I still think babies shouldn't die with nursing mothers. At least not after they've upgraded either research or medicine. Heck, even in the most primitive cultures they have ways to keep a child alive after the mother's dead. No reason that even a girl who isn't of breedable age couldn't take care of the infant and feed it a bottle. And heck, even dogs that have been fixed but delievered at least one litter of puppies in their lifetime have been known to spontanously produce milk at the sight of nursing puppies. (My own dog, God rest her soul, Bitty did that at least once I can remember after being fixed - she had 2 litters of puppies herself.) So no reason a non-nursing woman who's got a bit of breeding can't take care of the infant. They'd just be more fragile in their first few years of life since antibodies nessasary to fight off illness comes through the mom's milk.

Heck, I was allergic as a baby and had to be fed soy milk when I should've been nursing. Don't see why coconut milk can't do for infants with dead mom's. At least until a nursing mom comes along.

First I apologise in advance if I've duplicated anyone's ideas.
Secondly, apologise for length of this post and subsequent ones. I originally posted some of these ideas on the Real Arcade Forum and debated whether or not should bother to post anything on this thread.

But I started making a comprehensive list, and what can I say, it's turned into a "monster" with a life of it's own, haha!!

So, I decided to just go with it, to blazes with the consequences, haha!! But just to make it a little easier I'm posting my total list in installments, haha!!

So here goes....


MENU/DETAIL LAYOUT IDEAS
========================

1.Name of what village your playing should appear on the village “scene” so you don’t have to revert back to menu to find it.

2.More info given re mood or what they are doing , such as, teaching ?? (medicine, farming,)

If angry, what about (the noise from the love shack, badly behaved children, ), chatting about the weather, family.
When elders complain, it could be about their aches and pains, no rain for the crops.

3.The “village scene” menu (where you actually play the game) should be enlarged and the various details/menu keys more streamlined so take up less “island” space.

As you select a VV, then details appear in a pop up, instead of “dead” space when you are looking at the village scene. The brown detail area at bottom of screen could be used to expand village area.

Same for the side menu area, instead of having details, tech, puzzles, menu listed separately, there should be one button “Index” or similar, then a selection box appears where you can click what you want to see.

There is approximately 3 cms. (2" ) of overlarge menu to left and bottom of screen which could be better utilised as viewing area.

This simpler option maybe would be to have details in single bar across top of screen:

Village Name Pop. Food Tech Points Index (this would
contain puzzles,tech,main menu,details)

And/or another menu bar across bottom of page (if no index key on top) with puzzles, tech, main menu, details, zoom/map key

Basically, I think most people would prefer to see more of the island and less "button"/menu space.

4.Details page -

Instead of just a solid blue bar, the various stages of training should be colour coded. Say levels were untrained, trainee (or novice), adept (or apprentice), master.

Colours of bar could start with green, then blue, red, finally yellow (any order really). You then wouldn’t have to take up valuable space with printed career status, if you were intending to include this in the details page of VV2.

Best of Irish,
Maura

Ok, apologies again for any duplication and length of post,

this is "Chapter 2"

VILLAGERS LIVES
===============

5.Career options - Bearing in mind limited number available, possibilities could be :

Healing

Research

Farming/Food Gatherers (Maybe include shepherd,hunting,
foraging in jungle, trapping, spear fishing)

Parenting/Mating

Handyman/Labourer (This would include what builder does
now, but additional duties would be collecting
firewood, thatching roofs, making cooking
implements/tools, wheelbarrows, etc.)

Cook (The new VV hopefully will have fire, they
can’t be that stupid, haha.) They will stir
pots/cook, collect food from food bin/garden,
prepare food, gut fish, clean up)

Retired Instead of elders struggling to work, they will
have new skills to learn as "retirees" i.e. playing with/minding children, teach "trainee"
teens, tending the garden, drawing in cave, play bowls, just wind down. But nothing
stressful, all should be easy to "learn"

Possibility of combining healing and research and maybe bring in teaching??

6. "Elders" -

The health status bar should decline as they age. That way their deaths will not be so sudden. They would just gradually weaken, then gravely ill (can’t be cured).

Maybe have an area of "hospice" , not a deathbed as such, but some place where they could sit and other villagers would go for a little chat, bringing some food, and pay respects before they actually died.

Some dignity for the elders of the tribe is needed. Also, reduce the "doddery/creeping" stage. In established (3rd level medicine) it starts at 66 yrs. I don’t know anyone who walks like that at 66. You could increase to 70 yrs.

7. Breeding -
Some on the forum don’t want any female over 45 conceiving. Well, IVF is offered to women up to 55 (in most of Europe). The other side is of course, should men father children late in life?

This is a virtual world first of all, not the RW. I don’t intentionally breed any female over 70, and usually well
below that, but sometimes "needs must".

Maybe when a male tries to mate with a female (or vice versa) there could be a pop up similar to "she’s nursing a baby", something like “difficulty with conceiving”. That way, if you absolutely had to breed with a more mature lady, you could, but it would just be a little harder.

Also, more importantly, if the suggestion regarding a "weakening" health status bar for "elders" (explained above) was utilised, this would make conception pretty much impossible for very elderly ladies/men anyway.

But it would be nice if "embracing" still occurred, everyone needs a little cuddle, haha!!


