a multiplayer game of parenting and civilization building
You are not logged in.
While I was pondering the coming Apocalypse, I wondered if the training tutorial area is exempt. I mean nothing says Steam refund better than a new game owner logging into the training session for the first time than to get a message saying that they died to the apocalypse?
So speculating that the tutorial is exempt. Shouldn't the ultimate goal be: 1) break into the training grounds, 2) assemble all the pieces within it, 3) destroy the world, & 4) have a good laugh on the forums as you share the video of yourself surviving the apocalypse.
The_Anabaptist
How about this for an idea:
There have been murders in town. Somebody is found with a bloody knife swearing innocence. "I killed the killer! Blah Blah Blah!" You toss a pair of iron manacles down. "Put them on and we'll talk." They do so, which allows another player to lead them around the map. You lead them to the wooden / stone pillory setup in the town square. Together the two items lock a player to the tile. This immobilizes them for "x" years (lets say 2x their curse tokens?). Relatives have to come feed the pilloried person. If nobody feeds them, they die. If others curse them while locked up, then their sentence is lengthened as per the 2x formula. If they serve their term then they go free as a (hopefully) reformed member of society.
I think this could help diffuse some situations. True murderers would likely just run and have to be killed, but some of the avengers killing them in return might be spared the retribution killings that currently happen from not seeing what happened.
I don't post to reddit, so feel free to borrow this idea for the suggestions subreddit.
The_Anabaptist
Tonight I had the silly conflict with somebody over their wheat straw. it was clear that we both were attempting to make compost piles. I literally had a cart with the shovel and berry/carrot mash ready to go, and could point to another pile I had just made a minute ago. But in the end they took back their straw, and I took back the only shovel in the village and shoved off. It was a very dysfunctional village. I witnessed no less than six knife stabbings as a baby.
But I'm usually strongly in the camp of you better ask before randomly taking my stuff, especially when it comes to rope.
The_Anabaptist
If every minute is supposed to represent a year, then adding a day/night cycle doesn't make sense.
You clearly put a lot of thought into it, for which I applaud you. Keep brainstorming!
As a parent, I tell my kids to stay warm because hauling them around means that I do nothing and thus I'm dying and maybe the village is dying as well.
Kids that want to learn should be staying in town and starting the learning process once self sufficient. Too many kids are roaming far before they have enough food pips.
Unless you are an Eve's kid, you probably shouldn't be out gathering resources unless its a very short jaunt (like egg or branch gathering).
Also, as a kid, ask before doing. I wanted to throttle a kid last game who quick went and hoed a basket of dirt that I was going to use to revitalize three plots instead.
I bit my tongue because I knew they thought they were helping. Fortunately they later asked about planting, which allowed me a couple teaching moments.
The_Anabaptist
I'm thinking open fire is way to tame.
I suggest that an open flame should periodically check for throwing embers to flammable objects in neighboring times. I think this would be a fun way to discourage untidy villages. Maybe make the yellow grassland tiles flammable as well? Think of the panic as a grass fire come marching across the screen towards you!
It would probably also be a good idea to allow a bucket of water to douse an open flame. Then we could have bucket brigades to put out all the four alarm fires that will no undoubtedly occur in the beginning.
I don't post to reddit, so if you like these ideas, feel free to borrow them and post them to the suggestions subreddit there.
The_Anabaptist
I recognize what I'm about to say probably means a significant code rewrite, but I think it needs to be said.
The game needs objects that take up multiple tiles of space.
If I were to build a log cabin house, it would not be using the cut logs as depicted in the game. The game would need trunks that span 2 or 3 tiles in one direction, then a team of people or a horse could pull it into its proper place.
If I were to build a frame house or barn, we would need to assemble the frame on the ground, again covering multiple tiles, and as a community raise it into place with the assistance of long poles like an Amish community would do. Or via the use to ropes, pulleys, cranes, etc as a more modern contractor might.
As we progress in technology levels, there are things that should be scaling up in the number of tiles needed to construct them. It is best to address this sooner than later.
