Behind the Horizon

Jadawin1

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Hello Community,

I´m a german indie developper and I made in the past 3 years an epic RPG Game with farming elements in a living world. The nature simulation is komplex and the base of the game.

If you like more Infos you can visit my Steam Site !

I made also a short Trailer where you can take a look in the various aspects of my game!

I would be glad to hear your opinion!
 
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Oct 30, 2020
Messages
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Release on Steam today !

Hello Community,

now you can finally buy Behind the Horizon on Steam and play the game! During the last weeks I took a lot of time and optimized many details, so that you all can enjoy the game as much as possible :) !

Of course I'm happy about every feedback, more great ideas, which I can add or put on the list for an expansion.

A few positive reviews at Steam would be great too :) !

My Steamshop page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1453430/Hinterm_Horizont/?beta=0

The release trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHelt8_8UOs
 
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Oct 30, 2020
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Hello Community,

today there is again a small content update with some changes and new possibilities! This time it's all about communication with plants!
Have fun trying it out!


changelog V1.14
(old savegames can still be used)

Animation:
Fixed bug with standing devil animation

Magic

The spell Connect Spirit has undergone some changes: If the spell is cast on a plant that was not planted by the player, it will be given the status "planted by the player" if it is within reach of the crystal. The spell does not work on trees.
If the spell is cast on an empty field, the player will have a temorary connection to all the surrounding plants and trees he has planted and can see if they are suffering from deficiency conditions (graphically marked by animated different coloured symbols on the field. Blue stands for lack of water, brown for lack of nutrients, orange for too much heat, turquoise for too cold, light yellow for too much light and dark grey for too little light.

The Heal spell can now also revive trees in "Overload" mode. They get a part of their life time back, but first they have to grow again until they can bear fruit.

New building plans:
Lightning conductor: prevents lightning from striking an area (lightning destroys all plants and damages trees and injures or kills animals)
Herbal stake: will be needed in the next big content update.
Sandbag: prevents the field from being flooded.


Plant Emote:
the reason why plants are dying is now also shown. It also shows when a tree is wounded.

GUI
If you press the "Left Control Button" in the game, the area in which the player is allowed to plant (measured against his consciousness) is displayed brighter. Floor areas that are still too far away are displayed darker.

Display:
Shopsign with opening hours of Alfred's farm shop corrected
 
Joined
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Hello Community,

there is again a small content update with mostly player requested little things that were still missing.


changelog 1.15

GUI
New menu that allows access to all menus in the game with a single click (access on the far right of the quick bar)

Objects can be placed directly on the quick bar. If the place was occupied, the item will land at the mouse pointer and can either be put back into the inventory or simply dropped on the ground, which will also land in the next free inventory place.


Graphic
Various groundcover textures were edited or redesigned.


Game
Possibility to steal vegetables and fruits! Up to now it was not allowed to harvest on foreign beds. This is now allowed with the corresponding consequences and it is up to the player to decide whether to use it (Note: NPCs don't like it at all when you steal and it is not good for your consciousness either).
 
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Hello Community,

I have completely re-created the textures of the ground coverings and also completely re-written the program part according to the new requirements. The single textures are now sorted, so that there are no more unsightly cuts and the flowers are placed as 2nd pass. I could even achieve a performance gain, which is of course only noticeable on netbooks with extremely low performance.


Changelog V1.15b:

graphics:
All ground cover textures have been redesigned and the graphics engine has been rewritten to make the landscape look more harmonious.

Stone textures have been improved


Game:
it is now possible to offer hay and feed the animals that normally eat grass in winter when the snow cover is closed. Previously, you had to either feed them their favourite food (needed for taming) or shovel the snow away. Feeding with hay satisfies the animal for a day and is important for all farm animals that produce something.

On the minimap above the houses it is now shown who lives there. This hopefully helps with orientation in Woodhome (NPCs almost always return home in the evening. Some eat in the restaurant first.)

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With this update Behind the Horizon is enriched with some new exciting content. First of all, there are two new areas and a cave, which have been hand-designed as usual. A new NPC offers two quest lines that are integrated into the main game. The level of difficulty is intended more for the beginning.
The new quests begin at Tiffany's café after you have had breakfast with her!

During the quests, it is possible to earn a mount (!) and to get another pet that, when enchanted, also helps on the farm.

