Emerald Woods - The First Winter [0.3.10]

A new version of Emerald Woods, the chill no-combat farming, building, and exploration roguelike, is now available!

Play for free for now (online/windows) at https://slash.itch.io/emerald-woods, even using your phone! we are still in an “Earlier Access” phase, so let us know any suggestions you have in the discord.

If you like the game, you can still become an Early Supporter (only 13 remaining!), and get your name into the game.

It’s been almost one month since the last version, I decided to jump in and add a first version of the Winter season, just in time for the holidays! There are also usability improvements and small fixes here and there as usual. Let’s jump into the changes!

So, of course, the biggest change on this version is the addition of the Winter season. You can now select what season you want to play when starting a new game. Note that there are still no season transitions, they are eternal.

In winter, all grassland and forests are covered with snow, and static water bodies are frozen. You can shovel the snow or break the frozen water, but they will eventually be covered back and frozen as the cold weather stays. No crops will grow in winter, so you’ll have to either forage what little stays in the land and caverns, or hunt down animals and fish.

There are now new rules in place to determine when a place is safe to sleep; in winter just a campfire won’t suffice in the wilderness, you’ll need to find cover or build shelter! Also may not be a very good idea to take naps in the snow. Also, some animals will have their appearance changed in Winter so keep an eye out.

There’s also a small hidden winter surprise for the explorers. Please let me know via discord if you find it!

Moving on from the winter changes. You can now attack animals with your tools if you have to; this is now the only way to obtain meat (insta-sacrificing picked up small animals is now removed). Note that some big animals will withstand more than one blow and will flee so you’ll have to plan out how to slaughter them if that’s your choice.

Let’s now go with a bunch of cool assorted changes:

• Aulne is now used to make blue paint instead of the elusive Grorn, meaning you now more easily craft blue things.
• Stations now not only look cooler but are also stocked with cooking ingredients for your cooking pleasure.
• When in building mode, you’ll now see a more accurate preview of the piece of building you are about to place, and a X cursor if you cannot place something there.
• Trenches can now be filled with clay, if you need to fill them back.
• You can now “undo” tilled ground just by tilling it back.
• Interacting with animals will now give priority to hunting or leashing over picking them up, as long as you have a proper tool selected.
• Likewise, having a fishing rod equipped will now give priority to fishing over jumping into the water.
• The logic to crossfade ambient sounds based on the time of the day has been fixed, meaning you will now be more likely to hear the awesome night ambiences.

So, I hope you enjoy this update! Remember you can play for free for now (online/windows) at https://slash.itch.io/emerald-woods, even using your phone! we are still in an “Earlier Access” phase, so let us know any suggestions you have in the discord.