Hello Elders!
I finished work on the Lava Update! Analyzing all events and all their intricacies took a good chunk of time, but I'm happy with the result.
Lava everywhere!
This new update brings a new resource (Lava), a new terrain (LAVA), 3 new buildings (Lava-related) and several new events (guess what? LAVA BASED!)
The lava buildings give you a new way to produce Heat if you find yourself full of LAVA, but they can be risky... All lava pits produce heat each turn, making they... not ideal during summertime.
The addition of lava introduces a change in how some events appear, as depending on whether your tree has lava or ice buildings, the system will adapt by generating events tied to the correct path.
You will find Lava as a new memory in the memories screen! Lava can appear during your run, similarly to snow, it can be strong if harnessed correctly, but you cannot rely on it from the start!
New Apocalypses!
While working on the event system, I also took the chance to revise the Apocalypse phase to improve the end game, which now has 4 different ways to appear (5 with Folkways)!
At the end of page 6 in the Prophecy, you will now be shown what Apocalypse type will appear, and can plan accordingly. This takes out the guesswork tied to cold and heat, and makes them more interesting, as each starts with a different bad effect! You can unlock them inside memories (and if you have unlocked everything you should already have all of them, plus the lava one!)
However, Apocalyptic event strength is not fixed anymore, so that losing by a little will net a lower strength event (apart from the last event, which is still Deadly). This should help players that are struggling with the Apocalypse.
Events balance!
I went over all events and systems and tweaked here and there both numbers and formulas to provide a better experience. The goal was to reduce the feel-bad moments, give players more leeway after losing events, and also make good events feel better as rewards.
Do note that the difficulty of the game is roughly the same, but this should help players that are struggling to avoid being obliterated by a single random event!
The number of changes is enormous, but here are the most important notes for what concern balance:
I added 20+ new good events, which will make your rewards more interesting
I added 9 new Omen scenarios, i.e. distribution of Omens in the prophecy, to provide more variety
At lower difficulties, higher level good events now have a higher reward multiplier
I improved the clarity of what Event Level will appear, and also increased the ranges to level up an event, making it harder to get too strong events at easier difficulties. Event level UX has been revised to make it cleaner as well.
Many Misfortune events are now Omens, increasing the overall variety
Events now hit fewer targets at the highest levels, making a single event less able to obliterate the whole village
Boss events are now all exclusive, making such events appear only if you fail a Doom
Many events that were too strong for small villages now require 15 Pips to appear instead
Events that spawn buildings now do so farther from the village, making it more interesting and useful
Rarer events are a bit less rare, making some cool interactions appear for more players (and allowing achievement hunters to get a better chance!)
Weathers are now less annoying, as they cannot hit the same Pip twice and the Consumed event trait reduces to 50% the production instead of zeroing it
And much more! See the changelog below
Also, almost all events have received specific balance touches to make them fairer, less annoying, and overall better to play with!
More changes!
Check out the changelog for more changes, such as UX tweaks, new Agepedia pages, Randolph changes, some general balancing changes for easier levels, and the addition of new text lines for Yugong, Shaman and Captain in the English language, making their stories feel more in tune with their personalities!
Also, we are testing Korean localization, so if you know it, you can test it out on Experimental! Let us know how it reads!
And now, for a cool new announcement...
A new DLC!!!
Yes!! You heard that! I'm making a new DLC, which will be ready in a few months! The new DLC is called Trade Secrets, and adds new mechanics tied to transports, expeditions, and trade!
Check out the page and make sure to Wishlist it to get notified when it is out, also share the news with everybody!
Don't stay too close to the lava, and have fun!
Michele
V 1.9.0c changelog
Lava
New resource: Lava
New terrain: Lava Pit
New job: Lavasmith
New buildings appear as a different path from Ice: Lava Well, Lava Generator, Geothermal Smelter
Added several new events tied to Lava
Some events now appear only with Lava or Ice paths
Apocalypse
Each story can now end with a different apocalypse (4 from the base game, 1 more from Folkways)
Different Apocalypses now have different start events with a starting, known, effect on the whole village. They also define what Apocalyptic events will appear, and whether the Apocalypse will be hot or cold.
