Take Control with the Kaizen Update

Inspired by kaizen (改善), the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement of production processes, this update brings a streamlined storage system and adds a new Consumption Priority tab that allows you to decide exactly how your villagers use resources. Plus, new warnings will help you spot issues like homeless villagers or lack of tools. So, jump back into your village, experience much shorter loading times, and let us know what you think! We’re always eager to hear your feedback.

[h3]Shorter loading times[/h3]
We have decreased the initial loading times by 73% (median). That’s what our internal tests suggest at least - the results may differ between different setups, so we’re all the more curious to hear about your experience. Did you notice a significant improvement?

[h3]Improved Dynasty Storage[/h3]
No more will you have to build several storage structures at the very beginning of the game, in every new village, just to produce simple stuff, like water, or planks!
General Storage will now accept all items by default and will meet storage requirements for production purposes in your village.
Newly produced items will now automatically go to the proper (preferred) dynasty storage if they exist, and if not, they will go to the General Storage instead.
The specialised storage will now mainly serve the purpose of organising resources and adding more dynasty storage space (as well as decorating the village)!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]New Consumption Priority Tab[/h3]
The new Consumption Priority (or “Needs” for short) tab should give you much better control over the production and consumption of items in your dynasty. It has many benefits:

Shows a comprehensive list of all items in the game that can be stored in your dynasty storage.
Shows how many of each item you have in storage.
Shows which items (and in what amount) are going to be consumed on a given day.
Allows you to change the order of consumption or disable consumption entirely to save more valuable items from being devoured by your villagers.

Multiplayer: for now, the Needs tab is only visible for the Host.

[h3]Service Jobs (Prototype)[/h3]
We’re introducing a new type of job: service jobs, like guards. They fulfill needs without producing any tangible items. Service Jobs will use tools, and sometimes resources, to produce value for villager needs directly. It will be consumed by your villagers with the highest priority by default, which makes sense since Service Jobs results cannot be stored for later. To check it out, assign a worker to a Guard Tower, open the new Needs tab, and see how Security Jobs increase a sense of safety in your Dynasty (requires at least 18 villagers).

[h3]Dynasty Management Warnings[/h3]
In the spirit of allowing you better feedback and control, we implemented new warnings on HUD and in UI tabs. They warn you about many issues, to mention just a few:

Homeless villagers.
Unemployed villager.
Workplace lacking tools.
Workplace lacking storage access.
Wrong season for a recipe.

Resolve those issues to have a smooth production cycle. More warning types coming soon!

[h3]Improved balance[/h3]
Thanks to your feedback and some long-awaited new features, we have greatly improved the overall game balance. We have mostly focused on the economy and dynasty management experience. Here are some of the highlights:

The in-game economy will now make more sense with the introduction of different buying and selling prices.
Sustaining villager populations should now be easier, with their needs adjusted for small, medium, and large villages.
Some recipes, including most meals and medicine recipes, have been reworked to be cheaper or more flexible to make them simpler at the beginning of the game.
Farming will be unlocked much sooner so that you can begin food production earlier and support larger populations easier.
The farm plants growth speed modifier has been added to Custom Game Settings if you want to speed things up even more.

[h3]Changes and Additions[/h3]

Refugees will now come to the first player village in the same season, the day after it’s built (instead of next season).
Miko Chiyome in Sosogi is now a trader.
You can now build fences on steep slopes (with one exception -- the defensive fence).
New workshop building model.
Some basic buildings got a new floor type made out of logs.
You may now find some arrows at the Arrow Stand furniture each season.
Game Modes Ul in the in-game gameplay settings menu has been improved.
You can now provide tools to production slots directly from your inventory.
The production slot tool list was improved by adding the name of the source of the tool (player inventory or dynasty storage).
Tools are now automatically assigned to a production slot, choosing the most effective tool.
Reworked notifications to reduce spam and clutter when gaining rewards, unlocking recipes, and completing quests (including new SFX) - for example in the starting “Unfamiliar Shore” quest.
Improved Wooden Torch SFX.
Updated music system for better exploration experience, more tracks will play depending on weather and season.
Changed default TPP camera movement from 1 to 0.
Changed default FPP FOV from 90 to 100.
Optimised AI for better performance in villages.
Optimised winds and tree needles transparency.
Added warnings for village needs.
All icons now have a dark version.

[h3]Notable fixes[/h3]

Fixed the crossplay with Epic users.
Fixed some item stacking in inventories and storage.
Fixed weapons and other items able to clutch not cleared from encounters.
Fixed the enemy marker not clearing after enemy death.
Fixed the camera behaviour after the player's death.
Fixed the Large Kagaribi lacking unlock options.
Fixed camera going under water for 3rd Person View.
Fixed area marker missing in "Find Yajiro (the runaway spy)" quest.
Fixed scroll not moving past the first 5 positions in the "Assign Home” list on the gamepad.
Fixed “Empty” bed status not being localised.
Fixed workplace tool list not refreshing automatically when another player is changing the global storage.
Fixed the DLLS option being visible on hardware configurations not supporting it.
Fixed hammer icon material in the empty exterior ghost.
Fixed issues with shitake mushroom
Fixed furniture ghost edges not replicating.
Fixed the wind in the sorbus tree.
Fixed collision with ginger plants.
Fixed showing the player counting as a worker in the Dynasty tab.
Fixed showing the player as homeless in the Dynasty tab.
Fixed the general Dynasty storage not being initialized properly for the client. (“Transferring items with E tap to the storage" bug)
Fixed several water continuity glitches.