2.1.1

2.1.1 is a small patch that has a fix for a crash on saving while notifications are present, a missing sprite for the Maskling Grubfarm, and a rework of the mod loading process so that it no longer requires disk write access (which seemed to be causing some crashes).

Morale Update Preview

The next major update for Bronze Age will be the morale update. This update aims to add some challenge to settlement management. In 2.1 the only real difficulty comes from the Masklings. As a result settlements can have growth, which in turn removes any challenge from the Masklings.

Settlement Infrastructure

In addition to items, settlements now have infrastructure. Infrastructure represents the support infrastructure of a settlement, like food stocks, housing, and administration. Unlike items, infrastructure cannot be traded, and don't accumulate over time.

The default infrastructure types are:

• Food - Food supply, very similar to how it's handled in 2.1 but now exposed in the UI.
• Housing - Just like 2.1, but now shown in the UI.
• Administration - Running a settlement is a complex business, most structures require 1 Administration (roads and wall don't require any), and Administration is provided by the Admin Center. Admin centers can now be upgraded to provide more Administration.
• Happiness - Like food, your population requires happiness. Unlike food, however, the amount of happiness required increases at a faster rate as the population grows.

Administration

Administration provides an cap on the size of settlements. This serves a couple purposes. Firstly it prevents your settlements from outstripping the Masklings so much that they aren't a threat anymore. Secondly, it requires exploration and expansion. To upgrade the Admin Center you have to acquire rarer items. Thirdly, it turns settlement management into an optimization problem. As you approach the Administration limit you'll need to carefully pick and choose which structures to build, or build other settlements to import raw materials.

Happiness

In 2.1 your settlement will keep growing as long as you have at least 1 food per population and spare housing. As a settlement grows in population the cost-per-population remains flat. This doesn't make managing a large settlement any more difficult than managing a small settlement, and it doesn't reflect reality. Large settlements should be a challenge to sustain, with unique rewards for your efforts. Happiness will add that challenge, and those unique rewards will be coming later, with the Nobles Update.

Your citizens will need happiness, just like they do housing and food. Unlike the other two needs, the happiness cost-per-population will increases with the size of the settlement.

Each race has a "crowding" threshold, which determines how unhappy they get from being in a crowded city.  The math works out like so:

Needed Happiness = Population * (Population / CrowdingThreshold)

In addition slaves require additional happiness. I haven't tested that aspect yet, but expect your subjugated Masklings to be a lot more grumpy in the future.

Happiness can be produced through several new structures. Gardens require fertile soil, but are a cheap source of Happiness. Monuments can be built anywhere, they require a substantial investment of items but can be upgraded to be one of the most efficient Happiness sources. Breweries consume wheat to produce Happiness in the form of beer. Vinyards can only be placed on the rare Grapes resource, but they can produce Wine that can be used at a Winery to produce a large amount of Happiness.

Morale

Morale effects population growth, just like food. Population growth is modified by what percent of the settlement's food and moral needs are met. In the screenshot above the food needs are 86% met, and Morale is 69% met, so the resulting growth rate is 59% of maximum. 

Revolts

In addition to slowing population growth, unhappy populations may revolt. The likelihood of a revolt will depend on the settlement's Morale, and the world Hostility setting. When a revolt is triggered several hostile units will appear in the settlement and proceed to attack units and structures. You'll need to build towers or deploy troops to quell the rioters.

Larger Regions

The world generator is also getting tweaked. Regions will now be larger, and may contain more than one resource. This should provide plenty of room for settlements to grow, and make acquiring resources more reliable. Additionally, Copper Ore and Limestone can now be found in mountain ranges. There is also a new Grape resource that can be used to produce Wine, a potent source of Happiness.