VV3 is goin in to be so awesome but i think the Isola island needs to be bigger so the villagers would have more space, and also to have more events those are my fav thing. have some stats mom/dad/bro/sis

1. Have the villagers develop REAL technology (machines, electricity, hunting rifles, etc).

2. Better and longer lineage records.

3. Let the villagers find/farm animals.

I don't know if I agree with this one. It all seems a little too advanced for an island village.I agree with this one, thoughAnd this one! LOLOL

Ideas for VV3

1: Points for parenting. - Okay, I've seen this mentioned a few hundred times but it's worth mentioning again. I've personally raised three children past toddler stage and it was WORK. I didn't spend 24/7 taking care of my babies either. If you want to place a work restriction on women who have a small child, do so, by all means. But PLEASE give them credit for it. They should be earning parenting points. I'll admit that I have, on occasion, taken a woman who no longer can have children and dropped her repeatedly on some hapless male just to complete her mastery. It's frustrating and time consuming, not to mention just a little bit silly. And, really, those with parenting checked shouldn't just be out to go play in the honeymoon hut. They should automagically teach children and round them up and yes, even do laundry. BUT laundry and the teaching should give points too. Okay, I know someone said teaching does, but to be frank, I've often had my Adept and Master parents round up the kid horde to teach them and I've never seen a message that they have gained skill. If they do, I've yet to see it.

2: Families - Okay, maybe marriage on the whole won't quite work with this game. I've had several games that my villagers have leaned heavily toward one gender or another in births. But some familial concept would be nice. Parents should be aware of their offspring and their mates and children should know who their parents are. To add to that, I would like to see how the villagers choose their mates be changed. I have had, in one of my villages, several women working on parenting. The village was at max so I didn't have to worry about adding to my child horde of doom. However, I tried to make one of my villagers work since he seemed to always be standing around...and then I noticed it was because one or another woman was always taking off to the honeymoon hut. At one point all 8 of my women building parenting were walking back and forth around this male villager, all of them "embracing". Seriously, can we at least have some way to pick a preferred mate so that we don't have this crazy problem?

3: Building Issues - Builders...that has to be one of my favorite swear words when playing VV2. First of all, building is so SLOW. I have personally had a villager who finished the first hut, built the dam AND repaired the honeymoon hut ALL BY HIMSELF still be an Adept. How is this even possible? Plus, there's the added joy of once everything is completed, points slow from a trickle to a drip and getting anyone to master the skill is beyond a joke. I really would like to see some kind of artisan hut where they can continue to learn their skill and make something for the village. Either it could contribute points or just satisfaction, health and longevity, but SOMETHING is needed. Building skill makes me want to cry.

4: Farming Sub Cats - I really think that farming needs to be split up, either in creating differently named skills or at least in preferences (as one person previously commented) for the kind of food gathering the villager does. I really see this as three different skills.
Hunter: A villager would fish or hunt, depending on the technology unlocked for them. Their main purpose would be to provide the protein foods for healthy villagers.
Farmer (or Gatherer): Someone who picks coconuts or other plants (berry bushes again, anyone?) as well as eventually tend the farm space when it's unlocked.
Herdsman: I've seen this idea mentioned and I think it's a very good one. Have basic animals available and let technology unlock being able to domesticate them. Eggs from birds and milk from goats or sheep, even meat, should be possible. The villagers in this category would be in charge of gathering food items and watching over the flocks.

5: Apprentices - Okay, I've seen arguments for and against children working and/or doing things automagically with enough training. I do agree that children over 10 should be able to perform basic chores. Heck, children in a low-tech agrarian society have ALWAYS had chores from the time they were old enough to manage them. I don't necessarily agree with picking up collectibles on their own, because that seems to be something to keep players occupied and busy. However, mushrooms, if seen, shouldn't be that hard to pick up, at least if a child has done so before. I think apprentice points would also be good. A child of about 10 can be assigned to an adult working a particular skill and run errands for them. Get wood for builders, herbs for doctors, items from the research hut for scientists, water for farmers...etc. They gain small (I mean tiny small) amounts of skill, lowering the problem of them turning 14 and not gravitating toward any kind of skill. I know that later in the game children pick up the skills their parents had. Which, to me, is weird since genetically that isn't possible and none of the villagers actually do any parenting in that sense. However, not all children get skills and even those who do don't always go and work at it once they turn 14. I think it would eliminate a lot of bored villagers and having to look for them the instant they change ages.

6: Collectibles - I like the collectibles. They make me tear my hair out sometimes, but I like them. I wouldn't mind their being more of them or more varieties of them. I have had the problem, now and then with an item in existence having a child dropped on it and nothing happening. Two or three drops later, item is still there and finally disappears about 20 seconds later. If it's there, it should be attainable. That's about my only complaint.

