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Boyleste, my first settlement

Started by Kaldir, May 18, 2014, 05:32:52 AM

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Kaldir

Preface

I bought Banished the day it was released, because it sounded promissing and intriguing. And because it was made by just one man which I wanted to endorse. When I finally found time to play two months later, I did so without reading anything beforehand, just played the tutorial. When looking at the building options, I thought the school to be some advance building for bigger settlements and I didn't understand what a market did and just ignored it. I clustered all my houses cosily together and put all those forest-needing buildings far away.
No need to say that my first few tries failed miserably. I never had enough people to fill all the food jobs needed and as such never bothered building a blacksmith or tailor either, which was pretty much deadly. After thoroughly reading the help, I tried again. That particular little town grew to just over 100 people and did me proud, just before collapsing into a spiral of starvation. It ended with 6 people, all male.

I then had the luck (?) of falling ill, which made me unable to sit at the computer for almost two weeks. This illness condemned me to couch potatoing with my iPad. I read a large part of the official Banished forum and gained a lot of insight from the lots of you. What follows below is my first attempt at Banished after that.


http://i.imgur.com/oGa7NZC.png

Kaldir

#1
Settling down

A small group of people found themselves in a clearing in the woods, next to a cart loaded with potatoes, some tools, coats and a bit of firewood. How they got there or where they came from, no one knew. All they knew was their names, and those were weird enough. Lead by the eldest couple, Ninnifred and Weave, they scouted the area, bemused by all the stones and iron scattered around. After days of mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes and potato soup, Nett looked longingly at the fish in the river to the east. A wider variety in food was surely needed. It was however decided to build a cluster of huts for gathering plants, hunting the various land animals and a foresters lodge. Four houses, one for every couple, would be build next to them to shelter from the frequent rain and winters to come. And thus the settlement of Boyleste was founded, a weird name fitting their own.

http://i.imgur.com/x2zjagN.jpg


With all the different kinds of food, and still that tempting fish-filled river near, a market was built direct south of the current houses. A couple more houses for the soon grown kids, a woodcutter, blacksmith and school were build. Weave insisted on a tailor, so that was added as well. To keep Nett happy, a fishing dock was planned as well, but not built yet.

http://i.imgur.com/4VqiTD4.jpg


Over the next few years, Boyleste grew bigger. A town hall was built on a square south of the market, where a chapel, hospital and tavern were also planned. A trading post was built, with promisses of farming seeds from far away lands. Farmland was cleared just in case. An extra forest cluster in the west and always more houses. Concern was raised over the amount of forest that was cleared for all the new buildings. To compensate a little, a forester took up residence in town. With the original founders getting older fast, a cemetery was also created. And Nett finally got her fish.

http://i.imgur.com/cDWhe6a.jpg


The other side

The grass at the other side of the river looked greener, and a bridge was built to investigate. Good flat land was found, and expansion was planned. Some of the founders remembered childhood stories about others before them, banished to the wilderness, starving to death from lack of food distribution. Whether the stories were true or not, they did not know. However, it was decided that in Boyleste markets would be plentiful and well staffed, and every house would be within reach of one. And thus a market was built, surrounded by houses and an extra school, but most importantly plenty of farms (trader had brought bean seeds) and in the forest south huts for gatherer and hunters. This new district of Boyleste was named Riverside, and the old part of town was usually referred to as Foundation District.

http://i.imgur.com/lYkmncc.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ajXqeti.jpg
the building of the Riverside forest hub


The trading post was visited regularly by various traders, who soon enough carried different seeds. A second trading post was built in Riverside which had an immediate succes when sheep were brought in. Farming really took off and all were happy with the varied diet. Even Nett appreciated some beans with her fish now and then.

