Adding POWER to Lumbermill! Indie Game Devlog 

Hey everyone 👋 Getting a lot of suggestions I should use marching squares for lakes. I chose not to, as it requires at least 47 tiles (and then the pump would also need to correctly fit a lot of these). The algorithm I’m using here instead uses just 6 shapes, but has a similar appearance!

I really enjoy seeing this game develop and I can't wait for it's release!

great devlog ben! I really like the electricity idea

you might be interested in how lumbermills (and most factories in fact) were powered prior to electricity, using belts. each individual moving component in a factory would have to be connected up with belts to a source of rotational energy (steam engines but also windmills and waterwheels). there was some pretty intricate engineering involved to get the friction as low as possible, gear ratios, changing the pace at which the belts moved for different components. perhaps a bit different from electricity and the fairly well-worn gameplay aspects of that

maybe you should add charcoal power , windmill power , and watermill power. you can set it up like this... water or wind > to steam > to charcoal > to solar

You should add different environments with different types of trees. For example, plains, Rocky Mountains (doesn't have to be but something like that would be cool), pine forest, and Redwood Forest. Those are some cool ideas you should consider. Maybe even add unique animals like deer or something according to the biome.

if the perlin noise from the underground is over a higher threshold there should be a water tile on the surface layer for the eventual addition of a WATER WHEEL, we need a water wheel yeah

Awesome work with this, so cool seeing this game progress. Also impressed by the production quality of your devlogs - great work on the animations and info clips you throw in. It's given me some good ideas for ways to make my videos more engaging, on top of Lumbermill just being a cool game to see growing anyway. Keep up the good work!

You should make a watermill to power machinery by the streams

I’d like to see the underground connect a bit more to the surface generation. Granted that probably require a lot more code... that being said having under ground springs connect to above ground lakes, that could connect to water based lumber mills. I’m from the Pacific Northwest in USA and Ive grown up around those types of logging things. Cool to see this industry has inspired someone! I could see a water based expansion being a progression as you progress.

If the conveyor belt only works if it is powered, maby make a hand crank for it - this way you have to sacrifice one of the workers untill you get the power going. Without any conveyor belts moving there can't be any progress to unlock the generators and such. Think manual labour should solve that problem in the early game! On another note, I think it would be lovely to have rocks/mountains, and maby lakes on the surface to add more variety.

Power generation from burning charcoal? I don’t know where it would fit on the tech tree but might be useful to integrate the power system with the core system of lumber production.

adding paths/roads might be a good way to both plan and make employees move faster. paths could be faded when you first paint them onto the map but become opaque when a worker has finished digging the path

Those underground lakes are looking fantastic!

Added to my wishlist. I don't promise anything cause I don't buy many games anymore but if it helps you I am happy. Nice development.

you should add a boat that delivers your highered lumberjacks, e.g. you hire a lumberjack and a boat arrives he walks of and gets to work. Loved the devlog!

You could add a power storage system, so that if your fuel runs out the storage power kicks in and keeps things running while the player sets up a new source

here's an idea: to add more of a challenge to upkeeping solar panels and transformers, etc.. they should get weathered over time and workers can be assigned to clean or fix them, if they are not fixed soon enough they are completely broken and a new one has to be bought.

If there is a day/night cycle the electricity could be used to power lights. Along side that, power might be able to be held in batteries. I see a lot of potential on this, and cant wait for the release!

I think high voltage for long-distance power lines and low voltage for powering machines would make the power management more fun.

ADD MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF TREES, THAT WOULD MAKE SO MUCH DIVERSITY AND EMPHASIZE EXPLORATION TO FIND DIFFERENT FORESTS, SOME MORE RARE THAN OTHERS, THAT COULD BE USED TO BUILD DIFFERENT CONTRAPTIONS AND FURNITURE! BELIEVE ME, I WOULD LOVE TO EXPLORE IN A GAME LIKE THAT.

I am in love with this dev log!

Some ideas around power: - rusting pipes or other problems around power system so player needs to handle power outbreaks - batteries - different steam engines on wood or on coal for example - some kind of limitation to power production, it seems to be unlimited right now. I mean once started it will produce all the time

Nice work, looking forward to the end result already. Small remark, something which I also noticed in the previous devlogs: the perspective of objects on conveyor belts seems a bit off, in the sense that lowering their y-values would look a bit better. I can see how the current system is pixel-perfect, but it looks like objects are a bit too "high" (vertically up) when they're travelling along the belts.

