Dec 11, 2024

Going Medieval - SeVerin

Greetings players! The newest patch (0.22.5) is now live on all platforms on the experimental branch. Please save your progress and restart your game client to update. You should be able to load normally and continue playing. If you have any problems, please let us know.

Quality of Life Improvements:

Added very hard enemy types with the appropriate equipment.
Balanced spawn rate of the late game enemies (the idea is to have about 50 more difficult enemies, rather than 100 of them).
Ranged weapons are added to archers' weaponry. This also means that a bunch of low difficulty enemies will spawn with slings.
New weapon types are added to enemies, but you can't produce them yet. The animations of these weapons are offset and sluggish and don't look good, but the functionality is there.
Fire spreads a bit faster in the start and slows down sooner
Stomping Fire action is 20% slower.
Getting water from wells and rivers/lakes is around 40% faster.
Splash from a bucket of water is a bit larger so taking out flames with water is more viable.
Fire now emits light sources and sound.
Greek fire can spread on greek fire oil blobs, even in rain.
Greek fire oil blob burns 3x longer when compared to the regular oil blob.
Prioritizing opening barrels via right click has been added.

Bugs and Fixes:

Fixed several crash occurrences.
Fixed the issue where a settler that catches fire would stand in place and die, rather than getting away from it.
Fixed the oil blob appearance in the blueprint preview.
Fixed some of the weird settler behavior issues when they were ordered to take out fire.
Fixed the issue where in some cases right clicking on a fire blob would show the “can’t find the path to target” message.
Fixed the issue where an oil blob would remain, even if the voxel/object it is on is destroyed.
Fixed the issue where changed options settings and enabled mods wouldn't be saved for the next session.
Fixed the issue where enemy archers would try to attack doors and end up doing nothing.

Known issues:

Fire spreading control has been added to custom options but it still doesn’t work.
Well has no visual indicator of the bucket going up and down, but it works.
Burnt trees can be selected by clicking in the air above them.
Barrels don't freeze in winter. We plan to implement that.
Barrels don't fill faster when under the edges of the roof yet.
Taking water out of a lake via a well (or by hand) will not cause that lake to lose its water mass.
Burnt trees can be selected by clicking in the air above them.
Opening the almanac to the sling page will make the game crash.
If your settlers are experiencing weird animations with some actions, be sure to turn off V-sync and cap the game's FPS in the game's options. Cap it to 60fps. If the issue persists, cap it at 30.
Assigned Pets don't sleep with owners.
Some text keys are still not translated.
Player-triggered events don't have sound effects
Settlers will not refuel torches if there is no floor/ground beneath them.
Settlers will not choose the closest production building (if there are more of the same type), but the one that has a production set first in the global list of productions.

DISCLAIMERS:
⚠️ We decided to keep Dev version of the game on the experimental branch, and that means that a Dev log with red text will appear from time to time. This will help us get more info from your side when crashes and bug reports occur.
⚠️ Also, at the moment, the experimental and the main branch are different. You should not play saves from the experimental branch on the main one as it can cause various bugs - please avoid doing this.

As always, use F10 and/or the experimental bug subforum for reporting experimental issues. If you want more dynamic/direct communication - head over to our Discord server. Even though we might not reply, we are reading everything. Thank you!

Foxy Voxel

Dec 9, 2024

Medieval Monday Talk #56 - Combat, Expanded

Going Medieval - SeVerin

Greetings, medievalists!

This is the last MMT before Update #14 goes live. If you missed the previous fire talks, be sure to read them here (MMT 53, 54 & 55). Now, let's talk about combat changes and improvements.

First, we are revisiting the drafted stance. As you know, when settlers are drafted, their behavior has been pretty basic: ranged fighters would attack enemies within their range, while melee fighters only retaliated when attacked. Now, we’ll be adding two stance types for you to choose when the settler is drafted and ready for battle. Default stance functions like before - settlers will engage in combat as soon as the enemy is in their line of sight. Hold Ground stance will make them ignore anything around them and engage in combat only when something is close at hand. For archers this will mean that they’ll not be moving and pursue others beyond their range, and for melee fighters you can form a living wall and protect the hallway (or any other particular area of your settlement) much easier.

