Hey Polytopians!
This new beta patch doesn't just showcase "The Forgotten", the new Aquarion Skin, but also has some balance changes for the recent Aquarion Rework and some new languages. All are going to need some testing before this patch is released to the public on November 13th.
If you want to get straight to the changes, click here.
Let's Meet the Forgotten!
Deep in the Ritiki Marshlands, a lone Aquarion outpost lost contact when their Empire sank beneath the waves long ago. Believing themselves to be the last of their kind, the forgotten outpost attempted to carry out the Aquarion mission - monitor their land-dwelling siblings from afar and step in if a large-scale conflict ever erupted. It's been centuries since then, and the outpost has developed quite differently from its parent empire, befriending the swampy fauna and adapting to their environment in new and interesting ways.
These interesting Squids are well-suited for the swamp they live in and are able to do all the things their fishy counterparts taught them before they lost contact. They can find Lost Cities, recruit impressive Toads, aquaform the land into more swamps, and plenty of other things!
Let's Meet the Languages!
Not only are the Aquarion getting an update, but so are the game's localizations! Added in this update are translations for:
- Hindi
- Indonesian
- Malay
- Polish
- Thai
- Turkish
- Vietnamese
Based on your feedback, we've made some changes to the Aquarion, but we'll keep this pretty fast.
Bubbles
A common complaint with the recent Aquarion Rework is that the Aquarion weren't very speedy, especially on the water, primarily because they lacked their own version of Roads. If you were one of the complaining fans, feast your eyes on this! A Bubble!
These Bubbles are unlocked in the Waterways tech (Aquarion's replacement for the Roads tech), and they'll form around an Amphibious unit of yours automatically when they move onto Flooded terrain. A Bubbled unit gets +1 movement, and it will be removed when they step on land or are attacked. Do note, as we said, these bubbles only work for Amphibious units, like Tridentions and Squids. No, we don't want 4 Movement Sharks, either. These Bubbles should make it much easier to move your slower Amphibious units around in the water and toward the frontlines.
Other Notable Changes
- Atoll improvement moved to Aquaculture
- Lost Cities from water ruins are now smaller but spawn with resources around them
- Crab defense reduced from 5 to 4
- Aquarion start with 2 guaranteed fish in the capital
- Shark attack increase from 3 to 3.5
- Jelly attack increase from 0 to 2 so that they can make regular attacks
- If multiple tentacles on one tile, the strongest will now always do the attack
How do I join the Beta?
Just like usual, follow these steps:
- Right Click on Polytopia in your Steam Library
- Select "Properties" from the dropdown
- Head to the "Betas" tab on the popup
- Use the code polytopiabetatesters as the access code to get into the beta!
- Enjoy
We are happy to announce another month of Polysseum! This month we are playing Hoodrick! This month we will be reducing the number of players reaching the monthly final to just 8. If you want to participate in it, then make sure you play as much as you can! How to join? [olist]
This October
Schedule
Maps [table] [tr] [th]Week 1[/th] [th]Continents[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Week 2[/th] [th]Drylands[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Week 3[/th] [th]Archipegalo[/th] [/tr] [/table] Leaderboard scoring
- 1st - 400 pt
- 2nd - 250 pt
- 3rd-4th - 125 pt
- 5-8th - 40 pt
- 9-16th - 10 pt
- There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
- If there are any more on the waiting list, then a new tournament will be created for them (to a maximu m of 3 total tournaments)
- Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
- All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
A reminder about Polysseum format
Daily tournaments
- 9 weekly tournaments - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. 27 tournaments per month.
- Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
- 1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Tribe of the Month.
- Prize pool per tournament - 10.
- October Finals - November 2nd
- 8 players.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
- Bracket format TBA.
How to follow Polysseum?
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Discord #polysseum-discussion
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
We are happy to announce another month of Polysseum! This month we are playing Quetzali! How to join? [olist]
This September
Leaderboard scoring
- 1st - 400 pt
- 2nd - 250 pt
- 3rd-4th - 125 pt
- 5-8th - 40 pt
- 9-16th - 10 pt
- There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
- If there are any more on the waiting list, then a new tournament will be created for them (to a maximu m of 3 total tournaments)
- Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
- All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
September schedule
A reminder about Polysseum format
Daily tournaments
- 9 weekly tournaments - Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. 27 tournaments per month.
- Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
- 1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Tribe of the Month.
- Prize pool per tournament - 10.
- September Finals - September 28th
- 16 players.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
- Bracket format TBA.
How to follow Polysseum?
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Discord #polysseum-discussion
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
The new reworked version Aquarion is here! They now have mermaids that can rule both land and sea, hang out with Sharks & Jellies and discover lost cities in the ocean.
Ahoy Polytopians!
The Aquarion Rework has changed a bit since we first announced it in June, enough to warrant a new blog post detailing all the cool, new features! We're also making the Aquarion Rework Beta available to mobile devices, so now everyone can check out all the nautical fun!
The update will move out of beta and will be released to everyone on August 15th!
So, if you're new to this rework or just want a refresher on what's changed, please join us as we detail how we're changing our fishy friends.
We're going to lay out this post in this order:
- Design Philosophy
- New Mechanics
- New Units
- New Buildings
- How to Join the Beta
- Changelog
[h2=phil]Out With The Old, In With the New
Now that we've gotten the Path of the Ocean out of the way, we were able to dedicate some time to updating the Aquarion, our first Special Tribe. As we've mentioned in the past, the Aquarion are fish people and were always meant to interact with the water in unique and interesting ways. Well, we believe that this rework helps them fulfill their destiny of being masters of the seas!
On the flip side, we didn't want Aquarion to be too strong on the water or too bad on land, or else the game would devolve into staring contests between those on both sides of the shore. Yes, the Aquarion have their strengths, but they also have their limits and can be outmaneuvered even on their home [strike]surf[/strike] turf. Ultimately, the goal of this rework was to turn the Aquarion from "lackluster naval tribe" into "thalassic superstars" that make you think about every lake, ocean, and puddle as a brand new opportunity.
[h2=mech]Something Smells Fishy...
The biggest change to the Aquarion is the inclusion of mermaid tails to all of their standard land units. All Aquarion units are now either solely aquatic units or amphibious, but that comes at the cost of slower movement on land and the inability to build or use Roads. You try flopping around on land with a mermaid tail!
The other big change is their terrain. Normally, all land terrain in Polytopia functions the same, but Aquarion land is now "Flooded", which allows both land and naval units to occupy the same space. Naval units will consider it "rough terrain" and it will slow them down, but it's better than nothing, right? Researching the "Waterways" tech will allow all Aquarion units to convert land tiles to "Flooded", allowing you to bring your aquatic forces right to your enemies' doorsteps.
"They can go on the water and their land functions as water, but is that it? Can they develop cities on the water?"
We're glad you asked! Yes, primarily in two ways:
1. The Aquarion are able to build all land buildings on the water. Sawmills, Windmills, and etc are all valid options, so now you shouldn't be as limited in where you can place the perfect Market.
2. Unlike the other tribes, the Aquarion can reclaim their Lost Cities from the briny deep by uncovering ruins on the water. Yes, a city on the water! They function like any other city, but start at level 3 with a Wall, and all surrounding Ocean will become coastal tiles. Use these Lost Cities to bolster your forces or work as staging points as you battle for dominance of the waves. And yes, other tribes can capture and use them.
Lastly, instead of burning forests, the Aquarion can "Fertilize" flooded field tiles in the "Construction" tech, allowing crops to grow where they need them.
[h2=units]The Seas Aren't Safe
No rework of a Special tribe would be complete without some new and changed units, so let's go through them one by one.
Shark
In "Marine Life", the replacement tech for Sailing, Sharks are speedy, all-around melee units that excel at zooming around the waters and eating unsuspecting ships. Sharks come equipped with the "Surprise" trait, allowing them to attack without incurring retaliation attacks. Perfect ambush predators are they! [table] [tr] [td]Cost[/td] [td]8[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Health[/td] [td]10[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Attack[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Defense[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Movement[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Range[/td] [td]1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Traits[/td] [td]Dash, Surprise, Water[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Tridention
A fan favorite! Yes, don't worry, we kept the mighty Tridentions in all their glory! We did have to make some changes, though. Tridentions are no longer harassment units with Escape, but are now ranged mop-up units with Persist! We've fit them into a role that helps Aquarion deal with masses of units by giving them something more akin to a Knight. They're still amphibious and have great movement, so chucking tons of tridents is just as easy as before. [table] [tr] [td]Cost[/td] [td]8[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Health[/td] [td]10[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Attack[/td] [td]2.5[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Defense[/td] [td]1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Movement[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Range[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Traits[/td] [td]Dash, Persist, Amphibious[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Puffer
Puffers are the Aquarion's answer to the Catapult, as they quickly learned that wooden Catapults don't do very well on the water. Puffers are long-range bombardment units that not only deal damage, but can be used to flood land tiles! Blasting a unit with water is fun, but you can also target land tiles individually to flood them in expectation for a future "land" invasion. [table] [tr] [td]Cost[/td] [td]8[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Health[/td] [td]10[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Attack[/td] [td]4[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Defense[/td] [td]0[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Movement[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Range[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Traits[/td] [td]Drench, Water[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Jelly
This adorable mass of tentacles is actually one of the deadliest things you'll find on the ocean, so don't let its looks deceive you! Jellies are defensive units that will zap enemy units adjacent to them every time they move or the enemy moves next to them! You can use a Jelly or two to hold down certain chokepoints or whittle down a few enemies at once to make them easy prey for your Sharks or Tridentions. [table] [tr] [td]Cost[/td] [td]8[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Health[/td] [td]20[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Attack[/td] [td]0[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Defense[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Movement[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Range[/td] [td]1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Traits[/td] [td]Tentacles, Water, Stiff, Static[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Crab
Our old friend, the Crab, has gotten some improvements to make them a formidable opponent both in the water and out. Crabs can now "Autoflood", which means they'll flood land tiles that they walk on, making it much easier to get your mermaid-tailed forces on land. With a Movement of 2, the Escape trait, and a Defense of 5, Crabs are difficult to pin down and defeat, making them great for destroying ships, distracting enemy units, and pushing for a foothold on enemy beaches. [table] [tr] [td]Health[/td] [td]40[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Attack[/td] [td]4[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Defense[/td] [td]5[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Movement[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Range[/td] [td]1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Traits[/td] [td]Escape, Autoflood, Amphibious[/td] [/tr] [/table] [h2=build]The Ocean - It's Free Real Estate!
Lost Cities and your many new cities on the coast will need new ways to grow, and we had some ideas on how to accomplish that.
Atoll
The Atoll is a simple structure, it provides your waterborne cities to connect to each other via trade routes. Since you can't build Roads or Ports, Atolls fill the role similarly to Cymanti Mycellium - they'll automatically connect to every city within 3 tiles over water or flooded terrain. Plop 'em down and watch your cities grow!
Aqua Farms
Yes, we brought back Aqua Crops! After drifting in and out as we worked on the Path of the Ocean update, Aqua Crops and Farms found their forever home with the Aquarion! Only the Aquarion can see and interact with Aqua Crops on the water, and they can improve them with Aqua Farms in the "Aquaculture" tech. They work the same way as normal, land-based Farms, even able to provide adjacency bonuses to Windmills! 5* cost, 2 pop yields, and a reliable way to grow those water cities of yours. [h2=beta]How Do I Join the Beta?
If you're on Android, tap this link. If you're on iOS, tap this link. If you're on Steam, follow these steps: 1. Right Click on Polytopia in the Steam sidebar, or click the gear icon on the Library page 2. Click Properties 3. Head to the Betas tab 4. Use the beta access code: polytopiabetatesters If youve done these steps properly, it should look like this.
[h2=changelog]Changelog
Adjustment to the Aquarion tribe: - Start with water movement, an amphibious mermaid warrior and the ability to build any land improvement on water, but no specific tech - Terrain is Flooded by default and allows movement for both water and land units - Flooded tiles counts as rough terrain for Naval units - All land units are now amphibious - Naval units are replaced with sea creatures: - Scout ship replaced by Shark that has Surprise ability, 3 attack and 2 defense - Bomber replaced by Jelly that damage all nearby units - Roads are replaced by Atolls that connect to all cities within 3 tiles - Ability to flood tiles to create trade networks and waterways - Access to Aquacrop resource and Aquafarm improvement - Water ruins give you a Lost City if the placement is valid for a city - Burn forest replaced with Fertilize that create crop on flooded fields - Tridention get Persist ability instead of Escape and attack reduced to 2.5 - Tridention no longer has the Fortify ability - Puffer replaces Catapult. Same stats but can only move on water and get Drench ability that will flood any tile it attacks - All other tribes get Landfill ability by default - Ability to manually disembark naval units on bridges or wetland - Crab get Auto Flood ability so it floods any tile it moves to - Crabs have gotten visual improvements concerning teamcolor - Naval units are now get water or amphibious ability instead of float to better explain how they work (only a visual change) Bug Fixes from Last Beta Patch: - Ports should not connect through cities - Atolls should not connect to ports, only other atolls or cities - Raychi can no longer move through cities - Area Damage from Jelly and Juggernaut is now counted as violence and will reset Pacifist task etc.
We are happy to announce another month of Polysseum! This month we are playing Oumaji! How to join? [olist]
This August
Leaderboard scoring
- 1st - 400 pt
- 2nd - 250 pt
- 3rd-4th - 125 pt
- 5-8th - 40 pt
- 9-16th - 10 pt
- There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
- If there are 10 or more on the waiting list, then a new tournament will be created for them.
- Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
- All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
August schedule
A reminder about Polysseum format
Daily tournaments
- 9 weekly tournaments - Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. 27 tournaments per month.
- Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
- 1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Tribe of the Month.
- Prize pool per tournament - 10.
- August Finals - August 31st
- 16 players.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
- Bracket format TBA.
How to follow Polysseum?
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Discord #polysseum-discussion
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
We are happy to announce another month of Polysseum! This month we are playing Zebasi! How to join? [olist]
This July
Leaderboard scoring
- 1st - 400 pt
- 2nd - 250 pt
- 3rd-4th - 125 pt
- 5-8th - 40 pt
- 9-16th - 10 pt
- There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
- If there are 10 or more on the waiting list, then a new tournament will be created for them.
- Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
- All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
July schedule
A reminder about Polysseum format
Daily tournaments
- 9 weekly tournaments - Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. 27 tournaments per month.
- Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
- 1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Tribe of the Month.
- Prize pool per tournament - 10.
- July Finals - July 27-28th
- 16 players.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
- Bracket format TBA.
How to follow Polysseum?
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Discord #polysseum-discussion
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Hey Polytopians!
This year is a time of change, a time to show some much-needed love to our maritime friends, the Aquarion! In this update, we have given them tons of new toys, art, and mechanics to play with!
This is a beta, and you can expect to find bugs, glitches, and oddities. You can find instructions on how to join the beta at the bottom of this post.
We're going to lay out this post in this order:
- Design Philosophy
- New Mechanics
- New Units
- New Buildings
- How to Join the Beta
- Changelog
So, without further ado, let's talk about the plethora of changes to our fishy friends.
[h2=design]20,000 Design Philosophies Under the Sea
The Path of the Ocean showed us that the game's naval mechanics needed improvement before we could work on the Aquarion - a naval-oriented tribe. But now that it's out of the way, we can do this rework!
Aquarion has always been focused on the water, which makes sense - they're fish people. So, we wanted to align them to that idea much better, blending them with the water in some very unique ways. As you'll see, we've given them new naval units, new aquatic buildings, and a totally new look to match! We want the Aquarion to be superb on the water, which is their home biome, but less effective on land. They still have ways to contest land and coastal cities, but they might have to get resourceful and understand their limits.
[h2=mechanics]Let's Spin You a Nautical "Tail"
So, the first thing you probably noticed when you saw some of the promo images is that theres now a big pink, fin-looking thing that seems to have replaced the average Aquarions lower torso. That, my friend, is a mermaid tail, and it represents the fact that all of the Aquarion's land units are now amphibious! Yes, you can now waltz into the open seas without issue at any time with any land unit! Of course, this flexibility comes at a cost, as their land movement is reduced, as it's really hard to walk on land or use a road when you have a fish tail where your feet would be. All Aquarion land units have been replaced with "mermaid" variants, which otherwise function identically to their land-based counterparts. And lastly, yes, we know that "mermaid" isn't a gender-neutral term (since the Square's inhabitants are genderless), but are you really going to tell the Aquarion they can't be mermaids?
To make it easier for the Aquarion, all of their land terrain has now been given a new tag - "Flooded". Flooded tiles count as both land and water, so your "land" units are unrestricted on their own home terrain and naval units can sail on them without issue. Units can also flood tiles outside of their borders, so that you can move your troops on land more effectively.
Nabbing those land cities is now a little tougher for the Aquarion, so we've given them an alternative. If you uncover a ruin on the water, instead of getting the normal bonuses, you'll get a city! Yes, a city on the water!!!!! It functions like any other city and can be captured by your opponents. Obviously, it's "on the coast" for the sake of units that can only be trained in coastal cities, like Raychi. This should give you some incentive to work your way out into the oceans as fast as possible. Note: you'll only get a city if the ruin is far enough from other cities, otherwise you will get normal ruin bonuses, and this only works for ruins on the water, but it doesn't matter if it's on the Water or Ocean.
[h2=units]Hic Sunt Dracones
We figured it was time to make Aquarion a bit more fun to play by giving them new naval units instead of the Scouts, Rammers, and Bombers that everyone else uses. Contrary to the name of this section, Aquarion doesn't get any dragons.
Tridentions, Amphibians, and Crabs are all effectively unchanged, so there's no point in mentioning them here.
Shark
In "Marine Life", the replacement tech for Sailing, Sharks are speedy, all-around melee units that excel at zooming around the waters and eating unsuspecting ships. Since they have Creep, theyre even able to swim through forests effortlessly (assuming theyre flooded or on the water). [table] [tr] [td]Cost[/td] [td]8[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Health[/td] [td]10[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Attack[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Defense[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Movement[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Range[/td] [td]1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Traits[/td] [td]Dash, Float, Creep[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Yelly Belly
These giant jellyfish are unlocked in Navigation, which still retains the ability to harvest Starfish. They're defensive units that function similarly to Juggernauts, dealing damage in a radius around them as they move. Unlike Juggernauts, enemy units that move next to them will also be damaged, so they're good for holding down an area. That even includes dealing damage when you train them! [table] [tr] [td]Cost[/td] [td]8[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Health[/td] [td]15[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Attack[/td] [td]0[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Defense[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Movement[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Range[/td] [td]1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Traits[/td] [td]Float, Stiff, Tentacles[/td] [/tr] [/table] [h2=buildings]Any Port in a Storm
Being fish people, the Aquarion don't get Ports anymore, but they do get one and a half new aquatic buildings instead!
Atoll
Unlocked in the new "Waterways" tech, which replaces Roads, the Atoll is a lot like the Cymanti's Mycelium, it will not only produce 1 Population, but will connect nearby cities over Ocean, Coast, and Flooded areas within 3 tiles. One per city, costs 5*, it can only be built on aquatic tiles.
Aqua Farm
Here's the half. As you might know, we added Aqua Farms to all tribes in the Path of the Ocean update, but removed them for feeling redundant and cluttery. Well, they're the perfect fit for Aquarion, allowing them to get population on those coastal and aquatic cities! You'll still need to place them on Aqua Crops which will spawn in the ocean. Costs 5* and provides 2 Population, and is in the "Aquaculture" tech. [h2=join]How Do I Join the Beta?
Note: This beta is only available on Steam, and will not be coming to mobile devices until it is released. If you havent already joined the Steam beta, its really easy! Just follow these steps: 1. Right Click on Polytopia in the Steam sidebar, or click the gear icon on the Library page 2. Click Properties 3. Head to the Betas tab 4. Use the beta access code: polytopiabetatesters If youve done these steps properly, it should look like this.
We look forward to hearing what you think of the Aquarion rework! Youre always able to send feedback either in the comments or on our Discord! Don't have the game on Steam? Don't fret, both the game and the Aquarion are -70% off on Steam right now, and the deal will end on June 21st. https://store.steampowered.com/app/982200/The_Battle_of_Polytopia__Aquarion_Tribe/ [h2=changelog]2.9.2.12491 Changelog
Adjustments to the Aquarion tribe: - Terrain is Flooded and allows movement for both water and land units, but it is not possible to build roads there - All units are now amphibious - Rammer replaced by Shark - Bomber replaced by Yelly Belly that damage all nearby units - Roads are replaced by Atolls that connect to all cities within 3 tiles - Ability to flood tiles to create trade networks and waterways - Access to Aqua Crop resource and Aqua Farm improvement - Water Ruins sometimes give you a Lost City, which begins at level 3 and has a Wall - Tridention no longer has the Fortify ability - Crab now has Creep ability - Aquarion start with water movement, an amphibious mermaid warrior and the ability to build any land improvement on water, but no specific tech - Crabs have gotten graphical improvements related to teamcolor Other Changes: - Aquaculture tech renamed to Ramming
We are happy to announce another month of Polysseum! This month we are playing Kickoo! How to join? [olist]
This June
Leaderboard scoring
- 1st - 400 pt
- 2nd - 250 pt
- 3rd-4th - 125 pt
- 5-8th - 40 pt
- 9-16th - 10 pt
- There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
- If there are 10 or more on the waiting list, then a new tournament will be created for them.
- Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
- All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
June schedule
A reminder about Polysseum format
Daily tournaments
- 9 weekly tournaments - Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. 27 tournaments per month.
- Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
- 1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Tribe of the Month.
- Prize pool per tournament - 10.
- June Finals - June 29-30th
- 16 players.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
- Bracket format TBA.
How to follow Polysseum?
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Discord #polysseum-discussion
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
- Fixed broken sound effects for movement in water and sword hit
- Make idigh ri ambience sound work when taking over other climates
- Fix so tribe mixing works as before again
- Fix so converting units with new override-system works - no more grave riding :'-(
- Added skinned sprites for the following idigh units:
- Bomber
- Rammer
- Scout
- Cloak/Dinghy
- Pirate
- Mountains are correctly skinned in tech tree
We are happy to announce another month of Polysseum! This month we are playing Luxidoor! How to join? [olist]
This May
Leaderboard scoring
- 1st - 400 pt
- 2nd - 250 pt
- 3rd-4th - 125 pt
- 5-8th - 40 pt
- 9-16th - 10 pt
- There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
- If there are 10 or more on the waiting list, then a new tournament will be created for them.
- Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
- All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
May schedule
A reminder about Polysseum format
Daily tournaments
- 9 weekly tournaments - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. 27 tournaments per month.
- Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
- 1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Tribe of the Month.
- Prize pool per tournament - 10.
- May Finals - June 1-2nd
- 16 players.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
- Bracket format TBA.
How to follow Polysseum?
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Discord #polysseum-discussion
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
The special idigh skin for ri allows you to create graves, build crypts, and summon demons from the graves in the dark forests.
Among the dark, spooky forests resides the idigh Cult, an insidious grouping of ri that worship and draw their power from the mysterious Shard of D'Naeh. They've set their sights on transforming the Square into an endless dark forest populated by hungry Dire Wolves, corrupted Dragons, and shadowy Demons.
Instead of Polytaurs, the idigh Cult prefers to uncover the graves of the deceased and revive them as shadow beings known as "Demons". Building Crypts will allow you to uncover more of these grave sites in your forests.
The magic that fuels their nightmarish desires will spread to the land they conquer, functioning as an indicator of their strength.
Even the mighty Fire Dragons aren't immune to the corrupting influence of the Shard of D'Naeh, and have lent their help to spreading the darkness.
How will you use their Necromantic powers to dominate the rest of the Square?
