It’s been only a few weeks since the release of Alpha 11, but Alpha 12 is already just around the corner. (Sleep? We laugh at sleep.)
Alpha 12 features some awesome stuff you’ve already heard about – like upgrades for the Shepherd (Poyos! So many Poyos!) and technical support for additional biomes (which will be implemented in Alpha 13). Also in the release are improvements in pathfinding and AI (no more hearthling OCD); better support for localization; more recipes for the cook (including the creation of animal feed); and tree planting (YES.).
As if that weren’t enough, you’ll also find a significant remake of the crafting system – it’s now a much more sophisticated approach featuring multiple workshops for each crafter (such as spindles and looms for weavers, and mills and ovens for cooks).
But while we wait for the first release of Alpha 12 on our Steam “unstable” branch* — let us pause for a musical interlude.
One of the comments we heard often at PAX was how much you love the music in Stonehearth… and how much you want more. And so more you get – we’ve added thirteen (!) new tracks to the game. As you may know, Raj (our composer) has created a whole bunch of appropriately-themed music accompaniment for the game… and we’ve been waiting for the the right moment to include it. Doug, our sound designer, writes,
[Currently] the music was just randoming between three spring day tracks and two spring night tracks. I added all of the spring day and night tracks, as well as all of the summer day and night tracks, because they match the current biome well enough. I will be holding off on the Fall and Winter tracks until seasons come in. We also have other interesting tracks built for rainy days, festivals, shops, and many other special events, but the fans will have to wait on those!
Yeah, Doug is such a tease. He’s working on more great soundscapes for future releases:
In terms of things we plan on doing with music implementation moving forward, combat music needs to be tweaked in how it is triggered. Currently, combat music will trigger when your hearthling comes within 64 cubes of an enemy. This has caused some music bugs; you could have a hearthling harvesting lumber near a goblin camp, and anytime he is chopping wood within the edge of that 64 cube radius, you’ll get combat music, even though no combat has really been engaged. To remedy this, we will probably change it so the combat music is only triggered when combat animations are active from a hearthling or an enemy. We’ll also play a SFX or short music stinger when goblins steal things from your camp to notify you of this, instead of starting combat music as well.
And there are even more musical plans for the future… stay tuned!
Thank you for listening to today’s musical interlude. For those of you playing on the unstable branch, keep an eye out… Alpha 12 could drop at any time!
* How do you opt in to the unstable branch? All you need to know is here.