Discussion: Town center

pein · 2018-09-07 21:20:52

With every idea, i run into a problem: i can define what is a city, but the game cannot
for example i call it noobcamp when its badly located, no water
camp when you got basic farming and water acces
when you got tools, you can call it a small city
i think when it has a sheep pen, all tools you can call it a city
then the stage when you got rooms, bell tower, outposts, you can call it megalopolis

its a problem, cause a lot of ideas and game mechanics could be better if the game can define what is a city, where is the city

for example we could have better child spawn ratios, and more control over it
if the city can track how many people are inside, and there is a limit how many can hold, we could increase baby spawn just by running out of it, or decrease staying inside and working on the food

general strategy games work like this: you build a town center, then you build houses to increase population
you need reach some kind of goal, to be able to reach the next upgrade, and its always beneficial to have more workforce, army whatever, and generally people tend to maximize workforce cause it helps to archive the next goal

OHOL seems to be having a different game model, at least the strategy part of it. over 10-12 people you got no jobs to do, you can reach higher goals with a few skilled players and increasing population is more of a random chance, than a choice. people spawn babies, some stay, others build structures, this makes more people stay, then it dies out by chance or by noobs, griefers,

the kiln is some kind of town center, people seem to be attracted to it, for a newbee, even if has no knowledge how to make bowls, seeing a kiln assures him that its a city, wont have to run in the forest, stressing, it will be a farm there
people tend to hoard everything around the kiln, make the berry farm next to it, hoard bunnies next to it, etc.

so i think we need some kind of new structure: a town center
it could be a statue, it could be a building with some function
when you find a spot, you would need to build a town center, this could act as a home marker for everyone born there, something cheap, something like a home marker. i would go as far as saying you cannot have more than one kid until you place a marker, maybe 2 afterwards
then you should upgrade it to allow higher population
this would be a nice form and control over population
if you got only boys, you would need to upgrade to have girls too, but if you got too many this would prevent having any more until the elders pass away, this would make easier to maintain early population and distribute people on the server

what this discussion is about: how should it work such a town center? how would it define a city

for example could be a range to a city. 30 tiles around a center, it would belong to a city
similar to curse you could cast out people, or choose to leave the city and free up spaces for them
this would also ensure that the stay home moms got the kids (you could still have one if you leave the city)

i could imagine upgrades like:
stump on the home marker, this proves you got an axe, maybe this would make it to grow into a tree, not the best idea but as game mechanic would make sense
fountain- similar to a well but is unique and not so powerful cause has a range, you stack stones on the home marker and dig it, this proves you got a shovel
then boards, stone wall, sign on it, maybe a town center would block a 3x3 tile around the center after the first upgade
then you could build different things on this tiles, even a bell tower or a shrine to buff the city in a way
now imagine, you are an eve, you want a city to make stew, your son is born, you cannot upgrade the city yet so you ask him to leave the city perimeter, so you can have more kids
you make the axe and the tools, your son decides he wants a sheep pen and an outpost which gives buffs to animal tending
your daughter born and makes stew with you, the bonus is more bowls per stew or faster branch regrowth (would matter more after tree planting)
your son could help you from outside and maybe take a girl with him to populate the other city
maybe the town center could track the population and the resources within it with the right upgrades, first with a signboard and paper, later maybe with electricity and a glass screen, or a signpost showing the other cities directions and name if they got any

even some way to show recent deaths and causes of death
this would make harder to reach higher goals, as it would need population to do so, and team work, you could and should move out and make an outpost, even turn into the new capital with like minded people, as for extending territory i could imagine automatic extension based on levels, or special stakes given on upgrade, which could be used to put around a new land and extend the bonuses to that land
this could lead to trade routes or wars for a territory for example wells

its a complex idea but the basic is just to have a defined city range, the game knows the perimeters, the population, so baby spawning can be fine tuned, and we could get more information ingame about the population, the deaths, the resources and act as a real town center instead of kilns which are just structures with a purpose of making bowls, plates and tools.

they would be unique based on bonuses, as you couldnt have everything buffed, maybe you should even had to choose negative effects to compensate, or some would be random, or based on composition of the land
higher baby born rate- lower overall temperature
higher well refill rate- wild animal spawns nearby
while the idea itself would be hard to implement, just by having a way to change some ingame rules with no new items, would make a more unique gameplay in each city

Last edited by pein (2018-09-07 21:24:22)

startafight · 2018-09-08 04:07:59

ooh and a statue of the eve would be cool to put up too

Ribbz · 2018-09-08 05:29:53

Honestly I don't like the idea at all

Booklat1 · 2018-09-08 13:32:42

I think town centers should be less rts like thingies and more of an architectural build. I've been thinking a lot about architecture guidelines for cities and I think both bells and berry farms can kinda of act like a twon center in the sense people often gather there. I think all cities should have a slighty bigger berry farm in the middle of town (obviously sorrounded by floor) and all streets coming from it. if we do this in many towns it'll become a convention and it'll be possible to talk to people who gathered there.

boggers · 2018-09-08 15:44:39

There are no cities only villages. Cities require commerce which OHOL doesn't have yet.

A whole bunch of lidded boxes on floor tiles with good temperature and a few walled buildings around it would serve as a village center, but that won't work with large populations.

One Hour One Life Forums

#1 2018-09-07 21:20:52

Discussion: Town center

#2 2018-09-08 04:07:59

Re: Discussion: Town center

#3 2018-09-08 05:29:53

Re: Discussion: Town center

#4 2018-09-08 13:32:42

Re: Discussion: Town center

#5 2018-09-08 15:44:39

Re: Discussion: Town center

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