Scouts and expeditions
Scouts are how you leave your first town. You build a Scouts’ Cabin, pack canned goods, and send a party to a point on the world map. It comes back with resources, information, a place to settle, or nothing at all. That is also the road to your second settlement, which sits in a different biome from the first.
When do you need the Scouts’ Cabin?
Sooner or later the story will ask for it, but you pick the moment. The team’s wording: “Later on, the main quest might require a scout’s cabin to explore certain locations - but whether you build it right away or first take care of your city’s other needs is your call.” (Written in Steam announcement: Walk Your Own Journey (Dev Spotlight)) Exploring the strategic map also earns journey points, so an early cabin pays back in unlocks; see journey points and ideas. In one creator’s pre-launch build the cabin cost 200 journey points, and early costs were cut for Early Access after that. (Seen in Build Your Own FRONTIER TOWN (Surtr Plays, YouTube))
What do scouts need before they leave?
Food that keeps. “The distances are long, and every expedition takes time, so plan accordingly.” And: “Your Scouts will need supplies, so make sure to pack them well with canned goods before sending them out!” (Both from Steam announcement: The Pioneer's Journal #6, Into the Uncharted Lands) Rations matter on the road as well: a playtest fix removed a missing-rations popup that was blocking caravans on expeditions. (Listed in Steam announcement: Playtest Hotfix)
What that costs in practice is only visible in creator videos of pre-launch builds, so treat these as rough:
| Seen in a pre-launch build | Where |
|---|---|
| One expedition cost money plus 20 canned food | (Let's check out Wild West Pioneers (Nerdy Old Gamer, YouTube)) |
| One trip cost 3 canned food; a trip to Howling Wind Pass cost 5 | (Build Your Own FRONTIER TOWN (Surtr Plays, YouTube)); (How To Build A GOLD MINE (Surtr Plays, creator video)) |
| The cannery cost 200, and canned food needed iron ore | (Let's check out Wild West Pioneers (Nerdy Old Gamer, YouTube)); (How To Build A GOLD MINE (Surtr Plays, creator video)) |
What can an expedition bring back?
Anything, including nothing. “Scouts may return with valuable resources, new information, or sometimes… nothing at all.” When a trip does pay off, the team names three kinds of result: a rich source of materials, a new trading opportunity, or a promising place for a future settlement. (Said in Steam announcement: The Pioneer's Journal #6, Into the Uncharted Lands) The store page adds hidden treasure, strangers who need help and merchants selling essentials, plus scenes you step into where you can interact with the place or meet the people who came before you. (From the Steam store page)
How do you get a second settlement?
By finding somewhere worth settling. The lead developer explains why you have to: “Not every resource is available in the first settlement. So, you need to find places where you can establish another one.” Then: “With this, you can control multiple towns and create a transportation network between them and other places in the world.” (Said in Gameplay Overview: Your Journey Begins (Toplitz Productions)) The team promised “Two Settlements – Two Biomes” before the playtest (in Steam announcement: A New Direction for Wild West Pioneers), and the playtest fix list already talks about both settlements. An older post also described sending scouts and trading caravans from the world map to remote outposts. (Described in Steam announcement: Your Frontier Settlement, A Closer Look) The desert, and the gold in it, is covered on the gold and debt page.
Which locations have official names?
These are the places named in the team’s playtest fix list and screenshots.
| Location | What the official text says |
|---|---|
| Dust Creek | Shown as the town marker on official map screenshots; one quest fix moves resource costs back to it |
| Sand Storm | Written as two words; a fix for the End of Bandits quest mentions its resources |
| Maple Hollow Junction | Exploring it is what opens Bandit Camp |
| Bandit Camp | Only becomes available after you have explored Maple Hollow Junction |
| Deaf Canyon | Has rocks you blow up with dynamite |
| Blackbark Ridge | Had a blocker fixed during the playtest |
| Old Mine | A world map card with a Send Scouts button, in the screenshot at the top of this page |
One quest in the same list, Blocked Passage, now asks you to gather 20 settlers instead of a random objective. (All from Steam announcement: Playtest Hotfix)
Other names turn up in creator videos of pre-launch builds. These are spelled the way the auto-captions heard them, so the in-game spelling may differ:
- Armadillo Springs
- Rosewood Clearing
- Cedar Creek Hollow
- Hidden Grove
- Howling Wind Pass (also heard as Howling Winds Pass)
- Coyote Skull Mesa
- Lonely Vulture Peak
- Salt Trail Outpost
- A glade heard as Shrubby, Scrubby or Shrubbery Glade
- A flat heard as Dust Flats, Dustwin Flats or Duskin Flats
(Heard in Can My DESERT TOWN Survive (Surtr Plays, creator video)), (How To Build A GOLD MINE (Surtr Plays, creator video)), (Wait, This Wild West City Builder Is Actually Really Good? (Orbital Potato, creator video)) and (Build Your Own FRONTIER TOWN (Surtr Plays, YouTube)).
What does the roadmap add to the map?
The second planned update, The Iron Peaks, expands the strategic map with a large new section: mountain terrain, new locations and new dioramas. No update has a date yet. The full plan is on the Early Access and roadmap page. (Shown in Steam announcement: Our Early Access Roadmap) Until then, the team’s aim for travel is that it “should feel like an expedition”, with supplies that matter and somewhere far away at the end. (Said in Steam announcement: Know Where You're Headed (Dev Spotlight))
Related
- Food chains, since canned goods start as food.
- The shovel and the buried treasure, the scouting quest that trips people up.
- What you actually do, for how exploration fits the whole game.