▶
Trailer video published
It took quite a bit of work to get rounder tile edges and 3D optimization about right. But finally the graphics works well enough for a public trailer, showing actual game play footage. [previewyoutube=W9leiOC8loU;full][/previewyoutube] I wanted to have the 3D map, as I was thinking how to best visualize hills. And in this game hills matter - snow thaws first on the sunny southern slope, the northern side of a hill tends to be less favorable for growing crops. And in early summer lowlands are more prone to night time temperature falling below freezing. Although the trailer shows a 3D map view, the good old 2D is also there, and you can freely switch between the modes.
Once you send your offspring to start a homestead of their own, you can freely switch the game focus to play as any of the family units of your family tree. But currently the non-focused families will do nothing, so they need a bit of an AI. I try to design it so that when you go visit the other families they can tell you stories about what has happened in their lives since you last met. And if they are low on resources, or if they have abundance of something they could themselves pay a visit to the player family to exchange goods. So the AI should enable a mutual networks of social interaction between the families of the player clan. Some of the social dynamics will be added to the market place as well. This will be connected to the skill system. It will take a few generations to become a master in some skills, like blacksmithing or clay pottery. And I think that if the player brings their masterwork crafts to the marketplace, the word would spread, and the next time the player shows up at the marketplace the NPCs would actively seek to barter for the famous high quality items by the player family. Naturally, this kind of aspects alone could take a year of full-time coding to develop in full detail. But I'm not planning to post-pone the Steam release that far, but aim to implement the basics of AI and social dynamics, and then release some updates to add content and improved mechanics.
I believe in the old-school approach: pay once, get the full game and all the future updates. No paid extra content, no micro-transactions, no in-app purchases, no adds, no strings attached. The release version won't be labelled Early Access, nor beta, nor alpha funding. Just a plain release, with version number 0.9 (or a bit higher, depending on how the beta testing goes), and then a road-map to get to the final 1.0 release. Once the game reaches the 1.0 stage there will be no more content added, just basic maintenance like bugfixes.
Well, this is the basics - more news on the on-going development in the coming weeks! Yours Erkka from Enormous Elk
[ 2024-07-22 20:36:47 CET ] [ Original post ]
Trailer with upgraded graphics
It took quite a bit of work to get rounder tile edges and 3D optimization about right. But finally the graphics works well enough for a public trailer, showing actual game play footage. [previewyoutube=W9leiOC8loU;full][/previewyoutube] I wanted to have the 3D map, as I was thinking how to best visualize hills. And in this game hills matter - snow thaws first on the sunny southern slope, the northern side of a hill tends to be less favorable for growing crops. And in early summer lowlands are more prone to night time temperature falling below freezing. Although the trailer shows a 3D map view, the good old 2D is also there, and you can freely switch between the modes.
Next in development
Once you send your offspring to start a homestead of their own, you can freely switch the game focus to play as any of the family units of your family tree. But currently the non-focused families will do nothing, so they need a bit of an AI. I try to design it so that when you go visit the other families they can tell you stories about what has happened in their lives since you last met. And if they are low on resources, or if they have abundance of something they could themselves pay a visit to the player family to exchange goods. So the AI should enable a mutual networks of social interaction between the families of the player clan. Some of the social dynamics will be added to the market place as well. This will be connected to the skill system. It will take a few generations to become a master in some skills, like blacksmithing or clay pottery. And I think that if the player brings their masterwork crafts to the marketplace, the word would spread, and the next time the player shows up at the marketplace the NPCs would actively seek to barter for the famous high quality items by the player family. Naturally, this kind of aspects alone could take a year of full-time coding to develop in full detail. But I'm not planning to post-pone the Steam release that far, but aim to implement the basics of AI and social dynamics, and then release some updates to add content and improved mechanics.
The distribution model and version numbers
I believe in the old-school approach: pay once, get the full game and all the future updates. No paid extra content, no micro-transactions, no in-app purchases, no adds, no strings attached. The release version won't be labelled Early Access, nor beta, nor alpha funding. Just a plain release, with version number 0.9 (or a bit higher, depending on how the beta testing goes), and then a road-map to get to the final 1.0 release. Once the game reaches the 1.0 stage there will be no more content added, just basic maintenance like bugfixes.
Well, this is the basics - more news on the on-going development in the coming weeks! Yours Erkka from Enormous Elk
[ 2024-07-22 20:36:47 CET ] [ Original post ]
Ancient Savo
Erkka Lehmus
Developer
Enormous Elk
Publisher
September 2024
Release
Game News Posts:
9
🎹🖱️Keyboard + Mouse
🕹️ Partial Controller Support
🎮 Full Controller Support
🕹️ Partial Controller Support
🎮 Full Controller Support
Positive
(12 reviews)
Public Linux Depots:
- [0 B]
An open-ended survival and resource management game, focused on raising a family. The game takes place in 1200 CE Eastern Finland, in the pristine woodlands of a region called Savo.
