Palworld — 1.0 Announced And We Go Nuts

After waiting a good while, I see my future… the adventure continues!

[embed]Video from YouTube site, Pocketpair’s channel

Well, there we go. The PC game Palworld has an official launch announcement with a cinematic trailer to set the game as: release 1.0! I love this game. I adore the open-world gameplay and the interactions with all the awesome critters. 1755 hours, Steam tells me… and I am far, FAR from even close to seeing “bored now” on the horizon.

July 10, Pocketpair said. This is when the new chapter will begin.

Where I’ve Been

So, the past? I’ve done almost all of the game, but there are a few top-level things I have not been able to get done. I’ve usually played on a private server with my wife and friends, and that is one of the best ways to play this game! I started pretty close to the beginning, and have watched it develop over time. Delightful.

In-game screenshots I took.

I really enjoy seeing how creative I can get with my base builds, too. That’s a fun challenge! Not only ‘usable’, but functional mixed in with aesthetically pleasing is not as easy as it sounds. I’ve tried to come up with a standard start to a good base design that allows for easy access of pals from the spawn box, as well as supporting a multi-tiered structure:

In-game screenshot I took.

But for actual gameplay and development, I had one base devoted to breeding. And… for one of the creepiest factors of this game, “combining” lots of duplicate pals to boost a superior one means… taking them into what is essentially a large blender >< Good lord. I mean… seriously, that’s messed up. Esh, lol. I choose to think of it as essence merging and refuse to accept any other version… so there :)

So with that breeding comes the development of very strong traits for pals, including the random ‘mutations’, I guess you could call it. Makes for interesting times! This is how I got a “Demon God” chicken…. lol. For one of my beloved pals, a Quivern with many fun traits. She wasn’t the fastest mount, but I didn’t care about that. I love the Quiverns, and she was the best: Countess Bloodfeather, heh. Diamond Skin and Vampiric. That is just amazing, and I had to do something with that!

What I’ve Done

Fanart!! I love the ideas that have come out of this game, and I have a list of several more ideas.

This comic style fanart was about the first time I met a new feature of the game: Alphas. It… didn’t really go so well for me. I didn’t realize these shiny critters had skills beyond their years… and so…

My art. Digital work with a pen tablet in Photoshop.

Sinister Clucker. My Noble ‘Demon God’ chicken matriarch! I couldn’t resist a fanart of this to the flavor of “how do I think she’d look like with those traits…”.

My art. Digital work with a pen tablet in Photoshop.

I’ve wanted to do a larger piece for a while, too. Finally, I’ve settled on a warzone in a more distant timeline with my character and favored Quivern. This is a Work In Progress (WIP), but it’ll eventually show a Xeno invasion tear’n the place up, as well. Lots of fun to have with this piece, yet!

My art. Digital work with a pen tablet in Photoshop.

The Hype Is Real

Playing a game for a long time like this makes for interesting stories. But then, there is always that underlying feeling that creeps up and starts to draw your attention to other worlds, other games. Which is fine! That’s how it works, and how you can maintain long-term enjoyment with games like this.

Playing World of Warcraft has been a seriously long-term effort, in that regard. Over the years, I’ve recognized that the hype for returning to the game after fun new stuff grows shorter and shorter. Understandable, especially after multiple decades.

So too will the love of a game reignite the fever of interest! And for Palworld now, THIS is slightly different. This moment (next month) isn’t just “here’s a new bit of content”, either. This is a whole new level, well, the first level of such things, honestly: a new beginning.

What comes (hopefully without any delays) next month is a complete story as the game moves out of ‘early access’ stages and into the ‘fully developed’ phase of game evolution. This is the new ground level: scaffolds fall away, the paint is finally drying, and all the foundations are solid. Here will stand the initialization of the base game/story, upon which, we all hope, will be the continuation of the fun through many more expansions and user modifications.

I will be writing much more again as the game opens up. I’m not sure exactly what form it’ll take, but should be lots of fun!

I hope you all get a chance to play a game you really love like this, because it is a wonderful feeling! Happy adventuring!

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