The consumption of salt can be higher.
.. or maybe salt ought to be more expensive, or both.
I've been playing and thinking a little more. I've come to the conclusion, that I should start a new game. Why? It's quite obvious, that all these small, partly new production buildings, more or less belonging to a farm, need another kind of testing. In this game the growth is too fast. Of cause also a larger population, can/should use them, but the great thing, would be to run them in a small settlement with a lot of micromanagement. I can guess, that you have developed something, that make even impatient players like me enjoying "real time aging". Normally, I find it too boring at the beginning. But I am pretty sure, that with all these possibilities, there will be things enough to do, even in a tiny settlement.
So I've downloaded the latest upgrade and will start a new game with "Norsemen".
But before we leave Sigurdo, a couple of thoughts/questions/suggestions.
Farming It's more profitable to farm in a harsh climate, than it was before. Most years give a decent harvest. But occasionally, as I've told you, the harvest might be more or less =0. This makes it interesting and harder to play "harsh". It's important that farming is possible, because with the small trading ports and these merchants, I think it would be very hard to support the population with enough food without farming. In the old version it was not only possible but also easier to buy a lot of food than farm. I can't imagine, that it's like that now.
It also look like, it's more important to have a
balanced diet, than vanilla and I think, even more than it was in earlier versions. I have noticed, that the few people who live far away from the markets are really sick (1 hart), even with enough herbs and herbalists. I don't know, how much less productive these people are, but of cause it's less than those with 5 stars. Are there any other disadvantages with unhealthy people?
Pumpkins? Why on earth can they grow pumpkins and not potatoes? As far as I know, they are both American plants, that came to Europe relatively late. Even if the vikings travelled to America, I don't think they brought any pumpkin seeds.
Herbs as crop! I don't mind, that herbs could be grown on fields, but I find that the productivity/price isn't right. You harvest about the same amount of herbs on a field as other crops. Maybe a little less than turnips and barely but more than rye. But the prize, if you sell it, is about double; 6 or 8 depending on the merchant. So you can theoretically grow herbs, sell it and get around the double amount of vegetables/grain trading it away. It's not bad, that herbs have a higher prize, than normal crops. I would reduce the growth.
The farmers workplace. You can grind rye. That's nice. But what about wheat (and maybe other grains you can buy)? As far as I can understand, wheat can't be eaten without processing. So you can buy wheat right from the start, but you have no possibility to eat it, before you can afford to build a proper mill. I don't like that. I'm not sure, what I think about needing 4 wool for one wool coat. Unless you have a big herd of sheep, you will not be able to make many wool coats. But on the other hand, there's a lot of work, several steps, needed to make clothes from wool. If you see it that way, it's OK.
Processing meat. If my notes are right, it's more profitable to salt meat than roast or dry. That's good. But as far as I see, there's no difference between roasting and drying. Maybe drying ought to be a little more profitable than roasting.
Fishing I would like fish to be an important part of the economy. It was historically; a lot of fish eaten, dried and salted fish sold. You are right
@Tom Sawyer, that the output for one fisher isn't bad, but I would like, that it could be possible to use 2 fisher on each pier. It would also give the pier an advantage over the small instant fisher. You can't see how much fish you get now, but if the output isn't changes from earlier versions, a good located trout fisher could give 300 fish as well. (if I remember right).
Merchants I think I like these merchants, with their mixed goods and different prices for the small ports. The way the game has developed, it looks like, trade has lost a part of its importance. Of cause you need to buy some initial "stuff";seeds, animals, bricks, rooftiles, glass. Merchants who carry these things, don't come very often. It may be alright, because later you will never need these things, but I find, that it should be possible to order these things by more merchants. Now I guess, that the game doesn't allow this "perfect world". So what is better; a lot of "useless stuff" later or wait for the right things longer?
Later in the game I bought mainly salt and sugar; typical import goods. It's good to be able to sell some surplus and collect a few coins/gold/silver, so you can buy some "emergency goods"; food after a cold summer or to get a balanced diet before you have all seeds, ore/iron/tools if there's not enough ore on the ground close to your settlement, before you can afford to run a mine..... And these things work the way it is.
But if you want to start some industrial production to support the settlement with food, I'm pretty sure, that these docks are too small. And if the same merchants arrive to a large port, I think there's too few of them, who pay a higher price for products like tools, clothing, alcohol, and logs (profitable goods in earlier versions). I donīt know if they are the same, because I didnīt build any large ports. But it would maybe be a possibility to allow us to build larger industrial settlements as well , if other merchants, similar to the last version of the North arrived to the larger ports.
SUMMARY: I like most of the changes. The attempt to direct the gameplay is very interesting. (if you understand what I mean)
