It's Friday and about to be a pretty long weekend for some of you out there, but we of course cannot let you go before dropping some updates on Ale Abbey's development. This week we started with the Superiors' UI screen, tried making the Merchant's Stall easier on the eyes, and continued our work on animating the Bandits.
As always, the 4th part of today's Something's Brewing is dedicated to the thing that brings us together: beer. This week, one of the subjects Yannis loves to talk about... A LOT.
Don't let us keep you, read on :p
-- Animating Bandits' demeanor
Following up from last week, we have a few new Bandit animations to share. Their attitude being completely dependent on how much ale they get in their hands, and of course by whom, there are quite a few variations of how they will be approaching your monastery or demonstrate their state of mind.
One thing we haven't mentioned about the Bandits, is that their boss will be the one calling the shots, and depending on how dissatisfied he is, the number of bandits following him when he tries to prove a point might change (less beer = more bandits!)
One thing leads to another and lack of beer can and will lead to big parties outside your gates, and not the good kind!
-- Reworking the Merchant's stall
We are not dropping any part of the work we are doing in the Cellars or the main UI we showcased last week (almost everything ever is WIP), but we just added another front to our development efforts.
While testing pushing orders and perusing the stock in the Merchant's Stall in internal builds we couldn't help but feel the Stall needed some TLC. Although most of the attention seems to be focused on the aesthetic parts of the Stall, we are also working on QoL changes and its backend to spare you from the excruciating pains of shopping while making the whole experience more efficient.
Click for a larger version. This is by no means anywhere close to its final version, we still have a lot in "store" for it ;)
-- On the matter of Monastery management
Something we have talked about in the past is the Monastery's management being divided into equal terms where an Abbott or Abbess manages the Monastery, offering their backstories to influence how your Monastery progresses and what mark it leaves on the world. In addition to that, these Superiors will be bringing in their own expertise and management styles which will buff the Monastery's production or various parts of its operation.
Click on the shot above to get the uncropped version; one that shows more detail on how these will be presented to you in a scene, some new extra pieces of furniture we created specifically for their quarters, and surprise surprise a first look at the ways they might enhance your monastery during their term.
Their UI will be reworked heavily as the number of available options per term is not yet decided and UI/UX and overall aesthetics are always subject to change in our process.
-- Beer making life easier to deal with?
Honestly, not in any way you might think. IT'S SCIENCE TIME :D
You might not have made the connection consciously, but beer does have sedative properties. This soothing of the soul sensation after having your favorite beer in a relaxed setting is not a placebo, it's actually attributed to the presence of hops, a key ingredient in brewing.
Hops contain compounds such as humulone and lupulone, which are known to have sedative effects on the central nervous system. These compounds interact with neurotransmitters in the brain, such as GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), which is responsible for inhibiting nerve transmission, leading to feelings of relaxation and calmness. Additionally, hops contain a compound called 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol, which has been shown to have sedative effects similar to those of the widely used sedative drug, diazepam.
No, really... there have been scientific studies supporting this notion published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and the journal PLOS One, the latter finding that consumption of non-alcoholic beer containing hops still significantly increased self-reported feelings of relaxation and sleepiness compared to a control group. These findings provide empirical evidence supporting the traditional belief that beer, particularly those containing hops, possesses sedative properties.
Another thing to remember is that hops is a not-so-distant relative to cannabis. This should help explain a few of the effects as well! Next week we'll see what happened to beer before hops were introduced in brewing it. Until then...
Enjoy your weekend responsibly, and join us next week for some more Ale Abbey news!
-- Hammer & Ravens
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