Heartland Frontier Content Update - v0.2.2

A class-based 4x strategy game where you take control of a feudal fiefdom and resist foreign invaders to build a sovereign nation.  The heartland is the last true untamed frontier on the continent, a depopulated realm trapped between 4 great powers.

Happy Friday 13th everyone. This week I have added quests to the game. This new mechanic allows to accumulate missions over time. You can have up to 5 missions at a time and completing them will grant you bonus influence. 

There are currently 6 missions that you can access in the game. In the future more will be added, such as faction and class quests. All of the current missions are very general and are actions you need to do anyway to win the game. These missions have been added first to give new players some direction regarding their early-game objectives.

In no particular order the missions are the following:

• Build Colony - Construct a colony somewhere on the frontier. Gain 3 influence.
• Siege and Occupy City - Attack a hostile settlement, defeat it's garrison and choose to occupy it. Gain 5 influence.
• Plunder Farmsteads and Workshops - Destroy 3 of these holdings. Gain 3 influence.
• Siege and Exterminate a Foreign City - Attack a hostile settlement that belongs to character of a different culture, defeat it's garrison and choose to massacre it. Gain 7 influence.
• Build or Capture Farmsteads -  Construct or capture 3 farmsteads. Gain 3 Influence.
• Build or Capture Workshops - Construct or capture 3 workshops. Gain 3 Influence.

You can see in the following screenshot where your objectives are displayed.

In addition to missions, this week I have also expanded player choice in terms of how you can play the game. I have added a variable speed system where you can adjust the game speed as you play. The hotkeys for this system are '1' to decrease speed and '2' to increase speed, you have the option of playing on a game speed of 1 (slowest), to a game speed of 5 (fastest).

Here you see where the game speed controls have been added to the HUD. The number of pips represents game speed and you can use your mouse to adjust the game speed as well by clicking on a game speed's respective pip.

There are two ways to progress game time, either spacebar to pause/unpause the game, or 'Q' which moves game time forward by a day. This 'Q' functionality has been in the game for months but I have emphasised it by adding a button for it to the HUD. Left-clicking the 'Q' button will end the day, opposed to spacebar which just starts/stops game time. This system is useful because it makes microing specific actions easier without adjusting game speed.

I have also finally added the Bishop AI for NPCs. You will now encounter Soldiers and Bishops, previously AI characters could only play as the Soldier class. This means encounters are more diverse and the AI will use its class abilities to try and gain an edge where possible.

Thanks for reading this devlog, I update the game every Friday and everything about it is centralised here on itch. Play for free and please leave any ideas or feedback you have for the game.