Maybe and Architect Job?

Hi there, WaterMagic here. I was just wondering if there could be an architect job added to the game? Kind-of goes along with what @Jonny_K said. I hope this job is added!
Maybe the architect can have some blueprints of buildings, and craft more fancier things for buildings only, so that the carpenter can have more things than mostly decorations for buildings.
It’s ok if it isn’t added. But it would be cool!

~WaterMagic :slight_smile:

Ok, I understand that architect would craft fancy items. The rest of the sentence is unclear to me. Could you please elaborate?

Same here, i would love to know what his use would be.

I am with strix on this. unsure what you mean beyond crafting fancy items. Are you saying being able to create item with functionality beyond just being decorative. As well as being an upgrade to the carpenter.

Which post are you referring to when you mention Jonny_k?

I do have some thoughts about the proposed job/class.

I am wondering what the role of an Architect class would be?. From all the previous post I have seen mentioning an Architect Class, people have asked that the architect would do things that have already been implemented into the game. Like being able to build 2 story structures, or making blueprints (templates).
Workers already build the building and the existing classes can make refined items. If it is just additional item content than there are many mods out there that provide these. If it is just fancier items then in reality it would be just a carpenter, mason, blacksmith, etc… of a higher level than 6. I have also see where people have suggested the Architect be a stat booster but for non-military units. Things like increasing worker speed or reducing worker fatigue these are things that could be implemented into the Herbalist (which would greatly increase their usefulness).

But after looking over the other post, In my humble opinion, there is already an Architect in the game, it is the Player.

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Don’t know what Jonny_K wrote and any other day I would probably say the same thing as @Geokhan. However, some thoughts.

The Architect could be used to, over time, unlock more advanced premade blue prints. Personally I haven’t used the premade once yet, since I play the game mainly to design a unique city under difficult circumstances, but for players that don’t care as much about that I guess it could be interesting.

If there ever is a building generator then it could require an architect to use it. You basically hire someone to do the design work for you. You either designate an area where you want a building, setting a few parameters, wait for the architect to come up with a suggestion and then approve it or dismiss it. Or the architect could just walk around town giving suggestions like “Hey it getting crowded. You should build more homes. How about a building like this over here?”

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You have now so few hearthlings to mine, haul sometimes… i think to many different jobs will only work if you have a city with like 100 citzens :slight_smile: for now with citys with like ±20 citzens its not possible

I support this idea.

I post this for consideration of thought, not to attack what you said, as I value your opinion as much as my own.

I think where I may be a little confused is that this would be more of a limit to creativity than an actual boon.
As you can already get templets from your friends, forum post and http://stonehearthbuilds.esy.es/
implementing a class who only function is to block/delay you from building something until you a create them would be better served, in my opinion, with just raising the level cap for existing professions and/or increased resource cost for construction. Because building design to me is one of the core features of this game, if I can imagine it I can design it.

Again I would offer http://stonehearthbuilds.esy.es/
I could see were a building generator could be helpful for those that want a decent looking city, but do not necessary have the artistic gift (I know I struggle) or time/patients to design individual building for a very large city. I have some concerns with this as address below.

In my opinion this would be too much like SIMCITY. Not to detract for others playstyle, but again, I would make the case that building design on part of the player is one of the fundamental features of StoneHearth. I say that because how much automation do you want. I could definitely see things that would remove tedious task such as have to design the same building over and over again, but this is accomplished with the building templates.

This would be similar to the function of the Journal all ready in the game, which lets you know you need more beds, food or that scary monsters are problem.

From what I can see so far the demand for an Architect is to have an Architect for the sake of having an Architect.

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Don’t worry about it. :slight_smile: Like I said, any other day I would probably say the same thing you did.

Valid points over all. Especially the one about unlocking advanced blue prints. I mainly tried to think of it as a class that people that don’t play like me might appreciate.

I do see the use of a building generator though and would love to mod that some day (probably not gonna happen but dreaming is nice :wink: ). Yes, you could probably find something suitable online, but leaving the game, going through a big archive of designs to find something that fits the style, size and purpose… then it’s easier to just design your own. Also, using someone else’s design is… a bit of a turn off… at least for me. I don’t mind if others do, I just usually want to make it on my own and taking more or less unique suggestions from a generator feels more ok.
Connecting it to the architect was probably not a great idea. It came up because I already had the generator on my mind.
Anyway, it’s fuel for discussion if nothing else. :slight_smile:

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I’m not too fond of the idea of introducing jobs which could be done by other ones (i.e higher lvl carpenter) as georkhan says. As Opperwezen pointed out, it will require more and more hearthlings to run a town, and as it is, performance decreses dramtically the more hearthlings you have.

Well, I don’t think that is a strong argument. Ultimatively, the game will feature over 100 hearthlings or even more I guess. You can already have 50+, so having an architect wouldn’t be to much.

But I still wonder what the architect do. Personally, I don’t like the idea of Jobs who just unlock things. Unlocking blueprints doesn’t sound so useful to me, especially since you can create your own buildings and save them. And it would be really annoying if you couldn’t save buildings as blueprints just because you dont have an architect. I also don’t like the idea of jobclasses who just provide statboosts. Every job should have an active role. I mean:

  • Carpenter: Makes tools/furniture out of wood
  • Mason: Makes tools/furniture out of stone
  • Potter: Makes tools/furniture out of clay
  • Smith: Creates tools/weapon
  • Farmer: Creates food for the town
  • Hunter: Hunts animal, provides food and crafting material
  • Herbalist: Creates healing/buff items and heals wounded people
  • Cleric/Knight/Archer/Footman: Defendyour town#

The architect would be the first class who wouldn’t have an active role. If someone has a good suggestion of how to give him an active role which could not be covered by any other job, I’m all for it, as long as it makes sense ofc.

