itch.io

Yeah, I get that it can be a little jarring. I'll probably go with a smoother centring, it shouldn't be too difficult to change.

An excellent pair of suggestions! I might move a lot of the character stats to the top bar when an inhabitant is selected, but keep the menus for when a player wants more details (as there will eventually be too much information that'd clog up the screen). I might unify the separate stat menus to a single menu with separate tabs too.

As for your last point, I'm actually working on the goblin animations for the next major update!
It might take a bit to get them finished though, especially if I start introducing the multiple animations (unlocked through different levels of lust) that I have planned.

Yes, I've found that it's quite difficult to get all the information across in the tutorial. Adding in some more tooltips like you mentioned might make things a bit easier for players.

With the food, you should see food spawning in every season (berries in spring, apples in summer, chestnuts in autumn, and pinecones in winter). Everything but berries requires training in the gathering skill, which is probably why nothing is being gathered in the other months. The tutorial should mention stocking up in spring if I updated it correctly, but I probably haven't made that clear enough. Also, with the fairly low rate of skill levelling limiting players to berries for a while, I might need to balance that with the availability of each food source.

Goblins not gathering stone is definitely a bug. It's probably the new equipment system messing up their pickaxe animation, similar to how the Pit's combat is experiencing issues.

Better implementation of the happiness is actually part of the next update! It ties into the social system, so that certain relationships can have perks or disadvantages like extra stamina or fights resulting in injuries. I'm still toying with a global happiness modifier for the settlement, but that won't be implemented for a while as it depends on the unimplemented decoration system.

The same goes for the effect of structure placement, which will benefit from the decoration system, advanced resource structures (like mines and farms), and also the day-night cycle I plan on implementing (where having your structures too far from one another results in time being wasted travelling).

Thank-you once again for providing feedback (it really helps me fix the problems my players encounter), and I'm glad you like my game.

Hello there, thank-you for catching so many of the bugs and sorry there were so many present!

The pit crash is something that I've noticed too in testing, it was caused by enemies not spawning with a weapon (because of the new item system) so that should be sorted in the next update.

2 and 4 should be simple fixes, but 3 is a bit concerning.

Your point regarding the recruiting softlock is really important. I considered making the player's starting club a special weapon that leaves them with 1HP when it would normally kill an enemy (except if the enemy already has 1HP,  then it will kill them) but figured that would get annoying when you're just grinding. Now I've got an equipment system implemented I think I'll add an accessory that gives the wearer an action with that same ability.

Yeah, the building system is a little janky and perhaps a bit too expensive too. I'm considering having buildings only require one stone for upkeep, and following your advice I might have the placement mode highlight potential deleted objects in red.

Oh wow, that is quite the bit of work you've made yourself there!
The end result sounds like it's going to be real neat though.

Depending on the animation and development software you use; you could use skeletal animation rigs for both escort and player animations (which would save having to animate each character individually) and have the game swap out sprites for things like hairstyle, body shape, etc. Add in a simple recolouring shader and you could handle a fair bit of custom character stuff.

The downside is it takes a bit of tweaking (and drawing to grids or other guides) to ensure all the sprites align correctly to the skeletons and each other.

Huh, looks like the game is trying to load up a battle using an empty fighter with no race or gender. I've updated all the fight scenes in the last update, so I probably left one of the template fields empty somewhere.

Either that or your player character isn't loading into the fight scene properly for some reason.

*EDIT*

Looks like it's the player character causing the issue. The problem seems limited to male characters (at least in the tests I've run), so it's probably something up with the entity for player human males rather than the save data not loading correctly.

Thanks for catching that. 

Is the crash occurring when pressing the conquest button, on the conquest (map) screen, or upon loading into a battle?

There should also be a log in the saves folder (Default "C:/Users/<USERNAME>/AppData/Roaming/Dapplecap/logs/godot.txt") that might contain some details on the crash.

I'm hoping to get a build out in the next few days (provided I have enough time free to get a couple more fixes sorted my end), so feedback on that once it's released would be great!

