One massive change in gameplay for Prospect Falls is the introduction of a Population Meter.As the storyline is around setting up our own Pioneer Town we'll be keeping track of how many folks we've got living in our little slice of Gold Rush heaven, and just like real life, the more people you have living in your prospecting town, the more work you'll be able to do.
Unlike the free for all that is Frontierville, there are limits to the amount of crops and animals you can have or plant, and those limits are based on your population. The more people you have, the higher your limits. It's an interesting and realistic twist on the old gaming.
So, how do you get more population?
Well, to begin with all but one of the 14 missions so far in Prospect Falls will give a Population boost as part of it's reward. These are permanent rises and means as you work through the missions your ability to grow crops and tend to animals increases.
It's also the space saving option, as the other way to raise population is (logically) to build more houses for folks to live in.
A meager home will provide a +10 boost to your population, the Stately Home will boost it by 20.
Finally, at certain population milestones, shown by the badges in the game, you'll get rewards that increase your crop and animal limits above and beyond the normal permanently.
So, it's a balancing act... enough homes to keep the folks with a roof over their heads, balanced with enough room to keep crops and animals to the max...
It's going to be an interesting one, that's for sure...