Food was always available in Boyleste, but somehow they never managed to get more than a year of reserves. Every time a new farm was built, the townfolk insisted on a house next to it and some young couple would jump in, soon to be surrounded by toddlers. And so with more food came more mouths to feed.

http://i.imgur.com/E0BRKZW.jpg

Kaldir

#2
Heavy Traffic

Traffic was increasing on the roads of Boyleste. With the opening of the mine north of Riverside, the opening of the second trading post and the increase in farming, there was one roadcrossing were you were at great risk of being overrun by vendor carts of crushed by rocks transported from the mine. But before someone went crazy and would have to be banished and before the weak hearted were in true danger, a clever invention surfaced: the Riverside Roundabout.

http://i.imgur.com/PFVJaF2.png

http://i.imgur.com/ZjpX57Z.jpg
extra bridges were built to help with the increased traffic


Big and bigger

The constant pressure for more housing for young adults made the citizens of Boyleste look for another expansion site. The flat area of Riverside was filled, but behind some hills in the north east was a good spot, scattered with many stones. Tunneling commenced, while brave laborers already went over the hills to gather the stones on temporary stock piles.

Within years, the district of Over Hill grew into a self sufficient farming community, with it's own chapel, tavern and school. By now, traders had delivered many different seeds for fields and orchards, and a pasture was created just in case more livestock could be bought.

http://i.imgur.com/CD1LLyg.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/oXdjJ1u.jpg


Not long after Over Hill was founded, another scouting round for flat terrain was done. A large area north of town came in view, but was somewhat far from current buildings. An in-between district was needed. Conform policy a market was cramped into the little space available, surrounded by houses, a fishing dock (Nett would have been proud), a school and several bridges and tunnels to connect the other districts. Without a chapel and tavern, most Boylestians considered this district as merely a transit area. An official name was not given, and it was simply known as Fourth District.

http://i.imgur.com/LCDJwY3.jpg


Immediately after building Fourth District, work started on Northern District. A market flanked by a chapel and school, surrounded by large amounts of farmland. A second quarry, a forest hub and a much needed fifth cemetery. And still room for further expansion.

http://i.imgur.com/tfkUunY.jpg


The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

By this time, several milestones were recorded in the town hall, with illustrous names like: Jack of All Trades, Smiles all Around, Foodie, Master Trader, Stylish, Built from Stone and Ready for Anything.

Walking distance from one district to the next was becoming so long people started to get hungry on the road, especially with the Northern District up and running. Stones roads were created to help speed up the poor laborers. But alas...

Forty years after Boyleste was founded, something terrible happened. Teen, who wasn't a teen anymore, starved to death. Near the spot where they found him was a storage barn with loads of fish, but Teen didn't like fish and had tried to get to his fruit-filled house in time, but failed. Death was ofcourse quite common in Boyleste, with five cemeteries to tell, but most were from old age, and the occasionally accident with ladders, aggressive boars and poisonous berries. Even the two or three diseases that happened, didn't cause any deaths. Starvation hadn't happened before, despite the settlement housing almost 400 people now.

http://i.imgur.com/z06sR3D.jpg
traffic up north

Kaldir

#3
Half a century

Almost 50 years after founding, Boyleste was looking pretty good. Health and happiness were high, everyone was educated, clothed and tooled. Food was never in shortage and early deaths were limited. Traders brought plenty of iron and stone to both trading posts, so the quarries and mine were only worked occasionally. The only problems was an unemployment crisis. About a quarter of all adults were laborers or builders, for lack of other work. Well, and it seemed that no one except Nett really cared for fish. More than half of the food storage was fish, with only four fishing docks.

This is where we leave the town. So long, and thanks for all the fish.


http://i.imgur.com/7UB8hxS.png


http://i.imgur.com/UlsfGdx.jpg
Foundation District


http://i.imgur.com/kge8XsI.jpg
Riverside


http://i.imgur.com/UnJIyWQ.jpg
Over Hill


http://i.imgur.com/gx08wnw.jpg
Fourth District


http://i.imgur.com/IglfNsv.jpg
Northern District


http://i.imgur.com/yHP0rxr.jpg

mariesalias

Nice story and pictures! I enjoyed seeing how your town developed!

Kaldir

Quote from: mariesalias on May 19, 2014, 05:08:00 PM
Nice story and pictures! I enjoyed seeing how your town developed!
Thanks!  (sorry for the late reply, missed your post somehow...)