Major update! Farming basics and optimization
Youkoso!
It’s been roughly three months since we launched Sengoku Dynasty on Steam. We've worked hard on bug fixes, quality of life improvements, and gameplay balance.
Now it’s time to move to version 0.2.0.0. We're thrilled to introduce two major updates to our game:
Farming
Delve into Aratani, the new NPC farming village, complete with a new storyline, new unique NPCs, and a new side quest. Explore the basics of the farming system - with two different field types (land and water) and various crops. And, as a bonus, trees and other resources now regrow. We are in the process of expanding that feature by adding a permanent removal of interactive resources with a shovel. Dynasty management for farming is coming in the next update. What more would you like to see in the future? Let us know!
Performance Optimization
- Experience a smoother Sengoku Dynasty with our performance tweaks:
- Reduced RAM usage by nearly 33%
- Faster loading times, with an improvement of around 33%
- Optimized GPU Load and VRAM usage, leading to higher FPS and fewer DirectX crashes.
- Optimized heavy UI elements, that will improve overload of CPU and allow for higher max FPS.
PC performance can vary based on individual hardware configurations, but all players should notice a performance boost. Let us know if you see the difference and if not, send us your DxDiag so we can study your case. While we aren't adjusting the game's minimal requirements just yet, it's a goal on our horizon. Stay tuned for even bigger performance enhancements in Q1 of 2024.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]Full 0.2.0.0 changelog [/h2]
[h3]SYSTEMS [/h3]
- Personal farming. Use your hammer to designate and build land and water fields. Plant millet, rice, garlic, leek, parsley, wasabi, or turnips. Then just let nature do its job. Or help nature a little bit by watering and fertilizing the fields and removing those pesky weeds. The more effort you put into your farm, the sooner you’ll see the fruits of your labour – rows of lush green leaves or sunny yellow stalks. Now take your trusty old Kama and enjoy the harvest! Note that this is only a personal farming system. Integration with dynasty management and production will come in the following updates.
- Resource regrowth. Do you feel like aggressive deforestation leaves the land desolate? Fear no more. Starting this update, most harvested or cut-down resources will slowly regrow. Even some mining deposits will have a small chance of respawning.
- Emoting. Greet your co-op friends with a polite bow, meditate surrounded by falling leaves, or stretch that back after a good night of sleep. Emoting is here to add an additional layer of expression and emotion to your gameplay. We are starting with twelve emotes, and we are going to successively add more. And that’s not all that we have planned with this system – expect NPCs to react to your behaviour in future updates!
[h3]3D/MAP [/h3]
- New village. Aratani – located near the river in the south portion of the map, this peaceful farming village is your introduction spot to farming, with farming traders and a farming-themed side quest.
- New quest. Of Rice and Men – follow this quest to unlock those farming fields and enjoy new ways to cultivate land.
- Added construction stages to the Large Bridge and Watchtower Special Projects. Each season the construction will progress visually at those special projects. Builders performing the work there are coming soon!
[h3]TECH [/h3]
- Auto settings. A new feature that, during the first launch of the game, performs a quick benchmark for the PC configuration and adjusts video game settings. On fresh installs the benchmark will start automatically, and you’ll be prompted (for 15 seconds) to confirm new settings. On older installs the game will ask you if you want to do the benchmark -- and then it will continue exactly as on fresh installs. The benchmark pop-up will appear only once unless you delete your save data. In the near future we’ll add a setting that will let you run it any time you want. Note: this tool will try to strike a perfect balance between performance and quality, but you might want to play around with the settings to match your preferences.
- Landscape optimization – removed distant, unreachable parts of the world to lower RAM usage, and make loading faster.
- Grass optimization – changed grass models and reduced cull distance view.
- UI optimization – applied better compression and adjusted UI assets to reduce memory usage. Also, reduced amount of invisible UI widgets to decrease CPU overhead.
- Particle optimization – changed compression assets to reduce memory usage.
- Water optimization – leading to less memory and VRAM usage, higher FPS, and fewer DirectX crashes.
- Disabled physics for invisible NPCs – better CPU performance.
- Plant mesh reduction – reduced memory usage, slightly better CPU performance.
- Audio optimization – reduced memory usage, slightly better CPU performance.
[h3]UI [/h3]
- Added production amount maximization. Now there is a toggle that maxes out your production, as long as you meet the requirements like assigned worker, tools, and input items. It will reduce production micro-management each season when you must update production amounts after your worker effectiveness increases. And this is not our last word regarding the production quality of life features.
- Added the current worker job assignment to a list in the workplace popup. When reassigning a worker, you will now know if they are unemployed, or what their current occupation is. More improvements regarding accidental worker reassignment are coming soon.
- Added demolishing UI indicator. It now takes three hammer hits to demolish anything with a hammer, so no more tragic demolition accidents. It works for each player individually and resets when you look away.
- Added in-game announcement pop-up. Just to make sure that you will not miss those sweet new updates and features.
- Hidden villagers and workplaces specialization and level icons – they weren’t doing anything yet, so no point in showing them. Expect workers' specialization and levelling in future updates.
- Changed the Help Villagers quest name to better communicate what you need to do.
- Changed Tutorial tips settings to say: "Show tutorials" and be toggled on by default.
- The neutral Bell tower marker will not disappear from the compass when nearby.
- Loading screen visual improvements.
[h3]SETUP AND BALANCE [/h3]
- Recipe changes. Since you will be able to farm new plants, we are adding some new meal recipes, and we are updating some existing recipes to use new plants. Note that it is a process that will eventually lead to a rebalance of many consumable items and resources on the map, but you can expect your miso soup and soy sauce soon.
- Reworked fall damage. Now it should allow you to jump around more. You will still get damaged sometimes, but the damage should be lower, and in general, the experience should be less punitive.
- Villagers’ Needs rebalance. New needs introduced with new villagers will require less, and higher consumption will require more. The progress of needs was rescaled. It should now be easier to create a sustained production.
- Removed certain items from the needs. Now your needs are met only with a small number of items so that your furs and logs are not consumed by villagers - it should improve the management experience. And we are working on a proper consumption manager, expect it soon.
- Reduced hammer stamina cost significantly. N w it will be easier to build larger structures in one go.
- Weapons tracing improved. It now should be easier to hit enemies with certain weapons, especially in third person. We have also eliminated a bug where a spear would damage enemy behind the player.
- New tools added. Wooden Shovel (Tier 1), and Wooden Hoe (Tier 1), to be crafted at Woodworking Table (your existing hoes may be broken), as well as seed bags used for planting.
- New items added. We have added several new plants and seeds to the game, so that you can use them to keep your villagers fed.
- Doubled dynasty level reward for the Special Project (small bridge and stone stairs) near Ryujin shrine.
[h3]FIXES [/h3]
- Fixed "ChiimeMarker" text displayed over Chiime during the Ryuijin Wrath quest.
- Fixed Beggar’s Hut visiting beggars piling on each other on the game load.
- Fixed weather bug after Nijo dialogue and cutscene.
- Fixed Iron Ore Processing Station using a debug name as a structure name on the workplace list.
- Fixed in-game settings menu position.
- Fixed Cooked Gobo recipe icon.
- Fixed the ability to use neutral village infrastructure when holding a hammer.
- Fixed snow setting on the holdable leather bag.
- Fixed Sika Deer Antlers to be more accurate.
- Fixed Campfire with cooking Pot ghost placement.
A word of thanks! Your ongoing support and passion for Sengoku Dynasty inspires us every day. Your enthusiasm and constructive criticism fuel our commitment to making the game the best it can be.
