Here's a quick screenshot of what I have been working on recently.
Procedural generation of houses. Instead of having 3 or so different houses, I will generate them procedurally, which means that no two houses are the same, but the algorithm behind it is a kind of predictable randomness, so when you load a game again, all the houses are the same as they were, and if I during level design put a specific house into the initial village layout (say, with the door a certain direction), then it will be like that in every game.
The procedural generation is not just the walls, location of the door and chimney, but also windows and some props outside the house (stack of firewood, a table or bench next to the door, etc.). And it is all rule-based so that it makes sense - such as if the house has a bench, it will be next to the door, not on the other side of it.
I also generate the construction tools and work places for the peasants building the house procedurally, so that again these are all different for each house.
I've got the basic huts pretty much done, and hovels around 50%. Next up will be the wood and stone houses, but since I've figured most things out by now, these should be much faster.
I have also started adapting my various game logics to the new setup. There is a lot that depends on how a house is constructed as a game object, such as the construction animation, the damage effects and lots more.
The new houses are also more efficient on game performance, as I don't have to store all versions of a house (ghost, under construction, finished, damaged) but only one set. Speaking of which: One thing I haven't completed yet is the ruined house versions. These will also be procedural, but they are a bit more tricky to figure out.
If I can manage it in time, this will be a big update for the one-year anniversary of the game, coming up next month. Yes, it's been one year and look how far we've come. Would you be interested in a comparison? I could make a new branch in Steam with a very old build so those who want can switch to it. Would that be something interesting? Comment below to let me know.