Games [PC][CONSOLES] Ova Magica - Monster Taming and Farming Sim

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About the game:
Ova Magica is a cute and colorful game inspired by my favorites like Harvest Moon, Azure Dreams, Grandia, Stardew Valley, Pokemon and many more.
It is a combination of three main genres: Monster Taming, Farming, and Life Sim

Trailer:

Early WIP gameplay

Early WIP battle system:

 

Some screenshots:

 

In the last weeks i worked a lot on using tools and collecting resources. Finally i am happy with it.
I am trying to create a WebGL build to get some feedback on it. I hope i manage to do it for this feedback friday.

A little preview:

Here are some technical details. Perhaps it helps or inspire you for your own game.

Spoiler

Show outline around target
For the outline i used this free asset.
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/vfx/shaders/fullscreen-camera-effects/outline-effect-78608 by @cakeslice. I love it and use it very often in the game.

To highlight an object you have to add the outline component to it. Some objects consists of more than one, for example a tree sometimes has fruits as children. So i wrote a function that adds the outline component additionally on all children so that the whole thing is outlined.

Recognize target
It is done via trigger collision. For performance i created a seperate layer so i get only the relevant collisions. I added child objects with colliders to the player and all the objects like rocks.
Sometimes two objects collides with the player, like the big and small rock in the video. Then the nearest object is used as target. For that i just checking the distance between the colliders center and the player position.

Use tool
When pressing the tool key the player uses the tool. For that i play an animation on the player, for example "swingAxe".

When the tool hits the target it shows a particle effect and plays a sound.
For the right hit moment i do not use collisions. I just use the end of the swing in the player animation. You can do this via animation events (i have a more complicated system because of some other issues).

Target health
A target like a rock has health. Each tool is differnet strong and better tools drain more health.

For the health/progress bar i used a canvas in world space. It is shown over the players head. For that i created a empty transform as a child of the player and using its position.

Do you wonder why i do not show the health bar over the target like the rock?
Because targets have different sizes and i would have to put a lot of effort to decide where to show the bar. A tree for example is bigger than a rock and its top isnt always visibile to the camera.

Dropping and collecting items
You cannot see it but there arent always dropped the same items. For example the copper ore has only a 10% probability to drop from a rock. I decide via a random function which items should drop.

For the drop positions i created empty transforms as childs of the rock and using their positions to spawn the items.

I will not decribe the collecting of the items in detail here, maybe later.
Just notice that the items fly over the players head and on the left side of the screen a alert is shown.

 

I did a tech demo for using the tools. You can try it this weekend.
https://claudiathedev.itch.io/ovamagica

The file size of the game is bigger than 100Mb so i didnt want to do it for web.

I would be happy if you try it and give me some feedback!

 

Currently I am working on Clover Town - the main town of the game. It is inpired by Fuerth and Nuernberg. Cities i lived in. Old mixed with modern and of course "Volksfest" or "Oktoberfest" vibe.
The beach area is also inspired by the Santa Monica Pier which i love!!!
In the video you see a first impression, but it is still empty and not ready.

 

Inspired by the currnet season i implemented flowers growing around beehives!



For those who interested how it is done:

Spoiler

It is collision checking inside a sphere radius around the beehive.

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2.             var randomPlant = Random.Range(0, plants.Count);
3.             var plant = plants[randomPlant];
4.             var growCollisions = new List<Collider> { plant.growCollider };
5.  
6.             var maxTry = 15;
7.             var currentTry = 0;
8.             while (currentTry < maxTry)
9.             {
10.                 var randomPosition = (Random.insideUnitSphere * radiusForPlants.radius);
11.                 randomPosition.y = 0f;
12.                 var growPos = transform.position + randomPosition;
13.  
14.                 if (HelperFunctions.HasPlaceToGrow(plant.transform, growCollisions, growPos))
15.                 {
16.                     var rotation = Random.rotation;
17.                     rotation.x = 0f;
18.                     rotation.z = 0f;
19.                     GrowPlant(plant, growPos, rotation);
20.                     break;
21.                 }
22.  
23.                 currentTry++;
24.             }

 

Currently working on the building and crafting mode for customizing your farm and home.
I hope to be able to do a tech demo in the next weeks. It works pretty well already but not good enough for a demo



After placing garden beds over the workbench you can plant something:

 

I am currently moving so it will take a while until I can show you more in game footage.
But I have some other news:
I commissioned an artist to draw the background of my title cover. Here is a WIP. I hope you like it until now!



Artist: https://www.deviantart.com/amade

 

Happy World Bee Day!

 

really cool graphics and mechanics.

 

Thank you!

 

Adorable! I hope you'll make a Mac version, if possible. Maybe even Oculus Quest? Some design elements would have to change for VR but I could see it being a hugely popular game there.

 

I am happy you like it! There will be a Mac Version!
I didn't event think about VR until now. Maybe I should consider it for the future so that I fo not block a possible version. But the first release will be not for VR.

 

My inspiration for clover town !

Nuernbergerer Volksfest and Fuerth. I truely love my home town and the area around and that's my tribute to it.

 

I am proud of the new reveal trailer! Enjoy !

 

That's a very cool-looking game you've got here!
Too bad the demo isn't available anymore, I'll try not to miss the next one (although my laptop might not let it run smoothly ).

 

Thank you !
I will post here when the next tech demo is available!

