Empire Architect
Update 1.29: Venus, and start of water system
In today's patch there is a pretty good sized check of stuff. As I mentioned before the water/health system will be going in in stages, and today I added the Well. Wells are great for level 1 houses, and dont require any complicated structures like reservoirs or aqueducts, but the later parts of the system will need those structures. Currently Wells satisfy all housing levels, but it will be reduced to just level 1 housing eventually.
The 3rd god in the game is Venus. Venus will deal mostly with mood and prosperity in the game (read her powers below). But more over the addition of a 3rd god really makes you plan out how to build your city quite a lot more. Right now there are still just small temples but that will change soonish (2ish weeks as my best guess right now).
Patch Notes:
- New god: Venus, Venus is the god of love, desire, fertility, prosperity, and victory.
- New god Power (Venus): Blessing of Prosperity, Venus will bestow wealth and possessions on a small number of people in your city.
- New god Power (Venus): Curse of desire, Venus will strip a small number of people of all their wealth and possessions.
- New god Power (Venus): Curse of Despair, Venus will cause your people to be unhappy for a time giving them a debuff of -3 happiness for 2 weeks, and slowing immigration by 80%.
- New god Power (Venus): Blessing of Happiness, Venus will cause your people to be happy for a time, giving them a buff of +2 happiness for 2 week, and raising immigration rates to their maximum.
- New Building: Small Temple: Venus, Temples satisfy the religious needs of your people, as well as the desires of the gods.
- New Building: Well, The Well provides well water to a specific area. Well water is good enough for lower class citizens. (for now this is all that is needed for any level of house, but that will change as more gets added to this system). Wells are 1x1 in size, and cover a 4x4(Medium) area.
- New Overlay: Water Overlay, Red means that they need water, yellow means they have Well access. This overlay will get more detail as the system grows.
- Citizens that do not have access to water will gain -2 happiness per housing level.
- A tutorial for building a well has been added to level 1.
- Merchants will now want whatever the highest level of housing in your city is. This will serve to help push the tiering of your cites forward. Justification: The Merchant class in ancient times was very wealthy, and would therefore want whatever the nicest accommodations were available.
- Fixed a bug where objectives sometimes showed up in custom games.
- The Rubble Pile got new art (FINALLY!)
- Fixed a bug with the level 4 achievement.
- Fixed a bug where objectives could show up in custom games.
- Slightly reduced the happiness requirement for level 3.
- Slightly reduced the happiness requirement for level 4.
- Small Temple of Venus is now available to build in level 3, this should make it easier to get your happiness up.
- Small Temple of Venus is now available to build in level 4, this should make it easier to get your happiness up.
Lastly I have been asked to put up a Patreon account a few times (granted I have no idea what to expect on that front), but anyways I finally put that up and it can be found here:
https://www.patreon.com/BatholithEntertainment
I want to use it as a means for releasing preview information, concept art, music, etc for those that care, and also as a means of polling and gathering feedback from those that want to take part in it. If it is something that interests you, Great! If not, I totally get it, and no worries because the game will keep on rolling either way :)
Update 1.28: Campaign Level 4
As mentioned last patch today's patch includes level 4. It shows you how to get a Mint working, and expects a bit higher stats to finish the level. But the biggest part of this patch is actually people moving homes when needed. This will happen automatically, and will allow well planned out cities to become super efficient. However planning where your upgraded housing is located has started to become a thing as people desiring level 2 (or higher when its in game) housing will move to the closest level 2 housing slot to their work (even if it is the furthest house away). The last change to the housing system is that people will only immigrate to fill level 1 housing slots, so you will need to have at least some level 1 housing in order to add people to your city.
This polish step of the housing system is a great example of how I want to add depth to systems. I want your choices to matter, and I want players to see the difference in well planed out cities.
Patch Notes:
- Level 4: Bobium, This is a peaceful city mainly focused on getting a Mint working and supplementing trade.
- An achievement has been added for beating level 4.
- New Overlay: House Upgrade Overlay, This overlay shows which houses have residence that want better housing.
- People will now only immigrate if there are open spaces level 1 houses (tents).
- People will now automatically move to houses of the appropriate level. But be careful, they will do so even if the house is very far from work.
- People will now automatically move to houses that are much closer to their work IF they live far from work (the will not move if they feel they are already close enough). This should help to make your cities run much more efficiently, however if you decentralize to much you may find it hard to keep your people happy due to lack of amenities.
- Trading posts now have their sales scroll over the building just like the Market does.
- Deities now accumulate mood score more slowly.
- Fixed a bug in immigration spawn points.
- Holding down "Shift" now causes scroll speeds to double.
I really hope you guys enjoy level 4, let me know what you think so that I can make adjustments as needed.
Update 1.27: Tailor and Dice House
I have 2 buildings and a resource for you all today. The Tailor turns cloth into Clothing which is a basic good (people can buy it in markets), and the Dice House, which is a 1x1 Entertainment building with a short range. Eventually the Dice House will have money exchange hands, but that functionality has not been put in place yet.
