That chill in the air is more than just cooler weather. As the season turns and leaves fall (or were they pushed?), the night brings a feeling that perhaps something isn't quite right. A prickling on the back of your neck... a noise behind that berry bush... a shadow cast where shadows should not be. It must be the season of Candledark.

Stonehearth's oldest seasonal celebration -- Candledark -- returns! This year's incarnation -- The Return of the Return of Candledark (aka Candledark III) was created by community modder Froggy and is a ghoulish celebration for our players.

Check out the details, how to get the mod, and experience Candledark here:

http://www.stonehearth.net/eek-candledark-is-upon-us-again/

Don't blink.

That chill in the air is more than just cooler weather. As the season turns and leaves fall (or were they pushed?), the night brings a feeling that perhaps something isn't quite right. A prickling on the back of your neck... a noise behind that berry bush... a shadow cast where shadows should not be. It must be the season of Candledark.

Stonehearth's oldest seasonal celebration -- Candledark -- returns! This year's incarnation -- The Return of the Return of Candledark (aka Candledark III) was created by community modder Froggy and is a ghoulish celebration for our players.

Check out the details, how to get the mod, and experience Candledark here:

http://www.stonehearth.net/eek-candledark-is-upon-us-again/

Don't blink.

Alpha 19 continues its determined way towards a stable launch!

• Instabuild now destroys the scaffolding on the building.
• Blacksmiths use their own hammer when smithing instead of the worker pickaxe/hammer.
• Added more flavor text for potter recipes.
• Trading Post Monument now requires a Fine Large Crate instead of a Red Park Bench.

• Fix Engineer getting into a bad state after repairing an object
• Fix Rayya's Children tier 2 quest not being initiated properly on older saves
• Fix shepherd not being able to feed animals for a completely fenced off pasture
• Fix turret/traps being incorrectly counted twice when we are moving them
• Fixes for a few issues related to multi-block building
• Fix goblin raids not getting destroyed when the goblin chieftain declares he is moving on

Alpha 19 continues its determined way towards a stable launch!

• Instabuild now destroys the scaffolding on the building.
• Blacksmiths use their own hammer when smithing instead of the worker pickaxe/hammer.
• Added more flavor text for potter recipes.
• Trading Post Monument now requires a Fine Large Crate instead of a Red Park Bench.

• Fix Engineer getting into a bad state after repairing an object
• Fix Rayya's Children tier 2 quest not being initiated properly on older saves
• Fix shepherd not being able to feed animals for a completely fenced off pasture
• Fix turret/traps being incorrectly counted twice when we are moving them
• Fixes for a few issues related to multi-block building
• Fix goblin raids not getting destroyed when the goblin chieftain declares he is moving on

It's the first patch for the still-in-development version of Alpha 19 (available now on our Steam unstable branch).

This release offers several improvements and bugfixes. Plus, see the notes for the stuff we forgot to mention in last week's release... such as, well, scaffolding and ladders are now "free" -- that is, they no longer require wood. We have also disabled (for now) the Militia option -- it really wasn't working as intended and we're developing a better approach.

As always with the release of an unstable version, we ask that you report any issues (or compliments, the team likes compliments) on Discourse or our Steam forums.

• Hearthlings can now fabricate multiple blocks at once, greatly reducing the time it takes to construct buildings!
• Scaffolding and ladders no longer require wood to build! Though less realistic, these are quality of life changes that we believe make building more enjoyable.
• Disabled the Militia tab for now because it was causing bugs and the team did not feel it was a good solution for what it was trying to solve. We would like to come up with something better.
• Landscape scars caused by encounter placement can now be filled in. After finishing the encounter, select the pile of dirt in the scar and press the button to restore the terrain.
• Hearthlings and items no longer disappear from view when in slice mode if they are standing on a structure that is visible. Previously they would disappear from roofs even though the building was visible and potentially starve to death.
• Fixed mining and hearthling pathing visualization for slice and xray modes.

• The official Debugtools mod is now included with the game (but disabled by default). You can enable it using the settings menu in the title screen.
• The custom tab in building templates is now always the last tab.
• Potters will now auto queue clay bricks when building, if auto queue is enabled.
• Herbalists now gain slightly more experience from crafting.

• Fix for strange camera movement when trying to move and rotate the camera at the same time. Rotating the camera using the right mouse button will now have priority over moving the camera
• Fix for Rayya's Children UI not loading correctly
• Temporarily disable the 'simple caravan' trader event because it was causing bugs with reserving items (this is the caravan event that asks for an immediate trade with your settlement). We hope to revisit the entire trading system in the near future, so we should have a better experience for trading in general soon.
• Fix for mining error when connecting mining regions.

It's the first patch for the still-in-development version of Alpha 19 (available now on our Steam unstable branch).

