Ideas for Playing the Game Long Term

[A Nonny Moose]

@snapster : 25?  I'm 77, so I think there is a two generation gap between us at least.

[irrelevant]

@snapster : 25?  I'm 77, so I think there is a two generation gap between us at least.

And I'm 58, halfway between, sorta kinda.

[A Nonny Moose]

Interesting demographic spread, eh?

[snapster]

Rarely encountered probably?

Putting down footprints is okay, but paused.

How do you put down a footprint but pause development?

So wait, maybe this is it; we'll like the game more and it will have more longeviy if it is more challenging?

In part, yes. Overcoming challenges gives meaning and is rewarding. At the least challenge needs to be incorporated. More content/depth is also needed.

This is an interesting illustration- http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?topic=541.msg9576#msg9576 .

[irrelevant]

Rarely encountered probably?

Probably

How do you put down a footprint but pause development?

Click the pause button in the lower right corner of the building's panel. Tiny button with a vertical "=" on it.

This is an interesting illustration- http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?topic=541.msg9576#msg9576 .

Yes, I see your point. Now that you've finally made it 

There's a number of things could be done, mostly revolving around trade, which is OP.

• make the boats come less often
• put in a longer delay for increasing the quantities they bring (increases now at pop 75 and 150, change to 150/300 or 250/500)
• halve the TV of firewood and ale
• increase the premium charged by merchants for ordered goods from 25% to 50%, rounded up
• coming up with others wouldn't be hard

[snapster]

Is the building panel accessed by clicking on the blueprint?

Can mods do the things you're suggesting? They should be able to. Might be a good idea to contact one of them modders you know.

[Mahnogard]

@snapster - Though my post that you linked to seems to make your point, it really doesn't. You have to consider two things:

-- A Mountain Man map being boring is an unusual thing - it actually means I did something right, not that something is lacking. Can you see that distinction? Things being quiet enough to basically just wait it out is my reward for doing things properly so far. If everything suddenly went to hell with that town, I would not be happy about it, it would not be "better" in some way for me. That map is specifically to try to get the achievement. I wouldn't be playing that map otherwise. The part of the game I enjoy most is town planning, and with a small map like that one, that part of things is over pretty quickly.

-- The other reason I got bored with it is because there are many new mods I want to try out, and I can't use them on a town that I'm trying to get an achievement with. So I'm drawn to starting a new town instead of playing that one.

Though you'd have no way to know this, using me as an example of "challenge = better" is just not accurate when it comes to Banished. I like a decent balance, but you won't find me installing mods that make things harder. I run a few mods on most of my towns that some would consider cheats. I find my own balance, and choose my own experience. That's why I love moddable games. I'm not restricted to someone else's idea of what a game should be - I can customize it to something that suits me, personally.

(In the case of Banished, I loved it before mods, but it's not like I can rewind my perspective now that there are mods.)

[snapster]

Would planning be enjoyable if there was no prospect of failure or adversity? Would it be enjoyable if many of the [new] buildings don't serve a meaningful function aside from providing nominal variety?

Mods can accommodate you as well as others. I apologize for using you as an example. You also might find yourself installing different mods in the future.

[Mahnogard]

Would planning be enjoyable if there was no prospect of failure or adversity? Would it be enjoyable if many of the [new] buildings don't serve a meaningful function aside from providing nominal variety?

To the first question - sometimes, yes. Hopefully I can explain that. Sometimes, it's about "can I do the town this way and make it work?" - in that case, it is about planning and designing with the goal of maintaining a functional town. There is a "works or doesn't work" component. But other times, it's nothing more than "how pretty can I make the town square?" - there isn't really a failure component there, as I'm probably not doing things that could conflict with overall town functioning or efficiency. In that case, "success" is really only "prettier than last time", there's no case for failing, per se.

Mods can accommodate you as well as others. I apologize for using you as an example. You also might find yourself installing different mods in the future.

It's fine - as I said, you would have no way of knowing any of that because I don't think I've ever spelled it out for anyone before. I do agree that mods can, and should, accommodate all sorts of players, as I stated in my post in the other thread. And I will always be trying new / different mods, no doubt. As it is now, every town I use mods in has a slightly different set of mods from the other towns I've done. I love mods.

