Show HN: Farmhand – an open source, multiplayer farming game PWA | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Farmhand – an open source, multiplayer farming game PWA

jeremyckahn.github.io

16 pointsjckahn11 comments

Server written in js using node. Interesting. If i wanted to change its state from outside it shouldn't be that hard should it? , eg let me take sold seeds or whatever from market and export to another instance...

I'm looking at linking this game to others.

Hello! Yes you’re right the markets are “gameable” in that way. I’ve designed around supporting that though. Market volatility is handled reasonably gracefully, as crashes or bubbles can’t last very long.

Here’s the logic for that: https://github.com/jeremyckahn/farmhand/blob/3e5c19d1a48294f...

Looks interesting. Looking at a possible linkage to Factorio when I get back to modding again soon.

That would be so cool! Please let me know if you get into that. You’re welcome to join Farmhand’s Discord to share your ideas with me and other players: https://discord.gg/bVccaux5

Nothing screams "fun" like seeing a wall of text and multiple menus when I load up a video game. I'd really prefer to be dropped into gameplay when I open the link.

I understand what you're saying. The goal isn't immediately obvious for a game like this, so I thought it would be best to explain what the game is before throwing players straight into the deep end. Perhaps there's a better way to do that, though?

One thing I've seen in open-ended games like this (Rimworld, Crusade Kings) is to just jump into a "tutorial" at first and direct the player into the basic game loop. It feels like you're actually accomplishing something (because you're actually building your first farm), and you also don't feel lost because the game is pointing you to the buttons you need to press in order to achieve your first goal.

So instead of a long-winded introduction about what the objective of the game is, just jump straight in and tell the user "A farm is nothing without crops, purchase some carrot seeds from the store to get started!" or something to that effect.

Anyway, just my 2 cents. You've actually put in the effort to make the thing and delivered something that is playable, and for that I commend you. Don't mind me, I'll just sit here daydreaming about all the abandoned game projects I've started while criticizing what you made to make myself feel better about it!

That's a great idea! I think the game would benefit from a more engaging onboarding experience. If I'm being honest, I'm not super motivated to design and build out a robust "guided tour" like you see in some apps, but I think there are a lot of opportunities to add in simple affordances that would guide new players through the first iteration of the core game loop.

For instance, there are some basic "new player achievements" here: https://github.com/jeremyckahn/farmhand/blob/dc734f71bcc081f...

It wouldn't be too hard to display those on the Home screen for the player to check off when they first start out (and then hide after completion). And I think the default state for some views could offer more explanation. I'll think on reasonable ways to improve that aspect of the design.

Thank you for your helpful feedback!

I've added an issue to track this work: https://github.com/jeremyckahn/farmhand/issues/13

Feel free to add additional thoughts to that issue!

I like it.

I get dropped in and almost instantly have questions about how exactly things work that poking at things just doesn't answer.

That’s a fair criticism. I’ve tried to make the game reasonably intuitive and discoverable, but a lot of the game logic admittedly isn’t obvious. I intend to fill out the game’s wiki (https://github.com/jeremyckahn/farmhand/wiki) with comprehensive guides, but I find building the game directly so much more motivating!

I owe it to players, for sure. I just need to get more disciplined about it.

Thanks for feedback! I’m glad you’re enjoying Farmhand!

EDIT: I was looking at this on my phone and didn't realize you were responding to the other poster. In any case, the game still needs wiki content. But hopefully it's reasonably playable as it stands today! :)

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