ericbomb wrote:Amazing guide!
Also one thing I'm not sure got pointed is the important of context in defenses.
For example how many defenses you want/need is dependent on dozens of things.
Closeness to boston
Near major land marks (along river/lake)
Are mountain ranges between you and boston that would decrease chance of people running into you?
Are you near a good biome that might attract others?
Do you plan on ever producing expensive items that you can't instantly use/sell?
Are there lots of snakes between you and boston? (might discourage some folks)
Is there good foragable terrain between you and boston? (good biomes that might guide people to you with good foragables and the like)
oh and ofc
Do you plan on committing crimes? (if so, triple your defenses, distance from boston, and still understand you might die)
In the first world of beta I lived in the middle of a mountain range, I could leave things not even on claim and know that it'd be there tomorrow, was annoying for me but boy was it nice knowing that raiders would never come within hours of me.
So just wanting to point out that how many defenses you need is dependent on a lot of other things.
I didn't put it in the title because of character restriction: This is a beginner's guide to get players started. I quite specifically stated this isn't for people committing crimes.
As for the rest, I'm not certain how much terrain actually influences things. It might decrease the number of raiders who wander by, but does that mean you want less defences? Your defences should discourage *anyone*, and as I pointed out at one point: People wandering in this game are very unlikely to ever be foragers. In haven it was different because you could teleport home with an inventory full, but here you're quite restricted to about a half hour walk once you're past the noob life. Nomads do exist, but they're a rare breed. When my faction pre-commercial decided to wander in the mountain we burned undefended homesteads to the ground essentially because none had any defences. The world is also fairly underpopulated right now. As things get denser, mountains will get investigated more. Just because there's less chance of being raided doesn't mean you should ever slack about defences.
Landmarks? -> World map shows all terraformed land. Last world my faction was using it to choose raid targets. Boats may influence this depending how good they are as a method of travel.
Good Biome? -> Honestly it's not the people who want to live there that you should be scared of. It's definitely an annoyance to have an area get over-crowded though. The simple suggestion of "water/forest/grass" shouldn't ever get over crowded because it exists in abundance. I definitely *should* mention that it's not the best to settle near people you don't know though. Thanks for reminding me.
Of the things you suggested, snakes strikes me as the most useful. Mountains are one thing, but badlands full of snakes never gets easier to cross. I would never ever suggest having less than 2 layers of stone wall and a brazier every 5 tiles along that wall. Defenses are very strong right now, they should be taken advantage of.
It's been neat to see the evolution of a game. Salem has come so far, and still has far to go. Although frustrating, I think it's been an experience worth the effort.