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I'll have some release information for everyone soon, but in the meantime let's take a look at some screenshots of the latest build - there's been a variety of tweaks to the main map interface that, while each is fairly minor, adds up to a different experience when playing the game.
First a comparison between the three non-strategic levels of zoom.
The closest level of zoom hides dynamic connections, displays roads, and can show Activities in full detail. It also prioritizes tooltips for Modifiers.
The second level of zoom prioritizes highlights, quests, and other map elements that exist above modifiers.
The third level expands military information and conceals any display elements that may interfere with strategic planning.
As for what you're seeing on the map you have the locations themselves which now display two radial progress bars: the left side for Crises, the right for the highest priority activity. The bottom bar is for Resolve, which I'll talk about later (and is the last replacement element for the old AI system), and also represents Siege strength during a siege.
Armies now have a colored radial selector beneath them - green indicates an army you have no control over, yellow indicates you may be able to influence them, and red is an army you have direct control over.
Infiltration is now shown via a simple red orb above the Location strength if infiltration is present, and that orb is used consistently on all displays to indicate the presence of infiltration. Infiltration is no longer color coded but instead there are icons that will represent what assets you have gained through infiltration, and they are displayed on the quick location display (the upper right) in a list at the bottom of the display. In the images above the Location's Religious Organizations and Institutions have been infiltrated.
Clues are shown on the Location display, with colors for each - they are displayed the upper right of the main Location strength display. They do not change to reflect amount or strength, just the presence of a clue type.
Crises are more definitively graphically split so that their effects layer better on the map without obscuring other details, on the map above you can see a red inner circle on the Locations with Unrest > 150, as well as sparse lightning in the region where Wild Magic is > 150. The red rippling in the wake of combat indicate Lost Spirits > 150 - intensity for each crisis increases as they approach the critical value of 300.
Sprawl no longer creates along splines, there was a variety of reasons for this but now it not only represents the locations better but also makes it easier to make more important objects well defined on the map. The only objects that still form along the splines are fortifications. Sprawl more accurately reflects the makeup of the location and depicts institutions, temples, trade, and other mundane buildings as well as Major Highlights.
Dynamic connections use only one material (dotted line) instead of the various others used prior, this is for optimization purposes and I don't really feel that using just one type and several colors detracts from reading the map.
Naval Routes are only displayed when selecting the Location to avoid clutter on the map, though the trade ships traveling between them run always. Major Naval Routes are still always, but are no longer defined by value of trade but instead connecting two Markets.
Quest markers are standardized into four pulsating objects representing Martial, Culture, Lore, and Political - you can see the Martial Quest marker on the map in red to the left.
Most significantly is the new method of visualizing Creature Modifiers - the colored orbs around the map are any creature with strength > 150. As they get closer to 300 the orbs will pulsate. Creature Modifiers are shown in one of four colors representing what type of action they take when they reach 300 - Red for Martial, Blue for Lore, Green for Passive, Purple for "other." This allows the player to keep track of opportunities emerging passively without it overwhelming the map. You can still enable the more traditional Icon and Strength look by clicking on the map options buttons.
Highlights like Major Ruins in the picture above have been given more illustrative mouseover windows in order to keep players "on the map" as much as possible without having to dig through the menus. All Highlight windows will show Adventuring Groups (if detected by you) present at the location.
Not the crossed swords icon on the map, that represents an "Adventuring Group" or "Expedition" on the map. Also note the twisted tentacle along the edge of several of the locations, this indicates that an Overlord controls this location.
While major ruins are generally static on the map, many Highlights are not - like the Gathering type shown above. This particular gathering is an attempt to raise the intervention and resolve of the Elves by the Seven. In most meetings of this sort (Peace Summits being by far the most common) the blue bar represents the positive result and the red represents "Discord" raised by participants disliking one another. There are many methods to either raise discord or simply cause havoc with your agents.
Also on this map you can see a Node (Site of Power) which emanates the Veins of Limos. They are the primary means of accumulating Primal Power.
Here's a shot with all of the optional menus enabled, as well as a Modifier Mouseover Window. Note the sword in the Modifier window, this signifies that this Creature Modifier has a leader, which can either be left to increase the Creature Modifier's performance or can be recruited as a minion or elite unit (depending on the Creature).
In the upper left is the Army display, which hasn't changed much - it allows you to filter through the nations in which you have direct control over at least one army. In the lower left is the "Lurking" window which tracks Characters, Locations, and Modifiers that you have selected. For Locations and Modifier it just helps you keep track of them, but for Characters you can select to have your assets either Impede or Harm these Characters if able, though both options come with a large profile cost to your assets generally leading to their loss.
In the upper right is the news tab, works generally as you might expect - each word in bold is a link the relevant character/location/object.
Also worth mentioning on this image is the camps surrounding the Orc Horde - Hordes cannot Levee or raise large armies as other Army Types, but they can "Call Hordes" over time to their Location, and then launch a massive Horde far over their base army size. These armies must be in near constant combat or face massive attrition.
The final image I wanted to show today was of a Resolve Event, called an Opportunity (the events that occur during your challenges are now called "Encounters"). With the loss of the metadata based AI system I've been working hard to preserve the functionality and flow of the game, and one of the final elements was handling the "Exceptional" actions that leaders could take - where prior they were limited by the nature of the system they now required a more traditional method of allowing access to and restriction from overuse.
I didn't want to create another currency for their use, and draining willpower is already an integral part of the process - instead I wanted it to still tie in somewhat to how the world was "flowing" as the previous system did. To do this I added in Resolve/Spirit, which reflects the "passion" of the culture - some cultures respond well to militaristic campaigns and will have their resolve rise significantly, others may responds to scientific developments or the threat of an unknown evil. Resolve/Spirit adds its value to each Location every turn and when they reach 300 the Location triggers an Opportunity based on the Culture - it then allows a Character determined by the particular Opportunity Type to take advantage of the opportunity, expending willpower to shape it into an event of their choice. If they decline it then asks the next down if they want to, etc - their are also several mechanics to usurp this option if certain conditions are met, such as in the picture above where Firebrand allows a Character to usurp a Political opportunity if Unrest is > 150.
These events are powerful, giving immediate results as well as adding a permanent modifier that lasts until this location next triggers that same type of opportunity. In addition if that area is a Cultural Center it applies a Cultural modifier to the entire culture.
This allows the player to have much more flexibility in "playing against the cultures," and creates a natural way for these displaced activities to be added back into the game meaningfully. Hand in hand with crises I'm confident that the majority of the lost functionality is retained.
Once again, I am sorry a thousand times over for how long this process has gone on for. While it is has been a very rough experience for me, I am proud of what the game has become and I'll do my best to make amends through continued support and development post release.
Any backer content submitted prior to this year has been added (with the exception of two of the backer agents), and I'll be engaging with the rest of the backers after this release to begin a next phase of backer content additions.
Looks like Josh understood that long ago..
