🎥 Live Mode Stream + Head Mannequin + Split Households + Funny Bug Showcase
For today’s Patreon post, Alejandro, Charlotte, and Richard will be showcasing some snippets from new features as well as some bugs!
Note that this post is for Patrons only so please don’t share it. Thank you! 🔐
Re-watch: Tuesday’s Live Mode Stream
If you missed it, this past Tuesday we got to explore a bit more of the town and discover some new improvements we’ve made to live mode!🔥Caution: some chaos and midnight spaghetti did occur 🫢 Hope you enjoyed it!!
⬆️Watch the video at the top of this post to check it out!
⚠️⚠️ Note: the stream recording had some difficulty at certain points, sorry for any lag in this playback!
Head Mannequin
Hellooooo, Alejandro here! In a previous Patreon post, I shared a small showcase of the mannequin object. Since that, I added a new type of mannequin: the head mannequin ✨
Instead of putting on a whole outfit, it will use the head items that your Parafolk is currently wearing.
They function the same as the mannequin for outfits, but just for head accessories and hairstyles.
And vice versa, when you click on the head, it will add the objects to your current Para’s outfit.
It replaces the objects from the same Paramaker categories, so if your character has glasses it will not remove them if you pick a hat.
There is still work to do for the mannequins, and the head mannequins, but it is a good foundation to have so we can add way more outfit-related features later on!
Split and Save Households
And for a second thing from me today is splitting and saving households! I made this feature a little while ago but this is a good time to share it with you!
Splitting households will be the way to split your current household into two! By selecting a lot you own, you will have the option to split it.
In this interface, select one or multiple characters to decide who to move into the new household. So when the little birds want to leave the nest, this is how you do it.
By clicking the arrows, you can decide which way you want to move your characters and also transfer money.
And that is not all! I also added the ability to Save your own household in order to share it to other players on the Steam Workshop!
In the Paramaker, you will have an icon in the top right corner to save your household in your library.
There you will be able to set a different name for the household and you can also write their biography in order to add a little story for them!
And that would be all from me! I must now go back to my basement, until next time!
- Alejandro
Finding a Random Position in a Lot
Richard here. The question was, if I tell my Para to "go home" or visit a shop, where on the lot would they go? So I have added a way to find a random position in a lot! Considering that some positions can be blocked by walls or items, we try to find positions around your front door first, then a random place on your main house floor. If all those positions are invalid (are you building a prison? 🤔), we then try outside of your front door. As a final fallback, the Para will go on the sidewalk in front of the house.
The green lines are the random positions the game has found that are valid.
Again, some options we found in this house.
Even in my confusing house, we can find some valid positions.
This house is surrounded by walls (no entry point). We have to fall back to the front of the lot.
The front door is blocked, so we can’t move the Para inside the house.
Bugs Showcase 🐛
Charlotte here! There’s a lot to test in the game, so bugs are inevitable… Let’s finish off this post with a small showcase of fun bugs I’ve come across in the past months.
Someone looks a little stuck…
The void welcomes you….
Mondays, am I right?
Nothing to see here… see, even Roberto is going about his business !
That’s all for today’s post! Hope you all enjoyed this little medley of different features and bugs. ✨ Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. :-)
- Richard, Alejandro & Charlotte
Comments (110)
I’d love to see wild flowers similar to mushrooms with an ability to collect and have them in a vase
I want a supermarket, please developers, make a grocery store.
I like the addition of the bus stops and the General Store. It still feels like the para's interactions with the world is still a bit clunky :( I think it'd also be helpful if the events had a time attached to them.
This may be answered somewhere, but I'm curious about the maximum number of Paras that can be in one household? When pets are later added, will they take away from that number of household slots?
Is this the first time we’ve seen Marvin’s family?! They’re so cute; I love them ♥️❣️
I know I'm a lil late (been swamped at work). But the lil dig spots, are they going to be randomly generated or like a set amount hidden throughout the world??
Question, are Museum donations per save/per household/per individual para. Like if I start out playing a para called lets say Molly and then switch to a Para called Archie, does the Museum have the same amount of donations and I can continue to grow it within the save via Archie, but the history of Molly's donations would stay with Molly if I ever went back to her? Or could a child continue the collection started by a parent?
The game looks great. I know it’s early access, and I’m not sure how the final version will look, but the UI feels a bit too big. It takes up a lot of space on the screen. If possible, maybe consider making it smaller? I’m not sure if this has already been discussed, but it might be something that could be improved in the future. Also, NPCs should talk to each other. Right now they just come, stand around, do random things, and leave. It feels a bit stiff and soulless.
