I’ve been trying to come up with some twists on what we have already seen so far in the Dev cycle.
One of the things that surfaced in my thinking was the introduction of a Town Crier type villager. One who reacts to the Big Changes in game announcements “good” or “bad”.
Examples in how to dress up what we have now.
When a Caravan comes to town we get the message and screen about it, how about the Town Crier comes to life near the Flag and starts ringing his bell.
Similar with the Village attacks from the Goblins use a similar call out but utilize whats is built in via Mobilize and Demobilize Defense button sounds. Rather then him play his bell animation you see him blow the horn.
Upon a Death of a Villager maybe play an Organ or Dirge for the passing villager, or a happy tune for a new villager
Which leads me to the next part of the suggestion over the future of Seasons and Holidays… The town crier could dress up as Santa for Christmas, Halloween Costume. It would allow the Town Crier to have more useful things then just ringing a bell.
Also, Say the Staff wants to have a special announcement for the people, what better way to find out then having your in game Town Crier tell you about it?
I love this idea because then it simulates an older time more medieval feel that the game has so far, and it adds a purpose to the pop ups because then there is a story behind them, sort of.
One of the other reasons I had for this suggestion was to make him/her like a guide when you start off . He’s more of an AI that you really don’t have control over and is a placeholder for whatever the team can come up with. I think he/she could be a valuable part of the village experience. Especially when people might not be able to ride the initial learning curve. He might even be able to give you hints if your not able to do things in a timely fashion like not supplying food even make him spin out an article in a news clipping.
I’m not going to throw to much out there but by the sounds of some of you guys, I’m glad I posted it. Sometimes I have a habit over suggesting things but in my mind this is one falls in line similar to the way the scaffolding came out. that really makes the experience feel real, even if its just a silly little animation.
I am in favor of this idea. I do like it more as a unit which has a positive/negative effect on the population. A +X additional bonus given to the settlement after a major event. I see this guy as both the morale booster and the debbie downer… he doesn’t make the news just reports it.
This is just the sort of profession that could really take this game from a fun simulation to one which has a life of its own… and precisely the sort of spirit I would love to see encapsulated.
Sounds cool, only thing is I think I would feel kinda funny at the start with only 7 people and a town crier so maybe you hit a certain pop limit and then they show up, or they start out as a village elder? Maybe it can be a job you can assign someone which unlocks at a pop cap.
I think you should have to build a “bell item” to promote a worker to a crier. That way you decide when you want one of your workers to start doing that…
Or maybe since he would not be busy all the time it could be a casual worker.
This is kinda of the reason I went with a Passive uncontrollable villager. I do like the suggestion made about making a bell to promote the villager, however there are some cases where what I see overall the purpose of the Town Crier causes a catch 22 for him if he’s not made.
Let say for instance you start off without one and something happens… No announcements. My view for it being passive is he/she will always be there and your not having to worry about feeding him/her at least in the common sense. Its a Specialty NPC that has a Purpose to move you forward in the game. I will say though now with a good base of replies I am going to go back and tweak my suggestion and add in the bonuses of all your suggestions weighting unforseen issues in the future and try to refine the original Suggestion to be even better.
Thanks everyone for their input, Please keep it coming…
To me I feel like this passive class should just show up with a caravan at one point and stay if there is room. The way I see it is that the game should be fully functional even with notifications before this class shows up but once they do notifications have a much greater impact… In my mind the Crier’s job should be to let the general population know what the player knows… so if there were lots of casualties in a battle suddenly the mood of everyone town is a bit low and debuffs occur… likewise if something great happens everyone will be happier, perhaps even a little more industrious and positive buffs occur.
I feel that the addition of passive classes such as this one how ever they are obtained in the game are an essential piece to creating an atmosphere. If we are to create a settlement with it’s own culture and atmosphere it will be impossible to micro manage every single thing but ideas like a town crier, barmaid, mercenaries that hang out in a specific building, bards, etc… which are all essentially NPCs which would live within the city you are helping steward into greatness. Their role isn’t just the casual buffs, debuffs, information, or what ever their coded purpose is… but something much more essential as it enriches the environment you are helping to create.
I think there should be a community brainstorming session on what sort of passive roles individuals could play in the overall scheme of the game. Perhaps a list of what sort of classes could suddenly settle within your walls and add a deeper element of atmosphere to the overall world.
@woollysmash I agree, you actually added some things I had thought about but didn’t really post. The only thing I have concern about it at its top level when you actually have a city and not a village.
Now with about 10 mins of thinking about it I’m almost wondering if the passive Town Crier takes on a even different role only when you get up in Population where you don’t even want to waste your time micromanaging 100’s of villagers. You build some and as the population grows the crier is like your secretary just letting you in on the best of things and the worst of things in the village. You actually gave me some more to think about. I will have to kickback this weekend and overview what I see and what you added.