A young family has decided to establish their home in remote woodlands. They pack a set of essential tools and row up the local waterways deeper into the wilderness. After a few days of rowing they feel that they are far enough to have a peaceful spot of their own. Fishing, foraging and hunting provide food. But how to turn pristine woodlands to arable land? Fell down trees, burn them and the ashes will make the soil fertile. Agriculture is a lot of work but a decent harvest will keep the family fed through the long dark winter. And then there are children! More nutrition is needed to keep the little ones fed. And as they grow, they learn skills from the parents and start contributing to the workforce. Eventually the offspring will be old enough to marry and to start families of their own.
The time-scale of the game is weeks. In-game years flow rather smoothly so you can easily see your building projects advancing and your family growing. Although, it won't always be that easy - harsh weather can ruin your crops, accidents can cause injury. No combat - the cold, hunger and accidents being the only enemies. The game play is about managing the most precious resource - time. Work long days to get that house finished, and run the increased risk of accidents due to overworking when tired. Or work at lower pace and run the risk of your family suffering from cold when the autumn sets in.
The family members will handle a lot of tasks routinely. But you can adjust how many hours are spent with daily routines like household chores, basic maintenance, parenting, resting, and foraging - the remaining time will be available for tasks which you plan. Tasks include crafting, building, farming, hunting and so on. Grow linen, spin yarn, weave textiles, craft clothes. Dig clay to make pottery. Burn a kiln to make charcoal. Collect bog iron to produce iron ingots, forge spearheads and other such essential tools.
Once a year there will be a market event, which you can choose to go to. At the market you can barter for tools and farm animals.
When the kids grow up you can continue playing as your off-spring - either staying to support the elder generation, or leaving to start a new homestead. Once your clan grows you can freely choose which family to play as. Or, you can even choose to play as the spirits of the late ancestors.
The UI is mouse-driven, assisted with customizable hotkeys. The game map can be viewed either in 2D or 3D, you can freely switch while playing. Some game elements are simulated as small text-based stories, where you choose from options, and your decisions will affect how the story unfolds.
There is a rather flexible modding system based on editing text files in xml format. You can modify and add game elements like items, animals, ailments, crafting recipes and tasks. You can even write your custom stories if you like to. Graphics and the appearance of UI elements can also be modded to ones liking. 3D models can be added in glb / gltf format.
The UI is designed to support translations.
The story
A young family has decided to establish their home in remote woodlands. They pack a set of essential tools and row up the local waterways deeper into the wilderness. After a few days of rowing they feel that they are far enough to have a peaceful spot of their own. Fishing, foraging and hunting provide food. But how to turn pristine woodlands to arable land? Fell down trees, burn them and the ashes will make the soil fertile. Agriculture is a lot of work but a decent harvest will keep the family fed through the long dark winter. And then there are children! More nutrition is needed to keep the little ones fed. And as they grow, they learn skills from the parents and start contributing to the workforce. Eventually the offspring will be old enough to marry and to start families of their own.
Game mechanics
The time-scale of the game is weeks. In-game years flow rather smoothly so you can easily see your building projects advancing and your family growing. Although, it won't always be that easy - harsh weather can ruin your crops, accidents can cause injury. No combat - the cold, hunger and accidents being the only enemies. The game play is about managing the most precious resource - time. Work long days to get that house finished, and run the increased risk of accidents due to overworking when tired. Or work at lower pace and run the risk of your family suffering from cold when the autumn sets in.
The family members will handle a lot of tasks routinely. But you can adjust how many hours are spent with daily routines like household chores, basic maintenance, parenting, resting, and foraging - the remaining time will be available for tasks which you plan. Tasks include crafting, building, farming, hunting and so on. Grow linen, spin yarn, weave textiles, craft clothes. Dig clay to make pottery. Burn a kiln to make charcoal. Collect bog iron to produce iron ingots, forge spearheads and other such essential tools.
Once a year there will be a market event, which you can choose to go to. At the market you can barter for tools and farm animals.
When the kids grow up you can continue playing as your off-spring - either staying to support the elder generation, or leaving to start a new homestead. Once your clan grows you can freely choose which family to play as. Or, you can even choose to play as the spirits of the late ancestors.
The UI is mouse-driven, assisted with customizable hotkeys. The game map can be viewed either in 2D or 3D, you can freely switch while playing. Some game elements are simulated as small text-based stories, where you choose from options, and your decisions will affect how the story unfolds.
Modding
There is a rather flexible modding system based on editing text files in xml format. You can modify and add game elements like items, animals, ailments, crafting recipes and tasks. You can even write your custom stories if you like to. Graphics and the appearance of UI elements can also be modded to ones liking. 3D models can be added in glb / gltf format.
Localization
The UI is designed to support translations.
MINIMAL SETUP
- OS: Debian 11. Ubuntu 20.04. or equivalent
- Processor: 64-bit 1 GHzMemory: 1 GB RAM
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: 1024 x 600 openGL 2.0
- Storage: 200 MB available space
- OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
- Processor: 64-bit 1 GHzMemory: 8 GB RAM
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: 1920 x 1080 openGL 4.3
- Storage: 200 MB available space
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