Development Update
I'd like to take a moment to update you all on what I am working on!
New Town Quests
I'm working on some new town quests (the quests that added objects to the townspeoples' homes) that will include some new objects for the town. A bird bath, a grandfather clock, and fireworks. The same artist who created the recent objects for the Stronghold Quest and the Resource Items (apiaries, beehives, rose trellis, etc.) is working on the new objects for the quests. In the mean time I'm writing up the quest text and creating the quests themselves.
Unassigning NPCs
After getting a lot of feedback on this over the past few months I've decided to work on a system that will allow you to unassign an NPC from a job without having to swap them with someone else. This new system will also include an enhancement to the overall townspeople jobs system.
Townspeople will gain a buff after they've held a job for a certain amount of time (TBD). This buff will make them better at their job, whether they are a worker, a shopkeeper, or any other profession. This buff will give them a boost for whatever their primary role is. So workers will sometimes get more resources, shopkeepers with the meticulous skill will make Mastercraft items more often, the cost to craft items at a shopkeep with this buff will be slightly lower, and so on.
If you swap or unassign a Dwarf who has a job, this buff will reset.
Some limitations of the system will be that you cannot unassign a Dwarf from a job if that Dwarf is the only one in the town with that job. Also, Farmers, Miners, Fishermen, and Herbalists will likely not be eligible for this feature. However they will be able to swap jobs as normal.
Overall I think this system will allow you to unassign a Dwarf and make them a Worker to help boost production without making it something that happens all the time. In addition if you accidently place a second building and assign a Dwarf to it, you'll be able to first unassign that Dwarf and then delete the building if you no longer want it. More on this as I work on it!
Upgrading Storehouses
I'm still working on the details for this but the idea is to allow you to decide whether you want to have three storehouses or upgrade one or two of them, allowing you to free up some space in your town. You will of course be able to upgrade all three if you want to maximize your resources. For existing towns I'll need to work on something to allow you to remove a Storehouse if you decide you don't want all three as right now you can't delete Storehouses.
More Repeatable Quests
I want to add more repeating quests to the game, especially some new ones after the Orc and Stronghold quests to add some more diversity to the mid and end game. The trick with these is they have to be repeatable, can't be very narrative driven, and shouldn't use a lot of new art. The idea is to use what I have, for now at least. I also don't want them to just all be "go kill something" - although combat quests are fine, as long as they have some different context.
Other Stuff
Other suggestions from the community.
Town Manager Enhancements.
Quality of Life Improvements.
Bug Fixes.
I also have a couple of other things in the works that I hope to be able to talk about very soon!
Thank you everyone for your support and feedback. As always if you have any comments on this, or anything else related to HammerHelm, please feel free to share here or on Discord!
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
[email protected]
New Town Quests
I'm working on some new town quests (the quests that added objects to the townspeoples' homes) that will include some new objects for the town. A bird bath, a grandfather clock, and fireworks. The same artist who created the recent objects for the Stronghold Quest and the Resource Items (apiaries, beehives, rose trellis, etc.) is working on the new objects for the quests. In the mean time I'm writing up the quest text and creating the quests themselves.
Unassigning NPCs
After getting a lot of feedback on this over the past few months I've decided to work on a system that will allow you to unassign an NPC from a job without having to swap them with someone else. This new system will also include an enhancement to the overall townspeople jobs system.
Townspeople will gain a buff after they've held a job for a certain amount of time (TBD). This buff will make them better at their job, whether they are a worker, a shopkeeper, or any other profession. This buff will give them a boost for whatever their primary role is. So workers will sometimes get more resources, shopkeepers with the meticulous skill will make Mastercraft items more often, the cost to craft items at a shopkeep with this buff will be slightly lower, and so on.
If you swap or unassign a Dwarf who has a job, this buff will reset.
Some limitations of the system will be that you cannot unassign a Dwarf from a job if that Dwarf is the only one in the town with that job. Also, Farmers, Miners, Fishermen, and Herbalists will likely not be eligible for this feature. However they will be able to swap jobs as normal.
Overall I think this system will allow you to unassign a Dwarf and make them a Worker to help boost production without making it something that happens all the time. In addition if you accidently place a second building and assign a Dwarf to it, you'll be able to first unassign that Dwarf and then delete the building if you no longer want it. More on this as I work on it!
Upgrading Storehouses
I'm still working on the details for this but the idea is to allow you to decide whether you want to have three storehouses or upgrade one or two of them, allowing you to free up some space in your town. You will of course be able to upgrade all three if you want to maximize your resources. For existing towns I'll need to work on something to allow you to remove a Storehouse if you decide you don't want all three as right now you can't delete Storehouses.
More Repeatable Quests
I want to add more repeating quests to the game, especially some new ones after the Orc and Stronghold quests to add some more diversity to the mid and end game. The trick with these is they have to be repeatable, can't be very narrative driven, and shouldn't use a lot of new art. The idea is to use what I have, for now at least. I also don't want them to just all be "go kill something" - although combat quests are fine, as long as they have some different context.
Other Stuff
Other suggestions from the community.
Town Manager Enhancements.
Quality of Life Improvements.
Bug Fixes.
I also have a couple of other things in the works that I hope to be able to talk about very soon!
Thank you everyone for your support and feedback. As always if you have any comments on this, or anything else related to HammerHelm, please feel free to share here or on Discord!
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
[email protected]
- My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSixStudios
- Discord Channel: discord.gg/soedesco