Shields will also receive an overhaul. We’ve split their cover percentage into two distinct categories: ranged cover and melee cover. This means shields will differ in how well they protect against specific types of attacks. For example, the buckler shield provides excellent melee protection but is less effective against ranged attacks, when compared to other shields.

Cover angle will also play a big role. In Update #14, attacking a shielded enemy from behind will result in a direct hit. Additionally, melee attacks temporarily reduce the ranged cover provided by shields. Makes sense, right? Engaging in melee leaves you slightly exposed to ranged attacks. The good news is that settlers with shields will automatically turn towards their attackers (if enemies are attacking them with ranged weapons). Raising shields will be a clearly visible animation, just to emphasize shield effectiveness a bit more. We didn’t stop there - sparks and other VFX will appear when the shield blocks hit. Also, it will turn red and flash a bit during that time, indicating that the shield has taken damage and not its owner.

But you know what’s the best thing when it comes to shields? All weapons can be used as a shield. Depending on the weapon, the cover amount will vary, but isn’t it cool to see, for example, a melee raider attacking an archer, only for the archer to block strikes with their bow? Of course, two handed weapons will be used for blocking, too. This will not come without a cost as each hit they give/receive will impact the weapon's durability. You might want to revisit the materials that you use for making weapons as now, more than ever, that will influence battle outcome.

Each weapon can have an alternative animation, damage and ruleset depending if the combat is ranged or melee. Archer won’t fight barehanded anymore—they’ll use their bows like staff in close combat.

Thanks to these changes, we can finally introduce new weapons - things like throwing axes, light javelins, slings and sling staffs. These are primarily ranged weapons that can be used as melee if the target gets close. Each offers unique tactical benefits: Throwing axes are short-ranged and lose precision with distance, but are massively strong against shields and armor. And since this is a one-handed weapon, your settler can pair it with a shield on the other hand making your ranged units pretty well protected. Light javelins have a bit better range than axes and are also great at taking down shields. Sling and sling staff are, essentially, low-tech low-cost variants of the other two, but hey - you gotta start with something. All of these weapons are a great addition to the attacking forces, because they can also damage buildings. Does that make them better than arrows? We’ll let you decide that. And also, some of you will probably fine tune these mechanics to your liking via modding.

Finally, to round everything up nicely, a thing many of you have been requesting for a while - training buildings. It’s not a surprise to us that Going Medieval players preferred ranged fighters over melee ones. Archers can be leveled by simply hunting animals, and when you put them on elevated surfaces - leveling archers becomes a go to solution for the majority. Meanwhile, melee training has been less… ideal, with some of you resorting to settler sparring sessions. Well, why not do both of those things in a safe confined space that will not hurt your settlers in any way? Archery Range and Practice Dummy are production buildings where settlers can level up their ranged and melee skills respectively. They’ll do that by bringing dummies and training targets to those buildings and “working” on them. The higher the level, the slower the training. But at least no one gets hurt, right? Right?

That’s everything for this series of Medieval Monday Talks! All of the features discussed here and in previous posts will be included in Update #14. While we don’t have a release date just yet, it’s close—experimental players are already enjoying that update (minus the new weapons part) and helping us test it. Feel free to join if you want, but remember, experimental branch is a version of Going Medieval containing bug fixes and other work-in-progress things that we're preparing to get into the main version of the game. We want to make sure that our official update release launches with as few issues as possible.

Let us know what you think of these combat improvements, and stay tuned for the official update log. Until next time…

Stay medieval!

Foxy Voxel

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Dec 6, 2024

Experimental Branch Patch (0.22.3)

Going Medieval - SeVerin

Greetings players! The newest patch (0.22.3) is now live on all platforms on the experimental branch. Please save your progress and restart your game client to update. You should be able to load normally and continue playing. If you have any problems, please let us know.

Dung

In the official experimental log we forgot to mention that dung is now a thing. Here is what you need to know:

Cows, donkeys, sheep and goats produce dung once a day. Dung just drops in the pen or where they stand.
Dung is a type of waste and can be used to create saltpetre and dung bricks.
Dung bricks can be created in kilns from dung and hay. Dung bricks are a reliable form of fuel.