Note: This purely cosmetic idigh ri Skin does not have any gameplay changes from the normal ri Special Tribe, which must be purchased separately in order to be used.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2943450/The_Battle_of_Polytopia__idigh__Skin__ri_tribe/?beta=0
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When can I play with this new skin?!
Before we can release it to everyone on April 25th, this skin will need some testing, and we'd like your help! Starting right now, you'll notice that the beta program has been updated on Android, iOS, and here on Steam. You will need to purchase the skin in order to use it, but don't worry, you'll keep it after the beta period ends. To join the Steam beta, follow these steps: [olist]
You can find steps to join the Android and iOS betas on our Discord by clicking this link! -Zoythrus
Updated Unity version for improved stability and functionality
We are happy to announce another month of Polysseum! This month we are playing Xin-XI! How to join? [olist]
This April
We are making multiple changes this month, the main change is we are going down from 36 tournaments to 27, but don't worry each Daily will now have 10 of prizes available and a new tournament PolyBash will be running (more details later :p) Leaderboard scoring
- 1st - 400 pt
- 2nd - 250 pt
- 3rd-4th - 125 pt
- 5-8th - 40 pt
- 9-16th - 10 pt
- There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
- If there are 10 or more on the waiting list, then a new tournament will be created for them.
- Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
- All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
April schedule
A reminder about Polysseum format
Daily tournaments
- 9 weekly tournaments - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. 27 tournaments per month.
- Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
- 1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Tribe of the Month.
- Prize pool per tournament - 10.
- April Finals - April 27-28th
- 16 players.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
- Bracket format TBA.
- Up to 16 players, Top 4 from January, February, March and April Monthly Finals.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 500.
- Bracket format TBA.
How to follow Polysseum?
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Discord #polysseum-discussion
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
We are happy to announce another month of Polysseum! This month we are playing Imperius!
How to join?
[olist]
This March
Leaderboard scoring
- 1st - 400 pt
- 2nd - 250 pt
- 3rd-4th - 125 pt
- 5-8th - 40 pt
- 9-16th - 10 pt
- There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
- If there are 10 or more on the waiting list, then a new tournament will be created for them.
- Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
- All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
March schedule
A reminder about Polysseum format
Daily tournaments
- 12 weekly tournaments - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. 36 tournaments per month.
- Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
- 1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Tribe of the Month.
- Prize pool per tournament - 7.
- March Finals - March 2-3rd
- 16 players.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
- Bracket format TBA.
- Up to 16 players, Top 4 from January, February, March and April Monthly Finals.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 500.
- Bracket format TBA.
How to follow Polysseum?
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Discord #polysseum-discussion
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Hello Polytopians! Weve been listening to your feedback on the recent Path of the Ocean update, both good and bad, and were making some changes that we hope youll like in this new beta! This patch should help simplify the experience, removing some bloat and streamlining how things are used. So, without further ado, lets talk about whats changing!
Weve Removed Aqua Crops and Adjusted the Fishing Tech
Yes, you heard us right, despite them only being in the game for a few months, we felt that Aqua Crops (and Aqua Farms) were ultimately unnecessary and clogging up the coastlines. Of course, without Aqua Crops in the water anymore, there should be more fish spawns overall, which is good because the Fishing Tech has, once again, become the first tech on the naval branch and also includes Ports. So, now you can start harvesting fish and getting on the water as early as possible again.
Markets Have Been Streamlined
A common complaint with the Path of the Ocean update was the clunkiness of the new Markets compared with the power and flexibility of the old Custom Houses. So, weve streamlined them a lot and made them much more intuitive to use. Now, instead of getting stars based on the types of buildings next to them, theyll inherit the levels of all the Windmills, Sawmills, and Forges next to them, making +1 star per level. This should make it easier to use them and remove the need to get multiple T3 technologies. Weve also removed their interactions with Ports, so you dont have to keep your Markets next to a coast tile to get the most out of them. Weve also capped their level to 8, which means +8 stars maximum, which isnt too shabby if you place them right.
Coastal Tiles Have Gotten a Makeover
To make Bridges more useful, weve not only lowered their cost to 5 stars but have allowed you to place them to connecting land in the fog. But, if you cant see the land in the fog, then does that mean we have to tap every single tile to see if you can place a bridge? That doesnt sound fun. We dont think so, either, reader, so we have given each coastal tile a faint light-blue coastline that will stick out of the fog, telling you that there is land under that tile (without revealing the tile, itself). Now you can know where you can place a bridge, and dont have to play a guessing game.
Weve Adjusted Lighthouses
So, we ran into an interesting interaction that we werent expecting - the single population you can get from finding a Lighthouse was unfairly tipping corner spawns to be very powerful, especially with tribes who can upgrade their Capitals on the first turn. Bardur is already strong, but they can be even more powerful with the starting population! We tried removing the free population from the Lighthouse, but then players wouldnt want to find them without the incentive, so were put into a predicament. We couldnt leave it but also couldnt remove the population, so we compromised. Now, all Lighthouses will be hidden in a fog tile, even if you have a corner spawn and should be able to see them from the start. Delaying the population for a turn or two seems to be the proper solution, and we look forward to hearing what you think.
Bombers Have Been Nerfed
We understood that Bombers were far too oppressive and very difficult to fight, so we looked into making some changes. We discussed a wide array of ways to nerf them and settled on something simple - Bomber damage has been reduced from 43. Their range and their splash ability help define them as a unit and allow them to perform their job, so reducing their damage should make them less oppressive and a little less appealing to build all the time. Well be keeping an eye on them and listening to your feedback.
Other Changes
Here are some other small changes that you should be aware of: - Temples now upgrade every 2 turns, not 3, which should also make them more useful in Glory - Perfection score multiplier based on the number of opponents has been reduced - The Burn Forest and Destroy abilities have swapped places, into Construction and Chivalry, respectively - Starfish harvest income reduced from 108 stars - Youll now get a Veteran Rammer instead of a Veteran Bomber out of water ruins - AI have been improved and should make smarter decisions, including Cloak spawn rate being reduced and better use of city improvements
How Do I Test the New Beta?
If you havent done so already, youre always able to get into the Steam beta by following these steps: 1. Right-Click Polytopia in Steam 2. Click Properties on the dropdown 3. Head to Betas in the new popup that appears 4. Use the code polytopiabetatesters to get into the beta!
Android and iOS users can find links to their respective beta programs on our Discord, which you can get to with this link
Update 2.8.5.11904 Changelog
- Removed Aqua Crop and Aqua Farms - Tech tree: moved Fishing to become the first tech in that branch and it includes Port improvement - Simplified Markets: 1* for each level of each nearby production building. Removed doubling for ports. New graphics. - Markets are capped at level 8 - Tech tree: moved Burn Forest to Construction, and Destroy to Chivalry - Cheaper bridges, now 5* - Lower Starfish income, now 8* - Lower Bomber attack value, 3 instead of 4 - Allow bridges to be built even if one of the tiles are in fog - Added shorelines to hint if a bridge can be placed on a water tile that leads into the fog - Get Veteran Rammer instead of Bomber from water ruins - Score bonus for opponent count is lower in Perfection game mode - Temples grow quicker, reduced from 3 turns2 - Improved AI, better at picking what unit to train, better at improving cities - Lighthouses always start covered in fog, even if it is close to your capital - Fixed crash when starting a game from a notification
We are happy to announce another month of Polysseum! This month we are playing Ai-Mo!
How to join?
[olist]
This February
Leaderboard scoring
- 1st - 400 pt
- 2nd - 250 pt
- 3rd-4th - 125 pt
- 5-8th - 40 pt
- 9-16th - 10 pt
- There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
- If there are 10 or more on the waiting list, then a new tournament will be created for them.
- Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
- All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
February schedule
A reminder about Polysseum format
Daily tournaments
- 12 weekly tournaments - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. 36 tournaments per month.
- Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
- 1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Tribe of the Month.
- Prize pool per tournament - 7.
- February Finals - March 2-3rd
- 16 players.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
- Bracket format TBA.
- Up to 16 players, Top 4 from January, February, March and April Monthly Finals.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 500.
- Bracket format TBA.
How to follow Polysseum?
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Discord #polysseum-discussion
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
We are happy to announce another month of Polysseum! New Year - new tribe. This month we are playing Ydakk!
How to join?
[olist]
This January
Leaderboard scoring
- 1st - 400 pt
- 2nd - 250 pt
- 3rd-4th - 125 pt
- 5-8th - 40 pt
- 9-16th - 10 pt
- There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
- But a maximum of 3 tournaments will be created daily, which means, if there are enough players on a waiting list, Challengermode will create up to 3 tournaments with 16 players in each, accommodating up to 48 players.
- The minimum number of players on a waiting list required to create an additional tournament is 10. For example, if we have 16 checked-in players and 8 are on a waiting list, it will not create an additional tournament.
- Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
- All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
January schedule
A reminder about Polysseum format
Daily tournaments
- 12 weekly tournaments - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. 36 tournaments per month.
- Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
- 1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Tribe of the Month.
- Prize pool per tournament - 7.
- January Finals - January 27-28th 18:00 CET
- 16 players.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
- Bracket format TBA.
- Up to 16 players, Top 4 from January, February, March and April Monthly Finals.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 500.
- Bracket format TBA.
How to follow Polysseum?
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Discord #polysseum-discussion
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
"Skin Pack #4 includes the following skins: Ai-Mo To-L Quetzali Iqaruz Ydakk rkaz"
Hello Polytopians! Instead of our normal Concordance Day celebration, we've released Skin Pack #4! Now you can play with the mighty To-L, the gruff rkaz, and the flightless Iqaruz!
To-L
The To-L rigorously train their bodies and minds in their sturdy Binba forests. Theyve been summoned from their temples and gyms to aid the Ai-Mo in the war, as few can match their sheer strength and discipline.
rkaz
The rkaz from the Khalee Highlands are known as a gruff and unfriendly group that controls the Yadakk's criminal underground. Smuggling, racketeering, and other shady dealings are all steps to their goal of economic domination of the Square!
Iquaruz
The Quetzali may worship the birds, but members of the Iqaruz have taken their devotion a step further by trying to transform themselves into actual birds, with wings and all. Some are even attempting to fly, so they can meet the Bird Gods in the sky, but it rarely ends well.
You can find all of these skins ingame now! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2736400/The_Battle_of_Polytopia__Skin_Pack_4/ Update 2.8.4.11684 Changelog: 2.8.4.11684 - Android, iOS, and Steam * Skin Pack #4 includes the following skins: - Ai-Mo To-L - Ydakk rkaz - Quetzali Iqaruz
Map Generation Improvements: * More variety to Continents and Pangea map * Improved city placement Bugfixes: * Naval units now show which unit is inside a naval vessel in the text description * End Turn now properly turns blue when all units are out of actions * Removed option to break ice on a frozen unit * Fixed a crash bug that appeared in some situations when constructing a Vengir temple in the month of November * Market sprites now properly updates when building or destroying ports * Market sprites now uses correct z-ordering so it wont overlap buildings in front of it * Invisible units are now revealed when breaking ice or harvesting starfish * Unit inside a ship now gets poisoned when the ship gets poisoned. Unit also heals from poison if ship heals from poison. * Tutorial hints improvements * Giant pushing a unit with Skate-ability no longer exhausts that units actions * Removed confirmation popup when harvesting starfish * Markets should only double production if the port next to it is owned by us
We are happy to announce another month of Polysseum! This December, we are featuring the Tribe of the Month - Bardur. This month is your last chance to qualify for the Season Finals, so don't wait because tournaments are starting December 2nd! How to join? [olist]
Changes coming this December
Minor leaderboard scoring changes
- 1st - 400 pt
- 2nd - 250 pt
- 3rd-4th - 125 pt
- 5-8th - 40 pt
- 9-16th - 10 pt
- The main one is the game update. We can Season finals to be diverse map-vice. Since the new update introduced changes on maps with water, there is a very short period from the update to the Season finals for the players to adapt to the changes.
- Secondly, having 4 players qualified from each month (16 in total) will allow us to have more common tournament formats.
- There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
- But a maximum of 3 tournaments will be created daily, which means, if there are enough players on a waiting list, Challengermode will create up to 3 tournaments with 16 players in each, accommodating up to 48 players.
- The minimum number of players on a waiting list required to create an additional tournament is 10. For example, if we have 16 checked-in players and 8 are on a waiting list, it will not create an additional tournament.
- Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
- All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device because you might have a tournament to play.
December schedule
[olist]
A reminder about Polysseum format
The Polysseum is expected to operate across four seasons yearly - Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. Every season will culminate with the Season Finals. Now, how do you reach this pinnacle? Here's the scoop: we're rolling out 12 Daily tournaments per week, a total of 36 per month. Your seven best results throughout the month will contribute to your standing on the Monthly leaderboard, granting you a shot at the top 16 positions and entering the Monthly Finals. Daily tournaments
- 12 weekly tournaments - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. 36 tournaments per month.
- Up to 48 players, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
- 1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Tribe of the Month.
- Prize pool per tournament - 7.
- December Finals - January 6-7th 18:00 CET (delayed due to Holiday Season)
- 16 players.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 200 and 4 spots in the Season Finals.
- Bracket format TBA.
- January 13-14th 18:00 CET (delayed due to Holiday Season)
- Up to 16 players, Top 4 from September, October, November and December Monthly Finals.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 500.
- Bracket format TBA.
How to follow Polysseum?
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Discord #polysseum-discussion
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Hey Polytopians!
After months of development, were releasing the Path of the Ocean Update! In this update, youll find new units, new techs, new maps, and plenty of changes! To celebrate, we're even giving you a 40% discount here on Steam, starting at 10am PST.
We all agreed that the games naval aspects were lacking and needed some reworking, and this update does just that! So, lets get you up to speed on all the new, fancy things that you can find in this update. If you were hoping to find our previous blog posts for further details, you can find them by clicking these links: Blog #1, Blog #2, and Blog #3.
If you want to read a specific section, use this Table of Contents:
[olist]
No, not the Tech, we mean weve changed how we view the games naval aspects and the role they play in the game as a whole. As part of this, weve swapped the positions of the Sailing and Fishing Techs, as well as reduced the cost of the Port to 7*, making it easier to get on the water earlier. We want players to not be locked behind some very expensive techs and buildings, and felt itd be much better if going naval was an easier experience and good way to start expanding. Weve also added Fish resources to Oceans, as well as added the new Aqua Crop resource, so that growth on the Oceans isnt so punishing since weve reduced the Population gained from Ports from 2 to 1. [h2=units]New Units
Raft
Replacing the Boat, the Raft is the new baseline unit you get when you place a unit onto a Port. It has no attack, a movement of 2, and can be upgraded into the other naval units in friendly territory.
Scout
Unlocked at Fishing, this fragile naval unit has the Scout ability, allowing it to see 2 tiles away! It also has a range of 2, and excels at putting pressure on enemy Bombers, which well discuss in a moment.
Rammer
Unlocked at the new Aquaculture Tech (which replaces Whaling), Rammers are tough, robust melee ships that are designed to close the distance to enemy Scouts. Theyre also really good for sieging an enemy costal city.
Bomber
Unlocked at Navigation, Bombers are long-range bombardment ships, able to to use Splash damage to injure groups of units at once. Of course, this comes at a cost, as theyre slow and dont have Dash, forcing them to wait a turn to set up before they can fire. Theyre also good at removing hordes of enemy Rammers, despite not being able to deal retaliation damage.
Juggernaut
The Juggernaut isnt a standard naval unit, but what you get if you put a Giant onto a Port (since theyre too big for Rafts). The Juggernaut will deal damage to all adjacent tiles every time it moves due to its Stomp ability, and this will even happen if it disembarks. Much like Bombers, though, it cant deal retaliation damage, so youll need to keep them defended. [h2=resources]New Aquatic Resources
Aqua Crop
Much like their land-based equivalents, Aqua Crops can be turned into Aqua Farms after youve researched Aquaculture, gaining 2 Population at the cost of 5*.
Starfish
The source of the Stars that Polytopians use as currency, Starfish have replaced Whales. They function similarly, but with some differences - Starfish need to have a unit on their tile in order to to be harvested for 10*, and they can be harvested in neutral or enemy territory, making it a race to get them all! Youll be able to harvest Starfish with the Navigation Tech. [h2=buildings]New Buildings
Bridges
The Roads Tech now allows you to build Bridges across 1-tile water gaps between landmasses. Now you can use them to cross those little rivers that might show up, allowing for a sneak attack or easier expansion. They cost 7* and cant be placed diagonally.
Market
With cheaper, easier-to-get Ports, we took the opportunity to re-design the Custom House. Theyve been transformed into the Market, which will level up and gain +2* for each unique Sawmill, Windmill, and Forge adjacent to it. Its Star income will be doubled if its next to a Port, granting you a maximum of +12* if youve managed to get a Sawmill, a Windmill, a Forge, and a Port next to it. We did this because we didnt want the Market to only be useful on water-based maps, and now it can be used on all map types! We also wanted to encourage some clever city planning in order maximize Star income, so youve gotta plan a little more.
Lighthouse
Unlike the other two buildings, the Lighthouse isnt built, but found. In each of the 4 corners of the map, you can find one of these, and finding them all will give you the Explorer Task (which was changed from Explore all tiles to Find all Lighthouses). Finding a Lighthouse will also grant your Capital 1 Population for free and add your color as a tier, so the Lighthouse will grow with every tribe that finds it. [h2=maps]New Maps
Continents
A common complaint was how poor the Continents map was, so weve decided to overhaul it! Youll now find rivers separating some landmasses (which are good for Bridges), or you might find maps where everyone gets their own continent, or maybe even find maps where everyones equally spread on a few landmasses. Theres a lot of variety in what you will find, and we hope it spruces up the gameplay around both land and water!
Pangea
Pangea is a new map type that is summarized as a single landmass surrounded by water. Like a fusion of Drylands and Continents, we expect Pangea to have a lot of fighting in the middle, while also providing you options for sieging cities on the coasts. Both Continents and Pangea maps will try to prioritize putting capitals on the coast, meaning youll have to watch both land and water when trying to defend. [h2=specials]The Specials
These new philosophies and units have forced us to make some changes to the Special tribes as well. Wed like to point out that were not done with adjusting these tribes and plan to give each of them a more proper rework in the near future, but for now, weve had to adjust them to bring them to this new baseline so they can play with the new features. So, without further ado, lets look at whats changed for each of them.
Aquarion
Aquarion, getting some love in the first time in forever, has gotten some very interesting changes in order to get them on the water faster, as well as to specialize them a little more for the water..
- Aquarion now begins with the Riding Tech and an Amphibian
- Crabs now have 2 movement and 5 Defense
- Tridentions now have 10HP
- Amphibians, Tridentions, and Crabs now dont get a movement bonus from Roads
Elyrion
Elyrion doesnt really get any adjustments in this patch, but due to the game losing Whales, they lose the Navalon (which astute readers probably noticed in the picture earlier), which has been completely removed from the game. Much like the other Specials, theyll get a rework in the near future, so dont be sad for too long.
- Elyrion loses access to the Navalon, but is able to harvest Starfish like any other tribe
Polaris
Our icy friends have gotten the most dramatic changes of any Special tribe in this patch, Since the Regular tribes get access to the water much faster, we had to ensure that the Polaris could keep up, and decided to give the Mooni Auto-Freeze, so it will freeze adjacent tiles (and units) by simply moving. In order to ensure that this isnt too strong, the units of all the other tribes can now break ice after moving, creating a more dynamic push-and-pull for ice spread.
- Mooni gain AutoFreeze, but now have 1 Defense and lose the power to manually Freeze
- Gaami defense moved to 3, instead of 4
- The Frostwork tech replace Fishing, which allows for Mooni & Outpost
- Ice Fishing replaces Aquaculture, allowing for harvesting Fish
- Battle Sleds are now in Sledding, which replaces Sailing
- Ice Fortresses are in Polar Warfare, which also allows for harvesting Starfish
- The Ice Bank now makes +2 stars for each level instead of +3 stars
Cymanti
Cymanti hasnt gotten much in the way of changes, but some things were rearranged for them, such as putting the Raychi in Pescetism, their equivalent to Fishing. Well be taking a look at them in the near future, so dont worry.
- Hydrology replaces Sailing, allowing for earlier Algae
- Raychi are now in Pescetism, which replaces Fishing
- Cymanti's "Fishing" tech now replaces Aquaculture, granting the power to harvest fish. We know it's confusing.
- Oceanology grants the ability to harvest Starfish
- Exida now has 2 movement and creep
Heres all the other small balance and design changes that dont directly correspond to the main focuses of the update.
- Swordsman no longer has Fortify ability
- Lumber Hut costs 3 stars
- Roads cost 3 stars
- Parks give +1 star per turn
- Network Task unlocks automatically when connecting your first city
- Explorer Task unlocks automatically when you find your first Lighthouse
- Improved AI
- Killing a unit with a Cloak will ensure that a Dagger will spawn in the city
General
- Sailing and Fishing techs swapped place
- Ports now cost 7 stars and give 1 population
- Ships can only upgrade in friendly territory
- All normal ship types are replaced
- Sailing gets Ocean movement and Scout ship
- New tech: Aquaculture (replaces Whaling) which adds Aqua Farms and Rammer ships
- Aqua farms that improve Aqua Crop resource
- Navigation get Bomber ship and ability to gather stars from Starfish resource (replace Whales)
- Bridge building (7 stars) in Roads lets you connect two land masses
- Market (replace Customs House) gives 2 stars for each unique type of production building nearby (Windmill, Sawmill or Forge). Income is doubled if next to a Port.
- Windmills also grow from Aqua Farms
- New Pangea map type
- Improved Continents map type
- Giants turn into Juggernauts when embarking
- Find 4 Lighthouses for Explorer task (instead of revealing the whole map)
- Finding a Lighthouse gives 1 population to your capital
New Naval Units:
- Raft (replaces Boat) - defenseless transport
- Scout - fast and fragile exploration vessel
- Rammer - sturdy naval melee ship
- Bomber - Slow but powerful long range destroyer
- Juggernaut - Powerful and inflexible melee ship with area damage
New Resources:
- Starfish - Replaces Whales. Must have a unit on it to harvest it for 10 stars, even in neutral or enemy territory
- Aqua Crop - make farms on water
Aquarion:
- Start with riding and an Amphibian
- Crab get 2 movement on water and improved defense
- Tridentions now have 10hp
- Amphibious units can no longer use roads
Polaris:
- Autofreeze Moonies with reduced defense
- Gaami defense now 3 (was 4)
- The Frostwork tech replace Fishing, which allows for Mooni & Outpost
- Ice Fishing replaces Aquaculture, allowing for harvesting Fish
- Battle Sleds are now in Sledding, which replaces Fishing
- Ice Fortresses are in Polar Warfare, which also allows for harvesting Starfish
- The Ice Bank now makes +2 stars for each level instead of +3 stars
Cymanti:
- Hydrology replaces Sailing, allowing for earlier Algae
- Raychi are now in Pescetism, which replaces Fishing
- Cymanti's "Fishing" tech now replaces Aquaculture, granting the power to harvest fish.
- Oceanology grants the ability to harvest Starfish
- Exida now has 2 movement and Creep
General Changes:
- Swordsman no longer has Fortify ability
- Lumber hut costs 3 stars
- Roads cost 3 stars
- Parks give +1 star per turn
- Network task unlock automatically when connecting your first city
- Explorer task unlock automatically when finding a Lighthouse
- Improved AI
- Killing a unit with a Cloak will ensure that a Dagger will spawn in the city
Hey Polytopians!
As youve probably noticed, the Path of the Ocean Update is going to be released fully on the 21st, and that means were in the process of finalizing the update and its many changes. In this particular update, were adding all of the new changes to both Android and iOS testing programs, so now everyone can join in on the fun!
