The rollout of new of the Building Designer has got me thinking of something that I’ve been curious about for a while.
Buildings in Stonehearth are very resource costly. They take a lot of time and a heckuva lot of wood. With all this investment, the purpose (function) of a building needs to be really important and useful to the game (i.e. not just aesthetics), otherwise no decent gamer is going to build them.
So I have some (pretty spiffy, imo ^-^) ideas that I was going to put in the suggestions category but first I want to try and query the great wisdom of Stonehearth Discourse.
Do you guys know if / what the developers have said about the functional utility of buildings? I searched through the topics but only found ones related to the TYPE of building (i.e. Blacksmith, Armory, etc.).
they will certainly serve as functional buildings for your classes (as you indicated), but will also (likely) weigh in to the happiness values for your citizens, offering both comfort and protection…
However, workshops can be built anywhere right now. Am I to understand that is going to change? Are you only going to be able to build workshops under a roof in the future?
Unfortunately, I can’t think of many specific purposes listed except for the discussion on classifying certain structures for different social groups (civilian, soldier, etc.) or workshops. Currently, none of this exists–however, the reveal of the goblins gives us our first possible “need” for structures: security.
What about fences? While neither actions are the case yet, I can easily see fences eventually being jumped or destroyed by such thieves to get to the player’s goods–houses will both protect the settlers and the resources they gather.
When weather gets added, it will likely affect the condition of your people and supplies, so having a roof over them will be all the more important.
Also, they give some sense of accomplishment and aesthetic joy, I suppose.
I am sort of hoping for a prison architect style where you designate an area (the inside of a stone structure for example) as a barrack and to use all the functions you have to put certain objects in it (like weapon-racks, beds and so on). To micro mangy?
@JonathanDB, well, let’s say a BLacksmith Shop could include a Worker that, well, works with Metal. he could make and Upgrade Weapons and Objects that are made of Metal, like Swords, Shields, Maces, Etc.
Now this is something of a good answer. This would require items to have durability.
One of my ideas is to make workshops have “durability,” basically health, or HP.
When there is no roof above them (i.e. they’re just outside), their durability decreases by like 5% each day (i.e. they’d last 20 days, long time in Stoneheath). If they are inside, then they do not deteriorate. This would make buildings very useful as a way to preserve your workshops.
This game mechanic could also be applied to other crafted things that are designed for indoor use, besides workshops. Things like furniture could also have durability.
With people, I could see it affecting happiness and sleep quality. Like the amount of time required between sleeps is boosted by a small percentage if they sleep in a bed that is inside, and their happiness goes up more by sleeping on a bed that is in a building than a bed that is outside.
An example of this I saw earlier (but based more on continuous exposure rather than total time exposed) is waterlogging in the recent updates of Don’t Starve. Essentially, the longer you and your belongings are out in the rain, they will start to soak and a respective meter will rise. Reach the top, and the character starts to get injured/sick and your items will lose effectiveness or break. Over time, the meter will decrease if you and your items are not exposed. I feel this system is maybe a bit more forgiving, but we can’t really decide or compare–we don’t even HAVE rain yet.
As for full building workshops, perhaps some “workshops” will be so big or have so many items involved, it takes up an entire structure–look at all the models Tom worked on for the Weaver model. We have a spinning wheel, drying racks, and baskets of supplies, just to name a few. I could imagine a forge taking up half a house, personally.
I feel it just makes sense (and it would be far easier) for the player to ultimately define “zones” in the game. That way, every aspect of a building’s creation, redesigning, and destruction, can be optimized and personalized. Plus, the zones can act as a beacon system to the player, so they can simply observe all the city’s systems and structures they have put together, including those without specific “workshop” functions.
I suppose I’m considering it from the opposite order from you, @Elderon; I guess I’m looking at the concepts of zones not as a prerequisite, but an additional step afterwards more for the convenience and order of the player’s city. Both are possible systems, but they really do change the way the game is played…
Actualy, that was sort of more of what i am hoping for then what i posted… i just want there to be actual zoning in the game so i can have a specific area for every category of work, not just in my head thinking the this house a blacksmith and that one is the carpenterie and so on
I said it might not be a requirement, I didn’t say it made sense…
there will likely be benefits to having a complete “building”, in that it provides said happiness values (protection, comfort) that our units need to be… well, happy… and productive…
Nice discussion! Some quick functions for buildings that we’re thinking of:
People get sad and write mean things in their journal when they have to sleep outside. No one wants to join a town of grumpy people, so you’d better shelter your citizens.
Thieves can see supplies that are stored out in the open.
Food will spoil in bad weather (when we have bad weather
Fancy buildings increase your town’s net worth, making it more attractive to high end immigrants like crafters and adventurers
buildings will provide comfort, help deter thieves, and maintain food supplies…
this is not only a cool feature/benefit of having buildings, but if im not mistaken, its the first mention of getting new units that weren’t your basic worker bees… I love it! we can potentially add some higher tier trades to our ranks based on how well our town is progressing!
Here’s another consideration I had, with mention of the new immigrants and general happiness for your town. If the team plans to have a way to “zone” buildings for specific purposes, would one other possibility be to ban settlers from using an area?
Say that you’re building a house, but it’s either incomplete or the area’s unsafe. Can we essentially say that a bed, plus any other conveniences there, should not be included as part of your city’s total value? (Maybe your food production is dangerously low, and you want to avoid encouraging new people but still want to add/improve houses).
Perhaps such a “no-entry zone” option will also help keep villagers out of unsafe areas outside of your settlement, as well as restrict usage of items and space inside it. What do you guys think? Would this function be practical or useful for you?
Okay, so the food spoilage and theft aspects mean we can use buildings as storehouses / warehouses.
The happiness aspect means buildings will be useful for housing citizens (i.e. put beds inside, in order to increase happiness and attract settlers).
And we want to build fancy buildings in order to attract specialty classes.
This means there is no (non-aesthetic) motivation for putting workshops in buildings. I might as well have my workshops scattered around out in the streets, and save on the cost of construction buildings for them.
Do you guys think you will make an important enough incentive (or outright requirement) to house workshops?
I’m kinda iffy about this one. I really understand the fact of having villagers sleep in houses to improve sleep and happiness but I think requiring workshops to be indoors is a bit too limiting. What if I really like my carpenters to get fresh air while they work? I personally would put most workshops indoors but some people might not want to and shouldn’t be forced too. (though theives stealing from outdoor workshop outboxes would still be a lingering concern).
This all goes back to peoples play-styles. Do you want to build a picture perfect city or a little chaotic settlement?
