Longfall- Starting new in the Oxbow

[halcyon forge]

With all the new updates, I decided to start a fresh playthrough with some new challenges! I'll be narrating as I go and hope to make it a good long time.

I'll be using Unlimited Stamina and Carry Weight for my own sanity 😂 Otherwise, its all on Hard except for:

200% Buildings Limit (no idea if I'll get that high but want freedom)
Stop Dropped Items from Spoiling
3 day Seasons
All inhabitant Needs will start at 20% and every Winter, increase by 20%, with the goal of reaching year 50 and 1000% needs as a fun way to make it interesting and drive growth.
I may speed up Exp/tech % if I get bored grinding and want to get to building 😅

I plan to recruit only 10 couples, with at least half being random villager spawns in the wild. I also must always recruit every villager I find in the wild even if it means building new houses. I want to see how large our population can grow by year 50!

Year One
I woke up in a place called the Oxbow; and was immediately told to go and build a town! This seems like an impossible task, especially for just one woman. The surgeon challanged me to find a way to escape... and so thats exactly what I will do! I'll explore every inch of this place and see if I can make it back home.

[grim spoke]

What a lovely night sky pic! 🌔

Question: after 10 couples, growth only by villagers having children, or by only recruiting special NPCs?

This whole project sounds interesting.

[halcyon forge]

I want at least 10 of the 20 original villagers (10 couples) to consist of special NPC's I find, and all the growth be from only their children, and then any other special npcs I come across in the wild that I MUST invite to my village even if it means building extra houses. We will see how it goes, I though of ONLY recruiting the random spawns, but I dont want the game to turn into me save-scumming trying to find them every season when I'm desperate for company. I hope to make it feel more natural!

[grim spoke]

Ah! Looking forward to your thread!

[halcyon forge]

---

I spent all of Spring and Summer exploring the Oxbow. There were many abandoned buildings where I can see poeple tried to settle and failed. There were also a lot of wolves! and bears! and boars! Everything seems to be out for blood. I decided its much safer to find a little area and build a village instead of leaving. Safety in numbers!

Thanks to my extensive exploring (and, perhaps, a little minor thievery) I have a good bit of supplies to get me started. After much thought, I chose a little valley beside a grand waterfall and winding stream, as there did not seem to be any large angry wildlife nearby and the view was beautiful. I also saw a handy cave nearby with ore!

During Autumn I began to build my own house and two extra for a pair of villagers I got along with at a campfire in the little fishing village Ostoya. Blanka and her brother Aubert were also looking for a place to stay and start a new life. Seeing as I would need lots of stone and wood for this endeavor, I invited them along and promised that I would keep a eye out for potential spouses in the future. Blanka began gathering small stones and Aubert got to work chopping logs. By Winter time, we all had our houses built and a temporary little camp taking shape. I made several mining trips each season to empty the cave nearby, and hope to soon upgrade everyone's tools!

[halcyon forge]

I've also dug a very large farm field and spent a entire day practicing my hoe swing in the hopes of, one day, earning the right to ride a horse 😭 my boots werent made for walkin'

[halcyon forge]

Year Two: 40% Needs, Pop. 3

I started the year by planting a small vegetable garden. The effort made me realize that I needed to be thinking about the future needs of the village; fertilizer, seeds, water and most of all, food! This place has the mysterious effect of making one hungrier over time. It was hard to decide what to do first; After placing a well, I realized I had no more buckets! So off to town I went.

Throughout Spring I developed a nice route to visit the 4 towns in Oxbow. I met a nice man in Ostoya who said he was looking for his runaway girlfriend Blanka; but I he didnt trust me enough to follow me to my camp unless I had a better reputation. So I began to do small errands for the inhabitants in the area, though their requests were often.... weird. In between towns I would hunt every living thing I passed with a handy bow I found abandoned (not stolen I swear!) by a wind-tossed tent. I noticed there were several weak bandits around and decided to give them a wide birth for now.

In Klonica, oddly, several residents had shaven their hair. I am not going to take this trend back to my village! Imagine how cold we would all get in the winter 🥶

I cooked all the meat I gathered and finally sold it for a nice chunk of change. It seems the people around here really value meat, so I've found a way to make some income to fund my travels. After helping everyone I could, I returned to Ostoya as Spring ended and convinced Budziwuj that I knew where Blanka was and brought him to our camp. They were both overjoyed to be reunited and quickly settled in together. I made sure to put them at the house farthest from mine so that I wouldn't hear any weird noises at night.

[halcyon forge]

In summer I set out again to help the people of the world. Along the way, I met a man who was quite rude by the roadside. I decided the best treatment was to invite Godzimir to my village; I had the perfect job in mind. I set him to chop wood temporarily and finished my route of the world. Once back, I set to wild chopping in my large practice-field until I mysteriously had the knowledge to build a pig-sty. Time to go forth and bring back oink to the place!

(two days later) pigs are expensive! I had to go out and mur..I mean hunt the local flauna until I could bring back two prized pink manure-making machines. 🐷 Godzimir was put in charge. Everyone is happy! Though maybe not Godzimir, but its hard to tell, he always looks very sour.

I got my first task from the king in Autumn; and it was a Monumental. I thought my king was merciful but it turns out, hes actually a closet narcissist. He wants to build a large statue of himself and to do it, he wants 700?! clay and stone, plus some copper and bronze bars. I had a big problem. Too much work to do! I headed back home to brainstorm. Along the way I came across a lady hunting Moose very ineffectively that said she would rather be a farmer. I said follow me. And thus Pekoslawa joined the camp!

I set to work quickly building a smithy, and realized I once again forgot buckets when people got thirsty and complained. I decided I would never remember to buy buckets and instead also built a workshop to take care of that small problem, then headed to the mines. By the end of Autumn we had 300 stone, 100 clay and quite a bit of ore. But short people to help!

In winter I set out with the goal of recruting some poor souls to put to back-breaking work for the king. Aubert reminded me that he was lonely, so when I came across an equally lonely Adelina in Piastovia, she was invited immediately to come see the soon-to-be-best village ever. Then I decided I was kind of lonely myself! In Skauki I met a man named Zdamir that looked like he had strong muscles and a will to mine stone all day. With some rearranging of the place and some sweet sweet talking I made Zdamir almost like me enough to marry me, set him up in a house nearby and promised that next year I would make a honest man out of him.

[halcyon forge]

Finally made myself a full set of winter clothes so I wouldnt be cold.... but man its itchy!

[halcyon forge]

Year Three: 60% Needs, Pop 8

Spring sprung and off I went once again to solve the worlds problems as my villagers at home slaved away to try and get all the King's clay. After helping bring rocks to a rock collector and a bow to a bee keeper, I ran across a man sitting by the roadside, the ground around him littered with wine bottles. Upon asking his dilema, I find out that lo and behold, HE is one of the BANDITS who attacked me when I arrived here! Never in my life have I wanted to throw dirt on someone more. But he says he is sorry and, out of the abundant kindness in my heart and a driving need for more clay to be dug, I gave him a second chance. As Cieslaw marched back to my camp I really hoped I wouldnt regret it!

During Summer, I went mineing in an attempt to get the King the little bit of stone that was left. Ziedar got angry that I called him a boar, which I really thought was a great compliment, so we still are not married. Flirting is really hard. It got very hot so I ditched my new duds and made some summer clothes so I wouldnt sweat to death. Then I headed out to find some more villagers who might enjoy mineing since I, honestly, do not. In Ostoya I came across a couple who swore they loved rocks more than food, and thus Beizdar and Radegunda joined our merry band!

I came across a sad scene on my way home, a horse that met a sad end. Man I wish I had a horse. All bandits deserve to die for this travesty!

In Autumn I trooped faithfully back out, this time armed with the knowledge that, barring any crazy disasters, I would have all I needed for the King by season's end. On my way down to Skauki I came across a poor beggar on the side of the road. He wanted coins, but I had something much better. A JOB. Teach a man to fish, I say! Or, well.. farm. I have really big fields. Sweibor headed to the camp and I headed down to sell all my worldly goods so I could afford to buy some decorations for my house. Priorities are important!

Halfway through the season I let the Herald know he could take all my stone and eat it go build the King's statue. I decided I needed some chickens so I could eat more than just roasted meat all the time, and scrambled eggs sounded divine. With mushrooms even better! I decided to look around for a sad lost soul who might like collecting eggs the rest of their known life. I found a woman who loves the outdoors in Pieastovia and sent her off to the Herbology hut to practice mushroom collecting skills. While collecting my nice shiny new cluck-clucks in Skauki I met a man who also loved chickens (and helped a boy stop behaving like a chicken, how silly!) and soon Eryk was trooping off with my newfound egg-spawners to bring some new life into what was, now a small farm.

In winter it got cold again. I swapped back to my itchy winter clothes and thought longingly of the day I could get some sheep and better clothes. And a horse. And, more coins. Then I set out to deal with a weird note by Ostoya from some random person who wanted a lot of fish. Before long I was heading to go buy some fish because it turned out, that fishing is also not for me! After buying a bundle in town and dropping them off in a basket, I was ready to head home and call it quits. But a mother was missing her daughter outside Klonica, and after tracking her down and deciding not all bandits are bad after all, I decided I might as well go to Skauki too and see what awful thing was going on. Turns out, its a smelly privy. I should have just gone home!

On the way to do just that, I ran across a woman standing beside the road. She needed a place to belong and I said welcome aboard! Then proceeded to sprint to build Lorelei a house before she changed her mind. The small farm was getting a big cluttered with houses thrown about willy-nilly, and after some thought I decided I was most definetly going to have to move buildings around. The rest of winter was spent trying to plan out a layout while dodging people complaining about the lack of chairs.

[halcyon forge]

Year Four; 80% Needs, Population 15

Spring hit and three couples announced they liked each other enough to get married. Blanka and Budzi also informed me that they were already pregnant THE DAY OF THE WEDDING so I figured there might be something in the water. I braced myself for singing mothers and giggling babies in several months. Knowing that soon I'd lose some workers to the call of motherhood, I decided to invite the last of the campside workers I should need to grow my village. After searching all the sad homeless souls I eventually welcomed Alruna from Ostoya and Albrecht from Skauki. Both absolutely loved mining and producing. I finally had a blacksmith to start making copper bars and better toools... and I was eyeing that cave with evil intent. The rest of the season was spent trying to level up our farms extraction tech and hoping someone got a great idea for perhaps... a mine?

In Summer as I once more made the rounds around the Oxbow, I ran into Karolina out hunting Moose. Turns out, she dosent much like hunting and would rather farm. I offered her a spot in the village and watcher her trot off. The other 2 couples who got married announced they were pregnant, so I figured Karolina would soon take over my farm work. The herald arrived and he had a easy task this time; deherbing the Oxbow. Compared to 700 clay, collecting 20 of each flower seemed like child's play! Bring it on!

I broke down and made even nicer clothes, and upgraded my food storage. The place is growing fast!