Were going to keep this post fairly short, as most changes are bug fixes and not new content. Since youve probably been following these updates pretty intently, we wont need to fill you in on the details just yet, but if youre new or just need a refresher, we strongly encourage you to get more details on the update by reading our 1st Blog Post and 2nd Blog Post, or look at our up-to-date beta changelog.
How Do I Test It?
If youd like to jump into the testing track and start testing, you can use these links! If you're playing on Android, tap here! If you prefer iOS, tap here! If you use Steam, use this Beta Access Code: polytopiabetatesters And remember, you can always chat with other fans, ask questions, leave suggestions, or send feedback on our Discord. -Zoythrus
Changelog:
Balance:
- Bridge cost down to 7*
- Juggernaut attack up to 4
- Improved map generation, better village distribution and fixed starting resources
- Improved AI
- Ships can now be upgraded in ally territory
- Polaris start with Outpost in Frostwork tech
Bug Fixes:
- Task popups dont freeze replays
- Correct outlines
- Fixed Boost after moving (as well as actions like Explode and Disband)
- Fixed Smash, Splash, Explode, etc harming enemy units during cease-fire after breaking peace
- Fixed Cymanti port crash
- Fix teamplayerid not working
- Potential fix for users having problem with multiplayerGamingRestricted
- Fix so users getting updated dont remove them from friends lists
- Fix moves being reset by iCloud sync if animating the change during a save and the save comes back with incorrect data
Other:
- Dynamic graphic for Market, showing its production
- Whats new popup
- Fixed Ice Bank description
- Aumux and Ragoo skins now have appropriate naval units
- Art assets have been adjusted for some new stuff
Polysseum is The Battle of Polytopia competitive tournament series open for everyone to train their skill and fight for the win!
Changes coming this November
Map changes Based on the community feedback, we are returning to the Small Map. Starting with Small Drylands, then moving to Small Lakes the second week and finishing the series with Small Drylands again. Increased tournament capacity Since the map is bigger this month and a 32-player tournament on Small Map would take longer than a few hours, we are introducing tournament splitting. It might sound confusing, so bear with me.
- There will be a maximum of 16 players per tournament.
- But a maximum of 3 tournaments will be created daily, which means, if there are enough players on a waiting list, Challengermode will create up to 3 tournaments with 16 players in each, accommodating up to 48 players.
- The minimum number of players on a waiting list required to create an additional tournament is 10. For example, if we have 16 checked-in players and 8 are on a waiting list, it will not create an additional tournament.
- Players will be distributed evenly based on their check-in time. So if 16 players confirm participation and 10 are on a waiting list, it will create 2 tournaments with 13 players in each.
- All of this means that if you are on a waiting list, don't go too far from your device, because you might have a tournament to play.
- 1st-4th places are keeping the scores as they are.
- From now on, 5-16th places will be awarded only a symbolic amount of points, which means auto-wins or no opponent matches won't make a huge difference in the leaderboard.
- Scores in November leaderboard: 1st - 250pt, 2nd - 200pt, 3-4th - 175pt, 5-8th - 20pt, 9-16th - 10pt.
- 1st place - 3
- 2nd place - 2
- 3rd-4th place - 1 each
November schedule
How to join a tournament?
[olist]
A reminder about Polysseum format
The Polysseum will operate across four seasons yearly - Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. Every season will culminate with the season finals. Now, how do you reach this pinnacle? Here's the scoop: we're rolling out twelve weekly tournaments, a total of 36 monthly tournaments. Your seven best results throughout the month will contribute to your standing on the monthly leaderboard, granting you a shot at the top 16 positions and entering the monthly tournament. Weekly tournaments
- 12 weekly tournaments - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. 36 tournaments per month.
- Up to 48 players from November, split into a maximum of three 16-player tournaments.
- 1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Tribe of the Month.
- Prize pool per tournament - 7.
- Last weekend of the month.
- 16 players.
- Live games, Might, Small map.
- Prize pool - 200.
- Bracket format TBA.
How to follow Polysseum?
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Discord #polysseum-discussion
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Hey Polytopians! You spoke, and we listened! Weve made some changes to the Path of the Ocean update in the beta, and wed like to see what you think! If you havent seen the previous post or just want to be reminded about what weve added, we encourage you to take a look at it by clicking this link.
Lets Start with the Important Changes
Weve Swapped Fishing and Sailing
As you can see, were playing around with an interesting change that we think should slow down everyones want for naval just a little. Weve swapped the positions of Sailing and Fishing, as youve gotta get onto the water in order to get the delicious fish that are out there. Fish can now be found in the ocean, and as you can see, Kickoo has been adjusted to accommodate. Naval is still really powerful, but we think this change will adjust the dynamics of when everyone starts getting onto the water a little, hopefully slowing things down and giving you more options.
Weve Adjusted the Naval Units
Weve heard your feedback on the new naval units, and while most of it was positive, we learned a few things needed changes. The biggest of our changes was to shift around how the naval units countered each other. Originally, Scouts were designed to beat Rammers, Rammers beat Bombers, and Bombers beat Scouts; but now, weve realized that reversing it seems to feel more natural. Now, lets talk more about each units individual changes. On top of this, weve also nerfed Rammers, who we felt were far too strong.
Rammers
Now, with more spikes! Rammers are now meant to close the distance on Scouts, making them good for defending your Bombers from the pesky boats. Rammers are still good at assisting a land invasion, and can still tank damage, but are less able to threaten Bombers now that theyve lost the Sneak ability.
Bombers
Bombers didn't get a visual change, but it'd be weird if there wasn't a picture here Bombers have now gained the Stiff ability, preventing them from doing retaliation damage. This should make it much easier for your Scouts to deal with them, as theyll have no defense against anything that can get close to them. Bombers have also been given a movement of 2 (instead of 3), as those massive cannons are super heavy and hard to maneuver. Lets hope youve given them a good escort!
Juggernauts
Do you think the Giants blow on the sails to get it to move? Juggernauts got the biggest change in the update, as not only did they get new art, but theyve also got a whole new job! Juggernauts have lost the Dash ability and the ranged attack, but have now gained Smash, which will damage all surrounding tiles whenever they move. That ability even applies when they land, so you can now use them to help hold a beachhead. This more melee-focused rework should make them feel more like Giants on the water, and help them better fulfill a role as part of your navy. Of course, theyre still vulnerable to ranged units, so keep them protected.
And Now For Small Changes
Lighthouse
They're usually much taller than this. Lighthouses have gotten new art, but also give your capital 1 population when you first find them, which is a nice little incentive to hunt them down.
Aqua Farm
Aqua Farms are now less plentiful, but can be used in conjunction with Windmills. Farms are farms, and the people who man the Windmills are now aware of that.
Market
Markets now get 2* per unique production building adjacent to them (Forge, Windmill, or Sawmill), and the income is doubled if you have them next to a Port. We hope that this makes planning around them more impactful, as well as making them more useful overall.
Villages Burning in the Fog
So, technically, this was us testing out a new idea. We heard what you thought of it, and have removed it for good. You can now go back to capturing villages peacefully.
And Lastly, Important Bug Fixes
AI Improvements
While yes, we did make the AI smarter, we accidentally made them defend their cities improperly. They shouldnt make Cloaks anymore when being attacked, making it harder to siege them.
Map Generation
Weve added some additional checks to keep capitals from spawning on map edges and corners. Weve also looked into the beta features bleeding into games made in the live version, and think weve solved that, as well. Of course, if you happen to see these oddities happen again, please let us know, and well give the map generator another stern talking to.
How Do I Get Into the Steam Beta?
If you havent done so already, youre always able to get into the Steam beta by following these steps: [olist]
Should look like this. So, come join us in the beta, as theres room for everyone! If you have feedback on these new changes, please head to our Discord by clicking this link, where you can find other people playing the beta! We look forward to hearing what you have to say! -Zoythrus
Changelog:
- Swapped Fishing and Sailing techs
- Fish now spawn on Ocean
- Reduced Aqua Crop rate
- Rammers lost Sneak
- Bomber got Stiff and movement is reduced to 2
- Gaami got back the ability to manually freeze an area
- Juggernaut got Smash instead of a ranged attack, and lost "Dash"
- Lighthouse give 1 pop to your capital when discovered
- Windmills multiply Aqua Farms
- Adjusted Market logic: Produces 2 stars for each unique type of nearby production building (Sawmill, Windmill, Forge). Income is doubled if next to a Port.
- Improved AI (no longer build Cloaks to defend)
- Improved spawning of cities (no more edge spawns)
- Villages no longer burn when being captured
- Improved graphics for Juggernaut, Rammer & Lighthouse
- Kickoo Explorers won't travel on Coasts until you have Sailing, creating weird behavior. We'll fix this later.
Hey Polytopians!
Were back with a brand new major beta update for you, the aptly named Path of the Ocean (formerly known as the Naval Rework)! Weve taken some time to pretty much fully rework how the naval game is played, adding new units, mechanics, and poking everything that merely looks at the water! Battleship Spam is dumb, and we can promise you that its now a thing of the past!
To keep things simple and quick on our side, the beta test will only be available on Steam, and you can find instructions on how to join the beta at the bottom of this post.
Well be laying out this post like this:
[olist]
You get a boat! You get a boat! Everybody (but Aquatism) gets a boat!
Fishing
If youll look at this picture, youll notice that weve put Ports into Fishing! Yes, that means that everyone has access to the water far faster than before. Putting Ports in Fishing gives us the possibility to use the whole Fishing branch for naval stuff, instead of just the Sailing branch. To help you get into the naval game from the start, Ports have also had their costs reduced to 7*, but their population brought down to 1. Putting a unit onto a Port will turn it into a defenseless Raft, which makes for easy transporting across shallow water. Well talk more about the Raft and other units in a bit.
Sailing
Sailing is now home to the nimble Scout, a fast and observant unit that replaces the Ship. Youll also be able to take any of your Naval Units on the Ocean when you get this tech.
Navigation
Navigation gives you access to the new mighty Bomber, a ship that can cause massive collateral damage, but is quite slow and clunky. In addition to that, weve added Starfish as a replacement to Whales. To harvest them you need to move one of you units to the tile they are on. This new mechanic also means that you can harvest Starfish in neutral or enemy territory, so make sure to gobble them up before your opponents do!
Aquaculture
And now on the other side of the branch, Whaling has been changed to Aquaculture. Since Ports no longer make 2 Population, that job has been handed to Aqua Farms, which are simply Farms on the water. They cost 5* and give you 2 population, just as a Farm would. This tech also adds the Rammer, a sturdy melee assault ship thats good for taking over coastal cities.
Roads
Not just roads anymore! Wait, Roads isnt in the Fishing branch, is what you probably just said. "Yeah, and?" is our response. Roads still gives youRoads, but it also allows for Bridges! Bridges will help you get over those small gaps in the land, and might allow you to bypass the need for naval on some maps! [h1=#units]New Units, You Say?!
If you read the previous section, youll notice that yes, we did add new naval units! Gone are the Boat, Ship, and Battleship, and in come the Raft, Scout, Rammer, Bomber, and Juggernaut! When placing a unit into a Port, theyll become a Raft, but a Raft can be upgraded into any of the other naval unit types (barring the Juggernaut), assuming you have the proper tech and youre in friendly territory. Also worth noting is that Pirates and Dinghies are still in, they just havent been adjusted any and dont factor into this update.
Raft
A simple naval unit that does a job and it does it well The Raft replaces the Boat, functioning as a defenseless means of getting on the water and transporting your land units. Flimsy, but free, they function as the base unit that can be upgraded into a Scout, Rammer, or Bomber when in friendly territory. [table] [tr] [td]Cost[/td] [td]0[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Traits[/td] [td]Float, Carry[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Movement[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Attack[/td] [td]0[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Defense[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Scout
A boat so cool youll ship yourself The Battleship did a lot of things at once, so we chopped it up and spread it around into the new units. The Scouts got, you guessed it, Scout! They speed around the waters, exploring new lands and using their ranged attack to whittle down units. Quite fragile, but still a good, all-around unit that can get you a quick advantage over your opponents. [table] [tr] [td]Cost[/td] [td]5[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Traits[/td] [td]Float, Carry, Dash, Scout[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Movement[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Attack[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Defense[/td] [td]1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Range[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Rammer
Rammers like to get up close and personal... Rammers are melee ships designed to work their way through a crowd and assassinate targets or capture a city. Theyre strong, durable, and speedy. Think of them like Swordsmen on the water, more or less. [table] [tr] [td]Cost[/td] [td]5[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Traits[/td] [td]Float, Carry, Dash, Sneak[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Movement[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Attack[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Defense[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Range[/td] [td]1[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Bomber
It wont hit just the Defenders, but the Archers, and the Catapults, too The Bomber is effectively a retooled Battleship, one put into more of a bombarding role. Functioning similarly to Catapults, Bombers are 3-range units that also have Splash, allowing them to hit not just a target, but also any adjacent targets! Fantastic for weakening a land defense and letting your Rammers establish a beachhead. Of course, this extreme power comes at a cost. They dont have Dash and theyre fairly expensive. Much like Catapults, Bombers need time to set up before they can dish out their tremendous damage, in that time theyll need help defending themselves. [table] [tr] [td]Cost[/td] [td]15[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Traits[/td] [td]Float, Carry, Splash[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Movement[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Attack[/td] [td]4[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Defense[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Range[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Juggernaut
Always make sure to give your Juggernauts a proper escort...unlike us... So, we didnt want 40HP Bombers being a thing, and that meant we had to get creative. Meet the Juggernaut, which is what happens if you put a Giant onto a Port! Poof, no upgrading required! Theyre strong, theyre durable, and theyve got some range! So, whats the catch? They have the new trait Stiff, which prevents them from doing any retaliation damage when hit. Juggernauts are designed to fill a similar role to Giants on land - breaking stalemates, tanking damage, and dealing pain to their enemies, but since they cant defend themselves well, theyll need support from your other aquatic units to get the most out of them. [table] [tr] [td]Cost[/td] [td]0[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Traits[/td] [td]Float, Carry, Dash, Stiff[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Movement[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Attack[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Defense[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Range[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [/table] [h1=buildings]New Buildings? In My Naval Rework?!
In short, yes! Weve already talked about Ports getting updated, so lets talk about the updates to other buildings.
Bridges
Good for giving a landlocked enemy a path right to your capital Added in Roads, Bridges cost 10*, and are built on 1-tile water gaps between landmasses. Theyll function as roads for movement and city connections, and they can be sailed underneath. No, you cant daisy chain bridges together - they can only be used to connect landmasses in one direction, and that direction cant be diagonal. Much like roads, they can also be built in neutral territory.
Market
As if we needed to give you more reasons to only play Drylands... Markets cost 5* and are the new Customs Houses. They will give you +1* per turn for every adjacent port, but also for any Windmill, Forge, or Sawmill! Yes, you can now use Markets on Drylands maps - no Ports necessary! Markets should allow you to squeeze out a few more stars from some clever city planning. [h1=specials]Lets Talk About the Special Tribes
Were now going to talk about the changes weve made to each of the Special tribes to accommodate the new features. Since the Regular tribes have gotten new units and have all been given faster access to the water, weve ensured that each of the Specials have gotten the same treatment or something equivalent. We plan to properly rework each of them in the future, so consider these changes to be semi-temporary, bare-minimum changes" until we can properly deep-dive into each of them and give them the reworks they properly deserve. With that being said, lets examine each one.
Aquarion
Sound the alarm! Aquarion has been given some love for the first time ever! THIS IS NOT THE AQUARION REWORK. Okay, now thats out of the way, lets discuss the changes weve made to keep them playable. We have finally given them a starting tech, and one that should allow them to start taking coastal villages fairly early.
- Aquarion now starts with the Riding tech and an Amphibian
- Crabs now have 2 Movement in the water and a thicker shell giving them 5 defense
- Tridentions now have 10hp instead of 15hp
- Amphibians and Tridentions have lost the ability to use Roads on land
ri
Something is missing If youll look at this picture, youll see this navy no longer has any Navalons. With the replacement of Whales with Starfish, the Navalon has gone the way of the Dodo and has been removed. ri is still able to harvest Starfish, as the Star-harvesting process does not harm the Starfish. Scraping the valuable stars of the skin is actually a joyful experience for them (if you're concerned about the lore reasons for this process).
- Removed Navalons
- Can harvest Starfish
Polaris
Ice, Ice, Baby! Out of all of the Special tribes, the Polaris have gotten the most dynamic and drastic changes. In order to get them on the water as fast as the other tribes, weve done a big thing - given the Mooni Auto-Freeze. Every time a Mooni moves, youll freeze water, land, and units around it, kinda like a Gaami. Theyve been nerfed in other ways to compensate, but this change should overhaul how you see Polaris. Not to be outdone, though, the other tribes have discovered how to Break Ice as part of a Dash action, so the ice spread should be a more dynamic push and pull between everyone. Weve also adjusted their tech tree, as you can see in the picture.
- Mooni gained Auto-Freeze, and have lost the power to manually freeze and now have a Defense of 1
- Gaami have lost the power to manually freeze
- The Frostwork tech now replaces Fishing, which allows for Mooni
- Ice Fishing replaces Aquaculture, allowing for harvesting Fish and building Outposts
- Battle Sleds are now in Sledding, which replaces Sailing
- Ice Fortresses are in Polar Warfare, which also allows for harvesting Starfish
- The Ice Bank now makes +2* for each level up instead of +3*
Cymanti
I got these Raychi slightly earlier than usual The Cymanti havent gotten much in the way of major changes, only putting the Raychi in their equivalent of Sailing instead of Navigation, which should make it easier to spread Algae or assault navies. The placement of Algae has changed as well. Dont worry, well be examining the Cymanti properly later on.
- Raychi are now in Pescetism, which replaces Sailing
- Algae are in Hydrology, which now replaces Aquaculture
- Oceanology replaces Navigation, and grants the ability to harvest Starfish
While weve covered most things that have been added in this update, theres a few last things wed like to share.
Lighthouse
Yep, thats a lighthouse on the edge of the world A common complaint was how the Explorer Task (reveal the map) was too difficult and often ignored, so we changed it to Find All Lighthouses. Each of the 4 corners of the map will have a Lighthouse, and each Lighthouse will grow every time another player discovers it (and show who has seen it). You also dont need Navigation or an equivalent tech to get this Task, as it will start the moment you find one.
Network Task
The Network Task (connect 5 cities to your capital) is no longer tied to the Roads tech. Instead it will start automatically when you connect your first city. This is a tiny change but it will make it possible to get that monument even on maps where roads are not needed, such as through ports.
Continents Overhaul
Ooo, look at that! If you werent joking about Aquarion, you were probably joking about Continents, everyones favorite map to dislike. Well, weve completely rewritten the terrain generator for Continents, hopefully turning it into one of your favorites! Youll now find that this map type will try to give everyone their own continent or divide everyone evenly on a few continents (on top of a handful of other possible configurations). Youll also see some continents that are divided by 1-tile rivers, which are good for Bridges. Theres a lot of variety in the new map type, and we hope you have a lot of fun!
Pangea
Pan-jee-ah. Yeah, I was saying it wrong, too. Pangea is a new map type! Simply put, its a large landmass surrounded by water! Like, if you shoved Drylands and Archipelago together! Expect tons of fighting on the continent, but never be surprised if your opponent hits you with naval units. Both Continents and Pangea will prioritize placing capitals on the coasts to hopefully balance out the need for both land and naval forces.
AI Improvements
Weve made the AI smarter and able to use the new fancy water stuff! More importantly, theyll be smarter with their tech choices, and you should notice a much more difficult Crazy difficulty. Wed love to hear what you think!
Some Small Balance Changes
Weve heard your complaints about Bardur and Rider/Road meta, so weve made both Lumber Huts and Roads cost 3*. Changing Lumber Huts should slow down Bardur a little, and the change to roads now follows our philosophy of ensuring that you think a little before plopping down a road on every single tile. On top of that, weve also removed Fortify from Swordsmen, further differentiating them from Defenders, which are now the definitive defensive unit. Last, but not least, Parks now make +1* in addition to their 250p score bonus! So, you now have a valid reason to take a Park instead of a Giant in Domination or Might! [h1=beta]How Do I Play the New Beta?
Simple! Just hop onto our open Steam beta! No mobile access at this time, but all Steam users can join by using the code: polytopiabetatesters
Should look something like this If you dont have the Steam version of Polytopia you can get it at a great beta -70% discount price. https://store.steampowered.com/app/874390/The_Battle_of_Polytopia/ You can also join our Discord to discuss it with other Beta testers by clicking this sentence! Were actually really interested in hearing your feedback, and will most likely make small changes, like unit stats, art adjustments, or tech placement, based on what you have to say! Expect an extra long beta process with occasional patches, and remember to stay flexible and constructive. :) -Zoythrus [h1=changelog]Changelog
Naval changes:
- Removed Boats, Ships, Battleships, and Navalons
- Ports moved to Fishing and now costs 7 stars and make 1 population
- Sailing gets Ocean movement and Scout ship
- Whaling has been replaced with "Aquaculture" and gets Aqua Farms and Rammer ship
- Navigation gets Bomber ship and ability to gather stars from Starfish resource
- Bridge building in Roads lets you connect two land masses
- Market replaces Customs Houses and gives 1 star for each nearby Port, Windmill, Sawmill and Forge
- New Pangea map type
- Improved Continents map type
- Giants turn into Juggernauts when embarking
- Find 4 Lighthouses for Explorer task (instead of revealing the whole map)
- Raft - Defenseless transport
- Scout - Fast and fragile exploration vessel
- Rammer - Sturdy naval melee ship
- Bomber - Slow but powerful long range destroyer
- Juggernaut - Powerful but rare battleship
- Starfish - Replaces Whales. Must have a unit on it to harvest it for 10*, even in neutral or enemy territory
- Aqua Crop - make farms on water
- Swordsman no longer has Fortify ability
- Lumber Hut costs 3*
- Roads cost 3*
- Parks give +1* per turn
- Network task unlock automatically when connecting your first city
- Improved AI
- Killing a unit with a Cloak will ensure that a Dagger will spawn in the city
- Start with Riding and an Amphibian
- Crab get 2 movement on water and 5 Defense
- Tridentions now have 10hp
- Amphibious units can no longer use roads
- Moonis now have Auto-Freeze and 1 Defense
- Gaami now only freeze when moving
- The Frostwork tech replace Fishing, which allows for Mooni
- Ice Fishing replaces Aquaculture, allowing for harvesting Fish and building Outposts
- Battle Sleds are now in Sledding, which replaces Sailing
- Ice Fortresses are in Polar Warfare, which also allows for harvesting Starfish
- The Ice Bank now makes +2* for each level up instead of +3*
- Raychi are now in Pescetism, which replaces Sailing
- Algae are in Hydrology, which now replaces Aquaculture
- Oceanology replaces Navigation, and grants the ability to harvest Starfish
Polysseum is The Battle of Polytopia competitive tournament series open for everyone to train their skill and fight for the win! Last month, we saw overwhelming support from the community, with tournaments filling up within a few minutes. Since Polysseum is becoming increasingly popular among players, we are adding more tournaments and a few more changes*. New tournaments We are keeping existing tournaments and adding 4 more weekly to accommodate early risers in Europe and players from East Asia and Australia.
- Tuesday 11:00 UTC+2 / 20:00 UTC+11
- Thursday 11:00 UTC+2 / 20:00 UTC+11
- Saturday 11:00 UTC+2 / 20:00 UTC+11
- Sunday 11:00 UTC+2 / 20:00 UTC+11
More players We had, on average, 22 players on the waiting list last month. That's why we are increasing the number of participants per tournament from 16 to 32. Map changes
- Map size. Since we want Polysseum to be available for more players without making it run much longer, we are changing the map size from Small to Tiny. Now, the encounter with your opponent will happen earlier in the game.
