June 2025 Update - Snack Break

Hi! Got another progress update for you on the upcoming Milestone Build 2, which focuses on ponies' new ability to eat stuff; so bring your appetite!

As a reminder, this Patreon does not charge monthly, but only after the release of "Milestone Builds", of which I am currently working on the 2nd. No release date for this build is known at the moment.

Apple Trees

The first of several food sources I'll be adding into MB2 is the humble apple tree. Which is going to look a lot like an oak tree – mostly because it is. Each oak tree in your village will have a chance to grow apples on its branches, which will look something like this:

These fruit are hanging from the branches of a tree, and so you probably won't see them until you actually get close enough to inspect under the canopy. And like a lot of elements in the village, which trees bear fruit and how many is random, so you will likely get used to where this is happening in your specific town.

Like sticks, fruit-bearing trees will drop the apples when they're bucked, and it's the moment they hit the ground they become official items in the world. You can pick them up and move them, they'll float if dropped off in the water, and of course unlike sticks you can actually eat them!

Apples take longer to grow on branches then sticks take to replenish on a tree, so take care not to go through your entire town's apple supply too quickly.

Food Spoilage

Another system being introduced with the next build is food spoilage, or rot. As I'm sure you're well aware by now, Tales From the Herd moves on a timescale roughly accurate to real life, and so if you leave fruit out in the hot sun for days on end, don't be surprised if they turn rotten. Please show some appreciation for the mare who was brave enough to eat one for this demonstration!

Right now, this will only make your pony give an appropriately disgusted face, but in the future I'd like to add adverse effects to doing this, or even give ponies enough autonomy to know well enough to not eat these in the first place.

Oh and if you let a rotten apple sit out long enough, it will biodegrade completely! So no need to dispose of them like you might feel you have to with sticks, nature will take its course.

Calories

Every piece of food – which is just apples right now, but that'll likely change next month – has a calorie value. When you eat that food, your pony gains the calories, and will refuse to eat more if their stomach is completely full. As you might imagine, these calories then our slowly burned off over the course of time, allowing your mare or stallion to once again go find a meal. How quickly these calories burn off is also dependent on what activity your pony is engaged with; for example, crouch walking, swimming, and galloping all burn calories faster than standing, resting, and of course sleeping.

What do the calories actually do? Well, right now... nothing. But the plan is to give various beneficial effects to these calories, so that eating a healthy meal will make you and your pony's life easier with things like extra gallop speed, faster crouch walking, etc.. There's a lot of room in a pony's stomach, which should allow for a wide variety of food (and thereby their effects) to combine and aid you throughout the day.

Better Picking Up / Setting Down Animations

You may have noticed playing Milestone Build 1 that there is only a pickup animation for standing up. This isn't game-breaking, but certainly annoying, and you might be pleased to know that the upcoming build remedies this with additional animations for picking up while sitting, lying down, and even swimming. Where the item is set down will also be improved, as especially in those aforementioned stances, the game would often drop items off in a seemingly random and unhelpful patch of grass.

I also realized I didn't animate any clothing garments during pickups, which looks so ridiculous, so rest assured that all unique pickup animations going forward will also pay attention to the animation of the garments.

Miscellaneous

The "chewing" animation I've made is actually the first of its kind in the game, being a whole new animation layer. This means that this animation can be played during any other pony animation, which is great, because like talking, I want you to have the ability to use the item in your pony's mouth pretty much whenever you want. So whether you're in the middle of a jump, galloping through the woods, or resting by the shore, that animation (and perhaps future animations) should have no problem playing right on top of another body animation.

I also can't really demonstrate here, but chewing these apples have a unique new set of sound effects; and you'll never guess how I recorded them... (I ate an apple in front of a microphone)

Fixed a few bugs as well, like hoof sound effects not properly updating when moving between the dock and wet sand around it on the lake. Though at this point I'm not sure if that was a bug in MB1 or one I introduced while working on the latest dev build...

Another, much more bizarre one would make all ponies GIANT, and playing certain animations would actually make them grow larger in size. You've got to appreciate when the bugs are at least funny, you know?

Coming Up...

If you've been reading these for a while, this update may feel a little short. The reason for this is a piece of good / bad news: I landed a new job.

For several years, I was working on The Herd in my free time while employed at a small business that couldn't afford me very many hours, which was great because I could grind constantly on the game, but less great when it was time to pay my bills. With this new job, I have better pay and MUCH more consistent hours, but this also means I find myself having less time to work on development.

It's a frustrating balance that I'm sure you've dealt with before: time and money. But just know that I'm doing what I can to still bring you consistent updates, and that I love working on the game enough to just squeeze it in around the work I simply tolerate for pay... no offense intended to any past or present employers, of course.

With that being said, next month I'll probably continue to round out the village's food roster, and actually toy around with those effects I mentioned them giving you.

Until then, take care of yourself, and thank you for stopping by!