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[Massena]

We've just increased the speed of the stars in the latest version, so check out the next video and let us know if they're fast enough! We slowed them down because they didn't really look much like stars when they moved so quickly, more like fireflies, and also you lose the parallax when you go hurtling through space as you can't really see them moving in relation to each other. We're hunting after that happy medium!

They look great 

*that* can stop the farm pioneer. :O

It can only change the farm pioneer, forcing him (it?) to live on the moon, eating dust till he can hitch hike his way back. On comets.

[Robert]

Wow, finally done. In the last three days it's undergone a reasonably big shift in gameplay and a major graphical change, but no wuks aye! Anyway, it's up on the server for all to download.

We've included a wee tutorial system and context sensitive help, but I think it's a bit unclear what's going unless you've read the readme! That's probably the biggest thing I've learned on this, making games accessible is really hard. Please post any feedback you have about playing it!

You can download it here:

http://farmpioneer.wanderingmonster.co.nz/FarmPioneer.zip

Now to get playing everyone else's...


PS: Mac and Linux builds pending!

[Gorman]

Well, i gotta say its been heaps of fun and a total pleasure working with the gang at WMS.

Anyhoo I must go play the game. Theres so many ways to die for someone who is unstoppable. He needs a jet pack or sumfink dammit.

*drifts in space, with no food and no fuel*

[Farmergnome]

same happened to me, apart from that I thought it was beautiful   This is like Christmas so many good games.

I vote 1 for a jetpack, or atleast a game over screen if you just get shot into the void with no fuel, maybe i missed somethin.

[Robert]

Haha yeah, unfortunately he is quite stoppable. =/ Still, he can breathe in space which is a big step towards the holy grail of unstoppableness.

One thing I did forget to mention is that when you exit the game your stats are uploaded to a secret server hidden in a remote part of the Amazonian basin, guarded by a tribe of ferocious warriors once thought extinct. We plan on having a World of Goo-style page where you can see people stats and high scores (if you get far enough into the game you can actually get a score! ) We don't actually store any information that could track you or anything like that, we trash any unique identifiers in a one-way mungification system. Sadly we didn't get time to have an opt-out thing in the UI, so if you are uncomfortable with that process then end the game with alt-F4 instead of through the Escape pause menu. Or just disconnect from the Internet when you play. Sorry about that!

Oh yeah also the high scores page from the main menu is fetched from the server as well, so it might change as we fix it up and make that page better.

[lowpoly]

man, being marooned in space is depressing
really fun game, altho it seems my original hypothesis that someone could in fact stop the farm pioneer was true. The Farm Pioneer's true enemy is himself (and maybe that cow, something about his unblinking stare gives me the creeps)

fun game, loved the atmosphere and the music. Who knew a game about sustenance could be so enjoyable!

[superflat]

Wow... really polished entry, love the Mario Galaxy vibe (even the colour palette reminds me of it).  Actually feel like playing this for quite a while!

[Robert]

Thank for the comments! We've taken on board some of the feedback we've got and put together a new build - I know it's after the deadline and all, but I figured that shouldn't mean we can't work on it some more!

The original zip file with our Monday midnight build was overwritten by this release, but we'll restore it tonight so our submission will still be there for judging and whatnot.

You can also check out our fancy new website: http://farmpioneer.wanderingmonster.co.nz/. We plan on adding a high scores table and stats browser there as well, and we'll add links to the mac and linux builds as they get done. Forums coming soon lol!

The changes in this version:

• Balancing some issues I found last night, in that you could easily breed so many cows the game bogs down to the point where you have to end it through the Task Manager... 
• Added a "to do list" in the bottom right which hints at things to do.
• Made it much easier to build your house and breed children.
• It's been made glaringly obvious when you need to eat, as we found that would often sneak up on you and you'd die suddenly.
• Made the truck get 40% more mileage out of every full tank of log.
• Wheat is a bit easier to grow.

[thecheese]

Is there a way to full screen this mamba jamba?  Is there a fuel gauge for your truck?  I think the window is bigger than my screen resolution.  Can I make it fit somehow?
Cheese

[Gorman]

i can answer the fuel question at least! the lights on the side of the truck indicate current fuel level. we tried to keep it so everything is indicated in game, rather than as a HUD element.

umm what rez are you running?

[Robert]

Is there a way to full screen this mamba jamba?  Is there a fuel gauge for your truck?  I think the window is bigger than my screen resolution.  Can I make it fit somehow?
Cheese

No, sorry, it doesn't go fullscreen! It is only 1024x768, what res is your monitor? If you're running at 1024x768 then you won't lose anything important, just a few bits around the edges. We could built it into the next release though.

