PC, Mac

#0071 Sandbox: City Wall Stairs Collider Broken
#0072 Sandbox: Farmer Starts Farming Before Field Construction Is Finished
#0074 Sandbox: Storehouse Is Missing Roof Textures
#0075 Tutorial: Narrator Interrupts Himself Or Continues With Previous Dialogue

Sandbox Editor: Beaches Added
Sandbox Editor: Sea Wave Surf Effects Added
Sandbox Editor: Missing Kit Piece Icons Restored
Sandbox Editor: Human Village Map Updated Providing More Room For City Walls
Sandbox Player: Buildings: Windows Now Illuminate At Night Time
Sandbox Player: Buildings: Colliders Added
Sandbox Player: Buildings: Chimney Smoke Added
Sandbox Player: City Walls: Gatehouse And Stairs Are Now Instant Build
Sandbox Player: City Walls: Turrets Now Have Damaged Versions
Sandbox Player: City Walls: Repeating Crossbow Visual Updated
Sandbox Player: City Walls: Trebuchet Animation Speed Changed To Constant For SFX Sync
Sandbox Player: City Walls: Characters can now go through the gatehouse and towers
Sandbox Player: Holding Left-Alt To Rotate/Tilt Camera No Longer Requires LMB To Be Pressed
Sandbox Player: Added Gameplay Setting: Snap Building To Cursor
Sandbox Player: Resource Icons Added to Construction Option Buttons
Sandbox Player: Fixed Female Peasants using Invalid Hair Styles
Sandbox Player: Building Icon Tooltips show resource requirements
Launcher: Game Now Starts In Full-Screen Mode By Default
Launcher: Link Added To First Ever Player Satisfaction Survey

This is the 64-bit OSX and 32-bit Windows public build. The Windows 64-bit build will follow once we've ironed out a glitch.

Patch 0.2.5 includes all the changes from the non-public 0.2.4 build, details of which can be found at http://steamcommunity.com/games/224440/announcements/detail/1873805350664051102

PC, Mac

#0071 Sandbox: City Wall Stairs Collider Broken
#0072 Sandbox: Farmer Starts Farming Before Field Construction Is Finished
#0074 Sandbox: Storehouse Is Missing Roof Textures
#0075 Tutorial: Narrator Interrupts Himself Or Continues With Previous Dialogue

Sandbox Editor: Beaches Added
Sandbox Editor: Sea Wave Surf Effects Added
Sandbox Editor: Missing Kit Piece Icons Restored
Sandbox Editor: Human Village Map Updated Providing More Room For City Walls
Sandbox Player: Buildings: Windows Now Illuminate At Night Time
Sandbox Player: Buildings: Colliders Added
Sandbox Player: Buildings: Chimney Smoke Added
Sandbox Player: City Walls: Gatehouse And Stairs Are Now Instant Build
Sandbox Player: City Walls: Turrets Now Have Damaged Versions
Sandbox Player: City Walls: Repeating Crossbow Visual Updated
Sandbox Player: City Walls: Trebuchet Animation Speed Changed To Constant For SFX Sync
Sandbox Player: City Walls: Characters can now go through the gatehouse and towers
Sandbox Player: Holding Left-Alt To Rotate/Tilt Camera No Longer Requires LMB To Be Pressed
Sandbox Player: Added Gameplay Setting: Snap Building To Cursor
Sandbox Player: Resource Icons Added to Construction Option Buttons
Sandbox Player: Fixed Female Peasants using Invalid Hair Styles
Sandbox Player: Building Icon Tooltips show resource requirements
Launcher: Game Now Starts In Full-Screen Mode By Default
Launcher: Link Added To First Ever Player Satisfaction Survey

This is the 64-bit OSX and 32-bit Windows public build. The Windows 64-bit build will follow once we've ironed out a glitch.

Patch 0.2.5 includes all the changes from the non-public 0.2.4 build, details of which can be found at http://steamcommunity.com/games/224440/announcements/detail/1873805350664051102

Following the release of Patch 0.2.4 towards the end of last month, the team have continued to work in two streams: Patch 0.3 enhancements, and downstream content.

For larger screenshots and more info, please visit http://blog.gamesfoundry.com/2014/05/folk-tale-dev-blog-23.html.