Best of Irish,
Maura

So where's the variety in MORE skeletons?

I didn't realise what a "monster" my list had actually turned into, haha, but the end is in sight, no really, it is, honestly, haha....

This is "Chapter 3" and once again, apologies for any duplications.

POT POURRI/GENERAL IDEAS
========================

8. Mothers and babies -

Should they work other then caring for their children. I heard many stories from elderly women when I was growing up (here in rural Ireland) about giving birth to children in the fields as they were "drawing" in the hay, or "cutting turf" (a very harsh existence at times).

But I don’t think the "modern" idea of "working" mothers (working at a career outside of the home) is relevant in this virtual world. It’s not as if they are lawyers, professors, or anything like that.

These are basic people struggling to survive. It’s impossible to pull these "two worlds" together in a virtual game.

Simplicity is probably the best option. And this is what I think could be possible... babies to be carried by mothers (in slings on their backs, maybe, but could look like humpbacked whales) for 1st year, and in 2nd & 3rd year they "toddle" (an extra developmental stage) with mammy (not with other children) so she can work at something. If she’s farming, researching, or whatever, the child wouldn’t be able to go where she was precisely, but in a designated “toddler” spot nearby.

Others could stop at these groups to “help care/play with babies”. Hopefully daddies would.

This could bring another set of "behaviours", i.e. toddler teething, crying, hiccups, giggles, napping, needs changing, etc. And they would wear blue/pink gowns until they "automatically" change clothes at 3 or the player would be responsible for this.

9. Possibility of changing the backdrop of the village. I came across a game where you could click an arrow on either side of screen and it would "slide" to another background.

Maybe have beach/working area and more cosy, colourful rest/home area. But this may be more complex to achieve then it sounds.

Based on the island as it is now, these are some changes I would make in layout/additions -

Waterfall at lagoon area so villagers could shower (maybe cuddle occasionally, haha)

A separate rock pool for laundry (near to beach on right around where temple is) with laundry hut next door.

Laundry hut could also be a changing room maybe (come out in different outfits)

Monument/Idol more in centre of village but towards the back. (This is where everyone would "wait for someone", not the school)
The garden area should be near lagoon at the back of village. No peeing here. There should be hammocks
(what’s a tropical isle without hammocks, haha) and stone benches/seating area so they don’t have to sit on top of each other.)

The peeing area should be moved to the palm trees on the left side (with some rocks around trees)

The vegetable patch where the garden is now (it would be between cemetery and laundry area)

The school would be on left where two living huts are now. The school shouldn’t be in the middle of "throughway" traffic of adults. Children need to be able to concentrate. The school should have a fenced school yard (gate at rear of school may make it a little more difficult to wander out. Children should go in/out of school and into schoolyard to play regularly (similar to laundry room).

Living quarters could be placed - one on left between school and lagoon, two at back between cemetery and lagoon.

Love shack could swap places with food bin (this would then be nearer to veg patch on mid right side)

Cooking/dining area would be where research table and vegetable patch are now. A low round table for dining (they could sit on ground when eating)

Research table where school is now.

Well stays as is.

Berry bushes - several smaller ones placed around isle instead of one large in centre.

Herbs - similar to now

Cave - Smaller opening moves more to the right corner.

Temple - Moved to left on the beach just in front of school or incorporate it into cemetery (in honour of departed spirits or similar)

Cemetery - stays but is smaller. No individual markers (as per suggestion)


To brighten things up, paint huts (or at least door/windows) using root pigments, such as beetroot, which can be used to create a purple dye/paint. Roofs should be green leafy branches. Flowers by living quarters/school/love shack. Love shack should be red!

So the central area would be dominated by fire/cooking/eating, with research and village idol/meeting area.

Anyway,

Best of Irish,
Maura

At last, the end of my list, I bet everyone is absolutely relieved, go on, admit it, you are, haha!!


Chapter 4 (and final one)

10.Cemetery -

Rather then individual headstones, a burial "mound" which could be a "tie in" with temple (either rock or stone) instead. Similar to Druid (and other civilisations )an example is Newgrange, Ireland.

When you click on this resting place, a scrolled menu of last 100 who’ve died (maybe more details re cause of death, old age, pox, ). As more died the beginning of the list would be deleted (possibly held in an archive file?) for those who may want to check farther back. But this may be too complicated.

Also, it would be nice if baby who died with mother was included somewhere, maybe a separate memorial for children.

The stats page should show how many have died, not buried.

11.Names -

On the options menu be able to select a "nameless" village. Children would have no names when born.

As you add names these would build into "personal" name data bank and gradually children would be born with names from this data bank (family names). But the option to change names would have to still exist to avoid duplication.

Concept of "customising" the game as much but as simply as possible.

12. Optional selection of "celebratory" days. I like to rename or christen my villagers, so it would be nice to have
holidays we could select, something like

Naming or Christening Day
Coming of Age
Retirement
Birth Day (when they are actually born)
Achievement/Graduation
Prayer/Spirit Day

Again, apologies for any duplications...

And I seriously hope it all wasn't too much or too boring....

Best of Irish,
Maura

P.S. Oh, I just had a thought.... no, it's gone, haha!!

Aren't we running the danger here of not leaving Arthur with much of what was, afterall, his concept?