Improve village terrain integration #82

Wuzzy commented 2023年02月20日 18:16:09 +01:00

Villages don't integrate well with most terrain shapes. Either they cut away the land too aggressively, or the create huge overhangs.
Villages are always flat.

I think a major overhaul of the algorithm is required.

TODO:

• Get rid of worst and most aggressive terrain overhangs below houses caused by the hill generator
• Make village houses adapt to landscape
• Generate non-flat villages
• Generate paths that adapt to landscape
• Make sure all key features of the previous versions still work

Villages don't integrate well with most terrain shapes. Either they cut away the land too aggressively, or the create huge overhangs. Villages are always flat. I think a major overhaul of the algorithm is required. TODO: * [x] Get rid of worst and most aggressive terrain overhangs below houses caused by the hill generator * [x] Make village houses adapt to landscape * [x] Generate non-flat villages * [x] Generate paths that adapt to landscape * [x] Make sure all key features of the previous versions still work

Skivling commented 2024年07月07日 12:13:32 +02:00

It would be nice if villages could expand, for example if the player builds another house and the village can detect it because there is a new bed in a 30 or so node radius, and that would become part of the village and also allow for another villager.
Currently my home village is half my builds which no villagers ever touch, and then the generated ones, which feels a bit weird sometimes.
Some of the villagers living there said they wanted a library. I build one, but it's a bit too far away for them to notice. Meanwhile three of them are crazing around a single bookshelf in a house.

It would be nice if villages could expand, for example if the player builds another house and the village can detect it because there is a new bed in a 30 or so node radius, and that would become part of the village and also allow for another villager. Currently my home village is half my builds which no villagers ever touch, and then the generated ones, which feels a bit weird sometimes. Some of the villagers living there said they wanted a library. I build one, but it's a bit too far away for them to notice. Meanwhile three of them are crazing around a single bookshelf in a house.

Wuzzy commented 2024年07月08日 23:17:36 +02:00

Thank you for your comment. I have thought a lot about the village/villager mechanic.

All villagers pick a home bed and a "worksite" which is a per-profession block.
Once chosen, they don't change their selection unless they can't find a path or the block is gone.
A villager without a bed or worksite will scan its proximity for an unclaimed bed and worksite and once found, they claims it.
Villagers also secretly "communicate" with each other to ensure no two villagers claim the same bed.

So to relocate a villager, just destroy their current home bed and build one elsewhere.

Villager schedule currently has 3 phases: Work, sleep, play. At work, they go to their worksite. At sleep, the go to bed. At play, they go to random decoration blocks (mostly chests). Each profession has its own schedule and worksite.

The "worksite" of carpenters is a bookshelf. This is admittedly a bit cheating to create simulate a "fascination" for libraries. I probably need to think of a better day routine for carpenters.

Admittedly, the current system still has room for improvement. I think the search range is large enough, but maybe I could teach villagers to roam the world semi-randomly when they don't have a bed so that they may find one randomly.

Currently, if a villager does not find any interesting block, they stand still and are stranded. Maybe such a roaming mechanic could allow a lost villager to find a village or basic home from far away.

But IMHO the biggest hurdle to village expansion right now is that villagers cannot breed. The villagers that the mapgen spawns are all you will ever get. This is obviously a problem.

Internally, the villagers have no awareness of villages at all. All they see is points of interest to walk to. This is by design because I don't want a complex "village detection system" or "village boundary algorithm" or something like that. And it's probably not neccessary.

Anyway. Right now, it is already possible to spawn a villager in Creative in flat worlds and build a custom village from scratch and the villager will start follow a schedule if you built a bed and worksite somewhere.

Thank you for your comment. I have thought a lot about the village/villager mechanic. All villagers pick a home bed and a "worksite" which is a per-profession block. Once chosen, they don't change their selection unless they can't find a path or the block is gone. A villager without a bed or worksite will scan its proximity for an unclaimed bed and worksite and once found, they claims it. Villagers also secretly "communicate" with each other to ensure no two villagers claim the same bed. So to relocate a villager, just destroy their current home bed and build one elsewhere. Villager schedule currently has 3 phases: Work, sleep, play. At work, they go to their worksite. At sleep, the go to bed. At play, they go to random decoration blocks (mostly chests). Each profession has its own schedule and worksite. The "worksite" of carpenters is a bookshelf. This is admittedly a bit cheating to create simulate a "fascination" for libraries. I probably need to think of a better day routine for carpenters. Admittedly, the current system still has room for improvement. I think the search range is large enough, but maybe I could teach villagers to roam the world semi-randomly when they don't have a bed so that they may find one randomly. Currently, if a villager does not find any interesting block, they stand still and are stranded. Maybe such a roaming mechanic could allow a lost villager to find a village or basic home from far away. But IMHO the biggest hurdle to village expansion right now is that villagers cannot breed. The villagers that the mapgen spawns are all you will ever get. This is obviously a problem. Internally, the villagers have no awareness of villages at all. All they see is points of interest to walk to. This is by design because I don't want a complex "village detection system" or "village boundary algorithm" or something like that. And it's probably not neccessary. Anyway. Right now, it is already possible to spawn a villager in Creative in flat worlds and build a custom village from scratch and the villager will start follow a schedule if you built a bed and worksite somewhere.