Quality of Life Improvements:

Greek fire oil is now ignitable during the rain.
Water barrels can now spill water manually by settlers via barrel selection and choosing Open in the bottom right corner.
Fire spreading at the start received some balancing (we slowed it down).
Minor UI adjustments and text improvements.
Well will now show a block sign if built at a wrong place. It needs to have its middle part over water or in shallow water to be a viable source of water for filling barrels. We’ll work on this more.
Dung has an effect on certain people - dainty and precious perks are affected by the smell of dung and are unhappy when around it.
We’ve changed the chances for destruction of traps a bit. Stick trap has 4% chance to be destroyed, wood 3% and metal trap has 1% chance to get destroyed when activated. Fire traps have a 100% chance to get destroyed when activated.
Settler on fire will flash red.
Heat damage related info is moved to the Info tab in the building bottom right panel.

Alcohol need has been demoted a bit:

Alcohol is no longer visible in the UI in settlers Stats.
Low alcohol does not have negative mood effects anymore, unless a settler has certain perks that are about alcohol use.
Wording has been changed so that it's obvious it's about drinking booze and not water to avoid the confusion that settlers need to drink water.

Bugs and Fixes:

Fixed several crash occurrences.
Fixed the issue that prevented temperature from working as intended.
Fixed the issue where a weapon used in a defense wouldn’t flash red when taking a hit.
Fixed the issue with missing Job related Skills.
Fixed the issue where rope wasn’t visible during prisoner escorting action.
Fixed the issue that prevented ladder placement directly below well center position.
Fixed the issue where a cannibal would be disgusted by being around a human leather.
Fixed the issue where a bolt had an arrow texture instead of bolt texture.
Fixed the issue where water would be shown during the barrel construction.

Known issues:

Well has no visual indicator of the bucket going up and down, but it works.
Burnt trees can be selected by clicking in the air above them.
Barrels don't freeze in winter. We plan to implement that.
Barrels don't fill faster when under the edges of the roof yet.
Taking water out of a lake via a well (or by hand) will not cause that lake to lose its water mass.
Burnt trees can be selected by clicking in the air above them.
Underground water is planned on new game maps but is not yet implemented.
Oil blob placement still needs some polish.
Water is seen in barrels during barrel construction.
Animals caught in fire and fire traps just stand there and never run out of the flames.
If your settlers are experiencing weird animations with some actions, be sure to turn off V-sync and cap the game's FPS in the game's options. Cap it to 60fps. If the issue persists, cap it at 30.
Assigned Pets don't sleep with owners.
Some text keys are still not translated.
Player-triggered events don't have sound effects
Settlers will not refuel torches if there is no floor/ground beneath them.
Settlers will not choose the closest production building (if there are more of the same type), but the one that has a production set first in the global list of productions.

Dec 5, 2024

Experimental Branch Update (0.22.1)

Going Medieval - SeVerin

Greetings medievalists!

Update (0.22.1) is now live on the experimental branch. It is compatible with the old saves. Once it is properly tested, we will push it live in the official update! Here are the notes for what awaits you in this version:

Fire System

A fire system has been added to the game. Flames spread from thing to thing in the game and as the flame appears on that thing, it will take down its HP. If that HP is depleted and destroyed, so will the flame disappear (if nothing else exists on that tile to keep burning). A single flame starts small and grows slowly as it consumes the HP of the thing it's destroying.

Here are important notes about the fire system:

Flammability is an attribute of all objects (e.g., grass, vegetation, buildings, people, animals, resources). It determines the likelihood of catching fire and how quickly the object loses HP while burning. For example, a pile of hay has high flammability, whereas a brick floor has zero flammability.
Animals & humans can catch on fire (determined by the clothing and armor they are wearing). When on fire, they will slowly sustain burn wounds and spread the fire wherever they go.
The wetness system in the game reduces flammability. The wetter an object is, the lower its flammability, making it impossible to catch fire.
Fire emits significant heat, causing nearby vegetation to die, snow to melt, and wetness to evaporate.
Fire can cause a heat-related health issue to the settlers where they faint.
Rain and snow extinguish fires.
Settlers will automatically extinguish fires if their "Firefight" job is enabled in their job panel. They can fight fire in two ways: For small flames nearby, they’ll stomp them out without needing additional resources. For larger flames, they will fetch water from any water source (or from a Well, a new structure—more on that later) and use it to extinguish the fire, leaving wetness behind. This method is more effective for larger fires.
Buildings get damaged by high temperatures, so high temperatures will damage things like limestone walls and whatnot. The temperature threshold for damaging structures is low and not realistic, but in a gameplay sense, we chose to use these lower temperature thresholds to make fire a bit more dangerous. That means making structures out of different materials is not a full proof defense against fires.