In autumn, I decided to take a break from traveling all over and simply build. I had an area set aside for both my Workshop and Woodcutter, and thanks to some inspiration from the famous architect Rose, I quickly threw together a rough area. Behind the workshop, a new larger house for Sweibor and Lorelei was built. I could tell they were both lonely and wanted company, and Sweibor was a bit long in the tooth, so I hoped they would marry soon. I painted their door purple for good luck! and built a small porch to survey the world.

I'll need to plant some trees around and pretty bushes, but that can wait for next spring and summer. I'll also expand a woodcutting area and of course give them a couple neighbors. But for now I am very happy to have one place at least looking well cared for!

In Winter I once more trooped out, and almost immediately saw a bandit camp. I decided it was time to fight instead of run away, and then obviously sniped them from very far with my shiny recurve bow. There was a cage inside, and a very snarky boy called Boguslaw. I'd probably be snarky too if that was my name, so I welcomed him back to my small farm with only one (or two) eye rolls at teenage behavior. He could apprentice in the pigsty with Godzimir and learn some manners.

Babies were born and the expected giggling and cooing insued. I began to move some people around to different jobs and told them it wasnt the end of the world. Two more couples got married and I decided I could afford more mouths to feed so it was okay. Things were really starting to grow! We could call ourselves a proper farm now.

Side note: I love that mothers walk around now with babies! Got these pics the next spring and I love it soooo muucchhhh

[halcyon forge]

Year Five; 100% Needs, Population 22

I need to stop doing quests. Every time I go out, someone is out there desperate to come home with me! Outside of Klonika a man (Leonard) BEGGED me to let him help, help, HELP! So obviously I did and now he is picking mushrooms for some delicious soup. During the rest of Spring I tidied up loose quests and kept brainstorming what to do next on my farm.

In summer, Hemenegilda was hunting moose and also regretting not being a farmer, apparently just like her runaway younger sister Karolina. Whereas Karolina had been in her early 20s, Hermenegilda was almost 40! Luckily, Cieslaw was also in his 40's and happy to have a housemate close to his age. So off she went back to meet her new future totally not arranged spouse. Our farm is getting full! Almost everyone has paired up with only a 3 villagers living by their lonesome, including young teen Boguslaw. I'm going to take a small break from questing and exploring to work on once more trying to come up with a new farm design. Sadly my creative juices were not flowing. The entire hillside looked like a spiderweb of "plans" and no actual action. With sadness I decided to completely start over next year.

[halcyon forge]

Staying home is not protection from finding people who want to live with you! For the first time ever I found a runaway bride.. 16?! and sent the poor girl to live with Boguslaw. The two teens can maybe make friends if she can put up with his attitude. (I do think it would be great if we could place kids/teens with same gender adults!)

I did get the best news ever... our farm was finally ready to bring in some horses! I think this is my happiest moment in the game so far 😂

Sundance and Skydance have joined us, and I am SO looking forward to racing around the map soon! I wiped out another bandit camp to celebrate and as the year ended, we also had two more babies born!

I really need to spruce up my people's houses. And get them more chairs. Will women with babies ever sit down? 😅

[halcyon forge]

stumbled across this scene on the way to town to sell some meat.... the Oxbow is a dangerous place!

Caught a neighbor wife chilling in her backyard... not suspicious at all

planted our very first cherry tree in a small garden near where our Herbologist and Apiary area will soon be moved. Looking forward to fresh fruit!

[halcyon forge]

Autumn hit and so I got assigned to the farm shed IRL and given a giant green sickle so I wont be running the town as often unless it rains! But lots of time to brainstorm plans lol

[halcyon forge]

**Year 6; 120% Needs, Pop 28
**
Year 6 begins with another King's Challenge .... and it requires 1400 clay?! Time to redistribute labor and cry with all the mothers on maternity leave. Not to mention make more shovels! Good thing we've dealt with high clay numbers before.

While the people deal with digging up all the dirt in the kingdom, I go back to trying to plan out the farms. On the way to sell some of my excess fertilizer (those pigs are no joke) I run into a bandit camp and find Lutoslawa locked in a cage. Lenard will finally have a housemate! That leaves only one villager who has not yet found someone special.

planning farms is really hard. Tried a couple different layouts. Did a lot of math that hurt my brain to try and figure out how much animal feed we would eventually need so I had a big enough oat/rye field... then doubled it just because it looked better 😂

We are going to be swimming in cabbage and rye soon

but eventually we will need all that food as people keep getting more hungry! Meanwhile Albrecht invited me to lean against a wall in his house which I thought was funny before I went to go do some laundry.... and completely missed what was in this screenshot screaming at me

LMAO I DIED OF THIRST WHILE AFK good thing this is not a deathless run 😂 😂 😂

final rough farm layout... and I realized something very annoyed. 2 farmers assigned to shed, and they literally would walk back and forth from east to west leapfrogging farms which greatly lowered their efficiency. They wont finish in 3 days. I wonder if having more farmers once I have the labor will reduce that.

[halcyon forge]

Trying to decorate my farmshed.... may need to test item placement with people sweeping 😂

[halcyon forge]

Year 7; 140% Needs, pop 32, workers 18

We have a lot of babies! I thought I would start differentiating between useful people and free-loaders 😂

I spent almost ALL year building and decorating, while my villagers spent ALL year gathering enough clay to make the king happy! We did finally achieve that, though. Heres to hoping he never needs more clay. Our farm officially is recognized as a Hamlet, moving up in the world!

Its amazing the difference a nicely placed tree can make, as well as the changes in season and time of day!

Outside Piastovia, we found Ademar begging for coins. I decided to give him a job instead tending our newly purchased sheep! And Karolina is happy to finally have some company. Currently everyone is now paired up! I'm sure that will only last until we come across more people though 😅

[halcyon forge]

**Year 8; 160% Needs, Pop 35, Workers 18
**
Another year was spent building, building, building. Trying to make things a bit nicer 😂. And of course we immediately had another kings challenge, this time trying to take all my grain! Luckily We had just made those giant fields so it shouldn't be too hard.

Bandits were on my route and unfortunately they fell in the river 👀 with Ostoya downstream so I hope they dont drink the water lol

got some new clothes!

Putting the fields to work 💪

Pigs were moved to a new area a bit farther away from houses, I cant tell if they like it or not... and I spruced up the food storage area by the farm district!

Finished our King's Challenge at the end of the year, and we got to officially name our village! LETS GO

[halcyon forge]

Year 9; 180% Needs, Population 38, Workers 18

A lot of mother's are still out on maternity leave. I spent the entire year pretty much building various areas and trying to make thing's prettier. We did receive another King's challenge as well, this time to make a ton of shovels lol. Makes me wonder what comes next!

As challenges go though, this one will not be so bad!

We got all our sheep in a row lol

Very excited to also finally unlock our house crest! Now going to need to set myself some tasks to start unlocking all the different ones over time.

Most of the decorating was spent on my new Apiary area

Added a little herb garden and pond behind the Herbologist and Apiary, with their own little house. Boguslaw and Bogna, my two youngest villagers (other than the babies of course!) were moved in and will be able to start their own family soon.

Building is going slow, but the Apiary/Herb area is the new neighbor to my workshop/woodcutter house where Swiebor and Lorelei work and live.

I plan for each of my couples to have their own house and workplace nearby and each area/year to reflect who lives there.

[grim spoke]

Like the flag colours.

[halcyon forge]

thanks! me too, honestly its so hard to pick just two colors I wish we could personalize them all! 😂

[halcyon forge]

Year 10, 200% Needs, Population 40, Workers 19

This was a fun year! People are really starting to get hungry and thirsty, so our big farms are really coming in handy. We also added some cows and spent a couple days traveling to sell our excess goods.

While doing so, we came across a bandit camp with yet another angsty teen inside, Oden. He was sent back to our Hamlet to try and learn some life skills.

As fate would have it, the very next season we also had yet another runaway bride so she was sent to live with Oden for the time being. It has been several years since new people had joined our village, so a new house was built as well.

I spent the rest of the year spurcing up my house, because I finally had an heir of my own on the way!

made the inside nice and neat to prepare for the new arrvial!

and little Zadar has arrived! The next generation 💪

No regrets waiting so long, as my house is so pretty now

I love the view from my bedroom window when I wake up in the morning ❤️

[halcyon forge]

Spent the winter trying to help Ostoya with its election issues... and this remains just the funniest thing 😂

why is he so cute?!

oh Lordy he comin 🦬

So great to come home at the end of the day... man I love this game so much!

One thing I'm doing that I highly reccomend others give a shot... is create all quest items yourself instead of buying them. It does make things take longer at times, but it is also very satisfying and adds a bit to the immersion for me at least. And gives a reason to travel home during quests!

and also a reason to unlock all the recipes lol

these guys have the best view lol

[halcyon forge]

Very interesting event and it makes me wonder if you can actually kill your king this way 🤔

Spring vs Summer

Year 11, 220% Needs, Pop 45, Workers 18

Going to spend the year trying to tidy up helping each city in the Oxbow with Quests!

I thought for a bit I was going to have to go back home and build another house 😂 but for once I have a hostage who does not need a home lol

[dim cape]

Haven't seen this one yet 👀 I recently had one where my king was murdered by a family member of his; so I wouldn't be surprised that your poisoned gift would also end up with the king dying. 👀

Either way, also just wanted to let you know, great work here - loving your creations 🥰 Keep'm coming!

[halcyon forge]

Thanks! I still get excited when I come across new events, Ive not had that one yet I wonder if its something you only get with certain kings (like bad vs good etc). Luckily My king this time around is starting out good, because I've been doing every challenge and enjoying the extra mood moost 💪 The latest I just got was for a bunch of clothes lol.

I spoke too soon about not needing to go build another house and jinxed myself. Found what has to be my 3rd ex-bandit who needs a job. 😂 He is going to be living my his lonesome until I stumble across another homeless lady. At his age (33) none of my children will be candidates for marriage.

I love when you whistle for your horse and he suddenly comes trotting across a bridge as if he went on a grand adventure while you were busy

[grim spoke]

I find it really funny when your horse/donkey comes out of a house as if they had been searching for carrots in there or something. 🤭

[halcyon forge]

oh man yes that is so hilarious!!

accident on main street 👀

I love spending time making places looked lived in. Can I start a petition to get more clutter? WE NEED MORE CLUTTER! Give us all the random items to spread around and make our computers explode 💥

[halcyon forge]

Making a private little sitting area behind my future heir's house, love little spaces like this

[clear heron]

||Yes you can|| 😉

[halcyon forge]

Random

😂 and her name is Brat 😂

[halcyon forge]

Spent the winter decorating my herb hut... because why not? 😂

[static night]

Love this

[halcyon forge]

thank you! I've been inspired watching various videos and decided it was time to start decorating inside as well as out as I go along 😂

Updated the town crest as the year ended, turns out pushing a Wisent is not the same thing as punching it 😅

[clear heron]

Oh I just realised I have not pinged in the Lady of the Server
Your stuff deserves some attention from the devs mate
@blissful glen
There, she will "inspect for quality" and all that stuff then post on their official socials, with your permission ofc (next week, she is away having a break atm aye)
This entire thread is incredible @halcyon forge, plz keep the screens coming my friend - I am loving the chill vibe of this village alot mate

[static night]

Why do we even keep you around, so slow 🤣 glad you finally did the thing, this thread is great

[clear heron]

This thread is one of my favs mate - it needs some Dev attention imo 🤌

[halcyon forge]

Thank you!! I am having a lot of fun with this village, in the past I have been in such a hurry and min/maxing quests and villagers etc. This time I am really taking it slow, and trying to grow around the villagers that have made their home here. Being able to move buildings has helped a lot! It makes me very happy to know other people are also enjoying this 💜 ❤️

Year 12, 240% Needs, Population 47, Workers 22

Year 12 and with the needs over 200 I am starting to feel the people's growing desire for all things culinary. We are still making more than we are eating by about 10k food for the year (that is with my making potage, soup, stew etc with the veggies and meat, and pies/tarts with egg/fruit/rye flour). We are also making much more animal feed than we currently need, so looking to the future we will probably expand and add goats (because they are cute!) and more cows once people get more hungry. Something to look forward to!

