Best Indie Game? And New Game Updates
We won an award at Game Con Canada! And we are still as busy as ever.
We promised in the last newsletter that we would be busy this summer, and this newsletter is just a peek at everything we’ve been up to in the month of June! From Game Con Canada to massive in-game updates, we have so much to show you.
Game Con Canada
Game Con Canada is one of the largest gaming conventions in Western Canada, and we had the opportunity to showcase The Rabbit Haul this year, thanks to Edmonton Screen Industries Office and their Summit Push Program. Both Isael and Courtney spent the June 14th weekend speaking to hundreds of passionate gamers about the game, equipped with our new gameplay trailer and our fancy new demo of the game. Thank you to everyone who showed up and said hi, and sat down and played The Rabbit Haul.
Isael and Courtney, along with some players, during Game Con Canada weekend.
Asides from all the incredible people that we spoke with at the booth, Courtney had the opportunity to speak with the team at Good Enough Gaming about the game, as well as The Rabbit Haul winning Best Indie Game from CG Magazine.
Game Updates
As mentioned in the Game Con update, we created a new, in-person demo version of The Rabbit Haul. This version is 6 waves long, with a tutorial quest line to introduce the various mechanics of the game to new players. During Game Con, this version of the game played around 20 minutes, with the fastest time being under 8 minutes! While parts of this demo version will make it into the final version, this iteration is meant for in-person tests only, to ensure that as many people can try the game as possible over the weekends.
New Tower & Crop
This month, we have added in a new offensive tower, the Sniper Violet, and a wild crop, the Blueberry Bush!
Sniper Violet
The Sniper Violet is a new offensive tower which shoots fast, hard, and at far ranges. This works perfectly in tandem with the Touch-Me-Nots which shoot bursts at short range, meaning the Trash Panda Posse won’t stand a chance! There will also be symbiotic relationships built in with this tower, working alongside other Sniper Violets to best protect your garden.
Blueberry Bush
Foraging has become a big hobby in the last few years, and one of the best parts of exploring in games such as Stardew Valley and Story of Seasons. So we wanted to incorporate wild crops in addition to the ones you grow in your garden. The first of these crops is the Blueberry Bush, which will grow randomly in the wild, and replenish similarly to the strawberries. It has a low sell value, but will improve your haul strength and provide you much needed nourishment after a hard-fought night battle!
Backswing Combo Attack
The first of our combo attacks is being implemented into the game, empowering your personal attack power with a bit of speed. By timing your swings just right, you’ll be able to swing, backswing, and then finish them off with an overhead slash. These combos will be locked behind the skill tree, which we will show you below.
Skill Tree & Out-of-Run Upgrades
We have been working the hardest on our out-of-run upgrades, which include our skill tree and unlockable items at this time. This is to give our gamers more reason to play again, with rewards being given for your hard work building up your haul and survival skills through the waves. You’ll be able to strengthen your defenses with unlockable towers and new skills, and build a bigger and better farm with new crops. As this system is complicated and time-consuming, we aren’t able to show you everything - but maybe that’s good, so we have more to show you next month!
Traduction de "The Rabbit Haul" en Français
Caldera Interactive is a bilingual studio, with fluency in both French and English. As such, we are making the first steps at translating The Rabbit Haul into French. This is the first of many languages we hope to add into the game, but those will be coming later in our development process. This translation work should be done by the end of August, so if you’ve been waiting, on y est presque.
July in Events
We mentioned in the previous newsletter that we would be attending GDX 2024 at Edmonton Expo Centre. Unfortunately, we have had to revoke our attendance to the in-person portion of the event to give us time to focus on new features, but we will still be a part of the Steam Sale! Please make sure to check us out there.
Finally, we want to let you know the state of playtesting: there are no current playtests scheduled for The Rabbit Haul during the month of July. We are still adding many large features to the game, and as such, we do not feel confident to show you a new version of the game within this month. However, there is discussion about reintroducing the May version of the playtest to our newer Discord members - if we do this playtest, you can find information on our social media or on our Discord!
Thank you to everyone who has read this far - here’s a carrot 🥕 (since rabbits don’t like cookies). We are still working hard behind the scenes, and can’t wait to show you more next month! While the sun is up and the river is flowing, remember to drink lots of water and take time every day to appreciate the smaller things in life.