Howdy!

With this update, we thought it might be cool to take a look at another region of Hermit and Pig’s forest.We wanted to make the area feel overgrown and forgotten, so we stuck to deep greens and textured it with moss, algae, and a lot of vines to walk through.

This section of the map gives a peek into some of the magical realism that will pop up occasionally throughout the game via some unexplainable creatures (and people). Also a grumpy cat.

The Hermit and Pig closed beta demo is happening now! It has been a lot of fun seeing people play for the first time, and we appreciate the extra help finding bugs! Players are also competing for some sweet prizes. If you missed the beta demo this time around, no worries - we'll have plenty of opportunities in the future. Make sure you're signed up to our newsletter so you can stay up to date!

That’s it for now! Hope those of you north of the equator are enjoying the fall weather.
Nathan and Mason

Howdy folks!

Next month Hermit and Pig will be featured in the EGX Leftfield Collection in London. This will be the first time anyone sees a build of our demo (who isn’t our families or friends). If you happen to be around please come and give an anxiety-inducing hello!

More importantly, this means a demo beta is around the corner, so save the date! Important details below:

• When is it? The beta will open Friday, Nov. 17 at noon EST and you’ll have access until Monday, Nov. 20 at 10pm EST. We’re estimating you’ll need about an hour to do the full play through. If you can’t make it this time, we’ll have other opportunities in the future.

• How do I access it? This is a closed beta, so you have to be signed up to our studio listserv [heavylunch.studio]to participate. If you sign up, then we'll email you a temporary Steam key November 17. We’ll also share a link to a feedback and bug reporting form, and access to a Discord if you’re on the more social side of life. There may even be prizes involved.

We’ve added a lot of cool stuff to this little build including more characters, mini-bosses, and a dungeon with a real angry opossum.

Preparation is still underway; in the meantime, we’d appreciate it if you'd let others know about the beta - the more feedback we get the better!

Thanks for reading!

Mason and Nathan

Howdy!

The past month has been a busy one as we’ve continued to push to get this demo done. One of the biggest updates was to give the player the option to a) use a controller on computers and b) to customize their controls.

We’re hoping this will give players a more accessible and pleasant experience. And while the technical details of the process are pretty boring, the implications are important. Our battle system is based on directional key combos that roughly correspond to the physical attack (i.e., the Stomp attack suggests a rise and fall motion, while the Punch mimics a real life punch combo, jab-jab-cross).

By default, keyboards use WASD for movement so we set those keys as the default for combos as well. HOWEVER. People want to do things the way they want to do them. And we appreciate that. So, if players are so inclined, they can get wild and assign Up to the B key, Down to the 5 key, Left to the /, and Right to the Q key. Just for fun.

If you end up playing like this you'll have to report back. Until then, we’ll keep pushing this demo forward and get something for you to play as soon as we can! Make sure you sign up for our newsletter so that you can get access to our closed beta this year: https://www.heavylunch.studio/


Next month we're thinking about covering some mushrooms or NPCs - what do you want to hear about?

Hey folks,

We’re working on getting our demo in shape for the beta release. Lately we’ve been focused on the battle system, so here are some new enemies:

A big part of our game is puzzling out which attack would be effective on each attacker. So we’re trying to pack TONS of enemies in to keep you on your toes.

How does one fend off a crazed squirrel? Kick? Cane? Slingshot? My uncle got attacked by a squirrel at a birthday party. All he had to defend himself with was a cake plate.

On the overworld, enemies are represented by these sprites:

This gives you a slim chance to avoid a fight, but unlike my uncle, you’ve gotta react quickly.

Well, back to work. We'll be sharing some big news about the beta SOON. In the meantime, sign up for our mailing list to be included in the beta https://heavylunch.studio/.

This is one of the most exciting projects either of us have worked on, and it means a lot to have you along for the ride. Stay cool.

Mason and Nathan
Heavy Lunch Studio

P.S. - Do you have any ideas for new enemy types? Let us know.

We're thrilled to announce our upcoming game to the world with our announce trailer at Glitch's Future of Play Direct[heyglitch.com] event on June 10. The #FutureOfPlay Steam Event runs June 10-19, where you can watch a rerun of the event and see broadcasts and Steam pages for dozens of new and upcoming indie games.

After a lot of hard work to get our Steam page and trailer ready for the event, we're back to focusing on the demo, which we hope to release in 2023. The best way to stay informed on future beta/demo availability is by wishlisting/following our Steam page. You can also join our newsletter[www.heavylunch.studio] for future updates.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2408350/Hermit_and_Pig/