Thank you to those who have played and given feedback on the 0.2 release!
This patch contains minor bugfixes and adjustments:
Added menu button
Pause overlay added to make it more obvious when the game is paused
The game is now automatically unpaused on New Game, and when Orr is placed
Pause state is now saved (paused, play, or fast forward)
Houses now automatically downgrade from a village house to a regular house if a nearby tavern is destroyed (previously just gave a red warning and became disfunctional, which is still the case for buildings that can’t downgrade any further)
The camera is now constrained slightly closer to the terrain
Shadows now render from a greater distance
Fixed exception raised when trying to place a building out of bounds
Fixed bug where Orr illumination effect wasn’t showing up
Fixed bug where rotation visuals weren’t updating after placing a bridge
Fixed orthographic camera clipping through water at long view distances
Alpha 0.2 Released
Orrstead 0.2 is now available on itch.io, rebuilt from the ground up!
This is a major update, laying the foundation for the future of Orrstead. The benefits of this rebuilt codebase are:
Improved performance
Mod support
Custom asset support
Localization (currently English/Swedish)
Faster iteration on future updates
In addition, there have been major changes to the core mechanics of the game:
Global wisdom resource, similar to experience, streamlining progression and unlocking of new buildings
Removed the phase system
Introduced adjacency rules and bonuses, such as the lumberjack requiring nearby trees, or the tavern upgrading nearby houses
Buildings now follow automatic upgrade paths, such as a farm upgrading to an efficient farm when near a farm house, producing wheat faster
Updated visuals/tuning for all buildings
Reworked UI, focusing on minimalism and extendibility (may be reworked again for better visuals later in development)
In the coming months, I'm looking to increase transparency and community involvement on mid-and-late-game iteration. If you are interested, join the discord.
Orrstead 0.2 Overhaul Underway
Hi everyone, writing a formal update here on what I've been doing!
tl;dr: Rebuilding the foundations of Orrstead to be faster and moddable.
The past few months, I have been experimenting with different gameplay features for Phase 2 of the game. It takes quite a while to iterate systems, and I've been dissatisfied with a lot of the ones I've tried. I think that in the long-term, it's best that I shift my approach.
As a solution, I've decided to rebuild the foundations of the game to be much easier to extend, both for me and modders, making it much easier to test features. I've learned a lot since I started Orrstead, and have an idea of how the core systems can be much more efficient. So, I'm doing that!
I'm mostly happy with the gameplay of Phase 1, so the gameplay won't change drastically. I'll be focusing mostly on finishing up the core systems rebuild. I'll try to get this out sooner rather than later, so I can get the community more involved in the development.
If you'd like to participate, come join the discord! A community focused around game dev, with channels for Orrstead feedback/discussion: https://discord.gg/eEY75Nqk3C
Alpha Update 0.11
Alpha 0.11 Patch Notes! This alpha build is currently available for playtesting, free on itch.io.
Major Gameplay Changes To prepare for Phase 2, the way happiness works has been revamped.
Happiness will now decrease linearly as population increases. Happiness bonuses (previously just the tavern) are no longer based on average household happiness. This made it feel like a penalty to build new houses (that don't have a tavern), instead of being an interesting choice. So now, happiness will increase for every tavern built, but with diminishing returns (logarithmically).
The idea is that because the population penalty is linear and bonuses are logarithmic, you will need to keep finding new ways to increase happiness, rather than by just spamming taverns. In Phase 2, I want these systems to be complex enough to allow interesting decisions, and make room for creativity. For now in Phase 1, I've added a new system that will move things in this direction: housing upgrades.
Housing Upgrades Housing now starts off at Tier 1, and every house has an Appeal, based on factors like having neighbors, a path, water, and a tavern. When appeal reaches a threshold, the house can be upgraded to Tier 2 for a wood cost. Each Tier 2 house will boost happiness (with diminishing returns).
I'm still experimenting with these changes, but this mechanic is intended to be integral to future (phase 2 onward) mechanics. I'm still not certain if I want to move forward with this system, I could see it being tedious to keep upgrading housing, or it might be fun. Let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions!
Minor Changes
Citizens will now construct buildings in the order they're placed.
Citizens will change jobs immediately when priority is changed.
UI for selected buildings redesigned, allowing space for more UI elements in the future.
Level of detail added for several models.
Audio settings added.
Graphics preset added (currently just quality and performance presets, more graphics options will be added later).
UI X button is now easier to click.
Minor save/load menu changes.
Citizens will now look for a home immediately, instead of a few minutes after arriving.
Minor graphics optimizations for lower-end machines.
Lots of other small changes I forgot.
The First Alpha
Announcement Hello all! I've been working on this strategy game solo for a couple years now, and am excited to be releasing the first public-facing build here on itch.io.
Development Status This is an alpha build - Alpha 0.1? Alpha 0.1. This contains only the first phase of the game, and is intended for playtesting and feedback on the core mechanics. Your feedback and bug reports are highly appreciated.
Future Plans The game will have three gameplay phases, with each phase introducing more technology, resources, and mechanics. Only the first phase has been developed, and I really want to solidify the foundation of the game before expanding into future phases. Immediate development plans are:
Based on feedback, make adjustments to the current Phase 1 gameplay loop.
Implement various planned improvements to Phase 1, including visuals, audio, UI, etc.
Lay out roadmap for Phase 2.
Release Date When it's ready, which won't be this year. After a couple years of experimental development and trying different gameplay mechanics, the game has settled into a scope and core gameplay loop that I believe is fun, and that I'm confident in being able to finish as a solo developer. However, the game is still early in development, and I can't confidently give a release date yet.
