Hello everyone! Another update for Blacksmith Master is ready for you to try :)
Since the past few updates focused on new content, I've decided to take a step back and see how I can improve core gameplay, especially in the early game.
One of the main complaints is that the economy is way too chaotic, some things take way too much time, and some are way too easy. Most players have too much money that they can't spend.
Steam Reviews: Your Feedback Matters
If you like this update or feel the game is heading in a good direction, I’d really appreciate a review on Steam. It helps the game a lot, and I really do read all of them. Your feedback is what pushes these updates forward and helps me figure out what to adjust, add, or rethink next. Thanks again for all the support so far — it keeps me going.
Difficulty Settings
To address this, the first change is the addition of game difficulty settings:
All existing save files are considered as "relaxed" game difficulty, and you can change that any time you want in the settings menu. With increased difficulty, a couple of things change, mainly item prices, the maximum level for workers, and other economy parameters. An interesting change is about the maximum staff level, because in relaxed mode, you can make all workers have maximum stats eventually, but in normal and hard modes, their maximum level is lower, so some stats cannot be maximized. Because of that, you have to manage them better to see what to prioritize and match with their traits.
Custom item prices
The second change that I introduced is custom item prices. You can decide if you want to sell items for a lower price and increase demand, or increase the price and sell fewer. If you increase the price by 10%, demand will drop by double of that, so it will drop by 20%.
The opposite applies if you lower the price, demand will increase by double. It's entirely up to you to make a decision on how to run the business and maximize profit :) With lower prices, you sell more, but also need to produce more and pay more salaries. On the other hand, you can sell fewer products and pay lower salaries, so you can focus on other things.
There is also an option to change prices in bulk so you don't have to click too much :)
Early progression
There were many illogical things when I thought more about them, like, for example, the ability to unlock smelting before you unlock assistants, which makes smelting useless. Because of that, I made the staff menu unlocked from the very beginning and rearranged some stuff to make a bigger impact in the early game. Staff and general tutorials are now merged into 1 tutorial, which is still optional at the beginning of a new game.
Special merchant offers
Finally, I've introduced rare and even more rare merchant offers which reward you more if you finish them :) It's meant to be a slight relief in hard game mode, so it's easier to survive.
That is it for this update. I hope you like the direction I'm taking. As always, please leave feedback on Discord or Steam forums, since I read everything, and it helps me decide what to work on next. If you like the game, also consider leaving a positive review, which helps me a lot!
Until next time,
~Luka
Join the Blacksmith Master Community
Become part of the Blacksmith Master community. Join us on Discord to chat with other players, share your builds, and see what others are forging. You can also follow discussions and updates on Reddit.
