So, what is Prospect Falls going to be to me? Well, there's a lot of things it is, a lot of things it ISN'T and a lot of ways it's quite different from the main game on our homestead.
To begin with we're seeing a VERY different expansion game from anything we've seen before in Frontierville.
Where the Pioneer Trail was a linear track and the Ghost Town and Holiday Hollow relied on us doing tasks for people already set up in pre-built towns Prospect Falls is a blank Canvas for us to make our own.
The whole gameplay smacks of the early days of Frontierville. A small area, overrun with debris, and a pair of wide open arms shouting, here, come build on me!
Everything in Prospect Falls will be of our own making. Do you want a small mining village or a large town? Do you want a main street here and farms there... perhaps you want your working buildings and houses mixed. Could that home be a farmhouse? Is that a row of mining cottages?
Literally every part of the design is in your own hands, meaning that for people like me, frustrated town planners, it'll be a Godsend. It'll also give the area a more personal feel, giving folks a closer connection that they didn't have so much in the other expansions, that gave the impression we were merely travelling through.
Here, everything is geared towards making us feel at home. As well as it becoming an individual area (likely nobody's Falls will be exactly the same) we're introduced to characters much the same as the homestead, deeper than we were in any other expansion, in fact the majority we've already met doing the Stories missions and the Railroad.
Brother Jasper who pushed us to make the railroad is the miner in charge, Helena who we taught to work an Inn gets to fulfil her lifelong dreams of owning a Saloon and B&B, Mae the Sheriff on the trail of Bob becomes Prospect Falls' police and Bert, the Trader becomes our place to buy what we need.
Now, onto the mechanics. Just like previous expansions we'll have an individual energy supply, Determination. We'll also have a whole new currency to use to buy the items Bert is selling, and that's the gold nuggets we'll be mining out of the ground. Using mines and completing missions will up our gold reserves.
Instead of using the same items as the homestead we'll be tending and harvesting new trees, animals and crops that are exclusive to Prospect Falls. These will drop new collection items and things needed for the Missions.
Those drops are;
Redwood Logs - comes from Redwood Trees
Grub - comes from harvesting Crops
Rough Sand - comes from clearing Rocks
Fortified Milk – comes from Adult Copper Cows
Golden Egg – comes from Adult Golden Chickens
Silver Wool – comes from adult Silver Sheep
Pure Water – comes from collecting the daily bonus from the Well building
Golden Egg – comes from Adult Golden Chickens
Silver Wool – comes from adult Silver Sheep
Pure Water – comes from collecting the daily bonus from the Well building
All in all it's going to be much more like the main game than any previous expansion... and yet be the main game simplified in a way. One thing we seem to be seeing a LOT less of is crafting and requesting, with many items available from around Prospect Falls.
Oh yes, and there's one big difference from the main homestead... Population and Limits... But we'll get onto that one in the next post.
