I’ve returned from a successful conference to a pile of ideas and goals for Fief. Since some folks are eager for the management portion of the game, but others would like to see a fleshed-out survival portion, I intend to work on both. I have a long list of things for my short-list and I’ll slowly work on the most interesting of these on a whim until they are done.
I’ll probably be working on the lighting engine for a few days, as it has gotten a bit more complex than I had initially anticipated. I’m adding moon phases and time-of-day effects to the lighting, which as a bonus, will factor in to the Witchery skill in the far future. Additionally, I have added some weather effects (which will also factor into the lighting), so it no longer rains all day like in Harvest Moon. Weather events happen based on the climate data and last for a specific duration. Messages occur when the weather is changing to help cue the changes (along with the upcoming lighting changes). I added thunderstorms as well which are intended to cause trees to fall over and branches to litter the forest, making it easy to gather resources after a storm. But this will also have a chance of affecting your crops as well. The Naturalism skill will help you predict upcoming weather events. Oh, and I may or may not add lightning strikes and fires to the game. I assume uncontrolled fires will be required eventually, so I might as well put them in now as I also add the lighting strike eye-candy.
Also on my goals list is the changes to the combat mechanics, specifically: Armors and Shields, health-based conditions for body parts, and the ability to toggle Strafing mode (allowing you to move without changing your facing).
Other things on the list… adding brooks to the manor map. A conversation engine to talk with visitors to the manor. And the new crops that I’ve been meaning to get to for awhile now.
I’ll continue to push new builds when things are relatively stable.