presumably
(1:11:03) Kelly: Wait what do you mean multiple use? Am I- did I miss a mechanic?
(1:11:05) Al: So holding the button down and it.
(1:11:08) Al: Just keep using it.
(1:11:09) Kelly: No that’s charged for me.
(1:11:11) Al: So well, there’s two different buttons.
(1:11:12) Al: It’s two different options.
(1:11:13) Kelly: Did I miss- did I miss a whole mechanic this whole time?
(1:11:16) Al: So it’s it’s so I had to go into the settings and into the controls.
(1:11:20) Al: Let me see what it was called.
(1:11:20) Kelly: Let me open the game again. Why do I keep closing the game? I don’t know.
(1:11:25) Al: So you’ve got used, used till charged and used till repeated.
(1:11:30) Kelly: Interesting.
(1:11:31) Al: Those are two different controls and.
(1:11:32) Kelly: So could you just like go around like hammering the ground, essentially with the axe and like moving the–oh, that’s sick.
(1:11:35) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(1:11:38) Al: I mean, for me, like that is the default to start with, right?
(1:11:42) Al: Like that’s what start how stardew works is you, you hold the button and it does that to start with, I think, yeah.
(1:11:47) Kelly: Mm hmm. Oh, I don’t have anything set.
(1:11:51) Al: There you go then.
(1:11:51) Al: So so there’s no default, there’s no default mapping for that button on on PC either.
(1:11:57) Al: That’s interesting because.
(1:12:00) Kelly: Yeah, I didn’t even know that existed.
(1:12:00) Al: I think because I think that should be there as an option.
(1:12:01) Kelly: Okay, I’m gonna change this.
(1:12:05) Al: there as an option.
(1:12:05) Kelly: There’s two charge,
(1:12:06) Kelly: there’s two buttons for use tool charge though.
(1:12:08) Al: That’s fine, that’s just because you’ve got two sets, that doesn’t…
(1:12:10) Kelly: Yeah, but like why do that
(1:12:13) Kelly: and not give one to the repeated one?
(1:12:14) Al: I don’t know, I don’t know.
(1:12:16) Kelly: None of the other options,
(1:12:18) Kelly: none of the other interactions
(1:12:21) Kelly: really have a secondary one except for like movement.
(1:12:24) Al: I don’t know. Yeah, I don’t know why they implemented this and then didn’t have it set
(1:12:27) Al: to anything. So you only found it if you went into settings. Yeah. Because I couldn’t start
(1:12:28) Kelly: That’s such a–
(1:12:30) Kelly: That’s so obnoxious. I want to use that so much.
(1:12:34) Al: because like, especially at the beginning, when you’re like hitting the tree for 10 things
(1:12:37) Al: in a row, I couldn’t stand just press, press, press. It’s just it drove me insane. So I
(1:12:43) Al: went to the settings and found it. So I have because I think the thing is that the different
(1:12:48) Al: tools work better for different ones, right? You are never going to use the
(1:12:54) Al: axe charged, right? You’re not. Yeah. Exactly. Like a three by three grid, like maybe when
(1:12:56) Kelly: for trees? No, not unless you’re like doing like the first cleanup
(1:13:00) Kelly: and then at that point you don’t have it, so.
(1:13:01) Kelly: So. Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
(1:13:05) Al: you get to the point where because there’s obviously levels of tools that we don’t, we
(1:13:09) Al: have access to in the game yet, which are presumably going to get higher. But the highest
(1:13:13) Al: you’ve got just now is three by six. You’re not using that for cutting down trees. Let’s
(1:13:17) Kelly: - No, unless you’re literally not clearing trees
(1:13:18) Al: not pretend anything. Exactly. Exactly.
(1:13:20) Kelly: out of your yard for like two seasons,
(1:13:22) Kelly: I don’t think that many trees
(1:13:23) Kelly: are growing that close together.
(1:13:24) Al: But you don’t, you also don’t use repeated for watering because it happens too quickly
(1:13:31) Kelly: Mm-hmm.
(1:13:32) Al: and you don’t move very quickly when you’re using that, right? So you use the charge for
(1:13:33) Kelly: Mm-hmm.
(1:13:37) Al: that one and you use the repeated for the other ones. And you could, you could, I, I
(1:13:40) Kelly: Yeah. No, you’re right.
(1:13:45) Al: would say, I think it would be legitimate to have just one button that does different
(1:13:50) Al: things depending on what tool you have but I can understand why they have the
(1:13:54) Al: ability to do both and I’m okay with that.
(1:13:56) Kelly: Yeah, like, so I will say for the axe I have used the grid to hit like a bunch of twigs and stuff that are like, you know, if there’s like a bunch of rocks and like a bunch of twigs and stuff in one area, I will do the charge one just to clear them all out in one go.
(1:14:06) Al: Yeah, no, that’s fair. So I think the tools are pretty good other than that. I like when
(1:14:12) Kelly: But not for the trees, not for the trees.
(1:14:22) Al: some games have the changes tool depending on what you’re doing, but I understand that’s
(1:14:28) Al: a bit more complicated. So like, I will say, I will say I do.
(1:14:29) Kelly: Yeah, it’s it’s fine. I didn’t mind going through flipping through those
(1:14:36) Al: You like when games have like your tools in a different section and not in your bag,
(1:14:42) Al: especially now when we have such. Yeah, especially now when you have such a limited bag. Because
(1:14:43) Kelly: like a little mini menu.
(1:14:48) Kelly: Mm hmm.
(1:14:49) Al: especially to start with, you only have like the one thing. It’s so painful to carry all
(1:14:52) Kelly: Yeah.
(1:14:54) Al: your tools around, right? And it’d be nice to because like what I do is I store some
(1:14:59) Al: of my tools in a box and only take them out when I use them. Well, that’s just annoying
(1:15:02) Kelly: - Yeah, that’s what I do too.
(1:15:04) Al: as well.
(1:15:05) Al: So, like, there have been other games
(1:15:06) Kelly: Yeah, ‘cause if you forget the tool,
(1:15:06) Al: I’ve done that, and I feel like that’s a good thing to do.
(1:15:09) Kelly: if you forget the tool while you’re out,
(1:15:10) Al: Exactly.
(1:15:11) Kelly: it’s like, oh, there goes that thing.
(1:15:12) Al: Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
(1:15:14) Kelly: If you have the tool on you and then your pack is full
(1:15:16) Kelly: and then you can’t get the thing that you wanted,
(1:15:18) Kelly: oh, that sucks.
(1:15:19) Kelly: I will say it’s very nice that you could just,
(1:15:21) Kelly: things just exist on the ground
(1:15:23) Kelly: after you’ve interacted with them if your bag is full.
(1:15:26) Al: Yeah, and I’ve not found them ever disappear they seem to be there because they’ve definitely they are like two days later
(1:15:30) Kelly: No.
(1:15:32) Al: So I suspect they’re just there forever, which is really good because yeah that like you’re just like I’ll throw this away
(1:15:32) Kelly: Yeah. [LAUGH]
(1:15:38) Al: And I’ll come get it tomorrow is fantastic
(1:15:40) Kelly: Exactly. And if there is something you really want to, like, take out of your bag, instead of just, like, tossing it, you can, like, literally throw it, and then just go and pick it up the next day.
(1:15:48) Al: Mm-hmm. Yeah
(1:15:51) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah because there’s a button to to just throw it from
(1:15:54) Kelly: Yeah. The throw button and the jump button, I think, are two good little mechanics that they added.
(1:16:02) Al: Yeah, so I do like the jump.
(1:16:03) Al: I will say one thing about it is I’m describing this as sticky.
(1:16:08) Al: So if you’re walking next to a wall and then you jump, you will lose your momentum.
(1:16:15) Kelly: Oh, interesting.
(1:16:17) Al: So it doesn’t happen if you’re out in the open, right?
(1:16:19) Kelly: Okay, yeah.
(1:16:20) Al: So if you’re just if you’re just walking
(1:16:22) Al: around normally and you jump, you keep your momentum.
(1:16:26) Al: I think it’s actually technically slightly slower than running, but that’s OK.
(1:16:30) Al: But if you then walking next
(1:16:32) Al: to something. So say you go up my next building or a bridge or something, and you’re walking,
(1:16:38) Al: literally touching it. So like walking along the wall. If you jump, you will lose your
(1:16:43) Al: momentum almost entirely. Which is not great. And I suspect that’s a collision detection
(1:16:44) Kelly: Interesting.
(1:16:46) Kelly: No.
(1:16:50) Al: issue that they’re having. And it’s probably fixable, but I don’t understand their code.
(1:16:54) Al: So I don’t know. But yeah, that doesn’t feel great to me. But the jumping in general is
(1:16:59) Al: especially because you can jump over rocks and
(1:17:02) Kelly: I’m like even like, yeah, like even like it’s like, oh, I came in to like the, the, the,
(1:17:02) Al: weeds and stuff like that, that is a great thing.
(1:17:04) Al: I love that.
(1:17:05) Al: And I’m going to be really annoyed when I go back to stardew and don’t have.
(1:17:13) Kelly: what’s his name? Hayden. I forgot his name now. His farm. Yeah. Like I’m coming from
(1:17:14) Al: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Oh, and jumping over his fence. Yeah. Yeah.
(1:17:18) Kelly: my farm to his farm. I’m not going to go around the front. I’m going to walk across the lawn.
(1:17:22) Kelly: I’m going to jump over the fence. Like, come on.
(1:17:24) Al: Yeah, I felt because this because fae farm had jumping as well and the jumping in fae farm
(1:17:27) Al: I think is nicer. It’s more fun to do but this is good enough. I think it’s I think this should be
(1:17:29) Kelly: Okay.
(1:17:32) Kelly: Yeah, this is like, I’m not like jumping around the map, you know, but like, okay.
(1:17:35) Al: Oh, I am
(1:17:37) Al: Just because it’s fun. Um, I I think this should be the default for farming games
(1:17:42) Al: Now, there aren’t a huge number of things that I go this-
(1:17:44) Al: This is something that every farming game should have, but I do think this is something that every farming game should have now, is the jumping.
(1:17:49) Al: It just, yeah, yeah, it adds to the combat in the mines a bit because you can like, you know, jump around and avoid, and that’s ignoring the fact that obviously there are some, you have to jump to navigate some area.
(1:17:50) Kelly: It adds a nice touch to the minds, too, I think.
(1:17:52) Kelly: It just adds a nice touch in general to things.
(1:18:00) Kelly: That, yeah.
(1:18:01) Kelly: And the– yes, yeah.
(1:18:06) Kelly: But even on the navigation level,
(1:18:08) Kelly: you get this kind of different level of exploration
(1:18:12) Kelly: that you don’t always get in farming games,
(1:18:13) Kelly: because they don’t typically let you jump over a river
(1:18:15) Al: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, how long did it take you to figure out you could go in the water?
(1:18:16) Kelly: or into a river or
(1:18:20) Kelly: and I literally cannot figure out how to build a fence.
(1:18:22) Kelly: Because I couldn’t figure out where the gate was.
(1:18:24) Kelly: And then I went on Reddit and someone was like,
(1:18:26) Kelly: you just jumped over the fence.
(1:18:26) Kelly: And I said, oh, okay.
(1:18:28) Kelly: I see.
(1:18:28) Kelly: Yeah.
(1:18:30) Kelly: And then I went on Reddit and someone was like,
(1:18:30) Kelly: you just jumped over the fence.
(1:18:32) Kelly: And I said, oh, okay.
(1:18:32) Kelly: I see.