This release offers several improvements and bugfixes. Plus, see the notes for the stuff we forgot to mention in last week's release... such as, well, scaffolding and ladders are now "free" -- that is, they no longer require wood. We have also disabled (for now) the Militia option -- it really wasn't working as intended and we're developing a better approach.

As always with the release of an unstable version, we ask that you report any issues (or compliments, the team likes compliments) on Discourse or our Steam forums.

• Hearthlings can now fabricate multiple blocks at once, greatly reducing the time it takes to construct buildings!
• Scaffolding and ladders no longer require wood to build! Though less realistic, these are quality of life changes that we believe make building more enjoyable.
• Disabled the Militia tab for now because it was causing bugs and the team did not feel it was a good solution for what it was trying to solve. We would like to come up with something better.
• Landscape scars caused by encounter placement can now be filled in. After finishing the encounter, select the pile of dirt in the scar and press the button to restore the terrain.
• Hearthlings and items no longer disappear from view when in slice mode if they are standing on a structure that is visible. Previously they would disappear from roofs even though the building was visible and potentially starve to death.
• Fixed mining and hearthling pathing visualization for slice and xray modes.

• The official Debugtools mod is now included with the game (but disabled by default). You can enable it using the settings menu in the title screen.
• The custom tab in building templates is now always the last tab.
• Potters will now auto queue clay bricks when building, if auto queue is enabled.
• Herbalists now gain slightly more experience from crafting.

• Fix for strange camera movement when trying to move and rotate the camera at the same time. Rotating the camera using the right mouse button will now have priority over moving the camera
• Fix for Rayya's Children UI not loading correctly
• Temporarily disable the 'simple caravan' trader event because it was causing bugs with reserving items (this is the caravan event that asks for an immediate trade with your settlement). We hope to revisit the entire trading system in the near future, so we should have a better experience for trading in general soon.
• Fix for mining error when connecting mining regions.

In which the Rayya’s Children kingdom and the desert biome receive some long-overdue attention.

Welcome to the unstable branch debut of Stonehearth Alpha 19. This release is focused on bringing some much-needed love to the kingdom of Rayya’s Children and their desert biome habitat. In Alpha 17, we introduced the ability to “upgrade” your settlement to Township Status -- provided you can satisfy a challenge provided by a royal herald. This upgrade has been -- until now -- available only for the Ascendancy. With Alpha 19, however, Rayya’s Children matches the Ascendancy in achieving Township awesomeness, in its own unique fashion.

There are (as always!) other notable additions for this release, including the initial steps in new hearthling interactions and our first iteration of a mod manager.

For this first arrival of Alpha 19, we’re going to focus on the big stuff in the release; a more detailed list of features, fixes, and enhancements will follow in the coming weeks.

Naryal Iskender is in the middle of an expedition to visit notable towns. The next printing of the Iskender Map of Hearth is on the horizon -- and your town can be included on the map... if you meet some requirements. Naryal asks whether you want to be put on the map as a place renowned for its Trading Post, Monkey Shrine, or your Exotic Goods. Build a monument to stake your claim for renown -- and achieve Tier Two illustriousness!

When your settlement attains this exclusive tier you will receive a bounty of new goodness, including:

• advanced building templates
• upgraded and enhanced stores
• new traders
• new tier of background music

Wait -- back up a minute. So it says above that a Rayya’s Children town achieving Tier Two status gets “new background music.” But does that mean… YES. Yes, indeed. Rayya’s Children now has its very own soundtrack, courtesy of Raj Mann (and our very own, albeit mysterious, Doug). And not just for Tier Two -- across the board you’ll hear a rich musical tapestry worthy of this desert kindgom. Enjoy!

We’ll be adding still more to Rayya’s Children in the weeks before Alpha 19 gets its stable release. Including (we hope!) more desert-centric beasties as well as some attractive flora. Stay tuned.


Alpha 19 also boasts the introduction of new features in two important areas.

You’ll notice that some hearthlings, in their downtime, now sport speech bubbles -- this is step one in providing more social interaction for your hearthlings. Please note that -- for now! -- the bubbles are empty. This does not mean that your hearthlings are speechless; rather, we’re still considering exactly what form hearthling discussion ought to take. Your thoughts?

Also making its first appearance: The Stonehearth Mod Manager! This is accessed through the Settings menu on the launch screen. You’ll find the Mods tab as an option on the bottom of the Settings menu. Now, you can put all available mods in your mods folder, and use the Mod Manager to enable or disable the one you want (or don’t want) to use. No more pesky dragging mods in and out of the folder… your Mod Manager does the work for you. Also, if you have a mod that isn’t up-to-date, the Mod Manager will prevent you from loading it -- this helps to avoid problems related to outdated mods.We’re planning more for this feature, but we wanted to get it into your hands as soon as we could. Please let us know what you think!

