Info on the upcoming 0.40 update

[Mattk50]

That approach was taken by the developers of Cultures and result was horrible. (multiple civilians deciding to run toward the invaders because of one food bush = bad). There will be major problems for the player if they have a lot to manage under those circumstances.

Because a city/fortress in kenshi is going to store food in a bush outside the walls? :V

Think what dwarf fortress did. When a siege comes knocking, dwarves outside would get called back by the borough system and simply live on whats left inside them. This could be automated by the ai if they recognize whats inside and outside of walls, which should be possible if the plan is to have gatehouses actually close.

[Potocobe]

I like the idea of food and water needs driving me to desperate acts. I don't like the idea of my minions ignoring my orders while they get some chow. I do like the idea of the food/water in a town automatically providing for all citizens within a radius. I don't want anyone else covered though so I can gouge on water prices. "Sure I'll trade a glass of water for that nice sword. Ha ha haaaa."

Maybe have a range of rations from hard tack to MREs that stack more uses per inventory square the same way medkits do. Same for water. Have citizens that leave town grab food and water rations on their way out. That way I can steal food and water from slow people in the desert and sell it later at my bar.

Oh and if there is beer and rum does that mean I can get my party drunk?

[Mattk50]

Dang, all new stuff in the status report that was just posted has me excited. The real villager presence moving around money sounds like a lot of opportunity for screwing with the npcs. Also im rather happy with the crazy mishmash of technology, with electricity this is starting to feel more like something out of mechwarrior lore (lostech) than anything else. Also, gameplay being prioritized over a stringent tech consistency is something you don't see often.

Mostly the shadows though, i cant wait. The game is going to look amazing with real shadows in, going to play (and bug test, naturally) .40 to death when it comes out.

[Phaser Rave]

Thanks for the update, Chris! Sounds awesome.

[DrZamf]

I think that food and water should be a factor, BUT, I think it should work more like Mount and Blade, where having food and water raises morale or possibly that fighting spirit stat that's not implemented yet.

As items are currently implemented, though, I would think food and water would only effect the morale of town, making mining, farming, and research go much slower if people are unmotivated because of hunger or thirst. (You know, like in real life)

If the end effect was to make food and water effect combat performance of out troops, then I'd suggest making small medium and large ration packs, much like how we have three levels of med pack. Maybe even a food pouch equip slot on people to prevent the basic food you need from crowding your inventory, sense inventory management is already something that can easily be a concern, even with the little number of items we have.

That's just my two cents though.

(Also, super HYYYYYPPPPEEEEE for the next update. Have been sense before Christmas)

[Wilcol]

Later on there will be AI guilds that offer various workers for hire, to run your base for a wage.

I'm still undecided about food and water. I would like it as a survival requirement because it makes your base management more interesting, but I don't want the micro-management of making sure all your men have enough food all the time, or constantly running off to get food when they should be manning a turret.

What about a roster system? You could have a mess hall, and they take turns manning defences.

[Tolwrath]

Later on there will be AI guilds that offer various workers for hire, to run your base for a wage.

I'm still undecided about food and water. I would like it as a survival requirement because it makes your base management more interesting, but I don't want the micro-management of making sure all your men have enough food all the time, or constantly running off to get food when they should be manning a turret.

What about a roster system? You could have a mess hall, and they take turns manning defences.

Exactly. One person doesn't stand guard all the time. Eventually the guards will trade shifts. Guards could also carry canteens that hold a couple days worth of water. You don't really want them consuming rations at their post though (at least I wouldn't), as those should be saved for travel/expeditions.

[Mattk50]

Well, the point of food and water consumption would to give patrols reason to stop in at home port, give guards "shifts" and give a basic level to the economy of the game. Differentiating food and water can often be a pain though and most games either combine it or make it two bars you fill at different frequencies.

What i'd suggest is that food be consumed at a constant, but fairly low rate, regardless of what the guy is doing, but have water be much more dynamic. On long trips or war marches you'd need more water than for a guard sitting around at his post in town all day, for example. This could work with a system where water was a fairly easy to get in small quantities resource but for enough for serious operations you'd need a lot more of it. The food would take far less weight than the water though, as you'd consume a lot more water on average and low weight allows for food growth to be planned for a certain population to survive, while a thirsty population might just be extremely sluggish (if not completely dehydrated).

[tkobo]

The radius idea is a good one, and could be applied to groups away from settlements also by just making it so one char in the group acts as a "quartermaster",and he acts as the radius center for the group.