The_Anabaptist
I posted this in the milkweed thread, but it fits just as well here.
http://digg.com/video/how-rope-is-made
It is real and it fits the game's ethos. And it most definitely costs some iron!
It probably means that the early hand recipes would need to be tweaked once this would be implemented. It all comes down to: are you making a rope or are you making a ROPE!
I don't post to Reddit myself, so feel free to borrow the idea for posting in the suggestions subreddit there.
The_Anabaptist
Just found this video on Digg.Com
http://digg.com/video/how-rope-is-made
It seemed appropriate for where rope making could be made to go in this game.
Or you just stand in the middle of your out of the way farmed milkweed patch with a drawn knife and scream at anyone who comes into view:
"Get Out Of Here! I Will Knife You!" It is fun to play a curmudgeon telling people to get off my lawn. And it often blows their minds.
"Dude, I need some rope for the community."
and I'm all like "Don't Care, Go Grow Your Own! I Will Knife You!"
I haven't had to knife anyone, yet...
The_Anabaptist
How is this for an idea:
We already have the animation of Monarch Butterflies pollinating Milkweed before it goes into pod form. What is that animation was tied to a pollination bonus for any food bearing plant 1 tile around the Milkweed plant? That would encourage the cultivation of 1 milkweed for every surrounding 8 berry bushes, for example. Hopefully this would slightly lessen the frequency of soil refreshes for berry bushes due to increased food production. Then everyone would also have to decide if they cut it now for the product, or leave it alone for the berry bonus.
I don't post to Reddit, so feel free to borrow this idea and post it on the official suggestion subreddit.
The_Anabaptist
http://lineage.onehouronelife.com/serve … id=2239546
We were born into cactus nirvana. Bless my mother's soul for birthing 13 children. I nearly starved once or twice, but a cactus would then pop for me. Dedicated my life to building a lovely road from the cactus to the town just south of it. Near the end of my life I planted a rose bush in town at the one end of my roadway. A memorial to my little brother Steven and I, Clara, the last survivors of our short lived clan. We then went into the cactus that had sustained us and passed on together.
I honestly don't know how so many of my children starved so young. By the time most of them were born, we had so many cactus seeds by the side of the road that everyone could have done next to nothing and still lived to a ripe old age. Domesticated berry bushes are the devil's work I tell you! My family planted them and then killed themselves tending them.
Will we see the inclusion of more natural fibers such as cotton, flax (linen), jute, or even silk in a future update? The current options for clothing seem rather limited. Most of the time I'm feeding sheep / composting, not for the community food needs, but for the fleeces. The addition of more natural fibers would also lend to the addition of new devices like spinning wheels and looms. This would fit nicely between neolithic and industrial in the tech tree. It could then be developed further with the advent of water wheels or windmills once in the industrial age. I don't post to Reddit myself, so someone feel free to borrow these ideas and submit it to the proper forum there.
The_Anabaptist
In my last attempt, I was born into the most advanced village I had ever seen. Working farms, working smith, working kitchens, working animal husbandry, domesticated horses, etc... Every kid I raised I basically told them, this is an advanced village, hang out at the farms and eat. Take your time to learn some new skills, go watch the elders ply their crafts. I lived to 59. Was excited to look up my family lineage and see how the kids were doing. Totally shocked to see that 80% failed to make it to child bearing age. Most died of starvation!!! Only 1 made it to old age, and that boy was clearly an experienced player.
If 80% of the player base can't figure out how to keep themselves fed in a prosperous village, no amount of tweaking the baby rate will work IMHO.
The_Anabaptist
Maybe an idea for some object tweeks here...
It just seems that I should be able to fashion some tools out of an adult human bone pile.
A quick Wikipedia search for "Bone Tool" provides plenty of examples.
This might help with the recent forum complaints of there not being enough iron.
If a few basic tools could be made of bone and simply have a higher breakage rate...
Maybe add a few bone musical instruments too? Just for the social aspect.
There is more to life than existing after all.
If this stuff already exists, I'm new to the game this week, so cut me some slack.
The_Anabaptist