Kingdom Crier #44: Work QOL, Evangelizing, Skill Caps, Presets

Kingdom Crier #44 is here alongside Version v0.30.4 which includes Work QOL improvements, Evangelizing, raised Skill Caps, Mortal Presets, and more!

Changes

Work QOL

We spent some time improving Work Prioritization and added some new tools to better understand why your Mortals are or are not doing something.

Work Queue

We found that a number of instances of work inefficiencies came down to having insufficient information to make decisions, so we've added the Work Tab to the Mortal Sheet.

The Work Tab houses the Work Queue which shows all of the Work that a Mortal considers their responsibility, listed in order that they'll tackle it as of their last evaluation.

Prioritization has been refined and is based on the following criteria, in order: Critical Work > Personal Commands > Work > Prioritized Jobs > Job Priority (low to high) > Rushed Commands > Job Sequence (low to high) > Command Priority (low to high). Ties are resolved using the appropriate heuristic for that Command - Age for Construction Commands, Distance for Store Commands, for example.

Hover over a Command to see why it is where it is in the Queue. Click on a Command to jump to its position in the world. If you expect to see something listed, but it isn't, double check that Mortal's Job Assignments and wait until their next evaluation.

So much to do!

Use the information you gather here to make adjustments to direct your Mortals to the work they should be doing.

Examples
Change Job Priorities to move all of the work from one Job in front of another.

Prioritize a Job to move it in front of all other Jobs for anyone assigned.

Rush a Command to move it to the front of work to be done within that Job.

Raise a Command's Priority (where relevant) to move it around relative to other instances of the same Command.

Common Problems
Prioritizing Jobs can starve other Jobs. This can be resolved by unassigning the Prioritized Job from the Mortals you want to perform the other Jobs or by Prioritizing that Job as well. Prioritizing multiple Jobs can compound the issue by starving even more Jobs, so use it prudently.

Rushing too many Commands can cause delays in important logistical Work. Rushing a bunch of Store Commands, for example, will introduce delays in Refueling heat sources. De-rush those Store Commands and instead increase (lower) the Priority of their Assigned Storage to move them to the front of the Store Queue without affecting Refueling.

Schedule Screen

The Schedule Screen has received a much needed makeover with Copy/Paste support, individual Autonomous Toggles, and the retention of custom Schedules when put into Autonomous mode.

Take it easy for a bit...

Character Pathing

One thing that popped out during this evaluation was Character Pathing - which introduced small delays whenever a Mortal reached their next local Pathing target and computed the next leg of their path.

We resolved this by kicking off the next Pathing request as they approach their destination. This also improved Pathing visualization and resolved a number of back and forth Pathing scenarios.

Jobs Screen

We've done a pass on the Jobs Screen to give the headers more room to breathe and added an updated tooltip to them that includes the Job Sequence (the order that Commands are executed within a Job).

Evangelizing

While fun in spurts, speaking to Mortals via your Ruler can be laborious and isn't everyone's cup of tea, so we've added Evangelizing. Evangelizing tasks your Preachers with improving a Mortal's Esteem (Opinion of your Ruler). To Evangelize your Ruler to someone, click on the Mortal and click the Evangelize button or press 'E'.

When Evangelizing, your Preachers share Information about your Ruler with the Mortal that they know the Mortal will Like. Other Mortals that are nearby may react to that information as well. The strength of the reactions are dictated by your Preacher's Skill.

Tell her Sylvester!

Preachers are unable to get Mortals who Hate your Ruler to listen to them. In addition, they'll stop once the Mortal Likes your Ruler unless Ordered (via Right-Click) - in which case they'll continue until the Mortal Loves your Ruler.

When to Evangelize

This is a great way to improve the Trade deals you get from a Visitor or butter them up before asking them to Join. It can help if you need to smooth over Poor Opinion from the occasional Noble or two.

When not to Evangelize

It isn't the answer when a Noble Hates your ruler - check their Esteem tab to identify and resolve the issue that is bothering them in those cases.

Raised Skill Caps

Next we increased the Skill Caps to 40 which means a Mortal can continue to reap the benefits of equipping the best gear for their Job when they've reached the natural limit of 20.