 

Now you can grow fruit trees on your farm. I added apples and oranges.
What other fruits would you like to see?

 

The artists I commissioned for the cover finished their work! I put it quick together to show you!

And I am not so solo anymore I could get my absolute dream artist on board for drawing the bachelors and bachelorettes.
https://www.deviantart.com/ichigoranch
She also has drawn the super cute cover chibi! I couldn't be more happy!!!

Here is my old temporary cover:


Here the new background by https://www.deviantart.com/amade


And here is the super cute chibi of Finn by https://www.deviantart.com/ichigoranch


Now I can create a steam page and some new game headers and wallpapers. I will edit my pages soon.

 

Two against three?
No problem if you use the elements wisely!
Skills of the Magma type has advantage against the Forest types.

 

I am working on a sewer level. I created some blobs for it! The poo is my new favorite !

 

This looks like a very fun game that I'd love to play! Keep up the great work!!!

 

Thank you for the motivating and kind words!

 

I worked on the greenhouse for the winter season:

 

waouh! impressive for a solo dev!!
congrats! keep on!

cheers

 

Thank you a lot!!!

I am working on a tech demo for one of the following Feedback Fridays.

So in the build-mode pictures now stick to walls and rotate automatically.

It still bothers me that tha picture isnt at the mouse cursor position... that is because the mouse is at ground level y coordinate and the pic "flies" above the ground because it does not stand but hang on the wall.
Well it doesnt really affect the placing... i leave it like that for now and see if it really will bother players.

 

oh wow that is super cool, it not easy to write mesh placing system that snaps to walls and floor with corrected perspective. u are so talented i love it!

 

Thank you But when i see what crazy stuff others do mine feels very basic.

Today I had a productive morning! I improved the planting of trees. Now the position and collisions are indicated by a circle. The growth of the trees I had implemented already some time ago.
You can see the heart tree in the video. You need its fruit to breed blobs in the game.

 

I got some feedback so i decided to tune the indicator for planting trees a bit more.
The inner ring still shows the collision.
The new outer ring helps to estimaste the place the tree needs to grow full size.

 

I added some carpets that you can place under your furniture. They collide only with other carpets!

Now i am working on tuning the UI a bit more. That's my least favorite part. And yes, i saved it for the end.
But after that UX stuff i will reward myself with writing logic for placing objects on tables and shelves.

 

ui looks really tidy! is this for many different platforms? if so how do you plan to handle ui on different screen sizes resolutions?

 

Yes it is but not for mobile.
I am always testing from 4:3 up to 16:10 but it is easy with unity when using anchors and stretching for the ui elements.
What is here the harder task is the controller support

 

I improved the object selection a bit.
The object selection was too full due to identical objects with different colors. Now the object is only available once and a color palette icon shows that there are variations.

 

well i can imagine this game doing well on ipad! so maybe in the future it would be something to look at.

 

The main release is planned for PC and hopefully consoles. It is not a mobile game even if it looks cute!

 

oh no i understand that I was just saying you might be missing a trick, as an ipad version would do quite well, but this is just my opinion!

 

Thank you! I will consider that! Maybe porting for IOS will not take so much time so perhaps i try it one day. The only thing could be the performance in some areas...

 

Even if the game is inspired by Pokemon, the battle system is different and NOT round based.

It's a strategic ATB system.
Here you can see a full battle with some elements of it like using an item, defending and using skills.

 

Azure dreams, harvest moon, and Pokemon are all part of my formative game experiences. Love the design you have going and would absolutely play it. Love hearing an Azure Dreams reference, I don't think it ever got the notoriety it deserved.

 

I am happy there are still some Azure Dreams fans out there! It is such an underrated game.

 

Here you can see the first bachelorette Jade with her cow blob Clara.
She is grounded, calm, positive and mature for her age.
She lives on a sunflower and animal blob farm and is selling cow and chick blobs.
The characters are drawn be https://www.deviantart.com/ichigoranch.

 

I was working hard on the 2nd tech demo. I hope i can upload it for this FeedbackFriday!
Here is some WIP gameplay.

The battle will be not in the tech demo because it is about farming mechanics.
And also battling needs some more tuning, will be probably in the3rd tech demo.

 

I finished my 2nd tech demo for feedback friday! It is about farming mechanics.
Would be great if you try it out and leave me some feedback!
And i would love to see the blobs you get!

https://claudiathedev.itch.io/ovamagica

 

As a Bavarian i am really enjoying the german beer garden!
I worked on adding one into trhe game. It's not finished yet but the area is slowly filling up!
(I forgot to remove the tech demo text lol*)

 

Love what I see

 

Here is a little preview of the blob breeding.

This are only three of many outcomes for the first combination.
And you can combine again and again and again

 

I am working on improving the battle system!
I worked on the UI and now the the trainer goes at eye level with his blob to give a command in battle.

 

Youc an level all stats except the hp with skills.

For leveling the hp you can fullfill your blobs daily food desires.
If you feed something they want the hp raises permanent:

 

I am still working on the blob interaction menu

Now your blobs have skills they can use outside of battle to help you with your farm work and other stuff.
I think that's a really cool feature!



Now i am working on using the command "Pet"

 

I created the Kickstarter pre-launch page

Link -> KICKSTARTER OVA MAGICA

If you want support me please sign up!
Even if you do not have enough money to back it helps me a lot to get visibility!

Thank you so much♥!