Time flies when you are having fun.. and way too much has flown since my last post! ⏳🛩️ Here is something I have been working on - the first version of a unicorn fountain for the town centre in JodelTown! 🦄⛲🦄 #indiedev #cozygame #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

Making some progress on getting my new cobble paths laid out in the level 🔨 Still early days and without materials - but there is a vision emerging 😄 #indiedev #gamedev #cozygame #ue5 #solodev #indiegame

I am working on jazzing up the environment in JodelTown. Currently experimenting with Geometry Nodes in Blender to make cobblestone paths. If you have any cool geometry node tuts, send them my way 😁 I followed this vid: youtu.be/zO_2gAogtZo?... #indiedev #blender3D #gamedev #indiegame #cozygame

I'm just back from a 3 week holiday and getting back into the roll of things ✈️🧳. One thing I have been experimenting with, is altering textures to give them a more painterly look. Not 100% happy with it yet, but we gotta start somewhere 🎨💪 #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

I have been working on a protoype for a procedural pick up system that allows me to pick up all kinds of objects in JodelTown - wherever they are, with minimal anim setup. Here is a vid showing the work in progress ☺️ #screenshotsaturday #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

Has anyone else played around with Quixel Mixer before? I am really quite enjoying it for quick and easy texturing of some props ☺️ #indiedev #gamedev #indiegame #solodev #Quixel #cozygame

When you are trying to decide if something is a bug or feature.. #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #blender3D #screenshotsaturday #cozygame (Sry for the lack of updates recently, it's been a crazy week 🫠 back to regular posting soon 🤞)

A Wild Notice Board has appeared! 📜 Now offering local odd jobs! Fill your downtime between your crop harvests and get a little extra reward and gratitude from your neighbours. 🌱💖 (UI being WIP of course 😄) #indiedev #gamedev #cozygame #UE5 #solodev #UnrealEngine

The NPCs in JodelTown had some issues expressing their emotions (especially as they don't have faces ..yet 😬) So I added some effects to help them along in the communication department 😉 #screenshotsaturday #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

My first try at a stained glass window. I love them in real life so they just have to make a showing in JodelTown (my indie game). Of course the first motive had to feature the cows, there was no other way😁🐮 What do you think of it? ☺️ #indiedev #blender3D #cozygame #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

Working on more houses for my #indiegame JodelTown. This one is a more rustic single floor hut, probably going to be used on the mountain pastures 😁 The inspiration was an actual hut from Salzburg, Austria - keeping it authentic 😉 #indiedev #cozygame #solodev #gamedev #blender3D

🐣 Happy Easter Weekend 🐣 Here are some more easter themed decorations you can use to decorate your Austrian homestead in my #indiegame 😁 #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev #easter #screenshotsaturday

Another Easter decoration for my indie game! 🐣 In Austria we get a couple of pussywillow branches and decorate them with coloured eggs 🥚, ribbons 🎀 and other bits and bobs ✨ You can use them also to decorate your own house in the game! #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev #indiegame #easter

Easter is just around the corner, so it's the perfect time to add some cute themed props to my #indiegame JodelTown. 🐇🐣✨ For me easter is all about colourful, bright and fun decorations. For example, I made this bunny texture that I use for tablecloths ☺️ #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev

The latest house model for my #cozygame, JodelTown, has been added to the game! 😁 I'm really happy with how it captures the charm of the Austrian mountain region. 🏔️✨ #screenshotsaturday #indiedev #ue5 #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

To make you feel even more like being in the Austrian mountains in my #cozygame JodelTown, NPCs will sometimes use local terms and sayings 🗣️✨ These will be highlighted and to keep things clear I've added a toggleable menu where you can read up on their meaning 📖 #indiedev #ue5 #gamedev #indiegame

I've updated the railing on the Austrian house for my #cozygame JodelTown. The previous version was more rustic, while this one features a more structured and ❤️-design, matching the heart roof decorations. I think it's kinda cute 😁 #indiedev #solodev #gamedev #indiegame #blender3D

I am currently working on new buildings to populate the town of my indie #cozygame JodelTown. Here is an example of a standard house for the villagers to cozy up in - of course featuring a typical austrian countryside style 😁 #indiedev #solodev #gamedev #indiegame #blender3D

When you idle in the main menu too long and the cows get extra curious and walk over 🧐🤭 #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

I added item descriptions to my #cozygame JodelTown - here are some of the food related ones 🍎🍕 I had a lot of fun with these and love the opportunity to add some flavour and personality into the game, bad puns notwithstanding 😄😁 #screenshotsaturday #indiedev #ue5 #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

Stardew Valley but Austrian Mountains 🏔️🐮⛰️ #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

You can also grow beautiful flowers in my #cozygame JodelTown. Like these red Tulips here, one of the most iconic spring flowers🌷🌞 (although there are some other great spring flowers I shall share soon 😁) #indiedev #ue5 #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

A new type of crop for my #cozygame JodelTown, tasty crunchy Carrots! 🥕🥕 Especially important with Easter on the horizon, those hard working easter bunnies deserve a treat after all 😁🐇 I personally love the differently coloured ones ☺️ #screenshotsaturday #indiedev #ue5 #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

It's officially Spring!! ☀️🌷 Time to fill the world of my #indiegame with an abundance of flowers and greenery 😁😁 #indiedev #gamedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev

I've spent some time to swap over the players animations to use Motion Matching 🏃‍♀️ I will have to adjust the anims to more appropriate ones for my character (instead of UE5s mannequin ones) - but it's already looking better even in these very early days 😊 #indiedev #gamedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev

I love observing seasonal changes in games 🌱☀️🍂❄️ Obviously JodelTown will be no different and full of seasonal events, holidays and changing environs. Here is some early work on all the different seasonal versions for an Appletree. 🍎🌳 #screenshotsaturday #indiedev #gamedev #solodev #cozygame #ue5

With spring just around the corner, let's check out some the plants and produce you can grow in JodelTown. Today featuring the grow stages of Turnips, or Radischen in Austrian 😊 They might even be the star of one of the spring seasonal events 😁 #screenshotsaturday #ue5 #indiedev #gamedev #solodev

The perks of having your mum follow your footsteps and become a programmer? You get to hijack her fancy home office to do some #indiedev when visiting home 😄😉 There is no rest for a #solodev 💪😅 #gamedev #cozygame #indiegame

Of course when you get new animals in my #cozygame JodelTown, you can also give them a name! What's your go-to cow names? I tend to name them after food, like Cookie and Cream here 😅😄 #indiedev #ue5 #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

I am too excited to not also share this on #screenshotsaturday 😊🤩🥰 The name of my life-sim #cozygame set in the tranquil Austrian mountains is JodelTown!! Follow for more updates about this cozy game in the making and cute in-game cow piccis 😊🐮 #indiedev #ue5 #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

🚩🚩 Exciting News Alert 🚩🚩 I have finally decided on the name for my game and officially setup the whole Steam back-end for it. 😁🎉 My life-sim #cozygame which is set in the tranquil Austrian Mountains will be called: JodelTown. #indiedev #ue5 #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

🎉 It's Fasching (Austrian Carnival) 🎉 Probably our most colorful and fun holiday, all about dressing up and being silly. The tastiest part is the Faschingskrapfen. A fluffy pastry filled with apricot jam. Of course I had to make some for my #cozygame😁 #indiedev #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

Chonky cows, mountains and lots of nature - the hallmarks of my #cozygame set in the Austrian mountains 😁🐮🏔️🌹 #screenshotsaturday #indiedev #ue5 #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

Working on the character models for my villagers - of course in the appropriate traditional Austrian getup 😁. Every cozy game needs some dapperly dressed NPCs after all 😉 #indiedev #blender3D #cozygame #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

I started to hide little secrets around the game, that may lead the player to some hidden treasures 🤫😉 #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

I have added a Player Compass and Quest Markers to guide the player and keep them from getting lost in my little Austrian town 😁🗺️ #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

Added some more ground foliage and rocks to liven things up a bit, for my indie cozy game set in the Austrian Mountains☺️🌱 #screenshotsaturday #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev #indiegame

Ever felt like you had a black cloud over your head ?🌧️ My player character for sure does 😅 Thankfully gamedev isn't always serious with bugs like this providing plenty entertainment 😉 #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev #gamebugs

If you are curious about more behind-the-scenes and technical details of making my indie game, every week I post a weekly update on my DevBlog that goes deeper into those topics. Here is the first Weekly Update: sneakyseahorsegames.com/2024/09/23/w... #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev

Playing with fog for some early morning atmosphere - I quite like the moodiness esp. for spring and autumn. 🌫️🌿🌫️ #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev

Another shot with the cow's procedural look-at in action🐮✨ #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev

Added some procedural look at animations to the cows - and it just gives them instantly so much more life and personality ☺️🐮 #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev

You got Mail! 💌 I've added a letterbox to the player homestead! Now you can receive letters from NPCs - filled with helpful tips, tricks, and treats... .. maybe even the odd valentines card, if you're lucky? 😉💖 #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev

This is a traditional farmers garden - they used to be very common in Austria and I want to highlight them in my indie game. So instead of only a big field to let your green thumb do its magic, you get one of these to start with 😁🌱 visuals still WIP ofc. #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev

From Day 1, I recorded changes in my game level and made a tool to autogenerate progress GIFs. Here is one of them up to the current state - still very much WIP of course, but it can be very gratifying to see the progress over time ☺️ #indiedev #gamedev #cozygame #ue5 #solodev

Until I get around to making proper character meshes for all the NPCs, my mannequins get hats and other outfit items to tell them apart. Here's the Mayor and Baker sporting their fancy hats. 🎩 😄 Don't they look dapper? 😉 #indiedev #gamedev #cozygame #ue5 #solodev

It wasn't easy, but after an intense afternoon workshop my AI finally grasped the concept of how to hold an umbrella 😉 This is an extension of my dynamic weather system and how the game world reacts to it 🌧️☔ #indiedev #gamedev #cozygame #ue5 #solodev

I've been working hard on the start of the game this week 💪 Things like intro cutscenes, meeting the first villagers and your inital quests to get you started and familiar with the game's mechanics. #indiedev #gamedev #cozygame #ue5 #solodev

So, I spent yesterday making literal garbage. And how is your week going so far? 😄 #indiedev #gamedev #cozygame #ue5 #solodev

I am so excited to share one of my favourite things so far in my #indiegame set in the Austrian Mountains: The cows!🐮 They are Pinzgauer cows, a species native and common in Austria. Also the first animal I ever modelled and animated☺️ #indiedev #ue5 #cozygame #solodev #gamedev youtu.be/5eeYpr7CO1g