Hello again and welcome to another Something's Brewing, your one-stop for everything Ale Abbey, our upcoming monastery brewery tycoon!
With quite a lot of internal testing and bug splatting throughout the week, we couldn't say for sure if today's Something's Brewing would have enough dev progress to showcase. Well, guess what?! It comes packed with progress and receipts you can witness (AKA eye candy). New snowy assets, a major update in lighting, and stacks of ale!
Onwards with the news.
-- Stacking supplies AND ale
With the limited amount of helping hands around the Abbey, supplying the brewery with ingredients and carrying brews to the Cellars or the carriage that takes them to the surrounding villages will create certain logistical issues.
Although we did introduce sacks for the ingredients in the past, the ale-filled barrels were left on the side. Well, this week they came back to the forefront!
With certain playstyles focusing enough on production to build more than one brewery ASAP (*cough*Yannis thinks he's playing Starcraft*cough*), and of course the increased production of larger stoves and fermentors later in your playthroughs, you will eventually have brews waiting to be picked up by your Laymen and Laywomen.
And what better way to wait than neatly in a barrel :3 So here are the proposed stacks!
Far from ready, we will update you on these soon!
-- Internal lighting update
This week we've also been busy updating lighting within the Abbey's halls. This came as an overall push towards realism when it comes to how lighting works, looks, and affects your brewers.
First things first, artificial light sources around the monastery will probably need to be maintained (refueling them will be a thing). Adding to that, well-lit rooms will boost your brewers' satisfaction score. To make things easier on the player, lighting across the monastery will look and act appropriately; a room that does not look well-lit, probably isn't and it'll be your job to fix that.
In the example above, you can see the new larger lanterns for the Abbey's walls, and the difference between a well-lit room (bottom left), a naturally lit room (top left), and two rooms that have had their windows blocked (in varying degrees) by the necessary evil of decoration, furniture!
More to come as this system will be delicate enough to demand quite a lot of tweaking. Especially if we decide to weigh placement position and how this affects a room.
-- More wintery stuff coming up
We also couldn't stay away from the awesome-looking winter version of the monastery's exterior we worked on last week.
Making some significant progress (thank you Raimo!), we now have examples of the recoloring of the villages that you can see in the background behind the monastery.
As well as the larger mountain complexes that extend farther in the background.
And, like other parts of Ale Abbey's development, yet another matter to divide the team over! We're trying to figure out what the best effect for the frosted ground seen around the monastery's foreground would be. We have two contenders so far, but quite a few more if these don't work out.
As is tradition, if you have any ideas, shoot them in the comments! :p
-- Beer days across the world
Today is International Beer Day! And because we know it takes more than one day to celebrate our favorite beverage (and pastime if you care about brewing as much as we do), we thought we'd give you a few dates to remember when beer is celebrated (almost) worldwide around the year.
You know, for when you need some good reason to crack up a cold one! ;)
- International Beer Day
First Friday of August
Founded in 2007, International Beer Day is celebrated worldwide, aiming to bring people together to enjoy beer and honor those responsible for brewing and serving it. The day is marked by various events, including bar promotions, brewery tours, and beer tastings.
- Global Beer Responsible Day
Mid-September
Initiated by Anheuser-Busch InBev, this day focuses on promoting responsible drinking habits globally. Breweries and bars participate in activities and campaigns to raise awareness about responsible alcohol consumption.
- Zwanze Day
Late September
Organized by the Belgian brewery Brasserie-Brouwerij Cantillon, Zwanze Day is celebrated in select locations worldwide, featuring a special limited-release beer. The event brings together beer enthusiasts to enjoy unique brews and foster a sense of global community.
- International Stout Day
First Thursday of November
A celebration dedicated to stout beer, this day encourages beer enthusiasts worldwide to enjoy and appreciate the rich, dark beer style known as stout. Breweries, bars, and beer lovers celebrate with tastings, events, and social media posts.
- International Lager Day
December 10
Focuses on celebrating lagers, one of the most popular and widely consumed beer styles globally. Breweries and bars highlight their lager offerings with special promotions and events.
- International Gruit Day
February 1
Celebrates the ancient tradition of brewing with herbs and spices instead of hops, known as gruit. Breweries and beer enthusiasts around the world honor this historical brewing method with special gruit beer releases and events.
So, enjoy your International Beer Day today and its subsequent weekend responsibly, and remember to join us next week for some more Ale Abbey news!
-- Hammer & Ravens
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