(1:18:34) Kelly: And then I went on Reddit and someone was like,
(1:18:34) Kelly: you just jumped over the fence.
(1:18:36) Kelly: And I said, oh, okay.
(1:18:36) Kelly: That one wasn’t long.
(1:18:38) Kelly: It did take me a long time to figure out that there are no gates because I
(1:18:42) Kelly: could just jump over the fence.
(1:18:42) Kelly: So I, I fully understood the concept of jumping.
(1:18:44) Kelly: I did the jumping in the mines and the river and the blah, blah, blah.
(1:18:46) Al: I have one other issue with two other issues with jumping, and one is that if you’re jumping
(1:18:46) Kelly: And I literally cannot figure out how to build a fence.
(1:18:50) Kelly: That makes sense.
(1:18:52) Kelly: Yeah.
(1:18:59) Al: over a cliff, you have to be at the right angle, otherwise you won’t jump off.
(1:19:04) Al: So it’s like the cliff comes along horizontal and then goes diagonally up.
(1:19:04) Kelly: - Mm-hmm, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(1:19:08) Al: You can’t jump down off that cliff.
(1:19:10) Al: You have to jump diagonally down off the cliff, which is not great.
(1:19:14) Al: And finally, there is
(1:19:16) Al: one cliff in the narrows that you can’t jump over because it’s too high.
(1:19:20) Al: And that just drives me insane.
(1:19:21) Al: Why have you got a one you can’t do?
(1:19:23) Al: Because it’s like you’re running down from the mines and like it’s not an issue
(1:19:26) Al: anymore because I have the missed me or whatever it’s called.
(1:19:29) Al: But like I’m running down to get home and I’m jumping and jumping over the cliffs.
(1:19:32) Al: And then I can’t jump over the cliff.
(1:19:34) Kelly: Mm-hmm.
(1:19:34) Al: I can’t always it’s because it’s the one that’s too high because it’s one pixel
(1:19:37) Al: higher and you have to go around and back down.
(1:19:38) Kelly: Yep.
(1:19:39) Al: That’s really annoying. Just let us jump over that cliff. Come on.
(1:19:41) Kelly: Yeah, and I like to jump off the cliffs in I like like in games in general. I just like jumping off the cliffs. It’s fun.
(1:19:46) Al: It takes me back to Pokemon, jumping off the ledges.
(1:19:52) Kelly: Yeah, I’m drowning.
(1:19:54) Kelly: It’s like it was like Tony Hawk for like the first day of was that sword and shield?
(1:20:00) Al: Yeah, yeah.
(1:20:03) Al: Anything else movement wise?
(1:20:05) Al: I think that’s basically everything I wanted to talk about.
(1:20:08) Kelly: I think so too, I think that covers it.
(1:20:10) Al: Let’s so let’s talk about the different aspects of farming then.
(1:20:14) Al: So first off we have
(1:20:16) Al: farming. That was probably bad wording. I probably could have worded that better. This
(1:20:19) Kelly: Oh, let’s go back up to the bad paragraphs describing.
(1:20:26) Al: is mostly pretty standard for a stardew like. There’s a couple of things that are changes
(1:20:32) Kelly: Mm hmm. I love that.
(1:20:34) Al: that I really like. One is that your watering can is infinite. Fantastic. Please, please
(1:20:42) Al: don’t make me refill a watering can. I don’t care that it’s less realistic.
(1:20:46) Al: It is more fun.
(1:20:48) Kelly: we’re playing a farming game where I got to leave my city job to go build a farm what’s what’s
(1:20:55) Al: My turnip grows in three days. Of course it’s not realistic.
(1:20:55) Kelly: realistic yeah yeah no I hate I hate that so much
(1:21:03) Al: Which is really funny, because you still have a well on the farm, but you just don’t have to use it.
(1:21:06) Kelly: yeah it’s just for a show it’s just to be cute
(1:21:08) Al: I was like, “How big is this watering can? When am I going to have to do it?”
(1:21:09) Kelly: cute
(1:21:12) Al: And then when it got to Ultima, I was like, “Oh, I don’t think I ever have…”
(1:21:16) Al: And I was like, “You have to refill it.”
(1:21:19) Al: The other thing is you can do a charged seeding, so you can do multiple seeds at the same time,
(1:21:30) Al: which is great because I think the current situation I can do is 6x6. It’s just so fast. I love it.
(1:21:36) Kelly: Yeah, yep. And it’s like, do you save any energy by doing that? I don’t think so, right?
(1:21:44) Al: So I don’t think you do save any.
(1:21:46) Al: Energy by doing that you save time because the because this is this is a decision that farming games make you either do
(1:21:46) Kelly: But you save time.
(1:21:52) Al: when you upgrade tools
(1:21:54) Al: either they’re easier to use or
(1:21:58) Al: you can do more with them with one thing or
(1:22:00) Kelly: - Mm-hmm.
(1:22:02) Al: they have a
(1:22:04) Al: wider range or all of them and
(1:22:07) Al: Stardew does all of them. It’s easier to use it uses less energy and you can do more at the same time
(1:22:16) Al: Just does that you can do more in one time. So it’s faster, but it still takes the same amount of energy
(1:22:20) Kelly: which is fine. Like, it’s fine for me. Yeah. Of course. But
(1:22:22) Al: It’s a to say I don’t have a huge issue with it. It’s like would I like if it took less energy to do that?
(1:22:28) Al: Yes, I would
(1:22:30) Al: but
(1:22:30) Kelly: like, you know, it’s, it’s not the worst. What? Yeah. Yeah. The
(1:22:33) Al: But I’ll tell you what is the worst they don’t have sprinklers. Where are my sprinklers?
(1:22:41) Kelly: lack of sprinklers. I’m like, I’m like, all I keep telling
(1:22:44) Kelly: myself is I’m like, it’s an early development, early access,
(1:22:46) Kelly: whatever it’s called, they better add sprinklers.
(1:22:48) Al: It is. It is in early access, but it’s hit the point where I know I’ve got too many crops.
(1:22:54) Al: I can’t play the game anymore, because it uses all of my energy, and it takes half the day,
(1:22:55) Kelly: Yeah. Yeah. And all of your time. Yep. Yep. That is also how I felt year two. I was like,
(1:23:02) Al: and I’m just constantly farming now. And that’s not fun. Add sprinklers.
(1:23:09) Al: Yeah.
(1:23:11) Kelly: I have overextended myself in terms of farming, and it has now taken up more of this game
(1:23:18) Kelly: that I would like.
(1:23:18) Al: Yeah, which the thing is that is the goal of these games is to get as big a farm as
(1:23:25) Al: possible doing as much as possible, and you can’t do that without either making it cost
(1:23:30) Al: less energy as you upgrade the tool, which they don’t do, and having sprinklers, which
(1:23:32) Kelly: - Mm-hmm.
(1:23:34) Al: they don’t do, or some kind of automation.
(1:23:36) Al: It doesn’t have to be shrinkers.
(1:23:37) Al: Feel free to do something different.
(1:23:38) Al: I don’t care.
(1:23:40) Al: It doesn’t matter.
(1:23:40) Kelly: Do inground irrigation, I don’t care.
(1:23:40) Al: Do some kind of, yeah, whatever.
(1:23:43) Al: It doesn’t matter.
(1:23:46) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, it’s, it’s tough.
(1:23:49) Kelly: I definitely noticed like towards the end of each season,
(1:23:52) Kelly: I would stop planting stuff because I was like,
(1:23:53) Kelly: I want to do other stuff.
(1:23:54) Kelly: I don’t want to keep doing this.
(1:23:54) Al: Yeah, especially near the end of year one, because like a lot of year one is just
(1:24:01) Al: trying to fill out as much of the museum as possible.
(1:24:02) Kelly: Yes, which I think I did mostly.
(1:24:09) Al: I did it after spring. I mocked up spring. I didn’t realise that it had so many crops,
(1:24:15) Al: and by the time I realised it was too late. So yeah,
(1:24:17) Al: that’ll be the first thing I do when I get back into playing the game, because I’m now in spring.
(1:24:17) Kelly: I missed some of the… Yeah, I missed some of the forageable items the first spring.
(1:24:24) Al: Yes, yeah that too.
(1:24:27) Kelly: But also, so for the farming also, I really like the aspect that when you harvest,
(1:24:32) Kelly: or plant them sometimes even, you get seeds. And then…
(1:24:35) Al: OK, yeah, let’s talk about that. So one of the things about this game is you have - so
(1:24:40) Al: we just have to give a background to how this happens. So, no, it’s fine. I didn’t have it
(1:24:42) Kelly: Oh yes, sorry, I didn’t mean to jump the gun.
(1:24:46) Al: in the list, so this is the point to talk about it, because everything has upgrades like this.
(1:24:50) Al: So at some point as you’re playing, this is where we get into very light story spoilers,
(1:24:55) Al: but I will be honest with you listeners, there is no real story in this game yet. So you’re
(1:24:55) Kelly: Oh, yes.
(1:24:59) Al: not really spoiling much. But if you really care, this is - yeah, if you really care, this is your
(1:25:01) Kelly: We’re just spoiling mechanics.
(1:25:06) Al: if you like the sound of the game, go play it. You know, it’s good. Right. Now, if you’re listening,
(1:25:12) Al: you don’t care about spoilers. So there is a point where you find a statue on your farm of a dragon,
(1:25:19) Al: you repair it, I think, and it then starts talking to you and you kind of like upgrade it as you go.
(1:25:27) Al: And it gives you as you level up your different professions, like you do in Stardew, the same
(1:25:32) Al: thing, right? You do more of an item, you get better.
(1:25:35) Al: You go up a level. As you go up those levels, you get things that you can unlock. There’s
(1:25:40) Al: like another currency you get for doing things, and that lets you unlock these special abilities.
(1:25:46) Al: And for the different things, you have different ones. So for farming, you have a bunch of really
(1:25:52) Al: nice abilities, like these are really good abilities. One of them is that when you water
(1:25:59) Al: a crop, you have a chance of getting a seed from a crop. If
(1:26:05) Al: you one of them is when you sow a seed, you have a chance of watering the seed next to it.
(1:26:13) Al: And there are others as well, one of them which I until I unlocked was going to be a complaint I
(1:26:19) Al: had about the game, which is that there is no quick way to harvest crops except there is,
(1:26:26) Al: because once you get to level 45 farming, you can upgrade, you can unlock sickle sword, which means
(1:26:31) Al: your sword is used to cut down crops, which is much.
(1:26:35) Al: faster. I really like that. So there’s a lot more of these as well. But yeah, as Kelly
(1:26:40) Al: says, they’re really nice additions. Like the one that gives you a chance of getting
(1:26:45) Al: a seed for a crop, your water, you get a lot. Like I have my farm is currently, let me just
(1:26:53) Al: double check. It is six plots of six by six. Kelly, you’ve no idea. I’m all in on farming
(1:26:58) Kelly: Oh, you have a big farm.
(1:27:04) Al: games. I farm and farm.
(1:27:05) Al: farming games. So that’s 216. That’s 216 plots. And for winter, I mostly just use the
(1:27:15) Al: snow peas, which was the highest value crop. And just with watering that crop throughout
(1:27:21) Al: winter, I have 100 seeds for that crop. So that is half of what I’ll need for my current
(1:27:27) Al: farm the next time I go into winter. That’s really good. That’s really big.
(1:27:31) Kelly: That is it makes such a difference. I I save them up and then I check them all before the first day of the season
(1:27:38) Al: Mm-hmm.
