Exploration and trade represent one of the major mid-to-late game progression systems in Thveit. Through seafaring, diplomacy, and discovery, players gradually expand their influence beyond their own settlement and uncover distant realms hidden throughout the world.
The system is intended to combine:
- Exploration
- Trade management
- Reputation systems
- Light diplomacy
- Resource investment
- Mythological discovery
- Atmospheric storytelling
Rather than focusing on warfare or conquest, the goal is to create a sense of curiosity, adventure, and connection between distant Nordic-inspired realms.
Tradeholm
The player’s first connection to the outside world begins with the construction of Tradeholm. Mentioned in Industry Building
Tradeholm allows:
- Traders to visit the settlement
- New settlers to arrive
- Trade opportunities to appear
- Reputation systems to begin developing
However, early trade interactions do not fully reveal where these outside realms are physically located. Players may hear rumors, establish relationships, and exchange goods long before properly discovering distant regions themselves.
Settlement reputation may improve or worsen over time depending on:
- Trade reliability
- Gift exchanges
- Diplomacy choices
- Quest outcomes
- Mythological events
Exploration System
As the settlement progresses into mid and late game, players gain the ability to launch their own voyages across the world.
To begin exploration, players must:
- Construct longboats using gathered resources
- Build a dedicated exploration or voyage structure
- Assign settlers as crew members
- Prepare supplies for the journey
Voyages require careful preparation, including:
- Food
- Water
- Equipment
- Trade goods
- Crew capacity
World Map Exploration
Players explore the outside world through a stylized world map representing distant realms and regions.
At the start of the game, the map is heavily covered in fog of war. As players travel and establish contact with new places, additional regions gradually become revealed.
We would also tie some of these elements to Faith Building.
When selecting a destination, players receive information about:
- Voyage duration
- Risk level
- Environmental dangers
- Required supplies
- Crew requirements
- Potential rewards
Possible rewards include:
- Rare resources
- Relics
- Unique trade goods
- Reputation bonuses
- Mythological encounters
- Dragon eggs
- Discovery of new realms and trade opportunities
Diplomacy & Reputation
Discovering new realms unlocks additional interactions such as:
- Establishing trade routes
- Sending gifts
- Sending emissaries
- Improving diplomatic reputation
- Unlocking better market prices
- Accessing rare resources and items
The diplomacy system is intended to remain relatively light and atmosphere-focused rather than deeply political or warfare-oriented.
Relationships between settlements are shaped more through trade, generosity, reliability, and exploration than military conquest.
Trade Routes
Once discovered, realms may become connected through persistent trade routes.
Trade routes are envisioned as:
- Dynamic dotted lines across the world map
- Visually evolving based on activity and reputation
- Connected to settlement economy and resource specialization
These systems are intended to heavily reinforce the feeling that the player’s settlement exists within a larger living world.
Physical World Integration
Although much of the exploration system is managed through UI and world map interactions, voyages are also represented physically within the player’s settlement.
Players will be able to see:
- Longboats preparing at docks
- Settlers boarding ships
- Supplies being transported
- Boats leaving into the ocean
- Voyages returning home
This connection between UI systems and the physical world is intended to maintain immersion and emotional attachment to the settlement itself.
Mythological Exploration
Exploration also serves as a gateway into the supernatural and mythological systems of Thveit.
Voyages may uncover:
- Ancient relics
- Sacred locations
- Mythological creatures
- Divine encounters
- Lost settlements
- Dragon eggs
- Supernatural events at sea
The exploration system is intended to make the outside world feel mysterious, dangerous, and full of stories waiting to be discovered.
Core Philosophy
The exploration and trade systems in Thveit are designed to create:
- A sense of wonder and discovery
- Long-term progression goals
- Emotional attachment to voyages and crews
- Settlement identity through trade and diplomacy
- A living interconnected world beyond the player’s island
The ultimate goal is to make players feel like their small Nordic settlement slowly becomes part of a much larger mythical world through exploration, reputation, and storytelling.