- Map type. To bring more variety, we will change map type every week, starting with [strike]Lakes[/strike] Continents, then switching to Drylands and finally Archipelago.
- Tournaments will be 1v1 with 10 prize pool.
- 7 best tournament results will count towards the leaderboard.
- The top 16 players from the leaderboard will qualify for the monthly tournament hosted on October 28th (start time TBD).
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Discord #polysseum-discussion
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Player kicking/skipping will be re-enabled in a few days, after we can verify everything works as intended. General:
- Improved user experience flow with instant tournament
- Updated Unity purchasing package, hopefully to help fix purchasing issues
- Updated About page and credits screen
- Performance improvement when sending out Explorers
- Performance improvement for city connections, hopefully reducing loading lag
- Fixed games broken by our recent server issues
- Infinite growth bug fixed
- Player sorting in win screen adjusted
- Resigned players now show as bots
We have come across some very unique bags from the Quetzali artisans. These are vintage items that can rarely be found on the Square, and they've been made specially for us humans to enjoy! You probably couldn't fit an ostrich in them, but don't worry, there's plenty of room for corn. :)
Only a limited number of these exist, so hurry to get yours at http://shop.midjiwan.com.
We are thrilled to unveil the upcoming changes to Polysseum this September, bringing more competitions, enticing prizes, and a more defined path to the top.
The Polysseum will operate across four seasons yearly - Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. Every season will culminate with the season finals. Now, how do you reach this pinnacle? Here's the scoop: we're rolling out eight weekly tournaments, a total of 24 monthly tournaments. Your seven best results throughout the month will contribute to your standing on the monthly leaderboard, granting you a shot at the top 16 positions and entering the monthly tournament (details can be found in the image below).
Weekly tournaments
- 8 tournaments a week - Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. 24 tournaments per month.
- Up to 16 players per tournament.
- 1v1 Single elimination, finals Bo3.
- Live games, Might, small map.
- Tribe of the month.
- Prize pool per tournament - 10.
- Last Saturday of the month.
- 16 players.
- Live games, Might, small map.
- Prize pool - 200.
- Bracket format TBA.
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Discord
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
We never say no to a party, and neither should you! Join the Steam Strategy Fest and get your hands on anything in the Polytopia catalog at a 50% discount! So, what can you get discounts on between the dates of August 28th and September 4th? Maybe one of our great Skin Packs? https://store.steampowered.com/app/2438450/The_Battle_of_Polytopia__Skin_Pack_3/?curator_clanid=33366298 Or a cool Special Tribe? https://store.steampowered.com/app/1237430/The_Battle_of_Polytopia__Polaris_Tribe/?curator_clanid=33366298 Or the Deluxe Package that has everything? https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/15781/The_Battle_of_Polytopia_Moonrise__Deluxe/ So, stop on by and check out all the savings!
Polysseum is a series of monthly tournaments featuring the tribe of the month. This month we have Oumaji Save the date: August 19th 11:00PT/13:00 CT/14:00 ET/20:00 CEST How to sign up: Go to Multiplayer -> Tournaments (second button at the bottom) or via the link. Check-in 15 minutes before the tournament Details: Live game, Might, 1v1, Small Lakes, Oumaji only Single Elimination, semis, and finals Bo3 Prizes - 1st - 20, 2nd - 10, 3-4th - 5 Let's chat on Discord: #polysseum-tournaments
Zebasi Polyssuem tournament finals - Pond King versus alexej.dobry. Two Polytopians are reviewing the opening game of the Best of 3 series. [previewyoutube=UBe3Zjzt5b0;full][/previewyoutube] This time we have invited THEBIGBURR and espark from PolyChampions to give their take on the mirror match. THEBIGBURR: https://www.youtube.com/@BIGBURRGAMING PolyChampions: https://www.youtube.com/@polychampions And, just in case you wanted to see all their matches for yourself, here you go! Game 1: https://share.polytopia.io/g/6917b4e7-4038-4010-9290-08db8512c974 Game 2: https://share.polytopia.io/g/59ca653a-e4d1-4a43-92f1-08db8512c974 Game 3: https://share.polytopia.io/g/ef2d70d5-4fee-417e-9349-08db8512c974
Polysseum is a series of monthly tournaments featuring the tribe of the month. This month we have Zebasi Save the date: July 15th 11:00PT/13:00 CT/14:00 ET/20:00 CEST How to sign up: Go to Multiplayer -> Tournaments (second button at the bottom) or via the link. Please check-in 15 minutes before the tournament Details: Live game, Might, 1v1, Small Lakes, Zebasi only Single Elimination, semis, and finals Bo3 Prizes - 1st - 20, 2nd - 10, 3-4th - 5 Let's chat on Discord: #polysseum-tournaments
It's time for the Steam Summer Sales, and not just here on Steam, but on the Nintendo Switch, too!
Get up to 50% on the game and DLC both here and on the Switch!
Grab them today!
The ancient sacred order of Khondor. The Kickoo Ragoo - Their many tales tell of the booty they've plundered. The disciples of Anzala eschewed the scientific lifestyle of their Zebasi siblings. Various UI tweaks & Bugfixes.
[previewyoutube=2_BpfuVmwbc;full][/previewyoutube] Hello Polytopians! Skin Pack 3 has now been released! Now you can play with the plundering Ragoo, the traditional Khondor, and the creative Anzala! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2438450/The_Battle_of_Polytopia__Skin_Pack_3/ Update 2.7.0.10791 Changelog: 2.7.0.10791 - Android, IOS, Switch, and Steam * Skin pack #3 includes the following skins: - Oumaji Khondor - Kickoo Ragoo - Zebasi Anzala * Reward popup clarity fixes * News items displays in a grid on wider screens * Dont show stars in result screen for creative games * Glory shows correct winner head * Various UI tweaks & Bugfixes Known Issues: There is a bug where skins won't show if you play a multiplayer game with someone who has not updated to the beta/latest version
The ancient sacred order of Khondor. The Kickoo Ragoo - Their many tales tell of the booty they've plundered. The disciples of Anzala eschewed the scientific lifestyle of their Zebasi siblings. Various UI tweaks & Bugfixes.
Replay of the second Grand Final game in the Kickoo Polyssuem tournament - GalaxyDragon1247 versus Miczkoo0. [previewyoutube=QbbXATzDSd4;full][/previewyoutube] This time we have invited THEBIGBURR and cuttlersan to give their take on the mirror match. THEBIGBURR: https://www.youtube.com/@BIGBURRGAMING cuttlersan from The Polytopian Times: https://www.youtube.com/@thepolytopiantimes9601 And, just in case you wanted to see all their matches for yourself, here you go! Game 1: https://share.polytopia.io/g/9c9ea593-1fdd-44f2-c3bf-08db6f58f7b7 Game 2: https://share.polytopia.io/g/8ebef5e6-e41e-479e-a613-08db6f1293ea Game 3: https://share.polytopia.io/g/b68db742-4851-4303-bd6e-08db6e3118cb
Anzala's followers care about one thing, and that's unfettered expression. Spontaneous interpretive dance, bathtubs of multicolor paint, and poetry that doesn't rhyme are all things you can expect to see in their territory, and they're not going to let you tell them to stop.
This skin for the Zebasi, and the other 2 skins, will be arriving on June 28th!
Come wishlist it now!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2438450/The_Battle_of_Polytopia__Skin_Pack_3/?beta=0
-Zoythrus
- Fixes multiplayer issues on Steam relating to notifications
Mubehasi's secret honor guard society aren't quite too happy with how the modern Oumaji society turned out, and have set out to "correct" their wayward cultural descendants. The rest of the Square is little more than a roadblock to their primary goal - adjusting what they consider to be cultural defects in their people.
This skin for the Oumaji will be arriving soon!
-Zoythrus
The Battle of Polytopia will run two LAN Tournaments at DreamHack Summer on June 16th & 17th in Jnkping, Sweden. The Total prize pool is set at 20.000 SEK (approximately $1,800). Of course, it goes without saying that you'll need to attend DreamHack Summer to be able to take part in the tournament, which includes buying a ticket, confirming a seat, and being physically present at all times.
Read more, such as how to sign up and what to bring, at: https://dreamhack.com/summer/lan/
"We are super excited to participate in such a prestigious event as DreamHack. By entering this event, we are further expanding the use our tournament integration that has been added to the game. We will also participate in Q&A on Stage at 5PM on June 17th," says Christian Lovstedt - General Manager at Midjiwan AB.
For more Polytopia Tournaments go to: https://www.challengermode.com/polytopia
The scourge of the waters, the bane of navies, the serpents of the seas - The Ragoo Pirates! Their many tales tell of the booty they've plundered, towns they've sacked, and ships they've sunk, and now they're ready for more as they expand their operations from the Kickoo Isles to the rest of the Square!
Hide your gold and stay out of the water, as the Ragoo Pirates are on the prowl! These buccaneers have
terrorized their home in the Kickoo Isles for long enough, and are now here to plunder the waters of the other tribes.
This skin for the Kickoo will be arriving on June 28th, along with two others!
-Zoythrus
Hello Polytopians!
Our friends at Makeship have made this cute little Vengir plush, and it's ready for pre-ordering!
How do you get one?
Click here and buy one (or 5) today! But you'll have to hurry, as it's only available for a limited time!
-Zoythrus
Hey Polytopians!
It's time for ri Tribe Week! Instead of a picture and blurb, we wanted to spend some time helping charity!
This means that all revenues from sales of ri tribes & things in http://shop.midjiwan.com during this week will go to the Canopy Reforestation Project, which helps plant trees.
We also have a limited edition ri vintage clothing which you can browse at this link.
If you've already purchased the ri or don't want the merch, you can always donate to the cause directly at this link.
Thank you for helping us make the world a better place!
-Zoythrus
https://store.steampowered.com/app/982201/The_Battle_of_Polytopia__ri_Tribe/
[previewyoutube=d60N-x_XUuw;full][/previewyoutube] Hello Polytopians! Skin Pack 2 has now been released! Now you can play with the scholarly Lirepacci, the stealthy Sha-po, and the greedy Aumux! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2350830/The_Battle_of_Polytopia__Skin_Pack_2/ Update 2.5.0.10384 Changelog: - New fabulous skins for Imperius (Lirepacci), Luxidoor (Aumux), and Xin-xi (Sha-po) - Replaced Intro music with ambient sound - Compress game saves on disk - Fix gamepad support - Improved support for Steam Deck - Fixed poison units getting poisoned by cloaks - Upped minimum supported game version to 51 - Removed custom language - Increased number of pass and play players - Fixed frozen ports hindering movement - Update route connections after explore - Fix Cloak battle preview - Added shared fog option to replays, moved to settings - Exploding units now do damage before giving pop to cities - Failsafe for when games are out of sync with the server - Fixed inconsistent actionable games count in badges - Replay fixes - Various tiny fixes and optimisations Read More about Skin Pack #2 here:
Hey Polytopians!
The wait is over! We're adding 3 new skins to Polytopia, giving some much-needed love to Xin-xi, Imperius, and Luxidoor!
Xin-Xi Sha-Po
The Sha-po are a secretive legion of soldiers, saboteurs, and assassins trained in the ways of warfare and subterfuge from the moment they're hatched. They defend the Xin-xi Empire with weapons specially crafted to bring a quick and silent death to anyone who dares to threaten them.
Imperius Lirepacci
The honor of forging your helmet into a laurel is reserved for the Lirepacci, a group of scholars, philosophers, and magistrates near the top of Imperius society. Theyve entered the war in order to see new lands, study new cultures, and debate for hours about the many, many laws and theories that govern the Imperius.
Luxidoor Aumux Mercenaries
Yes, loyalty is nice, but you know what really motivates a good soldier? Riches. The gilded Aumux Mercenaries have been serving as the personal army of the Luxidoorian Emperor for many years, as there's no one else who can match their exorbitant demands for gold and precious gems! Ruthless, effective, and more than willing to destroy both their foes and the land in their insatiable, all-consuming greed, leaving little more than what's too small to be useful.
These skins will be released to the public on March 29th at 8amPST (4pmPDT)! But what if you can't wait that long? Well, you're in luck, because we're also beta testing the skins (and, y'know, normal game changes), and you can head to our Discord to find out how to enter the beta programs on both mobile and Steam. You can find a changelog for the beta here.
Skin Pack #2 FAQ
Q: What are skins? A: They're DLC that change the look of a tribe. They offer no gameplay changes, advantages, or etc, and are purely cosmetic. Q: Will the other tribes get skins? A: Yes, they will, but much like the current skins, future skins will be sold in these bundles, and we'll sell more of them in time. Q: Are the skins free? A: No, they are not. They will cost $3 on Steam and $.99/each on mobile platforms. Q: Why do iOS and Android get the skins before Steam?/I'm on the Steam beta and I can't unlock the skins? A: Well, that's because of the nature of how Android and iOS handle their beta programs, as both allow people to purchase/access the skins ahead of time, for testing purposes. Steam just doesn't work like that, sadly, but thankfully the proper release is only a few days away.
Let's Get Ready to Clash!
Every month, we'll be setting up tribe mirror tourneys, and this month is Imperius! It starts on Saturday the 11th at 9am PST (5pm GMT), and there's even a prize for the winner!
Sign up now, as those 256 slots will fill up fast!
-Zoythrus
Today is the birthday of Polytopia!
To celebrate this, we are running a 50% discount on all platforms, Mobile (only the Special Tribes), Steam & Switch, for five days.
Is there a skin or a tribe you are missing? Click here to get it.
-Zoythrus
Ai-Mo society is isolationist and tends to prefer keeping to itself, preferring minimal contact with the other tribes if they can help it. Regular Ai-Moyan border patrols keep the land safe from invaders, like this band of Bardur raiders, who didn't stand a chance!
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Ai-Mo Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Ai-Mo, our favorite Bardur-fighting isolationists!
We've also got a really cool poster in our webshop for you to buy plus 50% off all Ai-Mo merchandise until the end of the month! Come check it out!
Now, tell us what you think about the Ai-Mo in the comments!
-Zoythrus
Let's Get Ready to Rumb...Clear your Mind!
Every month, we'll be setting up tribe mirror tourneys, and this month is Ai-Mo! It starts on Saturday the 11th at 9am PST (5pm GMT), and there's even a prize for the winner!
Sign up now, as those 256 slots will fill up fast!
-Zoythrus
Update 2.4.5.9698
Hello Polytopians! We've listened to your feedback and have added back some of the multiplayer matchmaking options. We've also added the ability to disable fog in replays and will sort your friends alphabetically. -Zoythrus Bug Fixes: - Added more options to matchmaking - Added 7 day timer for normal games - Get ingame notifications when it's your turn - Sort friends alphabetically in invite popup - Live game timer fixes - You get time for units without a home city as well in live games - Disable fog in replays - Replay improvements - Added more camera focusing - AIs no longer cheat past disabled tribes in lobbies - Non-multiplayer players get their tribe scores server synced again - Lots of smaller bug and crash fixes
Let's Get Ready to Rumble!
Every month, we'll be setting up tribe mirror tourneys, and this month is Yadakk! It starts on Saturday the 21st at 9am PST (5pm GMT), and there's even a prize for the winner!
Sign up now, as those 256 slots will fill up fast!
-Zoythrus
A happy relationship exists between the Polaris and the Gaami - the Gaami rule and the Polaris enact their will to freeze over the Square. But, of course, there's bound to be some of those who aren't always the happiest with this arrangement, such as this Polaran dissident trying to flee...
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Polaris Tribe Week, a whole week dedicated to celebrating the Polaris, our favorite frozen friends!
Now, tell us what you think about the Polaris in the comments!
-Zoythrus
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1237430/The_Battle_of_Polytopia__Polaris_Tribe/
It's not uncommon to see Ydakk merchant caravans roaming the Khalee Plains looking for customers. It's also not uncommon for most caravans to be comprised of the same family of Ydakk. What is uncommon is finding a lone Kickoo warrior out here, pretty far from home.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Ydakk Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Ydakk, our favorite wandering merchants!
We've also got a nice 30% discount happening at our webshop for the next 10 days! Come check it out!
Now, tell us what you think about the Ydakk in the comments!
-Zoythrus
Beta Update 2.4.5.9667
Hello Polytopians! We've got some small fixes for the current beta! We've been listening to your feedback on the recent random matchmaking changes and we've decided to add back some of the options to hopefully make the experience better for everyone! You can use the beta access code "polytopiabetatesters" to get onto the beta and test it out! -Zoythrus Bug Fixes: - Added more options to matchmaking - Added 7 day timer for normal games - Get ingame notifications when it's your turn - Sort friends alphabetically in invite popup - live game timer fixes - Disable fog in replays (tap the head in the top left corner to find the button for this) - Replay improvements - Lots of smaller bug and crash fixes
Hello Polytopians!
It's Concordance Day, once again! The time we like to dedicate to talking about the Ancient Polytopians, their tyrannical ways, and their downfall which lead to the tribes we have today.
Normally every year around this time, we usually have an art contest where we hand you a blurb about the Ancients and you make some art around it. Well, this year, we've decided to give you all the gift of our own art!
The war was long, the battles were brutal, and the Ancients were slowly losing their grasp on the land. This coalition of upstart tribes had won, and there was no doubt about that. Some say the Ancients weren't actually wiped out that day at the Plains of Razul, but went into hiding to plot their revenge...
There you go!
Happy Concordance Day!
-Zoythrus
Hey Polytopians! Discounts on everything! Get the game and any DLC you're missing for 50% off, both on Steam and on the Switch! You can even get the Special tribes on mobile discounted as well! Get those tribes or skins you're missing and enjoy your well earned break from relatives during the Xmas holiday! The discounts will last between December 22nd and January 5th. Happy Holidays from all of us at Midjiwan! -Zoythrus LINKS: Go to Steam page Go to Switch page Go to Google Play page Go to App Store page
[previewyoutube=VOnaRgBeJ84;full][/previewyoutube] Hello Polytopians! As you pass through the gate, sword and shield in hand, the sun hits your eyes and you hear the roar of cheering fans. You've trained all your life for this moment, and now is the time to show your skills to the world. You lock gazes with your opponent and know that this won't be an easy fight. You can now join in-game tournaments hosted by us, Polytopian communities, and even your friends, all from within the app, itself! We're also releasing the Tournaments Update in its entirety, which means that Live Games, Crossplay, Lobbies, and Replays are all finally being released to the public (you can click here for more info on those things)! The first official Polytopia tournament is named Polysseum - New Dawn and you can sign up to participate right now! New Dawn will start at DECEMBER 16th - 9 a.m Pacific Time / 6 p.m. Central European Time and it's first come, first served. We've only got 64 slots, so be fast! You will also able to join other tournaments at the Challengermode platform! You can even use the platform, yourself, to host your own tournaments and we encourage you to give it a try! So, without further ado, here's the changelog for update 2.4.3.9541: - Added Live Games - Games with a new timer setting for short turns, designed to keep players engaged throughout an entire match - Added Replays - View, share and save your favorite plays of all time - Added Tournaments - Participate in community-hosted and official Polytopia tournaments from within the app! - Added Steam/Mobile Crossplay - Now Steam, IOS, and Android can all play together! - Added Lobbies - Improved systems to gather players for a game with previously configured settings - Fixed Tons of Misc bugs related to the above things Have fun out there, and good luck! -Zoythrus
Added Tribe Skin Pack #1: - Hoodrick Yorthwober - Vengir Cultist - Bardur Baergff Added new tribe selection popup Fixed Japanese localization Small bug fixes
Looks are everything, especially on the battlefield! Get these fancy skins for Bardur, Vengir, and Hoodrick and become the most stylish and coolest in the square.
Want a refresh on what's included in this pack?
Bardur Baergff
The Baergff are the Bardurs elite hunters. Clad in the sanctified pelt of their first Baerion kill, theyre ready for anything!
Hoodrick Yorthwober
Bands of the Hoodricks finest sharpshooters and survivalists, the Yorthwober know their way around combat just as well as they do the hills and forests.
Vengir Cultist
Fanatical Vengir Cultists devoted to Burzgor shrug off their flesh in the harrowing Thdkrkr Ritual to show their dedication to revenge.
You can get all of these now right here! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2186650/The_Battle_of_Polytopia__Skin_Pack/?beta=0 2.3.5.9230 Changelog: Added Tribe Skins - Hoodrick Yorthwober - Vengir Cultist - Bardur Baergff Improved Japanese localization Misc bug and stability fixes
Hello Polytopians!
Your patience has been rewarded! The Tournament Update prepared by our wonderful friends at Challengermode is finally going into beta testing! Live Games, Lobbies, Replays, and Tournaments are some of the cool, new additions to Polytopia, and we need your help testing them out! Since most of these things (not to mention all the humor) have already been discussed in that link, we'll keep this a nice, short refresher to get you all up to speed.
So, what are these things? Let's break them down, one by one.
Lobbies
We're overhauling the normal process that you've used to join games by creating Lobbies! Lobbies are a much more flexible version of the previous idea, as now they're not time restricted and you can invite people through a shareable link! This should hopefully make joining a game with friends a lot easier!
- If the current owner leaves the lobby, and you have at least one more player that accepted the invite, that player will become a new owner
- Players also choose their tribe when they first join through the invite
- Invite being accepted counts only when you pick a tribe upon invite
- In order to promote fairness and do away with the limitations of turn order being determined by join order, turn order will always be randomized when the match starts.
Live Games
Live Games are the new replacement for the 5 Minute Timer, which functions similarly to a Chess Timer. You start with some time in a bank, and every turn you take rolls over any unused time for next turn. The longer you take, the less time you'll have for later, so you'll have to be quick! Don't worry, you'll get more time as you play, so you're hopefully never going to get stuck.
- Anyone who runs out of time gets skipped, and they'll automatically get kicked after 3 skips
- Start time: 60 sec, Time per turn: 8 sec, Time per City: 12 sec, Time per Unit: 1 sec
Replays
Online multiplayer games will now be saved to the cloud, and able to be accessed from the new "Replays" tab in the multiplayer menu! You can share links to the replays for everyone to see that particular replay!
- Replays can be favorited, regardless of whether they're yours or someone else's.
In-Game Tournaments
You can now join in-game tournaments hosted by us, Polytopian communities, and even your friends, all from within the app, itself!
- Tournaments will feature only Live games
- Keep an eye out for official Polytopia tournaments
- Your tournament games will have a Challengermode icon next to the name
- Tournament games will not affect your ELO
How do you join a Tournament?
[olist]
Oh Yeah, We Forgot Something!
Yes, yes, ingame tournaments and lobbies are cool, but we've added something that many of you have been asking for since the moment Polytopia was added to Steam.
Steam/Mobile Crossplay
Yeah, you heard us right! Steam, Android, and iOS can now all play together!!! Just add your mobile friends like you would anyone else, and get started dukin' it out! Likewise, all Steam players can join tournaments with mobile players, and vice-versa.
- Do note that your mobile and Steam accounts are still separate. There's been no account merging, and it's pretty likely that your friends will have multiple copies of you in their friend lists for each of your accounts. We are looking into ways to differentiate them so you'll know if you're inviting your friend's Steam account instead of their Android one.
Other Notes
- To make it simpler for matchmaking, other turn timers, besides Live Games and 24 Hours, have been removed.
- You can now spectate games where you've been defeated. You won't get any more vision over the map, though, to help prevent cheating (e.g. "ghosting").
- The new Tribe Skins (Yorthwober, Baergff, and Cultist) have been added to this version.