While combat and monster spawning is being worked on in Sandbox Player we're adding the final touches to the Grassland Kit, the environment where Patch 0.3 will take place. If you recall the village in the Tutorial, we have shoreline with sandy beaches. Because we want to migrate the Tutorial over to sandbox tech, we want to recreate all of the biomes as Kits. Sandy shoreline also gives us a number of options for Patch 0.3.x. Initially we'll have a beach spawn point where Goblin Warships will have landed, dropping off waves of goblin invaders. In later patches I'd love to have beach landings, and the possibility for your Trebuchet to sink ships before they have chance to disembark. But I digress.

To achieve the shoreline effect, we've created new shallow incline tiles, which can be combined with steeper hills to introduce deeper water. Using the Paint Tool we paint our beach tiles with the sand texture. Add in some water tiles, and a few new wave particle effects, place a couple of random rocks, and we have a nice looking shore.



Part of making the village feel more believable is the addition of colliders. In earlier builds it was possible for the camera to move right through buildings and city walls. We've now added physics colliders to buildings, so the camera should go up and over rather than through for a much more realistic experience.

In Patch 0.2.4 we had a number of bugs with City Walls which have now been fixed. Characters can now approach and walk up City Wall Stairs without issue, and will happily walk through gatehouses and turrets, allowing you to run all the way around your walls.

And finally, work is progressing on large-scale background props such as mountains so that location maps don't abruptly end at the boundary of the playable area.


Downstream Content is a term we use internally to refer to any content that won't be added until after the Patch 0.3 milestone. That includes the Kits for the different environments including desert, snow, lava and swamp, and the inhabitants that live there. The design of each environment biome begins with a concept diorama designed to communicate mood.



When the diorama reaches a state that we're happy with, work is branched into four tasks: textures, characters and architecture, loot, and soundtrack. The first is the production of a series of low resolution textures using the diorama for reference. Adding in basic lighting and painting some quick terrain geometry, we're able to confirm color, contrast, and scale before scaling up the textures and painting in the high resolution detail. Generally the Art Team work at a higher resolution and then scale down for the final texture.

With each biome being home to beasts and intelligent races, the second parallel task is to define what lives there, how, and the relationships between them. Having introduced Goblins in the Tutorial, we're expanding their culture to incorporate their habitat. What sort of things do our Goblins eat? How does environment influence architecture? Do they have a belief system? Do they have any natural enemies? All of these questions feed into creating a consistent racial story.



While the budget does not currently permit us to make the Goblins a comprehensive playable race for launch, we are able to introduce a believable AI-driven village while keeping the option of a playable race open for DLC.

We all love loot, and the RPG element of Folk Tale would be incomplete without it. Having defined a culture, we look at the items a race use. We wouldn't want Goblins dropping useless items, so instead we focus on weapons and armor, crafted items, and finally legendary items that form a race's back story. Concept sketches become loot icons, and once signed off handheld items are produced as 3D geometry and hand painted.



Finally, the diorama is provided with a written brief to the Audio Team. Several draft ambient tracks are composed, and the best elements combined into a final composition which then undergoes several iterations. Using the themes developed in the ambient track, a battle variation is produced which is cross-faded in during game play. Once both the ambient and battle tracks are complete, we test them in game to ensure they aren't too distracting to the player. You can hear the swamp ambient and battle music in the video at the top of this blog starting at 5'40".

Following community response, we also plan to add in an option to disable battle music if players find pounding drums too distracting.











It's the first ever 2-minute Folk Tale Player Satisfaction Survey. Tell us what you think of development so far and where we can improve. It's totally anonymous, and has 18 easy to answer multi-choice questions.

Take the survey now by visiting:
https://www.surveyplanet.com/survey/5daf3546d57f761448fc2146f1f46ef5

Following the release of Patch 0.2.4 towards the end of last month, the team have continued to work in two streams: Patch 0.3 enhancements, and downstream content.

For larger screenshots and more info, please visit http://blog.gamesfoundry.com/2014/05/folk-tale-dev-blog-23.html.


