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Birthdays the Beginning |OT| Harvest Moose

Great OT Dandy Crocodile!

My copy should arrive in a few days and I’m excited to try the game.

Until then, I’ll keep looking at images of the beautiful clay diorama they built for the cover shot; not gonna lie, that boxart alone could have sold me on the game :P

There’s a cool photo gallery on FB where they show how another one of those models was built for a convention.
 
takoyaki said:
Great OT Dandy Crocodile!

My copy should arrive in a few days and I’m excited to try the game.

Until then, I’ll keep looking at images of the beautiful clay diorama they built for the cover shot; not gonna lie, that boxart alone could have sold me on the game :P

There’s a cool photo gallery on FB where they show how another one of those models was built for a convention.
Click to expand...
I REALLY wish they would have used the clay style in the game for the animals. Would have made the game super distinct.
 
Dandy Crocodile said:
I REALLY wish they would have used the clay style in the game for the animals. Would have made the game super distinct.
Click to expand...

Yeah, me too. It definitely would have helped to set the game apart from other Minecraft-looking games. Imagine a game with that artsyle and claymation-like animations :o

I hope Wada gets to work on the sequel he mentioned and finds a way (and the budget) to make it happen.
 
I'm excited to play this. I ordered the special edition through best buy, should get it Wednesday I believe. I'm hoping it does well.
 
This looks interesting! Reminds me of EVO on SNES and Populous, may check it out for the wife depending how complicated it gets
 
I was excited, but reading reviews put me off. Not a fan of how obtuse the game seems. It sounds more frustrating than fun. Shame too, I love the aesthetic and general premise.

I'll keep an eye on impressions here.
 
Nice OT!

I've been really interested in this game since it was revealed in Famitsu, but unfortunately I don't have a PS4 here in Japan and my laptop probably can't run it. I love how relaxing this looks, combined with the cute aesthetic.
 
Didn't realize this was out so soon till I got the steam e-mail. I don't have a PS4 to try the demo, but I'll risk buying the game anyway. Looks too cute and I have a weakness for dinosaurs
 
Has anyone played on Steam with a controller? It lists partial support, but I assume since it's on PS4 it has to work perfectly with a controller on PC.
 
Will be checking out the demo in the next couple of days. The premise is intriguing but the reviews put me off from buying outright. Definitely will give the demo a chance though.
 
The game is fucking great btw. I will say play the demo...if you like the demo you'll like the game. Its the closest experience I've had to owning a fish tank in videogame form and its just a ton of fun.

I will say its not without its frustrating....really just try the demo
 
Looks like the launch discount also applies to the PS4 version.

The game is available for $29.99 on US PSN, the 25% discount last for one week.
 
I just got the regular edition in the mail, and pleasantly surprised by the full color world guide included. It's not a manual, but still cool to get some art when 90% of my physical games just come with a single page of legal disclaimers.

Looking forward to playing this week.
 
Is anyone here playing the PC version? The port is a bit weird:

- Tutorial swaps between PS4 buttons (touch pad, left/right stick) and PC keys, telling me to use the left stick to move and C to move faster
- Bizarre key bindings; "." and "," to raise/lower ground (the action is also bound to Q/E and left/right click, but the game doesn't tell you this) with no way to rebind
- There doesn't appear to be a "quit to desktop" option

I'm actually having a lot of fun with it, but I might try plugging in a controller and seeing if that alleviates some issues.

Also, does anyone know how to use the river source item? It tells me I need to do it on a 3x3 piece of land, but when I resize the cursor and fly over a flat piece of land the item is still grayed out.
 
Tapejara said:
Is anyone here playing the PC version? The port is a bit weird:

- Tutorial swaps between PS4 buttons (touch pad, left/right stick) and PC keys, telling me to use the left stick to move and C to move faster
- Bizarre key bindings; "." and "," to raise/lower ground (the action is also bound to Q/E and left/right click, but the game doesn't tell you this) with no way to rebind
- There doesn't appear to be a "quit to desktop" option

I'm actually having a lot of fun with it, but I might try plugging in a controller and seeing if that alleviates some issues.

Also, does anyone know how to use the river source item? It tells me I need to do it on a 3x3 piece of land, but when I resize the cursor and fly over a flat piece of land the item is still grayed out.
Click to expand...
It specifically needs a 3x3 piece of land, not just a 3x3 area in a larger land expanse. So raise up that specific amount the use the item in the center tile.
 
I thought this game was going to be a bit more interesting, but it really is about creating life and watching it do like four things or so. It's good for when you wanna relax, but not what I was hoping it was going to be.
 
I ended up playing for two hours straight without planning to. Finished the second scenario. Be sure to save regularly people, preferably after you've finished an objective. I ended up really messing up my world and had to reload a save three objectives earlier.

Dandy Crocodile said:
It specifically needs a 3x3 piece of land, not just a 3x3 area in a larger land expanse. So raise up that specific amount the use the item in the center tile.
Click to expand...

That was it! I must have skipped over the message saying it needed to be 1T in height.
 
Got my copy yesterday but might not get around to it until I finish some other games. The limited edition is really nice. Might see if I can get a frame for the art print.
 
Tapejara said:
I ended up playing for two hours straight without planning to. Finished the second scenario. Be sure to save regularly people, preferably after you've finished an objective. I ended up really messing up my world and had to reload a save three objectives earlier.



That was it! I must have skipped over the message saying it needed to be 1T in height.
Click to expand...
I honestly can't recall the tutorial saying that, just specifying 3x3. I made the same mistake as you initially, haha.