(1:27:38) Kelly: To see like oh how much money do I have to spend it saves you so much money
(1:27:42) Al: It really does.
(1:27:42) Kelly: Especially for like those like repeating crops they cost so much money
(1:27:42) Al: It really does.
(1:27:44) Al: Mm-hmm.
(1:27:46) Al: Yeah.
(1:27:48) Al: Yeah.
(1:27:49) Kelly: When I went to go check I have three rows of six and then for some reason just one row that’s half
(1:27:58) Al: Oh dear, oh dear. How much money do you have just now?
(1:27:59) Kelly: So right
(1:28:01) Kelly: now I have $4,000. I think I just bought like a new farm, a new barn, whatever it is, updated the barn.
(1:28:06) Al: OK, I have one hundred and twenty thousand.
(1:28:10) Kelly: $120,000? Oh, you’re a mid-maxing.
(1:28:11) Al: Yes.
(1:28:15) Al: Kelly, I don’t think you realize how I play these games like I’m either I either
(1:28:20) Al: play almost nothing and barely get through spring or I am through into year
(1:28:24) Al: two and nearly a millionaire, like, because this is.
(1:28:27) Kelly: Listen, all my skills are full.
(1:28:29) Al: But the problem is that there is, well, mine aren’t.
(1:28:32) Al: There you go. That’s that’s where you’re that’s what you’ve done more than me.
(1:28:36) Al: The point is, I feel like I’ve hit the peak
(1:28:39) Al: just now because of the lack of automation, which means that up until this point,
(1:28:43) Al: I was very quickly, you know, increasing money, right?
(1:28:47) Al: Like, you know, got to the point where, you know, when I got to fall,
(1:28:50) Al: I wasn’t able to buy the two hundred and sixteen of the most expensive crop
(1:28:54) Al: because obviously that’s a lot of money, but by winter I could.
(1:28:56) Kelly: Mm hmm. That’s crazy.
(1:28:58) Al: So I bought two hundred and sixteen snow peas for winter, which then by the end
(1:29:03) Al: I had 10x’d my money
(1:29:05) Al: Um…
(1:29:06) Al: But the problem is, because there’s no sprinklers, I physically cannot do any more than 216 crops.
(1:29:12) Al: I just can’t do it without investing heavily, yeah, without losing my mind and investing
(1:29:14) Kelly: Losing your mind.
(1:29:18) Al: very heavily in something that would give me much more food, right?
(1:29:25) Al: Like I’d need to do something else, but the problem then is everything that gives you food
(1:29:29) Al: also costs you stamina to do.
(1:29:31) Al: And I think I could only, if I did that, I could probably double the
(1:29:36) Al: number of crops I’m doing, but I don’t think you could go any higher
(1:29:39) Al: because you would just run out of time in the day.
(1:29:40) Kelly: - Yeah, that’s true.
(1:29:42) Al: Because there’s no more upgrades for the tools that I can.
(1:29:46) Kelly: That is also true.
(1:29:48) Kelly: Yeah, I know they need to do something about the sprinklers.
(1:29:50) Kelly: That is truly also my shared complaint
(1:29:53) Kelly: because man, it just makes such a difference.
(1:29:57) Kelly: If I just wanna play more of the game than farming
(1:29:59) Al: OK, next, we have anything else about farming. Are you happy with happy? We’ve covered that.
(1:30:00) Kelly: and I’m not even at your level.
(1:30:06) Kelly: No, I think that’s good, I think that’s good.
(1:30:08) Al: So next we’ve got ranching out. So can you actually I know there’s all you mean like
(1:30:09) Kelly: Oh, wait, wait, wait, I’m sorry.
(1:30:11) Kelly: I do like that you can expand your farm.
(1:30:14) Kelly: Yeah, I dug a hole.
(1:30:17) Al: that. OK, sorry. So the reason why I asked Can you expand it is why men was there is
(1:30:18) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(1:30:23) Al: an option at the carpenters to expand your farm. But it’s grayed out and I.
(1:30:26) Kelly: Oh, but you can’t actually, yes.
(1:30:29) Al: I don’t think you can unlock it yet, so you I think you’ll actually be able to buy more
(1:30:29) Kelly: Yeah, it’s not an option yet.
(1:30:31) Kelly: No, sorry.
(1:30:33) Al: land later on, which, by the way, really nice mechanic. I’m looking forward to that when
(1:30:33) Kelly: Yes.
(1:30:36) Kelly: I think that’ll update your house too maybe.
(1:30:37) Al: they implement that. And there’s a separate thing. There’s upgrading your house and there’s
(1:30:41) Kelly: Yeah. Yeah, okay. Yeah. No, I was talking more about tilling the soil
(1:30:43) Al: there’s expanding your farm in two separate ones. So what you’re talking about is yes so.
(1:30:48) Kelly: and the actual farm plot that you can farm in.
(1:30:50) Al: So the way that’s yes, so the way the stardew works, this is where we’re comparing it to
(1:30:54) Al: stardew, right, is you have land that you’re able to farm on and land you’re not able to
(1:30:59) Al: and the land you farm on, you use the whole and then you can plant seed. In in in fields
(1:31:06) Al: of mystery, you almost entirely just have land that you can farm on. There’s a few exceptions
(1:31:15) Al: like you can’t do it too close to your house, et cetera. But you have plots of land that
(1:31:21) Al: you can hoe and you have plots of land that you can’t hoe, but you can turn it into plot
(1:31:27) Al: land that you can or can’t hold using this.
(1:31:29) Kelly: Mm hmm.
(1:31:29) Al: The spade, so you default to, I think it’s like a nine by nine square is the default, something like that, but you can then use the shovel to change which plots you can and can’t farm on and you’re like, oh, well, why wouldn’t you just be able to do it on all of it?
(1:31:45) Al: It’s actually really nice because you can say these are the plots of land I’m allowed to farm on, and then if you use the hole to use a like a charged attack to do a large area, it will only hold the areas you’ve allowed it to do.
(1:31:59) Al: So you can do a nice pattern, which I like to do because I like to have them like bunched together in specific ways, because it has to make sense.
(1:32:11) Al: And it means you’re not going to accidentally plough some land that you don’t want to be ploughed, which is really nice. I agree.
(1:32:16) Kelly: Yup. Yup. You can make cute designs for your farm.
(1:32:21) Al: I wouldn’t say mine was a cute design, I would just say it makes logical sense.
(1:32:24) Kelly: Tomato, tomato.
(1:32:27) Al: » Thank you, Matt.
(1:32:28) Al: » [LAUGH]
(1:32:29) Al: » So.
(1:32:30) Al: That’s fine.
(1:32:30) Kelly: Okay, that’s, I’m done now. That’s, that’s the actual end of my notes for farming.
(1:32:31) Al: Next, we have ranching, which I feel like my comments on this are going to be almost
(1:32:39) Al: exactly the same as farming, which is, what is there is nice, but it needs automation.
(1:32:44) Kelly: Yes, I will say.
(1:32:48) Kelly: So I actually didn’t get a chance to play the update.
(1:32:50) Kelly: However, the addition of the bell that.
(1:32:55) Al: Or was that not in the original version?
(1:32:57) Kelly: No, that was consuming my time also, which is so silly
(1:32:59) Al: OK, so I.
(1:33:02) Kelly: because it sounds like nothing.
(1:33:02) Al: How did it how did it work before?
(1:33:04) Al: Did you have to like manually tell each animal to go in or out?
(1:33:08) Kelly: You had to do it by each barn and I thought it was no, no.
(1:33:11) Al: Oh, you think you still have to do that, as there are?
(1:33:13) Al: Oh, there’s a bit. Oh, oh, here we go.
(1:33:14) Kelly: Oh, they said it’s a big Bell.
(1:33:15) Al: There’s a big bell item which calls in out.
(1:33:18) Al: Oh, how do you get that?
(1:33:19) Al: No, I’m putting.
(1:33:20) Al: I have one complaint about the bales on the the barns is that.
(1:33:25) Al: Your animals will never go back to bed unless you tell them to, which I don’t like because.
(1:33:30) Kelly: yeah you can’t just leave the door open like stardew and then have them
(1:33:33) Al: Yeah, which I’m not, because if the weather’s nice the next day, you can, I think,
(1:33:39) Al: and they won’t have any negative consequences, which is weird.
(1:33:40) Kelly: Mm-hmm.
(1:33:42) Al: But if the weather’s bad the next day, they’ll be grumpy at you.
(1:33:46) Al: And I’d like them to go to bed themselves, please.
(1:33:48) Al: They are animals, they’re not amoeba, they know where their bed is.
(1:33:52) Kelly: Yeah, yeah.
(1:33:53) Al: Why are they not going to their bed?
(1:33:56) Al: We’ll do and it’s like, oh, it’s not realistic.
(1:33:59) Al: I don’t care.
(1:34:01) Al: Make them go to bed, please.
(1:34:02) Kelly: It’s, it’s, especially. Yeah. Yes. I never remember half the time I’m running home from the mines.
(1:34:02) Al: It’s fine.
(1:34:03) Al: I’m totally fine with having to manually call them out in the morning.
(1:34:06) Al: That’s fine.
(1:34:07) Al: But let them go to bed themselves because I never remember.
(1:34:15) Al: Exactly.
(1:34:16) Al: It’s like, it’s half past one.
(1:34:16) Kelly: Racing the clock. Yeah.
(1:34:18) Al: It’s half past one.
(1:34:19) Al: You’re about to fall asleep.
(1:34:20) Al: You don’t have time to go and tell you.
(1:34:21) Al: Yeah, agreed.
(1:34:21) Kelly: Yeah. Yeah. Yep. No. Yeah. It’s like I am holding down that button to run as fast as I possibly can. And it is not doing anything but then all of a sudden the animals are still out and I’m like do I do I pass it.
(1:34:22) Al: Yep.
(1:34:32) Kelly: I don’t like that. So seeing that there’s one big bell to at least ring I could put that like right in front of my house and then just hit that hopefully.
(1:34:44) Al: Oh, the big bell, it’s a tier four skill on ranching, which I have not unlocked, sadly yet.
(1:34:52) Al: What’s my ranching at?
(1:34:54) Al: I am at 30, so I’ve still got quite a bit to go for that, sadly.
(1:34:57) Kelly: Oh, no, you know what? 30 was all I could do the last time I played, so I lied.
(1:35:04) Kelly: You’re right.
(1:35:07) Al: But no, that’s a nice update.
(1:35:07) Kelly: Mm-hmm.
(1:35:09) Al: Hopefully I’ll get to that, but I mean, I won’t be getting to it until 1.0, because I’ve
(1:35:14) Al: decided I’m not playing any more of this game until 1.0, not because I’m not enjoying it,
(1:35:16) Kelly: Yeah, no, that’s… exactly.
(1:35:17) Al: but because I’m enjoying it and I want to play it, but there’s no more to play.
(1:35:21) Kelly: Exactly, and I don’t want to burn myself out on it and then have the game come out and not want to play it.
(1:35:26) Al: So ranching is pretty much like Stardew, right, like you have your animals, they go in specific
(1:35:33) Al: buildings, you unlock them in the same way as you do in Stardew, you have to give them food
(1:35:37) Al: and you don’t have to pet them, but obviously their friendship increases better if you do it.
(1:35:43) Al: I will say, I feel like friendship increases so slowly with the animals.
(1:35:48) Kelly: Uh, well, so I was doing the hand feeding also.
(1:35:51) Al: Even doing the hand feeding, it still feels like I’m in year two and I have no animals.
(1:35:52) Kelly: Yeah, it goes really slow.