While combat and monster spawning is being worked on in Sandbox Player we're adding the final touches to the Grassland Kit, the environment where Patch 0.3 will take place. If you recall the village in the Tutorial, we have shoreline with sandy beaches. Because we want to migrate the Tutorial over to sandbox tech, we want to recreate all of the biomes as Kits. Sandy shoreline also gives us a number of options for Patch 0.3.x. Initially we'll have a beach spawn point where Goblin Warships will have landed, dropping off waves of goblin invaders. In later patches I'd love to have beach landings, and the possibility for your Trebuchet to sink ships before they have chance to disembark. But I digress.

To achieve the shoreline effect, we've created new shallow incline tiles, which can be combined with steeper hills to introduce deeper water. Using the Paint Tool we paint our beach tiles with the sand texture. Add in some water tiles, and a few new wave particle effects, place a couple of random rocks, and we have a nice looking shore.



Part of making the village feel more believable is the addition of colliders. In earlier builds it was possible for the camera to move right through buildings and city walls. We've now added physics colliders to buildings, so the camera should go up and over rather than through for a much more realistic experience.

In Patch 0.2.4 we had a number of bugs with City Walls which have now been fixed. Characters can now approach and walk up City Wall Stairs without issue, and will happily walk through gatehouses and turrets, allowing you to run all the way around your walls.

And finally, work is progressing on large-scale background props such as mountains so that location maps don't abruptly end at the boundary of the playable area.


Downstream Content is a term we use internally to refer to any content that won't be added until after the Patch 0.3 milestone. That includes the Kits for the different environments including desert, snow, lava and swamp, and the inhabitants that live there. The design of each environment biome begins with a concept diorama designed to communicate mood.



When the diorama reaches a state that we're happy with, work is branched into four tasks: textures, characters and architecture, loot, and soundtrack. The first is the production of a series of low resolution textures using the diorama for reference. Adding in basic lighting and painting some quick terrain geometry, we're able to confirm color, contrast, and scale before scaling up the textures and painting in the high resolution detail. Generally the Art Team work at a higher resolution and then scale down for the final texture.

With each biome being home to beasts and intelligent races, the second parallel task is to define what lives there, how, and the relationships between them. Having introduced Goblins in the Tutorial, we're expanding their culture to incorporate their habitat. What sort of things do our Goblins eat? How does environment influence architecture? Do they have a belief system? Do they have any natural enemies? All of these questions feed into creating a consistent racial story.



While the budget does not currently permit us to make the Goblins a comprehensive playable race for launch, we are able to introduce a believable AI-driven village while keeping the option of a playable race open for DLC.

We all love loot, and the RPG element of Folk Tale would be incomplete without it. Having defined a culture, we look at the items a race use. We wouldn't want Goblins dropping useless items, so instead we focus on weapons and armor, crafted items, and finally legendary items that form a race's back story. Concept sketches become loot icons, and once signed off handheld items are produced as 3D geometry and hand painted.



Finally, the diorama is provided with a written brief to the Audio Team. Several draft ambient tracks are composed, and the best elements combined into a final composition which then undergoes several iterations. Using the themes developed in the ambient track, a battle variation is produced which is cross-faded in during game play. Once both the ambient and battle tracks are complete, we test them in game to ensure they aren't too distracting to the player. You can hear the swamp ambient and battle music in the video at the top of this blog starting at 5'40".

Following community response, we also plan to add in an option to disable battle music if players find pounding drums too distracting.











It's the first ever 2-minute Folk Tale Player Satisfaction Survey. Tell us what you think of development so far and where we can improve. It's totally anonymous, and has 18 easy to answer multi-choice questions.

Take the survey now by visiting:
https://www.surveyplanet.com/survey/5daf3546d57f761448fc2146f1f46ef5

PC, Mac (OPT-IN)

Please note this is initially an opt-in build, and will be published as a public update after a period of community testing. Dev Blog 22 covers the contents of the patch in some depth:

http://blog.gamesfoundry.com/2014/04/folk-tale-dev-blog-22.html?showComment=1398695872953#c2602719221424538798