IDK if any dev is reading this but I have two small feedback from the stream. First: Paras Spawn on lot, make it random around. Inside building, 1 street away from it. Poping paras when loading lot is weird. Second: Don't be like the sims. If my kitchen got on fire, it most probably keeps working with some cleaning and small repair. So, instead of paying the full replacement, let's do some small fix that cost x amount of money while the full fix is a random number between item price and the small fix price (Let's say that you got lucky and only a burner got broken, or you got super unlucky and the whole pipe system broke down making you do a replace). Small fix will leave the item "fixed" but the quality of it will diminish, if the quality reaches zero the item will have to be replaced. Not a feedback but, consider adding eye camera view at some point. it is so cool to be able to see the world through the eyes of the character. Game looking great, keep it up!
this!
Didn't expect the housefire to happen at the very end of the stream lol Loving the bus stops, collectibles and chance to donate to a museum! It seems like super important additions to encourage gameplay in an open-world setting and I'm definitely here for it Noticed some clipping issues and found it weird that the front door opened when Camille walked past it, but the kitchen door she actually went through didn't open and she just clipped through it. I'm sure you guys are aware of this though and working on a fix, I just found it a funny little bug
this looks so fun i cant wait to play this game!!
I LOVE that you are using the steam workshop! You're creating such an open, creative environment :)
Carina is such a cinnamon bun. I would definitely like to see a stream where the para is being more of a menace. Say the mean options, be unpleasant. I enjoy being a mischievous and evil god. I also love the addition of the bus stop. Maybe we could have a cute little bus riding/drive animation screen rather than a fade to black
Looks so cool, can’t wait for May! One question, is it possible to turn of the automatically jogs when the para have to walk long distances? I would like my para to just walk normally on the trails, and manually click the jogging option if I wanted that.
Hi! For this feature, there won't be a toggle in game but it can be something that's changed using the modding system :)
I love the museum and how interactive it is! Though I have one question/suggestion, will the museum be empty in our save file if we don't collect anything, or will it automatically fill up over time so it gives the illusion that other townies are collecting and donating to the museum. As well as it doesn't force players to collect and donate just so the museum is not empty. I also wanted to suggest that you guys might make a townie that loves finding and collecting artifacts for the museum, and they've won many awards for how many things the collected or along those lines. And when a paras start join the "comipetion" they become heated rivals, and it's like the first person to get "x" artifacts will win something and will break the record of most donated artifacts (as an example). And I believe this concept will make it more fun for players to donate to the museum. Anyways keep up the great work, I can't wait to play in March!
*in may 😉
Can't wait. Counting down the days. Loving build mode!
Ah everything in the game makes me so happy! The care and detail can be seen and felt so evidently. I really loved seeing the walk up into the mountain area and stopping by the little general store! I can’t wait!
in buildmode. it´s kind of hard to see what are windows and not, for example. in the "menu" because it´s black and white like, "drawing" style
This looks amazing!!! I really love how you guys are putting so much love and care into developing this game. The atmosphere, the details.. Everything looks so good. I just wanna say that I dont think the night is dark enough? Like I dont know If you can see what I mean but it looks like it's still the evening despite the time showing that it's the midnight. I would really like it if the outside could be a bit more darker during the nighttime
Will there be sidewalks in the game? cause I would like to see more sidewalks it would be beneficial specially when we get cars. But I love how lively this game looks amazing work.
Hi there! Yes! Certain areas of the town do have sidewalks, the areas I was playing in this stream were mostly pedestrian zones :)
Absolutely not with all of those "For Sale" listings, I only want to see that if I'm actively trying to buy a property.
I like it, you see for sale signs in real life when you arent looking to buy
Love the stream! I do notice there's a lot of clipping with her nightwear, but that'll likely be fixed somewhat soon
Many improvements, I would honestly love to play right now...! But there are also definitely still many glitches remaining. Still, it looks so fun...!
I sure wish this game was coming to PS5.
Im glad to see bus stops.
If yall ever get theme parks those standies can be used for sims to take pictures in.
Please make the standies functional.
It would be nice that for the extinguisher you need to have it placed and the para goes to pick it up instead of it appereing randomly. But its all amazing!
This is something I said when they posted about the fires: I'm fine with it appearing randomly (meaning that it's not a priority/top wish for me), but it would be even better if it were an item to buy: so if you've been "wise" and equipped your house with it, you'll have less damages (your Para will be able to extinguish the fire almost immediately), but if you didn't buy it and a fire happens, it takes more time to extinguish it (nothing too dramatic, you just have to wait for the fire brigade, but as it takes time for them to arrive maybe more items get damaged; I wouldn't need animations or NPCs, even though that would be cool, a simple pop-up message "The fire has been extinguished by the fire brigade!" would be enough for me) In short, I think this would add a little bit of difficulty to the game and an element of chance/risk (maybe you have less money and you accept the "risk" of not having an extinguisher in your house... or you have to manage your budget carefully) edit: if I remember correctly, The Sims (1 or 2?) had something similar with the fire alarm: if you had it installed in your house, in case of a fire the fire brigade was alerted immediately and automatically. Something like that
I wish that when every member of the household is sleeping the lights inside the house turn off: it seems a waste to keep all those lights on! (min 23:12)
We have not given time to the automated light system, so it is really basic functionality, we will expand it in the future.