Patch Notes:
- New Building: Dice House, The Dice House provides entertainment for a small area. However the house does seem to win more often than not...
- New Building: Tailor Shop, The Tailor Shop creates Clothing from Cloth.
- New Resource: Clothing, Clothing is a basic good that costs 22/44 (local/Trade).
- Your name on the score screen should no longer say "Batholith Entertainment", it should say your screen name.
- Some typos have been fixed.
- Sheep takes slightly longer to produce.
- Cloth takes slightly less time to produce.
- A few resources have had their trade values slightly increased.
Whats next:
With the number of buildings now soaring to 38 (up from about 20 when EA started), and more systems in place I am going to start putting more focus on depth of each system, rather than the current main focus of getting MORE EVERYTHING in.
This does not mean that more buildings/resources/systems arnt coming, but the pace of new buildings/resources/systems is going to slow down a bit in order to make time for expanding on what is already there.
Some examples are:
- More gods
- More god powers
- Shops like the Pottery Hut having more than 1 resource to make.
- Some of the negative effects that you will need to keep at bay, like people stealing from tax collectors, and lighting buildings on fire when they are unhappy, etc...
- Level 3 houses.
- Religious and Entertainment buildings taking in specific resources that will boost their range. (an example would be the Theater having access to clay masks will boost its range 1 further).
Whats the next system?
I recently commissioned the art for the water and health system. This system will go in in stages but it should bring more depth with each stage.
When is level 4 coming?
I would say I am about 70% done with level 4, and I HOPE to have it in on Tuesday's patch. So if you want to have access to level 4 when it launches make sure to beat 1-3 before then.
Lastly,
If you are enjoying the game, or just like where it is headed please take a few minutes and write a review for it. Every little bit helps, and as promised all money that comes in during Early Access will go directly back into the game! As always I will continue to pump as much time as I can into the game to make sure it keeps growing :)
Update 1.26b: Fixed some campaign bugs, and some polish.
Well it seems that no matter how much I tested the campaign bugs made it through. So here is a quick patch that fixes the major ones (spelling and grammar are still to come). And also a bit of other stuff that I worked on today...
Sorry for the bugs everyone! I will continue to work through anymore that show up so just let me know.
Patch Notes:
- Added a tutorial for level 3 to show the religion overlay.
- Added a tutorial for level 3 to show the stats -> Pantheon tab.
- Added mouse wheel functionality to all Scroll Bars, and most Scroll Boxes.
- Fixed the overlay drop down click through issue created by the last patch.
- Fixed a bug where when the stat -> trade tab was active you could not zoom the game in and out.
- Fixed a bug where you could scroll in and out when the exit menu was active.
- Fixed a bug where the tutorial placements were not staying in place for some people when zooming.
- Fixed a bug where after finishing a campaign level some people were unable to select the next level.
Update 1.26: Campaign/Tutorial (First 3 Levels).
I'm gonna lead off by saying that this is just a starting point, and that with feedback I will make tweaks and changes to the levels. Is there to many tutorial pieces or are there to few? Are the levels to easy or to hard for the first levels? do the tutorial parts give enough information or to little? Any other feedback would also be helpful! I plan to aim for 1 level added per week on average. The first 5 levels with be the tutorial, and then after that there will be 2 branches of levels, ones that require just building, and others that require combat.
I am sure there will be spelling and grammar issues (I will have it looked over by someone that is better at that kinda thing soon), but if you see any let me know and I will get them changed. If you run into any bugs please let me know, I tested it on 3 resolutions and did each level multiple times so I hope it works ok for at least the vast majority of you... Also there will be new art coming for the campaign menus but it is not done yet...
There are also some polish items added, and balance items changed. Lastly there are 5 more achievements added bringing the total to 8. More will come ;)
Patch Notes:
- Campaign Level 1 - Designed to teach you to feed you people.
- Campaign Level 2 - Designed to teach you to trade.
- Campaign Level 3 - Designer to teach you to build religion and entertainment.
- Warehouses now show all the resources in your city, rather than just the ones that have been introduced to it.
- Storage and trade buildings now state "*Right Click a resource to stop accepting it"
- Slightly slowed down the Deities mood change.
- Trade Values are now affected by difficulty. The old trade values are the "very hard" values currently though this may change, all lower difficulties will gain +5% trade value per level below Very Hard. this should make balancing an economy much easier at the lower levels.
- Added an Achievement for a city of 200 population.
- Added an Achievement for a city of 300 population.
- Added an Achievement for beating level 1 of the campaign.
- Added an Achievement for beating level 2 of the campaign.
- Added an Achievement for beating level 3 of the campaign.
- Fixed a bug in drop downs when the 2nd click on the main button area was not closing the dropdown.
- Fixed a bug in basic tooltips that caused the end of a line early.
- Sheep production slightly slowed down.
Update 1.25b: General Polish Content.
This patch is general polish stuff from feedback, and some of it has been on my list for ages... Its not the largest patch, but it will help the ease of use and the feel of the game step up a bit.