Beta Update 2.3.4.9228
Hello Polytopians! We've got some small fixes for the current Tribe Skins beta. -Zoythrus Bug Fixes: - Fixed some localization issues - Fixed mixing tribes - Fixed Polytaurs and added skin for Cultist Vengir Polytaur - Fixed Japanese-specific localization issues
While most would see the banishment of the Vengir as a bleak tragedy, the hunt for retribution did push them into becoming master metallurgists. The highest role in Vengir society below Monarch is Blacksmith, and that tends to happen when you need a steady stream of swords and armor.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Vengir Tribe Moon, and we're releasing a special bundle to help get you into the spirit! You can get a limited-edition poster and pin set right now until the end of November!
Now, tell us what you think about the Vengir in the comments!
P.S. Thanks for the art, Polytoblerone!
-Zoythrus
Hello Polytopians!
It's the time for tricks and treats, and we're here to give you a treat - 50% discount on the game and DLC! This even applies to the Special Tribes on mobile!
Now you can get Polytopia and all the Special Tribes just in time for everyone's favorite spooky day!
Happy Halloween!
-Zoythrus
https://store.steampowered.com/app/874390/The_Battle_of_Polytopia/
Hey Polytopians!
Today, we'd like to introduce something that you've all been waiting a long time for - Tribe Skins!
What are Tribe Skins? They're like, Halloween costumes for the tribes, which will cosmetically change an entire tribe's aesthetic from the ground up! New clothes, new buildings, and sometimes even new animals! So, without further ado, let's introduce the first batch of Tribe Skins!
Bardur Baergff
Bardur who have survived the 5 Tests of Strength are given the rank of Baergff, meaning Elite Baerion Hunter. The sanctified Baerion pelt is thought to let the wearer channel the animal's raw ferocity in battle.
Hoodrick Yorthwober
Can you hit a BuzzFly with an arrow from 2 tiles away? Then you might be ready for the Hoodrick Yorthwober. These expert sharpshooters have been personally trained in combat and survival by Yorth, the legendary archer, and comprise the most elite force the Hoodrick can muster.
Vengir Cultists
Vengir of the fanatical Burzgor Cult will perform the visceral Thdkrkr Ritual, shrugging off their mortal flesh and gaining power directly from the God of Blood, themself. Their zealous display of devotion isnt taken as seriously as theyd like by the other tribes, however.
The skins have been released to beta on mobile right now for final testing, but will be added to Steam very soon! Note, the skins are still works in progress and might get a few changes between now and public release. If you'd like to test them out now here on Steam, use the beta code polytopiabetatesters in order to gain access to the beta! 2.2.10.8545 Changelog: Added Tribe Skins Batch #1 - Hoodrick Yorthwober - Bardur Baergff - Vengir Cultist Added new tribe selection preview Added a quiver of arrows to the Archer unit Fixed bugs - Ruins Swordsmen supported by wrong city - Misc bug fixes Known Issues: - Text strings may be outdated/inaccurate, but these will be fixed by release
Tribe Skin FAQ:
Q: How do I get access to these skins? A: You'll have to pay for them, but thankfully, they're only $.99USD (or a $2.99 bundle on Steam once we add them), so they're super cheap. Much like tribes, the skins are added to your account forever when purchased. Q: Why aren't the skins showing up on Steam? A: The DLC that unlocks the skins needs a little more time as we set them up. It's a slightly different process to set up DLC on Steam than it is on mobile, and just needs your patience. Q: If I buy a skin, do I have to use it all the time? A: Nope! There is now a skin picker on the tribe selection popup, so you can choose which skin you'd like to use. Q: Do the skins make any gameplay changes, such as adding new units or abilities to the tribes? A: No, they do not. Even if some units have gotten new weapons, the skinned versions of tribes play the exact same way as their default skins. Q: Can the AI use the skins? A: Yes, but only ones you've purchased. Q: Can I use the skins in multiplayer? A: Of course you can! Q: Are skinned versions of tribes considered a "separate" version of that tribe? A: No. Both Cultist Vengir and default Vengir are still "Vengir", and thus, would still be considered a "mirror match" with different colors if they were both being used, just like if you had two default skins like it is now. Q: Will all the tribes be getting skins? A: Yes, but we'll be releasing them in batches. This first batch has skins for Hoodrick, Bardur, and Vengir, and subsequent batches will have skins for other tribes. Q: Can I buy a skin for a tribe I don't own? A: Yes, but you'll need to buy the tribe as well in order to use them. Q: Will the skins be added to the Steam version of Polytopia for free? A: No, they are DLC.
Update 2.2.9.8251
Hello Polytopians! We're releasing our changes that we tested in the beta! You can check out our write up on the changes by clicking here! Changelog:
Adjusted Cloaks:
All units can now detect Cloaks Cloaks get "Scout" and "Creep" ability
Adjusted Infiltration:
Improved design for detect and infiltration Cities can only be infiltrated once per turn Infiltration now causes damage to the defending unit Daggers can spawn in the city if undefended City's star production is stolen by the infiltrating player Special Pirate ship for Daggers!
Adjusted Balance:
Explosion damage is reduced by 50% No damage from Fungi Ice Bank cap increased to 30 Reduced the amount of income when meeting tribe (1 less star per level) AI is now better at trying to reveal Cloaks You heal 4hp in ally territory (instead of 2hp)
Bug fixes:
- Fixed boats on ice being able to move on land - Allow destroying buildings with invisible enemies on them - Fixes to ELO - Fixed games with Nature Bunnies and ice getting stuck - Fixed algae - port interactions - Fixed startup crash on Steam related to gamepads - Fixed issue with adding players to pass and play - Various small UI fixes
Can you hit a BuzzFly with an arrow from 2 tiles away? Then you might be ready for the Hoodrick Yorthwober. These expert sharpshooters have been personally trained in combat and survival by Yorth, the legendary archer, and comprise the most elite force the Hoodrick can muster.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Hoodick Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Hoodrick, our favorite sharpshooting survivalists!
Now, tell us what you think about the Hoodrick in the comments!
P.S. Thanks for the art, JavaSteel!
-Zoythrus
Diplomacy Rebalance!
Hey Polytopians! We've been hearing your myriad of opinions on the new Diplomacy tech and the things it contains, both good and bad, and we've made some adjustments based on your feedback! These changes are live for testing on all beta branches, and are not on the public branches yet. Changelog is at the bottom if you don't want to read all of this!!! The biggest point of contention over the new update was the inclusion of Cloaks and Daggers and how they change up the flow of the game. We think change is a good thing, but that doesn't mean we can't improve that change in order to create a more fun experience for everyone! Interestingly enough, there isn't really a consensus about whether they're too strong, too weak, too oppressive, too ineffective, or etc, but we've made an effort to hopefully address all of these opinions at once with these changes! So, without further ado, let's discuss these changes to Cloaks and Daggers.
All Units Now have Detect
Originally, only Mind Benders and other Cloaks had the Detect ability, which allowed them to notice any adjacent invisible units, but now we've given that ability to all units! While it won't immediately reveal any Cloaks, you'll get a hint that one is around, and multiple units can be used to pinpoint where exactly one is. We've also improved the Detect symbol so that it's easier to read! Mind Benders don't get any consolation prizes for no longer being unique, but we'll probably give them some love in the future. :) We made this change to address the complaints about Cloaks being hard to counter since you couldn't see/detect them well. This should give defending players an edge when trying to find enemy Cloaks, while also not making a Cloak's stealth instantly nullified, and thus, worthless.
Changes to Cloaks
Not to be outdone, Cloaks have gotten some nifty upgrades that should allow them to bypass the newly improved enemy defenses. While it may be easier for enemies to spot them, it's now also easier for the Cloaks to evade a defending player's army with the additions of the Scout and Creep abilities. To assist them in utilizing their movement to its fullest, Cloaks have also been given the Scout ability, which gives them an extra tile of sight, like a Battleship, and the Creep ability, so they're not hindered by terrain movement penalties. The two of these will allow them to see and sneak around enemies, or scout out an enemy's empire without fear. We knew that giving every unit Detect was a super hard nerf to the Cloak, so we wanted to make sure that the Cloaks got some buffs to match. There should now be a more dynamic cat-and-mouse game between players which keeps the experience more interesting overall.
Improvements to Infiltration
In addition to the buffs that Cloaks have gotten, we've indirectly buffed them by making Infiltration a bit more punishing. Many fans claimed that using Cloaks well didn't have as much of an impact as it should have, so we have made some adjustments to keep the "high risk/high reward gameplay" more relevant. The changes are: Buffs:
- Infiltration will damage any units inside the city
- A city's innate income will be stolen by the infiltrating player, not just blocked (not any income from Embassies, Custom Houses, or etc)
- Daggers will spawn inside a city if there is no unit defending (or if the unit is killed by the infiltration)
- Cities can only be infiltrated once per turn
- Daggers created on the water are turned into Pirates, which can't be upgraded into Battleships
The Addition of Pirates
As mentioned in the previous point, a common complaint was how any Daggers that spawned on the water could be turned into Battleships with no penalty, allowing for a massive spike of power in the area if you had the stars for it. Also, to better align them with the relationship between Cloaks and Dinghies, we've given the Dagger its own water variant - the Pirate! It has stats identical to a Dagger (including the Surprise trait), just like how the Dinghy has stats identical to the Cloak. So, think of them less as "new naval units" and more as "water forms of Cloaks and Daggers". Besides trying to fix the issues with Battleships, Dinghies and Pirates exist so that Cloaks and Daggers are as effective on water as they are on land. We didn't want people to not use them just because there was water in the way, so these forms are our way of ensuring they see use, even on Archipelago or Water World maps.
Other Balance Changes
We've also made some changes to other aspects of the game that we hope you like.
Cymanti
- Explosion damage has been reduced by 50%
- Fungi no longer do damage while poisoning
Aquarion
- Crabs now have 2 movement
Polaris
- Ice Bank max cap increased to 30
General
- Reduced the amount of income when meeting tribe (1 less star per level)
- AI is now better at trying to reveal cloaks
- You heal 4hp in ally territory (instead of 2hp)
Conclusion
We hope that these changes to Diplomacy make Cloaks and Daggers both more fun to play with and play against! We'll be keeping a close eye on these changes in the future, and might make adjustments if necessary. We'd like to hear your thoughts on this patch, so please tell us what you think either here or on the official Polytopia Discord! To join the Steam beta, follow these steps: [olist]
- All units can now detect Cloaks
- Cloaks get "Scout" and "Creep" ability
- Improved design for detect and infiltration
- Cities can only be infiltrated once per turn
- Infiltration now causes damage to the defending unit
- Daggers can spawn in the city if undefended
- City's star production is stolen by the infiltrating player
- Special Pirate ship for Daggers!
- Explosion damage is reduced by 50%
- No damage from Fungi
- 2 moves for Crab
- Ice Bank cap increased to 30
- Reduced the amount of income when meeting tribe (1 less star per level)
- AI is now better at trying to reveal Cloaks
- You heal 4hp in ally territory (instead of 2hp)
- Improved bug reporter - now lets you send error log to any communication service
Beta Update 2.2.6.8148
Hello Polytopians! This beta should fix the issue with controllers being plugged in, so your games shouldn't crash anymore due to this issue. If you are still noticing a crash, please let us know! If you aren't already on the beta: - Right click Polytopia - Choose "Properties" - Go to "Betas" - Use the access code "polytopiabetatesters" to get access to the beta Changelog: - Turned off gamepads on standalone builds (so that things won't crash anymore) - Fixed issue with adding players to pass and play - Updated localization
Hey Polytopians!
The Tribe Duels are back and better than ever! Wanna help us determine who's the best tribe this year and compete for prizes?
Head on over to our Discord to learn more!
BIG DAY TODAY!
Badee Midjitree finally opens the door to the brand new Polytopia Shop of Souvenirs!
T-shirts, stickers, posters, a hat shaped as Midjiwan (sort of) and more!
Everything is invented, stored and packaged with love in our workshop here in Stockholm!
Come head over to https://shop.midjiwan.com and use the code BADEELOVESYOU to get a 25% launch discount!
Quetzali often hone their combat skills through a rousing game of Techi'wop'yali! The objective is to bounce a wooden bird off a bird-shaped shield into a moving hoop, which, of course, is also shaped like a bird.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Quetzali Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Quetzali, our favorite bird-themed diplomats!
Not enough Quetzali in your life? We're having discounts on all Quetzali merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com !
Now, tell us what you think about the Quetzali in the comments!
P.S. Thanks for the art, Moos-2!
-Zoythrus
Hotfix patch release 2.2.4.8140 Just a small hotfix to remove the currently-unfinished Live Games, which got in by accident. We're also hoping that this solve the bug where Might games were ending too soon. Changelog: - Live games turned off
Update 2.2.3.8139
Hello Polytopians! Here's a relatively small update for the beta with a very big feature: Glory Point Thresholds! Now you can play to different point amounts when playing Glory! Please test them out and tell us what you think! If you aren't already on the beta, use the Changelog: - Added Glory Point Thresholds - Fixed bugs
Update 2.2.3.8139
Hello Polytopians! Here's a relatively small update for the beta with a very big feature: Glory Point Thresholds! Now you can play to different point amounts when playing Glory! Please test them out and tell us what you think! If you're not on the beta yet, right click Polytopia in Steam, go to "Properties", and use the code polytopiabetatesters in the Betas tab! Changelog: - Added Glory Point Thresholds - Fixed bugs
Other tribes may have been blessed with fertile land, abundant resources, or a warrior culture, but the Oumaji have something the others do not - speed. The legendary Shebron can quickly dash over dunes, hills, and plains, and are why the Oumaji excel at hit-and-run raids.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Oumaji Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Oumaji, our favorite lightning-fast, desert marauders!
Not enough Oumaji in your life? We're having discounts on all Oumaji merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until August 31st!
Now, tell us what you think about the Oumaji in the comments!
P.S. Thanks for the art, Papzy3!
-Zoythrus
Hey Polytopians!
It's time to help us test a new beta! This one sees a return of Live Games and Replays, but also adds Lobbies!
If you need a refresher on what new features we're adding in this new beta:
- Live Games - a tight, quick game format where the turn timer is always right on your tail! If you run out of time, you'll get skipped, and 3 skips means you get kicked, so make those moves fast!
- Replays - online multiplayer games will now be saved to the cloud, and able to be accessed from the new "Replays" tab in the multiplayer menu! You can share links to the replays for everyone to see that particular replay!
- Lobbies - a new way of gathering you friends together for a match. Lobbies are not time restricted, but you pick the tribe when accepting the invite. When players are ready, the host can start the game! We look forward to hearing your thoughts on this new lobby format!
Update 2.2.2.7779
Hello Polytopians! Weve got a relatively small update for you that should adjust some issues with the Diplomacy update! The Overheal bug has been fixed, star collection now won't get in the way of your turn, and AI should use Cloaks less, as well as other things. Changelog: - Added new Cloak and Dagger graphics - Fixed overheal bug - Fixed broken star collection - Fixed short sound on app star when tribe music is disabled - Fixed Polaris Freezing does not reset pacifist task - Fixed the lack of animation when attacking unit in the clouds - Fixed notification bug when player sends peace treaty and loses in the same turn - Adjusted AI when using Cloaks
The majestic Turmelon is the main source of inspiration for Aquarion artisans. Children play with Turmelon toys, merchants push their wares from Turmelon-shaped carts, and even the Aquarion monarch sits on a Turmelon-shaped throne.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Aquarion Tribe Week, a whole week dedicated to celebrating the Aquarion, our favorite fish folk!
Not enough Aquarion in your life? We're having discounts on all Aquarion merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until July 22nd!
Now, tell us what you think about the Aquarion in the comments!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/982200/The_Battle_of_Polytopia__Aquarion_Tribe/
P.S. Thanks for the art, Hardizzel!
-Zoythrus
SOLAR POWER UPDATE: In the mobile version of the game (App Store & Google Play), all revenues from the sales of the Zebasi tribe are invested in loans for solar power projects in rural Africa. The total amount invested in these projects is now 180.000 which has helped tens of thousands of people in Africa to get access to CO2-free electricity.
We want to thank everyone who purchased Zebasi!!!
The investment is made through the Swedish company Trine. All investments through Trine meet sustainable development goals, which were formed by the UN Development Program (UNDP)
"Farming in Zeboya is made much easier with the myriad of irrigation channels built by the Zebasi. Windmills use the power of the wind to power lifts that pull water from Lake Mozimwa into the irrigation network, keeping Waongii, Uzu, Z'nula, and other crops growing all year long!
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Zebasi Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Zebasi, our favorite curious horticulturalists!
Not enough Zebasi in your life? We're having discounts on all Zebasi merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until July 31st!
Now, tell us what you think about the Zebasi in the comments!
P.S. Thanks for the art, Viera903!
-Zoythrus
Hey Polytopians,
Summer is here again, just like the Steam Summer Sales! Along with the Steam Summer Sales are our sales....for the Summer!
50% off everything that isn't a Steam Point Shop item, including the game and DLC, as well as Special Tribes on mobile!!!!
Now go out there! Pick up a copy for you, your friends, your parents, your neighbor, your dog, or whomever else wants to play Polytopia with you!
-Zoythrus
https://store.steampowered.com/app/874390/The_Battle_of_Polytopia/
Now Introducing Steam Community Items!
Hey, Steam fans, the wait is over! Now were adding emoticons, badges, trading cards, backgrounds and other goodies to Steam, so you can show off your love for Polytopia with pride! Weve added the basics: 12 Trading Cards (1 for each of the Regular tribes) 6 Badges (5 normal, 1 Foil) 11 Emoticons (2 Rare, 4 Uncommon, 4 Common) 5 Static Profile Backgrounds As well as Point Shop items: 3 Animated Profile Backgrounds 3 Animated Stickers 2 Mini-Profile Backgrounds 2 Animated Avatars 2 Animated Profile Frames Dont like working with trading cards? All of these items can be purchased on the Point Shop as well! There you go! Now, go get those trading cards! -Zoythrus https://store.steampowered.com/app/874390/The_Battle_of_Polytopia/
Hello Polytopians!
As you know, we just released the Diplomacy update for Polytopia, and we've been seeing some questions about what it's about, how it works, and how to use the new things it adds. So, we thought to write up an FAQ to help demystify some of the new content!
The Diplomacy Update
Q: What is the Diplomacy Update?
A: The Diplomacy Update is the most recent update to Polytopia, which adds some new and exciting content to the world of Polytopia. Specifically, it adds the new "Diplomacy" tech after "Strategy" (formerly known as "Shields"), Peace Treaties, Embassies, Capital Vision, and Cloaks/Daggers, and we'll discuss all of those throughout this document.
Q: Why did you add the Diplomacy Update?
A: Diplomacy is a staple of the 4X genre, and was a very common suggestion by fans. A lot of people have asked if they could befriend the AI and other players, both to gang up on winning players or just for the sake of role-play. From the perspective of mechanics, we wanted to address a few common complaints - snowballing and lack of catch-up mechanics. We wanted to add mechanics that would allow people to temporarily work together so they could take down a much larger foe without tripping over each other. Mutual star production through Embassies, no Zone of Control, shared roads, and etc. We feel that this new Diplomatic game isn't "necessary" to win, but it creates an interesting dynamic for people who want to use it, and makes the game harder for people who wanted more of a challenge, since enemy players can work together to stop them. The new Peace Treaties and Diplomacy tech are not necessary to win, and are just another set of tools at your disposal.
Q: How do I play with the Diplomacy update?
A: If you've updated the game recently, you already are! "Diplomacy" is a new tech after the "Strategy" tech (formerly known as "Shields"), and should be able to be researched like any other tech. Note, you'll only see the new Diplomacy features in new games, as old games won't be adjusted.
Q: Can we play without the Diplomacy Update or roll back to a previous version?
A: In short, no, you cannot, as this is where we'd like to take the game. With that being said, we're going to be watching how this update performs, and aren't opposed to making adjustments where necessary, such as balancing the new units, adjusting mechanics of treaties, and so forth. Diplomacy is here to stay, but it doesn't mean we're done playing around with it, and we hope to make something that's simple, light, flexible, and fun for everyone. :) We'd also like to point out that we wanted to make sure that Diplomacy was only a means to an end, and not necessary for victory. It's fully optional, and you can win without utilizing it, and it's nothing more than another tool in your arsenal on your path to conquering the Square.
Q: How do I get the AI to like me?
A: The AI were designed to react to things like a human player, and dislike things such as being attacked or having enemy units in their space, and like things like getting an Embassy or getting help fighting their enemies. Looking at the tribe's diplomacy screen will show a combination of red and green opinion modifiers which will explain specific reasons for their current opinion of you (which can be clicked on for more information).
Q: How do I get the AI to accept my Peace Treaty?
A: In short, they'll need to have a "Great" opinion of you in order to accept your proposed Peace Treaty. Look above on suggestions on how to get to this opinion rating.
Q: Why do the AI feel harder than before?
A: Because we improved them! The AI are now better at using their troops effectively, growing their empires, and being a greater challenge. Yes, it was fun to mock the crappy AI, but we're hoping to un-crap it over the next updates. :)
Peace Treaties
Q: What are Peace Treaties?
A: Peace Treaties are now a way to cooperate with other players, mainly to gang up on a winning player or just to ensure that one of your sides can't be attacked while you do something else. When a peace treaty is signed between two players, those players can't attack each other (or perform any hostile actions, such as capturing cities or converting units), can use each others' roads, can move past each others' units (also know as "no Zone of Control"), and will improve the income of any Embassies with each other. Peace Treaties are permanent until broken.
Q: How do you create a Peace Treaty?
A: After you've researched the "Strategy" tech, you can offer a Peace Treaty to another player. To do so, you need to open up their Diplomacy menu, which can be accessed by either tapping their name bubble (that blue bubble that says "Imperius") or by tapping on their face in the "Game Stats" menus, and tapping the "Offer Peace" button. On their next turn, they'll be given a prompt to accept or deny the proposal.
Q: How do I break a Peace Treaty?
A: Follow the steps for how to make a Peace Treaty (like, look 3 lines up), and you'll find an option to "Break Peace" instead of "Offer Peace". After confirming that you want to break the Peace Treaty, you'll be unable to attack your former ally until next turn, and they'll be unable to attack you as well. This way, you can still back-stab them, but they'll be given a chance to ready their defenses. But then, what monster would back-stab their poor, defenseless ally? :P
Q: Why did all of the units around my former ally just disappear?
A: To help out a defending player during the breaking of a Peace Treaty, any of the aggressor's units in their territory are destroyed. The game will give you a reminder that this will happen so that you don't forget to move them first before you break peace with an ally.
Q: Do I have to kill everyone to win?
A: In Might and Domination, yes, you do. Peace Treaties are meant to be temporary forms of mutual peace, and are meant to be forged and broken on your road to victory, as you'll eventually need to kill everyone to win those game modes. So, yes, you'll have to back-stab your allies eventually.
Q: But why do I have to kill everyone to win? Why isn't there a shared victory?
A: So, we're not entirely opposed to making a "Team Game" or "Shared Victory" option in the future, and consider the Diplomacy update a "stepping stone" toward these sorts of things. Why didn't we add them in this update? Well, there's a lot of things to consider with a shared victory, like "What sorts of benefits should teammates get over lone players?" and "How do lone players beat a team that outnumbers them?" We want to ensure that Diplomacy is simply a means to an end, and that there are both pros and cons to forging alliances or staying by yourself.
Embassies and Capital Vision
Q: What is "Capital Vision" and why did you add it?
A: Capital Vision will reveal the tile of the capital city of each tribe you've met (and not the capitals of any tribes you haven't met). It lets you see extra stats about tribes you've met and reveals their capital, which is good for Might and Domination games. :)
Q: What is an Embassy?
A: Embassies are a new kind of building that are only built in the capital cities other tribes. They grant sight of the 8 tiles surrounding the capital, provide +2 stars/turn to both parties, and work as a positive diplomatic modifier for the AI tribes. They'll make +4 stars/turn for both parties if those players have a Peace Treaty. Embassies are destroyed if the two tribes attack each other, and will need to be rebuilt.