I am with you on this one, that is the reason I posted [quote=“Geokhan, post:8, topic:22442”]
From what I can see so far the demand for an Architect is to have an Architect for the sake of having an Architect
[/quote]

My opinion on the thought process should be, what features would I like to see or game objects I would like to have, and how to incorporate it into the existing game. When you get to a point where it does not make sense for any of the existing class or role to accomplish then look to creating another class/role.

As such one of the feature I would like to see eventually would be a Hearthling that could use both mason and carpentry workbenches (or any combination of two). This can be accomplish now through the promotion, demotion process but is time consuming as you have to switch each time you wanted to use a different workbench.

The concept for this type of Hearthling would be that it would free up a Hearthling that could be promoted to a class/roll that you need. Especial if your computer system can not handle a large population of Hearthling. the downside if they die then you would have to scramble to replace two needed crafts.

Interesting idea, but I think it’s not really needed. The idea about Hearthstone is to get more and more hearthlings, so you have enough military strength AND can cover all the jobs. This requires some planning from the player. I’m not sure if a job, that combines multiple jobs, fits into that idea. And when you have 50 hearthlings it wouldn’t be a great benefit to have one more hearthling. Lets not forget that the developers have to model/animate the architect and they need the code to enable him to do both jobs. It’s probably alot of work for something that is already covered by other jobs (carp/mason). I’d rather the them working on new content which gives the game more depth or increasing the performance further.

The problem with the job architect is: If you take pure logic into consideration, the architect must do something when it comes to buildings. Creating blueprints would be annoying, since it limits the player to create blueprints for selfmade buildings at the start of the game. Another idea was to let the player create 2 story structures. But then again, this would limit the player at the start of the game, which no one wants I guess. And simply giving a building speed buff wouldn’t be enough for an entire jobclass.

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I totally agree, I was stretching real hard to find something or some feature that would justify another class, that was the best I could think of at the moment and it was not a very strong case. I have read some post where the players have had to limit themselves to a certain number of Hearthling due to game performance as I also have to limit myself on my laptop to about 30-33 Hearthling due to lag/performance. The need or want of a hybrid class would be short lived, as the developers continue to optimize game performance/memory usage. Eventually even on a moderate system one should reach a point of “what the heck do I do with all these guys” :smiley:

Perhaps, what the architect does is they manage a building project - the player indicates that a building should be created, this initiates a series of logistical tasks, made more efficient and thus less micro-managy for the player by having an architect (or given the role, it should be called a foreman or something to that effect). If we think of the architect as an agent whose role is to physically go out and organise the project we get a far more active role for the class that doesn’t rely on merely giving building speed stat boosts.

When we place a blueprint, we could have the option to assign an architect to it; the architect will then go to crafters, notably the carpenter/potter, and get them to craft all of the items which will be required for this project to be completed. This means that the construction can be completed without the player worrying about missing items. I saw another thread about items being automatically crafted when a building is plonked down - it seems that associating this functionality (which is desperately needed if a 100+ city is to built in a game) with the architect and having the visual feedback of him/her directing crafters could streamline the construction process while also beginning to transfer more autonomy to hearthlings (as is necessary for larger kingdoms).

Introducing this kind of class as a mid-game sort of thing has the merit of making larger cities more tenable and less micromangment heavy (think of it is as player neural cost optimisation, something which I would argue is as important as conventional optimisation). As the city grows, the hearthlings become more independent and the player only issues larger commands (though they can still micromanage things if they want) which filter down the civil service hierarchy to the hands that actually do the work, giving them more scope to focus on the macro-game, which should emerge as the settlement blossoms into a kingdom acting as a political entity.

The architect could also manage other things like the availability of tools for the workers, whether all the raw materials are at hand and even when the workers can take breaks (for maximum efficiency i.e. a hearthling working on the cathedral roof gets access to the best tools and nearest eating area since the time spent travelling up and down should be minimised). He/she should also manage how the hearthlings are payed and labour distribution (ask me about this system if you are interested in my hearthling capitalism vision for the larger more reward focused larger settlement).

Naturally, the architect as an organiser should be paired with the “You either designate an area where you want a building, setting a few parameters, wait for the architect to come up with a suggestion and then approve it or dismiss it.” and maybe even other effects.

I feel that the architect can be a role that is not just for the sake of itself, since it lends itself to the macro-game planning and autonomy that will be crucial for the late game. Some people may feel that this is too SIMCITY, however, I was always under the impression that we would be able to create proper kingdoms of multiple hundred hearthlings. Without these kinds of mechanics there can be no macro-game!

I’d rather see this functionality, that crafters automatically build needed furniture, put into the game as an option reight from the start, without the need of having a certain jobclass. The reason is: this feature would help even at the start of the game. So I dont think this function needs a job (neverthless, it’s a good idea itself).

The problem with this idea is, it just optimizes micromanagement, but it’s not like the class itself does really something. It’s still just a boost to make things a little bit easier for the player, but the real job is still done by the carpenter, mason, smith etc.

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