Posted September 17, 2017 by Commodore Shawn
Really good progress this week. Basic settlement management is finished, including population growth, food, and special resources. You can even create settlers to found new cities. Roads are next, followed by trade, and then Masklings and Combat. Looking at the remaining features to bring 2.0 up to parity with 1.4, I've laid out a rough timeline below.
Settlement management is largely finished, with only a few features still outstanding (roads and trade). The screenshot above shows the new settlement management UI.
The world in Bronze Age 2.0 is hex based. Structures can be build on hexes adjacent to other structures already in the settlement, simply by clicking on them. Available building locations are highlighted. Like in 1.4 some structures require resources to be constructed, and the settlement must have a free citizen. Some structures have other placement restrictions, like mines.
Resources (fertile soil, stone, ores, and trees) in 2.0 are static, and won't run out like they do in 1.4. They are harvested by building a structure on their hex. The patch of stone above is a limestone resource, and the player can build a stone mine on top of it. The stone mine will them produce limestone, similar to how mines work in 1.4. Instead of being cut down trees are now handled as a resource, harvested by building a Lumber Yard on their hex.
The economy functions much the same as in 1.4. Structures automatically consume and produce items as needed by the settlement. The major difference is that the actual location of the items is not tracked, they are instead assumed to be wherever they are needed, massively cutting down on the complexity of the simulation. The amount of items in a settlement is displayed in the UI, as you can see below, represented by icons.
Like items, how population is handled is changing in 2.0. Instead of having individuals running around a settlement they are now tracked through an abstract measure. The image above shows the population display. A settlement has a certain capacity for population (increased by building housing), and each citizen is either working or idle. Most structures require a citizen to operate them, and all structures require a citizen to be build or removed. As long as the population is fed (not Starving) and as long as their is room (as shown by empty circles) the population will grow.
Populations are fed by structures. The bakery, for example, consumes wheat every 100 seconds, and will feed 10 citizens as long as it has wheat. If a settlement has twice as much food as it needs, then the citizens will be "Well Fed" and will reproduce twice as fast. If the settlement doesn't have enough food, then the citizens will be "Starving", and the settlement won't grow at all.
If your settlement has idle citizens, you can press the "Create Settler" button, to have them leave the settlement and become a Settler. Those settlers can be ordered to move around, found new settlements, or join and existing settlement (as long as it has enough housing).
Trade and roads will be added shortly. Trade will work much as it does in 1.4. Roads will count as structures for the purpose of unlocking construction plots, but they will also be passable by units. Some structures will require road access, and invading armies will try to walk along roads to reach the town center. This should result in more interesting siege gameplay, with armies fighting in the streets, and a tower-defense aspect to settlement construction.
One thing I'd like to add in the future is adjacency bonuses. An irrigation structure, for example, could boost the output of adjacent farms, adding a spatial optimization aspect to economic buildings.
Any feedback is appreciated, as always. I realize this is a rather drastic change for Bronze Age, but I think it will enable the game to grow into it's own unique self.