But yes, I agree that everybody needs to keep saves at each birth milestone during an episode. Makes it much easier and you won't go into a panic like me when you need a bunch of cyclomedusa and they suddenly decide to go extinct. :P
 
huh this is the first I've seen/heard of this game but it looks super cute, I'm usually pretty bad at creating stuff but this seems like fun? Looks like something I might have to pick up, I guess it's not out till the 12th in Europe but hey
 
I had to (Scenario 3 spoilers)
kill the dinosaurs to make way for mammals. I feel bad, they were so cute too!

Dandy Crocodile said:
I honestly can't recall the tutorial saying that, just specifying 3x3. I made the same mistake as you initially, haha.

But yes, I agree that everybody needs to keep saves at each birth milestone during an episode. Makes it much easier and you won't go into a panic like me when you need a bunch of cyclomedusa and they suddenly decide to go extinct. :P
Click to expand...

When I reloaded my save it actually took me back to when I had to set up the river, and Navi said it needed to be 1T high. I think I was just kind of mashing through the text the first time through :p.
 
Neuromancer said:
How do you increase water temperature?

Also does a free mode/sandbox mode ever open up?
Click to expand...
Yes! The free mode is unlocked after completing the four story episodes.

I personally increase water temperature by lowering bodies of water to decrease the temp of the total climate. Dunno if that's the proper way or not but it's worked for me!
 
Neuromancer said:
How do you increase water temperature?

Also does a free mode/sandbox mode ever open up?
Click to expand...

From how I understand it:

More water -> higher world temperature -> higher water temperature, whereas less water/more land -> lower world temperature -> colder water. Shallow water will always be warmer than deep water. Once you've increased the amount of water in the world, you have to use the fast forward function of whatever it's called to start time. The water should eventually warm as the world temperature rises, though I believe the water does take a bit longer to warm up compared to the ground.

Also, Free Play unlocks either once you finish the tutorial or the first scenario. Can't remember which, but it shouldn't take too long.

Dandy Crocodile said:
Yes! The free mode is unlocked after completing the four story episodes (don't remember which).

I personally increase water temperature by lowering bodies of water to decrease the temp of the total climate. Dunno if that's the proper way or not but it's worked for me!
Click to expand...

Free mode and challenge mode actually unlocked for me after I beat the tutorial or the first scenario.
 
This is an oddly engrossing game.

I expected to play the tutorial and go back to Prey, but ended up playing all night.

The only knock I have so far is that the items are a little obtuse. The game throws multiple items at you and half-explains them.

From my understanding, there's:

- items that shine a light or cool a specific area. I assume this will be used eventually to create differentiated biomes

- items that evolve creatures faster

- and item that creates a waterfall in a plateau


The question is, why would I use the item that evolved creatures? It's only asking for trouble, since your environment won't be stable enough yet to sustain that creature, no?

I love the art on the manual, but I also wish it was twice as big so it could also explain all the items.


Finally -- love the evolution tree. It's going to be fun to fill it out :)
 
I saw this on the NIS store page, but never really paid it any mind. Thanks for creating the OT and turning me on to the game! I just finished the demo and ordered a copy of the Limited Edition! I've missed "God Games" like this. It kind of strikes a similar chord to me as SimEarth did back on SNES. I'm looking forward to getting into the full game
 
Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
My 6, 8, and 9 years old daughters love Minecraft & the MySims games, so I'm thinking they'd get a big kick out of this as well.
Click to expand...
Just note that this is nothing like Minecraft despite the visual style of the land!
It's a lot of delicate tweaking of environments for the chance to birth some creatures that start off pretty boring in their actions. It takes a while and some effort to have stuff like dinosaurs but if you played with them it might be a fun learning opportunity for everybody. They'll be saying Australopithecus before you know it!
 
Dandy Crocodile said:
Just note that this is nothing like Minecraft despite the visual style of the land!
It's a lot of delicate tweaking of environments for the chance to birth some creatures that start off pretty boring in their actions. It takes a while and some effort to have stuff like dinosaurs but if you played with them it might be a fun learning opportunity for everybody. They'll be saying Australopithecus before you know it!
Click to expand...


Agreed, but it's also kind of a subtle and delicate introduction to the concepts of evolution and climate.

I'd want my kids to play it.
 
Emouse said:
huh this is the first I've seen/heard of this game but it looks super cute, I'm usually pretty bad at creating stuff but this seems like fun? Looks like something I might have to pick up, I guess it's not out till the 12th in Europe but hey
Click to expand...

there is a demo out for the eu psn too i believe.
 
This game actually has a lot in common with what I had in mind for an indie game (artificial life sandbox), even down to the constraint of having a single height per map square to keep things simple for the AI. It's nice to see the genre's still alive and see some of that in action.
 
how have I never heard of this until reading this OT!? Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada!? Farming...with ALIENS!?

Oh dear God what a delightful surprise to stumble onto!

*CLICK BUY IMMEDIATELY*
 
Has anyone played through the third scenario? I'm stuck at the part where
I have to birth the first mammal
, but I can't seem to land on the right conditions.

Edit: I figured it out. I hadn't created the previous organism in the evolution tree. Ended up using the Seed of Evolution just to speed it up because I was so frustrated lol.
 
Cow Mengde said:
Oh shit!? How did I miss this game. I didn't know about it existing until accidentally clicking this thread.
Click to expand...

Seriously! Although responses to this game seem particularly tepid.

Can any former Harvest Moon fans tell me how much this will scratch that itch? And yes I played Stardew Valley to death, want to know about this lol ;)
 
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