Hey everyone!
John here again, as a diversion from the world building and rock creation which has been dominating our time of late; I made a broom and did some sweeping today. Well, the sweeping is more of an animation for our villagers and the broom creation was digital but they will be able to clean up a lot more efficiently than I will.
There are a lot more of them after all.
We have talked about this previously and building animations are on our roadmap. Not for 0.8 mind, but it is not only Phil that has problems overreaching and deviating from the order of his todo list. This sweeping animation will serve as the default for all of the workers for the different buildings we have. Eventually each building will have its own animations, showing that they are in use and how many people are working there. For now however, we feel it would bring more life to the village to have them utilising this idle animation so the players can better see when their buildings are processing.
We are really looking forward to how busy the villages will feel. We already have a strong sense, as players, when the village turns from a few houses at the start into a bustling home full of villagers as we are growing it. Likewise, watching our villagers marching across the island delivering goods and collecting resources really makes us feel like proud fathers, seeing our progeny busy in their daily lives. By now, we have already added a few “inanimate” animations to buildings, like smoke rising from the smelters or the windmill turning its blades - something that really adds to the feeling of a lively village as well. Being surrounded by the rest of the buildings looking equally vibrant will really develop that sense and reinforce the desire to grow our bases. We shall continue assessing how to enhance that further and let us know if you have any suggestions!
Until next week!