Salutations, Colonisers!
If you are playing the Coloniser demo right now, by pressing the V button on your keyboard you will trigger the appearance of the High Table window on your screen. It will show you what type of game mode you are playing, how many people are on the current server and how much accumulated valor they have.
It has come a long way since the original leaderboard introduction, but there is still much more to do.
Right now the only thing you can do here is announce war (on by default), offer alliance or peace to other players.
Peace - This is a formal non-aggression pact. Must be offered and accepted by both players before it takes effect. Right now this means that a player that accepts this state will not attack you if they encounter you, but you will not see their units and buildings under the fog of war.
War - Open hostilities. Can be declared unilaterally by either player; no acceptance required.
Alliance - Oath-bound cooperation between two players. Must be offered and accepted by both players before it takes effect. An Alliance is strictly between two players, but players can hold multiple Alliances simultaneously (e.g., Player A allied with B and C separately). This also grants limited map visibility of ally’s Capitol and markers.
But we want to do more! We wanna introduce more incentive for players to forge alliances, but also wage war. Hence why we are working on Tributed and Demands. This system is designed to sit alongside changes in diplomatic state, or threats to do so, rather than as a system of trading.
Trade between allies will be portrayed more physically in the world with caravans travelling between players' Exchange stations.
But when it comes to tribute/demand, here is how it is going to function: Players will be able to send a tribute or a demand to another player, in the form of materials, from the High Table by clicking the dropdown next to their name. These can be a single material or any combination of materials.
Tributes or demands will be a condition of a proposed diplomatic change, by changing the diplomatic state from its current state. For example, player 1 offers a tribute of 1,000 ore to player 2 if they agree to a state change from War to Peace.
They can also be sent without a state change, for example player 1 and player 2 are at peace. Player 1 sends a demand of 1,000 ore from player 2 (with the implication that should player 2 refuse, player 1 will declare war).
There will be some limitations to these features in the form of a cooldown, but we’ll talk about it more as we get closer to the next build where you’ll be able to experience this system.
And we want to improve the existing High Table function - proper messaging, clear signaling and friendlier UI. Battle is the primary way of dominating the game, but it shouldn’t be the only one. We hope that this feature inspires different playstyles, unexpected scenarios and forms a tighter community,
Have you head the opportunity to play the demo yet and see the current version of the High Table? invite your friends as Coloniser shines most when many players are active at the same time. Show them this Demo trailer and invite them to join our Discord for direct communication with us, the developers.
Cantos Games