With that in mind, I plan to spend the year planning out our new "food" district, with a tavern, kitchens, and a second food storage (all that milk is heavy!).

We are short on labor still, but many of our mother's have had their second child and will soon be off of maternity leave 😈 . Our oldest children are 8, so still have another ten years or so before we start really having more people who can contribute.

I LOVE when the bards come to visit! Hopefully soon the tavern will be spruced up and more comfy.

Speaking of mothers on maternity leave... 👀 Looks like 2 years is not enough

[clear heron]

Rare event, well done 😉

[halcyon forge]

Added a private little garden in between my house and my future heir's house, and of course two toddlers immedately came to investigate the new space! No idea what they are whispering about 👀

Need a bit better light!

lol bring out the hand lantern!

I'll revisit once the cherry tree grows up and see how it looks.

Spent a little bit of time playing with Photo Mode's effects to brighten up the picture, gonna have to test it some more but cool options! This is an aerial view, right to left, of my house (purple), my heirs home (blue), the Herbologist/Apiary Hut (with Bogna and Boguslaw's house tucked behind)

[halcyon forge]

The herald arrived at my own tavern for the first time, but looking a little... worse for wear 😅 This challange is going to be a bit more costly this time around.

[halcyon forge]

Rocking some sturdier armor now! Maybe one day I'll look as fashionable as I am arrow-proof

planning of the food district is.... moving at the pace of a turtle in winter

[halcyon forge]

Another Event I have not gotten before! This one was a hard choice 😂

[tawny stone]

I had it too, but my current king was good (and I had no pie anyway ^^)

[halcyon forge]

I now know if I get a bad king to keep some pie in storage for "opportunities" lol

This king's challange is giving my village a reason to mine tin again.... its times like this that I am SO glad I got the skill that reduces the amount of things the King asks for

[halcyon forge]

Thanks to selling off several horse-loads of cheese, I was able to collect what peices of armor I was missing from Bronze, Iron, and Elite sets... and honest to god I love all the clothes but I can NOT decide what to wear!! And how does anyone hunt bandits in armor in summer?! Is that exclusively a winter-time endeavor with how hot the armor is?

I would love to know what other people wear (who play with temperature and hard difficulty especially!) I was always that person who didnt before and now that I am, I find myself scouring all the clothes trying to figure out what only requires changing clothes twice a year and not every season 😂 but perhaps I'll just keep a set of bandit-hunting gear on the side...

(also I do think Iron armor looks better than Elite oddly enough)

I also just found out how to hold a shield and now I must go make them all and see what they all look like.... I am a clothes addict

this scene ALWAYS makes me sad. I wish there was a version sometimes that shows up with the horse able to be healed with a potion or some such and you can take it home 😅 or even "return" it for a reward or something. also can we get this cart as a decoration? 🥺

In fact it would be super cool if there was quest perhaps where you can add your own Wagonner to your village as a placeable furniture, like we do the town crest/name. And you could use it to travel like in other villages, perhaps only be able to place one to keep it from being too op or some such.

IT IS TIME. Time for the hardest decision in the game. 😓 Oh the pressure.

Something crazy this winter! If you look in the screenshot, there are TWO bandit camps super close! I almost got seriously murdered. There is one top left of this screenshot and bottom right, you can just see them through the fog from each other.

Never had them this close together before. and of course.... one has another lonely sad angry child to take in 💜 Don't worry Konrad, we have another lonely bachelor you can be friends with... and you are young enough that you might actually get married unlike Mateusz. Also work on your language!

[halcyon forge]

Who else plays with massive spreadsheets as part of their village management fun? 😅 This is how I keep straight who all my people are, and their families, my total crops etc as well as my plans for the future. I keep notes 😂

[clear heron]

We have quite a few "spreadsheet lovers" on this server I have noticed over the years lol
I like the record keeping enthusiasts here mate, it is nice to see
I like how you colour coded yours btw Zyva

[halcyon forge]

I have to decorate my spreadsheet too 😂 everything must be pretty

Checking in on my little kid before bed!

Year 13; Needs 260%, Population 50!, Workers 24

Another bright year! And we hit a major milestone, with our population hitting 50! And just less than half actually working 😂 We have a lot of kids toddling around. Keeps things feeling lively!

This Herald is also rude. 👿

I dont honestly know if it matters, but I usually wait to turn in my Herald quests until the last season you can do so; I feel like it spreads out the king's challanges a bit, but I dont know if that is actually the case.

[clear heron]

Once you hand in a challenge to the Herald the following season he will not appear (he is giving the resources to the King is the logic) but can the season after that - it is RNG tho so it can be years between visits mate
I like building multiple Taverns so he has a higher chance to spawn in my village when he does return aye 😉

[halcyon forge]

so then holding off on turning in the quest will spread them out a bit after all, which is good to know

I love the tavern building 😂 and how people hang out there its so satisfying

Justice for Tomislawa!! 200 coins like really 😂

Ironically, she is one of my kids! So her working less efficient dosent matter. But they shot a 7 year old 😭

[halcyon forge]

Spending the year once again trying to plan out layout of the entire food district, from a tavern and stable for travelers, to kitchens and food storage and of course a couple houses for the workers to live in at those places. I love that we can plan things out with blueprints!

Our village is now also officially a Settlment! I wonder if I will start hearing different dialogue from people now that we are growing larger.

[halcyon forge]

Some kids trying out the new stage I'm building near the tavern

[halcyon forge]

My two fuzzy co-op commentators. One is super interested and one is super bored 😂

Proof cats would eat you if you were smaller. She espeically enjoys trying to catch small toddlers walking by

[halcyon forge]

Year 14, 280% Needs, Population 50, Workers 25, Buildings 49: Settlement

Going to spend the spring out questing, as Sedowin wants several hard to obtain items and I literally owe him my life. I heard there was a merchant in the north, so thats where I am heading! And while I am out, I will sell off some of our excess pies and cheese. More of our workers are getting out of maternity leave, so I can finally have someone hauling water for me, freeing up some time in spring.

I do love the signs and often travel on the roads and use just the roadsigns to navigate, it is fun for me. I would love to be able to add sign posts pointing to my own village one day!

Came across a random merchant... who only sells Fertilizer, Rot, and Manure! How funny 😂

Just for fun I sold him some fertilizer, but he did not seem impressed

[halcyon forge]

a small hop orchard tucked around behind the tavern keepers house, cant wait to decorate this area and make it more homey!

and of course start making beer for my very spoiled people 😂

[halcyon forge]

Interesting King's Challange this time around.. over 70 of 4 different healing potions! This is going to be fun 😂 Time to move some people back into the Herb garden and starting picking some plants 🥬

some people dont like their photos taken

my horse has trapped me inside and I cant get through the door... oh boy

Door Jam, new name! 😂 thank goodness for unstuck button

[blissful glen]

Oh wow, these screenshots are really amazing! I remember that in the past I saw your work and loved it, but now seeing especially the ones taken during autumn, made me feel so cosy. I love this season and you captured it so nice 😍

[blissful glen]

something @merry salmon would love to see 😂

[halcyon forge]

I love Autumn as well! In fact each season I think there are parts of my village that I like best with the color schemes

Wokring on making the King's potions!

Clap along to buy some goods!

Home sweet home at the end of the day!

[clear heron]

You have already got the "hard ones" to make btw mate
The healing potions are fairly easy to make aye, just collect copious amounts of broadleaf plantations and dandelions lol 😉

[halcyon forge]

yep I'm waiting for my people to finish collectintg all the plaintain in the world 😂

Working on extending the tavern area to include a second kitchen and food storage, and tucked behind it will be my sewing hut and flax fields with hopefully my first try at turning a windmill into a cool area thanks to some inspiration from a Rose video 😂 truly the master architect

I can finally say that all my villagers are out of the temporary "slum" housing and everyone now has their specific spot next to their workplace. Now I can spend years, and years, and years decorating it all to be pretty 😂

[halcyon forge]

I really love how the new bushes look as great in autumn as they do in summer, with the pretty red flowers

[halcyon forge]

Eagle eye view of the village so far, its pretty spread out over the area

[halcyon forge]

Year 15! 300% Needs, 50 Population, 27 Workers, Settlement: 50 Buildings

Continuing on my errand to find random objects scattered across creation, I finally found myself going for the Evergreen Flower. And as always happens, I got distracted 😂 This was so random

Times like this I wish I built up high with a good view!

Every time its off for questing, its also time to search out bandit camps for fun 😂

Soemtimes violence is the answer 😂

THEY LOCKED UP GRANNY.... but honestly with that outfit I, uh, wonder if it was for their own protection....

holy moly

[halcyon forge]

Accidentally hit a sheep while building their new pen... and the whole herd takes off running 😂 Tattling on me to all their friends

They finally stopped running 😅 I do love their animations, so cute and fuzzy

Come get sheared and you get an apple 😂

[halcyon forge]

😂

When I ride over the hill and see the outskirts of my villager come into view, it is so satisfying and feels so peaceful, knowing I am almost home

[halcyon forge]

Small backyard garden/sitting area with pier for relaxing after a long day fo work

small bridge entrance to the backyard to break up the space

pier decorations, would love to eventually be able to place chairs or tables on platforms! ❤️

I love how the bells ring at the end of the workday, and all the lights come on to show the day is over

and then in the morning, the sun comes up over the waterfall, and my neighbor heads to the tavern before another long day at work

[halcyon forge]

Some picutres of the outside of the Tailor's house and workshop area

the alley leading to the flax fields

leatherworking area

my Tailor's house, with a storage place beside it

Then another side walkway beside my sewing hut, where clothes are washed and repaired

little Clothes marketplace across from sewing hut, where I plan to start selling some leather goods once some of our kids grow up

[halcyon forge]

larger overview of my tailor square, with seamstress house, sewing hut, storage building, and flax fields

added a couple knick knacks to the inside of the sewing hut as well!

[halcyon forge]

Year 16, 320% Needs, Population 51, Workers 26, 49 Building "Settlement"

Spring has once more arrived and we have a cute little filly to admire... always a fun surprise!