N/A

Sandbox Player Added ( 'Preview' on Start Screen )
Sandbox Player: Building: Cottage Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Windmill Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Farmers Field Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Woodcutter's Hut Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Smelt Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Stonecutter's Lodge Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Monastery Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Bee Yard Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Barracks Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Workshop Activated
Sandbox Player: City Walls Activated
Sandbox Player: City Walls Gatehouse: Activated
Sandbox Player: City Walls Stairs: Activated
Sandbox Player: City Walls Siege Defenses: Trebuchet: Activated
Sandbox Player: City Walls Siege Defenses: Repeating Crossbow: Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: Peasant Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: Farmer Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: Woodcutter Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: Miner Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: Stonecutter Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: Monk Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: City Watch Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: Engineer Activated
Sandbox Player: Resources: Iron Mine Activated
Sandbox Player: Resources: Quarry Activated
Character Studio: Engineer Added
Character Studio: LOD Test Mode Added ( Dev Tool )
Sandbox: Buildings: Tiers merged, Only Tier 1 Available
Sandbox: Characters: Professions Removed, Peasant Spawn Points Added

For a comprehensive overview of changes, please watch Dev Blog 22.

Lots of known issues, no need to report bugs at this stage
High End GPUs in Sandbox Editor: Press 'V' to toggle on vertical sync
High End GPUs in Sandbox Player: Access settings dialog from topbar and turn vertical sync on
Tutorial: Advisor's speech is a little broken

Patch 0.2.4 introduces Sandbox Player. You can now open maps created in the Editor in the Sandbox Player. Sorry, but maps created in earlier versions are unlikely to work.
This is an opt-in build for now to provide the Sandbox Player with the opportunity for some time out in the community.
If you are on a low end machine, swapping to Low Performance settings ( first icon on topbar ) in Sandbox Player should give you a good experience

Currently there's no menu in the Sandbox Player, so quitting is ALT+F4 on Windows, Cmd+Q on Mac, or ALT+TAB and close the app from the task bar.

We strongly recommend reading the Sandbox Player Guide first to familiarize yourself with the controls. They are very different to the Tutorial, and have be adapted to be more inline with RTS convention.

1. In your Steam Library, right click on Folk Tale and select Properties.
2. Under the fourth tab, Betas, enter vQZ7Rj6E into the password field and click Check Code.
3. You should receive confirmation that the debugging64bit build is now unlocked. *
4. Select debugging64bit - Public pre-release support builds for Windows 64-bit from the drop down list and click Close.
5. Wait a few minutes for Steam to automatically patch your game. If it doesn't, try running the game. This should trigger the automatic patching.
6. Confirm the build version is 0.2.4.0 ( bottom left of the main menu, or right topbar in the Location Editor )

1. In your Steam Library, right click on Folk Tale and select Properties.
2. Under the fourth tab, Betas, enter veW6kJBz into the password field and click Check Code.
3. You should receive confirmation that the debugging build is now unlocked. *
4. Select debugging - Public pre-release support builds from the drop down list and click Close.
5. Wait a few minutes for Steam to automatically patch your game. If it doesn't, try running the game. This should trigger the automatic patching.
6. Confirm the build version is 0.2.4.0 ( bottom left of the main menu, or right topbar in the Location Editor )

* Please note that on rare occasions, opting in to beta builds will give an invalid code error. Please try the code again. If it repeatedly fails, we're sorry but you are not going to be able to test this build. You might consider contacting Steam Support. We have used this password to support players in the past so it is known to work.

Gorax ( independent YouTuber ) has recorded the steps to opt-in to the build, as well as a preview of some of the features. We've noted the bugs he's spotted and will work on those as part of the next patch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2klRwSfnqyE&feature=youtu.be

After you have finished testing, you can opt out of beta builds and resume receiving the main patches as you have done before.

1. In your Steam Library, right click on Folk Tale and select Properties.
2. Under the fourth tab, Beta, choose NONE - opt out of all beta programs from the drop down list and click Close.
3. Wait for a few minutes for Steam to automatically resync/patch your game back to the main public releases. If it doesn't, try running the game. This should trigger the automatic patching.
4. Confirm the build version in the bottom left of the main menu has reverted to 0.2.3.0.

