Hi everyone,
it's time for a new update and this one is about the new dialog system, barter actions, new events, new constructions and new items.
Pre Alpha Phase
At first I have to say, even if I made a lot of progress over the last 2 months, there is still some stuff to do until I can start the official alpha test phase.
Therefore, I had decided to start a pre alpha test phase which were exclusive for the people on my discord at the beginning. Because I still have a few keys left (around 15), I thought I will extend it to this steam update now. So if you have interest to test the game, simply join my Discord and ask for a key :p
Dialog System
In the last weeks I have implemented a new mechanic which allows a better interaction with non-player colonists - the dialog system.
Usually the dialog menu can be triggered when the player selects one of his colonists, clicks on a non-player colonist, and chooses the option "talk with [name]".
With the dialog system I have also introduced a new skill which is the charism. It can influence the way of a conversation and has an impact on various actions like the barter.
In addition, the system has some special functionalities like that colonists can remember if they already had interacted with another one, know the name of the conversation partner or know the name of the player's colony. (Based on this knowledge, the dialog texts can change)
New Events
Next, I have added a few new events to make the world more alive and the game more fun.
Wanderer community
If this event is triggered, a group of 3 - 4 colonists spawns at the map border and is walking towards the player's colony. One of them, which is the head of the group, has a question mark over the name panel which indicates that the player has special interaction options in the related dialog menu.
Note:
The AI controller of a colonist group has also a defend functionality. That means if hostile animals or colonists come to near to them, they will start to fight.
Drunken wanderer
This is a special event which has a chance to be spawned instead of a wanderer community.
It offers an unique dialog menu and actions which are based on the barter functionality.
Note:
I've also added a special functionality which let the related colonist drink from time to time.
Animals attacking plants
In the past, animal attacks were only triggered by a predefined chance when the player has attacked an animal group. I found that a little bit boring and therefore I have added a new event which triggers animal groups to attack the players plants.
Note:
This event is reacting to the count and equipment of the player's colonists. That means it's possible that 2 or even 3 groups can start an attack.
Colonist Request
In connection with the dialog system I have also changed the already existing event to get a new colony member. With the new implementation it's not longer possible to choose your decision directly in the event menu. The player has to start a dialog with the requesting colonist now.
Barter System
The dialog system is not only for talking with non-player colonists, but also for other actions like making a barter. At the moment this is the main functionality of the wanderer community and every time a new group spawns, some random options with limited count are created.
New Item: Whiskey
It was a bit disappointing that the player were not able to produce any drinks at the basic brewery. Therefore I have finally added one - it's the good and well known whiskey.
Alcoholization
This new status effect is added, when a colonist consumes an alcoholic drink. It's not only changing the animation and face expression of the related colonist, but has also the following impacts:
- Positive effect on mood
- Positive effect on charism
- Negative effect on run speed
- Negative effect on work speed
- Negative effect in combat (higher reload time, less gun accuracy, etc)
Additionally, I added a chance for a withdrawal which depends on the highest peak / percentage level that the colonist has reached.
Alcohol Withdrawal
This status effect can be added, when the alcoholization is over. It has negative effects on all previous listed impacts and lasts very long. (up to 4 days)
If the colonist is consuming a drink again, the withdrawal will not be removed, but falls in an inactive state which removes all related effects until the new alcoholization is over.
Alcohol Poisoning
This status effect is added when the colonist reaches an alcoholization level of over 100%.
A poisoning level of over 10% automatically causes an immobilization.
Resource Burner
One adjustment of the last weeks was, that I have increased the decomposing times of dead bodies up to 12 days and that colonists get disgusted by the rotting smell. This was the perfect time to add a new construction to get rid of them - the resource burner.
Like the name indicates, the main functionality of this burning machine is to destroy all kinds of resources which are no longer important for the player. In connection with that, I have also created a new menu where the player can select the resources via a category menu.
Note: Yes, I've added flies to decomposing bodies :p
Modern Sprinkler
Another construction which I have added is the modern sprinkler. It works with power and can fertilize the surrounding plants once a day. If that is done, the grow time will be decreased by ~2.4 hours, which leads to a 10% shorter grow time when the sprinkler is activated every day.
Updated Stone Textures
At last, I have updated all stone textures because they were in a very old format and were not really fitting with the terrain block stone textures.
I hope you have enjoyed this update,
Cheers!
Additional links: Discord