Camille bursting into Beethoven after losing her midnight spaghetti to a house fire felt so right 🤣
Looking great, loving the new additions. I do wish we could have cashier's that would do simple interactions for taking cash for goods. Nothing too crazy. I just think it's great for immersion.
bus stops??!? *S Q U E A L I N G* What a great new feature!
Stop! You're exciting me!!! Love it!
In the video I saw a lot of well known Paras hanging around, Sabastian when we started, he seemed to be playing a game on his phone while Kate was digging, lol! Then I saw Maggie and Oscar, and later at Kates last stop while talking to Paul, Sabastian's son, can't remember his name though, oops. Also I think Kate and Camille have ghosts, doors kept opening by themselves when there were no one around, they even opened the front door, that's not good, lol! Maybe it was the ghost that caused that fire, and not Camille's cooking skill! That second to last bug with that whatever it was, reminded me of the monster in the old scifi movie The Thing, lol!
i love this!! it’s so cute, but i do have two questions 😊 do other parafolks ever talk to one another? and are there any plans to have parafolk not walk through each other? i’m so excited to play this i already have so many ideas.. also i cant wait to see pets in the future!! 🐕❤️
the need ignored because of a para feeling stressed is such a brilliant addition!! you all really thought of everything! 👏👏
I absolutely LOVED this livestream. And I can tell you’ve come such a long way in just two months. The game looks amazing and so much more ready and just noticed super minor things. Love the new little additions and I am so in love with the town! Can’t wait to get lost in it
Oh...y'all are spoiling us with that map view of town, showcase of the castle, and businesses for sale?! I also love love LOVE how mountainous the town is, that view from their balcony is amazing 😍💕 I even love the forest and trails, all the little details, really. Y'all have been working so hard, thank you for all you've put into this game! I can't wait to play 🥹🌇 #SpoilUsSomeMore 😂
I absolutely love the addition of the bus stops/buses, can't wait to explore the districts with my paras by bus! The General Store looks super cute, can't wait to send my paras there to do some shopping and learn recipes. I'm loving all of the improvements and added features.
Is the house connected to the general store able to be lived in?
It is the same lot, so the owners of the store live in that house, so you could play as them and live in that house.
Hi Paradevs ! Thank you so much for this new post, which covers so many things ! I'll give my feedback about the livestream (which I couldn't attend) in a moment, and word to the wise it's going to be long, but first I want to address Alejandro, Charlotte and Richard's contributions. I really like the head mannequins, for starters, and wonder whether current plans include managing jewelry or glasses. Hand mannequins would similarly be great (for gloves, jewelry, nail art, etc.) once you have a framework for selective body part mannequins. "It replaces the objects from the same Paramaker categories, so if your character has glasses it will not remove them if you pick a hat." It might sound like a paradox after what I just said, but I actually really like that feature. The split household menu is... I mean functionally it's great. But the UI less so. I like all the information we have (including square footage is really cool considering how Paralives' lots are not grid-based), but the menu for selling/splitting/bulldozing/moving is clearly a WIP. It'd be great if splitting households came with a household-wide Together/Event Card ; maybe you can decide it makes everyone very slightly sad, or decide to pay a moving company to have everyone's spirit lifted, or eat a pizza with your friends after they help moving boxes... Like, it's great to have the tool as a player, but as a life simulation player I don't want to just manage pixels, I want the Paras to acknowledge the split has happened. Since the Together/Event Card systems exist, it'd be great to tap into this resource. Also holy sh*t how am I only now noticing the Paradimes symbol ! Had it been disclosed before and I was focusing on something else on the screenshots ? (how do you type a price in Paralives outside of the game ? P9,972,294 or P/9,972,294 ? I'm trying to think of posts, comments, and the Paralives Wiki referring to this currency with regular keyboards, once the game is out) "if I tell my Para to "go home" or visit a shop, where on the lot would they go?" I have not once asked myself that question, but am so pleased to see how the system takes so many factors into account to answer it. This is work that people take for granted in a game, but is very noticeable when it's missing. Thank you. Considering how free placement object is in Paralives, the blocked frontdoor would be something made obvious in Build Mode, right ? You wouldn't have to wait until you're in Live Mode to see it ? "Someone looks a little stuck…" Wow, a white man walking all over a Black little girl... the metaphor writes itself. "The void welcomes you…." You know what, I actually could think of a use for this when an active Para goes to sleep ! Now, on to the stream ! First I must ask : when is the next public livestream planned ? It's already late February, it's been a while since the last one. I've had friends asking me, a bit annoyed that the promise of more streams hasn't really delivered yet. 1/ The Live Mode has seen HUGE, undeniable improvements. It's always going to be a WIP until the game is out of Early Access, of course (maybe even after that), but I do believe it's on a great track. 