7: Deformed Villagers - Okay, seriously...the guy with the hydrocephalic head has GOT to go. And how did I get him out of two moderately attractive (which is as good as it gets) villagers? Genetics, people! Okay, I realize this isn't the Sims and we're not going to have blending and stuff...but can we at least stay in the same gene pool? Please, please, please, please, PLEASE remove the villagers who look as if they were dropped as babies (and probably were) and add more that actually are pleasant to look like.

8: Food Sources - I have to strenuously agree with all of the comments made in this direction. On easy your villagers face starvation if the first two things researched aren't agriculture and engineering 2. And even then, they still can. With the break between crops (totally understandable) and the limited supply of coconuts, they tend to build up enough food to barely make it through the growing time of the farm. And sometimes they DON'T make it. That's easy...the other difficulties are something that I can't discuss in ladylike language. This island is FILLED with vegetation and it always puzzles me why they can't pick berries or use the birds (I hate those things) for food sources. This, of course, slots in with my farming suggestions, but I wanted to really emphasize that it shouldn't be almost impossible for your villagers to make it unless you have spent 1500 tech points for agriculture 2, 5000 tech points for engineering 2 and then IMMEDIATE start to research agriculture 3 and pray you manage to gain 90,000 tech points before the farm cycle starves your people to death...on easy.

9: Doctors - Okay, Builders make me nuts, but this is a pet peeve of mine too. Doctors...are the laziest bums in the village. They don't always heal people on their own, they don't go anywhere near the hospital (at least that I can ascertain) on a regular basis...they hardly study their craft on their own. I saw a suggestion for making the hospital help the Doctor gain healing points. YES, PLEASE! I am forever having to locate my vagrant Doctor and drag them back to doing something meaningful...which doesn't mean laundry, swimming or just sitting around doing nothing. Okay, so they have a premier place in the village...don't let it go to their heads. They should have something to keep them busy, working and gaining skill points even when everyone is healthy. In fact, I think that their continuing to "research" at the hospital should help keep the other villagers healthier. I've had one Master Doctor per village I've created and each time I've had to virtually drop them a billion and one times on some herb plant to keep them from going off to do something else. Then I change their job so they are actually doing something...this definitely needs to be fixed.

10: Other Activities - The sewing hut is fun and great...it really should come later in the game though. If you think about the hierarchy of needs, new fashion statements are pretty low down on the list compared to say, survival. Food, shelter, those kinds of things should matter more. However, once your village has progressed to the point where they don't have to worry about starving just because the crops are growing, I'd like to see other things available. As I mentioned before, an artisan hut would be nice. I can think of several things which might not be practical, but fun. Things like being able to decorate the huts or cook meals from food materials that aren't just stews with weird results but actually FOOD that keeps villagers fed for longer. Weaving sheep wool (if you add domesticated herds) to make cloth for new clothes. The artisans could have a different skill even, since building wouldn't be entirely accurate. Maybe it could even be a skill that is unlocked later, with a technology from culture or such...when your people can relax from the immediate needs and actually create their own society. This could allow players to really express their own individuality in their villages. I mean, right now, everyone's village pretty much ends up looking like everyone else's, unless all their people die, of course. But if you allow changing huts, weaving cloth and other artisan works (like pottery) or even changing hairstyles, everyone can take screenshots and show off /their/ village...their own masterpiece and work of art.

11: Technologies - I have several thoughts on this...mostly because it's so critical to your village. Soooo...here is a breakdown of what I think.
a: Technology needs more than just three tiers and the lower ones shouldn't be so bloody expensive. At least, if it's critical for survival, make it attainable without almost killing off your entire village.
b: More technology categories are needed as well. Or at least the ones we have being given a lot more tiers and then have them encompass more. For example, farming could become hunting, herding and farming OR it could have a tier system that starts with gathering berries (for example) then moves to add fishing, then gathering bird eggs, then gathering other food stuffs like coconuts, then hunting, then domesticated herds (this can even be broken up more...like goats one tier and later on sheep or some kind of cattle), then finally going onto an actual domestic crop farm.
c: It's okay to make the less immediate technologies be far more expensive. No village is going to be wiped out just because they haven't researched culture and it's okay if medicine is pretty basic at first.
d: Science technology should have more effect. Yes, okay, I can see that it does actually add more points per research...but it still seems to do very little. And all the other technologies have far more reaching effects...I've been known to have science be the last thing I research because I'd far rather go finish my puzzles...and none of them rely on science.
e: I think some technologies should rely on others being completed. Especially if you break the current ones down into more technologies. Like in my farming example, if you don't have food gathering at its highest level, you can't domesticate animals. Perhaps even their lowest tier wouldn't be available until you had gone far enough with another technology. This is one thing I think science would be perfect for. If it's not researched, you can't research medicine or certain types of farming or engineering.

