- EA Update #27 - Pillows - 19 April 2026
GoatsA new addition is the Goat livestock animal: Goats are now used for leather (hide) production instead of pigs: Butcher now accepts both pigs and goats, but produces only the relevant item from each.Previously, leatherworking would allow butcher to also produce leather from pigs. Internally, this meant there were 2 production chains - one before and one after the leather tech unlock. I initially thought this would be a cool mechanic that "tech unlocks extra processing". However, in hindsight I really don't like how butcher does this automatically and what this means for balancing and predictability. So I decided to split the leather and meat production to separate animals. Plus, I like there being many different animals. Speaking of... Geese A new Aviary building is now available: It functions pretty much exactly like Ranches, but for bird/poultry animals.Currently the first and onl…
- EA Update #26 - Patchtastic 5 - 12 May 2025
In this miscellaneous summary update I've added a bunch of small features and fixed some random bugs. Visuals I worked on various small visual changes to polish up some of the areas of the game that were lacking. At least more lacking than others. World effects One new effect "type" that I hadn't implemented yet was global world effects, which are not tied to a particular object, but rather occur randomly somewhere in the world. Technically, these would occur within the player's viewport with some probability. Since the trees don't have animations (and it would take a LOT of work to add those), then I added a falling leaves random particle effect: This triggers randomly with a matching color, but more often in autumn as the trees lose their leaves. Another obvious world effect is the ground raindrop splashes during rain, which were really missing before. Normally, people don't remark on…
- EA Update #25 - Patchtastic 4 - 28 February 2024
This smaller-scoped update brings a bunch of smaller additions, changes and fixes. Mostly, I've added or changed various things based on player feedback. The intent for the update was to do tasks that don't take more than a day or so (a rule I promptly broke). The sort of unrelated changes that are too small for their own update, but bloat feature-centric updates. I originally had the plan to do patches like these between larger updates (while taking a break from the sort of wide-scoped updates that the level generator rewrite was), but I ended just making larger updates even larger by bunching all the changes at once. I have since learned that this is not a good approach, as much as it might seem easier. Anyway, here is a bunch of... stuff. Changes The biggest change is the addition of a new variant of storage building - Mixed Storage. As the name implies, this building can store multi…
- EA Update #24 - Map Generator 3/3 - 24 October 2023
This the third/last of three update posts about the new level generator. The introduction is at Post #1 and the second partis at Post #2. At this point we have something resembling a map: It's probably fair to say that the generation logic so far is already complex. But this is only perhaps third of the way to the final map implementation-wise. As more passes work with the data, they make smaller and more specialized changes. There aren't too many steps left, but they are generally an order of magnitude more complex in implementation than most preceding steps. This is also why I attempt to get as much top-level decision making done as soon as possible, so that the later passes work with smaller and more specific parts of the map without making any significant changes to the overall direction. Tiles The next big transition between the two generation parts is to actually create a tile lay…
- EA Update #24 - Map Generator 2/3 - 24 October 2023
This the second of three update posts about the new level generator. The introduction is at Post #1 and the third/last part is at Post #3. I will now go into step-by-step process of the generation passes. For clarity, I will try to explain things in the way that makes most sense rather than sticking to exact technical pass layout. I'll try to group sections by generation "topic", although there is a lot of overlap. Clusters Previously, the generated terrain was based purely on a noise map (Perlin noise). This created decent-looking gradual layouts, but this did not let me actually change anything in absolute values. That is, I could adjust things relatively - for example, have sand at 5% threshold, but then it would be random amount of sand up to 5% on any size map, which might be terrible on huge maps. There was no way for me to say - I want only 3 "patches" of sand, because there was…
- EA Update #24 - Map Generator 1/3 - 24 October 2023
This update replaces the game's island map generator with a new more robust and expandable version. I had two primary goals for the new level generator. Firstly, to bring it up to at least the same level as the old generator - but do this with a modular, extendable and configurable approach. And secondly, to fix the biggest problems with the old one - excessive unusable land, poor scaling with world sizes, bad coastal shapes and many minor issues. There is a lot to talk about designing a complex system like this. I won't go into a huge essay about my software architecture here. There are many reasons why I'm doing the things I'm doing even if they oftentimes feel like over-engineering convoluted solutions to simple problems. But I will go over the most important parts. Due to Steam post limit, I had to split this up into three parts. This post will focus on the overview and general appr…
- EA Update #23 - Technology Tier update - 9 July 2023
This follow-up update adds Technology Tiers to the game, requiring Tier-specific research point production. This is a smaller update content-wise, but it does drastically change the mid- to late-game gameplay by requiring all later technologies to produce second and later third tier research items, which have their extended production lines. Technology Tiers So some mid-game techs are now tier 2 and require T1 and T2 points: And late-game techs are now tier 3 and need T1, T2 and T3 points: The three separate knowledge items (from the Leather update) now produce their respective tier knowledge points -- notes - 1, scrolls - 2, codices - 3: The top overview HUD now shows the knowledge amount broken into tiers: I briefly considered making 4 technology tiers, the last being "inspiration" for the monument construction. And I still want to implement this in some form. But the game currently j…
