So for the past month, I have been drawing and tweaking all sorts of things. I went back and redid several character sprites including the main protagonist. I've also been fine tuning clothes for the player to wear. I plan to add more variety, but the base has been tweaked to my liking. Falling trees have been animated too so that the leaves shuffle when a tree is being chopped or falling down. A new thing that has been animated are bugs. I plan to create different insects that spawn based on time of day, season, and location. Some will be friendly, but others will attack the player.

Besides graphics, I have spent some time working on the story. The introduction and conclusion are planned out, but side quests and minor events need more thought. I still need to figure out how many side quests I want in the game. I want to avoid boring fluff far as the story goes. I have done a little programming too. Ideally, I will be able to focus more on programming the game within a month or two. ​

These past few weeks, I have made more progress with the tilemap for a basic cave. Crystals, traps, vines, and more boulders have been drawn out for these locations.  There are plans to add different types of caverns to spelunk through with unique enemies and loot. Traps and dangerous tiles (like spike barricades) will be a common threat in these locations.

More work was also done on the more castle-like dungeons. The colors and shading have been adjusted to be more appealing. The flooring has been redone to have more variety. The repetition was bothering me. Wire, quilts, and cracks were added to make these areas feel more rustic. These areas will also have traps. Players will have to be weary of fire pits, flying saw blades, spikes, and more.

This past month a decent amount of work was finished on designing the layout of the NPCs homes and businesses. This includes places such as a chicken coop, doctor's office, and a dance club. Lighting effects still need to be added to give the areas more visual depth. A basic template has been made for the player's home too when they have gained enough resources to build their own abode. I have a few more homes and locations to plan the layout for, but I am taking a break from this for the moment.

More recently I have been creating tilemaps for dungeons and caves. I plan to mesh more textures and decorations more reminiscent of farm and agriculture. What I currently have is a bit too medieval in its look. 

What I am currently working on, though, is redoing some enemy sprites. The front and back views of many enemies look good, but some side views need to be redrawn a bit so it looks like they are being viewed from a top-down angle.

These past couple of weeks I have been working on the interior of various buildings. A lot of work has gone into creating furniture with different styles. One of my big goals is to give the player several options far as types of furniture, wallpaper, and flooring if they want to dabble in interior design. There are sets of furniture that are fancy, some that are creepy, some that are very country, and others that are modern.  

I've also began designing the homes for all of the NPCs. It is taking time to craft them all so they feel unique and not mundane. Snooping is fun to do, especially in a game where you won't get in big trouble. I also want their home to clue in the player on the  personality and personal life of the NPCs of the farm.

 

I've also have been working on animating various agricultural animals for the player to raise. So far there are hamsters, quail, and goats. I wanted animals that weren't huge like cattle since I think that might hurt the immersion a little bit. I will add a few other types of livestock. Maybe chickens? That would be odd since some of the NPCs are chickens themselves.