19 October 2026
Recent polish, and a look at Mehrgarh
Over the last few days I've focused on UI polish. Here's a screenshot from a settlement in Mehrgarh - our first mission. This location is attributed to the pre-Harappan era, and is where our game starts (~7000 BCE). This mission's goal is to get the player familiar with the game and its core mechanics.
In this city, I now have 22 houses - 18 have already upgraded once to a mud-based dwelling (a Mehrgarh house), 3 are still huts (the starting stage), while 1 is in the process of upgrading. You'll notice all of these houses are now on raised platforms, so the flood waters do not damage them. That's a big part of houses' beginnings. They often start by rivers, and then move further inland or get rebuilt on platforms as the settlement grows.
For food, we have 2 farms worked by hand (i.e. no animals or ploughs yet), a few fruit orchards, and one hunter.
You'll also see a number of brick building sites by the river. These are unique to this map, and require no workers. People go there and make bricks based on their needs. Later, brick building becomes a managed industry with workers and uniform brick production.
Finally, you'll also see a big tree with some bright ribbons. The tree represents a Gathering Place - somewhere people can come together and request projects from you. As your settlement grows, you're also awarded achievements which show up as the bright ribbons - they're just something simple to appreciate your town's progress. This (the Gathering Tree and settlement achievements) is a newer game mechanic and one I'm still adding to.