Felt like making a thread here to give… you guessed it, my thoughts and ramblings of this game! I had bit of problem choosing where to post this, but eh, figured the best place is general.
How did I come across Stonehearth? I was simply looking for DF-like game and after reading some reviews and watching few youtube videos, I was like… I gotta have this game. Granted, here is also a confession. I did pirate first, keeping the illegal download for a week or so. Then the more I followed the game, watched th dev videos and whatnot when not playing, I cut down on my expensive drinking habits (that meant staying sober for a weekend) to scrounge up actual cash for the game.
I do wish there was somekind of demo about. It’s a bit of dying thing and might not be worth the time, but I do like to see more games with somesort of demo that showcases what the game is really about. after all written word and gameplay videos can’t 100% cement if a game is just what you need. (Not to mention demos would mean less pirate life for me atleast >.>)
As “DFclone” (I use the term very loosely in this case) Stonehearth has loads potential even in these early alpha builds. The class system is own nice feature, designing houses if fun and making YOUR town is loads of fun. So far seems like it has decent basic features settled in and just needs moar content, optimization and tweaking. The look of the game is very charming and kind of tickles my nostalgia nerve with that hearth indicator for HP and the various sounds.
The difficulty curve with enemies is bit lacking, mostly quite easy unless the “game master” goes nuts, but I figure more combat stuff gets added, the game becomes more of a challenge.
Yeah, not to mention there’s frequent updates and each build seems to bring sizeable pack of new stuff, tons of bug crushing and “underthehood” fixes. So kudos to the hard working gals and guys hammering on the game like blacksmith at furnace!
TL;DR version
"10/10 would voxel a goblin again" - IGN
Now, onto how I see things would progress from here. So list of my suggestions!
Classes
It seems like the class thing is going to be like this: Deeper you go down the tree, the more specialized your hearthling becomes in the chosen carreer.
Like say
Mason can become a stone artisan specializing in more smaller decorative items rather than building construction items. Like say, stone mugs, sculptures and whatnot. Footman could specialize in either heavy hitting two-handed type, foregoing the shield for the extra oomph or more resilient like a knight or even more mobile like… a horseman.
Well, I’d suggest something about smith, but… what will magmasmith do?