Hello Kings, Queens and Sovereigns!
Long time no see! We’ve been working hard and we brought some changes to the game that we would like to discuss with you. We really want to include you in the discussion for upcoming features and changes, hence today’s topic: Public Test Branch and upcoming features!
From today, we will be launching our Public Test Branch (PTB).
With this PTB we will be able to share our current work in progress and new features. We want to gather your impressions and see how you would use them as regular players.
We are very excited to read your feedback and suggestions!
That said, here are a few things we are bringing to our very first PTB and are currently in development:
Upcoming features to test in PTB
Hamlets
Hamlets are one of the core feature we’ve been developing for our next update. They will allow you to expand your territory and get new resources. It will also open Trade system and a different type of city to manage.
As such, some resources might not be available anymore near your starting point and you will only be able to build your Lumberjack, Hunters etc in range of your Town Hall.
The onboarding is currently still in progress and you will unlock the feature after the quest "An Apple a day" for now.
We would love to hear your thoughts regarding the system and the way you use it, how you expand your city differently and explore the mechanic.
Trade system
We are introducing a Trade system where you can buy and sell resources you produce for gold.
This was requested by the community several and originally suggested to be tied with the market itself but we wanted a system that would make more sense (if we were to use the marketplace, it would have been implied getting the money from your population)
This feature will allow you to have a different form of income without implementing taxes that we feel are a bit too idle.
Currently, the quest and onboarding for the feature is not finalized so we are aware that it can be a bit confusing (also yes, the confirmation button is called "Button"...)
Please let us know your impressions, how you used it and you suggestions as a player!
Resource depletion, agriculture and balancing
With the introduction of the Hamlets and Trade system, we have changed the resource depletion and regeneration. They will deplete a bit faster and you will have to be a bit more careful. We are would like to hear your thoughts and see how you managed your city from start to finish, if you had to use the trade system or felt it was too easy/too hard.
We have deleted the agriculture zone (for now), it’s not definitive yet but please let us know what you think!
Mechanics and core changes
New deletion tool and the ability to cancel construction
Ever since the release of our Demo, this feature was highly requested by our community and it took us a bit more time than expected to implement both features with a satisfying result, as it had a few ripple effects on the spatial puzzle that we were and are still worried about. Please let us know your thoughts and how you used it!
Changes in narration
From the start, you can now choose to play without narration and without tutorial.
This is not advised for your first playthrough but it will allow you to create more freely without reading through the story. This change made us rethink the narration was intertwined with core features. Currently, we have separated Narrative quests with the “Main Quest” that will unlock new buildings and new elements.
In “Non Narrative mode”, you will only get the Main quests. We are still working on the quests and the feature but we are still curious to hear your thoughts.
There are a few more surprises scattered here and there but we will leave you to discover them by yourself ːsteamhappyː
Optimization
We know this is still an ongoing discussion. We are still working on it and it should be ready for our next big update. It requires us to optimize each elements individually so it takes a bit longer than expected but the team is getting there!
Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience!
Public Test Branch (PTB)
To access the public test branch
Right-click on “City Tales - Medieval Era” > Betas > in “Beta Participation” select “Public Test Branch”
