Greetings fellow gods,
There's no update this week, but I bring some info on two topics I would like to touch on - price change and settlement management.
Price Changes
As I've announced before, the base price of Soulash 2 has changed to $18.99, and the next increase is planned around the end of this year. I can't say when exactly because I'll have to navigate between fests as any price change in any region or direction blocks discounting for 30 days.
I've heard many of you asking for better regional pricing, so while I was there, I used this opportunity to go through some of them and tried to see how they fare compared to similar games and minimum wage in the region, according to Google. I've adjusted the prices where I felt it was a bit too high:
Kazakhstani Tenge: -37%
Brazilian Reals: -27%
Ukrainian Hryvnia: -25%
Colombian Peso: -24%
Indonesian Rupiah: -24%
Russian Rubles: -23%
South African Rand: -22%
Vietnamese Dong: -21%
Indian Rupee: -20%
Philippine Peso: -20%
Chilean Peso: -17%
Peruvian Sol: -16%
Uruguayan Peso: -16%
Malaysian Ringgit: -13%
Mexican Peso: -11%
If you believe I missed some region, let me know. The prices for Soulash have also been adjusted.
Settlement Management
I've been deep in work on settlement management, but as things start to fall into place and I finally see the light at the end of the dark tunnel (GUI work is tough), I can share a few details for the next major update.
So, what exactly will the Settlement Management update bring us? Let's start by saying it won't turn the game into a colony sim (but maybe a world sim?). As I mentioned before, at the core premise of Soulash 2 lies the idea of directly controlling only a single character, as it is in the spirit of true roguelikes. We'll only have indirect control of companions, settlements, and armies in the future. I assure you it's not because I secretly want to add backstabbing mechanics. This eye can't lie, you can trust me.
Settlement Management is going to be a mid to late-game system that:
- Allows us to build custom settlements with NPC workers.
- Automate region resource acquisition and gold generation.
- Train NPCs in the direction we need for our own training or to access crafters or new companions.
These are the things to expect in the upcoming major release that will continue to expand by interacting with future systems like family, conquest, and events, as mentioned in the roadmap.
How will that work?
I'm still in the middle of getting functionality working, so things are subject to change, but the idea is that our currently claimed regions will turn into level 1 personal camps, and we will be able to upgrade 3 times above that as NPC settlements do. This way, we'll unlock new special buildings unique to player-established settlements, as if they were connected to a new unique race that can build and extract on any biome available.
The buildings will have requirements like the number of beds, or workstations, and we will have to build that ourselves in any shape or form that fits our vision for the settlement (or tower, pyramid, labirynth, castle, dungeon...), then connect the area with the building that we have unlocked.
With buildings established and families migrated to our new settlements, we will have access to a new GUI screen to distribute building control among existing families, put people to work, and establish caravans to other towns to profit from our extracted resources. The families in our settlements will live their lives while we will only affect things on a macro scale, like whether there are enough food production facilities, which family controls which building, and which resources are sold outside the settlement. Most simulators that affect the NPC settlements will also affect player settlements, which means people will die, new ones will be born, families will keep trading with our settlement, and taxes will be collected. It may also fall into ruin if mismanaged, but we'll have full access to the settlement stash.
I'm at a stage where I should finish the new management screen by the end of this week. Improvements to the building system are still ahead, so many details may need to be adjusted as I get a feel for the whole thing.
We're still on schedule to have Settlement Management available in June, but it depends on how many things I'll feel compelled to touch alongside this new addition. After all, the update will heavily impact the overall economy. I should know more at the beginning of next month in 2 weeks.
Next week, we'll also have a new civilization for the Hills biome. Or maybe two? I think some of you will like this one. Oh, and check out our new basic tutorials for Soulash 2 playlist, you might learn about some super hidden secret feature you missed in the game!
Thanks for playing, and let me know if you're excited about what's coming!
Artur