PC, Mac (OPT-IN)

Please note this is initially an opt-in build, and will be published as a public update after a period of community testing. Dev Blog 22 covers the contents of the patch in some depth:

http://blog.gamesfoundry.com/2014/04/folk-tale-dev-blog-22.html?showComment=1398695872953#c2602719221424538798

N/A

Sandbox Player Added ( 'Preview' on Start Screen )
Sandbox Player: Building: Cottage Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Windmill Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Farmers Field Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Woodcutter's Hut Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Smelt Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Stonecutter's Lodge Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Monastery Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Bee Yard Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Barracks Activated
Sandbox Player: Building: Workshop Activated
Sandbox Player: City Walls Activated
Sandbox Player: City Walls Gatehouse: Activated
Sandbox Player: City Walls Stairs: Activated
Sandbox Player: City Walls Siege Defenses: Trebuchet: Activated
Sandbox Player: City Walls Siege Defenses: Repeating Crossbow: Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: Peasant Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: Farmer Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: Woodcutter Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: Miner Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: Stonecutter Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: Monk Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: City Watch Activated
Sandbox Player: Character: Engineer Activated
Sandbox Player: Resources: Iron Mine Activated
Sandbox Player: Resources: Quarry Activated
Character Studio: Engineer Added
Character Studio: LOD Test Mode Added ( Dev Tool )
Sandbox: Buildings: Tiers merged, Only Tier 1 Available
Sandbox: Characters: Professions Removed, Peasant Spawn Points Added

For a comprehensive overview of changes, please watch Dev Blog 22.

Lots of known issues, no need to report bugs at this stage
High End GPUs in Sandbox Editor: Press 'V' to toggle on vertical sync
High End GPUs in Sandbox Player: Access settings dialog from topbar and turn vertical sync on
Tutorial: Advisor's speech is a little broken

Patch 0.2.4 introduces Sandbox Player. You can now open maps created in the Editor in the Sandbox Player. Sorry, but maps created in earlier versions are unlikely to work.
This is an opt-in build for now to provide the Sandbox Player with the opportunity for some time out in the community.
If you are on a low end machine, swapping to Low Performance settings ( first icon on topbar ) in Sandbox Player should give you a good experience

Currently there's no menu in the Sandbox Player, so quitting is ALT+F4 on Windows, Cmd+Q on Mac, or ALT+TAB and close the app from the task bar.

We strongly recommend reading the Sandbox Player Guide first to familiarize yourself with the controls. They are very different to the Tutorial, and have be adapted to be more inline with RTS convention.

1. In your Steam Library, right click on Folk Tale and select Properties.
2. Under the fourth tab, Betas, enter vQZ7Rj6E into the password field and click Check Code.
3. You should receive confirmation that the debugging64bit build is now unlocked. *
4. Select debugging64bit - Public pre-release support builds for Windows 64-bit from the drop down list and click Close.
5. Wait a few minutes for Steam to automatically patch your game. If it doesn't, try running the game. This should trigger the automatic patching.
6. Confirm the build version is 0.2.4.0 ( bottom left of the main menu, or right topbar in the Location Editor )

1. In your Steam Library, right click on Folk Tale and select Properties.
2. Under the fourth tab, Betas, enter veW6kJBz into the password field and click Check Code.
3. You should receive confirmation that the debugging build is now unlocked. *
4. Select debugging - Public pre-release support builds from the drop down list and click Close.
5. Wait a few minutes for Steam to automatically patch your game. If it doesn't, try running the game. This should trigger the automatic patching.
6. Confirm the build version is 0.2.4.0 ( bottom left of the main menu, or right topbar in the Location Editor )

* Please note that on rare occasions, opting in to beta builds will give an invalid code error. Please try the code again. If it repeatedly fails, we're sorry but you are not going to be able to test this build. You might consider contacting Steam Support. We have used this password to support players in the past so it is known to work.

Gorax ( independent YouTuber ) has recorded the steps to opt-in to the build, as well as a preview of some of the features. We've noted the bugs he's spotted and will work on those as part of the next patch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2klRwSfnqyE&feature=youtu.be

After you have finished testing, you can opt out of beta builds and resume receiving the main patches as you have done before.

1. In your Steam Library, right click on Folk Tale and select Properties.
2. Under the fourth tab, Beta, choose NONE - opt out of all beta programs from the drop down list and click Close.
3. Wait for a few minutes for Steam to automatically resync/patch your game back to the main public releases. If it doesn't, try running the game. This should trigger the automatic patching.
4. Confirm the build version in the bottom left of the main menu has reverted to 0.2.3.0.

