I want to preface this post by saying, I’m loving this game. For a game at such an early stage, it’s going really well. But there are some issues I want to address, and I sincerely hope a Dev reads this, because I honestly do think these points are important, or I wouldn’t waste my time and that of others putting it here…
Realism vs a GameI recognise that efforts are being made to make the game as realistic as possible within the framework of a game, and that that effort is being focused on trying to keep things from being too easy specifically. I get it, it makes sense and I think it’s a good thing. But there’s a couple of areas where this could be improved.
FarmingThis is one of my biggest gripes, honestly. I appreciate the forethought that’s gone into farming in the game. But good god, you do realise that crops don’t simply vanish if they’re not harvested right on time right? I mean, I grew up in an area for example, which was a major Wheat Farming area. Wheat doesn’t just disappear if it’s not harvested. Sure, it degrades and turns wild over time, but crops can still be harvested and a decent yield can be taken for weeks and even months after it’s matured. To have it literally disappear in the game if it isn’t harvested, is ridiculous. The other fault with it, is yield. It’s way too low. Think about it: If it only takes one germinated seed to grow a plant, and said plant once matured produces somewhere around 1-3 seeds in an average yield, then there’s something wrong. Yield needs to be seriously boosted. Real Wheat produces around 30-40 seeds per individual pod, so come on guys. As for Straw yield, even if the plant is way past its optimal harvesting date, the straw is still there, for a very, very long time. Again, realism vs gaming. This needs some attention.
Building DecayToday, my Blacksmith Building became broken. Which I found really interesting, since I’d made a bunch of tools and armour in it, sure, but for it to literally break? Come on. There are still forges in the world today that date back over 400 years. Now, applying that time scale, how is it that this forge that is maybe 8 days old in the real world (and probably 3-4 times that in game time) could break? Creating tools, weapons, or armour should have no effect on the buildings durability. That’s just silly.
ContentI’m not going to bitch too much here, I promise. Because I think there’s honestly already some great stuff in this game, and I think you guys are doing good work. But prioritising putting in female characters (which I bet are just as capable as the existing characters, yeah I said it), over putting in simple things like the ability to mount Wall Sconces, or sit in a chair, seems like pandering to me. Sounds more like a politically based decision than anything to do that now, rather than work on say, oh I don’t know, making it a little easier to recognise a herb visually rather than having to collect everything and put it into a Mortar and Pestle before I can see what it is and if it’ll produce Flux. Which leads me to…
FluxThis bit is a bit silly. Medieval Mortar was basically dirt and water when you get right down to it. It didn’t need some magical herb added to it. Now, I get it, I do. You want to make it hard. You want to make Alchemy relevant, I get it. But the idea of needing Flux for building structures, or for making Steel, is just silly, come on guys. Want it to be hard? Want it to be realistic? Ok, how about instead of needing some herb, you make the components for buildings different quantities? The Large Stable has a floor of Wooden Boards, yet needs none in its construction components. Look around the desigm, and you’ll see plant fibre used to tie beams together, yet needs none in it’s construction. It has a straw roof, but only needs 250 Straw in its construction. See where this is going?
I think this game is great, I really do. I’ve played it for way more hours a day, every day for two weeks, than my wife would like. I think this game has enormous potential, and in most ways, it’s headed in the right directions. But some things are a bit broken at the moment, and some things are just silly. Overall, I’d say you’re doing great work though, keep it up