Kingdom Crier #42: Storage v2, NPC Raids, Optimizations

Kingdom Crier #42 is here alongside Version v0.30.2 which brings Storage v2, Optimizations, and other quality of life improvements.

Changes

Storage v2

Storage has been reworked to be Item centric instead of Storage Slot centric.

Previously, Store Commands were issued only when the Storage system had reserved a Storage Slot for it. This meant that if you had insufficient storage, the Item would not get a Store Command. In addition, in the late game, the latency of processing storage meant that it could take 30s or so for the system to try to reserve Storage Slots, meaning that it wasn't clear if you were out of Space or if the Item was awaiting a Storage Slot reservation!

To solve this, we've flipped the role of Store Commands - every Item that belongs to your Kingdom and is not yet Stored automatically gets a Store Command. The Command is marked as Pending when the Item has not yet reserved a Storage Slot, and it is marked as Blocked when you have Insufficient Storage for it. This means you can check the status of any loose Item in the world by clicking on it (and prioritize it), even if it has not yet been evaluated.

In addition, we added a high level Storage Status icon when you're at home next to the Food Remaining Status Icon. It shows the percentage of Storage Slots in your Kingdom that are not used or reserved and changes color when there's a Warning or a Problem. Hovering over the Icon shows the breakdown of Storage Slots as well as counts for any non-Junk Item types that have Insufficient Storage. We've added the same stats to Storage Props and Stockpiles to allow you to check the status for individual Storage areas by clicking on them (or double clicking in the case of Shelves).

Finally, we took this opportunity to revisit Hauling prioritization trying to better find the balance between distance traveled and storage priority.

It's worth noting is that you will see more Store commands than you did previously. Any loose, unstored Item or Stack will have one - and Stacks that are destined to be merged will have multiple (one for each separate Stack to be merged in). Generally, I kick on the Prioritize Toggle on the Jobs screen when Store Commands are above 150 or so and let it run until they're back under that threshold.

NPC Raid Tweaks

Conquest launched with AI Kingdoms tuned heavily towards self preservation when interacting with the player. This meant that they wouldn't dispatch Raiding parties to attack you when at War if they didn't think they were stronger than you. Overall, this meant there was a large decrease in the number of incoming Raids, even if you were involved in multiple Wars.

Now, NPC Kingdoms will be more aggressive towards the player when at War - keeping you on your toes and spreading themselves thin at times to open up valuable opportunities for counter attack!

Optimizations

We've dedicated a few days to Optimizations over the last few weeks, increasing the baseline Framerate for mid and late stage Kingdoms.

As always, there's more to do here, but this should help!

Patch Notes

Noble Fates 0.30.2.7 Released Minor Version

Crash Fixes
    Fix for crash with Envoys
    Fix for crash with Storage Settings
    Fix for crash with the Bulk Cut Tool
    Fix for crash when a Ruler Dies
    Fix for Crash with Moving items
    Fix for crash with Mods

Storage v2
    All Items that need to be Stored now have a Store Command
        Can be soft-blocked with Pending while waiting for Storage Assignment
        Will be hard-blocked when there is Insufficient Storage
        This means, generally, you will see more Store Commands, as each loose stack gets their own even if they will eventually merge into a larger stack when stored
    Add Storage Remaining UI
        Lists Free Space, Slots, Used, Reserved, Remaining, and Insufficient
    Add Storage Remaining to Storage UI
        Lists Slots, Used, Reserved, Remaining, Free Space for selected storage
    Add Storage Icons Visibility Category
        Shows Error Icons over Items when there is Insufficient Storage for them at home
    Improve Hauling Efficiency
    Fix for Items getting stuck in walls when dropped

Enemy Kingdoms
    Are now more likely to Raid you when at War if they do not like you
    Are now less likely to Offer Peace to the Player if there is a better option
    Fix bug that decreased raid frequency when introducing new tech
    
Optimizations
    Greatly Reduce Cost to calculate Success (up to 10ms)
    Drop bad Corner Post Calculations (up to 3ms)
    Character Optimizations (up to 1ms)
    Pathing Optimizations (up to .25ms)
    
Terrain Gatherables (Rocks, Logs, etc.)
    Are now shown if any part of them is visible on the current layer (Ex. Stalagmites)
    Can now be gathered when within another Gatherable or Tree
    Can now be gathered from nearby spaces in any Room they breach.
    Drop Stacks near Gatherer when Gathered
    
Returning Home
    Fix bug that could cause you to deduct from your own stacks back home when bringing stacks back

Assassinate Petitions
    Fix bug that marked the Petition as a Success even if a target Escaped
    Greatly increase the Damage threshold before they try to Escape
    