We have also discovered a cave under the Castellan's house, and I expect to get lost for probably two whole seasons because I have zero sense of direction

[halcyon forge]

I escaped the claustrophobic maze! And this guy is mad! 👿

[clear heron]

Don't worry, I don't think a single player likes that dude 🤣

[halcyon forge]

He is the worst 😂

[halcyon forge]

This years King's Challange is going to be a bit tight for me to do all myself 😂 I dont think my orchards are big enough! we will see

[halcyon forge]

Well, time for a rebellion! Where am I going to sell all my chese!? 😭

[halcyon forge]

I have a prrroobblleeemmm we need placeable rugs 😂 lmao

I need somewhere comfy for the traveling band to play!!

Slowly working on decorating my kitchen and tavern area as I make food

[halcyon forge]

That moment when you accidentally drink the wine you meant to place down and of course its one of your wines for the king 😭 😭 drunkin fury

[halcyon forge]

a little stage beside the tavern and a marketplace for food for all the hungry patrons

made a little area where I imagine adult patrons could have fun with a dart board 😂 hopefully not while drunk

I have had so much fun this year in game just exploring the tavern/kitchen area and spreading around things for my villagers. Now that the year is over, here are some of my favorite parts

An overview of the entire area!

The tavern/kitchen side corridor

Tavern by night

My food seller hawking some nice cheese and pies!

girl about to perform on stage

Cooks cooking in the kitchen 💪 🥧 🧀

[halcyon forge]

Year 17, 340% Needs, Population 51, Workers 26, 49 Building "Settlement"

This Spring, once more headed to market to sell all my excess pies, and this year around we have even less excess food than ever. I enjoy getting to disturb the pigeons as I run into town 😂

Don't have to wonder too hard what happened at this campsite!

This wolf animation though 😂 his poor little fuzzy paws

And of course, as its getting dark some bandits jump out at me with a BOAR on their side, this is super unfair and we need to be able to tame the local wildlife too 😂

Dark hit and I saw something ominous in the background... another much larger bandit camp! Going to camp out here and get some health back before tackling that on a new day.

so this has NEVER happened....but the bandit camp is completely empty!! no enemies at all!

even weirder, there is a guy in a cage that I can't release, and he was not very nice... I wonder if this is an easter egg reference I dont get?

[tawny stone]

iirc it's a kink ^^

[halcyon forge]

https://tenor.com/view/ohh-omg-whoa-oh-my-cat-gif-19018337

I guess he is dancing in there 😅

[grim spoke]

||Nicolas in a Cage… 🤭 ||

[halcyon forge]

oh no I get it 😂 🤣

Havent encountered a bandit camp here before, despite taking this route almost every year I've played, so this was exciting!

[halcyon forge]

Sometimes I try to just step back and envision where I would put things in my village that makes sense. I'm currently trying to figure out where I want my smithy, hunter's cabin, and cow pastures. All very different things with different purposes. I have a wide area in the bend of the river, beside my sheep and sewing area, that I really want to fill in with houses and a production building or two. This will aslo need to be where my first few children will move once they grow up and need a place of their own. So many ideas!

For the smithy, I also want a training area with weapons, etc. Near my hunter's cabin I was thinking of a archery range and a place to tan hides, but I feel like that should be more towards the outside of the village. The cows I can see going almost anywhere with nice grass, but it needs to be pretty wide as I plan to expand the herd to 2 or 3 cow sheds as the population and Needs grow higher. Decisions!

[halcyon forge]

I think I've heard this story before...

summer looks great with the flax fields all ready to be harvested!

[halcyon forge]

The first of my villager's children has just gotten old enough to be an apprentice... wow time flies!!

[halcyon forge]

Spent the rest of the year trying to plan out this corner with a smithy, archery range, smith's house and maybe a training place 😂 and redoing them like 5 times. Still not completely satisfied

[clear heron]

Remodelling your village is what I have been doing for irl years in this game mate 🤣
I think I have "finished" about 4/30 of my villages at this point Zyva lol - I am making an effort to finish one at least of my Oxbow villages now aye lol

[halcyon forge]

I'm not quite that bad at finishing 😂 I only have 6 villages counting this one, and 3 of them I consider "complete". Its funny, I tend to restart when there is a major "update", so going to visit old villages is like stepping back in time. My first village was built before planks changed, I remember clearly logging in without knowing and was so shocked that half my little custom-built firewood sheds were all falling down 😂 and trying to figure out why. That was my first throw-hands-up-and-restart moment.

But, I also only keep village saves if they reach year 20. I definitely started a lot more and abandoned them because I didnt like the location or how things were going.

[clear heron]

Sounds like me too - perfectionist to a fault let's just say mate 🤣
I still have Valley saves from when the wife quest NPCs where not all implemented... those saves are "non functional" now mate (they crash my game lol)
I like reaching at least year 30 before calling one a "proper save" aye, but I have always gone for the slow playthrough for this game
Keep your screens/vids coming Zyva, I am liking this thread alot mate

[halcyon forge]

I'm glad you're enjoying it!

[halcyon forge]

**Year 18, Needs 360%, Population 51, Workers 27, "Settlement" Buildings 54 **

Another Spring, and another round of market deliveries to pay taxes, and of course another King's Challenge, this time to restock the Armory 😂 Which won't be too hard. I also always appreciate it when bandit camps come equipped with a nice perch to shoot everyone from safety!

I also got to inform the new Castellan of his new job, I really took my time doing the quests this time around and I think it made them more enjoyable 😅

I finally get back home after a long day, go to the tavern and its so late everyone already went home 😂

[halcyon forge]

my husband has gray in his hair now 👀

[halcyon forge]

trying to make a very small archery area with seating on the side, going to add more road textures to my wishlist 😂

omg I am starving of thirst again, this happens ALL THE TIME I FORGET TO DRINK

[halcyon forge]

In summer, we had Longfall's first death 😭 I was not expecting it so soon. Swiebor, our long-time woodcutter, has died, and left behind his wife and two young children. So sad!

[halcyon forge]

progress pic of the Smithy project after a year of work, added a little training ring and some trees that will take a bit to grow, also made the dock area much closer and a ramp down from the farming district to the Smithy, which is expanded now to two Smiths as I plan to expand to sell weapons/tools once we have the labor to run a full mine. Still need to kit out the Smith's House and decorate around the Smithy's themselves, make a forge and of course make things pretty around the walls. Been a productive year!

Going to also eventually relocate the hen house to be next to my chicken breeder, and maybe expand the farm down the hillside.

my village is so spread out I cant fit the whole thing in one photo 😂 but this is close.

[halcyon forge]

Year 19, Needs 380%, Population 50, Workers 26, "Settlement" Buildings 53

So bittersweet to see my population go down for the first time since starting Longfall! I truly was not expecting a death so soon. I also, for the first time, was no longer able to meet the demand for firewood. With Swiebor's death I lost my most talented woodcutter, and his wife had trouble keeping up with demand on her own in winter. After some thought, I moved longtime bachelor Mateusz in with her to help with both the business and around the house with her two kids 😂 as I hated seeing them all alone. She can enjoy a younger man hanging around lol and who knows, maybe they will hit it off!

I've also had to add a third farmer to make sure all the crops get in, and expanded the flax fields since I was continuously running out of linen. I really look forward to the days some of my kids join the workforce! We have 5 kids in apprenticeships now, so just got to hang in there a couple more years. Even better that they will be more talented workers than their parents!

Of course, I also got a new King's challenge as I decided to turn the other one in quickly... and this time the King wants 1400 clay and 900 log/stone. What a time 😂

[halcyon forge]

Spent all day making food for the village then headed out to meet the new Castellan... and got to say it was very appropriate to find him cutting wood! ..... Will our own people ever use these furnishings? I hope so!

[halcyon forge]

so I got jumped by some wolves and was so startled by seeing a guy on a roof that I totally ran straight into a tree and had to use a emergency healing potion😂

Sadly "Coward" did not want to join my settlement 😂 I need workers so bad

Spent some time decorating the left side of the path that leads to my farming district. I planted a ton of trees, so I can't wait to see how it looks in a couple years!

One chicken was murdered in the making of this fence. It was an accident I swear 😅 🍗

[halcyon forge]

I love spurcing up little corners like this. we need more clutter! 😂

I honestly thought maybe my prayers for more labor had been answered... then I realized this boy is only 16 😭 another mouth to feed. I sent Malostryj back to the village and sadly went on my way. I also did some math and realized that we have more boys than girls in our village... in about a decade or so we are going to have yet more lonely bachelors waiting for some ladies unless our luck turns.

As is my lot in life, I find myself completely distracted away from finishing the smithy area and to this backside of my farming district and its lake... and I kind of want to make a fishing dock area simply because it will be fun 😂

[halcyon forge]

I somehow fell through the floor and am stuck 😂

when placing a bush. Thank goodness for the magical unstuck button 😂

[halcyon forge]

made a little bathroom area tucked around behind the farms

Still in progress, but I just love how you can manipulate the doors to go over or through platforms

update on the lakeside area, brainstorming a fishing hut and piers, with docks leading to two houses for future fisherman

[halcyon forge]

soooo apparently the reason my farmers were not finishing the crop was not the extra flax field, but because they were getting stuck around the windmill in some of the small wheat feilds! So I had to sadly take those out, and just added a couple bushes around the corner so that HOPEFULLY they wont get stuck pathing around the windmill's blades. fingers crossed!

I do wonder if its because I placed those fields BEFORE I built the windmill, and it was just so close that once the windmill was finally built, with where the blades were they just got stuck. but it might also be that is someone was in the windmill and it was turning, they wouldnt get stuck either...

Another small area by the barn decorated. I have wagons with rye and fertilizer ready to go, and a basket of animal feed to be delivered. a shovel by the manure because I figured they would need that, with an extra scythe casually leaning against the fence. I tried to place things that would make sense for the area by a busy barn

[halcyon forge]

Very happy to see that Lorelei and Mateusz got married this winter, I was hoping they would get along. I only have one unmarried villager now, one of the teens we rescued from a bandit camp a couple years ago.

and Mateusz has been complaining about being alone for almost a decade 😂

Getting around to decorating my resource storage... and this time it will also be functional! Each log is a stack of 100, same with rocks, ore etc. This will free up a lot of space! And maybe prevent having to create a 4th resource storage... maybe 😅 I am a bit of a hoarder.

things are not as cluttered as I would like, but having stuff in stacks will make it very satisfying for when i might suddenly run out of a resource due to production issues, I can just grab a 100 and throw it in the chest while fixing the issue

young Sedzimir relaxing by his parents workplace. I do so enjoy having my villagers live near their work, and really just enjoy how they hang out in their "areas", it makes things feel so lived in.

[halcyon forge]

inside of the barn has had items added that I think fit, supplies to make animal feed and daub and fertilizer, then threshing supplies!