Q: Why did you add Embassies?
A: We wanted the Diplomacy tech to have something that was truly friendly, a genuinely good action between you and another tribe. We wanted to ensure that Embassies couldn't harm or disadvantage either party, and were mutually beneficial in order to forge a strong relationship between tribes.
Q: How do I build an Embassy?
A: You can build an Embassy in the capital city of any tribe from that tribe's Diplomacy menu. You can access this menu by either tapping their colored name bubble (That red bubble that says "Xin-Xi") or by tapping their head on the "Game Stats" menu. After you've opened up the Diplomacy menu, you can build an Embassy for 5 stars, which will automatically appear in their capital city, regardless of distance away.
Q: Can I stop a player from building an Embassy in my capital?
A: No. The only way to prevent or destroy an Embassy is to be at war with that player, which can be accomplished by attacking them. Even though you can't say no to an Embassy, you'll still get +2 stars/turn, so at least you get some benefit, and you'll meet the sending tribe if you haven't already met them yet.
Q: Can I build an Embassy with a tribe who has already built an Embassy with me?
A: YES! Both you and them can send Embassies to each other, and those Embassies will individually create stars. You can get +8 stars/turn if you both have Embassies and a Peace Treaty between you.
Q: What happens if a city I have an Embassy in gets captured?
A: The Embassy is destroyed and will need to be rebuilt. To make matters worse, you can't send Embassies to tribes who aren't in control of their capital city, so you need to hope your friend can retake their city! Their Embassy with you won't be destroyed, though.
Cloaks & Daggers
Q: What are Cloaks?
A: Cloaks are a new unit added with the Diplomacy tech, and are unique in that they're currently the only unit with the power to become invisible. They're designed to sneak their way into an enemy's empire (i.e. they're invisible and aren't slowed down by enemy units) and incite rebellions in their cities (i.e. spawn Daggers). Cloaks have no attack, and only have 5HP, so they're not sturdy and are useless in a fight. They need their stealth ability to keep them safe.
Q: How do I use a Cloak to incite a rebellion?
A: It's simple, just move the Cloak next to an enemy city and you will see the normal red attack circle in the city, then attack the city like normal. An amount of Daggers will spawn equal to the infiltrated city's level (capped at 5 Daggers max). Infiltrating a city destroys the Cloak, and there's no way to stop a Cloak from infiltrating a city. Cloaks cannot infiltrate a city on the same turn that they become invisible. Infiltrating a city will put that city "under siege", and cities under siege won't make stars on the next turn.
Q: If Cloaks are invisible, why can enemies see my Cloaks? How does Stealth work?
A: When trained, Cloaks always begin visible, and they'll become stealthed after they move for the first time - this is so that they can be seen and attacked before they become a nuisance. Cloaks are then fully invisible until either an enemy unit attempts to occupy their space (which gives the enemy unit an opportunity to attack them) or they interact with a village or ruin. They'll be able the become invisible again if they are given an opportunity to move again. Also worth noting is that Cloaks and Mindbenders can help detect enemy Cloaks. They won't bring them out of stealth, but a small dot will appear, notifying you that a Cloak is adjacent to that unit.
Q: How do I counter Cloaks?
A: Besides using Mindbenders and your own Cloaks to help sniff out enemy Cloaks, Cloaks need to be adjacent to a city in order to use their Infiltrate ability, so preventing them from being adjacent to a city is effective. Patrols of units moving through your empire can also accidentally bump into a Cloak and attack, to which it has zero defense. Lastly, since Cloaks are visible the turn they're trained, you can easily kill them before they can move.
Q: What are Daggers?
A: Daggers are insurgents spawned by a Cloak's Infiltrate action. They have the same stats as a Warrior, but they also get the "Surprise" trait, which allows them to attack enemy units without provoking a counterattack. You'll get an amount of Daggers from a city equal to the city's level (capped at 5 Daggers max). You can't train Daggers like other units, and need to use a Cloak to spawn them. Daggers will always spawn in places where they have a defense bonus first, like a mountain or forest, or on the water if they have nowhere else to go.
Q: How do I counter Daggers?
A: The biggest defense is making it difficult or impossible for an enemy Cloak to spawn Daggers in the first place! Assuming that the Infiltrate action was a success, Daggers are best countered by either Knights, Defenders behind a wall, or really any army that happens to be chilling inside your borders near the infiltrated city.
Q: Why do Daggers have Surprise? Isn't that overpowered?
A: We did so for lore reasons - they're guerrilla fighters, designed for hit and run (on a small scale), making them hard to retaliate against. We also wanted to make sure that Daggers were able to actually be a threat, and didn't want them dying too fast, so they won't take any retaliation damage.
Q: Why did you add Cloaks and Daggers? Why did you feel the game needed them?
A: During development, we asked ourselves "What type of unit is the game missing?", and what we came up with was a unit designed for chaos, distraction, and something that would threaten the backline of an army or undefended cities. We then made the Cloak as a "transport" for Daggers, a unit that you had to skillfully use to drop a horde of units into the undefended back of an enemy empire. Cloaks and Daggers are designed to help break stalemates, cause chaos, and get larger empires thinking about keeping their back or inner cities defended. Even if the enemy can catch your Cloaks, the paranoia alone should keep them on their toes.
Balance
Q: Why did you change the HP of Knights?
A: Knights were commonly understood to be some of the best units in the game. They were strong, fast, and effectively did everything, which meant that once you got your economy going, many games were decided by who could spam more Knights. Many fans complained that "Knight Spam" really isn't very fun or interesting, and we figured that the best way to nerf them without having them lose their purpose was to nerf their HP. This way, their offensive potential isn't tampered with (they're just as strong as before), but players will need to pay more attention to how they position their Knights. We moved them from a more general unit to more of a specialist unit.
Q: What about the tested changes to Forges (Mints) and Windmills? Why didn't those happen?
A: We removed the changes because we didn't like how they were operating during the beta test. We haven't completely thrown out the ideas, though, and they might come back eventually. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for reading this FAQ! If you have more questions or comments, feel free to send us a message at feedback@midjiwan.com! -Zoythrus
"Have you heard the stories of Po Iu, the legendary warrior? Kickoo myth is often based on their exploits, with classic stories such as "Po Iu Creates Fish," "Po Iu and the 7-Headed Beast," and "Po Iu Goes to Kaa Pu". Visit a Kickoo storyteller if you want to hear more!"
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Kickoo Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Kickoo, our favorite ship-building wayfarers!
Not enough Kickoo in your life? We're having discounts on all Kickoo merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until June 30th!
Now, tell us what you think about the Kickoo in the comments!
P.S. Thanks for the art, Pokerface!
-Zoythrus
Diplomacy Launch and 25% Discount On Everything!
The moment you've all been waiting for - Diplomacy! It needs no drumroll or further hype because it is finally here! This update adds a whole new technology to research, which finally makes the entire tech tree symmetrical (and adds Diplomacy stuff, of course)! So, regardless of whether you've been following our posts on Diplomacy or this news is completely new to you, we'd like to give a quick rundown on what this technology adds.
Diplomacy Tech Key Features
Peace Treaties
Become friends with former enemiesuntil one of you calls it quits. Teammates cannot attack one another and can share roads.
Tribe Relations
With Tribe Relations systems, players can evaluate which tribe they can become friends with. Colored bubbles offer detailed explanations of what the tribes think of them.
Capital Vision
View the location of the Capital City of any tribe youve encountered. Capital Vision will also take effect when players meet someone new, thus aiding them in making tactical decisions.
Embassies
Diplomatic buildings which can only be built in other tribes' capitals when players are not at war with them. Embassies reveal the surrounding eight tiles and provide monetary rewards every turn, with greater rewards between allies.
Cloaks
These infiltration specialists are trained in the arts of subterfuge and clandestine operations and arrive armed with two new abilities: Stealth and Infiltrate. Cloaks are invisible to enemy units until they perform an action, and using them to infiltrate a city will create a horde of Daggers!
Daggers
Rebels incited to action by the Cloak to attack an enemy city. Daggers are the ultimate surprise attack, guerrilla warfare units, meaning enemies wont retaliate when they pounce. --------------------------------------------------------- With that being said, we're also doing a 25% discount on the game and all DLC! Yep, a full 25% discount!!!! If you were looking for a good time to get the game or some DLC, this is the time! Now, what are you waiting for? The Update is probably fully downloaded on your device by now, so now you have no excuse not to play it....unless it isn't done yet or you were hoping to see the proper changelog, which we've posted below:
Changelog
New Diplomacy Tech: - Peace treaties, create alliances with bots & players - Cloak Units, invisible to enemies, can infiltrate cities and create Daggers - Dagger Units, used to assault cities - Embassy, built in players' capitals, income for both - Capital Vision - see all capitals - Tribe Relations - see what your friends think of you Balancing: -Clear Forest moved to Forestry, earning 1 star instead of 2 -Knights hp reduced from 15 to 10, price reduced to 8 stars -Kiton hp reduced to 15 -Swamp provides 1 population again -Smarter & more fun bots
This unmoving countdown represents the time when Diplomacy is going to be released to you, the public, but relative to some point in the near past when we simply screenshotted the promotional webpage!
Yeah, you heard us right, we're finally releasing Diplomacy! After YEARS of development, Diplomacy will move out of beta and right to your fingertips (or cursor-tips, if you're on Steam) regardless of whether or not you were in the beta!
When was this countdown counting down to? Some point in the near future!!!! We'll also be closing the beta program for Steam at that time, too.
If you want to see the moving, real time countdown to Diplomacy, as well as the rest of the snazzy things on our promotional webpage, just head to https://polytopia.io/diplomacy!
Already in the beta or just want someone to talk to about this? Head to our official Discord by clicking this sentence!
-Zoythrus
Hello Polytopians! You might have noticed two recent updates for the beta, and we'd like to give you some more details on what they entail. ----------------------------------------------- Update 2.2.0.7514 This build doesn't contains replays - Chopping was moved to Forestry tech - Update Daggers graphics - Improved AI behaviour - Added info button in Riots messages - Update broken peace and destroyed embassy popups - Added "Hostile" state when peace is broken - Added info popup when player cannot establish embassy or send peace treaty - Removed diplomacy actions from bottom menu, now they are only available in tribe info popup - Adjust animations when placing and destroying embassies - Invisible cloaks are not revealing by splash attacks now - Prevent possible diplomatic contacts with nature - Update camera zooming when revealing player's capitals - Other UI improvements ----------------------------------------------- Update 2.2.0.7703 (the current version) - Added diplomacy translations - Added new message when get peace offer from unknown tribe - Added touch feedback on all sliders - Small UI improvements in Game Stats screen - Improved relation buttons appearance - Improved tribe button appearance - Improved Tribe Info popup - Improved Elyrion names - Improved detect skill design - Fixed attacking players right after breaking the peace ----------------------------------------------- Remember, if you'd like to test Diplomacy, just use the beta access code "TestDiplomacy"! -Zoythrus
"The Luxidoorian Emperor always sets the hottest fashion which all Luxidoorians try to emulate, even if its impractical in the hot sun. The current Emperor prefers turbans, but the last one loved shawls"
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Luxidoor Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Luxidoor, our favorite money-grubbing snobs!
Not enough Luxidoor in your life? We're having discounts on all Luxidoor merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until May 31st!
Now, tell us what you think about the Luxidoor in the comments!
P.S. Thanks for the art, Beauxtron!
-Zoythrus
I have no friends, so Ill have to make my own! thought a lonely ri citizen to themself before enchanting a unicorn into the first Polytaur. Ever since, Polytaurs have been a beloved part of ri society, often as cuddly companions, cheap labor, or steadfast soldiers.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the ri Tribe Week, a whole week dedicated to celebrating the ri, our tree loving friends!
Besides giving the ri some love, we're also donating proceeds from purchases of the ri toward planting some trees and saving the planet! (If you've already bought them, you can donate here.)
Not enough ri in your life? We're having discounts on all ri merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until April 22nd!
Now, tell us what you think about the ri in the comments!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/982201/The_Battle_of_Polytopia__ri_Tribe/
P.S. Thanks for the art, Aetholis1!
-Zoythrus
Update 2.0.69.6093
Hello Polytopians! Weve got a relatively small update for you that should (hopefully) improve the multiplayer experience! So, without further ado, lets talk about these new features.
Boot Camp
With this update, were adding Boot Camp, a tutorial to help new players understand the basics of the game. While not exactly an in-depth look at the game, this tutorial goes through how to harvest resources and train units. It will be the first game you play when you first install Polytopia, but can be played again by going to New Game > Boot Camp.
Online Friends
Now, friends who are currently playing Polytopia will have a small green dot next to them, so that you can see who is actually going to respond to the myriad of game invites you plan to send them.
And to make this multiplayer invite spam easier, you can now start a game from their friend profile, which will start a match and automatically add them to it.
As you can see, the friend profile has been expanded to show details including ELO, and these will show even if youre not friends with them!
Friend Activity
Not only can you now see who is online, weve also given you more tools to properly stalk them by adjusting the Taking a turn text during a match. When your opponent is actively playing Polytopia and is in the match, youll now see this:
And if they arent in the match, youll see this:
Other Changes
So, heres the proper changelog for this update: - Added new "Boot Camp" tutorial, which will play as either your first game or if you tap "Boot Camp" when creating a New Game - Online friends (green dot near player name as indicator that he is online, second thing is that - Players can now see when other players are making a move in real time - Players will receive notification when someone is kicked or resign from the game - Steam notifications are now required to be turn on for online multiplayer on pc - ELO is shown on friends profile - All information that were showed for friends (played games, number of friends, elo etc.) are now also showed for all players - Players can now start game directly from the friend profile to have it already invited
"Climbing a big rock isn't hard, can't anyone do that?" Yes, maybe a small band of people, but what about an army of people? The Xin-Xi don't just climb mountains for fun, but have perfected the science of managing troop formations, defense, logistics, and supplies around these steep summits.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Xin-Xi Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Xin-Xi, our favorite mountaineers!
Not enough Xin-Xi in your life? We're having discounts on all Xin-Xi merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until April 30th!
Now, tell us what you think about the Xin-Xi in the comments!
P.S. Thanks for the art, u/Dapperfrog1864!
-Zoythrus
Sorry for the delay, everyone! We've finally posted the patch notes for both the latest public and beta build. Remember that you can play the beta by using the beta access code "TestDiplomacy" -Zoythrus 2.2.0.7410 Change Log Both Beta and Public Release: - Added online status for friends and live status for game turn Beta: Balance: - Reduced Kiton HP (20HP->15HP) - Mind Benders detects invisible units (there is small dot on unit icon) - Update riots (now number of Daggers depends on city level and riots prevent income) - Update Daggers spawn (now they're more spread out, and prioritize areas with defense bonuses) - Revert Windmill & Mint mechanics (we'll look back into this later, but for now, reverted) Changes: - New Cloak & Dagger sprites - Added relation bar in tribe info screen - Changed breaking peace logic (now second player cannot attack first player for one turn, but can move units and prepare defense) Bug Fixes: - Fixed Mindbenders can't convert Centipede Segments - Fixed Persist now working properly - Fixed camera centering when spawning Daggers - Fixed units can use enemy roads - New sounds for Dagger attack - Cloaks now can't infiltrate sieged cities Known Issues: - Burn Forest and Destroy have swapped places, but this will be fixed, soon.
So, what's so special about the Special Tribes? Well, they all have a unique set of features that lets you play Polytopia in a completely different way. You will need to learn the game all over to figure out how to make the most out of them!
For example, the Aquarion has units like The Amphibian, Tridention, and Crab that you dont find elsewhere, severely modifying the chivalry branch of your tribe to catch your rival off guard. Or Elyrion where their giants start as vulnerable eggs and then grow into enormous fire-breathing dragons.
And, dont forget the Polaris, which can freeze terrain and enemies to prevent the progression of your foes. And. last, but not least, the creepy-crawly Cymanti. Where you have huge insects at Your disposal and you can create Centipedies that span over several tiles. And it grows longer for its every kill...
Yes, the Special Tribes are truly special. That's why we call them special!
So, If you haven't got them yet, now is your chance to get them at a 50% Discount until March 28th.
Live Games, Replays, and Esports, oh my!
Hello, beta fans! We, with help from our lovely friends at Challengermode, have developed a few things that youve been asking for! So, lets take a deep dive into all the new features that should help out our more competitive fans!
Live Games? Are the games.alive?
Haha, no, dear reader, thats what we call the new multiplayer time format! Many of you have been asking us for faster games, so weve added these new Live Games to satisfy you, which will replace the 5 minute timer option. Somewhat like chess tournaments, Live Games give you a timer of less than 1 minute for your turn at the start, and any time unused rolls over to the next turn. Also, youll get additional time for each city and unit you have, so you can get the opportunity to move your massive army across the map without stress, assuming youve been taking quick turns. These changes should keep things flowing smoothly, while also putting on the pressure of a merciless turn timer.
What about players who dont take their turn? Their turn gets skipped immediately, and theyll have 3 skips total (represented by those white dots next to the timer) before theyre kicked from the game. Any kicked players have their empires sit frozen, unable to do anything unless you attack them, so theyre turned into little more than a roadblock toward victory. :)
Replays? Like, Replay replays?!
Yes, replays! Ever want to show your friends the next time you lose to Midjiwan in a Random Match? Well, now you can! With our new Replay feature, multiplayer games you complete will be saved and can be shared with all the lovely people on the internet!
When watching a replay, youll be able to see whos turn it is, what they can see, their research, and other such things! You'll also get the power to fast forward, rewind, and pause! And, lastly, you can even favorite your most amazing victories and defeats with a handy heart, so theyll always be around! Each replay is saved to our servers with a link, so all you have to do is copy it and share it around for anyone to see!
Now, what about Esports?
While this particular patch will primarily add Live Games and Replays, Challengermode has been laying the foundation for in-app tournaments and events! Yep, sometime in the future, well be allowing you to join tournaments hosted on their platform from within the Polytopia app, itself, and there might even be a chance for prizes! Well be talking more about this later as we get closer to it, but for now, know that these ingame events are on the horizon!
So, how do I test these new features?
If youre already in the beta program for Diplomacy, then you dont have to worry about anything. Live Games and Replays have automatically been added to the beta for you. For everyone else, the only beta open right now is the Steam beta, which has unlimited slots. Heres how you get in: Open Steam > Right-click Polytopia > Choose Properties > click Betas > Use the beta access code TestDiplomacy to join the beta! We cant wait to show you all that we have in store for the future! Well be adding more to both these new features and to the beta as a whole, so expect bug fixes and balance passes for Diplomacy very soon. And yes, the changelog: - Added "Live Games" - Removed 5 minute timer - Added Replays - Additional bugfixes and improvements -Zoythrus
Small path: - Turned off online friends feature - Iteration of fixes for game crashing cases
The Moon may be special to most Polytopians, but it's the Ai-Mo who have a special respect for the Sun. Unlike other tribes, the Ai-Moyan calendar is based on the Sun, which is tracked and revered by a prestigious sect of astronomers, cosmologists, and priests known as the "Sun Speakers".
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Ai-Mo Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Ai-Mo, our favorite meditating monks!
Not enough Ai-Mo in your life? We're having discounts on all Ai-Mo merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until February 28th!
Now, tell us what you think about the Ai-Mo in the comments!
P.S. Thanks for the art, u/Random-Person-45!
-Zoythrus
The moment youve all been waiting for! Years of planning, re-designs, delays, and development have led us to this momentous occasion - Diplomacy! Well, the beta for Diplomacy, at least. You see, this new technology adds some fairly large changes to the game and how it operates, and we wanted to put it into an extra long beta test period so that you, our wonderful fans, can give it a try and tell us what you think so that we can make it the best it can be!
What Sorts of Changes?
Were going to take a deep dive into all that the Diplomacy tech has to offer, as well as other changes that weve done with this update. If you'd like to just get into the beta, instructions to do so are at the bottom, but we encourage you to read the post first. This is going to be a long post, so be ready.
AI Improvements
As you can see by this picture, AI tribes now have opinions of you, with modifiers explaining just why they hate you. We couldnt make a new diplomacy system without something like this, because otherwise youd be unable to make informed guesses about how to best appease a tribe you want to become friends with. The AI are fully equipped to use the new Diplomacy systems as well, and will totally gang up on you if youre winning or will pity you if youre not. You can tap on those colored bubbles to give a more detailed explanation of what they think of you, just like you can tap the colored name bubbles on other menus to bring you to this one. Besides teaching them to use the new Diplomacy systems, AI are now overall smarter, as theyll use their units more effectively, defend their cities better, manage their economies more robustly, and overall be more challenging, even without Diplomacy!
The New Stuff
Right, now onto the fun stuff that youve been dying to read.
Peace Treaties:
Before we get to the Diplomacy stuff, lets talk about the big change to the Shields tech (besides the name change to Strategy). Peace Treaties are exactly as they sound, you can offer an enemy empire the opportunity to become friends with you indefinitely until either one of you cancels it. What benefits does this provide?
- The two of you cant attack each other or perform any sort of hostile actions, such as occupying cities, converting units, etc.
- Your units' movements arent hindered by their units, and vice-versa (also known as Zone of Control''). You can also use their roads as if they were your own for the purpose of movement.
- Your Embassies will make double the income, but well talk more about Embassies in a moment.
And now, for Diplomacy!
If Strategy has peace treaties, then what does Diplomacy have to offer? A combination of things, as a matter of fact. The Diplomacy tech allows for new options involving both peaceful and hostile interactions with your fellow tribes.
Capital Vision
The moment you research Diplomacy, youll be able to see the location of the Capital city of any tribes youve encountered. This will also take effect if you meet someone new, so you can always see what theyre up to and where your ultimate goal is, allowing for some interesting tactical decisions. Researching Diplomacy will also improve the insight you have on other tribes, showing their relationships with their friends and enemies. These little abilities are primarily for the next thing, though. Our hopes for Capital Vision: This is important because you can't really place an Embassy in a city that you can't see, so we made sure you could see it. We also like how it shows you your objective if you're going for a more militaristic victory, letting you peer into the fog of war and get intel that can be useful. Concerning the other passive benefit, we like Diplomacy revealing more about your opponents and their relationships with others. You might not be diplomatic, but you can still get some nifty insight on your opponents just by researching this tech.
Embassy
This is an Embassy, a solely diplomatic building that can only be built in other tribes capitals. Youll be able to build an Embassy with any tribe that youre not currently at war with, and any Embassies you have built will be destroyed if either of you attack the other, so its for peacetime only. Embassies provide you monetary rewards for friendship, encouraging you to keep your allies close. It will also make cutting ties with your allies much harder, as the rewards can be very lucrative. And yes, they can send you an Embassy as well, for further rewards! What does it do?
- Reveal the surrounding 8 tiles around the capital, as shown in the picture.
- Make +2 Stars every turn for both you and them, These rewards are doubled if you have a peace treaty with them (up to +4 Stars total a turn).
- Function as a positive diplomatic modifier for AI opponents, making it easier to ally with them.
