Folklands News

These last few weeks have been full of content updates, but nothing that could be shown until it was all ready! But now it is! Read on to see what it's all about!


Previous screenshots and gameplay videos have all been using our placeholder buildings, which were only meant to give you an impression of the game while we finalized the art style. Now with the art direction settled, it is time to show you some of our wonderful new buildings which have all been put into the game builds.

[h2]House tiers 1 and 2[/h2]


Here is an example of the house building with a Tier 1 and Tier 2 (upgraded) house. In addition to this, we've also updated all the basic buildings you will experience throughout the demo and tutorial.




We have also made several improvements to the way we show information in the UI. Almost all of the information screens have had an update, here are some of the highlights:

Energy and keeping folks happy with food, water and other desires plays a key role in making sure your settlement runs smoothly. We've updated the information screen for folks so it's easier to see their different levels of happiness, energy and needs:


When assigning folks to available jobs, you can now pick and choose who to assign, based on the distance from where they live to where they work. Reducing this distance means more time to work and less time to travel when going home to restore.


Storage buildings such as the warehouse and market now have an improved storage information screen and and easier way to choose what to store. They also now have storage capacities and storage slots for different resources:



We're always looking at streamers playing the game and receiving feedback from play testers, so we've added several QoL improvements from looking at how the game is played.

We now tell you a bit about what the best placement is for various buildings, as well as how you can rotate them:


We also tell you a bit about how to move around the map, just in case you haven't done so before:


Statistics screens now have a bit of information about what they show:



These screens are all in various stages of being complete, so expect them all to be even more improved and refined as we keep working on the game in the upcoming months.



What do you think of these improvements and how do you like the new buildings?
Let us know!

Build 1746 is now live on the beta / (p)review branches!

[h2]In this release[/h2]

• Added display options for screen and fullscreen
  
• Added background music
  
• Added volume sliders for music and sound
  
• Added animation when demolishing buildings
  
• Added walk/carry animations for water buckets and berries
  
• New resource images for water buckets and berries
  
• Added "Production ON/OFF" buttons for all related buildings
  
• Improved display of building production
  
• Fixed "Continuous production" buttons
  
• Moved settings and save paths into system-specific userdata folders
  
• Fixed hitbox issues on buildings when clicking on them
  
• Fixed flickering and inconsistent statistics overlay
  

Patch notes for build 1745:

• Added animation when villagers are building buildings
  
• Improved handling of assigning and unassigning workers from occupations
  
• Destroyed buildings now give back almost all resources
  
• Tax collector now works properly, and shows how much tax they collect in their status window
  
• Other small bug fixes
  

Welcome to our second devlog. A lot has happened since we gave you a glimpse of our retro inspired settlement builder game! Let's try and sum it up!

[h2]New UI[/h2]
Moving more towards the retro feel we have been working hard on implementing a beautiful yet retro inspired user interface. We are excited to show you the progress:



Our goal for the UI is that it should feel retro but at the same time be functional and "familiar". This is the first iteration of the UI, and we still have more to add and more to polish, but we think we've managed to find a combination of both!

[h2]First look & Teaser trailer[/h2]
We were fortunate enough to be showcased in the IndieGamiacs - Virtual Indiebooth #35. If you want to see the game being played, have a look at their playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybY40_PgWzA

If you have not had the opportunity to check out the teaser for the trailer yet, head over to the store page to check it out!

[h2]Demo[/h2]
Since our last devlog we have been working hard on the first early preview build. This special demo will now be released to a selection of streamers and reviewers and we are looking forward to their feedback.

[h2]New features[/h2]
Last, but not least - here is a short list of the new features we have been working on since our last devlog:

New buildings
New animations
Fire system implemented in tier 2
New wildlife animations
New population animations
Work prioritaztion optimization
Undocumented number of bugfixes

[h2]Up next[/h2]
We have more to share with you in our next devlog in August! Until then, here is Sigrid And Olof working hard on producing materials:

Welcome to this first devlog. We at Bromantic Games are super excited to start this devlog series to give you a glimpse of what we're working as we keep on developing this game.

We will continue posting these development updates as often as we can, so let us know if you have feedback or questions!

[h2]Current state of the game[/h2]
The game builds we use internally are very playable. The base game mechanics such as resource distribution, harvesting resources, transforming goods and assigning occupations have been completed for quite a while. The last months we have been busy working with artists and designers, finishing our game style and art direction, making sure it all fits together with the game theme.



Internally, we also play multiplayer games weekly, making sure this functionality is always working. Our developers play on a mix of Mac, Windows and Linux computers, so we also test crossplay functionality every time we play. We want the game to be playable regardless of which computer you use, or whether you enjoy single- or multiplayer games.

[h2]Feature overview[/h2]
We can't disclose all the game features just yet, as we're still hammering some of the details out, and we want to make sure it all comes together in an enjoyable game experience. All of us have grown up playing the Settlers, Anno, Caesar / Pharaoh games, as well as other games such as Populous, Black & White, etc, and we all have a good idea of the type of game we want to make - a cross section of the fun game mechanics we liked from the series we've played the most.

Folklands is a resource management / distribution game at heart and every resource you see and use needs to be harvested and transported. A woodcutter cuts down a tree and turns it into a log - it gets picked up by the plank maker in the sawmill who turns it into planks - which in turn is transported to a building site for construction. However, none of them can work without a hammer or a saw - at its core, the entire game revolves around making sure your resources are properly distributed and the needs of your population met.

In addition to this, we are inspired by other games' approach to services, which means taxation, fire and security as well as health will all play a crucial role in making sure your settlements is working well. Your guards, doctors, tax collectors and fire brigade all patrol the streets, and need their resources to work efficiently. Without a proper supply of water, fires may spread uncontrollably. Unless your doctors have access to a range of herbs or remedies, sickness can render your folks unable to work - and properly trained and equipped guards are crucial to avoid a settlement-wide crime spree.

We can't wait to show you how these systems all work together!

[h2]Sigrid and Olof[/h2]
The last few weeks we have started to add our folks to the game, with the finalized appearance of Sigrid and Olof. Of course, everyone won't be named Sigrid and Olof, but that's the name of our art characters.



The folks in the game will of course all be styled according to their occupation, and we're looking forward to seeing Olof and Sigrid in their work outfits!

What are your favorite settlement builder gameplay mechanics? Tell us in the comments!

Until next time!