Devlog #1 — First 12 NPCs, alive in the editor.
An honest snapshot of Arventus as it runs in Godot 4 this week. Smiths craft swords. Taverns host adventurers. The hunt goes out. None of it is faked.
What you’re looking at
A single village block. Twelve chibi NPCs. Each building is producing a state — not animation, but a state the simulation is currently in. The image is a frame from the editor running the deterministic sim at 1× speed.
The buildings, in plain language
Food — 118 meals in the pantry
One cook. Three meals per NPC per day. 12 NPCs need 36 meals; we are at 118, which means four days of buffer. Hunger drives the next loop — if anyone drops below 90, the colony council gets a yellow flag.
Workshop — 7 swords, 3/10 for the next one
Smith is mid-craft. “Crafting Week” means Smith took the front of the queue this turn — he rolled initiative against the other Smiths and won. The 7 swords are stockpile; the 3/10 is the current blade. When it hits 10, it leaves the workshop and enters town inventory.
Tavern — Adventurer in residence
Adventurer came back from the wilderness. He’s “Looting the Tavern” — spending coin on food, drink, and a bed. Adventurers are not colonists — they visit, leave tips, occasionally ask the mayor for help. High trust on the way out means he’ll return next week.
Hunt — Monster 20 HP
A raid target. The mayor may send a guild party. Demons are the food chain’s apex predator; they’re the pressure the frontier pushes back against. Kill enough, the colony grows outward into Rough Ground. Fail, and the monsters push inward.
Market and River Crossing
The market trades between village buildings. The river is a travel corridor — the only one this village has, which is part of why the council feels hemmed in.
What we are still faking
- Names are hardcoded per NPC. Randomization lands after the vertical slice.
- Trust math is real (4 bands, item diplomacy), but the mayor is still me clicking buttons.
- The Hunt 20 HP number is hand-tuned to make the screenshot legible. Bosses will randomize on roll.
- Rough Ground is empty. Exploration is a Q1 2027 feature.
Why this post
We’re trying to be honest about what we ship. The home hero says “Worth Every Penny” — that costs us credibility if the game looks nothing like the marketing copy. So here is the game, mid-dev. It runs. It runs on the screenshot. Demo polish next.