- EA Update #22 - Leather update - 12 June 2023
This smaller update (but part or a larger direction) adds Leather item to the game and the production chains leading up to it; plus various changes. Leather I decided to make Leather production fairly involved with multiple production chains using all the different production mechanics - growing, harvesting, animals, crafting buildings, mining. Essentially, Leather is a high value item used for high value purposes and I wanted to represent that by having diverse and significant production requirements. (There aren't any final products yet except Codices (which are not balanced yet), but this should lay the foundation for the "next tier" items. Though I decided to publish the update before I get further carried away with changes.) Quarries can now build a Lime Mine, which produces Lime: Arborists can now grow Wattle tree saplings and Foresters will plant them. These don't spawn/grow natu…
- EA Update #21 - Deposits - 20 December 2022
This smaller update tweaks resource mining by adding early-game mineable deposits and adjusts late-game quarrying. The update also adds more depth to food items. Quarrying The major change in this update is the addition of free-standing deposits around (a newly-generated) map: The start of the game now has a Stonecutter building instead of a Quarry: These operate basically like Lumberjacks - the workers go out and harvest the nearby deposits: Each full-size deposit can be mined 6 times, so these patches last for a while, but not indefinitely. This makes initial stone resources much less a "build-and-forget", but something you have to keep an eye on, mine from several sites (some possibly far), and eventually transition to quarrying. Quarry is now unlocked by Quarrying tech and each resource type has its own mine type: Sand and Clay quarry are now also separate buildings and Sand/Clay Pi…
- EA Update #20 - Pickles - 27 November 2022
In this small update, I'm adding a Pickles food item and a bunch of various small changes and fixes. Most of these are fixes and adjustments since the previous update post. Pickles The main addition is the new Pickles food item: First off, I've added a new produce food item - Cucumber: These are basically identical to carrots and tomatoes, but introduce some more variety. Now, I didn't actually want Pickles to only require Cucumbers. In fact, I wanted Pickles to be made from more than 2 veggies, which just seemed a bit too simple. So they actually need all three veggies and the new Cucumber is the third. I've also added a new farm building - Paddy Farm, which is for semi-aquatic crops. The new crop for now is Sugarcane: Currently, paddies don't require any special tiles or preparation. This would have been one of the things included with the future level generation. For now, they act pr…
- EA Update #19 - Timber - 28 June 2022
In this smaller update, I'm adding a bunch of wood-related changes, additions and tweaks. Timber The major change is that I "split" Planks item into Timber and Planks items, both produced at the Sawmill: Timbers are now exclusively a construction material: While Planks are exclusively a production input (currently, only Carpenter): The reason for this is basically design simplicity - I want to keep long-term construction and input processing separate. I don't want one input to mess with the other input in weird ways. It's just more straight-forward to have these as different items with different proportions. Over time, I observed a few issues that would take disproportionately longer to fix "properly" than to just eliminate the cause altogether. Trees I added a new tree type/species - Birch. Functionally, all trees are still the same. But a new type adds some nice visual variety: Trees…
- EA Update #18 - Villager Needs - 5 June 2022
In this update villager needs and residence reserves have been fundamentally reworked. Although most of the changes are internal and organizational, this still results in a fundamental gameplay presentation change. I say "presentation" because the actual gameplay doesn't really change if you consider the main player actions - supply houses with goods. It is however presented (and hopefully perceived) differently, more in line with the way I originally intended. Ex-happiness I removed happiness from the game. The main reason is that it was a big simplification of how villagers "feel". It was the first version that worked decently and games have done a number-based happiness value before, but it's all very abstract and very simplistic, and I simply don't like it. A single total happiness number does not really represent villager happiness. For example, 20 happy villagers making +20 total…
- EA Update #17 - Weather - 14 February 2022
In this update, I am adding weather to the game, specifically weather effects for rain and snow. This isn't something that affects gameplay (yet), so it's purely a visual update to make the game look nicer and have some visual variety. And weather is great for this type of goal. Weather effects I'll start with the end result of the two effects I implemented, because it's simpler to discuss the steps that way. The two effects are rain: and snow: This looks relatively simple, but actually has a lot of internal considerations both from technical and design perspective. I am usually prepared that features end up more complex than they seem to be, but this one really surprised me. Sprites Keeping with pixel art aesthetic, I would want to draw rain droplets and snowflakes. But for performance reason, I cannot draw separate sprites for every particle (this would be many thousands of particles)…
- EA Update #16 - Shops - 13 December 2021