In addition, I have greatly expanded the natural events, which are specifically adapted to the ongoing season, in order to create more variety and new challenges. There are now 4 possible events per season, with two having positive and two negative effects. The events occur randomly with different probabilities and it will take several years to experience them all, because more than two events are very rare in one season.

Cats have now learned to kill mice again and mice like to nibble on vegetables in return.

The netbook mode got a lot of changes and now the game actually runs smoothly on my Acer3 netbook with 4GB Ram and Intel HD. The vegetation density of ground cover, the surrounding coverage of light sources and the light size are limited.

On top of all this, there are numerous minor changes and the fixing of a few bugs. The complete list of changes can be read in the changelog V1.2.

All old game saves can still be used and the AddOn will be installed accordingly.

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CAUTION Spoiler:
The following is a list of all global natural events and ways to counter them. If you would rather be surprised, do NOT read on here!
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In all seasons you can find the event of the Light Fairy, who roams the land and casts positive, growth-promoting spells depending on the season.


Spring:



- The flood(3 days): heavy rain floods large areas and changes the rivers and ponds. Soil that is flooded and dries out again becomes clay soil. As a countermeasure, banks can be protected with paths (sometimes successful) or sandbags (always works).

- Rivers(2days): after heavy rain, water comes down from the mountains and finds its way through the plains. This can sometimes make areas impassable, but fortunately the water gradually seeps away again after some time. The ground, however, changes irrevocably. It becomes more rocky in the upper course and more fertile in the lower.

- Seeds from distant lands: In this event, a warm wind comes from distant lands, bringing with it many seeds that settle in open areas.

Summer:


- Drought(3 days): prolonged drought with extremely high temperatures. Also gradually dries out flooded areas. Only watering helps as a countermeasure.

- Rainbow rain: a warm summer rain that replenishes all water supplies and brings some additional nutrients.

- The locust plague(1 day): swarms of locusts appear on many water banks and eat the ground bare. They multiply at breakneck speed and can devour entire patches of land. The only comfort is that they only live for one day. As a countermeasure, there are herb stakes you can put up or you can try to kill them.


Autumn:

Thunderstorm(8h): a classic thunderstorm that damages trees and plants by lightning and wind. As a countermeasure, there are lightning rods that can protect a limited area.

Vole plague(3 days): In many parts of the world, voles are becoming a plague and roam the land in search of food. Fortunately, they only live for a few days. The best countermeasure is the farm cat, which quickly kills the mice.

Year of Mushrooms: In some autumns there is a veritable mushroom boom, because the spores of the mushrooms spread all over the country.

Winter:

Eternal winter (3days) : The eternal winter brings low temperatures and lots of snow. A good time to spend in front of the warm stove or explore some caves.

Hailstorm(8h): Strong winds and hail lead to heavy snowfall and to fallen trees and damaged plants.

Metorites(4h): A swarm of metorites descends and leaves small crystals in many places that can be collected and sold for profit.

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I was trying to figure out why it seems not to catch the interest of players.

For me, indie not on Mac is a no-go for any fresh EA/release, and it seems to evoke a building/farm genre that has no appeal for me. But when I thought quote the sim aspect, and because I wonder about RPG evolution through sim evolution, I gave it a closer look, and then wondered about the point above.

I would say that it evokes and show too much that it is like a farm simulator.

There are numerous words to counter this feeling, "mystical story, many residents with whom you can talk and who let you participate in their lives, catacombs with traps, puzzles, a complex magic system, epic role-playing game, here is also friendship and love behind the horizon, more", but they are lacking showcases past the words.

Despite all the flaws and all the failed aspects of the farming/building aspects, the game Balrum (but on Mac) was a lot of fun for me. And I stick think the RPG genre needs to find how to evolve more and more softly to include more lite sim aspects without feeling mechanical or repetitive.

My 2 cents.
 
Joined
Oct 14, 2007
Messages
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I was trying to figure out why it seems not to catch the interest of players.

For me, indie not on Mac is a no-go for any fresh EA/release, and it seems to evoke a building/farm genre that has no appeal for me. But when I thought quote the sim aspect, and because I wonder about RPG evolution through sim evolution, I gave it a closer look, and then wondered about the point above.

I would say that it evokes and show too much that it is like a farm simulator.