Today we're going to be taking a look at the Sandbox Player, accompanied by some of the composition work for the soundtrack. Not all the tracks used will make the OST, but are nice to listen to during longer videos.

We hoped to have the Patch 0.2.4 live by now, but at the eleventh hour as we were packaging and testing the patch to upload to Steam, we discovered a bug in the engine build we've been using. That bug was very quickly fixed by the engine developer. Unfortunately we now have to wait around 9-14 days for the next build to become available. You can track the latest status over on the Steam Forum.

For larger screenshots and more info, please visit http://blog.gamesfoundry.com/2014/04/folk-tale-dev-blog-22.html.


In the month since the last blog a lot has been added, and Sandbox is really starting to come together. For the first time we're able to "play" maps designed in the Sandbox Editor. I say "play" loosely at this stage, "mess around with systems" might be a more accurate description.



Construction is up and running, with several level one buildings and their associated professions available for Peasant training. Character's have unique faces, varying skin tones, and a few dodgy haircuts. Females are now fully trainable in all available professions. Lobbyists for the Campaign to Stop Female Peasants Being Used As Cannon-Fodder can lay down their protest billboards, as equal opportunities are finally with us.



To help get everyone started when Patch 0.2.4 arrives, we've published the Sandbox Player Guide on Steam, which we'll continue to update as development progresses.


One of the most significant additions is the revised City Walls system, which can now traverse steep cliffs and rivers. Gatehouses, stairs, and tower siege defences are all in, but we'll leave those for you to uncover once the patch is published.



Hovering the mouse cursor over sections of wall and repeatedly hitting U on the keyboard simulates the impact of boulders from Goblin Trebuchet. Any idle Peasants will run to the wall and do their best to repair it before any larger enemies breach the walls.


The final profession for inclusion in Patch 0.3 ( we'll be adding more thereafter ) is the Engineer, capable of constructing ingenious traps and turrets in the fields around your village to help fend off any raiding parties. Engineers can be trained by building a Workshop.






Level of Detail models are a trick developers use to boost frame rate performance by reducing the complexity of 3D models as they move further away from the camera. We've now added in LOD models for all three tiers of building upgrades, and incorporated LOD into the character customization system. There's more work to do, for example on the terrain, but it's already starting to have an impact.

Today we're going to be taking a look at the Sandbox Player, accompanied by some of the composition work for the soundtrack. Not all the tracks used will make the OST, but are nice to listen to during longer videos.

We hoped to have the Patch 0.2.4 live by now, but at the eleventh hour as we were packaging and testing the patch to upload to Steam, we discovered a bug in the engine build we've been using. That bug was very quickly fixed by the engine developer. Unfortunately we now have to wait around 9-14 days for the next build to become available. You can track the latest status over on the Steam Forum.

For larger screenshots and more info, please visit http://blog.gamesfoundry.com/2014/04/folk-tale-dev-blog-22.html.


In the month since the last blog a lot has been added, and Sandbox is really starting to come together. For the first time we're able to "play" maps designed in the Sandbox Editor. I say "play" loosely at this stage, "mess around with systems" might be a more accurate description.



Construction is up and running, with several level one buildings and their associated professions available for Peasant training. Character's have unique faces, varying skin tones, and a few dodgy haircuts. Females are now fully trainable in all available professions. Lobbyists for the Campaign to Stop Female Peasants Being Used As Cannon-Fodder can lay down their protest billboards, as equal opportunities are finally with us.



To help get everyone started when Patch 0.2.4 arrives, we've published the Sandbox Player Guide on Steam, which we'll continue to update as development progresses.


One of the most significant additions is the revised City Walls system, which can now traverse steep cliffs and rivers. Gatehouses, stairs, and tower siege defences are all in, but we'll leave those for you to uncover once the patch is published.



Hovering the mouse cursor over sections of wall and repeatedly hitting U on the keyboard simulates the impact of boulders from Goblin Trebuchet. Any idle Peasants will run to the wall and do their best to repair it before any larger enemies breach the walls.


