Fantastical Architecture
Hey, let's make it easier to build awe inspiring structures!
All Reachable without scaffolding!
Expanded Reachability
All Props that are touching one-another are now considered part of the same Structure under the hood. Operating (Building, Repairing, Rebuilding, Refueling, Depositing, Cleaning, Researching, Uncrating, and Fire Fighting) on any exterior Prop that is part of that Structure can be done if any part of the exterior of the Structure can be reached. Operating on any interior Prop that is part of the Structure can be done from any space in the same Room (or Rooms in the case of Walls and Floors).
Dismantling and Crating use a special, cached, version of their Structure and Rooms that maintain reachability for the duration of the Command even if the intervening pieces have already been removed.
This means that they can build a giant wall as long as they can reach the base of it! They can attach awesome decorative pieces to the highest point on your Castle from the closest point they can get to. They can repair that tattered Flag on the roof from below! You throw down the Blueprints and your people make it happen.
Attacking and Using a Prop still require direct access using the previous System.
Stepping back, the aim is to take the guesswork and logistical headache out of Building (and maintaining!) awesome Buildings. We're intentionally hand waving over the fine details of how (I like to think they're adept climbers :P) to save us a great deal of development time and maximize your creativity and freedom of expression.
if you'd prefer to stick with the old system, there's a set of Options for Building, Repairing, and Rebuilding that you can disable to return to the prior mechanisms for any of them. You could make Building require scaffolding, while maintaining the benefits for Repairing and Rebuilding, for example.
From our perspective, this fits right in with our Fantasy driven Kingdom Builder - right along with the intentional decision to not include a stability system. We want to enable you to lean into the Fantastical Architecture when it comes to building - preferring cool looking buildings and maximizing expression to absolute realism.
Planning
As you may surmise, calculating the fine details of this can require some horsepower - but we put a lot of work into ensuring it's even faster than the prior system.
The plan for any given Prop is refined over time. This may mean that they choose a suboptimal point if they go to work on it right away in favor of Reachability, but the access point will be refined over time. The longer the plan is outstanding, the better the plan.
Cyan - usable points on the Structure
In addition, you may rarely see a Prop marked as Planning - this means they haven't surmised a workable position yet - but they're working on it! Check back in a bit.
Angled Walls
Oh hey, new toys!
Logistically, they work like Parapets, meaning they can be hopped (well at least the are now after we fixed Mantling...).
They can overlap with true Short Walls as well as Portcullises...? Portcullisese...? Portcullisi...? Portculi... pines...? Portcullises.
[strike]Arches[/strike] Braces
We expanded on the Arches category and added options for Wood.
In addition, we made these no longer block Movement.
Also, they're now allowed to overlap with Short Walls.
Water
Previously, it was impossible to build below the surface of Water.
Now, leveraging Expanded Reachability, they can operate on Props below the surface as long as they can reach something above the waterline.
Use this to make cool Bridges!
Quality of Life
Finally, we resolved a number of issues related to Building - improving Cursor placement, Exhaust Building, Multilayer Roofs, and more.
Oh and we fixed the Blueprint Sorting issue with Particles.
Bulk Work Tools
Next, we expanded the Work Menu and added the long asked for Bulk Work Tools.
Get to Work!
Cancel
Use this to Cancel individual Commands (including Constructs) by clicking on them, or Marquee Select to Choose what to Cancel!
Cut
Use this to Cut Trees, Grass, Bushes, whatever.
Hint: Use Sustainable Trees option to select a subset of the Mature Trees, leaving room for others to fill in the gaps
Hint x2: Sustainable is also great for 'caps!
Dismantle
Use this to bulk Dismantle a structure.
Forage
Use this to Forage those yummy Octoberberries.
Gather
This one will Gather Wood, Stone, or Metal from things laying about.
Other Stuff
Temperature
We increased the accuracy of the interior Temperature Sim - especially for large Kingdoms and at high speeds.
Any Schedule Slots
Any Schedule slots were always choosing Work over Relaxation. oops!
Beware the completely unrelated increase in casual Yodeling!
Marquee Selection
Marquee Selection now includes a Search Box that is highlighted by default, start typing and it'll filter the options.
Active Abilities
We greatly decreased the frequency of Active Ability audio Pings.
Animal List
We made the Animal List always include animals you've seen before.
Conquests
Conquests are now a little more fair.
Opinion Tooltips
Opinion Tooltips now have width limits and support multiple lines for those of you with big Kingdoms and long names.
Camera
The Camera will now behave better over Water.
Performance
A good deal of performance work was tackled while we worked on this update. You should see gains in most scenarios.
Patch Notes
Restart the game and steam to make sure you're up to date!
Experimental Branch
Minor Updates like this arrive on the Experimental Branch first.
If you have the stomach for brief bouts of instability and want to help us out - switch to (or stay in) the Experimental Beta on Steam and participate in discussions here or on discord.
Expect occasional issues - but know that we appreciate you helping us make the game better!
Community Corner
cypr' building intensifies...
Discord
Join the Official Discord to participate in Development!
Reviews
If you like the game, please consider leaving a Review. These can help players decide that Noble Fates is worthy of their attention.
Thanks for reading and thanks for playing!
The Noble Fates Team