Cloak
And now, the fun part of Diplomacy, the Cloak. Cloaks are infiltration specialists trained in the arts of subterfuge and clandestine operations with two new abilities - Stealth and Infiltrate, and well talk more about how those operate in a moment. Heres their stats:
So, Stealth (which is inherent to the unit and not a separate trait) works as you would imagine, it renders them 100% invisible to enemy units, but wont take effect until you first move them, so your enemy can snipe them the moment theyre trained or if they've performed an action such as exploring a ruin. The only way to reveal them is to attempt to occupy the same space as them with one of your units, so its possible to bump into one. If you do, youll be given a chance to attack them, to which they have no defense. Cloaks are also unique in that their Stealth and Infiltrate abilities will also apply if they're put into a boat, but that boat can't be upgraded (no stealthy Battleships, thank you). Infiltrate is the big ability, though, which can only be activated by attacking an enemy city with the Cloak. This will consume the Cloak, but will spawn 3 Daggers for free! You cant use Infiltrate on any cities that are currently under siege, nor can you use it the same turn that the Cloak has become invisible (such as its first movement). Cloaks also have no attack against enemy units, and can be seen by your allies. Our hopes for Cloaks: Diplomacy isn't just about being friends with others, but also screwing with them. Cloaks are meant to be a high risk, high reward infiltration unit, one that is strong enough to offset the difficulty getting them to their target. We want you to feel adequately rewarded for being able to sneak one into the heart of their territory, either using them to scout out enemy positions or for a critical strike on some undefended city with a swarm of Daggers. We also don't want Cloaks to be super hard to counter, but they can't be too easy to spot, either. While we know that Diplomacy might not be the best tech to get in small player games, like a 1v1, we would like Cloaks to still be worth getting, something that can turn the tide of a fight if used effectively. This is something we want a lot of feedback on.
Dagger
Daggers are rebels incited to action by the Cloak, ready to fight against their former nation with fervor. They can only be trained by using a Cloaks Infiltrate action on an enemy city, and can easily be used to disrupt an enemy or even capture their undefended cities! Daggers wont spawn on mountains without Climbing or water without Sailing, and will prioritize land before water. Daggers spawned on the water will be made into boats for free, which can be upgraded like any other. If there isnt space to spawn, Daggers will decide to give up the cause and simply go home, not materializing at all. Heres their stats:
Theyre as strong as a Warrior? That seems lame, you might say, but if youll notice, these zealous experts in guerilla warfare have the Surprise ability, much like Cymanti Phychi, which means that they wont be retaliated against when they attack. They also dont need support from cities, and outside of the cost of the Cloak, are effectively free. This gives them a lot of flexibility, as they can be used to whittle down stronger units, work as cannon fodder, and even capture cities! Our hopes for Daggers: Daggers are meant to be the big reward for clever use of a well-placed Cloak. Something that can snipe undefended cities, weaken more fortified strongholds, or just serve as a diversion for an unprepared enemy. They're agents of chaos, and we hope that they are worth the hassle of maneuvering a Cloak into enemy territory, while also having fun counterplay if you're ever unfortunate enough to have some spawn in your borders. Are they too strong or not strong enough? We'd love to know. Thats all thats in the Diplomacy tech! We hope that these additions will make the game much more dynamic, especially in FFA-style matches, but you might find some use in a 1v1 if you get creative. :)
Any other changes we should know about?
Yes! Heres some of the more important changes:
Mints
For a long time, weve wanted Forges to make Stars instead of Population, and now weve done it! To differentiate them from other modifier buildings, Forges have now been renamed to "Mints" and will now make +1 Star per adjacent Mine, allowing tribes like Xin-Xi and Vengir to get some more tangible economic benefits from their mountains.
Windmills
With the population removed from Forges, we decided to buff Windmills by providing them +2 Pop per adjacent farm instead of simply +1. The new Windmills are going to be the source of some very large cities.
Knights
Our speedy Knights have gotten a nerf, they now have 10HP instead of 15. This means that while they were glass cannons before, theyre even more so now, so dont expect them to hold up well defensively. Their damage output hasnt been changed, though, but youll still have to use them more carefully. We did bring their cost back to 8 Stars to compensate.
Chop Forest
Guess what? We put it back to 1 Star! Yep, we hated what happened when we put it at 2 Stars in our last Balance Pass, and have reverted that entirely. We feel that its now in a good spot and wont be dominating any more metas.
Algae
Cymanti Algae has also been reverted, and will make 1 Population again. We agree it was a little too much.
And One Last Thing!
We have some more changes that should be added to this update very soon, such as some improvements that benefit esports and other fun stuff, but they couldn't be finished in time. We'll have another post ready for next week when these things are added to the beta.
Why Do You Need Us to Test It?
While we are more or less solid on what we want this update to add and aren't looking for any more huge changes, theres always room for improvements. Heres a few questions to help get you started: Are the Cloaks strong enough?, How does this affect Quetzali and Imperius?, Can peace treaties be exploited?, Are Embassies worth it?, and other such questions are the sorts of things wed like to hear about. We might make changes to the game during this beta period, as we tweak values and make small adjustments based on your feedback! Or, who knows, maybe we got it right on the first try! ;)
How Do I Get Into the Beta?
Weve added a lot more beta testing slots for both Android and iOS, but sadly cant make it unlimited, so its first come, first served. We cant promise you that your old games will be safe after you upgrade, so please finish those before opting into the beta. You will also be unable to play with people who have not updated to the beta yet. You can opt into the Android beta from Polytopias Google Play Store page, and into the iOS beta by finding Polytopia on the Testflight App, or by going to these links. Android: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/air.com.midjiwan.polytopia iOS: https://testflight.apple.com/join/LjTQNqua We recommend that you test on Steam, though, as thats much easier and has unlimited space. Just right-click on Polytopia, go to Properties, click the Betas tab, and use the password "TestDiplomacy" to get access. Expect issues with stability and new sorts of bugs, and please report any that you find. Note: The beta is currently only in English. We look forward to what you have to say about Diplomacy! Weve opened a #diplomacy-discussion channel on our Discord just for Diplomacy discussion, and we encourage you to talk about it there! Go to the Discord by clicking this link: https://discord.gg/polytopia
Changelog
Heres a proper changelog, for those of you who like changelogs. Diplomacy Features -Shields tech renamed to Strategy -New Peace Treaty option added to Strategy -New Diplomacy tech after Strategy -New Capital vision ability that reveals other players' capitals -New Embassy building, which is built in other players' capitals and produces income for both tribes -New Cloak unit, invisible while moving, infiltrates enemy cities -New Dagger unit, spawns when a Cloak infiltrates a city, -New Tribe Info screen with more detailed info about your opponents -Improved AI players Balance Adjustments -Knight hp down to 10 -Knight price back to 8* -Forge replaced by Mint that produce 1* / adjacent mine -Windmill produce 2 pop / adjacent farm -Clear forest reward back to 1* Have fun! -Zoythrus
Small patch: - Added online friends feature - New about page
As mysterious as they are majestic, the Gaami are beings from an alien world of eternal permafrost, and the source of the ice magic that the Polaris society relies on. While the Polaris might see them as benevolent saviors, many believe that the Gaami have ulterior motives...
Artwork Created by API KEYS
If you dont have Polaris, this is the chance to get it at 50% DISCOUNT during the TRIBE WEEK (On STEAM & MOBILE).
Polaris lets you play Polytopia in a completely different way as you get to Freeze oceans, Ride Mammos, Build Ice Fortresses, Ice Banks and much more!
You can GET IT here!
Forced conformity was key in the Empire of the Ancients, with strict rules about clothes and behavior. Factions arose to combat this tyranny, demanding their own land and independence! Dissent turned to riots, and riots into hostilities, and this great empire was falling apart - the Ancient Civil War had begun.
Hello Polytopians,
We chosen a winner - user lisavda who handed us this amazing submission!
Thank you to everyone who submitted their artwork!
-Zoythrus
Treks across the harsh Khalee Plains are both dangerous and fairly boring. To keep their minds sharp, Ydakk caravans pass the time with a rousing game called "Jikhij", a board game that forces players to use knowledge of their surroundings and encourages them to be aware of nearby food, water, and shade.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Ydakk Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Ydakk, our favorite road-building merchants!
Not enough Ydakk in your life? We're having discounts on all Ydakk merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until January 31st!
Now, tell us what you think about the Ydakk in the comments!
P.S. Thanks for the art, Poopmaster6000!
-Zoythrus
Winter Sales!
You thought that a Concordance Day lore blurb and art contest were the only gifts we were giving you this year? Well, surprise, we're also giving you some insane discounts!
50% off!
Yes, 50% off on all STEAM items and SPECIAL TRIBES on MOBILE! Have you been eyeing the Cymanti since their launch earlier this year? This is the time to pick them up as well as any other DLC you're missing!
Is that all?
Nope! We've also got a secret hidden in the game for this time of year! Hope you can find it! ;)
And a happy New Year!
Thank you, Polytopia fans, for being the best. You've all helped make this year great, and we look forward to seeing you all next year! -Zoythrus
- Added steam desktop notifications - Fixed a bug where some players couldn't finish game - Added the possibility to resign from games that are corrupted - Fixed a bug where in older games the meet tribe pop up was displaying the wrong icon - Fixed a bug with -1 game version on friends pop up - Fixed a problem with macOS ui scale - Fixed a bug where after receiving a notification players had to manually refresh the games list to see it updated - Added a Russian translation provided by the community (thanks to Illantalex, QuasiStellar, Saichi2Taiko, and Oleg_1111 for all hard work ) - Backend and client optimalizations "
It's here again - Concordance Day and a new blurb-based art contest!
(If you want to pass the recap and just want to get to the art contest portion, just skip to the end)
What is Concordance Day?
It's the big holiday that all Polytopians celebrate, which commemorates the end of the Ancient Polytopian Civil War a long, long time ago! Parties, feasts, and a short window of peace between tribes! But, for us, every year at about this time, we like to dedicate a few weeks to a lore blurb and an art contest about the Ancients (but don't let us stop you from parties, feasts, and temporary peace).
Who were the Ancients?
These people!
The precursors to all the Polytopian tribes, and the first on the Square, who died out long ago. While not much is known about them, we know that they were the first, had a great empire, fought a massive war, made peace, and fractured into the tribes we've come to know and love! You can find out more about the Ancients and the lore blurbs of previous years here: https://polytopia.fandom.com/wiki/The_Ancients
You said there was an art contest?
That we did! So, much like the previous years, you get to draw the picture that accompanies the new lore blurb! All you need to do make some art inspired by the blurb, email it to feedback@midjiwan.com before the 3rd of January, and we'll choose a winner! You can draw, sculpt, dance, assemble, or use any other visual art medium for this challenge! Now, here's the blurb to get you started:
Forced conformity was key in the Empire of the Ancients, with strict rules about clothes and behavior. Factions arose to combat this tyranny, demanding their own land and independence! Dissent turned to riots, and riots into hostilities, and this great empire was falling apart - the Ancient Civil War had begun.
Is there a prize?
Oh wait! We never mentioned what the winner gets! If your artwork is chosen, you'll get a very super, secret goody bag full of special Polytopian surprises sent to your door, straight from the Bunta, themself!
The deadline for artwork is January 3rd at 12pm PST. We'll be choosing the winner soon afterwards, which will then be displayed for all to see! If you have any questions about the contest, please send an email to feedback@midjiwan.com. Good luck! -Zoythrus
Killing a Baerion with a spear or bow is already difficult, but what about the crazy souls who dress up like one, sneak into their lairs, and attempt to kill them with their "bear" hands? This, and other impossible challenges, make up the initiation into the Baergffoz, the Bardur's elite fighting force.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Bardur Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Bardur, our favorite winter survivalists!
Not enough Bardur in your life? We're having discounts on all Bardur merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until December 31st!
Now, tell us what you think about the Bardur in the comments!
-Zoythrus
Help us win!
Want a new way to show the world how much you love Polytopia? You're in luck, as the Steam Awards are happening soon, and you can nominate us for the Labor of Love Award! To vote - Simply go to our Steam Page and vote!
It's nearing the end of November, and that means that it's time for the Steam Autumn Sales! What does that mean for you? It means that the Battle of Polytopia and a plethora of other great games are heavily discounted!
How much is Polytopia being discounted? A whopping 40%!
So, let's end this November the best way we can by buying our pumpkin spice lattes, playing in the leaves, and getting our copies of Polytopia and any DLC during this amazing sale!
-Zoythrus
https://store.steampowered.com/app/874390/The_Battle_of_Polytopia/
When Vengir families arent pillaging some city or sharpening their swords, they like to spend time vacationing. A common tourist attraction is the misty Kithkga Boneyards, a Rhino-Pig preserve where Vengirian citizens can feed the animals and learn more about the history of the mighty Rhino-Pig.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Vengir Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Vengir, our favorite angry metallurgists!
Not enough Vengir in your life? We're having discounts on all Vengir merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until November 30th!
Now, tell us what you think about the Vengir in the comments!
-Zoythrus
Boo!
Not shocked? Neither were we, but what will shock you is the 40% discount on the award-winning Battle of Polytopia and its DLC for the spookiest day of the year! What better way to celebrate the Cymanti during their special week than by buying them for yourself or a friend? Bugs not your thing? That's fine, as Polytopia has something for everyone! Get your copy today! -Zoythrus https://store.steampowered.com/app/874390/The_Battle_of_Polytopia/
Hello Polytopians! Time for some small changes! Turkish players rejoice! The game should no longer crash on your machines! -Zoythrus Changelog: - Adjusted enabling/disabling all tribes so that it does not trigger when scrolling - Fixed bug where units in tech tree would get the status effect of the last visited unit - Fixed bug where you would be counted as winner if you died but the real winner resigned - Fixed crash in second turn of a pass and play game after viewing tech tree - Fixed crash on startup for people with Turkish as system language
[[previewyoutube=k5n22U76VOk;full][/previewyoutube] No one could have expected what happened on that fateful day as a band of Polytopians ventured into the Cymantini Forest, forever to be changed by their encounter with the Ciru Bug. Normally parasites, the Ciru Bugs now live in mutualism with their new hosts, lending their enhanced senses for food and protection. Hello Polytopians, It's the Cymanti Tribe Week, a whole week dedicated to celebrating the Cymanti, our favorite bug-loving hive-mind! Now, tell us what you think about the Cymanti in the comments! -Zoythrus
Hey Polytopians!
In celebration of the Cymanti this month, we're doing a Halloween cosplay contest! We want to see your best Cymanti-inspired Halloween costume, so show us your cosplay skills for a chance to win some cool prizes!!
To compete, make up a costume and send us a picture of you wearing it to feedback@midjiwan.com before we judge them on October 30th. We'll be posting the winner on the 31st, with the winner being chosen by Midjiwan, himself!
Have fun!
No one really remembers why the Hoodrick and the Bardur split apart so long ago, but this split formed one of the Square's most special and bitter inter-tribal rivalries. Ranging from brutal raids to petty displays of superiority, the Hood-Bard Rivalry shows no signs of stopping any time soon.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Hoodrick Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Hoodrick, our favorite baked good-eating Bardur haters!
Not enough Hoodrick in your life? We're having discounts on all Hoodrick merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com between October 2nd-31st!
Now, tell us what you think about the Hoodrick in the comments!
-Zoythrus
Got a collection of changes, some wide, some small, and we hope this makes the Polytopia experience more pleasant. 2.0.59 Hotfix Patch Notes: Big Changes: - Added "Small" (196) Map type to both Creative and Multiplayer - Fixed "Creative Continents" bug, so now Creative map types should work again - Fixed crash with some devices in Turkish - Fixed "Double Ruin" and "Explorer Reset" exploits, as well as others - Improved multitouch support Small Changes: - Adjusted unit tint coloring - Fixed ELO reporting the wrong winner in some instances - Improved support for long aliases - Adjusted UI scaling for tech trees - Fixed small issues with notifications - Adjusted "Sunrise" easter egg to render better - Fixed "Multiplayer Difficulty" bug - Small adjustments to signing in with Google Play - Tons of small fixes
Another Summer has passed and we have to endure many months until it's Summer again! But have faith, you can now get the award-winning The Battle of Polytopia or any of the spectacular DLC's at a 40% discount. If you haven't noticed, we have a 96% Overwhelmingly Positive Rating on Steam so the probability of regretting this purchase is really low. Or, if you already have everything in Polytopia, maybe your friends don't. Spread the word! 40% Discount on everything until September 27th!
Hello, Polytopians!
Its time for Balance Pass 2! Were making some big changes and wed like to take some time to talk about them!
Release notes for release 2.0.58
General Balance:
-Increase income for clearing forest to 2*
-Increase price of knight to 10*
The change to forest chopping has been getting some mixed results, so we thought to get the best of both worlds by keeping tree chopping in Free Spirit so that tech power is more easily managed, but bringing it up to 2* for increased usefulness, which should make it viable again. Because Knights are now much more easy to get, their cost has been raised to 10*, making Knight rushes a little more difficult.
-Lowered price of burn forest to 2*
-Elyrion can no longer burn forest
If the Riding branch of techs is meant to revolve around tree destruction and freedom of movement, you should actually get some tools to help you do just that. Burn Forest was often too expensive to be worth it, so we reduced the cost. Elyrion cant burn trees anymore, because thats a sacriligious disgrace in their culture.
-Improved map generator with distribution of resources closer tied to the tribe nature settings
This is a fancy way of saying that weve tried to make resource spawns a little more consistent to the nature of the tribes themselves by using terrain feature ratios. Most tribes will have a preferred resource when their terrain gets generated, such as Hoodrick starting with animals and Oumaji starting with fruit, and others will have a more reliable distribution of resources. We hope this change makes starts for the tribes more consistently viable.
-Replaced Giant reward in ruins with a Veteran Swordsman
A common complaint was games ending far too fast because someone managed to get a random Giant out of a ruin on turn 5, drastically shifting the balance of power very early on. We have removed these ruin Giants (and other super units) and replaced them with a Veteran Swordsman who can be found on any turn. Theyre a bit more mobile because they have Dash, but arent nearly as hardy as a Giant, so they should be more fun to play with and around.
-Replaced tech stealing when meeting a new tribe with star rewards based on that tribes score (3* per 1000 points rounded up, capped at 12*)
Probably the biggest change in this patch, you cant steal techs from other tribes when you meet them anymore. This has been replaced with a star reward based on their score when you meet them. We changed this for a few reasons, but primarily to both keep a tribes starting tech a bit more unique for longer and to function as a soft comeback mechanic for tribes who cant upgrade their cities on turn 0. This change also applies to the Domination gamemode, where tech stealing was normally disabled.
-Mountain defence bonus moved to Climbing tech
This small change was designed to give Xin-Xi a small buff and function as an overall buff for both mountains and the Climbing branch of technologies as a whole. This is a small step to making it much more fun, interesting, and important.
-Ruins can now appear next to villages and more likely on mountains
Removing ruin Giants wasnt the only change to ruins this patch, as theyre now more frequently placed on mountains and can now appear adjacent to villages, giving them a wider variety of places to appear.
-Some map types have been adjusted
Archipelago and Continents have been given adjustments so that theyre more uniform and interesting. Archipelagos should look more like.an archipelago, and Continents have been smoothed out a little so that they look better.
Cymanti Balance:
The Cymanti were stronger than we originally thought, so theyve been given some adjustments that we hope bring them down to a more reasonable level. We didnt want to just nerf them across the board, but give them a collection of buffs and nerfs to make them more fun to both play and play against.
-Increased defence reduction when poisoned
-Poison cures directly when healing unit once
Poison has been made more potent, removing defense bonuses and reducing defense by 30% (up from 20%), but is also now much more easily removed. Simply Recover or use the healing from a Mind Bender/Mycelium Stalk to remove it. This should make battles and sieges a bit more dynamic and require a more strategic use of poison.
-Removed movement penalty on Fungus
A very common complaint was Fungus being frustrating since it removed most movement options. This has been removed, and now it just harms and poisons units.
-Remove boost effect when attacked and exploring ruins
Boosts are a crucial part of the Cymanti strategy, but could be frustrating to play around. To emphasize that its a primarily offensive skill, getting attacked or using most abilities will remove the boost. Exploring a ruin is tough work!
-Centipede segments can now be converted by Mind Benders, capturing the entire Centipede
Ah, finally, a proper counter to Centipedes! :)
-Phychi get the Surprise ability that makes it avoid counter attacks
Since Phychis are so fragile they often get wiped out easily when attacking other ranged units. So, to help them out a little, we taught them a new, sneaky ability - Surprise. This means that they wont trigger retaliation attacks whenever they attack, so you can now use them to more easily apply poison to Battleships, Giants, Archers, and other such things without fear of being hit (and consequently, killed).
-Raychi price increased to 8*
-Hexapod price increased to 3*
We know that the Raychi and Hexapod dominated their respective domains, so theyve had their costs nerfed. Well be watching these units very closely, and wed like to hear what you think of them now that theyve been nerfed.
-Algae no longer gives pop, instead it connects trade networks
Algae is no longer designed to give population, but is now meant to properly function as a bridge, both for units and for your trade networks. Theyll connect to your Mycelium Stalks and allow you to connect cities across bodies of water more easily.
New Features:
-ELO rating for multiplayer games
-Show win ration on friend info
ELO? That rating thing from chess? Yep! Weve added ELO rankings to Polytopia! This is a good first step into making a more fun multiplayer experience for everyone! Youll also be able to track your win ratios against friends, just for that cherry on top of your already bitter rivalry. :)
UI Improvements:
-Added zoom in tech tree.
-Enabling/Disabling all tribes in tribe-picker screen by long pressing
-Soft keyboard no longer covers the "add friend" popup
-Multitouch improved
-Game stats info screen reworked
-Tech tree is displayed with the same background as the game-world.
-Bunch of minor bug fixes.
These dont need as much explanation, but wed still like to get your feedback on our UI improvements! We would like to point out the new Enable/Disable all tribes ability, so that you no longer have to manually tap the enable/disable button for all 16 tribes if you want to control the sort of opponents you find in a game.
-Updated Oumaji headscarf
Upon closer inspection, we realized that the Oumaji were wrapping their headscarves in the worst possible way, so we decided to take a trip to the Square to give them proper instruction on how to wrap their scarf around their cube heads for better sun and sand protection.
And thats the end of Balance Pass 2s changelog! We feel that these improvements will make the game more fun and help set the foundation for even more amazing things, like the upcoming Diplomacy technology! We encourage you to look at these notes as stepping stones toward something much greater, as we're currently testing out some new ideas. Stay tuned for more updates in the very near future!
General Balance: -Increase income for clearing forest to 2* -Increase price of knight to 10* -Lower price for burn forest -Elyrion can no longer burn forest -Improved map generator with distribution of resources closer tied to the tribe nature settings -replaced giant reward in ruins with a veteran swordsman -Replaced tech stealing when meeting a new tribe with star rewards based on that tribes score ( 3* per 1000 points rounded up, cap at 12* ) -Mountain defense bonus moved to climbing tech Cymanti Balance: -Increased defence reduction when poisoned -Poison cures directly when healing unit once -Removed movement penalty on fungus -Remove boost effect when attacked and exploring ruins -Centipedes segments can now be converted by mind benders -Phychi get surprise ability that makes it avoid counter attacks -Raychi price increased to 8* -Hexapod price increased to 3* -Algae no longer gives pop, instead it connects trade networks New Features: -ELO rating for multiplayer games -Show win ration on friend info UI Improvements: -Soft keyboard no longer cover "add friend" popup - Multitouch improved - Game stats info screen reworked - Tech tree is displayed with the same background as the game-world. -Added zoom in tech tree. - Enabling/Disabling all tribes in tribe-picker screen by long pressing - Bunch of minor bug fixes. Read more about this release on: http://balance2.midjiwan.com/
[bThe arrival of Quetzali diplomats is heralded by the blowing of horns, rattling of maracas, and the calls of a menagerie of birds! The Quetzali believe this awe-inspiring display will make diplomatic talks easier, but nothing can make up for the impending wave of their insufferable bird-related puns.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Quetzali Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Quetzali, our favorite bird-loving diplomats!
Not enough Quetzali in your life? We're having discounts on all Quetzali merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until September 30th!
Now, tell us what you think about the Quetzali in the comments!
-Zoythrus
"The lands of the Oumaji are home to the Onjimu Riders, an order of Shebron-back town criers who inform the townsfolk of the news through poetry! Now a crucial part of Oumaji culture, poetic delivery of the news has become a competitive sport, with rules, competitions, and even creative regional styles!"