Combat with fire

Both enemies and your settlers can utilize fire in combat. Here is how:
Fire arrows usage - Any flame source (e.g., braziers, torches) can enable the use of fire arrows. Drafted archers will see a "Use Fire Arrows" option next to the Attack command. Once activated, if they are standing near a flame source, a fire arrow icon will appear above them, indicating they can shoot fire arrows instead of regular ones.
Fire arrows spawn a small flame at the point of impact.
Fire arrows have lower precision and deal less damage than regular arrows.
Only Short bow, Longbow, Warbow and Curved Bow can use fire arrows.
Enemies can set structures on fire during their attacks, including furniture and production buildings. Raiders be evil like that!
Fire traps release oil within a certain radius when triggered, which will also instantly ignite.
Fire arrows landing on oil will ignite it.

Speaking of oil…

Flammable Oil

Flammable oil is a resource that you can produce and use as a trap against enemies.
Flammable oil is created in the Oil press (new building), with Coal and Oil Source (like tallow).
You can order settlers to spill oil on tiles making them extremely flammable and when the oil is ignited (with a fire arrow) it will spread super fast from oil tile to oil tile making a nice stronghold-esque fire trap. ːsteamhappyː
We also added a separate type of fire called Greek fire (at the moment it’s green in the game like the wildfire from Game of Thrones). This fire type can burn underwater and in the rain. It does not spread as Greek fire but spawns regular fire around it. It's just a stronger version of fire.
Greek fire oil can also be created in the Oil press, but you will need Flammable Oil, Saltpeter and Quicklime (more on those later). Greek fire oil behaves the same as regular oil, but with the green fire that can't be extinguished easily.

Additional Fire Facts:

Trees when burning can have the canopy burning.
During summer heatwaves, bushes in the wild have a chance to catch fire randomly.

Water & Fire Management

As mentioned, settlers with a Firefighter job will go and extinguish the fire. For bigger flames, they’ll need water. Here is how that will go:

Settlers can fetch water from rivers or lakes at any accessible point.
You can construct a Well (a new structure) over a water source. Settlers will prioritize fetching water from the Well, giving you better control over water usage.
Water can be stockpiled in barrels (new structures). There are two sizes: small and large. Barrels act as water sources during fires. Additionally, when barrels are exposed to fire, they have built-in rope and wax systems that melt and release the stored water, creating an automatic extinguishing mechanism.

Combat Changes

We’ve also added a lot of minor and major changes to the combat that will enrich the whole fighting experience, especially once the updates #15 and #16 come out. What you need to know now is:

Multiple Drafted Stances

Until now, settlers behaved quite simply when drafted. We’ve now introduced two stance types for players to choose from when drafting a settler for battle.

The new stances are Default and Hold Ground:

Default: This is the same as before—settlers will engage in combat when an enemy enters their line of sight.
Hold Ground: Settlers will ignore everything around them and engage in combat only when directly attacked.

Shield Changes

Shields have gone through a bit of a change to make fighting overall more interesting and dynamic.

Shield cover percentage is now divided into ranged cover and melee cover, meaning shields differ in how much protection they offer against different types of attacks. For example, the buckler shield has a lower ranged cover than other shields but offers excellent melee cover.
Shields now have a cover angle. Shooting a shielded enemy form behind will result in a direct hit.
People with shields will automatically turn towards their attackers (even if they are receiving ranged attacks).
During a melee attack animation, ranged cover is briefly reduced—because who’s holding a perfect block mid-swing?
Raised shields as an animation has been added. Now, people raise their shields when in combat or attacked.
Any weapon can now act as a shield, with its own cover values. Yes, this means a melee fighter can block arrows with their weapon, and an archer can block melee strikes with their bow!
We’ve added sparks and VFX when a shield receives a hit. Shield will also turn red and flash a bit when hit, thus indicating that the shield has taken damage and not the human.