Incoming Catapult Raids
    Improve Raider behavior when their Catapult has been destroyed
    
Outgoing Raids
    Improve initial Defender placement
    
Party Animals
    Parties that leave while you're away now take their Animals with them
    Abandoned Wolves will now leave the map

Gathered Fruit
    Drop Stacks near Gatherer when Gathered
    
Projectiles
    Now properly attach to the Prop not the Prop Accent when hitting an Accent
    This fixes a bug that prevented collection
    
Wants
    Clean up Wants for Mortals who die while Away
    
Ballista Bolts
    No longer light on Fire because they cannot Burn
    
Stalagmites
    Decrease Quantity of Stone yielded by Stalagmites
    
Fog of War
    Tweak Appearance
    
Petitions
    Decrease frequency of Petitions
    
Ignored Item Icons
    Are now Optional (Ignored Icons under Visibility)
    Are now disabled by default
        
Foliage
    Can now be gathered when inside of a Terrain Gatherable (Rock or Log)
    Drop Stacks near Logger when Cut
    
Footsteps
    Hide footsteps within hidden spaces
    
Corpses
    Clear Storage Command when set to be Buried
    
Debris
    Fix rendering bug with large Debris blobs on Load
    
Terrain Gatherables
    Fix bug that prevented rendering
    
Fortresses
    Fix bug with Beauty Bogs that caused the storage room not to be used

NPC Kingdoms
    Tweak the amount of Coins and Items they keep on hand
    
Fog of War
    Fix Fog of War when you return to a Kingdom that you previously Raided

Restart the game and steam to pick it up!

Prior Minor Update (v0.30.1)

We didn't post a Kingdom Crier with the launch of v0.30.1, the last Minor Update, so we wanted to include those notes here in-case you missed them.

That update focused on improving NPC defenses, adding additional Fortresses, and revamping the Fog of War for clarity and performance.

Patch Notes

Noble Fates 0.30.1.2 Released! Minor Update

Crash Fixes
    Fix for crash when Embarking
    Fix for crash from World Sim with Mod Races
    Fix for crash from FX
    Fix for crash with Mercenaries
    Fix for crash with Status Effects
    
NPC Raid Defense
    Iteration on Defensive Strategies
    Improve handling of Caves
    Improve handling of Procedural Storage

Away from Home
    Do not relax in Home Areas of Enemies
    Do not Collect Projectiles on other Maps
    Do not Clean Debris on other Maps
    
Declaring War
    Do not relax in Home Areas of the Target
    Do not Study using Books belonging to the Target
    Do not Train using Dummies belonging to the Target
    
Fortresses
    Add support for Stockpiles
    Only include usable Farms
    Track Map Source
    Improve handling of unowned Caves
    Improve placement of Procedural Storage buildings
    Add New Player Fortresses (9 total!)
        Add Carbhunt Pass
        Add Chillland - thanks Papszi!
        Add Cupmaw Hollows - thanks JimG!
        Add Inaccessible Hill
        Add Mountain Island - thanks Mathew W!
        Add Nevernose View (3 variants) - thanks JimG!
        Add Stairquest Forest - thanks flimss!
        
Fog of War
    Replace FX
    Improve performance dramatically
    Show Roof Vents
    Unreachable
        Try to use a nearby position when told to Go To an Unreachable position inside of Fog of War
 
Raids
    Withdraw if the War ends mid-raid
    
World Map
    Improve Map Borders
    
Item Details Window
    Hide redundant Owner information
    
Pathing Lines
    Now draw behind of Prop Blueprints
    
Room Detection
    Fix for bug that could cause bogus Rooms on stairways
    
Prop Selection
    Only add Props belonging to the same Faction when Multiselecting   
    
Fight Moment
    Attacker must Hate Victim
    Decrease chance

Outgoing Raids
    Fix bug that prevents Outgoing Raids from entering home when Incoming Raids are disabled

Experimental

Updates like these arrive on the Experimental Branch first.

If you have the stomach for brief bouts of instability and want to help us out - switch to (or stay in) the Experimental Beta on Steam and participate in discussions here or on discord.

Expect occasional issues - but know that we appreciate you helping us make the game better!

Community Corner

This update's Community Corner features Fortresses submitted by players like you!

Nevernose View from JimG!

Stairquest Forest from flimss!

Mountain Island from Mathew W!

Chillland from Papszi!

Discord

Join the Official Discord to participate in Development! [

](https://discord.gg/HeAaQcS)

Reviews

If you like the game, please consider leaving a Review. These can help players decide that Noble Fates is worthy of their attention.

Thanks for reading and thanks for playing! The Noble Fates Team