There are numerous words to counter this feeling, "mystical story, many residents with whom you can talk and who let you participate in their lives, catacombs with traps, puzzles, a complex magic system, epic role-playing game, here is also friendship and love behind the horizon, more", but they are lacking showcases past the words.

Despite all the flaws and all the failed aspects of the farming/building aspects, the game Balrum (but on Mac) was a lot of fun for me. And I stick think the RPG genre needs to find how to evolve more and more softly to include more lite sim aspects without feeling mechanical or repetitive.

My 2 cents.



How do you know it's not getting any interest from players? We indie developers have had the problem for a long time that we don't have enough funds for a proper marketing campaign, and so things move more slowly.

However, I can say that I already have a small but nice community together who are enthusiastic about playing Behind the Horizon. Some You Tubers and streamers have also taken up the game.

Maybe you should give Behind the Horizon a chance. It's just a lot of fun and that's what everyone who plays it says so far. There's a lot of variety and a lot of possibilities, and there's a lot of new stuff. The world is alive!

Regards
Jadawin
 
Joined
Oct 30, 2020
Messages
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Hello community,

Behind the Horizon has now got its own website, where you can read all the news in the developer blog section. All new videos and screenshots can also be found there.

This also means that I will no longer post so extensively in the forums, because that is immensely time-consuming. I would rather use this time for the game.

Behind the Horizon has now gained an enthusiastic, but still small, community and it is a great pleasure to see how you play the game and discover all the secrets. For me, it is also a motivation to polish the game evn more.

Since many people had difficulties understanding everything at the beginning (reading manuals is just not popular anymore ;-) ), I decided to record a series of short tutorial videos to make it easier to get started in the world and in the nature simulation.

My homepage: http://www.jadawinindiegames.de/index.php/en/

My Steam shop page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1453430/Hinterm_Horizont/?beta=0
 
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Hello Community,

The version V1.22 of Behind the Horizon is now released

The Tutorial Videos for my game are also uploaded to my YouTube Channel and also integrated into my Homepage.

My homepage: Jadawinindiegames.de

My Steam shop page: Store.steampowered.com
 
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Messages
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Hello Community,

once again there are some new updates up to version V1.24. This time it is about many comfort functions in the game and about a better feedback of the world. In the beginning, many players had the feeling that they had no information about how the nature simulation works in the game. I hope I have closed these gaps with the updates !
There are also 2 more tutorial videos on my homepage.

My homepage: http://www.jadawinindiegames.de/index.php/en/

My Steam shop page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1453430/Hinterm_Horizont/?beta=0
 
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Messages
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Update V1.3 - Polishing the game

Today is the day and the second major update to my game Behind the Horizon goes live.

This time it is about making it much easier for new players to enter my world and to improve the communication between game mechanics and players.

In the two months since release, I noticed that there were many areas in the game where players wanted more information and especially a more direct access to them.

In this update I have therefore added tooltips in many places that describe items and functions briefly and directly. There are also many new shortcuts to access game menus or functions..

Some of the new tooltips can also be switched off, in case they become superfluous at some point and only interfere with the flow of the game.

The harvesting tools (sickle, basket and ladder) have been given a completely new feedback system that, in addition to their function of harvesting, they can also serve as tools to identify plants and trees and give information about them. For example, they can tell you the name of the plant, the time needed for seeds to germinate, or whether plants are flowering at this time of year, and so on.

The communication with tamed farm animals has also been heavily revised and now offers the possibility to speak to the animals as usual, so that they follow you or work for you, or (from a greater distance) to call up a small window with information that shows the name of the animal, how many days it has been tamed, whether it is housed in a stable, whether it can be sheared or milked, etc..

For NPCs there is a similar function and in the corresponding window you can then see the name, the profession and the affection you have collected from this inhabitant so far.

The game manual has also been heavily revised and is now more appealing and it is easier to find the desired information there.


Basically, this big update is also related to the previous V1.21-V1.28 in which many other functions were already implemented in this context.

- Automatic tooltips for items in many menus were introduced there, as well as the large-scale overview of the ground conditions at your farm.
- In addition, many more quests have been given a destination area.
- The whole system of speech bubbles from the player has been redesigned and many messages now contain specific information instead of a short statement like "Impossible!".
- There is an option to add a marker on the map that is saved with the game.
- Sorting items into chests is now easier than ever, as items search for the pile to add to within all crafting chests.


