[h3]Hello gardeners,[/h3] The months and seasons are turning, and big updates for The Garden Path are on the horizon. September has been a busy month for myself and the team (which I’ll touch on in a moment), and October isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. There's a lot in store and I'm eager to hear what you think, so let's jump right in. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//40610797/6f25fad8ee22001b33fdbdb9167ad3838703045c.jpg[/img] [h3]Join me in #TGPtober[/h3] Inktober is an Autumn tradition that I've been fond of since first tackling it in 2018. Last year, I took a turn from the traditional prompts and illustrated a new vegetable headed resident every day throughout the month. Ever since The Garden Path community began to form, I've noted just how many creatives we have with us - from artists, to writers, figurine creators to book makers. So this year, I thought a fun way to build off last year's Inktober is to share a 'The Garden Path'-themed list of prompts for anyone to join in. #TGPtober is therefore designed to encompass any type of creative form, whether you want to paint, draw, photograph, write, sculpt or anything else that comes to mind. After all, this challenge is all about how you interpret these prompts. The prompts are bi-weekly as opposed to daily, a decision which will hopefully give you more time to join in and create alongside the prompts that suit you. If you want to get involved, make sure to share your work with the hashtag #TGPtober. Alternatively, if you’re not comfortable posting your pieces on Twitter or Instagram then consider joining our Discord community and sharing your process there. Wherever you share your work, it might even end up in a #TGPtober gallery…! I’ll be getting involved myself and I cannot wait to get started and to see what you come up with! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//40610797/d3932a4af3f39b1a32c36e23987669a464e176a5.jpg[/img] [h3]We’re going to Steam Next Fest[/h3] [i]“Seven days, hundreds of new demos, oodles of livestreams.”[/i] Steam Next Fest is a multi-day celebration of upcoming games taking place from the 1st to the 7th of October, and I am thrilled to announce that The Garden Path is going to be taking part. You’ll be able to get your hands on our demo, fresh with some new updates to make your gameplay experience as smooth and soothing as possible. If you've enjoyed the demo before you'll be glad to know lots of hard-work on the full game is finding its way onto the next demo for testing. Perhaps the biggest addition will be auto-saving! While I've been hard at work eliminating crashes, hiccups happen to the best of us, but now you can help test jumping right back in where you left off. Just note that the demo is the first day of the garden, and will reset when a new day dawns. I will also be taking part in a couple of special livestreams alongside The Garden Path’s community manager, Alex. We’ll be showcasing the demo and answering any questions you may have about the game. So, be sure to come and say hi ~ you’ll be able to join us on: [h3][b]Saturday the 2nd of October from 8am PDT / 11am EDT / 4pm BST / 5pm CEST[/b] and then on [b]Tuesday the 5th from 9am PDT / 12pm EDT / 5pm BST / 6pm CEST![/b][/h3] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//40610797/1770506d0f2f3f5e2fa08fc50188e714f5e21fa4.jpg[/img] [h3]Finally… some bits and pieces[/h3] You may have seen that I've recently been recruiting some help - and that is all possible thanks to the generosity of our supporters and community. I’ve been able to start recruiting help from collaborators so that we can reach the full vision I have for The Garden Path, all while hopefully ensuring some good work/life balance for all. As of writing this, the applications for Environment Designer have now closed, but do keep an eye open, as I’m sure we’ll be announcing a new position very soon. This isn’t the only position joining me on The Garden Path, but for now mum’s the word. As for game development, in addition to the autosave function I’ve been working on, the garden itself has seen some polish and landscaping ~ with updated water, cliffs, and even more variety of plants to discover. Mouse controls are now fleshed out and ready to play with, making the game more accessible and comfortable for those who prefer to play with mouse and keyboard. Not to mention many more small fixes, polishes and tweaks all thanks for the invaluable feedback the community has provided. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//40610797/4d504b4c86fb2e9d2818b8fbc4eb37651c83484d.gif[/img] And that’s all folks. Stick around for more updates on The Garden Path soon! Until next time… Louis, carrotcake * Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/nWTg5WvZbU Follow us on Twitter: @fromcarrotcake Check out our TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fromcarrotcake Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fromcarrotcake/ Wishlist us on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1638500/The_Garden_Path/ Keep up via Mastodon: https://mastodon.art/@ldurrant