How about mechanical power in the very beginning? You can make a river flow through your forest, and place a waterwheel over it to generate mechanical motion, which can power the machines when placed next to it. Second step in the "evolution" would be a windmill, which would be the same idea as the waterwheel except can be placed anywhere on land. Third step would be the steam engine you created. And maybe the fourth step a way to convert mechanical power to electric power? Like a dynamo for example. I think this might introduce some new coding challenges, but also be a great addition to the game. As a side note: have you thought about having to feed your employees? Or doesn't that really matter too much? Just an idea here. If you(any reader of this comment) agree/disagree then please like and leave your opinion on this so BWDev sees.

Your pixel art has become pretty good overtime, I can't wait to see what else you come up with for the game. Maybe some forest fires and hazardous environments? :B

u should have thoose wheels that gets put in water and creates energy its the basics for making power and also after alot of time the solar panels get dirty and the employees need to clean them like in real life . just my suggestions i love ur dev vlogs im ready to see the game beeing finished keep up the good work man :)

I like the power aspect of the game as it is, but maybe have an option for the underground layer where you can see the above-ground transformers and generators. this way, you wont have to keep going up and down to see where they are.

Your pixel art is fantastic

Batteries would be good addition, and maybe a furnace to turn wood into charcoal to increase its efficiency. With a downside that it produces soot as a byproduct, making your early game power upgradable, but a bit dirty because you need to store/dispose of waste. Making the player still wants to work to solar power. The soot could be refined into fertiliser through research to get rid of it down the line maybe. Really cool project man I've got it in my Wishlist and will be supporting!

Maybe you could have a ghost of the power related things when underground so it is easier to see what you are powering

The Game is Becoming more beautiful!

Ooo underground geothermal power would be cool

I was thinking you could make small geothermal vents, or pools of lava for a heat based power system. Or maybe small green stones which can be collected and used to power a nuclear-like generator for lots of power.

I feel that so late game conveyers arent complete messes you should add underground conveyer belts and conveyers belts that can go over other conveyer belts like bridges

What about adding water in the top layer? Maybe just copy some lakes from the underground layer

great progress, wishlisted ;-)

add irrigation system that uses water from underground deposits

I think your really creative, and your ideas are consistent, and aesthetic👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Really good video, you can maybe ad a furnace to the game: so you can make wood into charcoal, charcoal can be converted in to electricity. That's my ideo for one extra thing voor electricity ( above ground)

You should add Post prossessing to your game in the morning and in the night

Looks like you took inspiration from factorio

you need to add water mills. actualy you only use rivers for bridge, lets use it to make electricity or maybe to cool down machinery.

You should have done a % distribution of power. Like T1/(T1+T2)* G if G-(T1+T2)

you could use the underground to create coal and make coal power or for fuel for the steam power

Loving the development, would be happy to work on a soundtrack if you're in need of music :)

You should add oil in the ground, for the power

You should make windmills and a way to make better fuel for the machines.

Looks great! I can’t wait for the final release!

Could you add a cheaper power-line option that is above ground? It could cost one third as much, but later when you have more money you can rebuild it underground.

👏THESE 👏 VIDEOS 👏 ARE 👏 GOLD 👏

When your father along and close to release you should put up a part of your website where you can apply to be a beta tester

Love the old school art style What about making a forest fire mechanic tho? If you do not keep your generators/electric machines in check, theres a chance they'll explode and then start spreading fire to the trees There could be firewatch towers as well, to prevent this kind of situatio s

Are their plans to have relief in terrain, like small hills and such?

I just click like before I watch the videos. Keep them coming!

That electric animation is awesome :)

oh no it's factorio's power.

I love to watch these devlogs instead of continuing work on my game XD

MAKE TRAINS A THING PLS

Nice update. Maybe you can make it so you can have steampipes, waterpipes and wires in the same tile. This wil make underground organanizing easier.

i suggest you check out mindustry, a mobile game quite similar to your game. the games are very different but i tihnk there are some thing that woulod fit in your game. love the series

why not make watterwheels for power?

Make fossil wood under ground that is worth a lot?

Could the solar panels transmit electricity between each other without needing a cable?

Ayyy! I guessed correctly!!!

Wind Power? 😳

Hmm was not expecting that

Loved it!

Looking great so far :)

Pretty interesting! I wasn't expecting that...

In 5:15 you mentioned you could not find an algorithm for that online. Have a look at the Gift Wrapping algorithm (Jarvis march). I'm not sure if that's what you want.

You could make a mobile version, but no pressure tho

Is this unity template 2d or 3D?

