That a bit more like what you were thinking of, Senseidragon? It's still more of a tech tree progression (and optional to those that don't want to do exactly something like this) but still retains a lot of freedom of creativity.
No, I do not have Military Points or Storage Points working yet--which is why I was working on getting the various subsystems working before I ventured onto something like this.
Also four types of alcohol you can make if you want, from a more tech tree mindset:
Brewery (makes Beer): Requires Wheat
Vodka Distillery (Makes Vodka): Requires Potatoes
Mead Distillery (Makes Mead): Requires Bees
Winery (Makes Wine): Requires Apples
Something more like that, Sensei?
Yes, that goes in a very good direction. A lot of the changes I was referring to tend to make more sense when you're using a mod like CustomNPCs where you can actually
see the warrior, crafter, or farmer - but it works either way.
One thing you might want to note is that the player should be able to punch monsters to death all they want. Unlocking weaponry by making room for military just allows the use of weapons after that point.
The idea certainly isn't to stifle freedom or creativity; it is more to provide a little more structure to allow players to self-evaluate how they are doing within the context of the challenge. Are they over half-way through Stone age? Could they have advanced a long time ago from Wooden Settlement but didn't know it?
Also, having CustomNPCs (particularly if configured so they don't reincarnate if they die) lets players deal with the potential complications of their lumberjack getting murdered by a skeleton. Until the lumberjack is replaced, you could optionally impose a reduced (or shut-down) capability for cutting logs.
Stockpiles wouldn't be affected, but new resources dependent on the associated gathering professions could be.
Again, for players who don't want or care for that kind of challenge shouldn't have to worry about that sort of thing - but I think that's what the Easycore-type levels should allow. If you want simple unlocking rules, go for Mediumcore. If you want a significant challenge where you actually have to keep your designated NPCs alive, go for Hardcore.
This would really be able to take a huge leap forward in potential if we could get the HQM guys and Noppes to work out an interface between those two mods. If HQM could read quest/reputation progress from CustomNPCs, that would be great. If CustomNPCs could also detect configurable progress points within HQM, that'd be fantastic.
Imagine having quests show up in your HQM journal based on interactions with NPCs. Imagine completing a complex chain of HQM tasks and NPCs know that you've done so. You could even design your own NPC villains tied to HQM quests, perhaps weakening them a little if certain quests have been completed, or strengthening them if some other chain of events occurred.
Thinking further ahead, imagine if the CustomNPCs could be given blueprints and pointed at a chest of resources and they could build structures a-la Millenaire, AncientWarfare or other mods along those lines.
I like the adjustments you've shown,
@Maul_Junior - I can't wait to see more when you get the time.