I think I've gotten a bit sensitive to the "challenge =  better" line of thinking because it isn't universally true, but in so many gaming communities (and on Steam), I've seen people getting criticized for using certain mods, or playing games a certain way or even playing with a certain difficulty level. With single player games, there's really no justification for "you have to play the game this way or you're doing it wrong". (I'm not talking about when someone installs cheat mods and then complains the game is too easy - that's a whole different thing.)

I'm not saying you've done this, because I don't think you have, it's just something that I've gotten sensitive to and I sometimes respond accordingly.

[snapster]

Yea, I guess accommodation is in fact important. There are people who will enjoy playing with new buildings that only cement or not change their general surpluses, simply adding non-functional variety in strict game terms. Chains, trees, and **** might help here too. Survival or overcoming certain challenges may be beside the point entirely. Just about building different things in different ways, which I can have trouble wrapping my head around.

[solarscreen]

At least for me, these were the stages of game play in Banished and why I continue to play:

1.  Survive
Learning to play the game and understanding its rules well enough to get past:
- The first winter
- the first die off
- the first large nomad acceptance
- the first epidemic
- the sudden threats like tool shortage or food shortage

2.  Skills
Perfecting your understanding of game play so you can push the game to its limits
- See the big challenges we have played here on this forum

3.  Enjoyment
Playing the game to distract your mind for a period of time and enjoy the ability to see success /accomplishment / confirmation of your understanding of the game. 
- Tweaking your previous efforts, playing what ifs, adjusting look and feel for greater satisfaction, and beautifying your creations.

[snapster]

I may have reached a point, 40 hours in, where I'm rinsing and repeating, except I might not even be rinsing. I basically have main clusters around markets comprised of houses, farms, orchards, pastures, and all the buildings necessary like a tailor, blacksmith, school, tavern, etc. along with a quarry and mines. Outside there are the gatherers, foresters, herbalists, and hunters. Where I find wide open areas I'll essentially repeat the main clusters with at least one outside cluster nearby. There are some areas where this can't really be done and who knows what I'll do there, but it doesn't really matter.

And that's it.

[A Nonny Moose]

You may well have reached the point where you want to explore some of the custom content that is available.  See the mod information below.

[solarscreen]

I may have reached a point, 40 hours in, where I'm rinsing and repeating, except I might not even be rinsing. I basically have main clusters around markets comprised of houses, farms, orchards, pastures, and all the buildings necessary like a tailor, blacksmith, school, tavern, etc. along with a quarry and mines. Outside there are the gatherers, foresters, herbalists, and hunters. Where I find wide open areas I'll essentially repeat the main clusters with at least one outside cluster nearby. There are some areas where this can't really be done and who knows what I'll do there, but it doesn't really matter.

And that's it.

That's it, except for the dynamics involved in growing your village from 40 people to 400 to 1200.  Diseases, disasters, balancing food and fuel, accepting nomads and incorporating them successfully are added challenges that you can take on should you choose to push on past being satisfied with 40 people and a dozen buildings.

Sure, you think you know how it's played and it's all just repetition but you would be surprised to find out your strategies might not be complete when things get busy. 

That first plateau of success is where many leave the game and claim it's boring and simple and too easy.  They never challenged themselves and their claims ring hollow here where many of us have achieved far greater and have actually played the game to its fullest.

[snapster]

I'm at nearly 400. I've already accepted nomads twice. I have a hospital in each of my three main clusters along with wells that I think are well positioned. If a tornado doesn't somehow roll through all three clusters I think it won't be so disastrous either. They appear to be self-sufficient. I also have more than a dozen buildings and the accumulation of further buildings will be little more than repetitive, as stated. Balancing food and fuel with further housing also doesn't appear to be too much of an issue as it's a matter of smaller additions along with repeating a "design" that already appears balanced.

That first plateau of success is where many leave the game and claim it's boring and simple and too easy.  They never challenged themselves and their claims ring hollow here where many of us have achieved far greater and have actually played the game to its fullest.

Anything else you'd like to back this up with? I can take my town to 1400. Nothing better to do and that colonial charter mod, which appears to be the best hope, might be as hollow as your post.

Thank you, by the way, for giving me a further reason to play. What a reason.