Exceeding Skills beyond the natural limit will allow their use to reach new heights where appropriate.

Mortal Presets

Mortal Presets allow you to capture a snapshot of any Mortal including their Details, Skills, Appearance, and Opinions for use in another game.

Open the Editor for any Mortal and click the new Save button in the upper right to capture a snapshot of them as a Preset.

Apply them by editing a Mortal that's part of the Heavy is the Crown Intro or an Origin Story from the Living World and choosing Apply in the upper right.

These are saved as separate files in the Noble Fates save game directory and are synchronized via Steam Cloud.

Mortal Editor

The Mortal Editor has been updated so that the full ranges for each setting are available, regardless of your Character Visuals Goofiness setting.

Generation and Randomize will still respect your setting, but you can push any Mortals you'd like beyond the limits.

Load Game Screen

We've added the ability to filter the Load Game screen by name. You can Bulk Delete saves by entering a Filter and choosing the Delete X Listed Button at the bottom right.

Warning

Deleting a Save no longer sends it to the Recycle Bin because of usability issues this introduces on Windows 11 and Linux - so when a Save is deleted, it's deleted PERMANENTLY.

Patch Notes

Noble Fates 0.30.4.6 Released
Minor Version - Work QOL, Evangelize, Character Presets, Raised Skill Caps

Crash Fixes
    Fix multiple Crashes with background simulationWork QOL
    Schedule
        Toggling Autonomous no longer Clears the Schedule
        You can now switch individuals to Autonomous
        Added ability to Copy/Paste Schedules
        Added More Rows
        Sort now matches Portrait Sorting
        Hide Prisoners
        
    Work Queue
        Add Work Queue to Mortal Sheet
        Lists the Work that Mortal will perform, in order, based on current Position and Priorities
        Hovering over any entry will show why it is where it is in the queue
        Clicking on any entry will jump to its position in the world (if it has one)
        Use this to better understand why your people are performing the work they're doing and adjust settings to get them to do what you'd like
        Commands are worked on in the following Order:
            Critical Work (Treating Wounds, Fighting Fire, etc)
            Personal Commands (Equipping Items, etc)
            Work via Job Priority (# from Jobs Screen)
            Rushed Commands (! on Command)
            Job Sequence (Refuel > Haul, etc)
            Command Priority (1-9)
            Command Heuristic (Distance, Age, etc)
    
Evangelize
    Evangelizing tasks your Preachers with Share information about your Ruler with Mortals to improve their Opinion of your Ruler
    The Preacher shares the same information that you can when Speaking to them, but limits it to the items that will Improve the Target's Opinion, based on Preacher's Skill
    Other Mortals that Overhear this Information and Dislike it may have a Negative reaction, based on Preacher's Skill
    Use this to Improve visitor relations without Speaking to them
    Use this as a temporary solution to Poor Esteem with Kingdom Members
    Mortals who Hate your Ruler will not listen
    Preachers will stop when the Target Likes your Ruler unless Ordered via Right-Clicking
        If Ordered, they'll stop when the Target Loves your Ruler
        
Mortal Presets
    Introducing Mortal Presets
    Added ability to Capture any Mortal as a Preset from the Mortal Editor
    You can Apply Presets to a compatible Mortal during either Intro
    Presets do not include Items
    
Raise Skill Cap
    Skills can now be Buffed to 40 via Items
    Skills offer improved returns between 20-40 where appropriate
    Characters will now consider raising a Skill above 40 via auto claim a waste instead of 20
    Crafting and Cooking Commands can now have a Min Skill of up to 40 set
        
Load Game
    Add Filter to Filter by Name
    Delete NO LONGER sends deleted files to the Recycle Bin
    Add Delete All button to delete all saves that pass the Filter
    
Character Pathing
    Characters now resolve the next chunk of their path when arriving at the current chunk's destination
    Character now retain their Path when traversing obstacles and resolve the next chunk of path while traversing
    These changes resolve a number of back and forth scenarios as well as smoothing out micro-stops characters would perform when moving
    