In other news... stats! If you're interested, you can check out everyone's games at: http://farmpioneer.wanderingmonster.co.nz/high_scores.php. Say bye-bye to privacy...

[Robert]

Hi folks, another minor update: I forgot to take time deltas into account when jumping, so if you have a high speed computer you jump to other planets, and if you have a poo computer you'd jump an inch. Oops!

And we've also got the linux and mac (intel only) builds up and running. Links on the first page.

Happy pioneering!

[lukipuk]

The idea of the game is very appealing to me, also visuals are very good for that short amount of time ...But I find it very hard to control the truck (and it always gets broken and dissapears ) , and also the trees are reproducing very slowly so its almost impossible for me to visit other planets (actually its not very hard to stop me- I'm not very good farm pioneer ).
But overall the game is quite fun, just the controls need little bit polishing  

[Retro]

Had lost of fun with your entry, but couldn't manage to get more than one grown up child. Also, the tutorial text went by so fast I didn't manage to read it all and now there is no way to restart the tips. I've read the readme but I can't figure out how to refuel the engine. Also, are male cows with purple or blue eyes? And why is it so fucking hard to have a sustainable farm ? Trees grow by themselves but I always stay without cows and wheat. I can't seem to feed the cows fast enough and buthcer them. For extras even with meat lying around and lots of small children, they don't eat it and it just rots away.

I second a jetpack (with unlimited fuel). This way you could fly around faster (and not die without fuel), but still need the engine to transport more than one item at a time. Also, it would be cool if meat and wheat just wouldn't root away - it's hard enough already.

Otherwise I love the whole feeling to the game. Like Little Prince but with a Sim Farm theme Congratz on such quality in this short time!

[Wilson Saunders]

I would like to see retro rockets, or faster turn rate on the truck. It is very hard to blead off speed as you approach a planet with the slow tunr rate and if my aim is not exact I can look forward to a broken truck and a stranded farmer. Also mapping the intermediate plannets would be usefull since I accidently crash into them a lot.

[Robert]

Hey guys, thanks for giving the game a whirl! We know the game balance is a bit off, it was a bit of a mad rush to get the game out the door in three weeks which unfortunately left little time for fine-tuning. Our own faults though, we should have picked one section of the Pioneering lifestyle and focused on that.

The male cows have blue eyes, the other colour is meant to be pink for the girl cows. And yep, cows require far too much coddling as the game stands. We wanted to add extra buildings like a barn and a feeding station which would have removed most of the micromanagement from keeping your cows alive.

To refuel (and repair!) your ship you have to pick up wood and use it when standing next to the ship. If you look at the context sensitive help at the bottom left of the screen it should steer you in the right direction.

To re-enable the tips, browse to (on Vista) C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\FarmPioneer and delete "tip_history.txt". On XP it's under somewhere like Documents and Settings\user\local\etc... just do a search for tip_history.txt and you should find it.

And yeah, a jetpack would be a pretty awesome addition. Also we'd like to make it possible to visit other planets, at the moment there's really no point - perhaps give them different atmospheres and soil types, weather, etc. And have your children help you by picking up and planting seeds, perhaps even feeding the cows for you. And of course extra buildings to make your life a bit easier. Then we can add random events like meteor strikes and plagues of vermin to make your life a bit more exciting.

But that's all for No One Can Stop The Farm Pioneer 2 : The Pioneer Rides Again

[Retro]

Thanks for the info. I was searching the registry like mad, didn't figure it's in the local apps directory.

Looking forward to the sequel then. For a random title, it's a very interesting game, at least in the way you chose to present it. Since I like tycoons, when I played it I obviously wanted to create a sustainable farm that runs on its own after a while. But it's great how you put everything in this space environment with multiple planets. It just makes you want to play it again and again and explore different ways to approach the game.

[Oddball]

First of all, brilliant presentation. The game just oozes quality in every department. Graphics, sound, design, implementation were all excellent. The gameplay itself was a little too frantic for me. I prefer my resource managment games to be a little more slow paced. And at one point I crashed my truck into a moon then fell off and was stranded on a barren planet. I don't think I'm cut out for this farm pioneer lark . Good stuff.

[TheIncrediblePersonMan]

I just started playing this game and I must say that my first impression is very positive :D
But I need help. I don't know how to feed the kid, the tips went too fast. I tried to delete tip_history.txt, but I can't find it (windows search didn't find it either).
I drop food in front of the house but nothing happens. When I press the use button in front of the house, the farmer eats the food or does nothing.
Help. Pretty please with cherries on top 

[Inane]

Kid runs around the planet, not in the house. You can also only feed him meat I think.