FreeHolder Alpha 7 Hotfix 11

2.12.2020

Mid-Week Update!
Hi all! I've been cranking away at getting flax and linen implemented and have just been so excited to get it to you that I thought I would put it out today. There are a large number of related balance changes, a few small farming tweaks, and a handful of bugs that have been removed as well, but I thought that I would dedicate this hotfix to introducing this new element. I'm getting back to fixing the battle glitches after this, but releasing all of that stuff in one giant blast would be too much text to read. Better to split it up. I might start calling this alpha 8 next time. 12 updates is probably enough to merit that, eh?

Flax and Linen
I'm pleased to say that I have fully implemented growing flax and weaving linen in this new fix. It has a few idiosyncracies. First, flax cannot be eaten. That's not why you're growing it. You're growing it for those sweet, sweet flax threads. And because you are doing this, there are several things you must be aware of.

First, you must NOT let the flax overgrow. Unlike food crops, the flax threads are at their best during a certain window and if they miss it you will receive LESS viable flax as a result. The "+" icon is instead a "-" when you overgrow to indicate this. Obviously, sometimes it's unavoidable, but know you will get less from your harvest when this happens.

Second, flax is traditionally "retted," which I guess is an olde tyme pronunciation of "rotted," where you simply lay out the cut flax in the field and let mother nature rot away the useless inner core of the plants, leaving the husks which can then be threshed all to hell to produce threads. This takes a month. So, the traditional 2-action cost of harvesting is actually split in the case of flax. You must first "cut flax," which costs a single action. Speedreaper DOES apply to this, so it will cost 0 instead of 1 if you have that skill or its upgrade. Then, you must wait a month. The water and growth displays will disappear on the flax, and the text "retting" will appear under it. Then next month and thereafter, the text will say "collect," and you may spend one action to collect the retted flax, after which you can sell it for...not that much, or spin it into linen at the Spinnery which of course you must build.

While the flax is retting, it obviously will not suffer from drought damage or lack of watering. Storms can still cause you to lose some of the flax, though. The fallow timer of the land will also replenish while the flax is just laying there, so if you need to collect it later for some reason you will not be holding back the soil from regenerating.

As for linen, it takes WAY more flax to create linen than wool to create cloth. Ratios are 2:1 as opposed to wool's, 1:1. There are many reasons for this, none of which are particularly important. And yes, for now anyway, wool cloth will simply be referred to as "cloth" as it has been whereas cloth from flax will be called "linen." Linen has a similar icon but the fabric looks coarsely textured. It's easy enough to tell apart. Sorry if this is confusing. They are both cloth, after all. I think "woolen cloth" lacks simplicity. But let me know.

As a result of these changes, I've redone a bunch of clothing, added some more, removed some others, and just generally made substantial readjustments to weather resist statistics on this stuff, to better reflect the actual fabric properties of wool vs linen. I've nixed silk clothing for now because it didn't do anything and was supposed to use bolts of silk anyway, which you can't make yet. I think. It'll be back when I get some of the later-game systems in place.

Also, as I mentioned, Cloth Armor, and its upgrade the Heavy Gambeson (historically inaccurate. Spoiler Alert: It won't be the last time) is now an option, but you WILL be needing the Tailor and Master Clothier skills on a Rancher to unlock crafting those particular items. Everyone else will just have to get by with the new lowest-tier Hide armor and all the old standbys.

Enjoy!

Oh, and be warned. If you have an old save with obsolete clothing items, I cannot guarantee glitches won't occur if you mess with them.


Changes

Skill Changes
-Substantially increased cash refund given for Gardener's Threshing skills and Designated Seed from resident skill

Farming Changes
-Lowered cost to plant all crops

Equipment Changes
!!Warning!! People using saves with obsoleted clothing may experience glitches.

-Substantially changed weather resist statistics and reorganized crafting dependencies of domestic clothing
-"Insulation" property has been removed, now firewood need reduction occurs 1 per every 2 levels of cold resistance, up to -2 max
-"Breezecatcher" property has been removed
-Removed obsolete Armorcloth Mantle (replaced with cloth armors)
-Removed Embroidered Coat and Splendid Vestments (temporarily, pending readjustments)
-Added Linen Frock, Stitched Coat, Knit Mantle
-Heavy Furs is now outer layer, Druid Garb is now inner layer
-"Cooling Wear" is now "Cooling Tunic"
-Mendicant Shroud now requires linen and only 2 lavender and 2 ginseng to craft

Battle Gear Changes
-Added Hide Armor, Cloth Armor (from Tailoring skill), Heavy Gambeson (from Master Clother skill)
-Improved toughness of Leather Armor, Studded Leather, and Scalemail


Bugfixes

Skill Fixes
-Cash refund on wheat and beans now given for Threshing and upgraded skills Splicing and Grafting as intended

Tile Fixes
-Fixed bug where barbed spear from sodden lockbox would not appear in tool inventory

Crafting Fixes
-Fixed glitch where crafting items would sometimes not consume resources(!)

Processing Fixes
-Resource conversion ratios now show proper and updated numbers, including bonus conversion due to skills


Upcoming Features
(! = Major feature)
Battle stability and functionality fixes
-----alpha 8------------------
(!)Steam Achievements(!)
Dark Gadgetry for Agent (requires addition/reworking of Use Items)
Muse's Song skill for Guildmaster (requires addition of art objects)
Journeyman Smith for Warrior (requires additional items and iron)
More battle gear (battlecapes, battlepack, sling pouches and special ammo)
-----alpha 9 (tentative)--------
More advanced classes and class skills
Remove studio action
Second factorium size upgrade