Hey everyone!
Last week has been largely dedicated to finally implementing the Stone Mason, as well as testing the new team play part of the game.
Firstly, implementing the Stone Mason and villagers collecting Stone from boulders has opened up a big additional feature for maps: The possibility for us to close off certain valleys and walkways with rocks, which can be cleared by the players over the course of the game. This will allow us to more effectively separate players in the early game, delay access to certain areas, and help players funnel their opponents in more creative ways.
Secondly, as we mentioned in last week’s update, we have been trying to test the new teamplay. While this has led to a ton of straightforward fixes and improvements (having changed added a lot of functions led to many new issues), we also wanted to test what it feels like to play the game together, for balancing and gameplay concerns.
One of the outcomes of this, for example, was a new chest that has been placed next to the Port. Unlike normal chests, this one does not disappear when everything is taken out, and players on the same team can use it to quickly exchange goods with each other when needed.
Another outcome was a change to the movement of players: With one player being more focused on exploration on the new map, we realised that it can feel quite rewarding to find your way up onto a mountain to scout the terrain ahead of you - but with players being able to just stand on the side of a cliff, the feeling of risk and accomplishment was somewhat reduced. As a result, we have implemented a new sliding mechanic, which makes scaling mountains more difficult and more dangerous - but will hopefully lead to better immersion and more enjoyable scouting!
Until next week!