Alternative Attack Mode

Each weapon can have an alternative animation, damage and ruleset depending if the combat is ranged or melee.

If an archer is attacked he/she will use the bow as a staff and fight with it like that instead of using bare hands like they do now.

Training Settlers [Community Request]

This has been one of the most requested features after the water, and we thought that this is the perfect time to introduce it.

Archery Range and Practice Dummy are new buildings where setters can level up their ranged and melee skills.
Settlers have a new “Train” job that will make them go to those stations to get some sweet XP;
To use the station, settlers will need to bring assets there - Practice Target to Archery Range and Dummy to Practice Dummy station. Once they bring it, the training (in a form of production) will start.

New Structures

Oil Press (Oil Press in the Research window, appears in the Production category) - used for creating Flammable Oil and Flammable Greek Fire Oil.
Oil Splash (Oil Press in the Research window, Appears in Warfare category) - these are created with flammable oil. Combine it with fire arrows for utter chaos.
Fire Trap (Defensive Structures 4 in the Research window, appears in the Warfare category) - when activated, it spills oil and ignites it.
Small & Large Water Barrel (Barrels in the Research window, appears in the Misc category) - used for placing water and controlling fire.
Well (Appears in the Base building category) - used as a control point from where the water will be taken from.
Saltpetre Work (Chemistry 2 in the Research window, appears in the Production category) - used for making saltpeter.
Archery Range (Combat Training Equipment in the Research window, appears in the Leisure category) - used for improving Marksman skill of your settler.
Practice Dummy (Combat Training Equipment in the Research window, appears in the Leisure category) - used for improving Melee skill of your settler.

New Items

Flammable Oil (Created at the Oil Press) - can be used as a resource for various oil related things.
Quicklime (Created at Kiln) - used as a resource for making Greek Fire.
Saltpeter (Created at Saltpetre Works) - used as a resource for making Greek Fire.
Greek Oil (Created at the Oil Press) - advanced version of the regular oil. More durable and stronger.
Practice Target (Created at Woodwork Bench and/or Bowyer’s Table) - used as a resource for Archery Range.
Dummy (Created at Sewing Station) - used as a resource for Practice Dummy.
Quality of Life Improvements
Ranged weapons now have different projectiles. Now, crossbows shoot bolts and not arrows (what a time to be alive).
Projectiles now have an arc to them. It's just a visual thing (the projectile won't be stuck in the ceiling or anything) just gives some nice visual flavor. This also means that bolts have the smallest arc.
Sweet fire visuals on arrows (note, all projectiles have the visuals. If you change the json files so that let's say a sling can use fire projectiles, it will work).

Known issues

Fire spreading control has been added to custom options but it still doesn’t work.
The temperature currently doesn't work as intended. Please note that rooms will not be heated as intended and this may create issues in gameplay. We will be fixing this ASAP, but be warned.
Well has no indicator if it is working or not. You just don't know at the moment. It needs to have its middle part over water or in shallow water to be a viable source of water for filling barrels.
Well has no visual indicator of the bucket going up and down.
Barrels spill their water only when destroyed. It’s missing manual control.
Barrels don't freeze in winter. We plan to implement that. :)
Barrels don't fill faster when under the edges of the roof yet.
Taking water out of a lake via a well (or by hand) will not cause that lake to lose its water mass.
Burnt trees can be selected by clicking in the air above them.
Underground water is planned on new game maps but is not yet implemented.
Oil blob placement still needs some polish.
Water is seen in barrels during barrel construction.
Animals caught in fire and fire traps just stand there and never run out of the flames.

If your settlers are experiencing weird animations with some actions, be sure to turn off V-sync and cap the game's FPS in the game's options. Cap it to 60fps. If the issue persists, cap it at 30.
Assigned Pets don't sleep with owners.
Some items are missing icons and localization values.
Player-triggered events don't have sound effects
Settlers will not refuel torches if there is no floor/ground beneath them.
Settlers will not choose the closest production building (if there are more of the same type), but the one that has a production set first in the global list of productions.

Disable Mods if you have issues with loading the game

Please note: if you are using mods you might experience crashes or even an inability to start the game. If you are having these issues, turn the mods off before starting the game.

