Hey @SteveAdamo
The alpha is very fun to play and I’ve been playing with the farming and noticed that way farming is done and the farmers AI is complex and programmed very well. But, one thing is I wanted to know if in the full game or in future updates(currently on alpha 3) or if currently already in is the ability to replant trees.
yes sir, this is indeed something the team has said would be a good idea (I can’t dig up the quote right now, as I’m stuck on my phone)… but yes, this will likely be a thing at some point… 
Why thank you Steve for answering my question
you’re quite welcome… 
here’s that quote, in case you were interested:
Can we replant trees, or do we just deforest our world?
I think you need to be able to plant trees, it’s just a matter of when … so sure you’ll be able to plant trees … it’ll be something figured out in tuning.
It would be hilarious if you guys completely forgot to implement that feature and this guy sends you a message saying “Uhh yeah so I’ve played on this one map for about 1000 hours in total and i just killed the last tree :’(”
Hi there :D. I didn’t see any general first impressions threads just a few separate ones so I figured I would necro this one. Anyhow:
Well first I’ve been following the game since the kickstarter. Sometimes very closely (as when it was first announced) then over the years checking in and out every once and awhile. I have high hopes for Stonehearth and it has been one of my most hotly awaited titles and the one I get most excited about quite often. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention I also had some real concerns. Things like the Riot acquisition as well as the massive gap between development time and stated time estimations as well multiple project redos and restructurings.
I understand game development can be quite complex and never goes quite as expected so I don’t think any of the problems are 100% damning but wanted to detail totally where I’m coming from in my impressions :). I’m not as totally certain in the project as I once was and things like running out of money or steam/time worry me but I think if team Radiant has the ability and keeps chugging along as they have they will eventually get there!
So anyway that’s my view of the game beforehand and some of the issues that stopped me from buying in earlier as I try to be conservative with my EA purchases, although excitement does get the better of me and cause me to splurge at time. But killing time watching some desktop Tuesdays recently I decided there was probably enough content there that I would hopefully have enough fun to be worth it.
Now for actual game impression. Upon opening the game I like the cutesy art direction for the title. I also enjoy the little narrative blurb that has you picking your initial expedition settings. It’s nice to see game options involved in the world and not just a mechanical devoid. In no particular order but as they come to my mind:
As for the actual game play there’s quite a mix of the good and bad as things currently are.
- The UI and Aesthetics: I love the ui design and believe for the most part it is simple to use and serves it’s purpose. Much of the world right now looks pretty bland with particularly the grass being just this flat green sheet with not much variation. It feels more like I’m playing on plastic than a world a lot of the time. However I do like the art design and find the creatures/characters/mobs interesting and the items etc pretty so I can see this being improved upon later as it’s not really a hotbutton issue for the foreseeable future more of an end polish thing I would say. Also all the concept art I’ve seen is gorgeous. Hopefully you’ll get closer to that one day!
- Classes I haven’t gotten too far into the classes yet but I’m a big fan of the idea and most seem to have their unique niche and a good amount of craftables and whatnot available. I eagerly await more. For reference I have been playing as the Ascendency and had a carpenter, farmer, tailor, footman, mason(haven’t really made anything due to bugs outlined below)
-Bugs there are ALOT of bugs. This was at first very understandable as I was playing the unstable build wanting to try out all the content currently available. I switched to the stable A23 as things simply weren’t playable with things like not being able to mine so not being able to utilize my mason. Ok well that was unstable so things should be better with stable right? Well yes but … still not very good. So far things have been playable with me not running into anything potentially game breaking like the mining problem but still there’s more than enough to make it consistently frustrating to play at some times. I wouldn’t mind this so much as it’s alpha if the game hadn’t been in development for so long and it wasn’t such core systems. Should there be bugs in development and alpha? Yes. Should there be very consistent bugs in systems at the absolute core of the game like building after so many years in development? I don’t think so, at least not to this level. I’ve restarted many towns and have developed some tricks that seem to help a bit, such as only building in small amounts when possible and adding on but such work arounds shouldn’t be necessary.
-Building: The building currently is pretty infuriating. Part of the reason it’s infuriating is because it’s obviously got the potential to be awesome. I don’t think any other game has had me making actual RPG little towns and have it often be the practical way to go about things not bending and breaking the system to try and make things aesthetically pleasing and varied. However it’s quite broken. I knew this going in to a point as I had been watching the videos on the new building editor and heard some complaints. However it blew me away at how backward it could actually be. I don’t really understand how the devs could have messed around with it for awhile and decided to go with that system. Super obvious thing like actually being able to make multiple rooms in a house being one example. Obviously the team has learned and it seems they are going a different way with the new builder and I like seeing how they are making multiple prototypes for systems now. So I don’t want to hate on them for this kind of conceptual issue but it was pretty concerning to me. There’s also annoying fiddly things like not being able to edit buildings or cancel placement of objects which I think are mandatory for any kind of game with this kind of emphasis and type of bulding. So to sum it up I would say I would be seriously disappointed if the game ever comes out and the building isn’t fun, easy to use, and non agitating. Because I think it totally has the potential to be all those things with tweaking!
-Combat: I haven’t had much real combat yet just fighting the entlings and little rock dudes whose name I forget. So far it seems fine. Nothing special but serviceable enough to fulfill it’s goal. The animations are pretty and really love the footman sassy walk as they patrol around at times.
-Content and the world: Currently it seems like there isn’t that much content in the way of story/events etc or other ways of the world reacting to you. Personally this is a big thing for me as I find it one of the more enjoyable aspect of builders seeing the world react to my town etc. This isn’t really a negative point as it is the kind of thing that is normally filled in more around later development after you get really core stuff in from what I understand. Just an observation on how the world is right now. From the ideas I’ve read of what the developers want to do as well as the various ideas for lore and factions I don’t think this will really be a problem if a lot of their ideas get implemented eventually. Of course that’s a big if but I have hope!
So to sum up my current impressions; would I recommend this game to someone? No definitely not. Is it because it’s a bad game? No not really. In fact it may not sound like it but I enjoy the game quite a bit right now. When it’s not frustrating that is. Stonehearth has had a special little place in my heart from all the years I’ve been following it and the ideas the development team has constantly espoused which put stars in my eyes every-time. It’s just that currently it still feels less like a game and more like a prototype with excellent ideas but a lot of real buggy and jagged implementation right now. However that’s coming from the point of view of someone who’s a bit emotionally invested in the project and already loves games of the same genre. For the general player I think they would be quite unhappy and I wouldn’t blame them.
So it’s a diamond covered in mud if you will and it’s a bit concerning to still see things so muddy after so many years. If I’m harsh it’s not because I don’t believe a jewel exists there somewhere it’s because I ever so badly want to see it shine as bright as it can and I’m not willing to let up until I think it does! 
What a spectacular necro, I vote that we name a necromancer in the game after tbeaz 
Haha thank you, I was actually quite surprised to see there isn’t anything like a general or stickied first impressions post.
Also this monster wall of rambling thoughts started off with the idea of wanting to post some screens of my town as it developed with some thoughts and then merged into this and I totally forgot to post and pictures so anyhow:
Here’s the beginning of my town. You can see the carpenter house and shop next to two generic worker houses. The supply room and the footman house being finished then finally the town inn being started.
Then secondly is the beginning of my farming are
I’d like to add an addendum that after playing for a good bit longer it seems things tend to be decently stable beyond the recurring building weirdness, so good job on that front guys!