(IMPORTANT NOTE: The Mod Manager is accessible only from the launch screen settings menu. You cannot access it from the in-game settings menu. This is because you’ll need to restart a game if you’ve made changes to your mod configuration; you can’t change the configuration mid-game.)

Finally, we made significant fixes to AI performance to address some idle/brain dead hearthling behaviors, as well as enhancements to further improve performance in large towns.

Of course, we’ll be adding lots more new features, fixes, and improvements to this release in the coming weeks, so for those of you walking the unstable release path, follow along.

Remember that this is an unstable release! Which means that you may -- nay, you will encounter glitches and the unexpected. Please report any issues in Discourse on Stonehearth.net or in our Steam forums. (Hey, that’s what unstable releases are for!) As with all unstable builds, this is available only on the Steam Latest branch.

In which the Rayya’s Children kingdom and the desert biome receive some long-overdue attention.

Welcome to the unstable branch debut of Stonehearth Alpha 19. This release is focused on bringing some much-needed love to the kingdom of Rayya’s Children and their desert biome habitat. In Alpha 17, we introduced the ability to “upgrade” your settlement to Township Status -- provided you can satisfy a challenge provided by a royal herald. This upgrade has been -- until now -- available only for the Ascendancy. With Alpha 19, however, Rayya’s Children matches the Ascendancy in achieving Township awesomeness, in its own unique fashion.

There are (as always!) other notable additions for this release, including the initial steps in new hearthling interactions and our first iteration of a mod manager.

For this first arrival of Alpha 19, we’re going to focus on the big stuff in the release; a more detailed list of features, fixes, and enhancements will follow in the coming weeks.

Naryal Iskender is in the middle of an expedition to visit notable towns. The next printing of the Iskender Map of Hearth is on the horizon -- and your town can be included on the map... if you meet some requirements. Naryal asks whether you want to be put on the map as a place renowned for its Trading Post, Monkey Shrine, or your Exotic Goods. Build a monument to stake your claim for renown -- and achieve Tier Two illustriousness!

When your settlement attains this exclusive tier you will receive a bounty of new goodness, including:

• advanced building templates
• upgraded and enhanced stores
• new traders
• new tier of background music

Wait -- back up a minute. So it says above that a Rayya’s Children town achieving Tier Two status gets “new background music.” But does that mean… YES. Yes, indeed. Rayya’s Children now has its very own soundtrack, courtesy of Raj Mann (and our very own, albeit mysterious, Doug). And not just for Tier Two -- across the board you’ll hear a rich musical tapestry worthy of this desert kindgom. Enjoy!

We’ll be adding still more to Rayya’s Children in the weeks before Alpha 19 gets its stable release. Including (we hope!) more desert-centric beasties as well as some attractive flora. Stay tuned.


Alpha 19 also boasts the introduction of new features in two important areas.

You’ll notice that some hearthlings, in their downtime, now sport speech bubbles -- this is step one in providing more social interaction for your hearthlings. Please note that -- for now! -- the bubbles are empty. This does not mean that your hearthlings are speechless; rather, we’re still considering exactly what form hearthling discussion ought to take. Your thoughts?

Also making its first appearance: The Stonehearth Mod Manager! This is accessed through the Settings menu on the launch screen. You’ll find the Mods tab as an option on the bottom of the Settings menu. Now, you can put all available mods in your mods folder, and use the Mod Manager to enable or disable the one you want (or don’t want) to use. No more pesky dragging mods in and out of the folder… your Mod Manager does the work for you. Also, if you have a mod that isn’t up-to-date, the Mod Manager will prevent you from loading it -- this helps to avoid problems related to outdated mods.We’re planning more for this feature, but we wanted to get it into your hands as soon as we could. Please let us know what you think!

(IMPORTANT NOTE: The Mod Manager is accessible only from the launch screen settings menu. You cannot access it from the in-game settings menu. This is because you’ll need to restart a game if you’ve made changes to your mod configuration; you can’t change the configuration mid-game.)

Finally, we made significant fixes to AI performance to address some idle/brain dead hearthling behaviors, as well as enhancements to further improve performance in large towns.

Of course, we’ll be adding lots more new features, fixes, and improvements to this release in the coming weeks, so for those of you walking the unstable release path, follow along.

Remember that this is an unstable release! Which means that you may -- nay, you will encounter glitches and the unexpected. Please report any issues in Discourse on Stonehearth.net or in our Steam forums. (Hey, that’s what unstable releases are for!) As with all unstable builds, this is available only on the Steam Latest branch.

Just one -- but an important one -- bug fix.
For those waiting, with this release Alpha 18 is also available on Humble as well as Steam.

• Fixed game crash caused by invalid analytics files

Just one -- but an important one -- bug fix.
For those waiting, with this release Alpha 18 is also available on Humble as well as Steam.

• Fixed game crash caused by invalid analytics files