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[Joshua]

The wind isn't blowing in two directions. Those are markers representing ideal headings for tacking.

[Cellusious]

 

[makerimages]

In which splendorious way is this connected to Pioneers??

[oyog]

In which splendorious way is this connected to Pioneers??

It's the screenshot Eigen posted through one or many filters, I think.

[JobLeonard]

The fact that you can't recognise the individual buildings any more actually highlights the overall sense of composition the original picture nicely.

[makerimages]

Has any progress what-so-ever been made?

[Eigen]

Looking at my commit log I would say so.

I've been fixing bugs, adding localization support, drawing bits and pieces, wrote a new tune, mockupping new screens. Speaking of which. Here's how I imagine the new combat system. Right now combat is clunky and boring. I want to bring more strategy into it.



(Fonts are all wrong and whatnot)

It'll be a lot like Highgrounds, with units attacking the unit opposite of them with a bunch of other rules. I think this would make it a lot more interesting. You probably don't want to fight each and every bear you encounter, so a "simulate result" option might be included to quickly get a result.


Another thing I've been mockupping is how to show story bits. The intro sequence is great and all but it's boring (nothing but water), very static and difficult to script and maintain. I'd much rather have something like this:



So for the intro for example, I'll be scrapping the dialog and simply narrate the happenings. Don't mind the text and the graphic, it's just to try out the style. At a distance it does have an old book look to it. I should practice some linework ...

Anyway, next I'll start implementing this stuff.

[Bandreus]

Looking good 

Actually, looking awesome really 

[JobLeonard]

(T)aunt bear sounds like a very foolish idea.

[siskavard]

Yes.

Yes.

[Eigen]

Thanks guys

(T)aunt bear sounds like a very foolish idea.

Oh, yes. Taunting will focus all attacks from the opposite front row onto that unit in the next turn. It's like an attack magnet. If you have a strong unit and you want your other units to take it easy for a brief moment you can use that. I hope it helps to create some interesting strategies.



(WIP)

The captain of the brigantine Athena and the passengers are conversing on the upper deck. The wind is slowly picking up speed and slacked ropes clunk against the hull of the ship. "... and that's how I killed the bear rather bizarrely," says mr. Moresby as he finishes up another of his hunting stories. "Fascinating tale, Mr. Moresby. Surely you have kept a trophy of that adventurous event?" replies the captain with faint interest in discussion in hand. "Oh indeed, good sir, I carry the claw of the bear with me everywhere I travel. It has brought me nothing but good luck on my voyages." The kind spirited indigen Takoda is clearly upset upon hearing this. Not raising his voice he says, "You kill bear, spirits become angry. Bears carry eternal life of forest. Takoda thinks punish you they will". "Surely you don't believe this utter nonsense. That is quite the sort of witchcraft I travelled here to get away from". The snarky tone of mr. Moresby does not pass Takoda by but he seems unphased. During his years with living among these people he has come to accept their rudeness and sometimes unpleasant manners. Everybody quiets down for a moment. Wanting to break the silence the captain turns to you and asks, "How about you, young man? I don't believe we have yet been introduced. Who are you?"

* Character creation dialog appears *

After briefly introducing yourself the captain is clearly delighted to meet you. "Excellent, mr. LASTNAME. Glad to have a man with such notable skills on board". Having not being properly introduced Takoda says, "Yes, very good meeting you. I sense purpose in your life. May the gods bless you". Mr. Moresby seems to pay little attention to you and instead turns to the captain to ask about their voyage. "Tell us, captain, how long til we reach Marciudad? The land is close, it must be". "The wind has been generous and should it stay that way we mustn't be further than a week," he replies, "what worries me is the storm ahead. I had great confidence we could go past it but it seems to be headed straight at us". After a brief pause he adds, "... the last leg of the journey might get choppy". Mr. Moresby and yourself look ahead of the ship and see a dark stormcloud approacing in the distance. To your surprise you find the storm moving in rather quickly. Takoda has walked further back the ship and is reapeatedly saying something to himself. All of the sudden everything goes white for a brief moment and a thunderous clap can be heard not not a second from the flash. "Did you see that?!" says mr. Moresby rather excitedly as he continues, "this is unlike any storm I've ever seen ... and I've seen a few in my day!" First drops of rain can be heard bouncing against the thick cloth of the sails above their heads. The storm is closing in at an everincreasing pace and after a short while the rain becomes drowningly dense. The ship creaks violently as she moves up and down and crashes into the oncoming waves. The captain yells, "Hold on to your hats and pipes everybody!" Grabbing their hats everybody rushingly searches something to hold onto. Takoda has returned from the back of the ship to join the group. A sudden strong breeze wipes the hat off of mr. Moresby. "My hat!" he exclaims. Captain, now with a completely stern face, barely manages to hold onto the wheel. The ship is now completely under the stormcloud and the hull creaks vehemently. Bolts of lightning hit the ocean all around the ship. All of the sudden a loud crack can be heard. Several strong waves hit the ship from the side cracking the hull. The brigantine is no longer controllable. In last desperation the captain yells, "I can't keep her steady much longer, we're sinking! Abandon ship everybody!"

[eigenbom]

Lol at Leopold Bookworm in the bear encounter!

[kleiba]

Thanks guys

(T)aunt bear sounds like a very foolish idea.

Oh, yes. Taunting will focus all attacks from the opposite front row onto that unit in the next turn. It's like an attack magnet. If you have a strong unit and you want your other units to take it easy for a brief moment you can use that. I hope it helps to create some interesting strategies.



