Blog (lucky) number 13

Hi explorers, Welcome to a new blogpost. Sorry for the delay (this was suppose to go up at the end of march).
The main theme of this blog is increasing player agency. Games are a uniquely interactive medium, giving players the ability to influence what happens rather than simply observe it. With that in mind, we took a closer look at player choice and freedom at the core of the gameplay loop. As a result, we’ve reworked several existing features to better support giving you, the player, more agency over your experience.

But first! Respect your elders.

We’ve given the tutorial in Towns of Yore an update!In the past, we experimented with different approaches, but one method stood out as the most intuitive: the “designated tutorial Eylander”. It worked great… until your island became absolutely packed with Eylanders. Then suddenly, finding that one helpful face turned into a bit of a challenge. So, we came up with an adorable solution: the Wise Elder Eylander! Don’t worry he’s not a boss battle (phew). 

Instead, he’s a kind old Eylander with a magnificent mustache and a lifetime of stories. He’s seen more of the world than most and carries the knowledge and experience to guide you on your journey. He remembers the artisans, their roles, and the powers they bring to your growing settlement.So when you crash-land on the island, make your way over to this wise friend and have a chat. He’ll help you get started on your adventure in no time!

Changes to increase agency

Choose happiness

If you’ve been following our previous blogs (and if you have, thank you!), you might remember this feature has gone back and forth quite a bit. It’s been a bit of a design ping-pong as we figured out what feels best and, more importantly, what’s the most fun for you as a player.Previously, collecting happiness sparkles would fill up a meter in the top-right corner of your screen. Once that meter was full, you’d level up by reaching a happiness milestone. Or, as we liked to call it, a smilestone (we stand by that one).These milestones would unlock new features, like wishstones to expand your island. But! We wanted to give you more control over how you grow your island.So happiness has been reworked. Instead of filling up a fixed meter, it’s now collected as points that you can spend on upgrades. And here’s a little secret for you: some artisan-related upgrades now require more than just happiness. You’ll also need to explore and discover special items hidden throughout the environment… Adventure is out there! We also focussed on our 'Happiness mechanic' and it just got a whole lot more alive.

Instead of happiness being just a number in the corner of the screen, it now physically manifests in the world. When an Eylander is pleased, they emit little happiness sparks. You can literally run around, pick them up, and watch your happiness meter fill. It’s more visual, more playful, and way more satisfying.

Buying power

We’ve also given the trading workstations a proper rework. Each one now has a clearer purpose, and buying items has been shifted more toward the late game. Alongside that, runestones have been simplified; they’re now purely for creating decorations and no longer required for essential gameplay progression. This should make building, decorating and experimenting feel a lot more flexible.

Hitting the books

The research tree has seen a big overhaul as well. It’s now much more free-form, and you can preview everything; even the things you haven’t unlocked yet. This gives you a better sense of what’s ahead and just how much there is to discover. On top of that, we’ve made several UX improvements to make everything feel smoother and more intuitive to navigate.But to still give you a little guidance: there will be a pop up warning when you want to unlock something that you have no current use for (but who are we to stop you, if you want to, you can still do it!)

Fixture reveal!

Last but not least. We teased neighborhood fixtures last week. This week we wanted to show you some visuals to go along with it! As a little reminder: fixtures can be placed by you or by the Eylanders themselves to increase cozyness and liveliness in the neighborhood!

Thank you for having an interest in Towns of Yore

You’ve made it to the end of another blog post! We truly appreciate you taking the time to read it, and we love creating these updates to keep you informed and involved in our development journey.

It would really help us if you could wishlist the game: Click here

Want to be more involved in the process? And... psssttt... be one of our playtesters? Join the discord! Click here

Have a great day!
The Yvora team