Yep, still working on it. 

It's taking a while to fix all the bugs as I'm not able to replicate them on my machine. Currently I'm going over all the code and trying to reduce the amount of deferred calls (which the game has a lot of!) on the assumption that some of the issues are caused by the graphics and physics updates running out of sync.

Right, that looks like the game engine or graphics renderer is playing up.

I'll see if re-writing for OpenGL ES 3.0 fixes the issue, but that might take some time if I have to re-write large chunks of my code to accommodate the switch.

Thank-you for providing the log by the way, it gives me a starting point to tackle the error from.

I've been getting a lot of bugs reported for this release, though it is performing fine on my test devices (which is annoying as it make the issue tricky to find let alone fix) and browser. 

With the web version, is the issue with starting a new game from the main menu, or does the game simply not load at all (and if so, does it show the black screen with grey loading bar)?

For the desktop version, I've tested it on Windows 10 and 11 without the mentioned issues, but it is still possible there's a compatibility issue.

I've uploaded a debug version of the game that should output some log files to the save directory (normally found at C:/Users/<USER>AppData/Roaming/Dapplecap). 

If possible, please could you replicate the error in the debug version and post the contents of this directory (as a .zip) or the text from the logs/godot.log file under the save directory?

Ah, thanks for catching that for me. It's probably something to do with the post-combat auto-save, so hopefully the next update should fix that (as it makes improvements to the save/load system).

Thank-you for the feedback! 

I agree with your points regarding customisation options, they're a little limited ATM as I'm focusing on getting some more mechanics sorted (specifically a breeding and aging system so your population doesn't remain static).

I'm planning on adding in more options (for hairstyles, separate facial hair, blemishes, and scars) with an update to the character customisation and game startup (adding a main menu, gallery, and story "cutscene"). There's also plans for an in game "Hairdresser" style building where you can edit the appearance of your inhabitants too. While it will start with just hair style changes, you'll be able to unlock hair dye, tattoos, and piercings.

The addition of armour, weapons, and tools is also a great suggestion: I actually have an unfinished armoury building hidden in the game code at the moment. Here you will be able to access a crafting and equipping menu. The equip menu will also be available through the combat map (in-case you need to tweak your warriors gear last second). The planned gear types are: Weapon, Armour, Tool, and Accessory.

The resource generation over time structures I have planned still require you to assign an inhabitant to them, but will provide a more reliable income stream for each resource: Food => Kitchen, Stone => Mason, Wood => Carpenter, Metal => Forge, and Gems => Jeweller. They're all processing buildings, so my plan is to have a trickle if it's just them, but also a bonus if there is also gathering of the same resource going on (calculated base on number of X resource gathered by the end of the day). This should help gathering (and related skills) remain relevant even in late game.

I hadn't thought to add additional skills until you mentioned it, but now I'm considering adding in a set of skills for Cosmetics (hairdresser), Crafting (Armoury), and Processing (Resource generation buildings).

All that said, most of that stuff is some way off being implemented yet! Probably a couple of years work to get it all in based on my current development speed. I should really do up a roadmap...

Saves should be under Users/<Username>/AppData/Roaming/Dapplecap for the Windows version, and in your web cache for the HTML player.

I've checked and the code for finding resources is indeed identifying the log pile as a tree because it contains wood!

Hmm... I might have the player character have WSAD movement controls and ENTER to interact with resources as per your suggestion, it'd help set them apart from the other inhabitants.

I get what your saying about the slimes. I'll modify their mimic script to account for the filters.

Ah, thanks for catching that. The houses are supposed to support 2 inhabitants of the correct species each (I should add that information to their tooltip!) so I'll need to check that the slots are filling correctly.

Found a bug? 

Have something to suggest or request is included in the game?

Let me know here! I can't promise I'll get it fixed / added quickly (as I've quite a bit planned already) but it'll bring it to my attention.

Getting Started

Upon opening the game you’ll be greeted with a build area littered with resources. Your first step will be building the Chief’s Hut, a combined resource and housing structure that spawns a unique customisable player character upon placement.

