Hi everyone!
It's been a month since the last update, so it's time to share something interesting. Right now I'm working on a big update that will add more variety to construction. The changes will include vertical construction, a new "node" construction grid, and possibly new stone buildings.
The game now features an additional node-based construction grid. You can place various decorative structures between cells: fences, posts, torches, walls.
Some buildings add nodes of their own: posts for example. You can run a log between any two arbitrary nodes to build an arch, for instance.
Posts and logs let you put together some very strange constructions. From here on it's all up to your imagination.
You can also string ropes between nodes.
I had to rewrite a ton of code to add a vertical axis to construction. Every building now has its own Y coordinate, which means a single cell can hold multiple buildings at different heights.
Let's start with platforms. They come in heights of 1 and 2, and you can build other buildings on top of them (including more platforms). Platforms can also be used as supports.
Naturally, this creates a need for stepped stairs. And this is the moment the game turns into Timberborn…
Now let's add log walls and more types of fences. All of these are built on the node grid. The top corners of platforms count as nodes, so we can shape log towers however we like by covering platforms with walls.
That's it! Now you can build log castles using everything above in combination. Both construction grids are working together.
I still need to figure out exactly how all these fortifications should look. On one hand I want really beautiful walls and towers, but on the other, we're roughly in the iron age here, and castles of that period should look fairly crude. It's not clear which matters more: unlimited creative freedom or realism.
None of this works in-game yet. First I need to rewrite pathfinding from scratch so that settlers can walk across all these fortifications. It'll also let me get rid of a lot of the pathfinding problems the game has right now, and it'll add the ability to quickly rebuild the navigation mesh locally whenever a building with a walkable surface is added or removed. That's what I'll be working on over the next few weeks.
Thanks for following the game! Stay tuned for updates!