That’ll be all for the update notes. New patches and improvements will be deployed accordingly. As always, use F10 and/or the experimental bug subforum for reporting experimental issues. If you want more dynamic/direct communication - head over to our Discord server. Even though we might not reply, we are reading everything. Thank you!

DISCLAIMERS:
⚠️ We decided to keep Dev version of the game on the experimental branch, and that means that a Dev log with red text will appear from time to time. This will help us get more info from your side when crashes and bug reports occur.
⚠️ Also, at the moment, the experimental and the main branch are very different. You should not play saves from the experimental branch on the main one as it can cause various bugs - please avoid doing this.

Foxy Voxel

Dec 2, 2024

Medieval Monday Talk #55 - Kindled Strikes

Going Medieval - SeVerin

Greetings, medievalists!

We’re still on the fiery topic, but this time, let’s talk about how you can use fire in combat. The most obvious choice? Fire arrows. Any flame source (braziers, torches, etc.) can ignite fire arrows. An archer will have ignited arrow order next to the attack order, which upon selecting, will spawn a fire arrow when settlers stand next to the flame source. These incendiary arrows are not as precise and do less damage. However, they spawn a small flame wherever they land. Keep that in mind if you’re fighting enemies indoors. And if you hit an enemy with a fire arrow… Well, prepare for some chaos.

Only regular bows - short bow, longbow, and war bow - can use fire arrows. Unfortunately, other weapons can’t be set ablaze. No fire swords here, unfortunately, but maybe you’ll want to revisit that idea with the modding v2 that is coming in the Update #16.

Fire shenanigans will not stop there - we’re going to introduce flammable oil. Flammable oil is a resource that you’ll be able to produce within the Oil Press building, and you will be able to use it in a couple of ways. You can spill oil on tiles and make them extremely flammable. Then, proceed with an archer and ignite the oil with a fire arrow. Witness super fast spreading of fire from oil tile to oil tile, making a nice stronghold-esque fire trap. Pretty cool, right?

We plan to introduce oil jug traps that, when triggered, will spill oil in a radius and ignite it.

But let’s take all this a bit further.

We’re also adding Greek fire oil and Greek fire. Invented by Byzantines, Greek fire was a fearsome weapon. It had the ability to keep burning while on water. As such, it was often used in naval battles. The creation of it was a closely guarded secret and its knowledge was thought to be lost. But not to settlers of Going Medieval (we took some creative liberties here and totally made this up), as they’ll be able to upgrade fire oil into greek fire oil with saltpeter and quicklime. Here is our logic for that.

Quicklime, or calcium oxide (CaO), will be created at kilns. Quicklime reacts with water in an exothermic reaction, producing slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)₂) and releasing a significant amount of heat. Saltpeter is a common name for potassium nitrate (KNO₃), a naturally occurring mineral and chemical compound. It acts as an oxidizer to fuel the combustion of pyrotechnic mixtures. We’ll be introducing Saltpetre works as a building for producing saltpeter. So, with our logic, it makes sense to bind those things with oil to create Greek fire. (Also, we can use saltpeter and quicklime for other stuff in the future (who said gunpowder?).)

Greek fire in our game is green, but besides that, the functionality is the same. It’s a stronger version of fire that can burn underwater and in the rain. It will not spread as greek fire, but will spawn regular fire around it. Greek oil can be used with fire in the same way as regular oil does, but do remember that Greek fire is not easily extinguished.

What does this mean for enemies? For now, we’ll start simple - enemies will be able to set fire to structures that they are attacking. We’ll revisit this once their AI gets upgraded, but don’t take this ability lightly. Imagine an enemy going through a library and getting a sudden urge to burn a nearby research table. And the library is made of wood and that starts a chain reaction and… oh no… You get the point.

So how about that? What are your thoughts on these fire shenanigans? Do you already have some specific scenario in mind that you want to test? Write it in the comments.

And one more thing - we've partnered with one of our biggest inspirations. The game that gave birth to a genre, the one with the most intricate simulation of a world - Dwarf Fortress. If you are still thinking about buying Going Medieval, maybe Fortress Friends bundle is what you want to get as it features Going Medieval & Dwarf Fortress at a discounted price.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/47697/Fortress_Friends/

Next week we’ll talk about long awaited training buildings and other interesting upgrades. Until then…

Stay medieval!

Foxy Voxel

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