Hello Seedlings,

The time is nearly here for you all to eagerly leap upon the goods cart as it leaves the castle. We are still working away by candlelight, tuning and polishing our humble game for you. The scribes in the cellar have nearly finished the text, but there is still more going in as we speak.

There are over 125,000 words in the game, and we have gone through thousands of quills and barrels of ink. We have to prioritise our time with a small team, so our lantern focus is on the initial launch.
This means that on Dec 6th, V1.0 of Kynseed will be English-language only.

We feel that every item description, piece of lore, wordplay, pun and babble of charming dialogue deserves the love and attention our community will appreciate; as they cross time zones and language barriers for your pleasure.



We will be working with our localisation partners to ensure justice is done and that those who speak the many wonderful languages of the world can enjoy the game without having to work out what on earth most of the jokes and references are. It’s hard enough in English, never mind German, Portuguese, or Korean!

We will post a Localisation Roadmap in the next month or so, detailing when you can expect a translation and where in the world our flying pigs will land.

Until next time, Friends of the world.

Love,

Hello Seedlings!

Please enjoy this little crafting trailer.
In the game you can cook 7 different types of recipe; craft potions, powders and creams at your apothecary and make 10 different items with 8 different metals in the blacksmiths.
Each has their own tactile minigame for you to try.
Without further ado...





Til next time.
Love,

Hello Seedlings!

Soon you will be Seedlings no more, but beautiful, growing trees.

Our street date for V1.0 is December 6th 2022!

That is the time we open the castle portcullis, after many years of crafting, scribbling and redecorating and send our creation out into the eager arms of our loving community.

Guided by your feedback we will be continuing to tweak, balance and polish V1.0 while mixing meaty new content for your gaming pie.

The tavern update will follow early in 2023 with beer crafting, entertainment hiring and mopping up the mess from happy gnomes and fairies. The months after will bring two large story updates with more characters, events and intrigue.

We also found a mysterious cloaked figure lost in our castle dungeon (it’s a deathtrap down there!).

When he revealed who he was, we discovered it was gaming legend, Sir Ian Livingstone!

Sir Ian is best known as one of the founders of Games Workshop (Warhammer), co-creator of the Fighting Fantasy series of adventure gamebooks, Eidos (Tomb Raider) and a General Partner at Hiro Capital. Sir Ian is an investor, advisor and business mentor at PixelCount, and has lent his decades of expertise in gameplay mechanics to the development of Kynseed.

Here is what he had to say…

“When I first discovered Kynseed, I immediately wanted to find out more about the team behind it,” said Sir Ian Livingstone. “I reached out to Neal and Charlie in 2020 and learned that they were former members of the Fable team at Lionhead. To my mind, Kynseed was a game with incredible potential, and I wanted to help them bring their vision to the world. There is so much to do when playing Kynseed, from exploring, questing, foraging, farming, and crafting to thrilling combat with strange creatures. The combat alone deserves to be a game in itself! I hope people will enjoy Neal and Charlie’s beautifully-crafted game because what they have developed is something rather special.”

Sir Ian now sits like a warlock in our highest tower as chairman of PixelCount. His invaluable experience, guidance and skills have proven to be a great boon for the game.



We want to take a moment to thank you all for your tremendous support over the years.

To quote our co-founder Neal…"Kynseed is the game we’ve always dreamed of making,"

This dream wouldn’t exist without our community and those who took a chance on our humble little (little?!) game, so for that, we are eternally grateful and hope you enjoy V1.0 and the start of a deeper story.

Love

That's right, you heard it here folks! Kynseed is finally reaching the end of it's Early Access path and we are happy to share that the release date will be December 6th 2022!

The team at PixelCount is ecstatic to finally be able to give you the news you've been waiting for and we hope you are looking as forward to the release as we are! Keep your eyes peeled on our socials over the next month for a variety of treats. Let us know what you think of the new look!

