I would like to suggest an particular type of island on the map. This idea comes from Heroes Might & Magic. On the map, you was able to recruit a new type of fighter in a particular place : So, my idea is to create an island where you can go with the boat and where you are able to recruit a new type of pirate. The type of pirate you are able to recruit could be change every month. Am I clear?
Trying to understand what you mean here: once I uncovered that special island on my Exploration Map, can I recruit that island's associated pirate class any time I like, or can I recruit that pirate only after each time I complete a voyage to visit that island?
Yep 2nd solution, once you uncovered that special island on your Exploration Map, you can recruit that pirate only after each time you complete a voyage to visit that island.
In that case, that special pirate better be worth the voyage needed to recruit them. Perhaps they can be Heroes/Champions-like pirates, which is an idea already proposed by another Forum member earlier (I don't remember who though).
Check out this thread from way back too http://www.midoki.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-about-shop-or-story-islands.271/
We used to be able to carry legends with us on our ship. maybe have this as some step to bring one on for fighting pirate strongholds on the exploration map
Customising the island look and feel would be done in some kind of catalogue. It could contain 3-5 layouts of schips for intance, just like the outfits of out legends. Don't know how much this would take up from the developers. They would have to design different look and feels for some of the buildings And also per upgraded level. So the design team would really have to put in a lot of effort into designs. Technically there would have to be a variable shape database quick would probably weigh quite heavy on the game which is already not the lightest out ther (it is the nicest out there I believe). Possible solution I the middle would only be different colours to the same shape. Possible less in invasive to design-create
We did consider having the ability to customise the look of the island (including all of the buildings, defences, etc) over a year ago, but it's not just the time it'd take the artists to create new assets (as you've said, for each level of each building). It also has a major gameplay impact - when you're going to attack an island, you have thirty seconds to assess its strengths and weaknesses, levels of defences, where you're going to attack, etc. Changing the shape of this is a big no-no, as that would radically impact on the attacker's ability to quickly assess what is what. Even colour has a huge impact - for Christmas 2014, we had snow, but it was also on all of the buildings and defences. Despite being the same shape with some snow on top, this led to a lot of complaints about the snow obscuring islands and making them more difficult to assess (hence Christmas 2015 having snow on the ground, but not on the buildings!). It's also why we gave night mode an on/off option.
I'm not advocating pay-skins here, I think legendary outfits is the best compromise on this idea. But I do want to look into the design choices here. If you had a "hide skins" option in settings, that could nullify that complaint, just like you can turn off night mode. I understand the time issues, and all the bugs it introduces (like snow revealing the location of mines that grass wouldn't). Its definitely not worth the man hours compared with other things the time could be spent on. It would give a reason for players to pay for what seems to be a purely cosmetic choice though - an attacker unfamiliar with the skin wouldn't be as able to readily identify defenses, essentially a "pay for pseudo-camouflage". An attacker that spent the time learning the defenses with each available skin would be able to identify them still, but it would offer some protection against weaker attackers without as much experience. I doubt high end attackers pay much attention to defense levels though, I know I don't really look at anything besides PH and walls anymore. And there's really only going to be 2 or 3 defense levels you regularly see anyways. Another option is for the skin to only apply to buildings once they have reached the maximum level. This could be problematic when new levels are introduced, but if it was clear the skin would just disable itself until the building was maxed again, then that kind of works itself out. If anything, with that approach, it would make it easier for an attacker to identify a maxed base (if it has custom skins showing, its maxed!). This wouldn't necessarily be fair for newer players, decentivising them from purchasing until they hit the max level, but it could also potentially encourage players that want a cool skin to speed up their progression more than they normally would. Another option is to "only show the skin outside of battles". If someone visits your island to look at it for some reason, it would apply the skin, but if someone attacks you in battle mode, the skin isn't applied. You could also make it so the skin applied only client side, so you and all the islands you attacked used the skin you have active in your view, but to someone else, the same islands, battles and replays will show with whatever skin they have active. "It looks pretty on your device, but no one else's". This kind of kills a lot of the fun of it, but its another solution. All that aside, I'd still love an option to toggle snow-mode on/off the rest of the year :c The white is so much more pleasant to look at than the yellow/green!
Thank you both for the reply. Figured this much that's why I was not to one directional with the idea. Can't wait for the current update. Hope there is lots of fun their but I expect few changes as the change details are logged under the previous version.