2/ The bus system is the leading example of that. It's a great feature that's functional, and I love me a nice functionality. It makes teleporting feel grounded and immersive. It also gave us a glimpse of the Town map, and I like most of what I'm seeing. Being able to tell what POIs are near each bus stop is great, it makes it easy to navigate things even if you don't know the names of places or bus stations yet ; I just hope that in the future icons appearing on the map will be toggleable, for instance seeing ALL the places that are for sale when I'm just on my way to the beach makes the map look busy for no good reason ; it's a quite niche need for my Para to travel to one of those. Also sometimes I might only want to see stores, or only community lots like the museum/hospital/school (that's right, a school, I saw you next to Kate's house !), or... only bus stops. Speaking of which, I'm a bit sad that bus stops are [for now] only named after letters. I will NEVER remember that the "P station" (do we want streamers to talk about the "P station" ? XD ) is next to the museum, but if there's a "Museum" stop, or "Old Belvedere" stop, it's more intuitive. Where I live all bus stops have names after nearby POIs, or streets, and it's much easier to memorize. More cozy too. One thing I'll say is that I love that there seems to be a name for the line (PL135), and I wonder whether we'll have more lines in the future. Or the ability to create more lines (or an expensive taxi service ?) once we have world creation tools ! 3/ When Kate takes the bus, there's a fade to black during the transition (understandable) with a VERY cute sound effect. I'm fine with the idea of a transition during the teleportation, but not of a fade to black. I'd rather have a 2D animation of some kind, or something along those lines. It's very cool that the bus ride costs money by the way ; I know where my taxes go ! In the future I'd love the ability to change that however (some places in the world have free public transportation afterall), or create specific discounts (Kate is an elderly Para, for instance ; kids could also pay less or not at all during the school week). 4/ In general it's clear that a lot of thought has been put into traveling times, when you look at the different walking speeds that take distance into account. AND, I think it's very much needed to de-incentivize fast forwarding every other minute. 5/ I look forward to the standies by the museum's entrance being functional. But... wouldn't you be able to have the ability to pose with the Photo Mode anyway ? 6/ The UI for the "museum donation progress" is not very good looking (it's going to be so much scrolling !), but it's a very good idea to have a UI for it at all. Can I move the donation box inside the museum in my save ? 7/ The help UI is great. I mean, in a way it is an expected feature, and it does not particularly break any new grounds, but it's the nature of the beast to feel familiar to a new player. The other advantage is that it allows for the game to hold the player's hand less, because it makes help optional. Also, as a wiki editor, I'm going to snatch that content as soon as it's released, thank you very much XD I look forward to seeing this feature grow (maybe even with player-submitted tips in the distant future ?). Suggestion : a filter/search bar ? Especially because that menu will grow with later updates, and has tons of categories already. Allowing players to type a keyword or two would be great. 8/ There's a marked improvement with the Goals' UI, which shows pin/trash icons, but also a search tool, and a toggle to minimize any given list. That is FANTASTIC, but what I want most is that the green lines under each subgoal disappear or become less obnoxious. Too many lines ! Comparatively, the Wants' icon filling up looks much better, don't you think ? 9/ Why are the notifications for level-up in the middle of the screen (in such a large and obtrusive way), when there's is a better system of pop-ups (like when Kate picks up something at 14:00). And isn't the countdown until a Para has to go to work in a third spot of the screen, too ? Why are my eyes expected to monitor three different areas of the screen for notifications (plus notifications on the Emotion cards to the left) ? Later when Camille goes to bed, there's a pop-up text about her Needs/Wants UI about it, too ("zzz we are resetting") in yet another area of the screen. Why am I looking everywhere all the time, what is cozy about my eyes scanning the game in every direction all the time ? 10/ Similarly I do not like the yellow "!" on a white background regarding Townie Requests. It's immersion breaking. And as someone with acute anxiety, it does not make me want to interact with it, it makes me want to avoid it. To be clear I like the system of Townie Requests, I think the Townie Requests are a great complement to The New Paper, but I hate the notifications. 