Stonehearth ето интересная, увлекательная и очень затягивающая игра в которой все по не многу - элементы песочницы, стратегии и градостроения. Но в целом, ето, конечно же, симулятор создания поселения или колонии, которых не так уж и много, а качественных еще меньше. И именно ета игра входит в этот самый список, потому что: у нее интересный геймплей, она имеет красивую и очень даже миленькою воксельную графику, какой-не-какой сюжет и лор (хотя раскрывается он не очень) и, естественно, продуманную и обширною систему стройки и декорирования. В целом игра, конечно, на любителя, но тому игроку, который, любит градостроительные симуляторы и симуляторы колоний она явно зайдет. Рекомендую.
Ok, so it's been a long time coming, and the developers for this game have thusly been moved to other projects after being acquired by someone. (I literally forgot who it was..) But let's get down to it.
What I seriously loved about this game was that it had a bunch of quirks and cuteness to it. The fact that you can design or edit some character models is fantastic in itself. I love the relationships they can build or destroy all on their own and the weather mechanic was indeed handy. The stress of getting the people with the right skills to the job and keeping them safe is not too overbearing, but it can get you sometimes. The music is lovely, it's score is definitely some to take with you on the go when you're on long road trips. (Trust me on this one, I put the main title theme of the game on one of my train trips.. it seriously made things a lot more.. epic? Like you're in your own movie kind of way.) And the fact that you don't have to follow each tribe's core atmosphere really does heighten the difficulty spike a wee bit.
But enough gushing over how cute it is in its vloxy form. Let's get to what brought the score down a few pegs.
First off, the bugs.. It had severe issues and would just quit sometimes. They seemed to have added the thing to somewhat help 'fix' these issues, but I'm no programmer, I have no idea on what it is to fix or how it works. There was just so much that they added in before their departure to other projects, but not enough to help explain how this would work for us who have no idea on what to do. I get it that there's some 'pro's' out there who do this kind of thing, even making mods, but for us who aren't.. this is really useless.. The other issue I'd like to bring up, is characters just standing there.... doing nothing when there are things that must be done. 'Idling' is a problem and no way to fix it. I even did one chore at a time and still the same thing persists. And I know it's not just me. And what I said before on the creation level of the characters? How I liked it? That still remains.. but half the time, you get the 'stupids' of the lot, and it makes getting ones who are smarter to know what they're doing, seriously difficult to obtain later on. (And what I mean by stupid, is where they have less than 4 on their stats. I literally put those as workers, but it makes it difficult to get things made for survival when I don't have those 4 or higher.) Thirdly, and this is more of a personal problem, but I really... REALLY hated a very small map. I initially thought that it would be much bigger, but it's well... too small. It would have been interesting to find shrines, mine caves, and well.. something akin to Minecraft, but something that makes it stand out, like.. a chance encounter with someone on the same map with same coordinates. I'm not saying multiplayer, but you can trade/fight/cooperate, that kind of thing.
Now, most reviews on here would say a lot of terrible things, but I'd like to think of this as the ugly duckling. Once you get past some snags, it's actually really fun to play and you can get creative. There is story, there are choices and there's so much you can do. My only regret is being that I kinda wish that the team would stay on to see its growth (possibly) and make it better in terms of fixing a few issues here and there. So if you see this for sale, I would definitely implore you to try it out for yourself.
Stonehearth is a game that had a lot of potential, but unfortunately it seems that the developers have abandoned it before it could reach its full potential. Despite some enjoyable gameplay mechanics, the game feels unfinished and lacks the necessary polish to be truly engaging. Additionally, the performance issues can detract from the overall experience and hinder the enjoyment of the game.
It's also concerning that since Riot Games purchased the developer, fans are no longer able to mod the game engine without risking legal trouble. This severely limits the potential for user-generated content and leaves the game feeling stagnant.
It's a good game overall, but it looks like developers don't care about the game. I like the game as a whole, but the developers' lack of interest greatly devalues this game. I am very saddened by this absence of concern.
Setting up your village and protecting it against creatures is not a new idea. Yet its world is beautifully designed. Just a.i. and bugs are troublesome. Its graphics are considered unique. A village building game with action is nice, though it is likely to get repetitive.
Stonehearth is yet another testament to developers abandoning projects and running off into the sunset. A great deal of behind-the-scenes incompetence caused this once-promising game to miss many features and goals set in their kickstarter. The basic premise of the game is actually relatively new and innovative- construct your town with buildings of your own design, overcome monsters and burdens of society with the sweet added bonus of co-op game-play. I have no doubt Stonehearth would have been great had the Radiant Entertainment put in another year of real development. (or simply not mismanaged time and money in the ~four years that they had)
However, there is hope prospective customer! While the actual developers have tucked tail and run, abandoning their pet project like a baby in a dumpster, the independent modding community may have the drive and the resources to resuscitate this flat-lining infant into a real, living game.
For more detailed information on the developers specifically, SidAlpha made a solid video in his Dirty Devs series.
Yet another abandoned game. The potential was huge, the ambitions were huge, and the letdown was huge. The developers suddenly cut huge chunks from the development track, and then were surprised at the reaction. By doing so, people were forced into camps; fan or disappointed.
There were requests to open up the codebase, but the developers have gotten their payday, I suppose.
SummaryStonehearth is a game of exploration and survival in an epic fantasy setting. Build your town, care for your hearthlings, and defend against marauding invaders.