So far, the mood system is one of the deepest in the game, but… it’s still not doing it for me. And I know that after all the other systems get fleshed out it’ll stick out less and maybe even get more interaction with those systems, but…
The mood system allows for a lot, but the gameplay it makes is pretty basic so far. You just want to remove negative effects, and assign jobs and make houses to gradually add up more positives. The traits mix it up a little, but right now it’s pretty predictable. And gradual. So my suggestion is simple:
Have occasional random events that make a specific Hearthling more happy or sad. However, to make this a big deal over all the little thoughts you’d normally deal with, it’s going to have to be a larger shift - maybe almost an entire mood, or more.
Some positive events might not trigger immediately - instead, the player has to take some action to allow the mood buff to happen once they get the notification.
Give players a way of dealing with the negative events, even if it’s just waiting it out so your Hearthlings get over it, or counteracting it with a lot of smaller positive effects. As more systems come together (festivals?) this might be mostly dealt with, but I believe there should be multiple ways to solve problems.
I think it’s a simpler addition to the mood system (still complicated, but at least you don’t have to completely redesign another system, and you’ve already got code for adding thoughts [though I don’t know if that’s baked in to the Hearthling AI or if an outside source can do that too] and showing notifications [and traders are just as random as events could be]) that could add a lot more variety to the gameplay.
I like this!
An example (if i understood you correctly) would be something like this
Oh, and this comes from my experience with Starbound
Hearthling Mumflr Fumperdink : hello [town name] i was planning on making a neat little decoration for our town, i think i need a pickaxe and some wood, can i use some in stock?
Sure / No
If you chose positive-
Mumflr Fumperdink : Thanks! I’ll let you know when the piece is done!
-after two days-
Mumflr Fumperdink : i finally finished the piece! it’s statue! Can you place it somewhere in town for everyone to enjoy it?
Sure / Nah
-if you chose positive and you place the item somewhere
Mumflr Fumperdink : thanks a lot! I hope everone likes it!
-the Hearthling gains a buff in happiness for three days and will recieve a short buff everytime he/she has a conversation about the statue and it’s positive
Also note that the statue is a Pickaxe stuck in a log of Wood lumberjack style.
the description reads : “proud creation of Mumflr Fumperdink, nobody really knows what it’s metaphor is, but we’re pretty sure it has one”
The problem this particular scinario raises is that it gives the player presence as the NPC is not talking to the town as a whole and is rather speaking to you
Also that name is from Markiplier, just so you know…
I liked that series too much
I think that some things should permanently affect your mood positively or negatively.
So for instance if your town does not grow enough food there is a chance a hearthling could become a hoarder and start carrying food back to their house and not finish it.
On the positive side of things, staying with the food theme, a hearthling could discover they really like a specific meal type and get a mood boost whenever they have the chance to eat it.
I feel like this would make the moods feel more real and have an impact on the town as a whole and make individual hearthlings more interesting.
The imporant thing should be that these can still change though they may be difficult to change. So if you allow the hoarder to have good meals and there is plenty of food this negative aspect of their personality can be undone. As for the guy with the favorite meal, after eating it every day for a while he may change his mind or get tired of it and the mood buff would be gone.
Good ideas! And actually, I feel like all there points you suggest:
reminds me of what I planned for a mod of mine.
Whenever all of these building-noises end in my house, I am hoping to - eventually - tinker with the Mood-system in order to add feelings for my Commemorative Items mod.
For a Hearthling, if a close “friend” die it will impact the Hearthling with a BIG negative point. If this Hearthling is allowed to mourn its passed friend however, positive points will be gained and soon the negative point will be gone. (Something like this at least; I have not worked out any details yet)
This is not a “random event” of course; but, it’s still similar in style in my opinion:
Something happened, and the Hearthling is really, really sad.
The player can choose between giving the Hearthling a lot of tasks (keep it on building, hauling, etc - your typical Stonehearth stuff) OR don’t put any actions in this Hearthlings queue (untick all boxes) and when the Hearthling feel ready for it, it will mourn.
Mourning may not be an imidiate effect - some Hearthlings need longer time to “prepare” in order to mourn; I’m hoping this would give the player the choice between “an active, really sad Hearthling helping out” or “a Hearthling doing nothing but who will be happy within a few days”.
This makes me really happy to hear - can’t wait to see what events awaits us in the future!
I like the mourning idea! Letting the player actively counteract the fact that the negative effect is there.
Besides what you already have done with the tombstones, this would give them a real function in the game!