Apocalyptic event strength is not fixed anymore, so that losing by a little will net a lower strength event (apart from the last event, which is still Deadly)
The nature of the upcoming Apocalypse now appears in the last prophecy page before it, so you can prepare for it
General Balancing
Start food on the map for Easier difficulty increased by roughly 20%
Start food on the map for Relax difficulty increased by roughly 50%
Event Balancing
Added 9 new Omen flow scenarios
Added 20+ new good events
Moved many Misfortune events to Omens, to increase variety
Overthreat can now reach value 23 instad of 14, making endless more interesting (let's see you reach that!)
Ranges to level up an event are now larger, making it harder to get a higher event level. This also now scales with difficulty at Hard and above.
When the chance to get a bad (or good) level is low, the event level now diminishes more (this makes losing with a small chance less punitive)
Higher maximum number of hits is now reduced, to avoid events engulfing the whole village (unless desired)
Rarer events are now a bit less rare
Threat ranges for events are now smaller, which makes it easier to predict what event can come at a given strength level
Boss events now are all exclusive (they appear only as Boss events). Moved some Risk events to Boss.
Events that spawn buildings now do so farther from the village, making it more interesting and useful
Many events that were too strong for small villages now require 15 Pips to appear instead
High level Good Events now have a stronger effect multiplier for easier difficulties
Comeback events now have a higher chance to appear
Omens cannot increase Threat value of other Domains anymore
Strong thievery events won't appear as Mini-events anymore
Weathers: now cannot hit the same Pip twice
Weathers: Consumed During Events trait is now x0.5 during events, to avoid blocking all production
Weathers: Rains are more common
Event chains: revised what events can chain and what not to be fairer, greatly reducing the number of events that produce consequences
Event chains: all event chains now count as Reckonings, to be clearer
Randolph: The minimum number of hits based on threat level is disabled to avoid events hitting too many Pips early
Randolph: Parametric events now cannot arrive at a higher level than their maximum level (any event level can still be selected)
Randolph: can now start with some Snow or Lava too
All events have been rebalanced to be fairer (too many changes to list! You'll see by playing!)
UX
Revised English text for Shaman, Captain, and Yugong to be more in tune with their spirit!
The chance bar now changes color and function based on the first upcoming event, making it easier to discern upcoming Omens and whether the next event is preventable or not
Danger and Protection values are now always colored to hint at the upcoming event level for Risk visions
The chance bar will now be highlighted when an event is coming soon
When idle, the chance bar displays Unknown event values, so you can see whether you will win or not
Hovering on production / danger values will now show the event levels for eventual Risk events
Hovering on a Prediction will show the chance and potential event levels tied to it
Boons now show their level
The Event Level hint now shows the table with the threshold for event levels increasing
Omens that can appear as the first ones now have LEVEL ZERO, to distinguish them from ones that appear only when your threat is 1
Events that could appear only from Reckonings and Consequences are now labeled as "Major-misfortunes" to make it clear they do not appear as first losing events
Added new icons and text to differentiate Mini-Risks and Major-Misfortunes
Added a new Apocalypses page in Agepedia
Apocalypse Seasons now appear in the Agepedia
Randolph: Tooltips won't spoil anymore the upcoming event level
Localization improvements
Bugfixing
Fixed event strength for Risks at low danger or protection values being detected as zero instead of one
Fixed some flooding events not appearing at the correct time
Fixed some mini-apocalypses being selected incorrectly causing no event to be selected
Fixed various minor bugs with events
Fixed some buildings preview spoiling too much what you will find in the story
Fixed bug with constraints disappearing in Agepedia
Fixed bug with Cold apocalypse sometimes having the wrong Threat values for Temperature
Fixed event level sometimes being computed wrongly on load
Fixed bug with Fruity Woodlands being highlighted by Mushroom Finder
Fixed Fish Fountain not rerolling correctly
Fixed Careful Harvest erroneously showing bonus Seeds for non-crop buildings
Fixed Randolph still showing the (wrong) event level for Omens
Fixed some Building Techs disappearing on a reload
Fixed Newborn Feast using the wrong icon
Fixed small Agepedia UI issues
Fixed water Tech event having the wrong name
Fixed music disappearing for a while after the second page cutscene
Fixed Doom music sometimes remaining after the Doom is averted
Fixed bug with Lava buildings not being unlocked correctly if unlocking them from inside an old run
Localization updates