(1:35:56) Al: Do animals have two hearts?
(1:35:58) Kelly: Oh, I have a bunch.
(1:35:59) Kelly: I’ve been breeding animals.
(1:36:01) Kelly: That’s what I started doing grub.
(1:36:02) Al: Does that make it go faster? If you breathe them, do they start off higher?
(1:36:07) Kelly: No, but you can’t breed them until they hit, I think two hearts.
(1:36:09) Al: Oh, OK, OK, OK, OK. I just feel like it’s so slow.
(1:36:11) Kelly: So I was like, and like the deluxe stuff doesn’t necessarily increase.
(1:36:18) Kelly: The friendship anymore.
(1:36:19) Al: Yeah, I just I feel like if I feel like with Stardew, if I do everything right,
(1:36:25) Al: I can get them to max in a year, max hearts in a year.
(1:36:29) Al: Whereas I feel like in this, I’m not even at two hearts and there’s ten hearts.
(1:36:33) Kelly: Do you have the the toys outside because I definitely have a bunch of animals that are
(1:36:34) Al: Right. Like it just feels so slow.
(1:36:36) Al: I have now.
(1:36:39) Al: Yeah, I mean, you are you are half a year later than me, so.
(1:36:40) Kelly: higher up. Oh yeah yeah but I have bologna my cow is at uh can I read uh seven hearts.
(1:36:50) Al: 7Hearts, I must be doing something wrong.
(1:36:54) Kelly: I think you might be because most of my creatures are at at least four hearts because I’ve also
(1:37:00) Kelly: been selling them as I breed them to make me.
(1:37:03) Kelly: I think I need more room because I don’t want to deal with more animals.
(1:37:06) Al: So to be fair, most of mine are reasonably new.
(1:37:09) Al: I when I got into all the money, I decided to like buy a whole bunch of animals.
(1:37:13) Kelly: Yeah, but even my my capybarra was pretty new and that’s a three already and they’re
(1:37:15) Al: So I have like, was that 16 animals now?
(1:37:19) Al: But only only.
(1:37:23) Al: Yeah, see, I have one at three and I have to afford it too.
(1:37:28) Al: And they are all my first animals that I bought.
(1:37:31) Al: So I don’t know.
(1:37:32) Al: I just need to maybe have not been in the effort.
(1:37:34) Al: I don’t know.
(1:37:36) Kelly: - Yeah, I think the hand feeding helps.
(1:37:36) Al: It does, and I don’t do that every time because that’s just so much effort.
(1:37:42) Al: Like, this is the thing.
(1:37:42) Kelly: See, I don’t have as big of a farm
(1:37:44) Kelly: so I can put in the effort to the ranching.
(1:37:45) Al: Yeah, I just, I want more automation there, you know.
(1:37:49) Kelly: That’s the compromise though, yeah.
(1:37:51) Kelly: No, they both need an automation.
(1:37:51) Al: Yeah, I know.
(1:37:54) Kelly: ‘Cause like even just going into milk everybody
(1:37:57) Kelly: and going in, yes.
(1:37:58) Al: Although I do like that you don’t actually have to milk them.
(1:38:02) Al: So you in Stardew, you have to go around and individually milk them.
(1:38:06) Al: You go into a barn and the milk is just
(1:38:09) Al: lying on the floor, which feels a little bit unsanitary.
(1:38:12) Al: But you know what?
(1:38:14) Al: I think it’s a good improvement in in game fun, shall we say.
(1:38:18) Kelly: self milking cows. Oh, you know, you know what, the main reason I do the hand feeding also is
(1:38:21) Al: Yeah, exactly.
(1:38:25) Kelly: to get those little berries. No, I got gold milk and gold butter and
(1:38:27) Al: Oh, the J– Yeah.
(1:38:28) Al: But, I mean, that mostly just gets you pats, doesn’t it?
(1:38:35) Kelly: and, uh,
(1:38:36) Al: But, like, getting– Yeah, OK, you can get those, but, like, it’s not–
(1:38:39) Al: You don’t get much of them, and it doesn’t feel like the effort you put in is worth it for that.
(1:38:44) Kelly: Mm, yeah, I like the gamble of it.
(1:38:46) Kelly: I think that’s really what draws me.
(1:38:47) Al: When I could be doing anything else instead.
(1:38:50) Kelly: Yeah, yeah.
(1:38:52) Kelly: Look, I like a little gamble, OK?
(1:38:55) Kelly: A little random generated content to give to me.
(1:38:58) Al: Fair, I like the selection of animals.
(1:39:03) Al: I love they’ve got capybaras, that’s a good addition.
(1:39:03) Kelly: Yes, yes.
(1:39:06) Kelly: The colors from the breeding are incredible.
(1:39:07) Al: Yep, that’s the other thing.
(1:39:09) Al: Yeah, so is it, I’ve not done any breeding, but I presume how it works is,
(1:39:14) Al: so you’ve got, I have three colors unlocked to buy.
(1:39:16) Kelly: Yeah. So like right now, if I remember correctly, yes. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(1:39:17) Al: And presumably the other ones unlock with breeding, is that correct?
(1:39:21) Al: But then once you’ve unlocked one, you can then buy more of it from the shop.
(1:39:26) Al: Cool. That makes sense because they listed there.
(1:39:28) Al: Whereas there are three colors that are unlisted for each of the animals.
(1:39:33) Kelly: And then the colors have like tiers. So it’s like the ones that you can initially buy in the shop
(1:39:33) Al: Yeah.
(1:39:36) Kelly: are tier one. And then you can get, you start getting tier twos from breeding the tier ones,
(1:39:42) Kelly: and you can breed the tier ones with the tier twos, and you can potentially get tier threes,
(1:39:46) Kelly: or more tier twos. Yeah, I was mostly using this to fill my time while I was like getting,
(1:39:48) Al: Maybe I’ll get more into that when we get sprinklers, you know.
(1:39:55) Kelly: I think, to the last few levels of the mines. But I will say the colors are really cute,
(1:40:01) Kelly: and I really like all the different options. They had a lot of fun with that, which I think
(1:40:06) Kelly: they kill stardew in because they crush stardew in the colors.
(1:40:08) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean the especially the brain cow looks like a
(1:40:16) Kelly: They crush stardew in the looks of the animals. The animals are so cute.
(1:40:20) Kelly: Stardew could never. You got to get a mod to get stardew cute.
(1:40:22) Al: big. So I think, I think, I think that the stardew chickens are cute, but the cows are not.
(1:40:28) Kelly: They are cute. They are not, and the pigs are not.
(1:40:32) Al: The pigs are not, but are pigs meant to be cute? Also, I don’t think this game has pigs.
(1:40:35) Kelly: They can be. No, I think they chose capybaras instead. Yeah.
(1:40:41) Al: Which, fair. Yeah, I don’t have my cap and berries growing up yet. What did they give you?
(1:40:43) Kelly: - Yeah.
(1:40:46) Kelly: » Hair, I think.
(1:40:52) Al: Of like, that your capybara is just wandering along, moulting,
(1:40:55) Al: and you’re just gathering up the hair after it.
(1:40:57) Kelly: » Yeah, I think they give you hair.
(1:41:00) Al: I love a good pile of hair. Who wants my capybara hair?
(1:41:06) Kelly: » You make a copy of paint brushes and sell them for insane amounts of money.
(1:41:11) Kelly: I don’t actually know.
(1:41:13) Kelly: I don’t remember, mine are big enough though, let me see.
(1:41:16) Kelly: I have to have something.
(1:41:18) Kelly: Yeah, that’s probably better cuz I don’t remember what boxes hold what right now.
(1:41:22) Al: It is here.
(1:41:24) Kelly: Okay.
(1:41:25) Al: Stiff hairs dropped from the coat of a capybara used in a variety of crafting recipes.
(1:41:30) Kelly: Okay, but yeah, no, I really like their animals.
(1:41:35) Kelly: I think those little toys that they get for outside are so cute.
(1:41:38) Kelly: And then I have like 1000 screenshots of all my different animals playing together.
(1:41:42) Al: Yeah, I literally only bought the toys like spring, because there was no point in buying them in winter, right?
(1:41:47) Kelly: Yeah, yeah.
(1:41:49) Al: And that winter was when I had the money. So I just bought them on the first day of spring.
(1:41:54) Al: And I’m only on day two of spring year two. So again, something for 1.0.
(1:41:56) Kelly: Yeah, that makes sense. But like little things. Yeah.
(1:42:02) Al: Yeah, so I agree. I think in general, it’s an improvement on other farming games in general,
(1:42:10) Al: But it needs it needs some ottomies
(1:42:12) Al: I want a thing to automatically dispense food because yes, you’re it might be better to do it manually
(1:42:17) Al: But I would like the option not to
(1:42:18) Kelly: Oh, no, absolutely. I agree, because I have food in the chest. If I forget to go and refill it or
(1:42:23) Al: Yep
(1:42:24) Kelly: hand feed them, then what they starve?
(1:42:25) Al: They starve exactly
(1:42:28) Al: Let’s talk about fishing quickly because that shouldn’t take too long
(1:42:33) Al: a pretty simple mini-game you see shadows in the water you throw your you
(1:42:36) Kelly: - Mm-hmm.
(1:42:40) Al: Through you cast your rod
(1:42:42) Al: and into the water and an exclamation mark comes up and you you do it
(1:42:48) Al: I like how they show the the fish shadows and you have to like target the fish shadows. I think that’s quite cool
(1:42:53) Kelly: Yes, yes.
(1:42:54) Al: Addition, I think I would prefer that over a more complicated catching minigames
(1:43:00) Kelly: - I thought it was a nice little simple fishing minigame.
(1:43:04) Kelly: It wasn’t anything crazy, you know?
(1:43:06) Al: Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. So, like, I would prefer having to find the shadows and aim for them
(1:43:07) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(1:43:13) Al: over having a more complicated minigame for catching them.
(1:43:13) Kelly: Oh, I see, I see.
(1:43:17) Kelly: Yeah, I think it’s a different, I like,
(1:43:21) Kelly: I know this is kind of controversial,
(1:43:22) Kelly: but I like Stardew fishing, so.
(1:43:24) Al: I wouldn’t say I like it, but I wouldn’t say I hate it.
(1:43:26) Kelly: But I do like this, I do like this mechanic too,
(1:43:31) Kelly: but I like to go around for the fish.
(1:43:32) Al: Yeah, yeah, especially with like the different shadow sizes and stuff like that.
(1:43:32) Kelly: And I think that’s fun, and I think it’s,
(1:43:35) Kelly: it reminds me of Animal Crossing in that aspect.
(1:43:41) Kelly: Yeah, so it’s like, oh, if I’m missing
(1:43:43) Al: There’s a huge one.
(1:43:44) Kelly: a certain type of fish, I know to go look
(1:43:45) Al: Yeah, exactly.
(1:43:46) Kelly: for that size fish.
(1:43:50) Kelly: And yeah, and then you get the big ones,
(1:43:51) Kelly: and then you could go diving too, which is cool.
(1:43:54) Kelly: And you can go swimming in the water.
(1:43:54) Al: Yeah, yeah, so that means it’s time to talk about this then.
(1:43:58) Al: So, yeah, you can you can swim in all the water, basically, that exists.
(1:44:00) Kelly: Yeah, which is cool cuz you could just like go random places.
(1:44:05) Al: It’s super cool.
(1:44:06) Al: I will say one complaint I do have is so just I’ve talked about the mist mare
(1:44:11) Al: previously, this is like a mythical horse that you get at some point,
(1:44:16) Al: which, by the way, is so much better than just riding a normal horse because it
(1:44:19) Al: spawns when you want it.
