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pawborough · 3 days

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April 2024 Check In

Hi, all!

Happy update, everyone! With short breathers between posts, we will be uploading the updates that haven't yet been crossposted to our Tumblr! Additionally, from now on, we will share information that was previously only available on our Discord server on a regular schedule.

First off, Longhairs were added to the demo! In the coming days we are fixing any graphical errors observed. Pre-release test-launching into the demo like this has been great practice for our pipeline. Each time, we learn a lot about the process and work to improve it every time.

Such graphical errors come from not yet being a final product, and give us opportunity to practice how to efficiently remedy them in the future, and we're excited that our supporters get to see our growth along the way!

Alright, let's get into the meat!

New Accessories

The art team has been working hard on accessories!

Regal Crown

Sponsored and concepted by SolsticeStar, illustration by Hydde

The Regal Crown is our newest backer accessory!

Next, we have completed designs for three full accessory sets.

The Sweetheart Set

Design and illustration by Remmie

The Sweetheart set had an early pre-production preview shared on our Tumblr and Discord last month.

It went through some development! After considering the furgonomics of hats, we ultimately decided on ear-holes.

The Guard Set

Design and illustration by Hydde

The Jute set

Design and illustration by Hydde

We have one more set planned called the Woolen set, this in addition to our backer accessories and our Kickstarter items will round off our accessory catalog for the beginning of our game.

We hope to add more as we grow and gather further resources, but as said in the beginning: accessories will be somewhat lacking early on! We hope to make this up with backdrops and decor.

As a reminder, each accessory item will have a consistent number of recolors, in addition to potential special recolors!

Development Update

Huge progress on the development side!

First off, we have movement and collision working for combat.

youtube

Next, we have the whole process for creating a team at the Guild, inviting other users, kicking users, editing permissions, editing information, and registering new cats!

youtube

In this video, you also get a sneak peak at a rudimentary Dashboard feature. The Dashboard will be your front page, where all your notifications such as friend requests, sale notifications, co-op and team requests, timer notifications, cat relationship requests, and other such interactive features are easily seen.

The Dashboard will also feature a list of all quick and casual “daily activities” which can be easily accessed and “checked off.”

Lore Check In

We're working on the lore side of things in tandem. While we care a lot about it and its quality, it's taken a backseat to the more pressing priority of “have a playable game.” Despite this, we’ve worked on lore as necessary to create cohesive visuals, especially our backdrops, accessories, and decor.

And this is where I’d like to have a heart to heart with our users with full transparency. Our very early lore was a great jumping off point, and we had a timeline with beats for a year 1 story laid out with some very fun variety.

However, when I grew concerned and ran it all past sensitivity readers, some things became very pressing. I had to ruminate back on many of our early criticisms, and rethink how we were tackling some of these topics in our worldbuilding.

PawBorough is a 13+ piece of media. We're not shying away from more complicated topics or a little bit of blood. However, it's no secret that we are also a cute kitty cat game. We can have very serious, epic, heartbreaking prose. But this is all inevitably coming out of the mouth of a pink cat with sparkles for fur.

That is to say, we have to be careful not to patronize very serious topics.

The most pressing problem presented to us when reaching out to sensitivity readers was our portrayal of The Metropolis. A blatant New York clone with relatively modernized tech, capitalizing off said advancements, acting as an antagonist in geopolitical tension can come off very tone deaf. Considering the chilling atrocities committed by modern corporate America which have far-reaching repercussions and affect peoples’ lives and families today, there's just no other way to easily frame The Metropolis as has been presented other than a 1 to 1 stand-in for modern capitalistic American colonialism.

And to treat this sort of setup with the care it deserves, we have to be explicit in the atrocities, and we have an ethical duty to be violently critical of modern America as a structure, so much so that users may not have much fun in the space. Our game is just not the right medium to be this realistic.

While the concept of xenophobia as a topic isn't in itself a topic that we can't ever touch on sensitively in our stories, specifically modern America is so wrought with atrocities happening now, today as we speak, that we don't find it appropriate to even be touching on it the way we have been. The demand in this medium is beyond my comfort as a writer.

