# Idle animations

**URL:** <https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625>\
**Category:** Gameplay\
**Created:** [August 18, 2013, 10:22am UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625 "2013-08-18T10:22:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sarhifigus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sarhifigus](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Sarhifigus)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 10:22am UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/1 "2013-08-18T10:22:25Z")

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Hi Guys After reading the forums a lot recently I have quite a bit about 'Idle animations' and likes. What is confusing me however is that after watching all the live-streams (Again...) I have nothing of Civilians and that everyone will be a worker, if this is so why would we need all the Idling animations, because i'm pretty sure people will always have something for their works to do

Thanks Sarhifigus

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**Author:** ![Geoffers747](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.stonehearth.net/geoffers747/32/12249_2.png) [@Geoffers747](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Geoffers747)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 10:26am UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/2 "2013-08-18T10:26:02Z")

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> [@Sarhifigus](#):
>
> I have nothing of Civilians and that everyone will be a worker, if this is so why would we need all the Idling animations,

Well, my understanding would be that the idling animations could be applied to everyone. Or, it might be better to think of your workers as civilians. Obviously we’re still a few months out from Beta and as such the only units we have really seen in-game through the streams are the base workers.

> [@Sarhifigus](#):
>
> because i’m pretty sure people will always have something for their works to do

Whenever I’ve played games like this, primarily Timber and Stone and Gnomoria, I will inevitably end up with some units not having something to do, I suppose if you could run everyone at 100% efficiency so that they are constantly doing something, then yes you might not see the idling animations; that would be quite a feat in itself though!

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**Author:** ![FinKone](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.stonehearth.net/finkone/32/65445_2.png) [@FinKone](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/FinKone)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/3 "2013-08-18T13:29:14Z")

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They will idle. Different idles add depth honestly. I’m going to be watching my workers closely - rule of the iron fist will make sure they don’t idle under tyrant FinKone.

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**Author:** ![voxel\_pirate](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.stonehearth.net/voxel_pirate/32/2309_2.png) [@voxel\_pirate](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/voxel_pirate)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 1:38pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/4 "2013-08-18T13:38:04Z")

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The devs are calling the guys “standard worker” or so. But actually I think of them like the “civilians” you might refer to @Sarhifigus. They will go out and execute what you want from them, so standard or basic worker is fine I guess. However, they only do what you tell them to do. In case the trees you wanted to be chopped are gone, I would expect them to wait for new orders. I would also expect that the basic guys cannot do too much (apart from collecting basic resources and building houses). As soon as you want something more specific, you will need to promote them from “civilian” to a profession.

So there will be a lot of room for them to idle around… as long as you do not keep them busy 100% of their time… and that might be difficult because you might need to wait for some special items or resources before you can continue building that house you want to have next, etc.

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**Author:** ![ScruffyEchidna](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.stonehearth.net/scruffyechidna/32/65527_2.png) [@ScruffyEchidna](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/ScruffyEchidna)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/5 "2013-08-18T19:13:29Z")

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Also, I don’t know if there will be a complex tax system in place (I assume there will be seeing as an economic empire is one of the end-games described by Tony in livestreams), but if there is, civilians/standard workers will play a key role in a city’s economy. (higher pop. -\> more taxes -\> more resources/$) Because of this you may not be able to find work for all of the citizens you use exclusively for income, who will inevitably be idle for extended periods of time until needed for actual labour.

As a side note, I’ve read back on my post and realized for the first time a gigantic loophole in popular Facebook strategy games. If production buildings (sawmills, mines, etc.) require a base number of population to be reduced to represent the workers needed to run them, then your population stat only counts those without work. So… how do they pay taxes? 0.o

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**Author:** ![voxel\_pirate](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.stonehearth.net/voxel_pirate/32/2309_2.png) [@voxel\_pirate](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/voxel_pirate)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/6 "2013-08-18T19:23:45Z")

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Hm… let me question why there needs to be a currency at all in the game? If everything you can produce will require resources and you base the trade on exchange of goods, maybe you do not need money at all in the game. And if for any reason you do, you could also substitute it with a rare ore, like gold… couldn’t you?

