Cabin goals content report

Almost a week on from the release of our second winter themed goals set of the month, it's time to get the lowdown on the coveted content which is attained via the numerous steps of the cabin goals.

Although this quest was not quite as short as the previous one, it was still significantly shorter than we're used to, with 15 days on the clock. With two appliances involved I had my fears that Storm8 would not reflect this reduced time-frame in the tasks, but those fears were quickly swept away. Every goal involving the cooking of a recipe called for 10 batches which overall is well down on the typical requirements, especially under the goal structure from the second half of 2016.

To be honest I quite enjoyed having the lower number of batches needed. There's something quite neat and tidy about having it the same for all the steps, and since the dishes incrementally increase in length across each cooker there's still a slight rise in difficulty for each step. I'd certainly accept fortnight long goal sets such as this again.

So let's start looking at some of the new content, and given an early fiasco that ensued we better start with the Cabin Drink Maker. There were no issues with the appliance itself, and indeed it is particularly simple given that it doesn't require any construction. A wooden contraption, the Cabin Drink Maker is quite nondescript in appearance - I'd even go as far as to say that it looks a little cheap and nasty with it's wooden exterior when you'd expect a robust metallic material.

Looking at the recipes this drink machine houses, I feel instantly warmer! All three make me thirsty, with the Hot Chocolate so generously decorated that it looks more like a sundae!

Cabin Drink Maker recipes

And for most players the Hot Chocolate was the source of the confusion and general mess that marred the launch of this goals set. A 1 hour recipe, players were initially finding that the Hot Chocolate would spoil within three to four minutes of being prepared. I was among those who suffered some premature flies, with a bug clearly in play.

Credit where its due - the gamemakers fixed the problem within half an hour, but nevertheless this incident doesn't exactly fill me with confidence and I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen again.

Indeed there was a further correction made with regards to the duration of the Mulled Cider early doors, with the original version being 13 hours in length, with all other numbers the same as they are now. The Bacon Panini (Panini Oven) is the only existing 13 hour effort - we were on the brink of giving it some company! This type of mistake has been seen before, and begs the question of how it gets through the final check prior to an update's release.

Enough blethering, let's get the recipe ratings for this trio:

Hot Chocolate
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
5	2	3	8	5	4.0

Chai-Maple Cider
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	3	3	7	5	3.2

Mulled Cider
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	4	2	10	5	3.6

There's not a lot to get excited about here, especially since all three drinks have at least one twin with the exact same statistics. The Hot Chocolate in particular is one of six 1 hour entries with identical numbers across the board. Given that this was something it appeared we had been moving away from in recent quests, seeing mirrored figures returning is especially disheartening. But at least they look great!

Let's break away from the recipe review for a moment and discuss the three floor decorations which are unlocked as you progress through the goals, starting with the Indoor Fire Pit. There seemed to be universal acclaim for this piece from the moment it was first glimpsed in the Storm8 Blog's teaser, and I'm not surprised. It has so many inviting shades of brown and does an excellent job of lighting up the stony brickwork around the fire. No doubt about it - this is a superb item.

The second unlockable floor decoration you'll encounter is the Cabin Couch. The colour choice is a winner again here, with the selection of the beige seat cushions up against the oak frame very successful. The jazzy looking cushions could have detracted from the overall appearance, but in reality I think they add some character. Without them the Cabin Couch would be relatively plain and unmemorable whereas with them you have a unique and eye-catching decoration.

 Winter 2016/17

 18/01/17 Cabin goals
 18/01/17 Cabin goals update
 14/01/17 Winter Goals content report
 11/01/17 Winter goals
 11/01/17 Winter goals update
 04/01/17 Box update
 30/11/16 Pre-Christmas update

Lastly we have the final goal prize which is the 4x4 sized Cozy Cabin Comfort. With six bots squeezed in I'm not sure if this item may be breaking some kind of record! They fit naturally enough and all bring their own individual touches, be it a blue bow in the hair of one of the girls or a thick red jumper modelled by one the guys. It's good to see multiple skin colours represented too.

The food dotted around the fire pit is really nice, and even the fire pit itself impresses since it complements the Indoor Fire Pit well. The only aspect of this decor which leaves me puzzled is the girl on the left who is seemingly clutching a microphone. Is she making a speech? Maybe doing some karaoke? The title of the prize gives nothing away on this front so I suppose it's left up to the imagination of the player!

From some well designed floor items we return to the land of recipes, where there are another set of well designed additions. The Cabin Oven is the second appliance you'll come across in the goals and requires 5 Wood Glue, 7 Chopped Wood and 7 Charcoal to build.

Chopped Wood and Charcoal

The latter two of these are new parts, thus making the process of purchasing and constructing a collection of Cabin Ovens a tricky task. And the presence of the Wood Glue doesn't help the cause either since I doubt many players have been stocking up on it - the glue has only made one previous appearance when it was introduced with the Butcher Block during the camping goals last summer.

Three more recipes await on this cooker, and once more the game's developers have done a top notch job of designing them.

Cabin Oven recipes

The individual portions of all three of these dishes look the part, be it the steam rising from the Vegetable Soup or the tantalising drizzle atop the Coffee Cake. But there is a bugbear and that's regarding the soup's appearance on the counter. It is displayed in a large silver pot which is more akin to what you'd expect when it's still on the cooker. This is far from an isolated case and could do with fixing - a nice large bowl filled to the brim with soup and including a big ladle would do the business.

On to the ratings:

Vegetable Soup
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
3	3	3	7	5	3.5

Bread Pudding
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
3	4	2	10	5	3.9

Coffee Cake
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
4	3	3	10	5	4.2

Orange and yellow are again dominating which is never a good sign. As with the Cabin Drink Maker's candidates, the stats have all been seen on previous goal recipes, leaving any further analysis fairly redundant.

I will however point out that the Vegetable Soup is the same length as the earlier Chai-Maple Cider and yet despite being harder to obtain (since it appears on the second goal appliance), it's numbers are only very slightly better.

But beyond the recipe ratings (which sadly we've come to expect disappointment from) this goal set is a winner. Much like the eight day quest the previous week, the break away from the standard time-frame is refreshing and the quality of the decor up for grabs is very high. So often I read comments about how the gamemakers have lost their spark when it comes to the decor design side of things, but updates such as this do wonders for disproving that theory, at least in my opinion.

That's it - if anyone's looking for me I'll be locked away in my cabin drinking hot chocolate and performing the most appalling karaoke!