The final profession for inclusion in Patch 0.3 ( we'll be adding more thereafter ) is the Engineer, capable of constructing ingenious traps and turrets in the fields around your village to help fend off any raiding parties. Engineers can be trained by building a Workshop.






Level of Detail models are a trick developers use to boost frame rate performance by reducing the complexity of 3D models as they move further away from the camera. We've now added in LOD models for all three tiers of building upgrades, and incorporated LOD into the character customization system. There's more work to do, for example on the terrain, but it's already starting to have an impact.

Hey everyone. In this episode we take a look at how the Sandbox Player is shaping up, run through the Sandbox UI overhaul filling in some of the details of gameplay mechanics, before wrapping up with a review of new assets.

For larger screenshots and more info, please visit http://blog.gamesfoundry.com/2014/03/folk-tale-dev-blog-21.html.


The fixed build plots of the Tutorial are gone as promised, and free placement is in, providing precise control over the design of our village. We can freely move the building around; a green transparent cube means we're over a valid place for construction, while a red cube means we're too close to an obstruction. As you might expect we can also rotate buildings. We've also added a radius of influence, shown by the dotted circle surrounding the building ( see video ). Resources need to be located within this radius to be accessible by the building. Capturing multiple mines can result in a greater maximum output for the building.




For Sandbox, we're overhauling the UI and adding new elements. As a multi-genre village builder RPG RTS, there's a lot of information to condense and optimize to reduce screen clutter, especially at lower screen resolutions. In fantasy 4X games you might be used to seeing resources on the top bar, for example wood, stone, and iron. We forecast how much time players would be spending in each genre, and the information they'd need immediately to hand. In village building for example, resource stock levels are important, but when you are out in the wilds with your Hero Party, they aren't. Taking into account the complex nature of the economy and number of resources, it wasn't feasible to pack them all into a static top bar ( we tried! ). So we're adding an expand/contract toggle to show a separate resources dialogue that if you choose you can leave open permanently should you wish.



We've taken the Special Abilities / Portrait UI from the bottom left of the Tutorial and condensed it further, adding in new features at the same time. Under Misc Controls & Info we've added an Aggressive/Defensive Toggle to exert greater control over your villagers, preventing them from charging into combat, and the Auto-AI Toggle to place special abilities under AI control. Hardcore players will want to turn this off and have full control of heroes, but for your first few sessions it's a helpful feature to reduce micro-management during battle.

We're also adding short cuts for Health and Power Potions providing direct access to your global inventory stocks during combat, making it faster to save your villagers from death.



The Character Sheet has been condensed by removing personal storage ( not required when you have global inventory ) and adding Resistances. There are also tabs for professions ( workers ) and special abilities ( heroes ).



As your Heroes level up, you can spend Ability Points on powering up their abilities in the order that you prefer. By level 20 you will have a fully powered hero.



With more economy buildings and resources added each month, the new Building Dialog provides control over each building and it's role in the economy. We're adding a second way of training Peasants in professions through the Worker Tab. You can now review a list of candidates and hire them into available vacancies. For players not wanting to micro-manage, Auto-Recruit can be set and will automatically hire from the pool of Peasants as they become available. Character Traits make Peasants more or less suitable for each profession.



The Production Tab crunches a number of stats and presents them in an easy to understand format. Worker Productivity is the average of how effective all the workers are, taking into account Profession Experience, Tool Bonuses ( Loot and Crafted Gear ), Traits, and overall Happiness.

Maximum Output is determined by how many sources of resource exist in the building's Influence Radius, and the current tier of the building.

Workbench Bonuses act as a multiplier to the Maximum Output, and can be obtained by installing Workbenches to the inside of each production building.

Actual Output is calculated by combining the three previous stats, and can be split between production ( producing more finished goods ) and research ( adds points to the research pool to be later spent on new technology ).



One of the recurring pieces of feedback we've received from the Tutorial is that finding your villagers can sometimes be tricky. To improve discoverability, we're implementing the Civics Dialog, a central view of all the activity going on in your village. From here you can view everything that's going on with your villagers, buildings and resources, allowing you to quickly identify any problem areas.