Jobs Screen
    Stagger Headers
    Expand Header Tooltips to include Job Sequences
    Match Portrait Sort
    Add More RowsLearning Screen
    Add Dexterity to Tooltips
    Add Precision to Appropriate Tooltips
    Drive Expected Values off of Precision where appropriate
    Sort Mortals by Precision
    Thanks for the report!Instincts
    Add Instinct scoring to the Needs Tab on the Mortal Sheet
    Shows which Instinct is driving their Behavior, and why it is driving their behavior
    
Performance
    Improve performance in games with numerous outstanding Store Commands
     
Mortal Editor
    Open up the full Range of Visual Sliders regardless of Goofiness Setting
    Generation and Randomize still chooses values constrained by Goofiness Setting
    
Mortal Genetics
    Add Inheritance for Eye Color
    Add Inheritance for Iris Size
    Add Inheritance for Iris Offset
    Add Inheritance for Iris Saturation
    Add Inheritance for Iris Highlighting
    Fix Inheritance of Bust
    
Hauling
    Improve Hauling Prioritization
    Improve Hauling Utilization
    Hauled Item Limit is now 21(!) with new Hauling Cap of 40Guarding
    Fix bug that prevented the following commands from being part of Guarding
        Collect Rope
        Deploy Ropes
        Restrain Mortal
        Unrestrain Mortal
        
Kin Mounds
    Are now disturbed by the presence of any Character even if the Character is Dead
    Thanks for the suggestion!
    Be careful down there!
    
Mortal Children
    Fix Head Scaling
    
Crafting Tooltips
    Take Min Skill into account and limit Expected Values to those Mortals above Min Skill if applicable
    Thanks for the report!
    
Mortal Sheet
    Move Vitals to before Needs
    
Text
    Improve Job Tooltips
    
Building
    Fix bug that prevented placing Columns against Full Terrain Blocks
    
AI Raids
    Fix bug that could cause an already dispatched Raid to happen even if the War is over
    
Intro
    Add Help Icon to Job Names
    
Temperature Sim
    Fix bug that could cause Mortals to request too many Burners to Operate
    Thanks for the report!
    
Milk Animal
    Add Low Milk Soft Block state for Milk Animal Command
    
Needs
    Fix bug with Need Esteem Effects Stacking on Parents in certain circumstances
    Factor Negative Need Esteem Settings into everyone's Opinion of an Unmet Need
    Thanks for the report!
    
Relaxation
    Prioritize Relaxing when a Mortal is not Following their Schedule
    Fall back to Relax when unable to Follow a ScheduleLoose Items
    Loose Items that have Assigned Storage now have a Button to jump to its location
    
Return Items Command
    Block when there is insufficient Storage
    
Weddings/Feasts
    Participating in Weddings and Feasts is now more important than Sleep
        Exceptions
            Unconscious
            Resting until healed
            Ordered to Rest  Equipping Items
    Cancel Equip Commands for Items that no longer Belong to the Mortal
    
Transport Character Command
    Cancel Transport Commands for off map Characters
    
Logging
    Cutting young Foliage will return at least 1 of its Items
    
Reproduction Chance
    Show x1 effects on Reproduction Chance Tooltip
            
Selection
    Fix bug that could cause Icon flicker
            
Localization
    Add Placeholder translations for new strings (will improve in next Major Update)
    Add missing Localization Keys for Job Assignment Esteem Deltas

Restart the game and steam to pick it up!

Existing Saves

This update is compatible with existing Saves.

If you run into a problem, don't hesitate to let us know and we'll get it sorted.

Mods

This update should be compatible with all v0.30 Mods.

if you run into a problem, let us know and we'll worth with the Mod author to sort it out.

Experimental

Updates like these arrive on the Experimental Branch first.

If you have the stomach for brief bouts of instability and want to help us out - switch to (or stay in) the Experimental Beta on Steam and participate in discussions here or on discord.

Expect occasional issues - but know that we appreciate you helping us make the game better!

Discord

Join the Official Discord to participate in Development!

Reviews

If you like the game, please consider leaving a Review. These can help players decide that Noble Fates is worthy of their attention.

Thanks for reading and thanks for playing!
The Noble Fates Team