ToXeye's random musings (about At The Gates)

[ToXeye]

So I found that the caravan, although game breaking at this moment, really makes the game possible to continue playing. Why? Because the game does not seem to reward getting your own food at the moment. It is almost as if one part of the game is different from another part of it.

I compare this to how important the trading depot is in Dwarf Fortress... In dwarf fortress, the player can sell useless crafts and other items and so fill up the fort's need for things to eat. It's still an unbalanced mess... at least in that game "one item is worth one other item".

[ToXeye]

... at least in that game "one item is worth one other item".

To be fair, games become simplistic when they just use ghost items to do things. But what I mean is that the caravan and the resource gathering is broken.

My main point was that it's good that, when one element of the game is broken, that at least the caravan works. It's a way to explore the game when it's not yet finished.

[ToXeye]

I made a new tribe, for helping with the wiki. I noticed that, in the beginning, the food balance issue is not that much of a problem. But as soon as you get more and more families, the economy is unbearable. The only way to survive is to exploit the "caravan food turn for 3 gold" exploit. Each turn, you can make 5 gold in the settlement. After the caravan has returned, you will have enough for at least that amount of turns in "food turns".