I have been enjoying playing on the large map by adding small villages in the countryside surrounding my capital city. These villages specialize in producing something for the region, such as crops, cheese, clay, wood, etc. It is fun to see commerce traveling back and forth between villages and the capital, and to develop each village individually as they become increasingly vital contributors to the regional economy.
While it already works pretty well, I think a few tweaks would make this playstyle even more accessible.
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Horses | The biggest issue is getting soldiers out to marched out before an entire village is destroyed by a raid. It would be fun they could be put on horseback, so you could see them riding to the rescue. It would also be neat if certain commoners could utilize horses that I provide to transport goods as well.
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Second Town Hall | or something similar. This would make the villages feel more official and would provide an early form of defense. This could be an idea for churches as well. If villagers aren’t shooting from them at least they could barricade themselves inside if there is danger (shelters get destroyed pretty quickly in raids).
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Pathing improvements | I notice that villagers will start heading to a destination and then drop whatever they are carrying when they decide they need to fulfill some other need. Roads can often be littered with such goods waiting for someone else to get them. Perhaps if villagers didn’t embark on a task unless they knew they would be able to fulfill it, this wouldn’t be an issue
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Inns | With respect to the problem above, I have been placing work camps in villages to give them a place to rest and get food while they are visiting. It would be more fun if these were Inns that could maybe serve beer and entertainment like a pub, but also offer travelers a place to rest. These especially would allow my settlements to be placed at further distances, as inns could be placed alongside a farm on the way to the next village.
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Improved Logistics | Setting storage caps for different storage facilities will be very helpful. In addition, if wagons could be used to move goods over long distances, that would be a lot of fun.
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Bandits | Forgive me a bit of theory crafting here, but I also think it would be a fun challenge to have to protect my roads from bandits, especially along roads where a lot of high-value goods are transported. Being able to set guards to patrol roads or escort wagons would be kinda epic.
All just food for thought! I’m having already having blast with the game as it stands. Thanks team!