[halcyon forge]

Year 20, Needs 400%, Population 51, Workers 26, "Settlement" Buildings 56

Year 20!! Feels like we should all celebrate! Maybe I throw some wine into my people's granary 😂 I am also thrilled, as I moved Bogna and her family into a larger house, and now she is expecting, so we will have our first baby in 4 years 💜 I was missing all the cooing and singing lol. Now losing her for 2 years on maternity leave is going to be tough 😅 With our needs now at 400%, we are officially using all our food with the excpetion of cheese and rye bread to feed everyone. And selling the cheese does not even cover our year's taxes anymore. So we will be needing more labor to run more market stalls and more things to sell to replace cheese as people get hungrier and need to eat that! So much pressure lol.

But I am really enjoying this challenge, as the gradual increase in needs makes me have to shift priorities and people, it feels as if they are just all getting more "high class" lol as the village itself grows.

[halcyon forge]

Traveling my yearly market route, took a detour to scout out some bandits and once again just taken away by how beautiful this game is! 💜 It can be so fun to ride through the countryside and explore

Riding past my village, the dockside is really coming together!

Finally had enough wheat grain to get this new crest! Give us a little change of pace for awhile

[halcyon forge]

I have a second food storage building that is off by my farms, and I decided to go a different track with this one and try to give the appearance inside as if it had been raided or was nearly empty, with empty bottles on the floor and mostly empty baskets

[halcyon forge]

oh I just love summer in my farming district, with all the fruit on the trees!

and of course the flax up and ready for harvest!

We now have so much flax 😂 I truly overdid it

Had to get a picture of the new little overlook I made beside the lake now that the tree has grown up to give the house some nice shade

the kids here can sit and play a game or two while watching their fisherman parents work 🐟

I absolutely love when you give a kid a toy, and he immediately begins playing with it! I tend to not pass out toys until I walk by and hear the kid complain (because I am lazy lol). Went to finish up these kid's house with a nice laundry area, small garden and workspace, and of course both kids needed toys 😂

[halcyon forge]

OMG I AM SO EXCITED

I just realized I can customize the target dummies!!

https://tenor.com/view/cat-dancing-gif-dancing-cat-black-and-white-cat-cat-dance-gif-15890434275140335606

check out the airtime on my horse 💪 I need to enter the Olympics

lol such a funny combo, I hear her parents talking about teenagers rebelling, and then come acorss Medeyka sleeping outsite 😂

[halcyon forge]

I am thrilled, moved my hunter's hut to on the outside of my village, and its just enough range that my hunters are out hunting, and actually killing deer! cool to see

the red dot is where my hunters hut is, and the red circle is the deer spawn... and you can see all 4 hunters are out here using bows. I think they might clear the spawn 😂

the deer are in a panic 😂

[halcyon forge]

Super cool bandit camp in a area I had not seen before! I was literally chasing deer and this was visible from my own village! Very surprising, but I love that its unique looking across the water

I spent the rest of the year working on the area for my hunters. I have 2 families that have been hunting for me to provide fur, leather, and meat for my various soups. Now that some are getting better at their job, I plan to go down to only 2 hunters, and they will be moved to this small cabin right beside the hunting lodge. Its a sloped area so thats a bit challenging, but I'm happy it is within range of the deer spawn and I get to see them go out and hunt.

This is also the planned border of my village, which until recently was the 'slum town' of houses that my people lived in until things were more settled. I hope to make a grander entrance for Longfall and have been brainstorming ways to make a unique border fence.

I am leaning towards something like this, palisade with rock wall in front, and spaced out rock pillars

I noticed Lorelei, my woodcutter, is going gray 😭 I swear if she dies next right after her first husband I am going to be so sad

[halcyon forge]

Have the King's Challenge "The Cure" again, making a ton of health pots. Time to move our Herb huts next year to making plantain! I might just start having a small % each year just to stockpile it, since this is the second time I've gotten the quest.

I guess its totally random which ones you get, as I've had the supplies one 4 times. I am averaging one challenge a year roughly

[halcyon forge]

Year 21, Needs 420%, Population 52, Workers 25, "Settlement" Buildings 59

I decided to start the year off with a family photo, then realized I was very overdressed 😂 oh well, we look good anyway ✨

I thought I was about to have another new resident bachelor, but then turns out he was just sick. A bit of herbs cleared him up easy 😂

Some bandit camps are much tougher than others! This one had SO MANY enemies! It could be because literally right next to it was also a bandit ambush camp. So they sort of ran together. Luckily 2 wolves joined the party on my side 😂

[halcyon forge]

this years random project since I love to leave others unfinished while trees grow 😂

Going to make an area by the border with my main resource sheds and a large lumberyard. I can tell that in a couple years I am going to need more woodcutters for sure, so I'm thinking of making a double woodshed lumberyard with the woodcutter's houses up the hill next to the resource sheds. Maybe. If it works out 😂

[tawny stone]

I've never tried yet 😳

[halcyon forge]

I am glad I am not the only one!

[halcyon forge]

Finally built the plans Niedan gave me! I love this thing, going to have to really spruce up around it 🦌

[halcyon forge]

Went and collected 4 new crests this year thanks to prodiguous use of camo potion 😂

[halcyon forge]

Just got the easiest King's challenge ever to take out a bandit camp 😂 I would take this every year!

I've decided to change up what season I do my market runs, and start going to town and making food in winter. It makes more sense when I think about it 😅 Go fighting in my hottest clothes during the coldest season 😂

[halcyon forge]

Today, my horse tried to learn to fly. 🦅

[halcyon forge]

Year 22, Needs 440%, Population 52, Workers 28, "Village" Buildings 63

Holy cow, This year our Settlement became a Village... and it feels like our taxes doubled! I set almost all settings to Hard, so 200% Taxes. It was nearly 20k coins 😭 So I need to probably get more marketplaces up and running. Thankfully a couple children turned 18 today, so we have a little bit of relief. Going to be doing a market run this Spring anyway to sell off some excess goods.

Not sure what I am going to sell right now. I'd like to have one of every type of marketplace, so I'll probably at the least pick a good potion for the herb hut, maybe honey at the food one, maybe boots at the clothes one? hammers at the tool one? I wonder if anyone has done the math on this lol

[halcyon forge]

It kills me that I have found the manure selling like 4 times and never found the beetroot baron 😅

[halcyon forge]

I moved my hen house, and just got such a kick out of watching all my chickens go cross the river in a line 😂

The great March of the Hens

[halcyon forge]

We have a donkey pretender

[halcyon forge]

LOL I was super thrilled when a chicken went inside one of the in-progress chicken boxes 😂

Foxes hunting bunnies!

Got a hilarious King's Challenge! This is the funniest one yet imo ⛄

but 49 winter caps is a big oof

Mission Accomplished, I have fallen from a donkey 😂

gosh both my mounts are honestly so cute 😭 I love them. My horse is 10 years old and was born right here in my stable and I just am not ready for him to grow old 😭

LOVE my tavern at night

[tawny stone]

I got it (with lower values, as I was less advanced at the time) in my 'hardest' playthrough, and I was a bit upset at the King, to want such frivolous things while I was struggling to balance my villagers needs ^^

[halcyon forge]

lol some of the challenges really do have bad timing 😂 and its all just random

Some of the little village side quests are so funny. I've been enjoying doing them randomly in spare moments

It really gives your people some personality

[tawny stone]

and shows that kids are monsters 😛

[halcyon forge]

yes 😂 lol

Year 23, Needs 460%, Population 52, Workers 32, "Village" Buildings 66

Had 4 of my children grow up and start pulling their own weight 💪 it feels good! I already paired them all up so hopefully we get some weddings soon!

I also spent some time doing math (the worst) and decided for now my clothing marketplace will sell Noble Shoes and Rich Hoods, I have just enough labor to manage to make 1 of each a day and sell them off 😂 but that should put a good dent in our taxes problem. Then I think I'm going to start making Potions of Possibilities to sell in my herb marketplace, which of course means getting someone in the tavern making mead. I do like the idea of creating items that require multiple buildings and people working together.

these two side quests were super funny to get side by side this Spring. Both people are arguing with a friend about which wine is the best; one says cherry, one says plum. I picked cherry wine 😂

[halcyon forge]

Sprucing up my Tavern Square, the small circle of three houses behind my tavern where my tavernkeepers, well workers, and stall workers live!

Well with a small working area

In front of this house is a small area to sit and play a game! I wish we had some smaller end tables eventually 😅

[halcyon forge]

Behind the house is a small hop farm, which I felt made sense as they are tavernkeepers xD

[halcyon forge]

birds eye view!

[halcyon forge]

so happy! After years of waiting the bards have shown up and are playing! First time since decorating the tavern 😁

[halcyon forge]

Year 24, Needs 480%, Population 52, Workers 34, "Village" Buildings 66

I am still working on decorating many houses as our children grow up and get married. I'm hoping soon to have more children on the way! I also cant decide if I want to take over as my heir quickly, or draw things out.

had my first grey horse foal! surprised me lol

[halcyon forge]

Now I must immediately go figure out how to fit in a berries near my herbalist!

I used all my berries 😭 now i gotta wait until summmeerrr

[halcyon forge]

Finished decorating two houses in the bend of the river, that I call River Bend (I am so creative!) 😂

The Red house is where my sheep herder lives with his wife (who helps in the sewing hut), so of course I had to decorate their area with a small farm for animal feed and wool/seamstress supplies. The purple house is where my builder is currently living as a lonely bachelor, eventually a new couple will retire here in their old age to relax as their children take over, so I made comfy spaces with lots of flowers and a nice place to picnic.

the backside of the red house

my sheep pen all nice and decorated next to the red sheepherders house!

the pathway that leads to the two houses, in one direction is the Smithy and the other is the Tailor

a closer look at the sheep herders house with his small farm

a bird's eye view! This was very satisfying to finally complete!

Had to throw in some more photos of my tailoring area by sunset, I just love when the lights are on ❤️

[halcyon forge]

when you arent looking where you are going...

got a berry bush!! Oh I love it, probably going to be throwing these in random places now 😂 a reason to keep harvesting berries too

This gave me an excuse to go and add a couple new things to my Herbalist area

[clear heron]

Your deco skills are incredible mate 🥹
The patience you have for this stuff is amazin imo

[halcyon forge]

Thank you! ❤️

[halcyon forge]

I just found a spork at this location! I did not think that was something you could get in the Oxbow. Exciting lol

Trying to find these baskets is hard 😂

Got a new King's challenge... for 80 wooden wheels 😂

and of course its called Wheels are Hot XD XD

okay thats just hilarious placement

Had to fight to the death to get here 😂

Adding to todays wishlist for decorations.... kegs!

these boxes are going to get so many people killed 😂

Erm I think shes drunk

so pretty at night 😭 ❤️

[clear heron]

I love the lighting in this game alot - I ask my "photographer/decorator" co-op player to take alot of night time shots to get the lights in the shots mate
I will actually wait till they all turn on (the lights) and just slowly walk through the village enjoying the peace and chill as the NPCs go to their "night-time free time areas" and chat away and stuff
I am glad I am not the only one that likes the night-time lighting effects in this game 🥹

[halcyon forge]

I am glad too! I like to end the day in the tavern lol with everyone hanging out

The more role-playing the funner it is haha

[halcyon forge]

Year 25, Needs 500%, Population 53, Workers 35, "Village" Buildings 66

Year 25!! We are halfway to 50 and officially at 500% on all needs! This feels like a major milestone. And I'm so excited, this Spring we also had our FIRST baby born of the third generation, Agnes! I am working on making a cute genealogy with pictures to really showcase how all the families are branching out.