Siting of this hut can significantly affect early gameplay, so locating it near to resources required for your planned strategy / play style can make a big difference.

Once your hut and player character are on the field, you’ll then need to assign a job to the character. This is done by selecting the character by clicking on them, which will bring up the inhabitant menu. From here you can select a job from the buttons on the left side. Bear in mind that a character will only work if their skill level is high enough, there are nearby resources in season, and they have stamina remaining.

If all your inhabitants’ stamina is depleted (or if you just want to move time along), you can end the day with a button in the right side settlement menu. You can return to this menu by closing all other menus.

Resources and Jobs

There are 5 resources and corresponding gathering jobs available in the game:

• Food is consumed by all your inhabitants (including the player), and inhabitants will leave if there isn’t enough. As early game food sources are seasonal, it’s recommended to prioritise gathering them if your foragers have the skill to do so.
• Wood is consumed by both inhabitants and structures, and is often the resource in highest demand. Fortunately it isn’t seasonal and new resource nodes are fairly common, though some woodcutting skill is required to maximise extraction.
• Stone forms the basis of most early structures, and is typically required for their upkeep. Due to the scarcity of nodes (particularly those in your miner’s skill range), they are one of the main factors that influence successful base location.
• Metal can be used for weapon crafting and buildings. As it requires investment in the mining skill, it won’t be immediately available at the start of the game.
• Gems are much like metal in that they require a bit of mining skill to extract and are used in crafting and building. They can also be used as currency for trading.

In addition to the gathering job, there is also the Warrior job. Warriors gain combat stats at the end of the day if they have some remaining stamina. They can also be randomly selected for the player party in battles.

Combat

If you have warriors with stamina available, you can start a fight using the random battle button.

This will take you to the combat screen, where a turn based battle will occur.

On the far right is the turn order, where you can see who’s turn is coming up.

During one of your party member’s turns you can select an action for them. Most actions will then require you to click on a target to set the target.

The goal of combat is to defeat or recruit (using the player character’s special recruit action, which has an increasing chance of success the weaker the opponent) all of the opposing party. If this looks like it might be a challenge, you can also withdraw individual party members to keep them from harm. If all of your party are withdrawn or defeated, you will lose the battle and a handful of resource.

Winning a battle grants a small amount of resources and the option to confirm the recruitment of certain foes. If you choose to recruit an enemy, they will join your inhabitants in the settlement.

Stats and Skills

Inhabitants have two types of stats; combat and work.

Combat stats are, as the name suggests, used in the battles They are as follows:

• Attack – The base damage a character deals
• Defence – Reduces incoming damage by this much. Damage reduction caps at 1, so attacks will always do a little bit.
• Speed – Determines turn frequency.
• Resist – Helps a warrior ignore status effects.
• Aim – Increases the chances of successfully landing an attack or ability
• Evade – Decreases the likelihood a hostile action will hit the character
• Health – Maximum Health Points in battle.
• Actions – Maximum Action Points available in battle.

Work stats operate a little differently. Instead of providing a numerical advantage to work actions, they unlock certain skills at certain levels.

• Foraging unlocks new food sources and farming at higher levels.
• Woodcutting allows you to harvest more wood resources, and unlocks tree planting at higher levels.
• Mining allows the extraction of advanced resources (metal and gems) and access to large deposits at higher levels.

Maxing out any of the work skills rewards a bonus stamina point. With all

The inhabitant menu has buttons to view each type of stat, along with current relationships, for the selected inhabitant on the right side of the screen.

Socialisation and Happiness

Inhabitants can form relationships with one another based around 4 socialisation types: Friendship, Humor, Love, and Lust. While they often socialise on their own, the “Player Interaction” button allows the player character to perform specific interactions with a selected inhabitant, provided the player still has stamina. Some interactions are only available once a certain relationship level is reached.

Socialisation plays a role in inhabitant happiness, which is also affected by resource availability and decoration structures. High happiness can give a bonus stamina point, while low happiness losses a point.