The Architect's Collection will launch alongside a huge update the base game on 11th November 2021.
In the last post I went in-depth on the new sandbox mode. This time I'll shed some light on the other most exciting new features.
External decorating
The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed in the trailer and screenshots that some of the guests are paying more attention to decorations outside your tanks than before.
Previously, decorations only earned you prestige when a guest viewed them inside a tank, but once this update goes live they will earn you prestige when placed externally too.
One of the neat things about launching this alongside the Architect's Collection is that the expansion contains a set of dividers (like the velvet rope you can see in the picture above) that can be used to cordon off your decorations while still allowing your guests to view them.
Fun fact: guests can view external decorations from up to 3 tiles away!
Paints earn prestige
Staying on the theme of making the spaces between your tanks as important as the tanks themselves—in the new update paints will earn you prestige!
As your guests traverse your aquarium they will note all the painted objects they encounter (including the floor itself). Once they have encountered a sufficient amount of an individual paint, they'll earn you some prestige.
I really like this mechanic because it rewards you for making a beautiful aquarium—something you'll probably want to be doing anyway. I also like the way it requires a build up of a single paint style which incentivises you to theme your aquarium in blocks - much like a real aquarium!
NB If you're not a paint enthusiast, don't worry! Painting is not mandatory. It's just another opportunity to convert your design skill into prestige.
Arrows
I've upgraded the floor arrow to give a more intuitive behaviour. It attracts guests to it and then sends them on their way in a straight line in the direction it points.
Guests will explore all the attractions in an area first, before paying attention to the floor arrow. This makes floor arrows really helpful for moving guests along to the next area, rather than dawdling about getting lost!
Overall this new behaviour is more transparent and provides better feedback than the old arrows did, so it's easier to tweak them to your liking.
One-way gates
I've wanted to add one-way gates to the game for a long time. They are another example of a deceptively simple idea which took a significant system rewrite to get working. The result is really nice though.
You can use these gates to enforce a one-way system around a small part of, or even your entire aquarium! Thankfully staff can still pass through the gate in either direction.
With their inclusion it's easy to automatically trap guests so they cannot leave. To combat this I've included some new negative guests thoughts when guests want to leave but cannot find a path to the exit.
So be warned: while it's very easy to trap guests inside your aquarium, your prestige will take a significant hit if you try it. ;)
Per-skill task controls
This one is straight out of the community suggestion inbox. Previously you could prohibit a staff from carrying out tasks of certain skill levels. However, this was applied to all roles at once.
This meant that if a staff member was good at fixing but poor at feeding, you couldn't prevent them from doing the high skill feeding tasks without also stopping them doing the fixing ones too!
In response to player feedback I have split this control so there is a separate set of toggles for each role.
I'm so pleased with how Megaquarium continues to evolve. Thank you all for your ongoing attention, I hope you enjoy everything when it goes live on November 11th.
Tim