I am happy to finally announce that a new set of content is being worked on which I call "Hearth and Home"! This content will add large houses of many various types to the game. These houses and hovels are also based on specific biomes of the world (desert, tundra, forest etc..) on which they will be easier to build on those areas, and some can *only* be built in those areas also!
Unfortunately the artists were not able to send any images for this content at this time, but after the holidays I hope to show you how this content will look in the game. So these images are only reference images.
In addition to the houses, there will also be a new, much nicer fire model in the game (replacing my horrible "programmer art" version!) As well as a wood fence you can create around your houses.
With this new content I will also be adding a new game mechanic: "item maintenance"! Very slowly over time objects (mostly large objects like houses) will very slowly degrade over time. You will need to acquire some materials to repair and maintain your houses.
However, this is not meant to be done done on a real-life daily basis, but more on a weekly or monthly basis. This mechanic makes it so you must maintain your house or village, but also this helps to keep game servers fresh and dynamic for players so areas in the world can be used by other players if the original players move on elsewhere in the world, and abandon their current abodes.
So this content will be added in addition to all my other research and development beginning next year as well. I will of course talk about that as well as I begin next year.
I will of course most more information and screenshots as I get them.
Thanks! And Enjoy! Happy Holidays!