11/ It's also interesting that quests display in the form of Together/Event Cards. Does that mean Town Requests are... moddable ?! It's just a bit odd that the completed request thing (getting a Together Card to pop-up, but NOT an Event Card) was not very intuitive : why do I have to speak to Paul twice, aka spending 2x20min with him, just for a reward ? I don't even like Paul. 12/ I noticed in the conversation with Paul that there aren't a lot of emotional variants for Together Cards (you can say mean things about household members, or pick another card ; you can't just decide to talk neutrally about household members). I'm split about that because I like that there are clear decisions to make with potential for more negative things, which is good. But on the other hand, the other 2 Together Cards are completely unrelated. It creates a choice that can be frustrating, the fork in the road is too wide. 13/ I'm a bit disappointed with the loading message that pops up while loading the Museum. First of all that is going to be sooo annoying in the long term to have a pop-up every time I switch to a different lot, but the pop-up gives me nothing. But most importantly, Paralives was so proud of being an open world game without loading, and look at us loading lots now. I understand that it's a necessity in the case of a very big loat with lots of items, and that it might not fully be avoidable ; I was actually fine with the loading as displayed in the November livestreams, believe it or not. But now that there's a pop-up every time, somehow it feels worse. Maybe if the pop-up offered for me to read and/or do something in the meantime, I wouldn't feel bad about it. Like maybe the pop-up could remind me when I visited the place last, or provide a list of the NPCs currently on the lot, or offer a pamphlet to read (almost like an exposition shot in a movie/show !), or even display a RNG narrative pop-up ("The unique smell of old books and fresh mushrooms fills your lung as you enter the museum"/"You push the door and are immediately welcome by quiet footsteps and hushed voices"/"The peaceful atmosphere of the museum is a welcome break in your day"... God the potential for modding this would be out of this world). Something. 14/ I adore that the General Store is in a more rural area of Town, and the building is gorgeous. Although I'm disturbed that it sells wind turbines... INSIDE. Personally I'd rather see them at a gardening store, or a separate store. The random recipe is genius !!! God it's great when Paralives does things like this. As a general rule, I'm not necessarily interested in freebies, but I'm interested in RNG ; the more the better. More of that sort of stuff, more, MOAR ! See also my suggestion under the Feb 6 post. Noone will ever accuse Paralives of being boring when there's always a reason to travel around town. What a virtuous cycle you have built here, between daily plant/recipe/furniture/etc. and the bus stops. Now I really want to know if there's a store/community lot of some kind in the mountains, I don't remember seeing anything but residential lots there, but I might need to reread the previous Patreon posts. 15/ There should be some kind of autonomy rule that NPCs do certain activities ONLY at a distance from walls and doors (like lying in the grass to look at stars, for instance), both in terms of pathing and immersion. I don't want to step on them when I walk into a building or room. I also don't think anyone would lie down where the stars are obstructed... 16/ Regarding 21:15... I reiterate my suggestion that if you have a "4" in the Happy Emotion card, you should have 4 Wants to choose from ; and if you have a "1" in the Happy Emotion Card, you should have 1 Want to choose from (aka not a choice, but that's what you get for not feeling strongly about things). ...16b/ I also very much hope that at some point, positive Emotions lead to positive/neutral Wants, and negative Emotions lead to negative Wants. I don't always want my Para to feel better, maybe I want them to remain sad for longer because it makes sense in the context of the story I'm telling,or I'm going after a perk/interaction related to sadness (see also : https://www.reddit.com/r/Paralives/comments/1pasoqr/emotions_wants/ ). If I want to stop being sad, I have gameplay options at my disposal (I don't really need a Want to tell me that watching TV would make my Para have some fun) ; if I want to keep being sad, the only option is to not engage with the sad Emotion my Para is feeling ; there is quite a paradox here that I hope you consider. 17/ Wait... so all day Camille was at work, then she came home and we never heard about how she did at work, never saw her work upgrades, nothing ? The whole time the game entirely allowed me to behave as if she stood still. 18/ "Needs ignored" during AND after a fire ? For almost 12 hours !? Camille is playing the piano with so many arrows in her skill progress ! So basically after a fire I can grind as many skills as I want with no repercussions ? Do you want arsons, because that's how you get arsons XD I'd rather have a "Needs overwhelmed" situation that puts them all in the red, forcing me to work on my Needs asap. Why is the consequence of the fire that Camille can now think of something else with so much ease ? If it's something that major that Needs are impacted, it could instead unlock special Wants that appear only after an extreme event (special Wants like talking about that particular fire to other Paras to get reassurance, seeking mental health support at the hospital, crying for an hour, buying several smoke detectors and placing them, screaming at household members for their inattention, moving out even !). I think the idea of "Extreme Wants" that only pop ups in a very specific context like a fire, a death, a breakup (but not just bad stuff : a birth, a wedding, a diploma, etc.) would not just say "here, look at how upset your Para is", but actually provide narrative options to make it matter. In theory Paras will not experience a lot of house fires in their life (...I assume); so the game should make it count. Maybe a special "Core Memory" system using the Emotion card mechanics would do that well. Camille and Kate are not just "Stressed +7", they will remember this midnight spaghetti for the rest of their life... just like Rina said herself that she would if it happened IRL. 19/ Rapid fire round : I love the canon asset in front of the museum ; there's a way to pick up online orders at the General Store ?! ; the voice acting for Kate's voice is lovely, as someone who wants to play a lot with Elderly Paras I am in heaven because she doesn't sound like an Adult, she's clearly of a different age ; krr krr krr "The Lass Airbender" XD ; the sound loop for the pasta cooking is a bit too short and the repetition abrupt. 