In addition to all this, there are of course the usual little things like fixing small bugs that pop up every now and then.

You can read the full patch notes in the community section.

Homepage: https://www.jadawinindiegames.de

Here is the link to my shop page at Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1453430?beta=0

Gametrailer English:
 
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Hello Community,

Behind the Horizon has been released on Steam for over two months now and I think it's time to tell you, who have followed the development of my game since last June, what's new.
Since release, I have released two major updates and countless small improvements. I was pleasantly surprised that there were only very few bugs and I could concentrate mainly on polishing the game. For example, the first update added a mount along with new quests and areas, and the second addressed the fact that many players were struggling with the depth of the nature simulation.

Together with all the other small improvements, Behind the Horizon has now reached a point where it can be learned and played well by anyone who likes my ideas and game mechanics.
In the meantime, there is a small community who all appreciate the game very much and who continue to help me fix every little bug via the forum there.

There are some youtubers in German and English speaking countries who regularly publish Let's Plays and they are also a valuable source of information for me, how you insgesamt like my game and what you would like to see in the future. The main story is (cleverly ;-) ) designed in such a way that it creates opportunities for many more adventures in my world, and the nature simulation also always offers new possibilities.

Finally, a request to anyone who wants to and has the opportunity to do so: Help me to make Behind the Horizon more popular. Marketing is hard work when you don't have a lot of money to spend on advertising, but if you help me, I'm convinced that Behind the Horizon can be as successful as Stardew Valley once was. I'll post all the links to the game here again. Many thanks to all who help :) ! And feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.
Jadawin

The links to the game:

Homepage: https://www.jadawinindiegames.de
Gametrailer English: https://youtu.be/fHelt8_8UOs

Here is the link to my shop page at Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1453430?beta=0
 
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In this update I have finally taken care of the status GUI and redesigned it. Now everything is integrated in the quick bar and the rest of the screen belongs to the display of the world.
I hope you like it and don't feel too bad about the change. All functions are still available.

Also, I turned off the environment occlusion on the surface of the world. It didn't make sense there and didn't look nice.





The last major change concerns tiredness and presentation of cutscenes. Here the frame texture of the image section has been removed. Instead, there is now a smooth transition into black, which looks more harmonious and not so much like looking into a tube.

Below you will find the complete list of changes.

I hope you all enjoy the new features!

Jadawin


--------------------------------------------------------------
Patch Notes V1.37

Game:

- In Alfred's and Magda's farm shop you can now buy an animal whistle with which you can call all tamed pets within a radius of 25 fields (cats, dogs, squirrels, llamas) on your farm to you. They then show via emote whether they are already very hungry and you can feed them more easily.
The animal whistle can be used like a tool or activated with the Q key in the quick bar (blue frame).

- On the surface, I have now deactivated the environment occlusion, as it looked unnecessary and simply not nice there. This way the world is now even more different from the dark caves, which is good for the atmosphere.

- Tools (including improved ones) can now be sold at the merchant (no longer at the craftsmen).

- Some prices for raw materials and animal products have been adjusted to improve the balance.

- Some speed bonus values for equipment and permanent spells have been slightly reduced.

GUI:

- Removed the texture I had used to limit visibility (fatigue and events) and replaced it with a smooth transition to black instead. I think this looks better and is less reminiscent of a fisheye effect.

- For dialogues and speech bubbles I used a new font that is much more readable, which will surely please many.

- In the GUI, many small visual improvements have been made that increase readability and are more visually appealing. The fonts have also been unified.

- The main status GUI has been completely redesigned and all displays are now integrated in the quick bar. All functions of the individual sections and displays still work as usual.

Magic:

- When quickly casting the invisibility spell with the Q key, a check for nearby monsters has also been added.

Manual:

- Added text for the whistle.
- Texts for the new status GUI adapted.
- Some bugs fixed.


The links to the game:

Homepage: https://www.jadawinindiegames.de
Gametrailer English: https://youtu.be/fHelt8_8UOs

Here is the link to my shop page at Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1453430?beta=0
 
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The depth of the nature and magic systems are actually quite good. I'll admit it takes me a bit to get past the graphics but thats what happens when I pick up different games. Haven't tried it with the new GUI but from the screenshots you showed I like it much better than the bar on top.
 