Skivling commented 2024年07月09日 00:55:46 +02:00

Thanks for the detailed explanation, I now understand how villagers work :)
I have also "cheated" to spawn in some more villagers because they can't reproduce themselves yet, and I need a larger population.

Relocating beds and workstations worked perfectly. Sometimes I had to place it in between where I wanted them to go, wait for them to move, then bring it to the desired spot, but that wasn't much of an issue.

Once there is a different work block for carpenters, bookshelfs could become a play block instead, allowing for much better fascination of libraries.

I also like how the villagers hint at what their workstation is if they can't find it. That is great.

Yes, a roaming mechanic would be a good feature. "Oh no! I don't have anything to do!" -> "I'll just walk around over there a bit and see what I can find." -> "Oh hey! Here's a group of lovely people, and they have a spare bed for me! Yay!"
But be careful that they can't get lost 30 blocks away from a village, then start roaming away the opposite direction. So every 30 or so seconds (and before they begin roaming) they should do a large scan of the area around them to try find a place of interest.

Having no "village detection system" makes total sense, and honestly just makes the game better and more simple. You've done a great job with it so far, and I am excited to see future improvements as well!

Thanks for the detailed explanation, I now understand how villagers work :) I have also "cheated" to spawn in some more villagers because they can't reproduce themselves yet, and I need a larger population. Relocating beds and workstations worked perfectly. Sometimes I had to place it in between where I wanted them to go, wait for them to move, then bring it to the desired spot, but that wasn't much of an issue. Once there is a different work block for carpenters, bookshelfs could become a play block instead, allowing for much better fascination of libraries. I also like how the villagers hint at what their workstation is if they can't find it. That is great. Yes, a roaming mechanic would be a good feature. "Oh no! I don't have anything to do!" -> "I'll just walk around over there a bit and see what I can find." -> "Oh hey! Here's a group of lovely people, and they have a spare bed for me! Yay!" But be careful that they can't get lost 30 blocks away from a village, then start roaming away the opposite direction. So every 30 or so seconds (and before they begin roaming) they should do a large scan of the area around them to try find a place of interest. Having no "village detection system" makes total sense, and honestly just makes the game better and more simple. You've done a great job with it so far, and I am excited to see future improvements as well!

Wuzzy commented 2026年04月12日 00:50:35 +02:00

Good news! The village branch has finally been merged! Goodies:

• Villages now adapt to the landscape instead of being placed flat
• House spawns are now smart enough that the can spawn even safely in forests without cutting into trees in an ugly way
• Village buildings are now placed freely, the "grid" layout is gone
• Path width reduced
• Paths are placed using the pathfinder for a more natural look
• Villages now generate in the mapgen thread which should prevent annoying lag spikes
• No more village lanterns (for now)
• New tool to place a single village building (mostly for debug/testing only)

There is now only one thing that still needs improvement before closing this:

• Houses occassionaly still generate large terrain overhangs due to the hill generator

Good news! The village branch has finally been merged! Goodies: * Villages now adapt to the landscape instead of being placed flat * House spawns are now smart enough that the can spawn even safely in forests without cutting into trees in an ugly way * Village buildings are now placed freely, the "grid" layout is gone * Path width reduced * Paths are placed using the pathfinder for a more natural look * Villages now generate in the mapgen thread which should prevent annoying lag spikes * No more village lanterns (for now) * New tool to place a single village building (mostly for debug/testing only) There is now only one thing that still needs improvement before closing this: * Houses occassionaly still generate large terrain overhangs due to the hill generator

Wuzzy commented 2026年04月12日 14:16:52 +02:00

House hills are now less aggressive and look somewhat more natural.

Villages are now good enough to close this.

House hills are now less aggressive and look somewhat more natural. Villages are now good enough to close this.