Hello, it's me again! Something different this time, I'd like you to pick 1 of the 3 options, quickly!
Then, watch your chosen Octo race against the others.
Did you pick the right one?
Game Name: Inkwell Cove 😁 (Not yet released)
This is where we're at after 3 months of work, very janky in areas, assets are prototype/placeholder in several locations, and some animations need a lot of work, but slowly it's getting there!
Last time I showed some screenshots we got to like 140 upvotes which I certainly wasn't expecting, so thank you! This time, here's a minute of gameplay clips trying to show off various elements to the game, such as feeding and increasing stats, playing fetch/ with a ball, races, octoball/ soccer minigame, clothing items, parkour missions, underwater sections, and exploration.
This will be my last post for the month of August as I want to respect the subreddit and not spam updates in here, so if you'd like more updates feel free to find us elsewhere. The name of the game is Inkwell Cove, and typing that into google alone should bring up a few places you can watch more videos and see more images!
Also, I've noted previous feedback such as evolutions and breeding, along with facial expressions for the Octo's (pets). I was also thinking maybe they need to make noises? Like how Chao would do their cute little baby voice when interating with things, being petted, etc.
Thanks for checking this out, happy to discuss in the comments and listen to feedback! Keep in mind this is early and the goal isn't to polish right now, it's to get basic systems in place and ensure a fun game exists, even if janky haha!
Just something that 2 of us are working on in our free time using Unity. Some people may remember my previous post from about a month ago, huge progress since then!
Also, if anyone has any ideas, like things you WISH were in the original Chao gardens, then let me know and I'll take note.
Project/ game name: Inkwell Cove. (Let me know thoughts on the name too!)
If anyone here ever found themselves spending hours upon hours playing the little Chao Garden minigame in Sonic, then you'll know how badly we need more games like this!
The game is currently codenamed "Inkwell Cove" and the player is a deep sea diver taking care of cute little creatures called "Octo's"
Current stuff includes:
- Feeding/ Stat Increase
- Races
- Clothing Items/ Decorating Octo's
- Diving/ Underwater Exploration (To look for food, coins, items)
- A Jetski/ scooter to travel to other areas/ Islands
- Soccer/ Football minigame for the Octo's
- Markets/ Vendors who sell items (like chao black market)
- Enemies that chase you as you explore the deep oceans and islands
Only 2 months in so far!
Some of you may already know me from content on YouTube or Streams on Twitch, maybe you've seen me in-game, others maybe from when I used to Moderate the Splitgate server, or from QA Testing. For those who don't know me, I've been around 1047 Games products since 2018 with Splitgate Arena Warfare, and have over 1000 hours on the Splitgate games combined, and now 100 on EMPULSE already. I love the games they produce, I make content on them, I've helped them test and give feedback, and overall I'm relitively positive about their games and the studio (So much so, that people often call me a paid shill... lol)
Today I've released quite a lengthy video for my standards, detailing my brutally honest thoughts on the studio after everything I've seen, and my thoughts on what EMPULSE is doing wrong, and what it needs in order to steer in the right direction.
It's a fairly negative video but comes from a place of being constructive and wanting the game to succeed, along with the studio, and I hope it provides some assistance in making the right changes. If you want to check it out, I've linked it here, and maybe you can share your thoughts in the comments of the video, or here on reddit, which I'll keep an eye on.
For those who aren't interested in watching, I'll try create a brief TLDR below:
- EMPULSE is facing a large amount of player churn, and at the going rate it will be sub 1000 players daily, maybe even sub 700 next month.
- Valuable feedback will become impossible, as the game will face the same problem as Splitgate, where it's only a tight community of tryhards/ diehards remaining, which will result in feedback tailored to those users and not casual gamers.
- From my research, people think the game isn't worth it's price tag, and therefor are waiting around until it's further along rather than buying now. This wouldn't normally be an issue and it's kind of expected with early access, but 1047 needs purchases it seems, as they are laying off staff to stay afloat.
- I suggest putting the game on sale to attract users who may be on the fence at the moment, and we can slightly boost player count, improving the experience for everyone, making search times faster, and making feedback better.
- Bring back ADS rather than removing it periodically, don't ever remove content even if it's early
- Consider ending the referral system after people have been paid out, to save cash in future. (1047 pay $5 for every referral)
- 1047 Seems to keep building games they THEY as developers want, but not games that have the bones to be a commerical success, they need to listen to players more, even if it goes against their opinions/ thoughts.
- There's a history of being reluctant to add changes requested by players until it's too late (When player count decreases)
- Their games are always tailored to competitve players, great esport-style titles, but leave little at the ground floor for casual gamers to enjoy
- Casual friendly elements need to be a focus, where is custom games, map maker, theater, and casual modes in matchmaking where winning is secondary to enjoyment/ fun
That about does it.
I cover each demo build of this game, and it just keeps getting better and better each time. Currently there are 12 playable levels, 4 of which are bosses, and 1 is a knuckles emerald hunting level. The game also has remade cutscenes and the story mode that plays levels in order.
It's called "Sonic Adventure 2 Redux" and is available to download on GameJolt if anyone wants to give it a go. (Not my game, I just think it's awesome and I already have like 4 hours on this demo even though it launched a couple of weeks ago)
This is my first post here, so firstly I'll introduce myself: I'm Jadun, online known as Nadestraight, at the time of writing this I'm 29, and my first experience with the Chao Garden was 26 years ago, when I turned 3. I've played thousands of hours of Sonic The Hedgehog games, and hundreds of hours in the Sonic Adventure and SA2B Chao Gardens alone. Like many of you, I've been praying that SEGA / Sonic Team bring back the Chao Garden, and after many years of nothing new, I decided to take it upon myself to create something heavily inspired by it.
This is Inkwell Cove, a cosy pet raising game where you play as a deep sea diver, nurturing what we call "Octos" (They're just cute, baby-like octopus creatures)
You can pet them, feed them (which increases stats), enter them into races, play catch with them, and sail out into the ocean to gather new food, toys, eggs, find gold/ currency, and visit the local stalls to buy upgrades.
Right now this is only 1 month of work, there's still a huge amount of stuff to add, but I wanted to show this super early prototype.
I also made a YouTube video about the game, but I'm not sure if it's against the rules to post that here, so I'll leave it in your capable hands to find it via searching, it's not too difficult to find, given that my day job is content creation/ youtube! (Will post it here if someone can clarify if it's allowed)
All ideas, feedback etc is welcome! Just remember, superrrrr early and many assets will be replaced! Thanks!
Once again I got the chance to playtest Empulse, this time with a much larger group of over 2000 people! I tried new weapons, we played new modes, and I rummaged around the menus to find as much extra stuff as I could (gun names/ stats, hidden modes, events, etc)
I also have GAMEPLAY, and not the gameplay trailer! Actual gameplay clips approved by 1047 games. Enjoy!
Note: I cannot show footage of Empulse yet due to NDA, once this has been lifted, myself and others can show footage. For now, I MUST use other footage such as Splitgate. (Putting this here because people said I clickbaited the last video lol, I'm just trying to not get sued into oblivion)