Development Updates

This Development Updates page aims to document sneak peeks, promised updates, and other public information about site development that does not necessarily reflect on the website at the time of reporting.

For a list of implemented website changes, see Site History.

2022

September

• 14: The cat creator demo for the site went live, with the breeds Longhair, Moontail (Ribbon), Ragdoll, Shorthair, and Snowfoot. The overcoat genes Basic, Calico, Cardinal, Cloudy, Patches, Tiger, and Tuxedo. The undercoat genes Basic, Day, and Gradient. The accent genes Basic, Cheeks, Lollipop, and Mittens. The colors available can be found on the Colors page.
• 22: The pre-launch page for the Kickstarter went live.

October

• 5: The Kickstarter went live and hit its goal within the first twelve hours of the campaign.
• 13: The world page featuring a lore overview of each of the seven Boroughs went live.
• 16: A teaser for five new colors and their palettes to be introduced at launch was shown. Those colors are Sheep, Raisin, Possum, Thunder, and Apple.

November

• 2: Full lineart for the Bovine breed was shown.
• 5: The Kickstarter ends successfully. It was announced that kit accessories, despite the stretch goal not being hit, will still be fulfilled through personal funds[1]. Additionally, the previous amount of 20 total planned Breeds was increased to be 22.

December

• 5: The additional Colors that will be available at launch were announced. The full lineart for the Prancer breed was shown. An investor in the game enabled the team to work on a mobile application.

2023

January

• 8: A preview of the UI for the profile and camp were shown. The full palettes for the Colors were revealed and an estimate of the number of items available at launch was revealed.
  • Ten Breeds: Shorthair, Bovine, Snowfoot, Prancer, Ragdoll, Fyret, Littlefang, Stonehide, Longhair, Moontail
  • Five genes in addition to those already in the demo, including Overgrowth
  • 13 Accessories
  • 122 Decor items
  • 40 Backdrops
  • 100 Companions
  • 330 Food Items and Ornaments

February

• 3: The deadline for additional add-ons to be purchased by Kickstarter backers. Emails had to be sent to the Paw Borough team by February 2nd, 11:59 PM EST to be able to purchase add-ons.
• 5: Assets for the game were shown.
  • The breed Wolf was revealed, with the breed itself said to be coming sometime after launch
  • Updated art for the Bovine Kits was shown
  • Sketches for the Fyret final poses were shown

March

• 8: Assets for the game were shown alongside a preview of the Guild system.
  • Final lineart for the Fyret was shown
  • The Shorthair and Ragdoll had updated art to improve general quality

April

• 6: Assets for the game were shown as well as a more thorough explanation of the game attached to the Guild system.
  • The Snowfoot had updated art to improve quality
  • Example UI for the Guild

May

• 10: Assets, UI designs for various site features, and a new direction for genes were revealed.
  • The Tiger gene was updated to reflect the new direction for genes.

June

• 8: Lots of stuff!
  • Six Companions were revealed, 3 of which being Kickstarter backer-designed
  • Updated art for the Bovine
  • Some new icons and tooltip UI
  • The Cardinal gene was shown with the new art direction
  • White Coverage was revealed as a mechanic
  • The Prowler is replacing the Snowfoot as a starter breed

July

• 11: A new monthly update
  • Four Companions were revealed, 3 of which being Kickstarter backer-designed
  • Eleven new icons and items
  • An updated site header asset
  • The reveal of the Butterfly overcoat gene
  • Refined previews of the white coverage mechanic
  • The reveal of the Solid gene and the retiration of the Basic gene
  • UI previews
• 18: The second half of July's update
  • Introduction of a new color and breeding system
  • Retiring of the color wheel breeding system

August

• 18: New monthly update
  • Slight changes made to color breeding system, now referred to as "Light Mixing" instead of "Paint Mixing" in the previous update
  • Prancer Mars pose was updated to better utilize space
  • Two new Kickstarter backer-designed Companions were revealed, with a teaser for two others
  • Abyssal receives finished header art as well as a new backdrop
  • A Cogwheel themed backdrop is also released: Cobblestone Clearing
  • Backend updates such as onboarding and den organization
  • Preview video of user den pages without final CSS
• 19: Discord Development Update
  • Fixed an ordering bug with moving widgets on the User Profile, logic now works as intended
  • Set up nursery page
  • Basic nursery bones setup
  • While building the camp/profile logic, made sidebar nav block a component to be used elsewhere

September

• 21: New monthly update
  • Three more Kickstarter backer-designed Companions were revealed with a preview of one more
  • Eleven new icons and items
  • Work in progress images of Luna and Harvest headers and a Harvest backdrop
  • Large UI update for cat creator on desktop and mobile
  • Second accent slot announced!
  • Cat profile UI preview
  • Breeding UI and functionality finished along with a preview video
  • The option to breed cats in a specific Borough for eye color was introduced as a premium feature, including a traveling option that randomized the Borough
• 21: Discord Dev Update
  • Squashed a bug for generating Borough eyes
  • Adjusting mobile breeding layout
  • Investigating potential breeding color bug 🐛
• 22: Discord Dev Updates
  • We found the bug! Only one hue was showing up for previews due to the spreasheet being misread. Squashed!
  • Added bitter root breeding cooldown to the dam if a session is canceled
  • Added loader to nest page
  • Demo'd functionality of the cat profile, including relationships and viewing equipped items
  • Demo'd item card functionality, including a rudimentary flip animation to view tertiary item information
  • Demo'd accessory preview functions via item card navigation, using both default dolls and cats the user owns
  • Opened a PR to: update cat profile item preview to handle smaller screens
• 25: Discord Dev Update
  • Working on mobile front-end for the cat profile
• 26: Discord Dev Update
  • Investigating a bug which shuffles white shapes when changing the overcoat!
  • Cat profile for desktop is fully functional!
• 28: Discord Dev Update
  • Working on item cards and item storage

