The cramped thoughts are an average over time, so it takes them a bit to “shake it off”.
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Hey now there’s simple answer to the problem - Only when you hit tier 2 do hearthlings raise their expectations, and you have to start building larger and nicer homes for them! Sounds like a great gate for the difficulty!
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Yes, I’m still trying to figure out a balance. I’ve been remaking bigger places for them to sleep in. A good clarification on what affects this would be awesome. I’ve put windows by beds. If they are out in the open and walking by other houses, does that classify as cramped? We’ve been trained over the last couple years to build cute bustling little towns, full of life and decoration, and now if a hearthling wanders past that and it’s considered “cramped” then we are basically gonna have to make wide open towns with very little life to them and certainly now outside decoration. I get being cramped in a mine, it takes a special few to be able to do that stuff and I’m certainly not asking to try and add specific personalities in this game. Maybe down the road have some of the decorations improve happiness, give us a reason to make some of the more rare items other than to sell for net worth
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Fitzik there’s a dev video that shows the “personal space cones” which might give you an idea.
I’ve found a bug/annoyance - Had a Hearthling incapacitated on a single-voxel ledge, with a step either side of it above and below. No one could go and pick up the hearthling until I built a ladder , so it seems an incapacitated hearthling takes up one voxel and requires a voxel next to it on the same level for someone to pick them up.
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That makes sense when you think about it. Hard to pick somebody up and carry them when you’re standing on their chest.
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Rimworld handles this fairly elegantly with a “low expectations” thought in relation to the general wealth of the colony. I’m considering something similar once we get a few more needs in place and have more means for the player to accrue positive thoughts.
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Did you guys add bird sounds? 
Feels like i hear a lot of em and i love small details like that for the atmosphere 
Oh beauty! I never worked that one out, I just assumed that buff was a timed thing to do with the age of your colony! That’d be a great solution for Stonehearth, and would be easy to convey with the player as the Hearthlings think something along the lines of “We’re building a nice town here, why do we still have to live in tiny shacks?”
And the bird sounds are fantastic, really help adds atmosphere. Now we just need the actual birds! Would be great to see eagle type birds soaring on high in the deserts when you zoom right out!
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what about feeling sad when your home gets destroyed by the player or an enemy, or assigned to another hearthling. Its going to have an emotional impact if you lose your home, although that depends on how long they lived there and how they liked it. (and maybe in the future, with whom they lived there)
I’m liking the new morale UI - it’s very clear, and gives you a great sense of how things are going.
However, should there be a differentiation between “Sad” and “Mad” at the leftmost end of the spectrum? Not everyone is going to be mopey when things go wrong - some people will flip out! Certain circumstances might also make a difference; you’re more likely to be angry about terrible food, or sad about a friend dying. (Or the opposite!)
Either way, I do like how it’s going. The only (other) thing I’d add is an occasional thought giving a “hint” as to what the player can do beyond removing the current negative thought. (Example; “It sure would be nice to have a desk.”)
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Yeah, I made a call to not include “mad” in the emotional spectrum. I just didn’t feel that Hearthlings were intrinsically angry people, ya know?
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Yeah, Hearthlings definitely feel too calm to me for anything like Rimworld’s mental breaks. I wouldn’t mind the occasional Hearthling with a temper, but it seems like all Hearthlings would have to be able to get angry for that to work.
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To be honest, I’m less interested in Rimworld style mental breaks. Having a hearthling strip off all their clothes and then set your town on fire (while hilarious) doesn’t quite seem to fit in our game. We’ll need to create some more thematically appropriate ideas for happy/sad thoughts as we build up the system. I’m open to ideas!
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Yeah, I don’t want to see naked and inflamed hearts, LOL But you did give me a welcome chuckle to start my day (Imma vampire)
I think there’s is a pleasant balance atm between the planning/decision making; how to upgrade, how fast, who to upgrade, dig for clay/dig for ore, do I wait or promote the cook now? Blammo, here come the rock worm beasties… whew, done, now where was I? Right, making bars…dude!? Why are you running to the other side of the map for wood? Knucklehead! Throw a stone chest out there in the boonies.
That sounds promising. Those stings would indeed be too much for this game.[quote=“Brackhar, post:33, topic:27663”]
I’m open to ideas!
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Hearthlings could act a bit selfish, when their mood drops too low. Maybe taking a half day off and go relaxing in the woods. Or grabbing some extra food and over-eat for compensation - imagine a Hearthling sitting somewhere in the village eating, surrounded by piles of food. Or spending more time in bed, because they feel crummy.
Thus, sad Hearthlings don’t work as much as they should/could and if their issues aren’t solved, this could start thwarting the village. An incentive for the player to do domething about it.
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