Alpha 7 is ready and posted, with a new Demo as well as a new Gameplay Video. In this update the main focus is on improving the Tutorial and adding an Objectives System.
Thanks to feedback I received, I learned the game was a bit overwhelming to the new player with all the different systems interacting at once. It’s hard to experience your own game like a new player when you’ve worked on it for thousands of hours! On the left-hand side of the screen, it now lists the current objective based on the current active tutorial.
The update also includes the first iteration of the main objectives for the player. These are increasing Prosperity and discovering all neighbouring tribes, which now begin as “Unknown”. A new Scout profession allows you to select which Pokians can go on Scouting missions. A summarised list of changes is below. If you like more detail, weekly progress is listed here, here, here, here or here.
New Features
- Implemented nomads joining your tribe event
- Implemented achievements/objectives for tutorial
- Added various event-related notifications
- Added more tutorials and made the transition smoother
- Added minimap rectangle to let player know current viewing area
- Refactored game engine to allow for new games without restarting
- Events panel can be moved around and position is remembered
- Added scout task for human AI to explore surrounding area
- Added some diplomacy-related tasks
- Added sound effects for eating, drinking and shivering
- Added food security and burning carcass objectives
- Pokians won’t perform any tasks if their primary needs are too low
Gameplay
- Nomad appearance chance based on current tribe size relative to prosperity
- Doubled water update frequency
- Added main objectives for discovering all tribes and becoming most prosperous tribe
- Diplomacy panel disabled and blacked out until first main objective complete
- Modified Career class so Pokians can have multiple professions
- Added foreign tribe discovery stages
- Moved scouting action from tribe-specific action to global action in diplomacy panel
- Foreign tribe prosperity fluctuates in proportion to foreign tribe size
- Halved day length to fit new update frequency
- Reduced severity of hunger and thirst effects due to sickness
- All animals eat and drink twice as fast
- Change notification sound to achievement completion sound
- Decreased rate of gaining symptoms from sickness
- Increase base influence area around camp
- Made data overlay for forbidden movement hexes clearer
- Animal spawns are less aggressive overall
- Change animal decision to migrate to take into account crowdedness
- Changed animals to disengage targets if they are out of breath
- Reduced severity of food decay
Fixes
- Notifications now show most recent first
- Fixed changing combat move direction not immediately removing previous move order
- Fixed tutorial and event notifications bugs
- Tutorial notifications now have green text
- Fixed duplicate water supply hexes
- Fixed crashing when closing game with human off map
- Refactored object destruction to be more stable
- Fixed filter broken on task query panel
- Fixed combat mode tutorial achievement appearing even when no tutorial
- Fixed migrating animals not being properly deleted off map
- Minor objectives only activate when tutorial over
- Fixed humans not using fists when no weapons to hold
- Fixed filling water skin from river not giving clean water
- Improved debug panel
- Fixed move forbid cells not remembered when saving game
- Fixed if human can’t reach extract/harvest task, performing task via telepathy
- Fixed herbs counting towards food stockpile even though no hunger reduction
- Fixed humans sleeping and storing objects in shallow water
- Fixed when zoomed out, combat mode selection not scaling as well
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Twitter – ParsleyPWG
Website – PokingWaterGames.com