(WIP)

The captain of the brigantine Athena and the passengers are conversing on the upper deck. The wind is slowly picking up speed and slacked ropes clunk against the hull of the ship. "... and that's how I killed the bear rather bizarrely," says mr. Moresby as he finishes up another of his hunting stories. "Fascinating tale, Mr. Moresby. Surely you have kept a trophy of that adventurous event?" replies the captain with faint interest in discussion in hand. "Oh indeed, good sir, I carry the claw of the bear with me everywhere I travel. It has brought me nothing but good luck on my voyages." The kind spirited indigen Takoda is clearly upset upon hearing this. Not raising his voice he says, "You kill bear, spirits become angry. Bears carry eternal life of forest. Takoda thinks punish you they will". "Surely you don't believe this utter nonsense. That is quite the sort of witchcraft I travelled here to get away from". The snarky tone of mr. Moresby does not pass Takoda by but he seems unphased. During his years with living among these people he has come to accept their rudeness and sometimes unpleasant manners. Everybody quiets down for a moment. Wanting to break the silence the captain turns to you and asks, "How about you, young man? I don't believe we have yet been introduced. Who are you?"

* Character creation dialog appears *

After briefly introducing yourself the captain is clearly delighted to meet you. "Excellent, mr. LASTNAME. Glad to have a man with such notable skills on board". Having not being properly introduced Takoda says, "Yes, very good meeting you. I sense purpose in your life. May the gods bless you". Mr. Moresby seems to pay little attention to you and instead turns to the captain to ask about their voyage. "Tell us, captain, how long til we reach Marciudad? The land is close, it must be". "The wind has been generous and should it stay that way we mustn't be further than a week," he replies, "what worries me is the storm ahead. I had great confidence we could go past it but it seems to be headed straight at us". After a brief pause he adds, "... the last leg of the journey might get choppy". Mr. Moresby and yourself look ahead of the ship and see a dark stormcloud approacing in the distance. To your surprise you find the storm moving in rather quickly. Takoda has walked further back the ship and is reapeatedly saying something to himself. All of the sudden everything goes white for a brief moment and a thunderous clap can be heard not not a second from the flash. "Did you see that?!" says mr. Moresby rather excitedly as he continues, "this is unlike any storm I've ever seen ... and I've seen a few in my day!" First drops of rain can be heard bouncing against the thick cloth of the sails above their heads. The storm is closing in at an everincreasing pace and after a short while the rain becomes drowningly dense. The ship creaks violently as she moves up and down and crashes into the oncoming waves. The captain yells, "Hold on to your hats and pipes everybody!" Grabbing their hats everybody rushingly searches something to hold onto. Takoda has returned from the back of the ship to join the group. A sudden strong breeze wipes the hat off of mr. Moresby. "My hat!" he exclaims. Captain, now with a completely stern face, barely manages to hold onto the wheel. The ship is now completely under the stormcloud and the hull creaks vehemently. Bolts of lightning hit the ocean all around the ship. All of the sudden a loud crack can be heard. Several strong waves hit the ship from the side cracking the hull. The brigantine is no longer controllable. In last desperation the captain yells, "I can't keep her steady much longer, we're sinking! Abandon ship everybody!"

Great stuff! Makes me want to buy some old adventure / travel journey book.

[makerimages]

Awesome stuff!

Btw, was http://eigen.pri.ee/pioneers/crap/storybits.png made all by hand? If yes, then man-you`ve got some skills!

Also-any chance of a livestream soon?

[Eigen]

Btw, was http://eigen.pri.ee/pioneers/crap/storybits.png made all by hand? If yes, then man-you`ve got some skills!

This was just a test. Here's what I did in Paint Shop Pro: the linework was done with a small "diamonds" styled line, tried dashed and dotted line as well, then I eroded the lines to get a bit more width in places and applied a little motion blur. The layer's blend mode was set to Dissolve to get a more dithered look. I haven't decided wether I'll just use one color or fill in some of the areas with a slightly darker background color. Looks fine either way.


Yesterday a Youtuber called krutcheshobb posted his first two episodes in his Pioneers Let's Play series. Here's the playlist:



That intro video is so silly and funny, definitely check it out

It still weirds me out seeing other people play the game but it's really useful feedback.

[JobLeonard]

That's a pretty neat let's play indeed. One thing I noticed is that the GUI could use some optimisation, in the sense that it feels like it requires too many clicks at the moment. For example, saving:

Save game -> select New Save -> click save -> enter name.

It think it would be faster and more intuitive if you have it like so:

Save Game -> click New Save or existing save game -> get new name/edit name prompt with option to cancel.

One less click, and every click visibly does something so gives direct feedback, which means people are less likely get confused about what to do. Win-win.

[Eigen]

GUESS WHO!

I know, it's been a while since any sort of an update but I'm still slowly working on stuff, as evidenced by this livestream that's going on right now. Come join. It's a bit lonely in there them intertubes.

Working on implementing travelling between towns.

[Quarry]

I'm not fond of the way you are going, it's almost like we'll be spending most of our time in already founded cities rather than building ours...

[Eigen]

Well, yeah. Managing your party and preparing for the expeditions is an important part of the whole experience. I'll do my best to launch the player into the wilderness as soon as possible but there will be micro-management, like it or not. The towns are there to divide up different locations (like a grand library or a ship building dock) and characters of different kinds.

Building your own towns has never been a goal of the game anyway.

[JobLeonard]

Pay him no heed, sire Eigen