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**Author:** ![ScruffyEchidna](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.stonehearth.net/scruffyechidna/32/65527_2.png) [@ScruffyEchidna](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/ScruffyEchidna)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/7 "2013-08-18T19:42:17Z")

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Never really thought of it like that. To be completely honest, my thotchoochoo left Stonehearth when I had that Facebook epiphone. I agree though, in hindsight taxes couldn’t really play a part in Stonehearth’s resource production oriented economy. This reminds me of communism for some reason. LOL

[enter link description here](http://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/government-and-crime/774)

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**Author:** ![naturalnuke](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.stonehearth.net/naturalnuke/32/14017_2.png) [@naturalnuke](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/naturalnuke)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/8 "2013-08-19T01:13:40Z")

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Instead of a currency there could be simple frontier style trading i.e. you got furs, I want furs, you want wood, here it is. So maybe instead of timber and stone style where it’s a set trade you could bargain, (Everything is given a value, 4 feathers=2 logs) all you’d have to do is use an equivalent valued object.

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**Author:** ![Sarhifigus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sarhifigus](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Sarhifigus)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/9 "2013-08-19T04:09:16Z")

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Ok Guys thanks for all the comments but replies are no longer needed can @SteveAdamo or @Geoffers747 please close this thread as it’s run it’s corse

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**Author:** ![Rybilton](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.stonehearth.net/rybilton/32/2251_2.png) [@Rybilton](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Rybilton)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 9:19am UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/12 "2013-10-10T09:19:06Z")

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The Devs have said once or twice that when Idling the villagers would find a way to occupy themselves by playing with a toy or something along those lines.

Speculation time:  
Does this mean that Mer Burlyhands who has just finished building Fort Rybilton will stand back with his fellow works and…well the conversation would be like this I’m assuming

Mer: Ahhhh the beauty of it…  
Worker 1: I’ll say Great Job lads  
Worker 2: Yep

_awkward cricket chirp_

Worker 1: well I hear that a house needs to be built on the south side of town  
Worker 2: yeah and I got some logs to chop what about you mer?

_Mer burly hands sits on the floor playing with a small wooden horse_

Mer: NEEEIIIIGH

* * *

The point is what are the lil residents going to do? maybe fishing unless that becomes an actual profession I’d like to say hunting but I don’t know

anyone?

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**Author:** ![voxel\_pirate](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.stonehearth.net/voxel_pirate/32/2309_2.png) [@voxel\_pirate](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/voxel_pirate)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/13 "2013-10-10T09:16:41Z")

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The devs are planning for some idle animations, e.g. workers playing with balls… maybe even together if there are two close by. Maybe even the pets will interact in a way with idling settlers.

You might find the following two topics interesting in regards of idling players (don’t get distracted by the name of the first topic 😉) …

> [@Toilets, Outhouses, Holes in the Ground, Anything?](http://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/toilets-outhouses-holes-in-the-ground-anything/2474):
>
> Perhaps a bit silly, but aren’t we all just here for some fun? smile Anyway, I was wondering if we’re going to see toilets or are they just not going to bother? Because I say we have outhouses and then we at least get some form of shed, even if Shedhearth was shot down. gun Does anyone know if they’ve mentioned anything about toilets or shall I get loading up Qubicle? poop smile

> [@Idle animations](http://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idling-civilians/2625):
>
> Hi Guys After reading the forums a lot recently I have quite a bit about 'Idle animations' and likes. What is confusing me however is that after watching all the live-streams (Again...) I have nothing of Civilians and that everyone will be a worker, if this is so why would we need all the Idling animations, because i'm pretty sure people will always have something for their works to do Thanks Sarhifigus

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**Author:** ![Geoffers747](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.stonehearth.net/geoffers747/32/12249_2.png) [@Geoffers747](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Geoffers747)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 9:18am UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/14 "2013-10-10T09:18:20Z")

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I thinks an open and a merge is in order here!

Edit: And done.

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**Author:** ![Smokestacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@Smokestacks](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Smokestacks)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/15 "2013-10-10T16:56:22Z")

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I would love interactive idles, as in multiple taking part like @voxel_pirate…would be pretty nice. And again as @voxel_pirate said, it would be nice to interact with the pets. Maybe chasing them or something fun. And then it’s just added with the pet if you should own one. 😄

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**Author:** ![Scal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Scal](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Scal)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/16 "2014-02-20T21:32:08Z")

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**What I’m talking about:**

So I was wondering about this…

What if our little voxel people, animals and even enemy mobs could/would do random stuff when they have nothing important to do? We already have the eating and sleeping which is great, but it can be improved further. Like listening to two peasants having a conversation or watch one of them counting the stars at night or see one of them going away from the others so he can meditate or do something else. Stuff that happens randomly and which gives us a smile whenever we catch one of those animations which makes the world feel alive. I’ll explain:

**How:**

For the playable characters (the little voxel people) It could happen by a random chance when they (the characters) would do something that wasn’t and can’t be ordered to them.