October

• 5: Discord Dev Update
  • Squashed several bugs, including a codemirror bug, a profile clicking bug, and a drag and drop bug
  • Built out the new creator UI
  • Built a creator / breeding predictor hybrid for testing
  • Working on cat relationships and item mechanics
  • Finished picking and inputting over 60 different palettes for Butterfly in a single week
  • Finished several pattern illustrations
• 9: New monthly update
  • One year anniversary of the launch of the Kickstarter!
  • One more backer-designed Companions
  • New gene Valentine is introduced, showing off twelve different colors
  • New artwork of Overgrowth on a Shorthair kit is shown
  • Three new backdrops; Harvest Outskirts, Zenith Outskirts, Luna Outskirts
  • Backend updates; item storage, daily activities, customize and dress-up for cats
• 13: Discord Dev Update
  • Knocking out kinks in cat customization, adding more complex accessory layering functionality, working on pelt functionality
• 17: Discord Dev Update
  • Fauna item groundwork
  • Finished building relationship functionality between cats
• 19: Discord Dev Update
  • Over 100 colors hand-picked and finalized the last two weeks!
  • Over 35 gene illustrations done in a week--art is picking up!

November

• 2: Discord Dev Update
  • Customize is done!
  • We've moved to working on Guild functionality! Building out team functionality and the UI designs for creating and managing teams!
  • Preparing for the November update 🤫
  • Relationship management and an item function known as "gift-giving" has also been fleshed out and is fully functional!
• 6: Discord Dev Update
  • Breakthrough in development! We figured out custom map generation for Guild gameplay!
  • Tiles are randomized each time!
• 8: Discord Dev Update
  • We have functionality for moving and editing elements in the scene builder!
• 16: Discord Dev Update
  • Compiling a list of bugs found and so far documented, to tackle after we find stability
  • Compiling graphical errors which can be fixed via file editing and hex codes, and quickly fixing for our next push to the site
  • Working again at engineering solutions to the site functionality
  • Noting feedback on visual preferences for genetics and colors, and going to the drawing board
• 20: Discord Dev Update
  • We'll be slowing down this week to give everyone a break but we are currently working on:
    • Queuing fixes to bugged files to the live site
    • Guild combat tile logic for generating transitional tiles
    • Moontail patterns!
  • I also want to make a little celebration that we've solved "lice" for the most part, despite having more layers. You should not be seeing any pixelated white outside the lines like before, and this is a big win!
• 28: Discord Dev Update
  • Hydde has finished working on all tiles for one of our combat/explore locations!
• 29: Discord Dev Update
  • We have fixed the Metropolis eye bug, and will be pushing it, alongside file fixes, on Friday!
  • Current development is on Guild gameplay, including ironing out map generation and multiplayer team synergies
  • Frontend design for combat is complete. Frontend building has reached multiplayer and single-player team assembly!

December

• 5: Discord Dev Update
  • Metropolis palette fix has been done
  • Development is currently focused on team building / guild play.

2024

April

• 2: Discord Dev Update
  • Team creation for the Guild has been built
  • Working on combat instances!
• 11: Discord Dev Update
  • Movement and hit-boxes for combat is working
  • Fixed bugs with team creation and recruitment. Users can now smoothly register new teams, add cats to a team, and receive dashboard notifications to join teams from friends.
  • Uploading team emblems also works smoothly!
• 14: Discord Dev Update
  • Lollipop has had its colors assessed and replaced with more complimentary choices! 120 colors had replacements.
  • Tulip, Ruby, and Raddish were incorrectly inputted. Fixed!
• 25: Discord Dev Update
  • Rudimentary logic for combat NPCs is being worked on. We can currently faint other cats on the board and use moves for hit damage.
• 28: Discord Dev Update
  • Found and fixed all the white coverage issues!!! Next push they should be consistent across the board!

May

• 10: Discord Dev Update
  • Battling is near completion. NPCs attack back, status conditions have been implemented, dice rolls and statistic calcs have been implemented. Huge push for the combat. Currently testing it.
  • Moontails are missing Overgrowth and gene modifications such as Tigerface. Very close to done!

June

• 4: Discord Dev Update
  • Wrapping up errand play! We're almost done with MVP guild play. Working on action log text and item drop table architecture.
  • In the same vein, item tables are being populated with a final MVP item count. We'll begin on placeholder art for whatever cannot be completed for alpha/beta, and then our artists will slowly build out from there with replacing it!
  • Daily duty functionality is next, once we finish the above drop table structuring.
  • We have mockups for markets and purchasing items.
• 18: Discord Dev Update
  • Pushed a few demo fixes. Long term mobile issue was fixed. Lots of white errors were corrected.
  • Sorted through 150 out of 500+ applications, sorting ongoing
  • Working on flea market functionality on backend.
  • Working on icon and NPC art on visual end.
  • Mockups for NPC site-hosted stores have begun.
• 25 Discord Dev Update
  • All applications have been sorted!
  • Item pool logic and seeding has been implemented! We now can control what drops where and at what rarity
  • Errand / combat fixes have been pushed, notably a textlog.
  • Starting on mockups for cooking/crafting. Site-hosted shops are done!

August

• 2 Discord Dev Update
  • White coverage is fixed!
• 6 Discord Dev Update
  • Finished alpha crafting
  • Finished alpha flea market functionality--working on UI tweaks
  • Almost done with forums!
  • Aaaand we're good to send codes next week