This update replaces Markets with Shops and adds significant rendering optimizations. And I might as well call this "Rendering Update", because I spent most of the time working on optimizing sprite drawing. Shops Shops are new buildings that are set to replace Markets and Market Stalls. They essentially do the same thing that Stalls do, except each shop can store and distribute several item types. For example, a Produce shop would sell Tomatoes, Carrots and Potatoes at the same time: Shops allow me to add more items without adding a lot of micromanagement to Markets and Stalls. I can instead focus on logical item "groups", such as foods, supplies, clothing, well-being, luxuries, etc. The gameplay would then not be so much about having exact items, but a decent variety of items and an overall satisfaction for that item group. It's also much easier for me to design for and players to work…
- EA Update #15 - Fishing - 18 October 2021
This smaller update adds fish animals and fishing to the game. Fishing Firstly, fish will now spawn in their own water-based habitats: These work very similarly to land-based habitats, except for the requirement to be in shallow water. There are three types of fish/habitats: Striper, Salmon and Marlin. After unlocking the Fishing technology, a Fisherman's Hut can be built. The workers will go to the nearest coast with fish and cast a rod and wait for a fish to hook: This catches the fish corresponding to the animal's species: (I considered whether a "caught fish" should be the same item or if each species should have its own. There is no functional difference and I doubt there ever will be. But the extra items do take up the extra space in UIs. I don't really mind this too much and I find it cool to have variety. Although I might need to eventually figure out some sort of grouping of si…
- EA Update #14 - Storage & Hauling - 14 September 2021
This update improves item logistics and long-range deliveries. My goal is to give the players much more control over item deliveries. Instead of relying on the game to successfully figure out what needs to be taken where and making assumptions that may not be correct, this would allow the players to direct items with more precision and have a consistent way of having long-distance deliveries. Courier stations The biggest addition are the courier stations – export station (left) and import station (right): To summarize: An export station delivers specified items to one or more import stations. Export station has dedicated workers for collecting items from nearby processing and storage buildings, as well as dedicated couriers to handle the deliveries. Import stations have dedicated workers to distribute the delivered items to nearby processing and storage buildings. You can think of these…
- EA Update #13 - Construction - 21 May 2021
This update focuses on the backend features for building construction, broadly speaking. My main eventual design goal is to make construction feel like a larger part of village development. This means things like longer build times, additional construction steps, more required materials, more builders, larger buildings, more builder animations and actions, more visuals, more feedback, etc. As part of it, I also added a lot of smaller features that I wanted to add but couldn't before. Multi-tile buildings The biggest change (at least, internally) is the support for multi-tile buildings. Here is the "new" town hall on a 2x2 footprint (or 7 tiles): I have not yet "converted" any other production buildings, because this would basically remove them without replacing and break any games. Besides, I need new art for them all and this is a out of scope for this update (see also future plans). A…
- EA Update #12 - Micropedia - 5 February 2021
This UI-focused update adds Micropedia, a browseable in-game information "encyclopedia". Together with improvements to tooltips and presentation as well as nicer-looking icons for all the important buildings and items. Icons Over time, I have been drawing icons for buildings in the main construction menu. I wanted to replace them because of how unrecognizable they are. It's one of the first things a player sees in the game and it remains the primary mechanic, and all new building unlocks appear here. So it sucks when the sprites are so interchangeable and it takes clicking and reading tooltips to find what one is looking for. (And it is unlikely that the in-world sprites could ever not only be distinct enough but also fit in the small buttons.) Long story short, here's a comparison between an old and new construction menu page: Even if not immediately obvious, these should be infinitely…
- EA Update #11 - Hunting - 22 December 2020
This smaller update adds hunting and wild animals that can be hunted for meat. Wildlife I added several wild animals -- foxes, boars, wolves and deer. These wander around, graze and generally hang out in the forests. I think they add some nice livelihood to otherwise extremely static forests. Hunting I added a Hunting technology unlocked before the Herding technology. The Smokehouse will now also unlock with the Hunting tech. I added a new building - Hunter's Lodge. You can adjust its operating range to cover the nearby animal location. You can also toggle which animals get hunted: The workers will then run out to any wild animals, shoot them and then harvest them for meat. Meat can be taken to smokehouses same as from the butcher. Smokehouses will now require Firewood: This makes early high-quality meat food production more balanced. I also renamed Pork to Meat and Ham to Roast since m…
- EA Update #10 - Seasonal crops - 7 December 2020
This update adds seasons and seasonal crops to the game. The game's save format has changed, see the "Save Upgrade" section below. To preserve old saves, you will have to upgrade them. I thought about titling this update "Winter is coming", but that just describes my update schedule. Key changes The game now has seasons. I went with the "standard" temperate ones: spring, summer, autumn and winter. You can now see the season progression in the HUD and more info in the tooltip: For plants, seasonality means that crops and produce will now quickly decay in winter: In fact, all farm crops (wheat, barely, hemp, herbs) have to be planted in spring or they won't have enough time to fully grow and be harvested. Gardens will be able to (re)grow produce some 2-3 times a year. Crops will also decay naturally over a period of time if not harvested: This also means that gardeners and farms will not…