How I see a potential technology tree:

Farming - 1st level, allows you to gather berries. Starting technology.
2nd level, allows you to gather coconuts. Unlocks 1st level hunting.
3rd level, allows you to grow domestic crops on a farm. Unlocks 1st level herding.
4th level, allows your villagers to grow crops with less delay & grow more crops on the farm. Requires 2nd level science.

Hunting - 1st level, allows you to fish. Requires 2nd level farming.
2nd level, allows you to hunt game animals on the island. Unlocks 1st level exploration.
3rd level, allows you to fish with nets, bringing in greater quantities of food. Requires 1st level crafting.
4th level, allows you to hunt with spears, adding to quantity of meat brought in.

Herding - 1st level, allows you to gather bird eggs for food. Requires 3rd level farming.
2nd level, allows you to keep small animals that produce regular food in a pen.
3rd level, allows you to add larger animals that produce regular food in a pen.
4th level, allows you to gain wool (or other craftable material) from your herd. Requires 2nd level culture. Unlocks 2nd level crafting.

Engineering - 1st level, allows you to build basic huts. Starting technology.
2nd level, allows you to remove brambles (or another blocking material) from your village.
3rd level, allows you to build irrigation for your farm. Requires 3rd level farming.
4th level, allows you to build artisan buildings and hospital. (ie Sewing Hut, Weaving Hut, etc.) Unlocks 1st level culture.

Science - 1st level, allows you to use the research table. Starting technology.
2nd level, gives you more insight into farming as well as increases the production of tech points. Unlocks 4th level farming.
3rd level, gives you more insight into medicines and healing as well as increases the production of tech points. Unlocks 1st level medicine.
4th level, gives you insight into mapping techniques and crafting possibilities as well as increases the production of tech points. Unlocks 1st level crafting and 3rd level exploration.

Exploration - 1st level, allows you to find some collectibles. Requires 2nd level hunting.
2nd level, increases the appearance of unlocked collectibles and the tech points garnered from duplicate items.
3rd level, unlocks more collectible types and adds a bit more space on the map (just a thought). Requires 4th level science.
4th level, increases the appearance of all collectibles and the tech points garnered from duplicate items. Also allows you to see items from the map view.

Medicine - 1st level, allows you to research island herbs. Requires 3rd level science.
2nd level, adds to villager life expectancy and allows for medical hut to be built. Requires 1st level culture.
3rd level, adds to villager life expectancy and increases the chance of twin births.
4th level, adds to villager life expectancy, increases the chance of triplet births and adds 5 more population to the max population. (This should cost mega tech points.)

Culture - 1st level, allows you to build the medical hut and communal cooking hut. Requires 4th level
engineering.
2nd level, allows you to create materials from plant and animal fibers. Unlocks 1st level crafting.
3rd level, allows you to build a school for children to learn. (Drop children here and, like the sewing hut, it opens a menu to assign them to someone as an apprentice. Probably the children should be at least 10.)
4th level, allows you to restore the ruins of a temple (or another building) for your villagers to have a place to relax.

Crafting - 1st level, allows you to make nets for fishing. Requires 2nd level culture and 4th level
science. Unlocks 3rd level hunting.
2nd level, allows you to make cloth for clothing and the building of a sewing and/or weaving hut. Requires 4th level herding.
3rd level, allows you to make pots for storing food (adds to health and life expectancy) and the building of a potters kiln for artisans.
4th level, allows you to change the appearance of huts on the island and to build a carpenters hut.


My thoughts on buildings:

So since I already started a huge novel, I thought I'd add my thoughts into the buildings I suggested as well as those already in existence.

Living hut - Simple and basic (until 4th level crafting anyway), we should have more of these.
Honestly, would /you/ want to live with 90+ other people in three small huts? Not a pleasant idea to me.

Medical hut - Allows doctor villagers to study their skill. Doctors studying here will a: heal anyone
who isn't feeling well and comes there and b: add to the villages overall life expectancy and health. Also keeps those vagrant and lazy doctors busy.

Research hut - Why fix it if it ain't broke?

Honeymoon hut - Maybe use this as a way to choose a villager's preferred mate? It could even be
one-sided, so that villages with 20 women and 2 men don't have problems creating the next generation.

Sewing hut - Make this an artisan building, one where they can work at a table beside it and create
clothes that you can then assign to any given villager. I'd like to see this with you choosing what pattern of clothing you're making. It can include weaving too to cut down on way too many things to build/do/have in the village. Also, clothing made here should NOT be ripped. Honestly, why do clothes out of the sewing hut come in tatters? Unless rags are the height of Isola fashion, make them a real upgrade.

Cooking hut - This can be an open hut that surrounds the food stores. Artisans can cook here to make
food healthier (which in turn means healthier villagers). When pots come into play, the food can be stored in them so they aren't just sitting out for flies to get to.

