Climbing down the scaffolding over and over again

Suggestions
#1

Hay supper quick suggestion. The guys shouldn’t have to climb down the scaffolding to make the next level of a structure. I have worked in construction and have had to assemble scaffolding before and when we assemble scaffolding we do it from the top not the botom. So it would be more realistic and dramatically faster if the villagers built the scaffolding first then built the walls.

I have linked a video of some british people putting up scaffolding so you can see what I meen.

Edit- (I posted this clarification a little down the page but im going to move it up here)
Also what im suggesting dosent change anything except that the civilians dont climb down the scaffolding. they just build it while there standing on it. I would look 90% the same, all you would do is stop the climb up and down and up and down animation. Thus saving time with no additional craziness being added to the game.

#2

I understand what you mean, but then the workers will have to regularly be heading back to the stockpile for fresh wood so I don’t think that it would really have all that much of an effect overall on the speed of construction.

#3

The scafolding shouldn’t require to be built from top to botton, however I think that certain workers should stay up there and have supplies be hand up to them. (Pulley system??!!)

#4

Screw realism :slight_smile: But i think the time for building the scaffolding should be faster :wink:

#5

i think the system is pretty slick, and helps add a layer of realism to the process… although im sure that wasnt the intent…

if anything, i see them simply balancing the speed with which workers tackle the individual stages of the construction process (their intentions, if i recall the term correctly)…

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#6

I believe that if the scaffolding was implemented in a more realistic fashion you would accomplish a few important things

  1. It would be faster

  2. It would look better for animation (how come they can’t build the house above there head but they can build the scafolding above there head?)

  3. It would add realism.

  4. because the scaffolding would be “permanent” for the duration of the build process buckets and stock piles would be easer to place/animate.

Also steve adamo I’m sure realism was the intent, if they were trying to avoid realism they would have done something like houes falling from space.
Scaffolding = Real so Scaffolding in game = realism
and realism should be done right.

Also Skar, realism is an awesome thing to have in a game even if it is stylized realism. Things should always happen for a logical reason and in this case doing things in a non realistic way does nothing but slow a process down.

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#7

personally, when i view the vids “First Look @ Stonehearth”, i find the the scaffold building system to be tedious.

from an engineering point of view, i would build the frame/scaffold around the building i am constructing, then build the wall then the roof.

it make a cleaner & imho an efficient building construction. (take cue from Simcity 4 building animation)

#8

to an extent, yes… of course… but having seen how other developers have tried to handle units being able to reach a particular height, and having been a part of those rather lengthy discussions, a good portion of the design decision has to do with simply “how do we show that the unit is reaching this height, that doesnt completely defy logic, but also isnt overly tedious”…

im not discounting your ideas for additional realism… in fact, i think they would make a nice addition… :slight_smile:

im just not sure the investment in updating the scaffolding system will have an equal payoff in the end…

#9

I’m not sure if you’ve played Timber and Stone - but the scaffold system in this is a great way of countering your units getting stuck trying to build a building which has happened on so many occasions in T&S, I think it removes an unecessary difficulty in the building process.

Having to micromanage blocks to build stuff as in Gnomoria and T&S is tedious, I think this is a better system especially once you get into larger builds.

#10

yes, i have not played any of that game, the only voxel game i played for a while is 3D Dotpixel Hero in its Jap Ver. Glory.

I also not appealed by Minecrafting or Castle story gameplay where u build block by block to create something your own design.

its a good idea for animation requirement or reducing bug, but personally i would prefer the animation of building the structure to be something less complex.

#11

The biggest thing I am concerned about (im a multiplayer guy) is game balance. This obviously is not as “freeform” a game as minecraft is. and by that i mean i dont think you will ba abule to recreate pong in it out of red stone. On the other hand it does have the benefit of having a very distinct goal Build an empire and concur enemies. So what im hoping is that the developers focus on polishing everything and making sure everything in the world is perfect for single player and mulitplayer not just in the game for the sake of being in the game.

Now dont get me wrong! I think this game looks amassing and charming. I really really want to play it. All im asking is for everything to be done in a way that best represents a fun to play and good looking experience.

#12

Also what im suggesting dosent change anything except that the civilians dont climb down the scaffolding. they just build it while there standing on it. I would look 90% the same, all you would do is stop the climb up and down and up and down animation. Thus saving time with no additional craziness being added to the game.

Quick, simple, effective.

#13

Am I right in saying that for you construction should be a progression that the workers don’t actually get involved with?

So for example - a building needs 100 wood. The workers move 100 wood over to the building and as they do the building automatically constructs and the scaffolding gets higher, then when it’s built the scaffolding disappears?

If so then I think that’s where you’re finding fault with the scaffolding system - personally I think the system is fine, you should be able to see your workers constructing the building block by block.

Maybe I’m being a bit slow, but I’m struggling to see what fault there is with the scaffolding system.

#14

i may very well be wrong as well, but i believe @CowForCow is simply suggesting that our units would initiate the scaffolding system as they currently do, but instead of adding a level to the scaffold, climbing up, adding a level to the wall, climbing down, raising the scaffold, climbing back up, adding another level to the wall, etc. the units would instead add that first scaffold layer, climb up, add the layer to the wall, and then remain on the scaffold, and have it raise one level as each level of the wall is completed…

yes?

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#15

@SteveAdamo
Yes! Exactly the way it is done in real life!
I built the X-games mega ramp on scaffolding and you are on the scaffolding while you build the scaffolding, no reason to walk up and down a ladder 200 times.

#16

@Geoffers747
Definitely not. I like watching people build I just dont like watching them aimlessly wandering around and waisting time doing something the most difficult way possible.

#17

@CowForCow Ah my apologies I completely misunderstood what you were saying! After re-reading the original post I think I understand what you mean!

#18

Well I’m going to admit right off the bat that I didn’t read every comment on the page, only the first few then skimmed through the rest. ; )

However; Here’s my 2 cents.

I wonder if it’d be a good idea if builders brought over all the supplies necessary for the build and stacked them into a temporary stockpile inside the building they’re constructing. That way moving up and down the scaffolding wouldn’t be necessary and would save time.

I can totally vouch for the other side of the argument though, and say that it’s rather entertaining and realistic watching the workers head back and forth from the stockpile. And if you want to cut down on build times make the player responsible by moving stockpiles near the build spots prior to starting construction on multiple buildings.

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#19

Just going to put this out there. I love how the guys at Radient designed building. It is timely, interesting to watch and I imagine building a massive castle/town hall/trading centre/monastery will bring a great sense of achievement to the player.

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#20

I had a hard time understanding what was meant also, maybe I even got it wrong but I think what we have is this.

Current System:

  • build level one wall
  • build level one scaffold
  • climb scaffold up
  • build level two wall
  • climb scaffold down
  • build level two scaffold
  • climb scaffold up
  • build level three wall
  • climb scaffold down
  • [and so on]

Suggested System:

  • build level one wall
  • build level one scaffold
  • climb scaffold up
  • build level two wall
  • build level two scaffold
  • climb scaffold up
  • build level three wall
  • [and so on]

Which I agree would make a bit more sense, but either way I just love how it looks and enjoy the preprealpha youtube videos massively.
The suggested system would not look too different so I am happy no matter if its changed or not :slight_smile:

Edit:
an additional thought crossed my mind, if the workers would try not too climb down, but have other workers bring the materials, or even if like every 5 levels or so a winch would be placed to haul up materials, it would be pretty cool.
So having the system changed as proposed by @CowForCow would be a great foundation for further and more sophisticated animations. (winches, cranes, flying golems, material teleporters)

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