See you in the Vale soon,



~~~~~~

P.s. Don't forget you can join us on Discord to discuss the game and chat with the devs.

Hello Seedlings!

It’s been an incredibly busy time here at the Castle as we polish everything with our very finest cloths and the best ear wax we could find.

We don’t have much to show this week, except for this lovely little tease of artwork…



Just what is it? What could it possibly mean?

It’s all starting to get very exciting down here in the cellars, where we continue to craft our magic.
Bugs are being fixed, polish is being applied and the art of balancing is underway.

We even sneaked in a few extra Fairweather items which our Art Dept are busy creating the art for today.
Cutscenes are being tidied, sounds are being applied and lots of playtesting is going on.

So keep your eyes peeled for much more goodness coming in the very near future and we would love to hear your thoughts and comments below on the magnificent art above, as well as anything else.

Til next time, friends,

Love,

Hello Seedlings!

A bit of a late update this week as we awaited a slightly delayed dev build with all sorts of goodies held within. The blacksmith crafting is one feature that underwent a much-needed revamp (and our final bit of UI that needed updating to the new way).

The minigame stays much the same, with some behind-the-scenes tweaks, but the actual crafting part was visually upgraded and given an extra ‘feel’.

CRAFTING FOR APPRENTICES



So, how does one go about forging their own masterpieces? Firstly select a mould from the range on offer. Moulds can be purchased from the various Smithy’s or given if you buy their shop. Then you can select an ore type and its Quality.

Fae ores have mystical properties and make the targets in the minigame move around and even phase in and out! All ores have a base Flexibility that affects the minigame. It also has Durability, and the aim is to make that as high as possible. A bar in the top left shows your Quality progress. Star rating also affects the minigame - the better the ore, the harder the crafting!

The first stage is simply to puff those bellows to heat the pure ore and melt it into the mould. You must then heat up the metal bar, stopping the gauge in the green zone if you can.

With the metal nice and pliable, we can now hammer it on the anvil. The aim is to try to cover the rings with the hammer.

Your Strength stat comes into play here. You get 1 hit per 1 point of stat. Each hit scores points (or loses them if you miss!). If you get three misses, you break it and lose the item. The indicators in the top left of the UI show your misses.

Then it is time to cool it, and this plays much the same as heating. Press a button to start the arrow and again to stop in the scoring zone. If you have made a sickle or sword, you get one extra stage - the grindstone! Here you must remove all the green areas. Miss them, and things start to turn red, losing you sharpening points. You are then scored, and the average of Ore Quality, Durability and Sharpness is totted up for your overall score.

You may then keep the item on you or send it to the Orders shelf or the Stock Cupboard.

We hope you enjoyed that glimpse. We have a few polishing bits to do, such as making the results screen pop animate and have nice sounds; the grindstone to have its arrows added and then we will balance it all.

Until next week, crafty friends.

Love

Hello Seedlings!

Here we go with QnA numero 6!

~~~~~~

Q: Are many of your characters based on real folklore?
A: Quite a few of the characters and monsters are based on folklore. Pott the Brounie, Knockers, certain Hags, our own version of Black Shuck among others. We also have a couple based on nursery rhymes such as Old Mother Hubbard and The Old Woman Who Lives in a Shoe.

Q: What is your favourite feature so far?
A: Each member of the team has a different fave feature no doubt. Our combat is strong enough to be a game in itself. The cooking is great fun and very tactile, and running the stores is very involved for those who want to really roleplay.

Q: How many NPCs are there in the first generation?
A: There are almost 60 bespoke first-gen NPC's who are affected by the ravages of time and over 20 NPCs who are pretty much immortal.

Q: Do you have a go-to name for any particular animal?
A: As a sheep-rider (the fleece is comfier for my bottom) I like to explore the world on Mutton Chops.

Q: How many proverbs are there to collect in total?
A: There are around 900 proverbs and star ratings to fill in.

Q: Can we expect to see regular hot-fixes after launch?
A: You certainly can if there are any bad bugs or balancing issues need addressing! However, we hopefully will be able to just concentrate on our major updates with all that juicy content gravy for you to pour on the feast that is 1.0.

