Critters don't appear until banner placed? (r42)

So this isn’t really a bug report, since I don’t think it’s a bug–I just have a question regarding how the critters are placed in the world. I was checking out r42 and used both “new game” and “quick start” to build a new world. In my “quick start” world, I noticed that there were already sheep in the world (grazing and whatnot) before I’d even placed the camp-standard-banner-thingy. However, when I started a new world with the “new game” option, there were no critters until I placed the standard. It wasn’t just coincidence either, they literally appeared when I placed the standard. Here’s a video, if you care to see: Stonehearth Alpha 1: Critters and Carpenters!

Anyways, I was just curious as to why the two options take a different approach to the critters. Is this intentional? If so, why? I’d appreciate any ideas on the subject :smile:

yeah, @Tom mentioned this in Fridays stream… well, not this specifically, rather that creatures spawn near your starting flag… but based on other comments, it seems like the two are synced…

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Hi martyrsvale,

Here’s how it currently works:

When you select a location to embark (or have it auto-selected via Quick Start), the game reveals a small area around the selected block. In the envisioned game flow, the revealed area would be highlighted with the rest of the map darker. You would then be able to refine your camp location by placing the banner within the highlighted area.

After placing the banner, your settlers provide vision of the map, so as they explore, more areas of the map are revealed, uncovering more wildlife and eventually other encounters.

We don’t currently limit where you can place your banner, so if you scroll from the original embark location and deploy the banner, you will reveal territory that is outside of the intended (highlighted) bounds and additional wildlife may phase in.

So, to summarize, the difference in behavior should not be from Quick Start vs New Game, but whether you scroll the map and place the banner in a distant location. Hope this makes sense!

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Aha, I think I understand, thanks for your response! I suppose my tests were not as scientific as they probably should have been, since I didn’t control for camera movement. Interesting to know for sure, and that’s a neat vision for how the game will eventually play out. Thanks!

This should be a lot more obvious when we get fog of war and indicate the valid bounds for the banner. :slight_smile:

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That makes a lot of sense, thank you!

well done @Albert… you’ve now tied places with @Doug for my third favorite developer! step it up @not_owen_wilson, your good looks can only take so far…

but seriously, thanks for the clarification on (and reminder of) how the fog of war system is intended to work… cant wait to see it more fleshed out… :+1:

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@Steve - Ask and you might possibly receive in the somewhat nebulous near term future with no guarantees expressed or implied.

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Move over @not_owen_wilson you have been rendered obsolete, a bit like your progamming capabilities.

Zing.

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folks, quotes dont lie… am i right?

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