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Thanks

I'm glad you like the new interface. If you have any more ideas on how I can optimise it even more, I'm always happy to hear them :) !
 
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Update V1.4 - new textures

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Hello Community,

This update is about the textures of trees and paths and includes many other small improvements. The textures of the trees were stretched in the past and therefore the trees did not look so good in the game. Now the textures are integrated into the game in double resolution.

The trees now grow gradually to full size and each have three different textures in their growth phase, which provides more variety.

The road textures have also been renewed and integrated into the game in a different way, which makes them look more harmonious.

With this update the polishing of the game is finished as far as I can see. It feels all in all good.
Next on the agenda are two more big content updates that continue the main story and answer unanswered questions, while of course also expanding the nature and farm area (new plants and trees, new animals and new nature events). Of course, this will take time and cannot be done in a weekly cycle as before. I will take it easy with these addons, because the last time was quite exhausting.



Patch Notes V1.40


Graphics:

All textures of trees have been renewed (the trees themselves are of course unchanged) and integrated into the game in double resolution. Some fruits and the colour of the leaves were optimised. For this, parts of the textures had to be moved and rearranged. All changes should work in every game state.

All textures of the paths and roads were completely redesigned and the way they are painted was reprogrammed. Frayed path edges are now a thing of the past and all paths have also received small embellishments that are randomly drawn.


Game

The spell attack buff can now be bought individually from Niall (some recipes require the spell).

Some English translations of "ancient grain" corrected.

A rune that was in Joseph's house could be picked up incorrectly. This has been fixed.

After the end of the main story, a final save is now created (in an invisible saveslot) that can be loaded from the game's (future) add-on.

Trees are now properly revived at the same growth level by the overcharged healing spell.

Existing temporary bonuses increased by potions and food are now only replaced if the new bonus is greater. This affects attack, magic points, magnet range and maximum energy. If the bonus is the same, the remaining time is increased.

Display of bonuses for speed now in %.


Bugs:

A small bug that crept in during a previous update and caused certain objects not to be entered into the map from a distance has been fixed.

Some potions and some dishes did not temporarily increase speed as intended. This should be fixed now.

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Homepage zum Spiel: https://www.jadawinindiegames.de

Trailer German: https://youtu.be/GbZ2iAPQBG8

Hier der Link zu meiner Shopseite bei Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1453430?beta=0




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Oct 30, 2020
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Hello Community,

It has been quiet around my game Behind the Horizon for a while. This is because I am currently working on the integration of normal mapping into the game. This made it necessary to create corresponding normal maps for all textures (and in my case there are a lot of them), load them and use them in a shader. This makes the lighting in the caves and other dark areas of the game much more atmospheric and creates many interesting lighting effects.
I hope to be able to upload the whole new system to you in 2-3 weeks. There will also be a small trailer, which will mainly introduce the new lighting system.

At the same time, I am working on the concept for the first story add-on, which will take some time. At least I can reveal that the story takes place after the main story. Therefore, you need to have played through the main game.
There will be new items, new plants and trees and also new monster types with new mechanics. Plus, of course, new handcrafted areas both above and below ground.

Homepage: https://www.jadawinindiegames.de
Trailer English https://youtu.be/AZH1CXES4mE

Here is the link to my shop page at Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1453430?beta=0
 
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Oct 30, 2020
Messages
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Hello Community,


the time has come again and a new major update for Behind the Horizon is available.


This time it's all about the graphics. I have integrated a new lighting system that creates very nice plastic effects with normal and specular mapping. Especially the caves have benefited enormously from this. On the surface, the effects are less noticeable because you are usually there during the day.

In addition, many textures (especially the paths and roads) have been improved or replaced, decorations added and transitions embellished.

The third major improvement concerns the starting map. There I went through the entire underground areas again and redesigned almost all the floors and stone tiles, so that there are now no more sprawling, monotonous areas. So I can only recommend everyone to try out the new starting map, i.e. to start a new game.


In addition, there are the usual minor adjustments and a few bugs that have been fixed.


You can see the list of all changes on my website or in the Steam Community section of Behind the Horizon.


Enjoy the game

Jadawin

To launch the update, there is also a newly designed trailer:




Homepage: https://www.jadawinindiegames.de

Here is the link to my shop page at Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1453430?beta=0


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