Hi all,
This will be a bit “heady”, but here goes. I just want to say I’m enjoying the hell out of this game. I have my Permaculture Design Certificate and I’m about to receive my Masters in Sustainable Management. I love the interplay between systems, balancing supply and demand, growth considerations, limiting factors, pest/disease management, etc. There’s a richness to this game that I truly appreciate, and feel like sustainable growth is rewarded.
I hope to see more dynamic interaction with human development and the (often negative) impacts on natural systems. Being able to work with nature instead of against it is a rarity in these types of games, and I hope the devs lean into that. There’s so much opportunity to teach players core components of sustainable development that can be applied to the real world, and I applaud the devs for this type of inclusivity. I like getting to a point where I’ve achieved self-sufficiency in the community and enjoy the zen-like hum of production and consumption. Not every playthrough has to be a rush to the highest pop count; respect when limiting factors stall your growth, and realize many communities in the world today are experiencing these types of issues.
Stone
It would be cool/nice/useful to see some stone resources recovered when clearing new/young fields. I’ve gotten to 600 pops and have one remaining (fairly large) stone pillar to extract from, but I’ve been purchasing stone a lot since year ~25. With the amount of clearing required for most fields, it would be a nice (albeit small) addition to stone collection, especially in the early-to-mid game. Each time your farmers are clearing, they could set stone to the side of the farm for laborers to gather.
Forestry/Regenerative Agriculture
I’d really like to see a forester profession that can propagate and maintain softwoods and hardwoods for industry. Many of these species are already in the game, and being able to specialize on planting softwoods for fast production (~2-5 year timetable) for log, firewood, and mulch uses (mulch could be used for weed suppression, water retention, pathways to reduce compaction, etc.). Hardwoods (Oak, Alder, Beech, Maple, etc.) could have longer timetable and more specialized use, like upgrading homes or to be used in timber frame construction for larger structures (barns for instance).
By implementing something like this, you could have certain areas of softwoods set up for work camps for sustainable log production. Additionally, natural succession should be taking place from dense forests pushing out. With succession, softwoods and shrub layer appear along ecotypes (transition between two biological communities, commonly known as “fringe”) that establish over 2-5 years. Left undisturbed, the young forest establishes a stronger fungal network, which accelerates nutrient cycling of decaying plant material along with primary decomposers. As the forest works towards climax community (irl this usually takes 70-100 years), softwoods die back and hardwoods emerge. Mushrooms (fungal network) spread and become more abundant/diverse, which could and should develop in-game. This is a very important concept in fruit tree management, since fruit trees prefer fungal-dominant soils (another mechanic I would love to see). The interactions between systems already present in-game should influence how the natural environment attempts to reach equilibrium. If we clear cut the forest up to a certain point, the resources should adapt to these pressures. Habitat loss/fragmentation should absolutely be a consideration.
Having “boom and bust cycle” years would be a nice addition to natural systems. For instance, there are certain species of insects that have massive population growth one year out of every seven, nine, twelve, etc. (whatever it may be for that species). This is also true of tree species and their nut production. Being able to plant nut trees would be a great integration to make things like acorn flour, walnuts, etc. for more controlled production. Foragers could save some of the seed/nut for cultivation use.
"In New Hampshire, oak mast (masticate) follows a boom or bust cycle, which means the amount of acorns varies from year to year. Over time, evolution has favored the oak trees that demonstrate this boom or bust cycle. This keeps seed consumers off balance and that’s actually a good thing. If there were the same amount of acorns every year, there would be just enough squirrels and mice and turkeys and deer to consume every single acorn. However, by producing very few acorns for a couple of years running, they starve-off the animals and the populations of seed predators crash. Then, the oak has a boom year and there aren’t enough seed-eating animals to eat them all. This allows at least some acorns to sprout and become trees (https://forestsociety.org/something-wild/boom-and-bust-cycles-forest)."
Water
Water resources should be a key consideration in developing a community. Map generation should include rivers, creeks, springs, etc. Upstream/downstream pollution or contamination of surface and groundwater could be an interesting and realistic challenge. For instance, if you have a foundry upstream of your community, the slag and effluent will inevitably find its way into the watershed. This is known as “point-source pollution” and while this concept may not have been known then, many communities placed tanneries, wastewater, etc. at the downstream section of a community so that incoming water was potable. Additionally, well contamination historically played a very important (negative) role in the spread of diseases and bacteria like E-coli. Planting willow and other shrubs help filter water, which could be implemented pretty easily around wells to help mitigate contaminants entering. River systems were also incredibly important for trade networks, and having small river ports could open up more possibility for trade partnerships.
I know this is a long post, but I hope the devs consider them. I’m happy to expand upon any of these topics for anyone interested.