So, I went a little nuts last week, and started working on something.
This is clearly just getting started, but I was curious what people thought of the basic idea. Your the heir to a manor, and have to manage it. If you liked the winter portion of XoR, or the corporate-management portion of MetaHuman, this might be your jam.
(Clearly, I need a new title as well.)
All suggestions welcome!
https://dashingdon.com/play/jasonstevanhill/fief/mygame/index.php?cb=46186
Lord of the Manor or Knight Fee?
I feel personally attacked. 
Def gonna click through and try it.
edit: I like it a lot so far. But I loved both the games you referenced as well as old games like Darklands and King of Dragon Pass, so this seems aimed right at me.
Putting possible concepts/mechanics for Vampire 3 to the test perchance?
However in CoG I think our management needs to be rewarded with story, so if this is only management then I donāt think CoG is the best medium for it. Of course this is merely a concept, but if it was a full title I need to shell out money for then I donāt mind a (hefty) management portion a la XoR but I want to be rewarded (or punished) for my good/bad/mediocre management with unlocking more of the story or special/hidden scenes in the story.
I agree very much. The first question here is: is this framework/backbone interesting to you as a basis for story?
I very much intend to have the sorts of scenes youāre talking about.
Yes, it definitely is, but then I am a PC gamer and I recall @Havenstone saying most PC players on Steam loved, liked or at least found the management portions tolerable and doable while the more casual and predominantly mobile gamers seemed to be more wary of it, liked it less and experienced more difficulty with it.
As for the future, yes, hypothetically speaking Iād love to more directly manage (parts of) my Vampās burgeoning business empire this way.
Also speaking about story the game currently doesnāt seem to want to recognize that Iāve just sworn fealty and paid the tithe for it.
As well as it doesnāt seem to want to grow our numbers of animals, kept adding land from the forest, but never seemed to want to recognize that if 4 died and 5 were born that they would grow from 6.
Yeah, I noticed that swear_fealty bug. I fixed it, but dashingdon isnāt updating. I wonder if Iām missing something about how to push a new build live?
Iāll look into the cow issue.
It may apply to the others as well, I wasnāt paying enough attention till towards the end, and it was the easiest to judge.
I donāt see the problem with the animals propagating.
I mean, their mortality rate is nothing to sneeze at. It takes a few years to see the growth in the oxen or the dairy cows, for example. But by the third year, I can see it.
I quite liked this; I played through six or so iterations. I have some minor notes, typos and oddments, but I wasnāt sure if theyād be helpful at this stage; if so, I can add them in. It sort of felt like a less uncooperative version of Last Monster Master; at least the cabbages werenāt trying to fight with meā¦
I did notice I could slaughter animals in non-integer amounts (41.25 pigs, for instance).
āYou have a debt to the Mercerās Guild of Fassmein. You are obligated to pay 375 bushels of wheat in interest.ā Is this debt automatically paid when possible, or has it to do with when we exchange our surplus wheat for credit? Sorry, perhaps Iāve missed something here.
Iād like the ability to chat with or otherwise consult whomever is helping me to do the running at some point, Sirid and possibly others.
Ran into an error: subs line 62: Non-existent variable 'nym_angry_over_fealty'
Oof. I donāt know if I was quite ready for you to play it, Fiogan. But thank you!
I didnāt know that about the non-integers. Iāll have to ask Dan about that. Did we do something about that for Rebels?
Yes, the debt to the Mercerās Guild is paid automatically. That sentence indicates that itās being paid. Obviously, at some point Iāll add the possibility of paying off the debt. Is there something there I could make clearer?
Ok, Iāll start on a conversation with Sirid.
And yes, fixing that nym_angry issue currently.
I found I had 41.25 (live) pigs at one point, hence my experiment to see if I could round the number out again. I never had partial donkeys with Rebels so it never actually occurred to me to try selling 1.8 donkeysā¦
I was clear that I was paying the interest, but not whether I was automatically paying on the principle. I suppose paying better attention to the stats screen would have told me that, oops. Sorry.
Sorry, Iāll be quiet now then, heheh. ^^;
I have not had the time to play-test yet but I can emphatically answer this question with a āyesā.
Anytime someone showcases new ways to expand the CS game, I am totally excited to see it. So, from a pure developer/writer point of view, I love these new proofs of concepts being shared.
One of the learning experiences of this contest project I am writing is trying to execute different structures and approaches to tell my narrative within the game and to express the mechanics within. This project of yours fits this category, so Iām eager to learn - once I can sit down and test it properly.
The execution will determine if this particular slice of life survives its initial appeal so I will look forward to see it developed and structured out properly.
Thank you for sharing it.
By no means, comment all you want!
If you see that decimal number of pigs again, though, do screencap it for me. Also, youāre right that thereās no payment against the principle.
(Iām of the opinion that a player shouldnāt have to constantly check their stats screen.)
and
I only entered reasonable integer amounts in this play-through, no trying to get the game to let me have quarter-pigs wandering about the grounds.
The other notes, then. :D
Pippaās parents dug a grave behind the manorās shrine and the caris was asked to say a prayer. The manorās shrine to Odo Paster is a sorry affair. You always hated attending services thereāthe small chapel in the manor is much warmerābut there are certain occasions when it is unavoidable.
-I was trying to play a very devout PC so this seemed odd. Depending on the various facets of the religion, if anything, the draughty setting might be a bonus to pietyā¦
-Iām also hoping I can do shrine repair and other such things at some point, given the nods to the faith at the beginning.
-I adore the world-building in this so very much. And the names (both given names and names of the various positions) appeal very much.
How many with* you slaughter? (calves)
*will
The lady Ulrich performs what negotiations must be performed, and the a* toast is made to your allegiance, and another to the memory of your father.
*āthe a toastā
-I am so happy about the harpist mention.
-Are we collecting game from the forest? Are we allowed to? Is there any reason not to clear it within the context of the game? I wasnāt sure if I should view it as another āraze and raiseā sort of situation, or if itād be a place we could have hunts, or might eventually be a bandit havenā¦
-I imagine hard winters, fires, blight, and all that will eventually be included? It all sounds quite fun.
Thatās nice to hear as a player, because I have a tendency to forget to look if Iām not checking for something specific.
I think youāre doing a wonderful job with a framework in management. Honestly itās a good game of itself. rapping in in a narrative with choice would be even better.
Both of some of my favorite old school games!!
Hmm the text files should be updating immediately. I even wedged in some cache-busting in the javascript a couple updates ago so that the calls to the text files are appended with a pseudo-random number.
However, if people are experiencing cache files being served, Iāll have to find and implement another way to trick the browsers. Dangit.