The Art Team have entered a period of polishing up leading up to Patch 0.3 ( a few more 0.2.x releases to come yet ), so a lot of production work is the boring stuff like adding physics colliders, navmeshes, and level of detail ( LOD ) models. That's not at all interesting for a blog, so instead we have the male and female Sandbox versions of the City Watch ( formerly Militia ), Monks and Stonecutters.

Hey everyone. In this episode we take a look at how the Sandbox Player is shaping up, run through the Sandbox UI overhaul filling in some of the details of gameplay mechanics, before wrapping up with a review of new assets.

For larger screenshots and more info, please visit http://blog.gamesfoundry.com/2014/03/folk-tale-dev-blog-21.html.


The fixed build plots of the Tutorial are gone as promised, and free placement is in, providing precise control over the design of our village. We can freely move the building around; a green transparent cube means we're over a valid place for construction, while a red cube means we're too close to an obstruction. As you might expect we can also rotate buildings. We've also added a radius of influence, shown by the dotted circle surrounding the building ( see video ). Resources need to be located within this radius to be accessible by the building. Capturing multiple mines can result in a greater maximum output for the building.




For Sandbox, we're overhauling the UI and adding new elements. As a multi-genre village builder RPG RTS, there's a lot of information to condense and optimize to reduce screen clutter, especially at lower screen resolutions. In fantasy 4X games you might be used to seeing resources on the top bar, for example wood, stone, and iron. We forecast how much time players would be spending in each genre, and the information they'd need immediately to hand. In village building for example, resource stock levels are important, but when you are out in the wilds with your Hero Party, they aren't. Taking into account the complex nature of the economy and number of resources, it wasn't feasible to pack them all into a static top bar ( we tried! ). So we're adding an expand/contract toggle to show a separate resources dialogue that if you choose you can leave open permanently should you wish.



We've taken the Special Abilities / Portrait UI from the bottom left of the Tutorial and condensed it further, adding in new features at the same time. Under Misc Controls & Info we've added an Aggressive/Defensive Toggle to exert greater control over your villagers, preventing them from charging into combat, and the Auto-AI Toggle to place special abilities under AI control. Hardcore players will want to turn this off and have full control of heroes, but for your first few sessions it's a helpful feature to reduce micro-management during battle.

We're also adding short cuts for Health and Power Potions providing direct access to your global inventory stocks during combat, making it faster to save your villagers from death.



The Character Sheet has been condensed by removing personal storage ( not required when you have global inventory ) and adding Resistances. There are also tabs for professions ( workers ) and special abilities ( heroes ).



As your Heroes level up, you can spend Ability Points on powering up their abilities in the order that you prefer. By level 20 you will have a fully powered hero.



With more economy buildings and resources added each month, the new Building Dialog provides control over each building and it's role in the economy. We're adding a second way of training Peasants in professions through the Worker Tab. You can now review a list of candidates and hire them into available vacancies. For players not wanting to micro-manage, Auto-Recruit can be set and will automatically hire from the pool of Peasants as they become available. Character Traits make Peasants more or less suitable for each profession.



The Production Tab crunches a number of stats and presents them in an easy to understand format. Worker Productivity is the average of how effective all the workers are, taking into account Profession Experience, Tool Bonuses ( Loot and Crafted Gear ), Traits, and overall Happiness.

Maximum Output is determined by how many sources of resource exist in the building's Influence Radius, and the current tier of the building.

Workbench Bonuses act as a multiplier to the Maximum Output, and can be obtained by installing Workbenches to the inside of each production building.

Actual Output is calculated by combining the three previous stats, and can be split between production ( producing more finished goods ) and research ( adds points to the research pool to be later spent on new technology ).



One of the recurring pieces of feedback we've received from the Tutorial is that finding your villagers can sometimes be tricky. To improve discoverability, we're implementing the Civics Dialog, a central view of all the activity going on in your village. From here you can view everything that's going on with your villagers, buildings and resources, allowing you to quickly identify any problem areas.




The Art Team have entered a period of polishing up leading up to Patch 0.3 ( a few more 0.2.x releases to come yet ), so a lot of production work is the boring stuff like adding physics colliders, navmeshes, and level of detail ( LOD ) models. That's not at all interesting for a blog, so instead we have the male and female Sandbox versions of the City Watch ( formerly Militia ), Monks and Stonecutters.