The game is looking good cant wat to play it when it comes out

I think that electricity needs some kind of balancing force, since it essentially just removes the need for steam. Maybe you could make it so solar panel output varies with weather, daytime or something, so if you use electric, you sometimes need to buy expensive Oil to run a generator - but machines powered by electricity would run faster, so you have an incentive to use electricity over steam. Or advanced machines only work on electricity.

I really like where this is going but there is a question concerning me. What will the price be on steam? Would be really nice to know!

You could add geothermal power which you place on the underground layer.

Add fire risks and the ability to create ditches with water to carry the logs.

You should add more life to the forest. It’s very plain and could do with some birds, deer, rabbits, or whatever you’d like to add.

I have another way that I think could work for power distribution: Each output node (transformer/engine) calculates how much power it needs to be fully powered. Then, the input nodes (boilers/generators) distribute the same percentage of requested power to each output (e.g., output 1 wants 300 power, output 2 wants 500. there's 400 available power units, so each output gets 50% of the requested power). There could also be an in-game system for the player to select a priority level for each output node, which would be given power first. My vision for that is that each priority level is considered independently, starting with the highest priority level. The power used by each level is subtracted. The benefits that I see from this system is that power draw is more predictable. In the current system, one output could be fully powered while another is not. If the machines powered by these nodes are dependent on each other, than power is wasted/items pile up. In my system, the factory will shutdown when not enough power is produced. Priority levels would add another level of control, allowing the player to ensure some systems stay online even when there isn't enough power. I think there are definitely some advantages the current system has over this one, but my comment is long enough and I don't want to write anymore :P

I would like to see waterpower in your power systems. A river runs through the map, (look up watershed analysis) the river is daily variable and yearly variable. A dam is directional, and creates a build up of water upstream, but smooths out the variation. Waterwheels can be placed on a river and produce rotational power. Rotational power can be converted into electrical with a generator, hooked directly to a building, or transferred via axles. Build a dam out of chopped logs. Water can be piped. Use the head pressure (difference between height of water on both side of a pipe) on a waterwheel or a turbine (to directly convert to electric)

How about wind power? windmills maybe even water mills for the rivers so they have a better purpose than just being in the way

Wow, you got a ton of progress done! All the power systems look great, and I love that the cables are underground. It's nice to not only have a separate view for them, but also keeps your above ground nice and clean looking. The graphics/animations on showing how the steam/electricity work were really helpful too. Awesome job!

Vineyards and / or fruit trees would be a very nice addition to the game in my opinion, as a second approach to the game. Using the materials from your woodworks to create machines for wine refinery, etc, would be an interesting direction for end game.

Maybe you can add a third layer even deeper where you can find oil, for power. And maybe if there is too much pollution produced by the oil-burning stations, the trees will grow slower.

How about wind energy?

I feel like when a cable / pipe goes up, you should be able to see what it goes into!

This is actually top tier programming

Add a system where you can have batteries to store power and make the pumps also need power

A late-game power system could be oil... 6:35

Maybe you could add oil under ground to electricity? idk just an suggestion :)

If you plan on adding animal mobs, you could add a bit of realism to the electricity by introducing “losses”. Aka, if a squirrel mob comes across your wire, it could dig underground and nibble on the wire, shocking itself and sapping a percentage of the electricity from that circuit. This would be a interesting way to add some challenge to maintaining your factories. Maybe you could introduce wooden fences to keep animals away from your equipment. This game looks awesome. I was a huge fan of roller coaster tycoon 1 and 2 when I was a kid and this has me wanting to buy a pc lol.

2 simple resolutions to the power issue would be preferring high power first or low power first, maybe high power first ONLY if there's enough to fully power it, if it can't draw full power, the power station moves to the next item to power it, like a queue. Or you could have a full blown priority queue you set by default but let the player change?

@BWDev I have a great idea, you could use the water on in a river or the water round the island to make a water mill to supply energy or something it could be a necessary to supply energy and for more machines you need to upgrade the water mill just an idea let me know what you think

Can you make it so that it randomly snows? It has no purpose, but it adds to the enviroment. And you are also great at pixel art! I think you are the best person at pixel art that i have seen so far!

idea 1 :make a small old dirty road and there will be a small truck wait for you put to put wood stuff and the truck will go to a market or little town pick your choice

You could make coal underground that you can put in the boilers that is better than wood.

i am going to buy this game so fast

You could make the water a finite source and each spring underground refills every time it rains in game

So you have to have a transformer placed near your buildings? Maybe it'd be cool to connect buildings directly with cable, so you don't have to have transformers everywhere.