One Hour One Life Forums

bbinmass

Member

Registered: 2018-04-10

Posts: 5

Suggestion: Well improvements

Currently wells and cisterns are not that usable. it is far too easy to take that last unit of water from the well, and cause it to go dry. It takes 10 hours before that well can be used again, which currently might be longer then your village exists.

Personally I have misclicked and drained a goose pond several times. Which is still annoying, but at least i can chastise myself for this because there was a visual cue on the screen that it was down to one water unit. With a well there is no indication at all, so unless you are the only one using the well, and you are vigilant with your math and an external timer, it is pretty hard to know how much water remains in the well.

1. Give a visual indication that the well is about to go dry. For example with goose ponds, at least we can see before we click on it that it is on it's last water unit. With a well you don't get that. Even it if it just the hover text or name. For example "nearly dry shallow well", "almost empty deep well"

2. The 10 hour timer before the well restarts is too punishing. Allow players to be able to restart the well some how, like a pond. Add the ability to refill a dry well. Perhaps by filling it back up to full (7 or 14 units), and clicking with the shovel again. Bringing that amount of water back to a well is pretty big task.

To make cisterns more useful they should be allowed to hold much much more water. A cistern that only holds 10 units is not that useful, and with current well mechanics that is even more true. But if a cistern allowed you to hold much more water, say 100 units. Then it would make sense to build one in your village. Even double the capacity of a deep well, might be enough to make it more useful. Then you could use the cistern as a useful buffer for your wells, that smooths out the time that it takes for the well to refill over time.

3. Increase the capacity of the cistern. Or allow the cistern to be upgraded like the shallow well to deep well.

Another possibility to make cisterns and wells more 'idiot proof' and useful would be to cisterns built next to (or connected to a well with a stone pipe) to drain water from the well automatically to the cistern. That way we can "educate" villagers to use the cistern before the well.

Valences42

Member

Registered: 2018-04-07

Posts: 142

Re: Suggestion: Well improvements

Those are good points!

I don't know about you, but constantly having to spout out verbal instructions to family members and newly arrived wanderers gets old.  We are all running around in a chaotic frenzy trying to survive and don't have time to chat with a well keeper.  Why go through the effort of making a well if you can't use it if it gets drained?

I've seen enough of the carrot seed row argument to know this 'verbal instructions' thing absolutely needs to be constantly repeated throughout the generations.

But, it's a developing game, so I have hope.

Maybe there could be seed keepers, well keepers, and water runners?

Xuhybrid

Member

Registered: 2018-03-16

Posts: 85

Re: Suggestion: Well improvements

Those are good points!

I don't know about you, but constantly having to spout out verbal instructions to family members and newly arrived wanderers gets old.  We are all running around in a chaotic frenzy trying to survive and don't have time to chat with a well keeper.  Why go through the effort of making a well if you can't use it if it gets drained?

I've seen enough of the carrot seed row argument to know this 'verbal instructions' thing absolutely needs to be constantly repeated throughout the generations.

But, it's a developing game, so I have hope.

Maybe there could be seed keepers, well keepers, and water runners?

I used to teach my children things but it got old asking them if they're new. Having them say yes. Then every new life i spent more time typing than actually playing. It got to the point where i was just rolling the dice and focusing on what i wanted to do. I should keep putting in the effort really but it really does get old.

Valences42

Member

Registered: 2018-04-07

Posts: 142

Re: Suggestion: Well improvements

Yeah!  Oral tradition is definitely a part of the game and leaving a legacy, but I just feel like many of the players are struggling against the game for a variety of reasons. 

I feel like new players need to ask questions instead of panicking.  Old players need to look out for the new players if at all possible.   That being said, I feel like the game needs more development in general in order to make communication between players more useful.

This will be just a bunch of small steps forward... -> the name update is great.