Therefore, the first change we are making to The Metropolis:

1. Develop The Metropolis, and Cogwheel in turn, as less a 1 to 1 New York clone.

The Metropolis will from now on have far less of an exclusively and explicitly “Americana” aesthetic and culture. This is a change that was well-needed, as all other Boroughs have a large variety of inspiration. We will be incorporating quite a few different architectural aesthetics from hereon.

The Borough is still a huge, bustling cityscape with industry and development!

But that brings us to the next change:

2. Change the focus of the antagonistic nature of The Metropolis from “corporate development” to “magical development.”

The Metropolis can still have a leg-up in industry, development, and trade, but with this change, the enemy is now less explicitly modern Capitalism, and instead a general simile for classism. The Metropolis is now full of high-up, modern, domineering magic-doers. The Borough still capitalizes upon resources, but now there's much more fantasy directly involved with the power conflict.

That brings me to the largest change we are making to The Metropolis, and the story as a whole:

3. Roll back technology to the late 1800s - early 1900s.

This is our most uprooting change, but we feel it actually fits much more within the world. The 1990s as a setting caused so many problems and holes in our vision that didn't make sense when put under routine scrutiny. With this timeline instead, it now is reasonably clear why there's lots of trains in Cogwheel, Metropolis, and Harvest, but little in Sol or Luna. It now makes sense why Abyssal still has mast ships. It's easier to understand why cats are using mounts instead of cars. It's easier to believe that communication and travel between Boroughs far apart is challenging and arduous.

It also helps with the idea that magic is not yet well-understood, and therefore supports The Metropolis's powerhouse efforts towards magical advancements.

We now have these drafts for the history of The Metropolis and Cogwheel, which have gone into our lore bible:

The Metropolis:

With the development of mass-producible agriculture, cats started settling down. At this time, magic was largely unknown and seldom understood. Cats traveling the wastes were eaten by magical beasts, and the full capabilities of magic were unknown.

But with a full belly and a warm house, cats started studying magic more closely. Harvest cats especially continued migrating south towards the water for settlement.

The Metropolis became a premiere area for magicians as its major cities funneled catpower into experiments and further understanding. Magicians became well-scholared, and developments in magic and its rules created a boom in industry and invention. In the present day, if you want to know about modern magic, you travel to The Metropolis.

However, one will likely be taught the magic of surveillance first and foremost. The Metropolis sees itself as every Borough’s big brother, despite being one of the youngest.

Cogwheel:

Whether the official establishment of Metropolis or Cogwheel came first is uncertain, but Cogwheel was said to first be born of catfolks' desire to fiddle with machinery over pompous magical learning. A group of cats in The Metropolis location had formed what was called "The Cogwheel Union" and traveled away to grow their establishment. Eventually, the union grew large as more inventors took interest. Cogwheel was for building. Cogwheel was where engineers thrived. Fire burned in the hearts, minds, and paws of all Cogwheel citizens.

With this, the Metropolis capitalized on the industry developing in its neighbor. What was once two cities with differing philosophies became a tug of war for geopolitical power, and Metropolis is winning. Cogwheel cats were more keen on their Harvest roots, favoring community and generosity. But they are hardened to the state of things, worked long hours, kept under a boot, and revolution is simmering in their factories.

Cogwheel invented the railroad, which has quickly advanced through the tri-Borough area of Harvest, Cogwheel, and The Metropolis. Cats not in these areas still rely on ferries and mounts.

So there you have it! We realize a change like this won't please everyone, and we still encourage you to tell the story you want to tell with your own characters, but this alteration is far more in-line with our vision! We believe there's more general appeal to a storyline like this, and it's great for our lore to put the focus of magic so front and center.

All other lore is in-tact and will be significantly buffed out in our next drop!

Thank you for reading!

To Summarize: We showed a new backer accessory, three new accessory sets, updates to team game play and setup within The Guild, and a new approach to our lore.

What to expect next month: Daily duty/territory ground setup, potential forums setup, more Borough site themes, further asset development.

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