With carts,this would work even better.

[cyanide_addict]

I was wondering about quality of the drink we make,better brewers = better alchool = higher price

[Hassie]

I was reading some of the main page info that Chris had put up about the upcoming update regarding food. How you can use Flour and water to make bread, and wheat and water to make rum. Rum is made from sugar. Wheat is used to make vodka and whiskey, and I think maybe gin. It isn't a huge deal but I figure getting the little things right can't hurt.

[Marilous]

Does anyone know if the number of people you can have in your squad will increase to accommodate running your village?

[Kamos]

I don't know if the squad cap or squad number will increase, for this update anyways since they will grow, but for now I would suspect much trouble. Most villages are likely to be NPC's inside your faction anyways.

[nuget102]

I was reading some of the main page info that Chris had put up about the upcoming update regarding food. How you can use Flour and water to make bread, and wheat and water to make rum. Rum is made from sugar. Wheat is used to make vodka and whiskey, and I think maybe gin. It isn't a huge deal but I figure getting the little things right can't hurt.

You've never made homemade bread before have you? You use the water to make the flour stick, a few more ingredients are needed I think but this comes to the "Fun over realism" part of games and probably the rum part of the game, maybe when/if Chris adds molasses he'll have that make rum instead of wheat making rum.

[Hassie]

You've never made homemade bread before have you? You use the water to make the flour stick, a few more ingredients are needed I think but this comes to the "Fun over realism" part of games and probably the rum part of the game, maybe when/if Chris adds molasses he'll have that make rum instead of wheat making rum.

lol no I prefer my bread prepackaged and store bought. Bread is made from wheat, well Wheat flour bread is. I am not saying that it is a must change, but why not change the name of rum to whiskey? Fun over realism is great, but the less stuff that is just wrong in accordance with our world, will make the game feel more real, and you can get lost in the fun easier.

Obviously if changing rum to whiskey is the only way I can enjoy this game, then I should be taken out back and shot. I was just bringing up a small snafu that seems like an easy enough fix.

[Tolwrath]

I was wondering about quality of the drink we make,better brewers = better alchool = higher price

I like and support this idea, but I can also see how it could become kinda complex. You would first need to be able to differentiate your drink from everyone else's. This could lead to each faction having drink brands that need tracking. And then there's the thought that if you upgrade your production, and the drink quality increases, then only the price of the new drink should be affected, so you'd need to track each batch or drink of the same brand and quality separately. Unless you go through the trouble of making your drink's price/quality be determined by popular opinion. Then you have to think about HOW quality would affect price. Would it be a + or- a certain amount rule, or a multiplier? Would a town's trade rate for the drink multiply on the total (base price and quality bonus) or just the base price? Would faction relations affect the price?

I know I'm over thinking it, but considering it's a game under construction, I'm supposed to put as much thought into it as possible.

[Henriot]

Ok, with the food/water thing; every character has a canteen slot and "food" slot in their inventory, seperate from the main one. Food/water slowly degrades over time, no food or water meaning you slowly lose blood, less effective in battle.

To make things easier for patrols or adventuring parties, you have a single area/item/interactive THING that you can just right click on with your adventuring group and it stocks it up.

Maybe when workers/guards are "inbase" they go stock up when they're left idle for too long, or when they start getting low.

In town could be the produce store or whatever you go to (citizens too), things are priced differently but same principle.

[nuget102]

lol no I prefer my bread prepackaged and store bought.

This is so off topic but...
Have you ever even had home made bread before? It taste godly. Store bought is terrible in comparison. Try it sometime, I promise if it's made right, you'll love it. C:

On topic (sorta): Does anyone else keep looking at the forums every hour or two just hoping for an update? Or is that just me? XD I seriously can't wait to start my own out post, it's going to be great fun. C:

[Scotterius]

On topic (sorta): Does anyone else keep looking at the forums every hour or two just hoping for an update? Or is that just me? XD I seriously can't wait to start my own out post, it's going to be great fun. C:

Expect 0.40 in mid Febuary

[Blxz]

This is so off topic but...
Have you ever even had home made bread before? It taste godly. Store bought is terrible in comparison. Try it sometime, I promise if it's made right, you'll love it. C:

I used to make bread every 2 or 3 days when i was living in Japan. It took a small amount of effort but it was so good. Most of the time I would just put butter on it when still hot and eat half the loaf in one go. Fantastic stuff.