20/ Lastly... Please refrain from IRL photos in Paralives. I love Stella, but she does not fit in my game. At least paraliven her up a little, with some filter that makes her fit within the game's art style. Same with that cat painting in the Build Mode catalog (considering my late cat looked similar, it's even more upsetting to see this appear in the game). In general please don't insert the real world into my escapism, or else I'll ask for more things that feel real to me... ;) I am so, so sorry. So. Sorry. For the length of this. So sorry.
It is a long message but very appreciated I will delegate the ideas to the team! But thank you so much for all the feedback and taking the time to give it to us!
A couple of suggestions to make the town even more lively (it is already very much improved) it would be great if the townies could talk with each other; in a crowded space, there could be maybe some (faint) chattering sound? I don't know if that's possible or if that's too confusing given that there's also the music and the ambience sound, but right now it seems that if our Para doesn't speak there is complete silence all the time since there is the possibility to jog, random townies that appear on the scene could jog too: right now they all walk very calmly, maybe 1-2 people that seem to be in a hurry would add some variety in the street, every once in a while (not every time because maybe it would become annoying) two NPCs that cross paths could wave to each other people waiting at the bus stop, just to give the impression that we're not the only ones in town to take the bus! :-D someone talking on the phone while walking (but: could it be disabled if we want to set the story in the past?)
We are still working on the town autonomy, so we are working on the autonomous actions NPCs can do. For the Characters going through each other, is something that is a bit more complex due to our pahtfinding system but it is something we are working on as well. That is a cool idea I will let team know for people on the bus. For the phone, are working on the layering of animations, so it could be nice, but might be added later as we have other priorities, and to disable, that could be a mod, as having a setting for a single thing seems a bit much but it is doable for sure.
Awesome 👌 can't wait to play 3 months to go but after next Friday 2 months to go
What a great post! I noticed in another comment it was mentioned that a household can own multiple houses. How does that work? Can we set one of the houses as the 'main house' where the household lives? Or could we have it so two members of the household live in one house, for example, and all the others live in another?
Yes, you can own multiple lots, for now there is no Main property, so the autonomy of the Characters will take any property as valid lots to do actions in, so you can manage a whole household to live in as many houses you like, you will still get billed for each.
The town looks amazing, love all the care and detail you guys put into designing it. I also love the bus stop idea!!! And the general store, too — does Susan live on the lot?? It looks like there was a house attached. The improvement in the live mode is crazy when thinking about what it was like in December — the world feels so much more alive with more people walking around, interacting with each other and the world. I think delaying the game was a really good call, and I can’t wait to see what it will look like in 3-months time!! One small note I had is that I feel like the Para should have had some sort of visual reaction animation-wise after the fire 😅. She was very visually nonchalant for having just extinguished her burning kitchen
I do not remember who own the general store, but they live in the house attached to it! And for the fire animations, they are tweaks we need to do with fires, it has been a while so we are planning to correct them before the release.
Is there a senior discount for the bus?
No, but cool idea, I'll let the team know.
Great stream! One thing I've noticed in recent posts/streams that's a bit distracting is the clouds in the sky. I feel like they move a little too fast and they're not blending with the sky enough, like at night or at dusk/dawn the white color stands out quite a bit when they should be darker/orange-tinted for those times of day respectively. Now obviously this is a minor thing that shouldn't be a priority for now, but I just thought I'd point it out because I did notice it, with how wonderful the graphics look otherwise :) Also, graphics/skybox wise, I got a question. What does the edge of the map look like, since we haven't really seen it? Is there a backdrop of some kind, or does it just sort of end in a "void" for now? I really love the look of the town and how detailed everything is, so I hope that the immersion is kept there :) I can imagine some foresty hills in the mountains, crop fields in the countryside and cliffs/distant islands on the coastline.