We are selling potions of possibilities, noble shoes, and rich hoods, as well as Mead, which more than covers our taxes currently. Our food demand is up to 4620 a day, but our Rye fields are really bringing home the bacon and keeping people nice and happy. We have one well going at 100% which is just barely filling our water needs, so I'm about to set up a second well. Our woodcutters are working hard to meet the firewood demand, but I have two more woodsheds ready to roll once the time comes. Longfall is really coming along well!

[halcyon forge]

Working on what I call the Stable Master's house, once we have the disposable labor whoever retires here will spend their time just feeding the horse and donkeys 😂 stupidly easy and luxurious expenditure of labor hahaha

[halcyon forge]

oh man, finally!! After 25 years I finally found the beetroot baron 😂 new crest on the way! 🧑‍🌾

[halcyon forge]

Loving my stable area!

view from the road

[halcyon forge]

added some fun stuff to the inside of the stable, saddles and animal feed, straw and rye, lots of knick knacks 😂

Mission make my computer explode is ongoing

[halcyon forge]

oh man the baby donkeys are so cute!!

[halcyon forge]

I know this will probably never happen, but how cool would it be to get random mules born who are sterile but can carry like twice as much as a donkey but at the speed of a horse? 😂 mule power for the win!

finished my horse/donkey pen, will have to take more pictures of it in the spring

but I have one area with covered hay/ water barrels

another feed station over here, with the ktichen/food storage in the background, which in my head would be an easy way to bring over occasional treats for the horses 😂

a horse/mucking station! Every barn needs one lol

the body language kills me somtimes, here it looks like Mom is annoyed with her two grumpy teenagers

okay just one more donkey pic I swear 😂

[halcyon forge]

Year 26, Needs 520%, Population 55, Workers 38, "Village" Buildings 66

Spring again! More babies are born and more workers are working! I finally feel like I am catching up to my labor needs... though of course half are about to be out on maternity leave 😅

I could not resist its just too funny how high we can jump 😂

[halcyon forge]

I walked by my kid sitting all by himself in the stable and he says He was sitting there as punishment 😂

[halcyon forge]

I have been super busy with work, but I got a bit of time to escape and build this small roadside berry farm! Not sure how long it takes berrys to start producing, but cant wait to take better screenshots in the summer!

had to add a guardian rabbit 😂

[halcyon forge]

coming home late at night, and realizing that my son is outgrowing his bed 😂 and he will be an adult soon.

Winter changes the look of an area so much!

building up my new second lumberyard, as wood supplies are getting slim... and my lumberjack comes over and starts trying to cut down my trees 😂 I do love when villagers come over and look like they are using areas

one day they will actually cut firewood, I believe! 🤞

we be struggling this winter 😭

had to make my future woodcutters a little break area equipped with beer and cheese 😂

Wiledrog looks skeptical

Winter is different but also so beautiful! especially when it snows! ❄️

new village guardian... for a little while 😂

[clear heron]

As you increase the NPC needs wood is always the struggle for me too
I have boosted them to 500% now... the struggle is real - food and water are easy in comparison I find Zyva 😉

[halcyon forge]

yes, wood is the first struggle Ive had. Have 2 wells going for water and tis easy, and food I am still selling excess each year. but wood... at some point if I dont have the labor I may have to start chopping wood myself, but I like the idea of the village being self-sustaining. I'm hitting 520% this year and one woodshed is definetly no longer enough. Once I get these two more going I'm hoping it will be enough to get us to 1000% 🤞 though I need some more kids to grow up to fill them 😂

[clear heron]

It depends on the pop count for me aye
My current Oxbow village is "getting big" - pop is around 130(ish) atm
I probably need 4 woodsheds with lvl10 NPCs to hit the 300 pop I want... when i get to year X9 (like 49, 59, 69 etc) I get a little worried lol - increase needs by 100% each decade basically - year 60 is coming up 🥹
Keep at it mate, it is very rewarding I find doing the "constantly increasing needs" rule
Your village is looking amazin btw

[halcyon forge]

I am really enjoying this challenge! The gradual increase keeps pushing things. I am curious how big this village will get with how few recruits we started with, and as im not traveling as much i haven't "found" someone who needs a home in a long time.

I bet if we get close to 100 pop the three woodsheds wont be enough anymore 😂

Gosh it would be amazing if I can stave off restartitis long enough to reach year 60, my record so far is 41 lol

Thank you!

[tawny stone]

#1343127644211904522

[halcyon forge]

i responded in that thread, totally agree!

[halcyon forge]

Of course the next herald challenge would be to kill NINE BEARS ?!

[clear heron]

That challenge is my fav! rofl
I just go about my normal routine and it completes automatically 🤣
Bears are easy if you get them into the water and melee them - I may ONLY melee bears tho mate so if you are not the "Hunter type" it can be a little hard lol
Lucky you have many seasons to complete that, if you don't like using melee weapons 100% HP animals using a Iron Crossbow with Poisoned Iron Bolts will do the trick aye, just shoot and run away - they have a limit to their "chase" distance before turning back... good luck 😉

[halcyon forge]

Im more of a bow hunter, shoot and run! Lol

[halcyon forge]

Year 27, Needs 540%, Population 57, Workers 38, "Village" Buildings 66

Longfall continues to grow! Soon we will have 60 people, I am very excited! I am going to try to plan out my cattle area. I have this nice open space by the river that is looking like it might work out well. But I'm also tempted to save that for more houses as its pretty flat.... option b is up the hill a ways behind what will eventually be my Builder's work area, so the cows would be toward the outside of the village.

I want 2 or 3 cow sheds for future food expansion. I like making cheese with my bread 😂

[halcyon forge]

Longfall just had our second death... I remember the day I found Cieslaw and invited him back to the village. He eventually became one of our cooks with his wife Hermenegilda, and now I think its only appropriate that his daughter take his place and carry on the tradition.

Maybe I should start thinking about a nice place for a good sized graveyard.

[halcyon forge]

so cute, if you move a cow shed with the cows asleep inside, they then sleep on the ground

[halcyon forge]

I had no idea until now just how many bear spawns there are near my village! This king's challenge is not actually so bad 😅 Just have to find the high ground so I can get a good couple poisoned iron arrows in

I have noticed they struggle sometimes to charge when there are rocks and cliffs

oh lawdy he coming

[halcyon forge]

summer progress with planning out the cowshed/bull pasture area

I'm going to have 2 sheds with all cows, then a seperate bull pasture that will have 1 or 2 bulls and when I need more calves, I'm thinking just move a couple cows before the end of the season and let them have happy times and then move them back in for milking next season

which I guess is totally role play 😂 but I like the idea of keeping the bulls seperate like on a real farm

On my family farm growing up, we had a herd of about 500 cattle, which is not super big for a beef farm. but we had this one Hertford bull that was called Cecil that was so gentle and nice, he would let you pet him. Thats who the bulls in this game remind me of 😂 same color.

[halcyon forge]

soemtimes the trees chop back

[halcyon forge]

Autumn planning update.... gonna add a small goat pen just so I can have goats 😂 I figure it fits the theme. And a kitchen to make cheese with a third food storage for all those heavy buckets of milk that will be on the way

[grim idol]

I think you might need another kitchen for cheese production. I “only” have one cow shed and one goat shed, and the kitchen can’t keep up with the amount of milk/sour milk.

[halcyon forge]

I have two kitchens right now and they cant keep up with 7 cows 😅 I think cheese making should probably be sped up. I think when I had in roughly 9 more cows, I would probably need 5 or 6 kitchens total if I didnt want to do any myself

sooooo I figure I'm just gonna have a end-of-season chore to make some extra cheese

[grim idol]

Yeah, I usually do that too.

[halcyon forge]

got to do what you got to do!

I realized adding in more stuff means I need more homes nearby for the workers! And I found a cute way to connect this milk farm area to the farming district across the river, evenentually this I want to decorate this area really pretty

[grim idol]

I also have a bridge at that spot.

[halcyon forge]

its so pretty!!

Another death! AAAAHHH Its killing me 😭 though now all my villagers over 60 are gone, and I got a couple years before more are at risk... still it makes me so saaddd. Its like the end of an era

I wish when our people were over 50 or 60, they could live together as sort of a retirement home

I feel bad for my two widows living by themselves

Had to share what my cowherd said before the end of the year 😂

[halcyon forge]

Year 28, Needs 560%, Population 55, Workers 41, "Town" Buildings 76

It was so sad to see our population go down this year with the death of two of our oldest citizens. I'm thinking this year I start thinking about a place for a village graveyard.

Our village is now a Town though! Just needed a couple more buildings I guess to level up and of course start taking more taxes from us 😅 luckily we are more than prepared and have a good income stream going.

I also found one of the last two gift baskets I was missing... I honestly cant believe I missed this.

finally finished decorating my donkey shelter that I started and then got distracted from years ago 😂

[halcyon forge]

this little alleyway beside the Donkey Shelter leads from the main road by the stable master's house, to the woodcutters area/chicken farm.

man i love the colors at night!

its amazing how much character can be given to buildings with paint

[clear heron]

You get used to it mate, as your first gen starts hitting that 65yo mark this happens alot
My village has a death or 2 every season now as the population is close to 120 ppl
I like your idea of making a simple graveyard area to remember the villagers btw
You may be interested in this suggestion (it is one of my favs actually) - https://discord.com/channels/1069629094871978074/1125811936878149764
Take care mate 😉

[halcyon forge]

gosh I cant imagine, when all my people start dying its going to be so sad 😭 I guess at some point its not worth mentioning because so many will be dying

but making a cemetery will make me feel better about it

I will check out that thread!

[halcyon forge]

decroated the area around one of my well workers house, with a small seating area and firewood supply

We got a new king this winter! Goodbye to Fillip the Merciful and hello to Burchard the Great!

Which does mean starting all over with my Herald rep I guess. I think this is a good king still thought..

our poor taxes next spring 😭

[clear heron]

"The Great" will be a neutral King mate - you get the tax reduction but no happiness increases from those ones (but no negative mood from completing Challenges aye)
I am fine with Good or Neutral Kings, it's the Bad ones that are the annoying ones lol
Cheers Zyva 😉

[halcyon forge]

aww man I was hoping he was a good one, but ill take neutral yeah way better than bad 😂

[halcyon forge]

almost 30k in taxes this year 😭

Year 29, Needs 580%, Population 60, Workers 40, "Town" Buildings 76

we did hit 60 population this year! Lots of new babies running around, and women humming songs 😂

I had to get a second well running at 100% capacity, and I expect soon to need to start up a third. Our food and water demand is almost 6k a day, so things feel like they are rapidly ramping up. We also have our second woodshed going with just logs.

I am also seriously debating taking over as my heir... he has not married yet, and I like the idea of being able to name my grandchild. I do wish my character could stay in the Oxbow after I pass over the reigns like in the Valley!! I really wish that happened.