(1:44:20) Kelly: Oh, so I didn’t get to try the, I guess we should have talked about that with the
(1:44:23) Kelly: ranching, but I didn’t get to try riding on the animals yet, but that’s.
(1:44:24) Al: So, you’re not riding on the animals, you’re riding on the mist mare and you can make it
(1:44:31) Al: look like your animals. So, have you had the mist mare at all?
(1:44:32) Kelly: Oh, okay.
(1:44:36) Kelly: No, I meant to play last week and I did not get a chance.
(1:44:38) Al: Cool. That’s fine. No, I think it existed in the 1.0. So, near the cave, there’s like
(1:44:46) Al: a horse statue. After the day that there’s the earthquake, you go to the mist mare statue,
(1:44:54) Al: horse statue, and you can, once you’ve got to a certain level, you can unlock the mist
(1:44:58) Al: mare, which is a mythical horse, that you press a button and it spawns with you on top
(1:45:04) Al: of it. And then you press a button again and it spawns away.
(1:45:06) Kelly: No, I think I don’t think that was I think that was part of the update because I talked to that statue.
(1:45:11) Al: I don’t think so, because I’m pretty sure I had it before I had the update. It’s hard
(1:45:20) Kelly: It is. Maybe I just, maybe I just missed it. I thought I talked to all the statues. I mean,
(1:45:24) Kelly: I definitely could have missed a statue, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(1:45:26) Al: Anyway, it doesn’t matter. The point is, it is, yeah, it’s a mythical horse. I like this
(1:45:32) Al: over like the normal way of like you get a horse and then you ride it because you always
(1:45:36) Al: have to know where the horse is, whereas this is just, no, your horse just appears when
(1:45:36) Kelly: Yeah, also there’s no, I guess that like, I don’t know if you do this, but I stupidly
(1:45:45) Kelly: feel guilty if I like, you know, leave my horse behind, even though it’s magically going
(1:45:46) Al: Mm, yeah. Leave it somewhere. Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. For sure.
(1:45:51) Kelly: to respond back at home.
(1:45:54) Al: But the reason I bring up the mist mayor is because the mist mayor can’t go in water.
(1:46:00) Kelly: Ah, okay. Yeah.
(1:46:01) Al: And that is frustrating me a little bit because it’s quicker to go through the water sometimes
(1:46:05) Al: than go and find the bridge, but it’s quicker to be on the mist mayor. And so it’s like,
(1:46:10) Al: do you go in the mist mayor and go round the bridge or do you come off the mist mayor,
(1:46:13) Al: weed through the water and then go back on the mist mirror.
(1:46:16) Kelly: I see. Yeah, because I’ve done a lot of jumping in the water.
(1:46:16) Al: You know, the mist mirror can jump and it can jump over obstacles.
(1:46:23) Al: I think it can jump over bigger obstacles than you can and it can jump
(1:46:26) Al: down the cliffs and everything.
(1:46:27) Al: It just can’t go through the water.
(1:46:28) Kelly: That’s annoying. It’s a horse. I mean, it’s not a horse, but it’s a mystical horse. Can it?
(1:46:30) Al: Very annoying.
(1:46:33) Al: Exactly, exactly.
(1:46:34) Kelly: Horses go in water all the time.
(1:46:36) Al: Just make it jump over the water if you don’t want it to go in the water, right?
(1:46:39) Al: Just make it do a jump over the water, right?
(1:46:39) Kelly: That too.
(1:46:41) Al: It’s mythical horse.
(1:46:42) Al: It can do what it wants.
(1:46:43) Kelly: That too.
(1:46:43) Al: And so, yeah, so but.
(1:46:46) Al: Back to fishing, swimming.
(1:46:48) Al: So you can swim in any water, and then there’s like little spots that show as diving spots,
(1:46:52) Al: and then you press on them and you get a thing.
(1:46:54) Al: And it’s like, you know, there’s like clams and seaweed and stuff like that, which is fun.
(1:46:59) Al: But it also means that there’s some areas that you can get to by swimming
(1:47:03) Al: that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to get to.
(1:47:04) Kelly: Yeah
(1:47:05) Al: There’s like an island you can get to that you have to swim to.
(1:47:07) Kelly: Yeah, I do wish also that you could like jump onto those cliffs that are like out in the water
(1:47:13) Kelly: So you could like fish from them. I think that would be cool
(1:47:14) Al: I agree. Stones as well. I tried to jump up onto the stones to fish from there because there’s like
(1:47:17) Kelly: Yeah, me too
(1:47:20) Al: some points where you just can’t get them because you can’t get close enough to the fish shadows.
(1:47:24) Kelly: They’re not close enough. Yeah. Yeah, and it’s like, okay
(1:47:27) Kelly: Am I supposed to be patient and hope that they eventually come closer to me because sometimes they will but like what are the odds?
(1:47:32) Kelly: of that actually happening.
(1:47:34) Kelly: I don’t know.
(1:47:37) Al: One complaint I have about fishing is that I get more annoyed with getting rubbish when you’re
(1:47:43) Al: fishing at a fish shadow, because why does the rubbish look like a fish? I don’t understand.
(1:47:46) Kelly: Oh, yes. Yes.
(1:47:49) Al: However, thankfully, one of the upgrades for fishing is lowering the chance of getting rubbish,
(1:47:55) Al: which is a good - I like that. It’s a very - and it does seem like a significant one,
(1:47:59) Al: like I hardly ever get rubbish now, which is good. So it kind of like - it was one of those
(1:48:00) Kelly: It does. It made a big difference, I think.
(1:48:05) Al: things where I was like, right, this is something I’m going to
(1:48:07) Al: complain about.
(1:48:08) Al: And then later on I was like, I’m not going to complain about it as much anymore, you
(1:48:10) Kelly: you know what actually it’s not so bad yeah no that is that is a good point um
(1:48:12) Al: know.
(1:48:13) Al: Yeah.
(1:48:14) Al: Yeah.
(1:48:15) Al: Yeah.
(1:48:22) Kelly: I think that made a big difference because I hate that I hate catching the garbage
(1:48:26) Al: It’s just so frustrating, so anticlimactic.
(1:48:29) Kelly: yeah and it’s not even like stardew where you like have the recycling bins things the recycling
(1:48:36) Kelly: machines whatever it is so you like actually get something out of your garbage but like
(1:48:41) Kelly: no I don’t want to catch garbage just give me the fish
(1:48:44) Al: All right, mining.
(1:48:47) Kelly: mining
(1:48:47) Al: So I guess the actual act of mining is pretty standard, right?
(1:48:52) Al: You’ve got your axe.
(1:48:53) Al: It does some stuff.
(1:48:55) Al: And the mines are a little bit similar and a little bit different.
(1:49:01) Al: So they’re similar in that, like, you know, you’ve got levels and you go down, you break
(1:49:05) Al: rocks to find the ladder to go down.
(1:49:06) Al: And then every five levels, you’ve got the lift, you know, that’s kind of standard stuff.
(1:49:09) Kelly: Mm hmm. Yeah, like you’re themed. Yeah.
(1:49:11) Al: there’s monsters in… yeah.
(1:49:14) Al: And there’s monsters in there and you have to attack them, and I will say I quite like
(1:49:19) Al: the design of the monsters.
(1:49:20) Al: They’re quite fun.
(1:49:21) Al: There’s like different ones.
(1:49:22) Al: Like there’s a, there’s like one that’s designed like a miner’s light and it will electrocute
(1:49:27) Al: you if you hit it at certain points.
(1:49:29) Al: Like that’s quite fun.
(1:49:30) Al: Different ways of thinking about things is one that’s like a, you, if you hit it with
(1:49:34) Al: your sword, it will only do one damage, but if you hit back the projectile that it’s throwing
(1:49:38) Kelly: Oh my god. Yes.
(1:49:38) Al: at you, it will do proper damage.
(1:49:40) Al: That’s really fun. Different ways of having to fight them is quite fun.
(1:49:44) Al: And there’s also like, there’s different, exactly. And there’s different, so like you
(1:49:44) Kelly: It is. I think it’s a fun spin on like a very simple concept.
(1:49:51) Kelly: Because like they didn’t overly complicate it, but they made it so that you have to like,
(1:49:54) Kelly: you know, learn how to handle each monster kind of differently.
(1:49:58) Al: can, you can jump and ground pound and that’ll do damage as well, which is really, really nice
(1:50:02) Kelly: Oh, I love that.
(1:50:04) Al: addition, especially as, yeah, yeah, yeah, to flip them over and then attack them. But that is
(1:50:05) Kelly: And you got to do it for the mushrooms to…
(1:50:11) Al: It’s especially good because the one thing that’s
(1:50:14) Al: compared to others is there are like caverns that you have to jump over in some on some of the levels
(1:50:20) Al: Which means that if you see something across the cavern
(1:50:22) Al: If you didn’t have the ground pound you would jump over and have to immediately hit it, which is really hard
(1:50:28) Al: Whereas this way you can jump over and ground pound and attack them as you get over like immediately
(1:50:33) Al: It’s that’s really really fun addition
(1:50:35) Kelly: Yeah, no, I fully agree, and like you said I think the the monster designs are really cool like even even the slimes
(1:50:42) Al: Mm hmm. Yeah, yeah.
(1:50:43) Kelly: They’re like they have different
(1:50:45) Kelly: characters like personalities
(1:50:48) Kelly: So it’s just like little things like that which I think are very fun
(1:50:51) Kelly: And like it makes you employ a little more strategy than just like you know button mashing through the mines
(1:50:59) Al: The other thing that’s different about this mine is that when you get to, I think it’s
(1:51:03) Al: every 20 levels, you have a shrine that you need to unlock to get to the next level, and
(1:51:11) Al: that requires you giving four items that you can find on the previous 20 levels.
(1:51:16) Kelly: Yeah, I got so mad the first time because I had one of the items and I gave it to the museum. And then it took me forever.
(1:51:20) Al: Yeah.
(1:51:24) Al: Some of them could be doing with upping their spawn rate a little bit.
(1:51:28) Kelly: Yeah, I was like on pages like looking to see if I was doing something wrong, like,
(1:51:30) Al: Yeah, especially the insects.
(1:51:32) Kelly: yes, that’s what it was. One of them was an insect, I think, for one of the NPCs, actually, too.
(1:51:33) Al: The insects I found very hard to find.
(1:51:37) Al: Yeah, super.
(1:51:40) Kelly: Like, I had one, gave it to the museum, and then never saw the other one for ages again.
(1:51:41) Al: Oh, no.
(1:51:44) Al: Super hard to find, but it’s a fun concept, certainly.
(1:51:48) Kelly: Yeah.
(1:51:48) Al: I enjoy that.
(1:51:49) Al: It’s like, if you’ve been keeping everything, you will immediately have all the stuff.
(1:51:54) Al: If you’ve not, it gives you an opportunity to go back and complete things.
(1:51:59) Al: That’s like, you know, get more stuff and it means that it’s not just about brute forcing your way through, you actually have to kind of spend some time in the mines, rather than just going as quick as you can down it.
(1:52:11) Al: I think that’s quite fun.
(1:52:12) Kelly: - Yeah, which like, I love going in the mines normally.
(1:52:16) Kelly: I actually, I have a complaint after this,
(1:52:16) Al: Agreed.
(1:52:16) Al: Me too.
(1:52:17) Al: Mm-hmm.
(1:52:18) Kelly: I will talk about.