I'll let the team know about the clouds, they were added fast so their implementation is really the basics, we will see it we changed them entirely or work on them more. For the edge of the map it is just void, but we added mountains that extend outside the town limits, so it is really hard to see the edge, but we will keep working on that too.
Love it, the town is so gorgeous and the addition of bus stops is fantastic! I did notice it seems quite windy. Does the wind vary or always stay the same? I also thought the music in the general store seemed a bit loud or was the volume just really turned up? It all looks great, my main thing would be that you can hopefully improve a bit on the clipping before EA because it's quite noticable but I'm sure it's not an easy task.
Yes, the music in the shop was too loud. I wondered if our character has the option to turn the radio off (or is that considered "rude" :-D) We do have settings for the music volume but that shop music seemed really loud somehow
I just wanna say I’m so proud of this small group yall are killing it and I can’t wait for this game 🤭🤭🤭🤭🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾
Seeing the stair in the last bug picture made me wonder, is the city in game accessible? I know we won't have wheelchair or anything but I still would love to see ramps and other accessible architectural details around the world and not just some from the house like the 'fake wheelchair'
Assuming strollers are eventually implemented for infant and toddler gameplay, ramps would need to be included for them to. No parent wants to get their child out of the stroller, fold it up and then haul both up some stairs if they can help it. It would also make more sense for small modes of transportation like bicycles and scooters.
Everything is looking great! Off topic question, will non-player characters be able to initiate certain interactions, like attempting first kisses, proposing, things like that? I think it would be a neat feature if it’s possible, and it would be fun if we got a little pop-up option to either accept or reject whatever the other para is trying to do. Thank you, you guys are doing amazing like always!
Yes, we have showed in the past NPCs initiatives! We are still working on the feature to tweak it.
It's incredible how much improvement the game has had after only a couple months. I'm excited to see what else you improve + add in the upcoming final months 🩷 The town looks really immersive too. The people walking around, the buses, so many buildings and nature everywhere, the sounds.
I agree! The improved NPC behavior makes a HUGE difference. What I haven't seen is NPCs having conversations with each other, I hope that is coming for Early Access too. Groups of people chatting in the town plaza would make the town feel so alive. Also the new bus stops are so well done, the map icons and the little transition sound, are you kidding me? 😱 So cute! The quest system also is looking soo good, really reminds me of the Sims 3. And I love the general store and museum gameplay!!
Kate met Paul by chance and so she could claim her reward. It would be nice if we could add our own notice to the board (just something that says "announce task is completed") so then we would know that if we go back later to the board we find that particular NPC there waiting for us (at any hour, even if it's the middle of the night; I know it's less realistic but this would be just a means to an end). I don't know if I've explained myself clearly: just a way to "attach" that particular NPC we need to find to a certain place.
I think if I understand when completing a quest you can go to the board and mark it as complete and the character of the quest comes there after X times, so you do not have to find him. If that is it that is a cool idea that I can tell the team about!
One question, are we planning to have paras interact with employees depending on their job function? Example, in the museum, we buy a few items and despite there being 2 ladies at the cashier, and a very nice section for the check-out with the line and etc, this almost loses it purpose by our para actually not making use of this and not being directed to the line to pay for the items. Also, is the “sale” option in every park + communal lot a glitch?
For functional workers is a big thing to tackle, as we are focusing on having a good foundation, for early access they might not be as useful as they could be but I would love to make them more dynamic depending of the job. And it is not a glitch but a dev tool, for testing we buy the lots but for normal players you will not be able to buy all the lot types. (It will be moddable tho)
This is lovely! You have done an amazing job as always. Adding a bus stop is a wonderful idea. Will there be physical buses in the future? Off topic here, but i had an issue with the roadmap where it didn't load and lagged a lot. Am i the only one who noticed that issue?
When we add cars we will consider the idea of the physical buses, as it is in the future we do not have a 100% confirmation, however I would love to have physical buses for sure!
Thank you for this week's post👍 I really like the decision to make bus stops and therefore move around the town more quickly... Since there is a sound for that I was wondering if something could show on the screen because it's just black until the para reached the destination (maybe like a bus icon or a bus driving on the screen something like that.....?) Also since there was a two para household in the livestream.... How does autonomy work in the game? Will there be different options like when you play as one para will the rest of the game household take care of their needs and for example go to work.....? For a game that will be released in only about three months it looks pretty 👍 (of course the clipping through and some animations (for example the cooking animations) could use some work but the progress you've done in the recent months is noticeable and I appreciate that. It is also really great to see a little but from the map / the map view also seeing in this post that you can split households is also cool 👍 Have a lovely weekend everybody 🙂
A simple drawn animation would very nice for the transition yes, I will tell the team. Yes, you can disable the autonomy, but it is on by default for the other Characters in the household so they will fulfill their needs and also do the activities they like. We are still working in many aspects of the game, however some things might be moved to the early access, so will will continue working on polishing as we go through the EA.