It would make the decision easier lol

[halcyon forge]

Finishing up my water-carrier's house.... and of course I got distracted and had to make a garden path 😅

little laundry area

the garden path.... omg I cant wait to see this bloom

it winds between the goose pen and their house

[halcyon forge]

honk honk

spruced up the hog pen area, waiting for some trees to grow up though

[halcyon forge]

I keep accidentally killing goose while decorating with my hammer 😭

it is sooo ssaaaddd

playing with some filters again 😂 🪿 I think I might call this area my goose garden lol

of course got to have a little, erm, feather collecting area nearby ...

This space is near the last remainng house in the Farming District that needs some love, where my goose and pig herders live with their two almost-grown children

They will have a little private garden and sitting area to the side, with the goose and pig pens close by

I am so glad we cant accidentally kill our villagers

because accidents would have definetly happened 😂

Every time I finish decorating the outside of a house, I always upgrade the bed, chest, and stove, as well as add rugs and shelves to the inside. I dont usually decorate all the insides of every house other than my own, but that might be something I go back and do much later. Instead I do just enough that I hope it feels homey for them

Goose Garden in bloom!

[halcyon forge]

Another side of the garden path, and then the private veggie and berry garden all fenced in with of course Karolina hanging out with her baby inside 😂

maybe shes just showing off the new scarecrow

Kind of cool how if you can get creative you can hide the wooden stilts that houses on hills have

gosh these little guys are cute

I love the lanterns 😻 we need moar, like an iron lantern 😂

its always so great when the band is in town

I'm not sure why some do and others dont, but I do like it when villagers walk with their torches

[halcyon forge]

lol this lady is totally rubbing it in her sisters nose that she gets maternity leave

sometimes its fun to try and make small 'scenes', here I imagine there was a fun parrty last night with lots of wine and board games 😂

im just gonna tuck a potion of sobriety in the corner too to add a small touch 😂

never actually noticed the fireflies until now, so cute!!

[static night]

I love them The butterflies too, so pretty!

[halcyon forge]

oh goodness now I need to start looking for butterflies!

[halcyon forge]

my farming district in autumn, other than some trees growing this portion of Longfall is pretty much complete! It has 7 houses, the bulk of my food production and barn/windmill. Tucked behind is a fishing subdivision with a small fishing hut and cabin, its still in progress

It is also where my pigs and geese are kept

[halcyon forge]

I decided this would be my last year and season playing as Longfall's founder, Zyva... and that in the spring my heir Zadar would take over after I die valiantly on a bear hunt 😂 . With that in mind I decided to follow my husband around and spend time with all the villagers, taking photos and enjoying the last couple days of the year.

[halcyon forge]

a good time to show just how much the town has grown!

[halcyon forge]

Year 30, Needs 600%, Population 63, Workers 38, "Town" Buildings 76

Year 30, and its momentous! Our town of Longfall said farewell this spring to our founder; and I learned what happens when an heir takes over 😂

I didnt realize (and maybe its an oxbow thing?) that you can rename and design your heir! Which was very neat. Here is a before picture (Me and my heir and his wife), and then me as a very handsome man 😂 now named Zyvar Jr lol. Got to continue the trend!

I do love that we can have facial hair, I wish our villagers would be randomonized like this as well...and even possibly bald, that is neat

big fan! Long may Zyvar reign! (Or until his heir is ready to have heirs lmao)

wow I also think I have more skill poiints! Thats exciting

So now that my mom has mysteriously dissapeared while out selling supplies, I decided to move my lonely dad in with one of the widows... maybe he will find more love in his old age 😁

... actually I wonder if our parent can have more kids 🤔

okkkaaayy my wife is SUPER neglected

Even after giving her a gift she is not my fan. Gonna have to seduce my lady

by throwing a lot of glass bottles and neckclases and maybe a couple blankets too XD

[clear heron]

She is so mad 🤣
I throw my NPC ones some dried dates once a year and she is "perfectly fine" rofl
The advantage of a co-op partner being your spouse is you don't have to do any of this "caring stuff" 🤣

[tawny stone]

it is an Oxbow thing 😉

[tawny stone]

They should.
In the Valley, as your character doesn't die when you swap for your heir, he and his wife can then have more children.
I suppose your surviving parent can give you half-siblings if the mother is young enough

[halcyon forge]

So thats the pro and con, in oxbow you can design and name your heir, but in the valley your parents stay alive and have more kids potentially

🤔 I think if I start again ill probably do the valley, I haven't played that map for a long time

I just love the central market in oxbow 😅 and even though each time I swear im not going to build by the waterfall I always come back 😂

[static night]

Really? I made one village there, and if I ever do it again I'll build above it. I like the fork in the road north of Skauki and the little lake NW of Piastovia 😍

[halcyon forge]

Ive built on that big island by skauki and that was super fun, and I tried on the beach across the river there and lost inspiration after a couple years. But something about the waterfall makes me happy. I just wish there were more mountains.

Building above the waterfall is actually a great idea, with those little streams

[static night]

Yeah I started a save there but never did much... I just love that area 😊 The one I've been playing lately is a terrible location for villages, but it's fun 😅

[halcyon forge]

Thats one thing I have found, sometimes the funnest areas are rhe most challenging to build

One day I want to try building on a mountain

[static night]

It's terrible for decorating though.. so many restrictions on where we can put tables or potted plants

[halcyon forge]

Yeah i wish there was a bit less restriction, but i guess without terraforming it would be hard for things to look right

[halcyon forge]

I am guessing my wife is a Busy Bee? 🤔

[halcyon forge]

I just got totally freaked out by my new masculine voice groaning about being hot

😂

I was like WUT WHO DAT

[halcyon forge]

We need to find these kids something to do 😂

[halcyon forge]

Year 31, Needs 620%, Population 65, Workers 42, "Town" Buildings 76

Trying to squeeze in some time to decorate around my food court area

its a very small veggie garden directly behind the tavern, with my towns second farm shed to help spread out the farm workers a bit

directly behind that will be my second kitchen and food storage, with a sitting area

planted a couple fruit trees.. gosh they are so tiny when planted!

[halcyon forge]

My wife has had a beautiful baby girl!

[dim cape]

Isn't your PC exploding yet will all these manually placed decorations? 🤭

[halcyon forge]

Im gonna push it until it cries😂

[dim cape]

https://tenor.com/view/i-like-it-a-lot-jim-carrey-raised-eyebrow-gif-14586582

I am in the same team 😂 It already takes almost 5 (!!!) minutes to start up my main save game 🤣

[halcyon forge]

Do you think the manually placed stuff is worse on it then, say, a bunch of torches?

Ive wondered that a couple times

[clear heron]

Lights are far worse than dropped objects for performance aye (particle effects drain older gen hardware hard)
@dim cape tho has so many dropped items that he might be the exception for co-op players joining due to the data transfers required 🤣

[dim cape]

Oh yes, torches (any lights, really) are so much worse! Still, there comes a point when too many dropped items does make it unplayable; for co-op that is. 😄 Seeing how much you've decorated, I'd say we're in the same boat, haha

[halcyon forge]

Yeah im not sure if anyone wants to step into this save file 😂

There be dragons

Sometimes the planks move by themselves 0.0

[dim cape]

Try placing a bunch of broadleaves in a single basket, holy cow, these buggers will fly EVERYWHERE

(I'm still finding a couple of them from time to time) 🤣

[halcyon forge]

Yeah i can only drop one at a time of certain things or else it snows 😂 and sometimes I just... randomly find stuff out of place. Like were haunted by ghosts who move stuff

Though never will it ever be as bad as Skyrim 😂

[halcyon forge]

had to get a pic of the farm shed in better light

I tried to make this one look different from my other farm shed

But I realized that I tend to decorate the same buildings in the same way

down to the same two flour sacks 😂 and I made these like a month apart and without looking at each other

[clear heron]

It is your "style" Zyva
I like it alot mate, has a unique look aye 😉
Keep doing it imo

[halcyon forge]

Thats the plan!

[halcyon forge]

It is so satisfying to see a full set of both grandparents!

and I am in love with this geneology website 😂

I can see all my villagers family tree so clearly

Year 32, Needs 640%, Population 69, Workers 41, "Town" Buildings 76

I am beginning to think about how to expand the village as my third generation grows up. I want them to all have houses they can go into...but I also dont know how much of my first gen will die. So figureing out how many houses to build 😂

my expanded orchard trees have grown up!

I think I am most happy with my farming district of the town

[halcyon forge]

small sitting area to relax behind the smithy

[halcyon forge]

gotta show off my wares 😂

I wish we could make the little toy swords 😅

[halcyon forge]

more wares! MOAR

okay there is nothing worse than when you are deocrating, and something FALLS BEHIND A TABLE and you cant reach it to pick it back up and you have to choose between loading a previous save and LEAVING IT THERE ETERNALLY

I decided there will now be a dusty iron bar behind this smithy table.

[static night]

take another item, and make sure you hold on tight 😉 then use that item to push the dropped one to a place you can reach

[halcyon forge]

oooo that is a great idea!!

Im going to try that

[static night]

I've had to do this too many times 😅

[halcyon forge]

they need to make grabbers lol

those little things you can use to pick stuff up without bending down

I just spent entirely too long trying to figure out how to make a firepit for my forge 😅

this is the times I miss those thick planks we used to have

[halcyon forge]

I really do bounce around between projects, but I did work myself back around to the smithies

trying to make this little outdoors work area

this winter, 3 woocutters was no longer enough... had to add in a 4th!

wood needs are killing me 😭

I'm not sure who is letting their toddler walk through the death zone

[halcyon forge]

Year 33, Needs 660%, Population 73, Workers 39, "Town" Buildings 76

We have so many mothers out on maternity leave 😭 I can barely keep up with my needs this year and keep everything running on its own. Having to haul water and chop wood to help out.

I think we need at least 50 workers... and sadly some of my older women could die any year now. I need to really expand with more houses and more kids to grow up and work... but I am feeling the years I have to wait!

my people be hunnggrryyy

and have 2 wells going at 100%.. need to get the 3rd well going but I'm so short on workers 😭

[clear heron]

mmmm tasty Roasted Meat aye 🥲
Having a stockpile of foods helps in these "maternity leave" booms mate
Good luck 🫂

[halcyon forge]

I need to start taking it out so it wont rot 😭 then putting it in

[clear heron]

I turn it all (raw meat) to Salted so it has a longer "shelf life" then make the low quality ones (3.5% I think they get to before turning to rot) into Potage
It depends on what else you make - I have Potage and Fish Tart as my 2 primary food sources as both can use Salted Meat/Salted Fish Meat (the eggs for Fish Tart is the roadblock imo)
The bigger the village the more important this stuff is (especially on 660% food needs like you are)
Now the "Management Game" really begins at this point mate 😉

[halcyon forge]

Oh! I have actually never looked into salted meat and wondered what its purpose was

I should have known it would be longevity

I've mostly just been making whatever soups I have the veggies for, then baking all my fruits into tarts and pies

and simply roasting the meats

I am enjoying the management game 😅 now I really want to look into salting things... I wonder if I can work that out with my miner being at low worker capacity atm

oh my gosh I just had to run around to every building trying to figure out how to salt meat 😂

my smithy/forge/barracks area is complete! I

I'm just gonna call it the fort 😂

has a nice little training area for testing weapons

and a very small archery range for crossbows

gotta also have a armory

myself the grand builder making my mark on the town

the smithy/forge area, with outdoor and indoor forges, workbenches, and a market stall with tons of sharp pointy things on display

and of course my smiths live in their own house with a private backyard sitting area

[dim cape]

https://tenor.com/view/will-ferrell-evil-boss-iloveit-snl-gif-15241712

[clear heron]

Yeah I just use my Fisher to salt fish AND normal meat
I have routine of popping down there and salting all the 12.5% raw meat and 12.5% fish meat
You probably worked it out but Hunters Cabin and Fishers Hut both have a salting barrel (once you upgrade them)
Salted meat is amazin mate for larger villages 😉

[halcyon forge]

yep just found it in the fishing hut too!

