Kynseed has 15 days to go and only 6K left to reach its goal. An update for Kickstarter mentions an updated prototype if anyone wants to try it out.

Prototype Update Notes

We've been hard at work making updates to the Kynseed prototype and despite being very busy with responding to issues, feedback, and so on, we have managed to add in some rather cool stuff for you to enjoy. Saddle up, because here comes the list of changes!

• New music for Nook (plus a new pass of music compression to keep file sizes manageable). Very lovely stuff!
• New area in Nook (mechanism to get there is a very basic rough first pass!). We'll be expanding this area in future updates.
• Named insects plus a new insect collecting mechanic using glass jars. Insects are shown on a new tab in the inventory which is a very basic rough first pass.
• Added a new trait along with a new recipe. Can you find how to get to it?
• The magic bean prize from the mini-game now has a new use!
• Lots of level tweaks and collision fixes.
• Player sprite's graphics and animations have been slightly updated. We've listened to criticisms of the big stylised hands and even though we plan on eventually having an artist do a proper update to the character we thought it best to make a few small tweaks for now to help ease the eyes.
• Player running animations have been tweaked as well. These, like many areas of the game's art, are temporary and will be getting updated significantly as development continues.
• We've smoothed out how the game responds to audio problems so that instead of crashing it shows a warning message and continues the game without audio. (This is still relatively untested so feel free to let us know if you run into any problems.)
• Screens with player’s items now have a title to better explain what you can do!
• New icon for feeding creatures (thanks Deb!).
• Glass jar is now carried out in front when going left.
• Fixed a sign to show keyboard/mouse or controller instructions instead of just controller instructions.
• When a creature (bee, etc.) leaves the glass jar, they no longer leave a weird mess.
• Escape on menu screens now exits the menu first and then goes to the options screen when pressed.
• Changed the trough task to mention water.
• Quite a bit of backend work to ease the process of making released builds.
• Various other fixes (including fixing bugs created with the new features).

You can download the latest version of the prototype directly over here or it's also available over on itchio here. We hope you enjoy this new update and encourage you to go exploring to find that new area that's been added in, not to mention finding the new trait which we think is pretty great even in its first pass form. If you have any feedback or issues with this update please mail the gnomes at Feedback@Kynseed.com.

 

Gameplay Tips

Lastly, here's some tips that we think might be handy when playing the prototype.

• Level up the fishing rod by catching fish.
• You can hold items on X, B, Y (1, 2, 3 on keyboard) and tap those buttons to put the item away while keeping it assigned to its button position. Simply tap to bring the item out again.
• Pay attention to proverbs - they contain very useful hints.
• You can stay awake past 11pm if you find the way...
• You can find out info about items with the query option. Just interact with the father and select the question mark icon (the right option).
• If an animal won't leave you alone, it's probably been set to following you. To tell it to go away just interact with it and select 'unfollow' (the right option).
• You can aim with the right stick on gamepad. This is useful for the slingshot, fishing rod, throwing, and making a spotlight with the lantern.
• When you get the Darklight augment for the lantern you can toggle between it and the normal lantern.
• When playing the minigame, use the lines of the stonework to better line up your shots!
• Holding Left Trigger shows the status of all living and growing things - and even their names!
• Look for a digging particle effect when the dog has said 'Woof Woof'. Make sure you have a shovel!