Update 1.01 is live on Steam! It features a new unlock system that advances every time you complete a match, win or lose! There are also two new SkyBoats and a new upgrade to unlock!
Full feature list:
Added unlock system
Added two new boats (“Galleon” and “Paddleboat”)
Added Compass upgrade
Added practice mode (in settings)
Added a few FAQ tips after you win or lose your second match
Added city preview pane to top right of screen that shows city demands
Fixed “Asparagus” typo in tutorial
Set target framerate to 60
As always, we can’t wait to hear what you think! Hope you enjoy SkyBoats “Key to the SkyCity”
Welcome to the Age of Myth! Now kings can pore over the ancient manuscripts to learn about the Kingdoms of Olde. Each time you win a game, a screenshot will be saved and preserved so you can marvel at your past exploits, and look for patterns to further hone your strategy!
Full Patch Notes:
Added “Past Kingdoms” gallery to main page, allowing you to view previously finished games
Farm wood cost decreased by one (now 1)
Farm starting yield increased by one (now 6)
Hunters hut now spawns a rabbit between 6 and 8 spaces away from your starting location, if possible
Marketplace card actions swapped (gain one of each resource now takes a worker)
Buffed castle build action, card ability, and royalty to all give 2VP
Fixed bug with marketplace allowing you to go to negative food if there was something to gather on the space
Leaf animations now update on the title screen when you click the option in settings
If quick move is off, number of steps display is disabled
Let us know about any bugs, or any feedback you have about the building balance after the changes! We’re listening, and want to make as many buildings and strategies viable as possible. Congrats to Allan, mawendt and Kenbutsu for achieving some absolutely crazy ranks (62, 50 and 45!!)
I’ve been doing some retrospection on the design of SkyBoats and Militia, and I noticed that at least for me, Militia seems to be more appealing for me to boot up and play. Note that I’m not saying that SkyBoats is less fun WHILE playing, but that Militia has some factor that encourages playing it.
I’m thinking that it comes down to the fact that it’s easy for me to imagine playing the first few turns of Militia, and deriving some satisfaction out of it. For example, I can picture in my minds eye attacking a row of enemies including a captain in Militia, and how that might be a fun thing to do. In SkyBoats, most satisfying actions are very nuanced (involving specific setups of boats and wind patterns), and difficult to imagine when not actively involved in playing the game.
(It’s easy to imagine moves like this, and how they might be satisfying)
So I’ve been thinking a lot more about this concept of the “Imaginabilty” of games, and rating games on this axis. For example, It’s easy to imagine attacking with a bunch of creatures in Magic for lethal damage or pushing a ton of monsters into the water with Gale in Auro, but it’s more difficult to imagine what it might be like to play Agricola or Mount and Blade. (Note: I think this effect becomes mitigated as you become more familiar with a game).
Imaginabiilty requirements can be covered by even a small aspect of the full game, as is the case with last-hitting in Dota 2 (or League of Legends) or microing marines in Starcraft. The key is that the actions are:
1) Simple enough to be imagined in the minds eye and
2) Intrinsically rewarding in some way
Can you think of other examples of games with poor or exceptional Imaginability? Can you think of a better word for the concept? Let me know in the comments :).
