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Steam News25 January 20242y ago

Devlog #24 - Building Spots, Toolmaker & UI

Hi together and welcome to the next devlog! This time I will be talking about Building Spots, the Toolmaker and a little bit about the UI.

Full notes

Full The First Explorers® update

Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.

What changed

0 fixes1 addition7 changes0 removals
  • UI and audio
  • Maps
  • Gameplay
changedThis time I will be talking about Building Spots, the Toolmaker and a little bit about the UI.
changedBuilding SpotsThe terrain needs to be leveled by diggers
changedBuilding SpotsThere are four different levels of effort. If the terrain is really flat it takes less effort to prepare the construction site and the diggers won't need much time. If the terrain is really steep the diggers need a lot of time to level the ground.
changedBuilding SpotsWhen there is not much to dig, the UI widget will show only 1 of 4 shovels. This is the case if you're at terrain that is mostly flat and thus shown as a green terrain overlay. The steeper the terrain, the more orange or even red the terrain overlay is and hence more shovels are displayed, which means more digging is needed.
changedToolmakerThis is the first time redish wooden tiles are used for a building's roof in the game and my aim was that the toolmaker is easily recognizable from afar. In fact I decided to give all Roman buildings that have an oven these red rooftiles in a circular shape. This means that also the Weaponmaker will have a similiar oven ;)
addedUI - First GlimpseAs you might have noticed you were able to get an glimpse of the new UI design for the very first time in the video shared in the beginning. The UI is still work in progress, but it shows the direction in which I'm currently heading. It's still missing quite some elements, especially on the left and on the top of the UI, but it's a good start to build up on. We will have a dedicated devlog on the UI, when it's heading to a more complete state.

The First Explorers® changes

changedThis time I will be talking about Building Spots, the Toolmaker and a little bit about the UI.
changedThe terrain needs to be leveled by diggers
changedThere are four different levels of effort. If the terrain is really flat it takes less effort to prepare the construction site and the diggers won't need much time. If the terrain is really steep the diggers need a lot of time to level the ground.
changedWhen there is not much to dig, the UI widget will show only 1 of 4 shovels. This is the case if you're at terrain that is mostly flat and thus shown as a green terrain overlay. The steeper the terrain, the more orange or even red the terrain overlay is and hence more shovels are displayed, which means more digging is needed.
changedThis is the first time redish wooden tiles are used for a building's roof in the game and my aim was that the toolmaker is easily recognizable from afar. In fact I decided to give all Roman buildings that have an oven these red rooftiles in a circular shape. This means that also the Weaponmaker will have a similiar oven ;)

Hi together and welcome to the next devlog!

This time I will be talking about Building Spots, the Toolmaker and a little bit about the UI.

Building Spots

In The First Explorers it will be crucial how you select the building spots for your settlement. Let's start with a short overview, what construction sites need in general:

  • The terrain needs to be leveled by diggers

  • The building needs construction material like planks and stones

  • The construction site needs builders, which are building up the site

How long the first step (the digging) will take is heavily dependent on how you as a player chooses the building spot.

There are four different levels of effort. If the terrain is really flat it takes less effort to prepare the construction site and the diggers won't need much time. If the terrain is really steep the diggers need a lot of time to level the ground.

The quality of your building spot is directly shown in the building preview, while you're hovering over the ground like you can see in this video:

When there is not much to dig, the UI widget will show only 1 of 4 shovels. This is the case if you're at terrain that is mostly flat and thus shown as a green terrain overlay. The steeper the terrain, the more orange or even red the terrain overlay is and hence more shovels are displayed, which means more digging is needed.

What do you think about the building procedure? Let me know in the comments!

Toolmaker

Tools are an important factor in the game. Most of the workers need their own tools, which you can produce in the toolmaker. The toolmaker needs copperore to produce tools. He is able to craft hammers, shovels, axes, pickaxes, saws, scythes, fishingrods and knives.

This is the first time redish wooden tiles are used for a building's roof in the game and my aim was that the toolmaker is easily recognizable from afar. In fact I decided to give all Roman buildings that have an oven these red rooftiles in a circular shape. This means that also the Weaponmaker will have a similiar oven ;)

UI - First Glimpse

As you might have noticed you were able to get an glimpse of the new UI design for the very first time in the video shared in the beginning. The UI is still work in progress, but it shows the direction in which I'm currently heading. It's still missing quite some elements, especially on the left and on the top of the UI, but it's a good start to build up on. We will have a dedicated devlog on the UI, when it's heading to a more complete state.

And that's a wrap for today. Thanks a lot for stopping by and make sure to leave a comment what you think about the building spot system and the toolmaker! :)

Best, Sebastian

Source

Steam News / 25 January 2024

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