Also I laughed at the "confusing house" :-D Finding a random position in a lot to place your character is one of millions of tasks a game like this asks of the programmer to solve. These posts give really fascinating insights into your job
The live mode looks much more polished, great work! Are there also plans to have employees present in the shops?
We are working on that!
It would be lovely to have buses in town that takes paras from one bus stop to another :)
the bus stops are an excellent addition, thank you
Holy Molly, The town looks amazing. Can't wait to explore this beast of a town! :D Would be great if we had to read a recipe book before we know how to cook it, but I'm happy how it is if it stays the same. Really love that you show the bugs, I appreciate the transparency that most other developers don't care about. Enjoy your weekend! :)
The bus stop's such a cool idea, i love the sounds for it! The town looks amazing and i love how dense the forest is :) side note, it'd be great if "Replace burnt item" shows you how much money it cost like the bus does Also, I'm a bit confused about the quests, there's a "claim" button in the menu but then you also need to talk to the para to claim your reward? so, what does the claim button do😅 And what was that blurred thing in the museum? lol
About the burnt item, I'd like also an option to just discard the burnt item, or maybe 2 options instead of just "replace": option 1 "replace it as it were before", and option 2 "open build mode" so I can purchase a different oven if I want
I love the newspaper concept, however I feel like the photo of the dog breaks immersion so I was just wondering if pictures will be updated with in game pets when they’re integrated ❤️
I thought it was funny :(
I haven't been able to watch the stream yet so sorry if this is answered in the video, but I have a question! Does this mean that players will have to purchase more clothes when they want to add more outfits lateron? Or would this be a possibility? Because I remember this from ts2 and it was my favorite feature lol it would be so cool if this would be possible somehow
You can purchase outfits but all clothing items will be available in the PAM, so it is more a fun feature than a gameplay mechanic, I would say that a challenge where you only use the clothing you buy would be fun, but it is not a mechanic in the game unfortunately
I'm re-watching the stream. The lots with people inside look much better. Maybe if the lot is really big, like the museum, there could be more people inside? (the number of NPCs present is somewhat proportional to the lot's size) Also I don't understand, if there's already the option to "jog here", why make it that if I click "walk here" and the point is a bit far away, the Paras jog? I mean, I get that it's more convenient, but like I said if I wanted them to go faster, I just click "jog here", don't I? It looks a bit weird to see the elderly lady run about (good for her, I guess :-D) I don't know, I appreciate that it was made to make things smoother for the player, but at the same time I'm not sure it was needed since there already was an option to make them walk faster. Maybe you can disable this option? Maybe I'll just get used to it and find it very convenient? :-D
Yes, I would agree that having the option there and still overwriting the walk here seems weird, having a toggle to turn off that would be a plus, I will let the team know for sure.
I LOVE the bus stop! meybe in the future it could be a real bus driving around?
I would love to have the buses, when we will be implementing the cars, we will dedicate time to design if we add the circulating buses.
Love the new bus traveling feature! So smart and efficient solution for the previous traveling struggle. - Once cars and transportations come along during EA, are you planning to actually have buses circulating the town? And trains? Also thank you for constantly showing us new features, townies and houses! I love the layout and the look of the house shown on the stream 😊 would like to see the neighboring yellow house soon, as I’m in love with the outside of it 🥰
Definitely would be nice to see the buses, but we will take that decision when we will be implementing the cars, so too soon to say, but for me I would love to for sure.
Roberto is all of us on any given day in 2026 😂
It would be great to be able to use those mannequins to make an optician's shop so people could try on different glasses! (I have astigmatism hahah)
I can also see it working for the hairdresser. As some “hairstyle” manequins
My first mission will be to complete the museum. I can't wait. 😄
Same!
I'm amazed more and more every Friday! 🥰
That third gif is the stuff of nightmares omg 😭
Loving the new features showcased here. Can't wait to watch the Livestream during my break.
The bugs kill me every time :-D the Mondays gif is the stuff of nightmares, but "the void" can be a fascinating gameplay feature! :-D
So excited to play 😍🔥
Is it possible to own multiple properties, or where do the household members go if the household is split?
Yes, you can own multiple properties!
I wonder if this stream counts as elder abuse? XD Anyways, rhe museum is adorable!!! I also love how the bus system works.
I can't wait for this game release look so much fun.