The actions would vary depending on:  
1 the class (carpenter, trapper, peasant, etc.)  
2 the kingdom they belong to (from the 3 plus the dwarf kingdom)  
3 the time of day (night, morning, etc.)  
4 the character gender  
5 the character personality  
6 the character health (if they’re sleeping in a mean bad or in the floor they might faint, while a starving character might hopelessly try to find worms or look for bugs to eat)  
7 any other variable which I don’t remember or didn’t thought about

For the enemy mobs or monsters it could also happen by a random chance when they’re not trying to destroy your village or doing another mean stuff. Watch a monster for some time and he might do something which you would never expect, like a very ugly monster deciding to pet a rabbit (then eat it later, maybe)

The actions would depend on  
1 the type of monster  
2 if the monster is seeking the player villagers or if he just wanders somewhere  
3 if the monster is sociable (lives in a group) or not

The animals behavior would be much like the monsters

**Why:**

Well… for many reasons. It would give more life to the game. It would grant a lot of those wtf moments we have in some few rare games. It would give a reason for you to look around your town other than to just find that sneaky carpenter to make stuff for you. It would turn the game into a very interesting sim, in a sense. It can be done with the right ammount of animations, interest and dedication. If not added to the native/vanilla game this could appear in a mod, but I would prefer the Stonehearth creators to do it. It would give you more reasons to spend time playing and more reason to care about the individuals inhabiting your world.

**How this is different to scenarios:**

Scenarios don’t seem to be focused on individuals, they’re focused on giving the player a history. Get too much wealth and raiders might attacks, how you deal with them will trigger another events, etc. The sim I propose is much more focused on each individual

**If you read it all thank you.**

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**Author:** ![Relyss](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.stonehearth.net/relyss/32/41785_2.png) [@Relyss](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Relyss)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/17 "2014-02-20T21:32:02Z")

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> [@Simulate randomized actions](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/simulate-randomized-actions/5411/1):
>
> do random stuff when they have nothing important to do

From the beginning the intention was to do this.

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**Author:** ![SteveAdamo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.stonehearth.net/steveadamo/32/13955_2.png) [@SteveAdamo](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/SteveAdamo)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/18 "2014-02-20T21:33:32Z")

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welcome aboard @Scal! 😄

> [@Scal](#):
>
> What I’m talking about

i’ve merged your post here, and will tweak the title a bit as well… i think you have some great ideas on how varied the idle animations can be…

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**Author:** ![Scal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Scal](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Scal)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 10:11pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/19 "2014-02-20T22:11:11Z")

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Sorry Relyss I didn’t wrote it for this topic. Adamo moved when I failed to realize that there was a thread like this. I still hope my topic is salvageable though

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**Author:** ![SteveAdamo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.stonehearth.net/steveadamo/32/13955_2.png) [@SteveAdamo](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/SteveAdamo)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/20 "2014-02-20T22:21:58Z")

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> [@Scal](#):
>
> I still hope my topic is salvageable though

i certainly think it is… 😃

for one, i had never considered idle animations for mobs before… which i think would be absolutely hilarious to see, and add a nice bit of character to the game… 👍

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**Author:** ![Smokestacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@Smokestacks](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/Smokestacks)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/21 "2014-02-21T19:00:28Z")

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Well we know idle animations to already be in the game for humans, with more likely planned…

For mobs? I’m not sure. I’m still a bit unclear on how we will see mobs, as it is a city builder so is your fog of war only going to really reveal your city and its surroundings? And therefore mobs would unlikely actually be visible to you when they aren’t attacking your city. If we could see further away…maybe. If we could see goblin encampments or something then definitely.

Animals I believe will also have idle animations. As it is, the bunnies already have one.

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**Author:** ![SteveAdamo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.stonehearth.net/steveadamo/32/13955_2.png) [@SteveAdamo](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/u/SteveAdamo)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625/22 "2014-02-21T19:07:21Z")

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> [@Smokestacks](#):
>
> And therefore mobs would unlikely actually be visible to you when they aren’t attacking your city

my _best guess_, the fog can be cleared using your various exploration-types units… when the landscape is revealed, and perhaps only when you have a unit occupying the space, mobs within the area would be visible…

as you mentioned, standing around a camp, perhaps… or just milling about in the forest, etc. either way, it would be neat to see them randomly idle with a varying number of animations… 😄

[Next page](https://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/idle-animations/2625.md?page=2)