Banished - nearly finished

[Darkspire]

The tutorials are a little sparse I must admit but I started on hard and followed what the tutorial did more or less and have a little community of 46 and growing. I think it depends on what you lay down first, it reminds me of Anno 1503 in that respect. If I do not get the fishing hut down first the stock never meets the demand, for me it was clear a few resources (adding to collect when the stockpile looked like it was getting low), fishing hut, wood cutter, forester, barn and 4 houses. I tried those same things in different orders to confirm and every other permutation results in tombstones. Once I had the order I carefully added the others, hunting lodge and blacksmith (Iron is a bit sparse so I just took small areas till the minions increased enough to clear larger areas), then started up trading to get some seeds and livestock, it is starting to become quite involved once you get the trading going.
Really like it to be honest, zoom needs increasing and the map is near useless (needs a resource key and other filters) are my only gripes really, like Anno, once you have the correct order of things it starts falling into place.

Darkspire

[Bletchley_Geek]

The problem is that the game never explains anything, and I think the tutorials are to blame.

Part of the tutorial should explain how to establish efficient systems, and ratios so that your population doesn't starve to death in the first 5 years. As of now, the tutorials only explain things that a player can pick up and understand immediately anyway.

For example, I have no idea which commodity is the best for producing food. Farms? Orchards? Livestock? Which livestock? Chickens? Cows? Etc...

I am in the same boat as the RPS reviewer. I have a HUGE percent of my population farming, and I'm still starving to death when I get over 20 citizens.

Well, I reckon it explains enough to play the game. There's an in-game kind of wiki that explains things in more depth.

As with any sandbox-survival-city building game worth its salt, 99% of the game is supposed to be figured out by playing, and it gets addictive because those games are extremely punishing and unforgiving. Approaching this as if it was Sim City is a mistake.

In Banished, in particular, I'm seeing that one needs to apply 'common sense' most of the time. For instance, having people to live relatively apart from each other may be economically inefficient, but then you don't want that initially isolated measles to spread out like wildfire and decimate your people. Dwarf Fortress is much harder, because you know, who the frack knows what 'common sense' means.

[-budd-]

Looks interesting, i've watched some of pewpewchewchew lets play on youtube .For future consideration for sure.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTP2hlFqdfG8_0T2fCkbLrg

[Yskonyn]

Who the hell comes up with a username like 'pewpewchewchew' anyway? Does he expect to be taken seriously too? ;)
Just kidding, his vids are pretty good actually !

[skeptical.platypus]

I think I know why at least one of my families got Banished:

Wife: 19
Husband: 15
Child1: 11
Child2: 5

[Nefaro]

I think I know why at least one of my families got Banished:

Wife: 19
Husband: 15
Child1: 11
Child2: 5

So your polygamists moved to Utah?

[skeptical.platypus]

I think I know why at least one of my families got Banished:

Wife: 19
Husband: 15
Child1: 11
Child2: 5

So your polygamists moved to Utah?

The seed of my people is as strong as our song is sweet.

[undercovergeek]

First attempt was disastrous - 4 houses, one storage yard but in an attempt to build the storage yard accidentally built a barn too, the time it took the barn to get up took away precious time to get the fishing up and going - lost too many adults

Second attempt commenced at 21:30 yesterday and finished at 02:15 am this morning - couldnt walk away - much better set up but tipped over the scales of equilibrium and ruined the food system, i built a herbalist without realising my populace would abandon their posts and head for her medical attentions, the fishing dock was abandoned and the food never caught up again, with 6 houses it was going so well, the seventh house pushed me into people dying - lost too many adults again, i could either find food or cut trees but not both - without one or the other it was doom for the beautiful people of Middlelock, no rage at 2:15 this morning just sagely head nodding and knowing what i need to do next

[Barthheart]

Don't build the herbalist until you build the barn. Herbs can be stored and picked up in the barn.

Don't build lots of stuff until you have the population. First year I just build barn, houses, wood cutter, gatherers hut and hunting hut. Al that needs to be done before winter.
You will get enough food to survive the first winter. Don't fully staff each place until all are built.

Yeah... I picked it up early Saturday morning when my dog got me up at 5:30am..... :P

[undercovergeek]

Don't build the herbalist until you build the barn. Herbs can be stored and picked up in the barn.

Don't build lots of stuff until you have the population. First year I just build barn, houses, wood cutter, gatherers hut and hunting hut. Al that needs to be done before winter.
You will get enough food to survive the first winter. Don't fully staff each place until all are built.

Yeah... I picked it up early Saturday morning when my dog got me up at 5:30am..... :P

thats what i thought about the herbalist, but if theyre ill they will pick a herb from the barn and then head to the herbalist in the forest!

[Barthheart]

Don't build the herbalist until you build the barn. Herbs can be stored and picked up in the barn.

Don't build lots of stuff until you have the population. First year I just build barn, houses, wood cutter, gatherers hut and hunting hut. Al that needs to be done before winter.
You will get enough food to survive the first winter. Don't fully staff each place until all are built.

Yeah... I picked it up early Saturday morning when my dog got me up at 5:30am..... :P

thats what i thought about the herbalist, but if theyre ill they will pick a herb from the barn and then head to the herbalist in the forest!

Hmmmm.... I haven't seen that happen..... maybe my folks are just healthier than yours....  :P I'll have to watch fer that....

[undercovergeek]

yeah, 3 years of fish and potatos make em a bit grumpy!!!

[skeptical.platypus]

Comfortdoch made it to year 8 before I made the classic banished mistake of upgrading my wood huts to stone and ordering a resource clearing immediately after. As we Banished few have come to learn, even the most experienced builder will do f*k all but chop trees and rocks once the resource clearing order is issued. What I didn't know was that A) apparently upgrading is a two step process. Step One, tear down the old house. Step Two, building the new one -- and clearing orders will be completed between steps one and two, and B) not everyone will move back into an upgraded house.

So my population was cut nearly in half when the upgrading project started in early spring was delayed by three seasons while the builders collected some iron, and didn't get back to completing the rebuild until winter, and even then, I needed two more house. Who's occupants froze to death while waiting for the upstairs loft.

[Jarhead0331]

But still no combat? None at all? What about brigands? What about raiders? Even protection from wild animals?

[skeptical.platypus]

Still no combat. And it's even worse than that. 

Not only is there no protection from wild animals, your hunters can get killed by hunting them.

There are no brigands. There are nomads who will show up at your port (trading dock) and ask to join. They are like wild animals in that strangers' diseases can kill you, but you have no defense (particularly if your herbalist is out wandering).