(1:52:21) Kelly: So like, I have no problem going back.
(1:52:23) Kelly: I think I just started getting frustrated
(1:52:25) Kelly: when I had spent numerous days trying to find something
(1:52:29) Kelly: and like having no luck whatsoever.
(1:52:31) Al: Yeah, that’s the thing. I think they should up the spawn rate of the ones that you require,
(1:52:35) Al: but other than that, it’s fine. Yeah. Yeah, exactly, exactly. The other issue is the fish,
(1:52:36) Kelly: ‘Cause it’s hard to juggle it too.
(1:52:38) Kelly: It’s like, oh, if I did this in spring,
(1:52:40) Kelly: I don’t have a lot of mining days in spring.
(1:52:42) Kelly: Like that’s.
(1:52:43) Kelly: Yeah.
(1:52:44) Kelly: Yeah.
(1:52:45) Kelly: Yeah.
(1:52:46) Kelly: Yeah.
(1:52:47) Al: because the spawn rate of fish full stop is really low. So like, especially in the first
(1:52:47) Kelly: Yeah.
(1:52:51) Al: 20 levels, even finding a pond is hard. And then once you’ve found a pond, there will
(1:52:56) Al: be one fish in it, and it’s probably not the fish you want, and then they’re probably
(1:53:01) Al: going to spawn more fish. So you have to go to another level to find more fish. So
(1:53:02) Kelly: - Yep.
(1:53:06) Kelly: Yep, yep, yep.
(1:53:08) Al: they need some balancing there, but the concept is fun. I think that’s good.
(1:53:14) Kelly: Yeah. And I think the other thing with the fish too, just to go off of that is like,
(1:53:18) Kelly: I wasn’t always bringing my fishing rod into the mines, just so I could have another empty space.
(1:53:23) Al: Yeah, just another reason to have the tool bag instead of the, go for it.
(1:53:24) Kelly: So like, especially before I finished upgrading my bag space, it’s like, well,
(1:53:31) Kelly: yeah. Okay, so my one complaint with mining, and I think this is just an overall game complaint,
(1:53:38) Kelly: honestly, is the management of time. I.
(1:53:44) Kelly: Think these days, like the days feel shorter, or it feels like I have less time
(1:53:50) Kelly: and I’m getting less things done than I would in Stardew, even though the game goes till 2 a.m.
(1:53:57) Al: Interesting, so.
(1:53:59) Kelly: And I’m not the only one who thinks this. I’ve seen other people online complaining about this
(1:54:03) Kelly: and asking the devs to like do something about it. So it makes mining harder.
(1:54:03) Al: Yeah.
(1:54:05) Al: So it looks like it’s only, so it looks like it’s only two minutes shorter than Stardew,
(1:54:12) Al: but someone’s pointing out the map is much bigger.
(1:54:14) Kelly: because that’s the issue is like the traveling which I’m hoping the mount and like you know
(1:54:18) Al: Yeah, it does make things, it does make things much faster.
(1:54:19) Kelly: having an animal to ride but it’s like also like god forbid I plan on a mining day get
(1:54:27) Kelly: everything done get to the mines and then realize I forgot something or I have something
(1:54:31) Kelly: in my bag like I have to go back to the house that’s it the day’s over I’m not mining that
(1:54:36) Kelly: day anymore like that’s too much time wasted on other things so that is that is my biggest
(1:54:37) Al: Yeah. Yeah. I think it’s just the same. I think it’s just the same sort of thing we’re saying
(1:54:45) Al: for lots of things. It’s fun, but there’s a few balancing things they need to do,
(1:54:49) Kelly: Yeah. And like, yes, exactly. I don’t want to be limited to, oh, I’m barely making it
(1:54:50) Al: and we want more of it. Like, I want to go further down the mines, please.
(1:55:00) Kelly: through five levels of minds, replaying through the minds, you know what I mean? Like, and then
(1:55:05) Al: Yes, just to make it clear, as we say lots of times on this podcast, we’re complaining
(1:55:05) Kelly: racing home, like, which, and also like, this is a complaint that has not stopped me from putting
(1:55:10) Kelly: a hundred hours into the game. Or I don’t think it’s that much, but like, that’s what Steam says.
(1:55:19) Al: because we enjoy the game. We would not put the amount of time, like when I don’t enjoy
(1:55:20) Kelly: Yes. » [LAUGH]
(1:55:25) Al: a game, I make it very clear on the podcast, because I’ve probably put in, like there are
(1:55:26) Kelly: » Yeah, absolutely.
(1:55:29) Al: some games I put in five hours, not because I don’t put in the efforts, it’s just so hard.
(1:55:34) Kelly: And, like, I’ve talked about games on here that, like, I did not enjoy, so I will definitely
(1:55:35) Al: Because I’m just not enjoying it.
(1:55:37) Al: Yep.
(1:55:41) Kelly: be vocal about that. But, like, yeah. This is not a complaint that is ending the game
(1:55:46) Kelly: for me. This is just – I’m hoping that an update will fix it. It seems like they’re
(1:55:50) Al: Yeah, which you probably will because there’s a lot a lot they’re planning on
(1:55:55) Al: doing anyway, exactly like it only it came out in August, I think.
(1:55:55) Kelly: doing a lot. Yeah, exactly. So.
(1:55:59) Al: And we’ve had one big update since then.
(1:56:01) Al: So, you know, hopefully there’s lots more to come.
(1:56:04) Al: The other mechanics thing to talk about is
(1:56:08) Al: what I’ve described as crafting slash blacksmithing slash milling.
(1:56:12) Al: So crafting is not done like Stardew.
(1:56:16) Al: done a crafting table, but I guess it’s very similar.
(1:56:22) Al: What I find interesting is that it takes time to do stuff, so things will take 10 minutes
(1:56:26) Al: or 30 minutes of in-game time, and you don’t have to wait for that time. It just takes
(1:56:32) Al: up that time. I think that’s interesting. It’s funny because you can decrease the amount
(1:56:39) Al: of crafting time. You can start off by decreasing it by 10 and then 20 minutes. I assume there’s
(1:56:42) Kelly: Yes.
(1:56:45) Al: a 30-minute one as well.
(1:56:46) Kelly: Which is nice because yes, at a certain point, you will get to the point where certain certain crafting milling blacksmithing doesn’t cost you anything.
(1:56:54) Al: Mm hmm. Yeah, so that’s yeah, so that’s the fun thing.
(1:56:58) Al: You can do like 50 of something and it takes zero time, which is very funny.
(1:57:03) Al: I haven’t noticed being able to decrease the time for the mill.
(1:57:06) Kelly: Maybe I was just clumping that in.
(1:57:08) Al: I know I know you because I wrote it together,
(1:57:10) Al: but I was wondering, have you seen one because I I really want one because the
(1:57:15) Al: mill is used for animal feed, but it’s also it’s also used for for some reason,
(1:57:18) Kelly: Yeah, the mill pisses me off.
(1:57:22) Al: mayonnaise, cheese and butter.
(1:57:24) Al: using may a mill a windmill to make mayonnaise and cheese and butter I don’t care it doesn’t
(1:57:31) Al: matter but I haven’t found a way to decrease that time and it takes 20 minutes to do a mayonnaise
(1:57:32) Kelly: I don’t… Let me go, let me go double check. Yeah, no, that one pisses me off because you really have to make a decision on like, oh, I have enough spare time in this day to like, do one item.
(1:57:36) Al: I have a lot of I have a lot of chickens
(1:57:46) Al: Yeah, I do, I do like it compared to the like mayonnaise machines and stuff like that, because
(1:57:56) Kelly: Oh, no, I like those because they’re passive and I could just…
(1:57:57) Al: no, so I understand that they’re passive, but I like not having the machines on my ground,
(1:58:06) Al: like wasting space on my farm. And, and I don’t like managing them, right? Like, I don’t
(1:58:08) Kelly: Oh no, I like that too.
(1:58:11) Kelly: Mm-hmm.
(1:58:12) Al: like going, Oh, I’m going to go put in five eggs and then come
(1:58:16) Al: back later and put in another five eggs.
(1:58:17) Kelly: Mm-hmm.
(1:58:18) Al: What I really like about the meal, and the only complaint I have is the time.
(1:58:22) Al: Because if you could decrease it by 20 minutes, then mayo and butter and cheese
(1:58:26) Al: wouldn’t take any time and you could just go in there and do 50 all at once.
(1:58:28) Kelly: Yeah
(1:58:30) Al: And that just is so much better.
(1:58:32) Kelly: Yeah, like I have 78 milks right now
(1:58:35) Al: Yeah, it takes so long.
(1:58:37) Kelly: Yeah, no, it doesn’t decrease that
(1:58:40) Kelly: Yeah, so it’s like and like I’m not doing I don’t want to spend more than an hour doing this in game time
(1:58:44) Kelly: when like we just said there’s
(1:58:47) Kelly: Kind of like an issue with the time balancing you called me out on the right thing. There is no milling update, unfortunately
(1:58:50) Al: OK, no, no, that’s I wasn’t calling.
(1:58:55) Al: I was just I was wanting to see it, because if you found one, I want to know what it is.
(1:58:55) Kelly: No, no
(1:58:58) Kelly: Yeah, that one that one truly makes me annoyed because I’m like you can’t do you can’t do the bird the bird fruit the
(1:59:02) Al: Yeah.
(1:59:06) Kelly: ranch food fast either
(1:59:08) Al: Yeah, exactly, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(1:59:10) Kelly: And like I have four barns right now like what do you mean I can do six of them are you kidding me
(1:59:10) Al: Wild.
(1:59:15) Al: Yeah, yeah, I have 16 cows.
(1:59:18) Al: my word I can’t do
(1:59:20) Al: 16 cheese every day
(1:59:23) Kelly: Yeah, that’s crazy
(1:59:26) Al: the other thing is the blacksmithing which is different from the crafting
(1:59:30) Al: in so much as you so this is instead of like
(1:59:33) Al: you know the furnaces and stuff like that in stardew
(1:59:36) Al: um I quite like this as well in so there’s two things you can do with
(1:59:41) Al: this one is obviously making like bars of copper and silver and stuff
(1:59:45) Al: like that and the other one is upgrading your tools you can upgrade your tools
(1:59:48) Al: with this or…
(1:59:50) Al: you can buy the upgraded tools.
(1:59:53) Al: I like that there’s options there.
(1:59:56) Al: And I was initially confused because I thought blacksmithing cost you money to
(2:00:01) Al: do because it shows a cost at the top right.
(2:00:05) Al: But I realized later on, that’s just how much the item
(2:00:09) Al: sell, the sell price for the item was, because I was looking at it going,
(2:00:12) Al: it cost me 110 to make a copper bar and then it cost me 480 to make a copper ax.
(2:00:18) Kelly: Yeah
(2:00:18) Al: So I’m doing four copper bars cost me…
(2:00:20) Al: 440 pounds and then it’s basically it was like it is 20 pounds cheaper to buy it than to make it.
(2:00:21) Kelly: The thousand dollars
(2:00:29) Al: That makes no sense.
(2:00:30) Kelly: Yeah, yeah
(2:00:31) Al: But it turns out that was just the sale price.
(2:00:32) Al: So that’s fine.
(2:00:33) Al: But I like that you can do this.
(2:00:34) Al: You can either do no cost, put in the work to upgrade your tools, or you can just pay to get a new tool.
(2:00:43) Al: I like that.
(2:00:43) Al: That’s quite a fun, fun way of doing it.
(2:00:46) Kelly: Yeah, I agree. I agree. I also did use the blacksmithing to make armor and then sell
(2:00:52) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s also fun, yep.