Q: Can you tell us about a funny bug you've experienced during development?
A: Not only can we tell you, we can show you! Only yesterday we had a little physics issue as we worked on throwing physics, that had a slight knock on for the migrating chickens...



Q: Do you prefer ketchup or mayonnaise with your chips?
A: Question to you...why wouldn't you have both?

~~~~~~




Thanks for tuning in, don't forget to submit your questions for next week!



~~~~~~

P.s. You can also join us on Discord!

Hello Seedlings!

Welcome to our Wednesday update, brought to you by the letters U and I. Yes, that’s right! A look at some more UI happenings. We hope you don’t get so excited you fall off your racing pigs.

First up is the Main pause menu.



From here, you can change your options, view progress...



...and most thrillingly, access helpful, quick guides.



We have overhauled every game screen and menu; from the selling table and bartering to combat loadout and NPC chat. It all adds a lovely layer of polish that looks great and is a pleasure to use.




That’s it for this week. A lot is going on in the castle as we prepare for 1.0, but we have our Gnomes reading your questions, feedback and comments, so keep them coming.

Until next time, friends.

Love

Hello Seedlings!

Our fifth QnA is here to brighten your Monday!

~~~~~~

Q: Will Kynseed ever support mods?
A: Yes we will happily be supporting mods post-release.

Q: Are there any plans for character customisation e.g. hairstyles or clothes?
A: The player can change hair and clothing colours within the game (and initially set their skin tone) but for the moment there are no plans for changing hair or clothing style on your current character. The characters you can become do have various hairstyles though to help mix it up.

Q: Will there ever be a way to pause ageing for those not interested in generational play/villagers dying?
A: Currently there are no plans, but after recent feedback we may consider such an Accessibility option in the future.

Q: Could we get a sneak peak at one of the new 1.0 Fairweather items?
A: We could do, but it would cost you years of your life. Mr Fairweather is very insistent.

Q: Where is the best place to get help when I am stuck?
A: With the release of 1.0, we will have a fully featured Wiki; an in-game How to Play section within the Options Menu; Bubble Help and various Help screens and guides.

Q: Will there be any form of pre-order bonus for buying before launch?
A: We hope so. We are actively looking into this right now. What would you like to see?

Q: Where is PixelCount located?
A: We are based in Guildford in the UK, but the team (there are currently twelve of us) are strung all over the place like spaghetti on trees. North and South England, Wales and even Australia!

Q: Do you ever plan to do any streams as developers?
A: We do indeed plan to do some streams for you around launch and post-launch.

~~~~~~




See you again next week!



~~~~~~

P.s. You can also join us on Discord!

Hello there, dreaming ones,
Name is Pott, let’s have some fun.
I’m the Brounie of yer farm,
I keep it clean and cause no harm.

Just put offerings out each day,
And I’ll keep things right while yer away.
Forget though and I’ll be mad,
With varied jinxes to be had.

One day that you’ve forgotten.
And I will turn yer apples rotten.

Two days is another hurdle,
I’ll make all yer cow’s milk curdle!

Three days missed then yer mistaken,
No more honey can be taken.

Forget for four days in a row,
Yer farm’s fish won’t bite yer know.

Five days makes family life harder,
Cos I’ll steal stuff from yer larder!

Lastly, six days and the jinx ye earn,
Will make yer own kids never learn.

So keep me happy with daily treats,
And jinxes ye shall never meet.
Make Pott a happy and gentle soul.
Now b’gger off and fill my bowl!



⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀    'Two days is another hurdle, I’ll make all yer cow’s milk curdle!'


⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀   'Three days missed then yer mistaken, No more honey can be taken'


⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀  'Five days makes family life harder, Cos I’ll steal stuff from yer larder!'

Pott doesn't only clean up and watch the house while you are away; he can also advise on things to do and help guide you. He also acts as a middleman between yourself and Mr Fairweather.

His temper and tongue may be quick and he is a master of sarcasm, but he only has your interests at heart.

At the end of the day, your home is his home and he only wants what is best for the family that lives there.