Day and Night

Oh boy, it has been a while since the last blogpost, eh? A few weeks at least! Maybe a month? Welp, that is on us. But we are here to redeem ourselves! We had been working on the game in hiding in our moist, dank cave (get it? Because we are trolls?…), and didn’t have much to show, that is, until now. Today, we would like to talk to you about some of the new mechanics that we are adding to the Lost Settlers and how it all ties together with the already existing game mechanics.  

Let’s start with the basics - day and night cycle! We wanted to clearly indicate the passage of time in the game, and a fairly commonplace time indicator stashed somewhere in the corner in the GUI was just not doing it for us. “Show, don’t tell” and all that. 

Really happy with how “alive” the transitions feel - with lamps and fires starting up and fireflies dancing in the forests. Most of the work goes into a standstill in town during the night (your settlers need their rest!). The nights are short, but there is plenty of time for you to set new construction sites, order new territories to explore and plan ahead the growth of your settlement. 

As you might have noticed already before, it can get rainy in Lost Settlers, and it is not here just for the looks! Weather varies depending on the season (ah, shucks, spoilers) and brings about different changes to the game - some good and some not so much. Rain, for one, makes the trees and your crops grow faster, while wind spreads around the seeds for some plants! There are quite a few more, but let’s not discuss them, you gotta discover them in game yourself ^^

The cat is out of the bag, so yeah, we also have added seasons! They are of varying lengths, and again, are not here just to look pretty. Every season has different weather, allows different crops to be planted, stops others from growing and brings about different bonuses (which you will get to discover yourself! Yay!). But let’s talk about our favorite season - Winter! Yes, we live in Norway, how’d you guess? 

We didn’t want to just color everything in white and call it a day, but rather create the same type of snow as we have here in the north - there is a lot of it, it is fluffy and it occupies physical space! But don’t be fooled by it, winter differs itself by being the harshest season in the game. Almost nothing grows, food is scarce, production and construction slows down and your townsfolk will need wood to keep themselves warm. It is quite smart to prepare for it beforehand. Winters are a lot shorter than other seasons (you are welcome), and there will be other stuff you can do during the long nights.

Sadly, we have to finish our blogpost here. We are working on some boring stuff right now - saving and loading, UI and settings. That’s a lot more work than you’d imagine! What do you think about the day and night cycle, weather and seasons? Is there something you would want to add or remove from the game? Remember that any feedback will be greatly appreciated, and you can help shape the game :3.

In the next blog post we plan on showing previously unseen mechanics and visuals. Actually, why don’t you guys decide on that? Here is a choice: should we talk about magic, or perhaps, Jarls?

Let us know below please ^^ Until the next time,

Poppants,

A very hungry troll.