(2:00:52) Kelly: it early on in the game when I just had for extra money. That was great. Because it’s
(2:00:59) Al: And again, I like…
(2:01:01) Kelly: unlike milling, you can decrease the time for the bars and then you can decrease the
(2:01:03) Al: Exactly. And that’s the thing. And that’s the thing. And this is why, you
(2:01:08) Al: know, I actually like this compared to the furnaces and stuff in Stardew,
(2:01:12) Al: because I don’t have to have, like, ten furnaces littering the side of my farm.
(2:01:16) Kelly: Yeah, that’s true.
(2:01:16) Al: And I can just go… Although I would like… So you can buy a cra-
(2:01:22) Al: By default, you have to go to the carpenters or into town to use
(2:01:28) Al: the crafting station, and you have to go to the blacksmiths to use
(2:01:33) Al: the blacksmithing. You can buy a crafting station for your house.
(2:01:37) Al: You cannot buy a blacksmithing system for your house, which I would really
(2:01:40) Kelly: No. Yeah. Like, am I not trusted? I don’t understand. You trust me with the saws,
(2:01:42) Al: like to do. It’s just a big hunk of metal.
(2:01:50) Kelly: but not the metal smithing stuff? Yes, yes. No. I will say, I think the…
(2:01:51) Al: Thank you.
(2:01:53) Al: Yeah, I understand the milling, right?
(2:01:56) Al: Because that’s like a huge windmill, and it’s not that far to go to the windmill.
(2:02:00) Al: But the blacksmith is all the top, top left of the town.
(2:02:04) Al: He’s so far away.
(2:02:06) Kelly: See, I don’t think I minded that one as much because I think I was constantly going
(2:02:10) Kelly: towards the museum or towards the mines so often.
(2:02:12) Al: Yeah, I don’t I don’t I don’t go that direction.
(2:02:16) Al: I go, I go through the Narrows.
(2:02:19) Al: I find that faster.
(2:02:20) Al: So I go out my farm to the north and then I go left immediately and then north.
(2:02:24) Kelly: See, that’s what I would do, and then on the way back I would hit up the blacksmith and go through town and talk to everybody.
(2:02:28) Al: Oh, yeah, I don’t know.
(2:02:30) Al: Oh, I’m not talking to people.
(2:02:31) Kelly: Oh.
(2:02:33) Kelly: I mean I talked to them real fast so that they don’t think I’m some crazy person.
(2:02:37) Al: All right, let’s talk about the characters then, shall we?
(2:02:38) Kelly: Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
(2:02:40) Al: We’re not going to go through the individual cat.
(2:02:42) Al: Oh, sorry, did you have something else to say?
(2:02:43) Kelly: I was gonna say you should probably add to this list the kitchen, the, the cooking.
(2:02:47) Al: Oh yeah, I guess so.
(2:02:48) Al: Yeah, you can buy a kitchen as well and you can cook stuff.
(2:02:48) Kelly: Because you can bike it. Yeah, exactly.
(2:02:51) Al: It’s exactly what you expect it to be.
(2:02:54) Kelly: Yes. However, I got really annoyed because I unlocked some recipes and then I wasn’t high enough level, but you can’t get a higher level.
(2:02:57) Al: There you go.
(2:03:02) Al: Oh yeah, that’s weird.
(2:03:04) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(2:03:04) Kelly: Why show me.
(2:03:05) Al: I understand it for the crafting.
(2:03:08) Al: I don’t understand it for the cooking.
(2:03:08) Kelly: Yes. Yeah, I don’t need to know that recipe right now just save it for later.
(2:03:09) Al: That’s weird.
(2:03:12) Al: Yeah, yeah, that’s very weird.
(2:03:14) Kelly: Don’t tease me with that like that’s mean.
(2:03:18) Kelly: Anyway, okay, now we can go on to…
(2:03:20) Al: Right, we’re not going to talk too much about the story and the characters,
(2:03:24) Al: not least because we’re over two hours into this podcast,
(2:03:26) Al: but also because there’s not really a story yet.
(2:03:31) Al: And I think if we were going to talk about characters, we’d probably leave that till 1.0.
(2:03:36) Al: And it may even be its own episode if there’s enough to talk about.
(2:03:39) Al: But personally, I don’t know how you feel, Kelly.
(2:03:42) Al: I’ve not been particularly enthralled by the character.
(2:03:46) Kelly: No, which is interesting because I feel like my introduction to this game was like you said yours
(2:03:50) Kelly: was that trailer that didn’t match the graphics. Mine was, I think somebody screenshotted it and
(2:03:56) Kelly: was basically like, it’s like Stardew, but the characters are hot.
(2:04:00) Al: Which, I’m not sure, that premise implies that they aren’t in Stardew, like some of
(2:04:06) Al: them are.
(2:04:06) Kelly: Yeah, it’s just like in this one, it’s like they’re clearly, you know, yeah, like they’re
(2:04:10) Al: You see cleavage, that’s what they mean, right?
(2:04:13) Kelly: they’re at the beach, you know, in their bathing suits, flexing their muscles, like, okay.
(2:04:15) Al: Yeah, and I will say, some of those, some of their outfits, especially Junipers, are
(2:04:24) Al: particularly interesting, shall we say.
(2:04:25) Kelly: No, and I will say no, no, it’s clearly more adult. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And like, I do
(2:04:30) Al: This is not your kid’s farming game, it’s not like it’s super inappropriate, but there’s
(2:04:39) Al: some thirst, there’s some thirst, shall we say.
(2:04:43) Kelly: think there’s something about like the the overall design of the characters is obviously
(2:04:47) Kelly: more detailed and like, kind of like a cuter art style than stardew’s but like, it’s not
(2:04:53) Kelly: like by much.
(2:04:54) Al: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
(2:04:55) Kelly: just show more of the character like in like it’s like you got like a three three
(2:05:01) Kelly: quarter portrait instead of like you know a headshot for yes yes.
(2:05:04) Al: Yeah, I think they’re higher quality a little bit as well, the stargy one and much more.
(2:05:09) Al: They’re still kind of pixelated, whereas they’re high quality ones for this, which, you know,
(2:05:14) Al: it’s I guess it’s easier to be attracted to something when there’s more pixels in it.
(2:05:18) Al: Is that fair to say?
(2:05:20) Kelly: I’m sure someone would argue against you online, but I’m not going to.
(2:05:22) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(2:05:32) Al: So I.
(2:05:33) Kelly: Yeah, no, none of the characters are really touching my eye in like a personality way or like, whatever, like I talked to all of them.
(2:05:40) Al: Yeah, I think is I think some of them some of them are definitely have some they have
(2:05:42) Kelly: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
(2:05:45) Al: glimmers of a personality right like the the blacksmith guy he doesn’t like you and like
(2:05:50) Kelly: Yeah, he’s my favorite because he’s mean.
(2:05:50) Al: I and and classic all right Haley and I’ll get sorry sorry sorry my they’re basically
(2:05:56) Kelly: No, I go for Alex. Excuse me.
(2:06:01) Al: the same character just gender swapped and the and Juniper is like
(2:06:01) Kelly: It’s the same character.
(2:06:10) Al: very much like kind of deliberately crazy sort of thing and like that sort of stuff
(2:06:17) Al: so there’s glimmers of interesting things there but I don’t feel like we’ve pulled them
(2:06:22) Al: out yet and I suspect that is still to come I hope that’s still to come for sure
(2:06:26) Kelly: Yeah, same, because I feel like they have the potential, like, it they definitely have
(2:06:32) Kelly: it they have like a ton of characters, they have some interesting stuff going on like,
(2:06:37) Kelly: okay, potential spoiler, like the little kid quests like at the the Friday. Yeah, I was
(2:06:43) Al: They’re not three of them. Oh, right, sorry. I interrupted you before you finish the sentence.
(2:06:49) Kelly: thinking of the word. Like when you go to the tavern on Friday nights and you got to
(2:06:54) Kelly: go talk to them, and they’re
(2:06:55) Al: Yeah, there’s hints of a good story and good characters in there, but it’s not ready yet.
(2:06:56) Kelly: like, you know, plotting their little schemey.
(2:07:01) Kelly: It’s cute.
(2:07:07) Kelly: Yeah, or like, again, I think it’s like the,
(2:07:10) Kelly: going to the tavern on like Friday nights
(2:07:12) Kelly: is what really makes me believe
(2:07:14) Kelly: that they have a better story lined up or like more,
(2:07:17) Kelly: because when you talk to those characters on Friday nights,
(2:07:19) Kelly: it’s like, you’re getting a little glimpse into their world.
(2:07:22) Kelly: Like they’re playing like D&D style games
(2:07:25) Kelly: and like, you know, going in.
(2:07:26) Kelly: to the details of it.
(2:07:30) Kelly: They’re like making fun of each other for like the foods
(2:07:32) Kelly: that they like or like the way they handle things and it’s
(2:07:35) Kelly: like so so clearly there is more outlined.
(2:07:38) Kelly: It’s just like are they going to flush it out more?
(2:07:40) Al: I agree. So yeah, based on that, we’re probably not going to talk much more about that, but
(2:07:46) Kelly: - Yeah, that’s all I got.
(2:07:48) Al: hopefully there’ll be more to talk about if we talk about it after 1.0. I feel like if
(2:07:54) Al: they’re good, we could have a whole episode just talking about the characters like we
(2:07:57) Al: did for Stardew, but we’ll have to see whether they get to that point or not.
(2:08:03) Kelly: Yes.
(2:08:04) Kelly: Can I say one last thing actually?
(2:08:05) Kelly: This is not a spoiler.
(2:08:07) Kelly: I do think it’s very interesting
(2:08:09) Kelly: because I didn’t notice this and maybe I missed it.
(2:08:12) Kelly: But like, obviously when you play Stardew, it’s like,
(2:08:14) Kelly: Oh,
(2:08:17) Kelly: Hailey and Alex go together, Sebastian and, um, oh my God. Now all I keep thinking is Hailey.
(2:08:24) Kelly: Um, I can’t think of her name, the Purple Hair Girl. Abigail. They go together. I don’t,
(2:08:26) Al: Yes, abigail, yeah.
(2:08:31) Kelly: I haven’t seen that dynamic in this game yet, which is kind of nice because I feel bad when I break up the goals.
(2:08:36) Al: Yeah, yeah.
(2:08:38) Kelly: So I thought that was kind of interesting because I do feel like that is something that a lot of
(2:08:41) Kelly: farming games do. Yeah, yeah.
(2:08:42) Al: Probably because Stardew does it.
(2:08:46) Al: Yeah, no, that’s fair.
(2:08:47) Al: We’ll see. We’ll just we’ll see how it goes.
(2:08:49) Al: It’s early access.
(2:08:50) Al: I’m not going to complain too much about the story not being fully fleshed out.
(2:08:52) Kelly: - No, no, no, no.
(2:08:55) Al: But yeah, we’ll see.
(2:08:57) Al: It’s interesting.
(2:08:58) Al: I have one thing I would like to request of the developers if they’re listening.
(2:09:04) Al: So Stardew has two ways to go.
(2:09:06) Al: You can either go against the Evo Corporation or you can go with the Evo Corporation.
(2:09:12) Al: I would like the same here, but with the Royalty, right?
(2:09:16) Kelly: It’s very Scottish of you.
(2:09:17) Al: So it’s a monarchy.
(2:09:18) Al: I would like to take down the monarchy, please.
(2:09:24) Al: I just want to be able to work against the monarchy.