Patch Notes:
- Data windows now go under the main UI. Originally I thought I liked it better the other way, but more and more things are bugging me about it. Let me know how you guys feel about it.
- The roads now have 16 position frames up from 3, the artwork is also less pixely...
- Added Citizen icons to the happiness tooltip
- Added Citizen icons to the Population tooltip.
- Added Building icons to the building menu.
- Fixed a race condition crash bug.
- Fixed a bug where Thespians where labeled as priests (no functionality changed, just the text).
- Fixed the Spelling of Th"r"ead Maker. It was correct in some places and wrong others...
- Wine Icon has been updated to a more period correct set Amphorae jars.
- Fixed a bug with the building menu where when closed the sub menus would remain open.
That you all for your interest and support! It really means a great deal to me!
Update 1.25: Entertainment System, 4 new Buildings, and 2 new Resources!
This is a big one today! We got a new system, 4 new buildings, 2 new resources, and some balance changes to boot! The Entertainment System is working well so far. Its very similar to the Religion system in how it works, but it really adds a lot to the planning aspect of the city. The 2 buildings that entertain your people are the Gladiator Pit, and the Theater. Aside from that we have 2 new resource buildings in the Thread Maker, and Weaving Shop. The Thread maker produces Wool, and the Weaving Shop produces Cloth. Thread is a basic resource, and Cloth is an middle tier resource.
Patch Notes:
- New System: Entertainment. The Entertainment system works similarly to the religious system in that it is area based, but rather than dealing with the gods it has double the effect on your people's happiness.
- New Building: Glaidator Pit. The Gladiator Pit provides entertainment for a large area. However Glaidators do tend to die from time to time... The Glaidator pit is a 3x3 building.
- New Building: Theater. The Theater provides entertainment for a medium area. Thesbians require a basic education. The Theater is a 2x2 building.
- New Building: Thread Maker, This buildings spins Wool from Sheep.
- New Building: Weaving Shop, This building weaves Cloth from Wool.
- New Resource: Wool, Wool comes from sheep (7 wool per sheep), and is a basic resource costing just 1/2 (local/trade). Wool is used to make other items.
- New Resource: Cloth, Cloth is made from Wool (4 wool makes 1 cloth), and it is an intermediate level resource costing 6/12 (local/trade). Cloth will be used to make other items at a later date.
- Fixed a bug where opening trade routes could give you money rather than taking it.
- Base Wages for most workshops have been set to 5 up from 4.
- Base Wages for most Finishing Shops have been set to 6 up from 5.
- To offset the base wage increases finished goods have had their trade values increased by 1 or 2 per unit.
- Most production shops are now hold more resources. 40 of the ingrediant(s) (up from 20), and 15 of the product (up from 10). This should help to smooth out production.
- Demolish now stays active until you right click, or toggle it off.
- Fixed a bug in updateing the gods that allowed for them to get mad before you could even start building.
- Swapped AI Player's AI to its own thread. This should help to negate some of the issues with lag in the later game. If you notice anything strange, please let me know, but my tests have showed promising results.
- In the build menu "Social" have been changed to "Amenities" as it is more accurate. (thanks for the feedback)
- Trade routes now have 3-4 items in each segment up from 2-3.
- Added an entertainment overlay.
- All the Mines now only have 4 miners. The production requirements where also dropped by 20% to make up for this.
- All the Farm now only have 4 Farmers. The production requirements where also dropped by 20% to make up for this.
- Reduced some building build times.
I hope you guys like the patch! Let me know what you think! Feed back on new systems is very important!
Update 1.24: Building Range UI element, and other polish
This one is a bit on the smaller side today, but there is some nice polish features in here that will help prep for the future. The building ranges are only on buildings with specific ranges (which currently is just the temples but more will be coming).
Patch Notes:
- When you select a building, all other buildings of the same type are now highlighted in blue. This should make it easier to see how they are spaced out better.
- Buildings with ranges (currently just the temples, but more are coming) now show their range when selected. If they are not achieving their max range, their acual range will be shown in a yellow/green color, where as the max range will be shown in white.
- Added a line of text to the trade menu: "*Right click resources to toggle trading them."
- Added tooltips in the trade menu for the words "Buying" and "Selling". These should help to clearify things.
- The unit info menu now shows what resources a unit is carrying/transporting.
- Changed out the "$" sign for a gold icon in the wages area.
- Taxes on Merchants has been increase from 35% + 5% per house level -> 45% + 5% per house level. This should still leave merchants with a ton of money over time, but it will also decrease the difficutly of ballancing your economy.
Coming soon:
- I now I have been saying it awhile but the first 3 levels of the Campaign are getting close to done, Im pushing for Friday if everything goes well.
- Wool Makers (Wool resource), and Weaver (Cloth resource) are ready to go in, I hope to have them in by Friday.
- Entertainment system. I have both the Gladiator Pit, and the Theater to start the system off with. This system will be range based just like the religion system.
I doubt that I will get to all of this by Friday, but none the less this is all on the horizon :)
Im gonna keep pushing to get more in... We are slowly taking steps towards the goal :)