I have found another use now 😂

just trying to decide how much to do myself vs have villagers do, labor is short at the momeny with the current baby boom

luckily salt is super easy to get

oh man this name 😂 so close to Gandalf

Oh I just love harvest time!

sooo pretty

finished spurcing up my fisherman's house since I was down that way figuring out salted meat... felt bad my fishers didnt have pretty digs when their farmer neighbors did lol

had to of course decorate their house with fish and blue

next I should really finish the docks leading down from their house and fishing hut 😂

[halcyon forge]

oh masn this kid is drowning someone stop timmy 😭

oh man all three kids 😭

[halcyon forge]

this was such a cool thing! a traveller overlooking my village

New event I havent seen yet!

[tawny stone]

FIGHT!!!!!
(idk, I never had it either ^^)

(though iirc from someone's screen ||the first option makes you lose a lot of stuff||)

[halcyon forge]

I did option 2, had 12 buildings damaged and everyone worked 50% less efficient

BUt they were happier 😂

[halcyon forge]

Spent some time getting some more crests... getting so close to havint them all!

[halcyon forge]

Year 34, Needs 680%, Population 74, Workers 43, "Town" Buildings 76

these kids are totally planning a town takeover

Today is my IRL birthday 😅 I'm glad it lined up with a day off work so I could literally just play all day 😂

I have one villager, Lorelei, who the last two seasons I've noticed has gone on a very long walk.. no idea why...

she is normally my miner

[halcyon forge]

Its raining and I get a break from work to decorate!

Going to work on my fishing hut area

putting fish in washing buckets to look like a storage area

overview of their working area

cleaning space for fish

I want to put more fishing spears out but they keep falling over

[halcyon forge]

added some clutter to the fishing hut

larger overview of small fishing area, with room for a second fishing hut if I ever decide to make one

sadly, some of my villagers prefer to wade through water and walk 10 miles instead of using the perfectly good bridge across the river

blue, green, and red spots showing where the villager is walking, and where their jobs are 😂 they all live near the lake. And they will walk aaallllll the way around, with some others. In the future once I get more people I plan to have everyone working right beside their house so that this is not so common

I think this is my favorite building 😅

[halcyon forge]

new chicken house area, expanded to two chicken houses for that sweet egg numbers for more tarts, and added some food bowls and storage

I got a bit silly with the colors 😂 but I like the way it turned out

[halcyon forge]

I am only short this one dare... and of course its RNG.... Someone do a summoning ritual for me!!

[halcyon forge]

YAY the patch fixed the log fence collision! I am so happy

Me and villagers can now go in and out these entrances lol

bahaha with the new keybind for photo mode you can take pics of yourself doing emotes so much easier! 😂

I love it

[halcyon forge]

decided to go around and start painting the inside of houses now 😅

because why not

Year 35, Needs 700%, Population 74, Workers 47, "Town" Buildings 76

no mothers on maternity leave.. for probably all of 2 seasons 😂

[halcyon forge]

some kids like geese

I am very happy, all my villager's children have all shades of hair color 😂 I like the variety

[clear heron]

I love the little figurines used as decos, it is very cute imo

[halcyon forge]

thank you!! ❤️ I love putting them in areas where I can imagine children playing and forgetting their toys

or a wife placing something that caught her fancy and brings her happiness

[halcyon forge]

It feels so weird to drop things and them be.... on the ground...

and not falling 😂

[halcyon forge]

I've also noticed that when trying to stack things, they just spawn next to the place you thought they would go to

which makes it a bit tougher to make stacks. I cant decide how I feel 😂

Made one of my chicken herders houses a bit prettier with their own sitting table, laundry area, and privy tucked aorund the back

of course it gets dark and starts raining 😂 butyou can see their house behind the chicken pens

with their own log walkway entrance

[clear heron]

I like your multi-coloured walls
Your village is so pretty, the amount of dye you will end up using will be astronomical tho 🥲 (especially if you dye the outside and inside of the walls lol)

[halcyon forge]

yes its going to be massive 😂 I am making some, but find it to be easier to sell stuff for money and run to town and just buy as much as I can

every.single.season

[halcyon forge]

Year 36, Needs 720%, Population 75, Workers 46, "Town" Buildings 76

We ran out of firewood again 😂 Going to have to change some labor around

[halcyon forge]

I love all the chicken colors

I hope one day there is more variety in our other lifestock as well

It would be so cute to have spotted cows, or brown/black sheep

Even pigs typically have splotches 😂

[halcyon forge]

spruced up the other chicken herders house

just need thier pear tree to grow large

[halcyon forge]

Gerturda with her third child! She is very happy

[halcyon forge]

🙀 oh wowzers

I decided to bribe the king

Such a good outcome 😂 I am a fan of this new king! and his name!

https://tenor.com/view/king-royalty-imking-kingoftheworld-throne-gif-4656432

[halcyon forge]

I love how cozy my farm kitchen is

She is Queen of the Rock

my snow queen

😂

[halcyon forge]

Year 37, Needs 740%, Population 76, Workers 43, "Town" Buildings 76

More firewood problems in winter. And I had a couple deaths and of course women on maternity leave 😭

I need more people!

[halcyon forge]

I think she just really likes this rock

[halcyon forge]

I love the added lights inside the houses now

It really makes them feel more homey at night

worth farming all that linen 😂

I find it funny that I have begun to live off honeycomb and mead for food and water 😅

I am basically a bear

new raised house next to my extra storage building.. I have 3 now and I'm afriad I am going to need a 4th 😅

house has a back deck that runs along the outside wall, and I LOVE when villagers use them

[halcyon forge]

View from my house in the morning

cool angle!

[halcyon forge]

night view of the little alcove between two border houses. The workers here both work at the nearby lumberyard

[halcyon forge]

Winter nights!

[halcyon forge]

Year 38, Needs 760%, Population 76, Workers 44, "Town" Buildings 76

Struggling to stay afloat with our workers 😂 Had more deaths and births... and barely keeping our buildings running

I really hope this third gen grows up soon!

[clear heron]

760% needs with 44 workers for 76 pop is quite challenging
That ratio (of working pop to total pop) requires a massive stockpile when I do this challenge
Best of luck Zyva 🥲

[halcyon forge]

Its tough!! And the challenge im doing dosent allow me to just recruit new people. So its definitely tight!

Im having to make the firewood myself at this point, and a portion of the water buckets

Luckily my cow sheds are pumping out cheese so im doing okay with food between cheese, fish tarts and white bread

I think i will probably at this rate get to 1000% and year 50 before I get many more workers 😅

Maybe a couple runaway brides will show up 😂

[clear heron]

Yeah I find I use Fish Tart too, they give so much food value and as long as you have the eggs coming in the rest of the ingredients are easy to keep a good supply of
Firewood and Buckets of Water are the pain for me too and I have to make them myself too, quite relatable lol 😉

[halcyon forge]

https://tenor.com/view/chopping-wood-rounding-gif-20614984

[halcyon forge]

making my resource storages less boring

[halcyon forge]

one day maybe it will be easier to add tables 😂

moon rise!

[halcyon forge]

okay last storage picture 😂 i promise

Its silly but fun to just throw stuff around

[clear heron]

I see you are a fan of Lanterns and Braziers too 🥹
I will eventually upload a vid of "my swamp" with my obsession with those on full display lol
I like the different light "colour" each gives aye

[halcyon forge]

I do love them!

Variety is the spice of life

[halcyon forge]

today... i learned... I CAN PLACE THINGS IN THE MINE

https://tenor.com/view/hahaha-evil-laugh-black-cat-muahaha-salem-gif-9119290

experiementing with different designs for around the mine

and will eventually expand this area to its own part of the village

there will be at least 5 houses for all the miners/excavators, their own marketplace and kitchen

and maybe an extra market even if space allows, with more houses

I would like all the children of my 3rd generation to have their own house to move in to, hoping we can radically expand our population to help with labor shortages 😂

[halcyon forge]

Year 39, Needs 780%, Population 76, Workers 46, "Town" Buildings 77

Inching closer to 800% 😂 gosh the last 10 years to 50 are gonna be rrooouugghhh

and so many people with one foot in the grave 😭

[halcyon forge]

prized rooster

[halcyon forge]

my horse died 😭 I am so sad. I will now be riding his daughter, NightDance

Its like the end of an era!

[clear heron]

Yeah I get quite attached to my mounts too
The process of saddling up the next one in the stable when the old one dies is a bit emotional mate

[halcyon forge]

It is!

[halcyon forge]

I walked away from the computer for a bit to do some chores, left myself all tucked in bed

Came back... and my wife is just STARING AT ME

I feel judged

oh wait i think i found the problem. our daughter got into our bed 😂 i think she doesnt wanna sleep in the kids bed

[halcyon forge]

Year 40, Needs 800%, Population 76, Workers 44, "Town" Buildings 78

Man, year 40! This is officially the longest I have ever played in one village... and I am a bit proud of myself 😂

800% needs is getting TOUGH without having more workers. I have had more deaths this year, and it will be 3 more years before I start getting more help. I am getting exhausted keeping everyone happy 😂

[halcyon forge]

my wife has been taking care of the chickens since we met! She does a great job lol

[halcyon forge]

Year 41, Needs 820%, Population 75, Workers 43, Buildings 78

I am keeping busy staying afloat 😭

trying to optimize my food production to prepare for the years

and training my apprentices to lessen the burden... in three more years 😭

[halcyon forge]

Been SO busy with IRL harvest, not had much time to play, but I can hope that by the time I'm done we will have a date for the new update 😂

but, I did find the time this morning to go around and gather some Honkers 😂

[clear heron]

I was wondering what happened to your fascinating screens thread, I have been busy with work too so have very little time to play myself
This explains it mate lol, doing an irl harvest season must be stressful aye
I hope your harvest went well, at least there you don't have to worry about providing a bunch of peasants with ever increasing food/water/firewood needs 🤣
You have until November 12th for the Halloween event to end (and the honkers to go away), take your time mate 😉

[halcyon forge]

I will definitely finish harvest by then if it kills me 😂 normally we have some rain periods which give us breaks, but not lately. Which is both great for getting things done and exhausting as well XD