Potter's kiln - This building can either be open or can be a big furnace with a work table beside it.
Potters can even have to keep up the fire in it by fetching wood on occasion. Pots made here can be used as decorations around the village (maybe) or in customizing huts as well as creating storage for food.

School - This building can be used by children between 10 and 14. Dragging and dropping them onto it
will allow you to choose a villager to apprentice them too. Perhaps even show what each villager's current work is and if they already have an apprentice, don't show them.

Weaving hut - If made a separate building, weavers should make the cloth for clothing as well as nets.
Each project should take time (just like the sewing hut) and should be chosen what is being made when starting a new project.

Carpenter hut - Almost forgot to add this. This building allows you to make changes to the huts of the village and really customize the look of it.


Puzzle Ideas:

What? With all my other commentary you thought I'd forget this? I think puzzles could still include a ruins (that might later be rebuilt), an irrigation system, discovering farmland, a corral area (building necessary) for herds (mainly to keep them from running amok through your village), as well as any of the buildings or problems arising from various agricultural pursuits. I like a lot of the puzzles in VV2 so only enhancing or adding is really needed.


Final comments - Okay, so one last thing... can villagers please not drop everything when an event occurs? I'd really like to see them complete whatever task they were about and then go celebrate. This dropping everything has given me several heart attacks and probably some grey hair as well. Like the time my villager was carrying the cauldron to the fire when my builders finished removing the brambles...I hadn't expected it /quite/ that soon and my cauldron carrier dropped the cauldron...which then disappeared. It didn't appear back in the wood pile and I could have cried. I shut the game off so I wouldn't break something and only later, after having opened it again, did the cauldron show up in its old spot again. This has also happened to me with the ruins' gong piece AND the gong piece in the box on the beach...heart stoppers all of them. I don't mind so much dropping a rock or wood, but food or something majorly essential to a puzzle...let's not kill anyone off from shock?

Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth... actually, it's probably closer to $1.50, lol. Hope it spawns ideas or thoughts.

I think that would be cool too

Okay, I know this has be posted a few million times. but someone just said that it may not be possible. Well...uh...actually it is:

1. Drag a MALE villager onto a female villager and then he gets down on one knee and pops the question.

2. Then they meet the spiritual leader and he/she follows them to this little spot for weddings and there close relatives(grndm/grndp/mom/dad/aunts/uncles/cusns/sis/bros) come watch the wedding then they all cheer and you here that kissing sound.

3. Then they go to the "Honeymoon Island" (which is part of one of my earlier suggestions) and they go in the special hut for them and come out( and you can click on the girl to find out if she's pregnant or not.

4. Then they just do other stuff on it for 40 minutes (Norm. speed) and then they come out.

5. Then she is pregnant for 45 minutes (2x speed).

6. When it is time for the delivery her husband carries her to the hospital and one of the doctors goes in and delivers it.

7. Then the dad takes the baby (which should have blue clothes if a boy and pink if a girl) to the daycare if you have that too.

8. then they mom comes out and every once and a while takes the baby out and nurses it.

9. Then they have babies on their own everyonce in a while or you can only make them have kids together.

10. And they go through the same steps except the go to the "Flower hut" on the mainland to have kids.

I agree with Krystal. elctricity is way to advanced for villagers on an island.

While I agree with the sentiment, I think the situation might be a bit different. They don't have things like disposable diapers, infant formula, baby food jars or day care to make things easier. Those are things that we modern women take for granted but are real time savers for us. Making baby food from scratch, for example, does take time. And jeez... diapers! Maybe that explains why they're always doing laundry...lol! Then that means the men *are* doing something for the kids.

Brynne,

Wow that debunks the notion that newbies aren't very experienced with the game...lol. Your well-written synopsis of possible suggestions is excellent and thorough. I thought I'd die laughing in Suggestion 7. I actually had one child I named "PotatoHead" because that's what he looks like. If he had green hair, he would have looked like a Chia-Head, really!

And absolutely, women should get more parenting points for doing the actual parenting. How unfair is it that a guy pounces on her, gets the parenting points for having "initiated the encounter" and she gets nothing but two years on the sidelines and no skill upgrade.

Something else that bugs me... if teaching is a parenting skill, shouldn't Master Parents be running around instigating teaching sessions about as much as they go chasing people into the Love Shack?

lol... Boy did your doctor comments hit home here! Lazy boogers.

Great job!
Cat >^..^<

Wow! You've really thought this out. Maybe you should design games?? You made some good points.

Wow, Brynne!

Your suggestions are great! LDW should sign you up as a consultant immediately!

How they'd be implemented in code is another matter, but we all know Arthur is a miracle worker, so if anyone can, Arthur can.