(2:09:27) Al: Is that so much to ask?
(2:09:29) Kelly: Is it very American of me to not even think about the concept of royalty and just say,
(2:09:30) Al: Yeah.
(2:09:34) Kelly: “Oh, okay.
(2:09:35) Kelly: Yeah, of course they’re royal.”
(2:09:36) Kelly: Whatever.
(2:09:37) Kelly: Exactly.
(2:09:37) Al: There’s people in charge, and I can’t really affect it.
(2:09:38) Kelly: Exactly.
(2:09:40) Al: And they just– things happen.
(2:09:41) Al: So I’m just going to keep doing my rural family life.
(2:09:47) Al: I also– I don’t think you can get very
(2:09:50) Al: far in relationships yet, either.
(2:09:52) Al: I don’t– I think you can only get up to, like, four hearts,
(2:09:54) Kelly: Yeah, I think I only got like basic heart events so far,
(2:09:55) Al: and you can’t marry a woman.
(2:10:00) Kelly: like nothing crazy.
(2:10:02) Al: And I didn’t even get that far, just because I was focusing on myself.
(2:10:04) Kelly: I was talking to people.
(2:10:06) Kelly: However, I was talking to the people.
(2:10:09) Al: I think it’s important to make sure that you know who you are as a person before you try
(2:10:14) Al: and inflict that on other people.
(2:10:16) Kelly: Well, I just ran around like a little gremlin
(2:10:20) Kelly: and yelled at people and then ran away and gave them things.
(2:10:22) Al: throwing gifts and shouting at people I will say I do like it does do the thing
(2:10:24) Kelly: I think that’s how you should handle life. Yeah, exactly. Yes, yes.
(2:10:34) Al: where gifts make sense for people like I was I was like oh what should I give to
(2:10:39) Al: Juniper and then I realized oh I have this midnight flower from the caves I
(2:10:45) Al: bet she’ll like this and she did so you know it feels like it makes sense and a
(2:10:50) Al: And a lot of people enjoy that sort of thing.
(2:10:52) Al: Figuring out the gifts.
(2:10:53) Kelly: Yeah, because it’s so easy just to go online and check the list, but it’s more fun to try
(2:10:54) Al: So.
(2:10:56) Al: Yeah.
(2:10:59) Kelly: to figure it out. I do both. I do both when I don’t want to miss a birthday or something,
(2:11:00) Al: Well, it depends who you are, but yeah, I like, I like that it’s.
(2:11:06) Al: Well, that’s, that’s the thing I like, I like when it makes sense and you can figure it out, but I also quite often don’t want to put in that effort, but I like that they do.
(2:11:07) Kelly: you know what I mean? Yes, I don’t want to risk it, but also I like the challenge of
(2:11:20) Al: Yeah, also, I like it when the thing that you like doing a lot gives you the thing that the person you want likes, like mining and juniper, for example, anyway.
(2:11:30) Kelly: - Yes. (laughs)
(2:11:32) Kelly: Yeah.
(2:11:36) Al: OK, cool. So I guess, quick conclusion for this, from my point of view, it is a pretty standard stardew like with a bunch of nice additions.
(2:11:48) Al: Or we didn’t even talk about the magic.
(2:11:50) Al: There’s magic, you get mana, you get mana and there’s a few spells, it’s not, there’s only a few spells just now, there’s one that refills your stamina, there’s one that I can’t even remember what the other one are.
(2:11:51) Kelly: Oh, that’s so funny. It’s not even on your list.
(2:12:00) Kelly: But the rest of your stamina, especially like earlier on in the game, is so nice.
(2:12:04) Al: Yeah, you get like a quarter of an orb every day of mana, and then it takes like one orb to do one spell.
(2:12:14) Al: And I think I’m at the point where I have three orbs, so you build it up quite nicely and it becomes a really useful thing.
(2:12:21) Al: Yeah, but it also feels like it’s very much bare bones at this point, because I only have three spells and only one of them I care about.
(2:12:22) Kelly: Yeah, I have three orbs.
(2:12:30) Kelly: Yep. And even that one I kept forgetting about for a while. And then I was like,
(2:12:34) Kelly: I would like get mad at myself because I would like, you know, be in the minds.
(2:12:37) Al: Oh see, I only do mine’s days now when I have two orbs of stamina, two orbs of mana, sorry, so you can get three full stamina.
(2:12:43) Kelly: Um, I know I used to use it when I would go into the mines like very early on when I had
(2:12:49) Kelly: like one orb, cause it’s just, again, you don’t have to carry another food, you know?
(2:12:50) Al: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(2:12:55) Al: Food, exactly, exactly.
(2:12:56) Al: Sorry, so back to my conclusion,
(2:12:57) Kelly: So yeah.
(2:13:00) Al: it is it is a pretty standard stardew like with a few additional nice features,
(2:13:06) Al: and it feels like they have an idea for what the story in the characters is going
(2:13:11) Al: to be, and I really hope that they flesh that out.
(2:13:16) Al: And if they do, if the story in the characters is fleshed out
(2:13:19) Al: and if quality.
(2:13:20) Al: life improvements continue, I feel like this could be a real contender for being a very
(2:13:26) Kelly: I have high hopes for it. I really do because especially with this most recent update,
(2:13:31) Kelly: I think they added a good amount of things. So I think from that trajectory, they seem to be on
(2:13:38) Kelly: a good path. I enjoyed playing the game. I thought it was a lot of fun. I think it has
(2:13:45) Kelly: a lot of potential. So I want them to expand it out further and flesh it out more. Like you said,
(2:13:52) Kelly: that I think it is a good contender for like it’s its own it’s
(2:13:58) Al: Yeah, cool. Excellent.
(2:14:01) Al: Well, I look forward to seeing where it goes.
(2:14:03) Al: But yeah, I’m putting it down until I have more to play.
(2:14:08) Kelly: That’s why when he said like, “Oh, do you want to do this?”
(2:14:10) Kelly: I was like, “Hmm, yeah, let’s do it before I forget the game because I’m not playing
(2:14:13) Kelly: it again.”
(2:14:14) Al: Yeah, well, it means I’ve done it for the year as well,
(2:14:14) Kelly: Yeah, well, yeah.
(2:14:17) Al: so I can talk about it in the end of your episode.
(2:14:20) Al: Thank you, Kelly, for joining me.
(2:14:22) Al: Where can people find you on the internet?
(2:14:25) Kelly: Thank you for having me.
(2:14:26) Kelly: They can find me at @rallamew on Instagram, I guess.
(2:14:31) Kelly: I don’t really use it, but it exists.
(2:14:34) Al: It exists. People can find me on the internet.
(2:14:41) Al: I am @thescotbot on most social media, primarily on mastodon.scot, but I’m on all the ones
(2:14:49) Al: that you’re thinking of.
(2:14:52) Al: You can find the podcast on Tumblr at THSPod.
(2:14:55) Al: I also have accounts for that on the other social medias, I’ve just not set them up yet.
(2:14:59) Al: So we’ll see.
(2:15:00) Al: Oh no, I posted Blue Sky this week, I think.
(2:15:04) Al: So maybe we’ll get there eventually.
(2:15:07) Al: But you can search for that and it will be there.
(2:15:09) Al: It’s the same handle everywhere, basically.
(2:15:12) Al: You can send us feedback from our website, harvestseason.club, where you can also find
(2:15:18) Al: links to everything to do with the podcast, including our Patreon, patreon.com/thspod,
(2:15:23) Al: where you can get access to the Slack and chat to our fun community and also get bonus
(2:15:29) Al: episodes of the podcast and planning the next couple of months.
(2:15:33) Al: I’m planning the rest of the year.
(2:15:34) Al: And we have some fun stuff coming up, so get in there for that.
(2:15:38) Kelly: And if you’re Jack, please keep commenting on Spotify.
(2:15:41) Al: Yes, you can comment on Spotify and I might eventually read your comments.
(2:15:48) Al: If Spotify actually send me notifications about them.
(2:15:52) Al: Otherwise, I’ll forget about it.
(2:15:53) Al: It exists again.
(2:15:57) Al: I think that’s everything.
(2:15:58) Al: Thank you, Kelly, again for joining me.
(2:15:59) Kelly: Thank you again for having me again. I love coming on these. I think they’re so much fun.
(2:16:05) Al: I enjoy having you too. That’s why you keep coming back. Thank you listeners for listening
(2:16:13) Al: and until next time, have a good Harvey.
(2:16:16) Theme Tune: The harvest season is created by Al McKinlay, with support from our patrons, including our
(2:16:27) Theme Tune: pro farmers, Kevin, Stuart and Alisa.
(2:16:31) Theme Tune: Our art is done by Micah the Brave, and our music is done by Nick Burgess.
(2:16:35) Theme Tune: Feel free to visit our website, harvestsseason.club, for show notes and links to things we discussed
(2:16:41) Theme Tune: in this episode.
(2:16:48) Kelly: oh my god this is a total side note and you can totally cut this out
(2:16:52) Kelly: but we have for Christmas decorations we found a Christmas cow and I don’t know
(2:16:55) Kelly: why they were selling like an outdoor light up Christmas cow
(2:16:59) Al: Well, I mean, what’s more Christmas-y than a cat?
(2:17:01) Kelly: but it was right I’ll send you a picture afterwards it’s
(2:17:05) Kelly: so cute we were like how do we not get this
(2:17:09) Kelly: like I don’t understand it but who cares
(2:17:12) Al: Amazing.
(2:17:12) Al: Yeah.
(2:17:14) Al: I need to see a picture of that.
(2:17:14) Kelly: Yeah.
(2:17:14) Al: As a side note, just to tell you, you don’t have to tell me that I’m allowed to cut something
(2:17:18) Al: out of my own podcast.
(2:17:18) Kelly: I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t mean it like that.
(2:17:20) Al: If I want to cut something out, I’ll cut it out.
(2:17:23) Al: It’s like, it’s, it’s all right, this is, this is, this is great after credits content,
(2:17:26) Kelly: Obviously, you can cut out my whole section and talk to yourself.
(2:17:35) Al: but it’s the thing that like, have you ever get those things where it’s like people posting
(2:17:39) Al: on forums or like Facebook groups and stuff and the like.
(2:17:42) Al: Feel free to delete if it breaks the rules, and you’re like, they would do that anyway.
(2:17:45) Al: You don’t need to give them permission to delete your post, that’s not how this works.
(2:17:46) Kelly: - Yeah, I’m gonna do it.
(2:17:50) Al: Just don’t write- like, I just- it’s so superfluous, like constantly.
(2:17:50) Kelly: Yeah.
(2:17:53) Al: It’s the same thing with like the description from Radopia.
(2:17:56) Al: People just say words, and it doesn’t matter, and who cares?
(2:18:00) Al: BLEH.
(2:18:01) Al: Oh.
(2:18:02) Al: No, don’t be.
(2:18:02) Kelly: Sorry for sending you on a rant
(2:18:05) Al: It’s great, we needed something for the post credits.
(2:18:08) Kelly: Yeah, yeah, I don’t know how else do you have a how else am I supposed to say that in like a nice polite way?
(2:18:14) Kelly: That’s not like I
(2:18:14) Al: Yeah, I know. I’m just, I am just, I am just winding you up. Just, just say, as a site,
(2:18:17) Kelly: Know I know I know I
(2:18:20) Kelly: Know it is funny though because I get mad over the same thing. I’m like just just say it
(2:18:27) Al: you can say as a site, no, that’s fine. It makes it clear. That’s all that tells me everything
(2:18:30) Al: I need to know.