Hello Polytopians,
A nice treat for you all, a second lore blurb about the Oumaji! Who knew the Oumaji were so cultured?
Just like before, we're still having discounts on all Oumaji merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until August 30th!
Now, tell us what you think about the Oumaji in the comments!
-Zoythrus
The Oumaji refer to any large grouping of people as a "hamu", which can also be applied to anywhere people congregate. Town Hall? "Hamu". Battlefield? "Hamu". The entire Square? That's right, "Hamu". It was the Battle of the Limdor Dunes that decided the proper number of people for a hamu - at least 5.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Oumaji Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Oumaji, our favorite Shebron-back marauders!
Not enough Oumaji in your life? We're having discounts on all Oumaji merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until August 30th!
Now, tell us what you think about the Oumaji in the comments!
-Zoythrus
Atop the Icopo Reefs are where the Aquarion built their seaside settlements, which are cozily nestled between the cracks of bright pink coral islets. At home on the coast, the amphibious Aquarion prefer to live where they can see both the majesty of the clear skies and the beauty of the placid seas.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Aquarion Tribe Week, a whole week dedicated to celebrating the Aquarion, our favorite trident-chucking marauders!
Not enough Aquarion in your life? We're having discounts on all Aquarion merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com for the whole week!
Now, tell us what you think about the Aquarion in the comments!
-Zoythrus
Zebasi architecture may seem simple, but is a perfect fit for the hot savanna climate. Inspired by the impressive mounds of Bolaza bugs, the ventilation in Zebasi structures was originally designed to keep the Royal Waongii Juice Storage cold for weeks, but now everyone can live in a naturally air-conditioned home!
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Zebasi Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Zebasi, our favorite animal-studying farmers!
Not enough Zebasi in your life? We're having discounts on all Zebasi merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until July 31st!
Now, tell us what you think about the Zebasi in the comments!
-Zoythrus
Some of our community members have organized the first Polympics, a special event with 10 fun challenges to compete in! We encourage you to go check them out! Signups end on July 12th!
Go to https://polytopia.fun for more info!
-Zoythrus
Summer is finally here and we want to celebrate this with a SUPER DISCOUNT. Someone might tell you that you should go outside, and if you do, that's fine but if you choose to stay inside you have a unique opportunity to get The Battle of Polytopia and DLCs at a 50% discount! This discount applies for Polytopia stuff everywhere - on Steam, on mobile (Special Tribes & Luxidoor), and we have even have plenty of discounts on the cool merchandise in our webshop! This promotion ends on July 8th so hurry up and tell your friends to go and get some Polytopia stuff now! Download Polytopia https://midjiwan.com/download.html
Did you know that Polytopians can sweat?!
Your enemies will shake in their boots now that you're aided by the new "Battle Preview" feature! Now you can gain a glimpse of the future before you attack! Just look for the sweat over enemies you can kill with the next attack, or the scary black and red rings under enemies that will kill you if you try to attack them.
You can also tap and hold on enemies (on Mobile devices) or simply hover over enemies (here on Steam) you can attack to get a more clear readout of how the battle will end up.
Now, go conquer your foes with this new information!
We've also got some other small changes, which you can see below! Please tell us what you think of this new Battle Preview and our other changes in the comments!
-Zoythrus
Changelog:
- Battle preview
- Award kills correctly when a unit explodes
- Mycelium no longer gives movement bonus
- Finish metropolis task when capturing high level city
- More likely to spawn further apart
- Sound updates
- Adjustments to Russian localization
- Dim background for better readability in menus
- Moved add friend button to top
- Fixed random tribe picking in online games
When you live in an archipelago, fish tend to be your primary food source. The Kickoo believe that the elaborate system of movements and rhythms of the mystical "Pelona Fish Ceremony" encourages schools of fish to enter their waters for easy harvesting.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Kickoo Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Kickoo, our favorite sea-faring fishmongers!
Not enough Kickoo in your life? We're having discounts on all Kickoo merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until June 30th!
Now, tell us what you think about the Kickoo in the comments!
-Zoythrus
Unlike other tribes, the Luxidoor democratically elect their Emperor. Of course, the richest candidate always succeeds, because Luxidoorians always vote for the wealthiest. The campaign trail is littered with promises of riches and displays of power to sway potential voters.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Luxidoor Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Luxidoor, our favorite turban-wearing Capitalists.
Not enough Luxidoor in your life? We're having discounts on all Luxidoor merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until May 31st!
Now, tell us what you think about the Luxidoor in the comments!
-Zoythrus
Balance Pass 1
Background
We have measured the win rate of the different tribes in online games completed in the last few months. We see that some tribes are a lot more prone to win than others. Today we are releasing a first balance pass that aim to make the tribes more equal! By looking at this chart it is obvious to see that Bardur, Luxidoor and Kickoo are overpowered. That is also a known fact in the competitive scene and those three tribes are banned in many competitions. A few other tribes are also falling behind and will receive some improvements later on to help them reach a competitive level. Cymanti is not present on this list because we do not have enough data on them yet. We will study them more closely in the next balance pass.
Process
To accomplish this we will do several balance passes and analyze the effect of them before we move on with the next pass. That way we can better understand the impact of the changes we make and correct them if necessary.
Adjustments
In this first pass we focus on balancing the overpowered tribes: Bardur, Luxidoor and Kickoo. We have experimented with a lot of different things and finally settled on four changes that we think will bring more balance to the world of Polytopia:
Less Whales
We made sure whales never hang out directly next to a city or next to other whales. This will remove situations where Kickoo start with one or more whales in the vicinity of their capital, giving them a jump start that is hard to beat.
Split up Forestry
Forests are a very powerful type of nature since they can provide population from both animals and lumber huts and also provide direct income by clearing it. Since the Forestry tech contains both the Clear Forest and Lumber Hut improvements it becomes much stronger than other level 2 techs. This benefits Bardur much more since they are closest to Forestry in the Tech Tree. Therefore we decided to split it up by moving Clear Forest to the Free Spirit tech. This change also opens up for new strategies in the Riding branch. Thematically it fits well with the destructive aspects of the Riding branch (Disband ability, Clear Forest, Burn Forest), while the Hunting branch now leans more towards Forest Management (Forest Defence, Grow Forest, Lumber Huts and Sawmills).
Reduced income from Clear Forest
Getting 2 stars from each forest is very powerful and overshadows most other strategies. When we moved it to Free Spirit it opened up a hyper express route to Knights and also invalidated the Forestry tech for most tribes. Therefore we decided to bring the reward down to 1 star.
Luxidoor Capital
The special force of the Luxidoor tribe is that they start with a huge city, but it seems that it might have been just a bit too huge, so we changed it from a level 3 to a level 2 city. This will make them more balanced while still keeping their unique play style in place.
Conclusion
All of these changes have been thoroughly tested by the alpha team and debated for eons. We are confident and hopeful that they will make Polytopia more balanced and fun to play, but we won't know for sure until we try it out. Thats why this release is so exciting! Hugs & Kisses, -Midjiwan
Hello Polytopians,
It's the beginning of the ri Tribe Week, a full week of communing with nature and riding Unicorns!
Tending to the forest isn't just a hobby for ri citizens, but a way of life, and we will plant a real tree for each ri Tribe we sell this week! Can we plant more than last year? Go and buy ri or get your friends to do it!
If you have already purchased ri, you can go to the Canopy Reforestation Project website and donate directly by going here: https://donate.earthday.org/donate_to_the_canopy_project#earthday
Now, tell us what you think about the ri in the comments!
-Zoythrus
Tangy, refreshing, and fits in your hand, the plump Ixi fruit is a delightfully versatile fruit that can be found all throughout the lands of the Xin-Xi. The Ixi fruits are considered a token of good fortune, and are often handed to traveling parties to bestow them luck on their adventures.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Xin-Xi Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the Xin-Xi, our favorite mountain-climbing traditionalists.
Not enough Xin-Xi in your life? We're having discounts on all Xin-Xi merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until March 30th!
Now, tell us what you think about the Xin-Xi in the comments!
-Zoythrus
Midjiwan announces PolyPet - The pet robot you need to tame.
Midijwan, the developers behind The Battle of Polytopia are now entering the world of robotics as they prepare to launch their first pet robot in collaboration with the Japanese toy manufacturer Eipurirufru Co. Ltd. The PolyPet is expected to excite the robotics community since it is the first robotic pet using Emotional Artificial Intelligence. All actions of the PolyPet are enriched through emulated emotions, making it a somewhat unpredictable, yet intriguing, robotic companion that will quickly work its way into your heart. By combining Explainable AI and Deep Learning, the PolyPet can mimic 5 basic emotions: sadness, happiness, confusion, anger, and suspicion. In addition, the PolyPet is also equipped with various other features such as speech recognition, full body motion, fall management, problem solving algorithms, and sound localization. This requires its owner to actually teach the robotic pet how to act in a human social context. One drawback from this advanced type of AI is that some of the PolyPets are experiencing issues like a bad temper and low self esteem as well as questioning the meaning of their own existence. In some cases, The PolyPets have developed tendencies toward prejudice that have led to badmouthing other PolyPets, especially if they are from other tribes. The less aggressive ones have sometimes developed traits such as navel-gazing, interrupting others, philosophical rambling, and constantly talking about themselves. Some of the units have even started writing endless poems about the hardship in life as well as speculations about what was on the other side of the Square. While Midjiwan has promised these issues will be solved in an upcoming software update, most defective units can also be corrected by inserting a 12 screwdriver into the prefrontal cortex (sold separately). Early tests have proven that the PolyPet can be a bit of a handful for its caretakers, but we are constantly updating the software to handle these somewhat negative traits in their personalities," says the lead researcher Chang Chi-yun at Yamagoza University, The expected retail price for a PolyPet is set at $1999 and is available for pre-order at the Eipurirufru Co. Ltd. website. Disclaimer: Midjiwan AB, Eipurirufru Co. Ltd., and the University of Yamagoza are not responsible for any bodily injury, destruction of property, due to an aggressive or overly emotional PolyPet. Please use adult supervision when handling a PolyPet. The PolyPet requires 14 AA batteries to function (sold separately).
Heya, Polytopians!
We'd like to update you on our current plans now that Cymanti have been released!
The Moment Youve All Been Waiting For
Up next is something you've all been waiting for - Diplomacy! While we're not ready yet to go into detail on everything that entails, we can assure you it's going to be the next technology after Shields and will let you have some interesting interactions with your neighbors. Embassies, intrigue, and constantly-shifting treaties should keep the game much more dynamic and fun!
Is that it?
No, dont worry, theres more! In addition to Diplomacy, were going to be doing some balance passes throughout the year to adjust some of the tribes to make multiplayer a bit more fun! Buffs to some, nerfs to others, and adjustments scattered throughout. After our changes, you might actually find some tribes youve probably never seen before in multiplayer. :)
Makes sense, but what else can we expect in the future?
Well, weve got another set of Tribe Duels planned for the summer (a fan favorite), tons of bug fixes, improvements to multiplayer, more balance passes and adjustments, and some really cool secrets planned for later down the road!
2021 is shaping up to be an action-packed year for Polytopia! Were glad that youre here to join us on this journey, and we assure you that weve got a whole bunch of fun things in store!
-Zoythrus
Music has always been a part of Polytopian life, but the first superstars were the Imperius Philharmonic Orchestra, who quickly attracted Imperius citizens from all over the Empire! Remember, any rumors that the Imperius government is using the shows to hypnotize their citizens into obedience are nonsense.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the Imperius Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the organization of the Imperius, our favorite well-oiled empire!
Not enough Imperius in your life? We're having discounts on all Imperius merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until March 31st!
Now, tell us what you think about the Imperius in the comments!
-Zoythrus
After over a year of waiting, were ready to introduce the next Special tribe for Polytopia - the bug-loving, swamp-dwelling Cymanti! Get ready to outfit massive bugs for war, walk on water through the power of algae, and bathe your many foes in a steady stream of poisons!
In addition to releasing this new tribe as DLC, weve also improved the Philosophy technology to provide an even greater tech cost reduction!
20% discount on the Cymanti until February 24th.
Link to Cymanti DLC Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1529660/The_Battle_of_Polytopia__Cymanti_Tribe/
Changelog:
* Coaxed the Cymanti from their wetlands out into the Square - The Cymanti have joined as a new Special Tribe!
* Taught the Polytopians about how to improve their schools through the power of reading, so Literacy (Philosophy) now gives a 33% technology discount (20% -> 33%)
* ri Polytaurs are no longer bound to their place of enchantment, and no longer take up a population slot in the city where theyre made
* Various bug fixes and improvements (and the addition of new bugs, both big and small, of course)
[previewyoutube=NGWpvWgZrxQ;full][/previewyoutube]
They haunt these mountains, throwing rocks and pushing unsuspecting pilgrims to their doom!", the storyteller tells the children about the mighty Oo-Li, "But don't fret, little ones, the mighty Oo-Li in these hills provide blessings to our cities when we give them offerings of Llamo meat and tasty fruit.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the beginning of Ai-Mo Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the serenity of the Ai-Mo, our favorite group of isolationists!
Not enough Ai-Mo in your life? We're having discounts on all Ai-Mo merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until February 28th!
Now, tell us what you think about the Ai-Mo in the comments!
-Zoythrus
Hey Polytopians! Just a small patch with a few fixes. -Zoythrus Changelog: - Improved ruin spawns - Internal tribe disputes have been settled (random siege fires fixed) - Fixed achieving Metropolis by taking over high level city - Fixed ability to promote unit after capturing city - Meet tribe triggers when discovering enemy city - Various bug fixes and improvements
The Polaris Ice Bank serves as a grand display of what the Gaami are capable of. Built at the site where the Polaris first made contact with the Gaami, the rewards which flow out of it remind Polaris citizens of what they owe to their subzero saviors.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the beginning of the Polaris Tribe Week, a full week of talking about the enigmatic Gaami and their icy servants!
Not enough Polaris in your life? We're having discounts on all Polaris merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until January 17th!
Now, tell us what you think about the Polaris in the comments!
-Zoythrus
The Ydakk are best known for their extensive and elaborate network of roads for their many travelers. Often beginning as well-tread routes for merchant caravans and religious pilgrims, all roads are paved over by a dedicated team of road builders and every brick is blessed by a Tizjhan priest.
Hello Polytopians,
It's the beginning of the New Year and also the Ydakk Tribe Moon, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the majesty of the Ydakk, our favorite wandering merchants!
Not enough Ydakk in your life? We're having discounts on all Ydakk merchandise at https://shop.midjiwan.com until January 31st!
Now, tell us what you think about the Ydakk in the comments!
-Zoythrus
Hey Polytopians,
Besides our normal holiday events, its the time for our yearly Concordance Day Celebration!
What is Concordance Day? is what you probably just asked yourself. Well, its a holiday celebrated on the Square by all of the Polytopians to commemorate a weeklong peace a really long time ago by their ancestors! In past years, weve taken this time to talk about the Ancients, the empire of the first Polytopians, and their Ancient Polytopian Civil War, and this year will be no different!
Much like last year, were going to hand you a blurb and you get to draw the picture to accompany it! Why would you want to do this? Because besides us sharing the winning artwork with the community, youll win a free copy of Polytopia on Steam (with DLC), limited edition stickers, free merchandise, and a secret. ;)
Without further ado, here is the blurb that should inspire you:
"Legends tell of Topan and Pol, who stepped out of the Moon and onto the Square to become the first Polytopians. As their descendants multiplied and spread across the land, they formed an empire which the tribes know now as The Ancients. Here begins the story of the Ancient Polytopians."
Send your submissions to feedback@midjiwan.com, where theyll be reviewed and the winner chosen by Midjiwan, himself!
The contest starts now and will end on January 7th at 7pm UTC, so make sure you have sent in your submissions for the contest before then. The winner will be announced on January 8th at 7pm UTC.
-Zoythrus
Hey Polytopians, Its that time of year again, a time of merriment, love, peace, and sweet deals! Weve got some things planned for you this year, so lets get right to it!
Steam Winter Sales
First, this is the beginning of the Steam Winter Sales! Both the game and its DLC are -35% off! Polytopia is the perfect gift for everyone in your life, and this is the best time to pick up a copy or any missing DLC for yourself or a friend! Nothing brings people together quite like the eternal warring between Polytopians. :)
Theres More?
We have noticed someone dressed as Santa appearing on the Square. Who knows what mischief they're up to?! Be careful out there! The sale and the appearance of St. Nick will end on January 5th. Happy Holidays, from all of us at Midjiwan! -Zoythrus
Hey Polytopians! Just a small patch with a few fixes. -Zoythrus Changelog: - Fixed crop outline size - Fixed interaction bar double-animating if visiting settings.
Hello Polytopians! This is just a small patch to fix a small bug, nothing too grand. :) -Zoythrus Changelog: - Fixed a bug where you sometimes have to press a tile several times to select it
Hello Polytopians! We're releasing an update that addresses some small issues and patches some exploits. Now that Moonrise has been released on mobile, we'll be working more on bug fixes for all platforms. Note: We've gotten some reports of slowness, and we're looking into it. Please report if your game has felt more sluggish than normal for any reason. -Zoythrus Changelog: - Any unit can capture cities (even if the text says otherwise) - Sanctuaries no longer count animals that live in forests with lumber huts - Fix incorrect score when pushing with Polytaurs - Fix unresponsive buttons - Optimizations - Various bugfixes
"The process of choosing the next Bardur Jarl is simple, they choose candidates and roll a dice. Bardurians believe the will of the gods is best found in circumstances of chance and chaos, such as the heat of battle."
Hello Polytopians,
In this post, wed like to tell you more about the Bardur! It takes brave and strong people to make a home in a land of endless snow, but like the tall trees, the Bardur thrive. Mighty hunters with a knack for making a wonderful meal out of the most terrible beasts, the Bardur are known for their skills in survival.
They ride the ferocious Baerian:
And eat the tart gelfuss Berries:
The Bardur begin the game with the Hunting technology, which allows them to harvest animals from the start of the game. This early game boost in resources gives Bardur an excellent head start over other tribes. Hunting is also adjacent to the Forestry technology, meaning that the Bardur are often the fastest to start exploiting nearby trees for either growth or resources.
In addition to being the closest to the Forestry technology, the Bardur are also the closest to Mathematics, which unlocks Catapults. This provides them quite a bit of versatility, as Catapults can be used for both offense and defense, either seiging a fortified city or holding off a naval attack. With easy access to Hunting, Forestry, and Mathematics, Bardur is an exceptionally flexible tribe.
If you like a tribe that can thrive in the worst of environments, or simply want to experience the rush of hunting a Baerian, then the Bardur are the tribe for you!
-Zoythrus
During the Steam Autumn Sales you get the opportunity to nominate your favourite games forn the prestigious Steam Awards. We have suggested the category outstanding visual style which applies to games that you have a distinctive look and feel. You can choose to nominate us in another category if you think thats more suitable. We are extremely grateful for any nomination we can get! Note that, as Part of the Autumn Sales, from now until December 1st, we've given the game and the accompanying DLCs a 35% discount!
Hey, Polytopians! Autumn is one of the more amazing times of the year, with its browning leaves and colder weather, and we wanted to help Steam celebrate this amazing season by allowing discounts on The Battle of Polytopia for the Steam Autumn Sale! From now until December 1st, we've given the game and the accompanying DLCs a 35% discount! This gives you yet another chance to pick up the game or any DLC that you might be missing for either yourself or a friend! Have fun! -Zoythrus
Hello Polytopians! We've got an update that only introduces a few small fixes. As we near the release of Moonrise on mobile, expect a few more updates that are simply tons of itty-bitty, near-negligible fixes. -Zoythrus Changelog: - Various bug fixes
"Where do Polytopians go when they die? No one knows for sure, but the Vengir believe that souls of the dead pass through the Gate of Power to Hirkthr, the Underworld. To remember their fallen, the Vengir hosts a huge Skull Party where they wear the cranium of their favorite relative."
Hello Polytopians,
In this post, wed like to tell you more about the Vengir! Pushed into the wastes by their peers, the Vengir have been festering on their rage, pain, and hate for many years, waiting for the time to strike back! Armed with swords, savage Rhino-pigs, and their fanatic adoration of combat, the Vengir have called together their war bands to take back what they deem to be theirs.
They ride the ravenous Rhino-pig:
And eat the toxic Thxando Mushrooms:
The Vengir begin the game with the Smithery technology, and start with a Swordsman instead of a Warrior. This Swordsman, as well as the power to train more from the start, outclasses the starting units of any other tribe in the early game. This, of course, is balanced out by their starting terrain, which has much lower rates of early resources in exchange for larger amounts of advanced resources.
Rush and Pillage! The Vengir excel at early conquest, and can easily get the jump on tribes who have the misfortune of starting adjacent to them. The Vengir are designed to snuff out weak neighboring tribes, then use their lands and resources to fuel their war machine, further slaughtering their fellow Polytopians all the way to victory. Although, on the flip side, they can easily run out of steam if countered early on, as the wastelands they begrudgingly call home cant foster much of an economy without support from conquered lands.
If you like a tribe that is fueled by brutality and a need for vengeance, or simply want to help the underdog win for once, then the Vengir are the tribe for you!
-Zoythrus
Its the spookiest time of year again, and wed like to highlight some of that spookiness that goes on in The Battle of Polytopia this time of the year. First, to celebrate the start of the Steam Halloween sale, from the 29th of October to the 2nd of November, were putting the game on sale! At a 35% discount, this is a great time to pick up the game or any DLC youre missing! In addition to the sale, you can help the Vengir celebrate their mysterious Skull Party by building the Gate of Power, which will allow your troops to decorate themselves with the skull masks they brought from home just for this very special occasion! This can be activated throughout the entire month of November! This Vengir Skull Party event only applies to the Steam Moonrise edition, and will be temporary, so make sure you dont miss out!
Hey Polytopians! Just a small changelog today fixing a few small issues! -Zoythrus Changelog: - Added ability to see pending friends in the player picker - Various bug fixes
Hey Polytopians! Just a small changelog today fixing a few small issues! -Zoythrus Changelog: - Fixed an issue causing Kickoo to sometimes spawn with only one fish - Fixed an issue with some tasks not updating upon completion - Improved the replay experience when playing the same game on multiple devices - Various bugfixes and improvements
"When the reigning Quetzali 'All-Feather' dies or resigns, a successor is chosen through the Tichitelxi Ceremony. With offerings of food in hand, Quetzali children hope for selection by the Bird Gods - a shimmer of light from the Pillar of Ixquezel at the Temple of Ixte'wop."
Hello Polytopians,
In this post, wed like to tell you more about the Quetzali! The Quetzali are a pious people devoted to the will of the Bird Gods and the defense of their cubistic jungles. Even though they adopt an outward policy of security and diplomacy, they are more than willing to lift their shields and ride their Qui-Qui birds into battle at a moment's notice!
They ride the fleet-footed Qui-Qui:
And eat the ever-reliable Qorn:
The Quetzali begin the game with the Shields technology and start with a Defender instead of a Warrior. The Shields technology allows them to train more Defenders from the start and gives them a defensive leg up on their competition. With the large amount of forests in their territory and access to Defenders, the Quetzali excel at entrenchment.
Defenders are slow, but work as a mobile wall, and are able to function as a frontline defense for your weaker units, such as Archers or Mind Benders. While they might not be great on offense, their high HP and defensive value can work wonders for you if theyre positioned properly. Another, often overlooked benefit of Defenders is how effective they are for use in a navy. Since naval units use the HP of their base unit, and Defenders have 15HP, theyre a cheap unit to build sturdy boats with.
If you like a tribe that can hold any line they choose, or just want to spend your life surrounded by the majesty of birds, then the Quetzali are the tribe for you!
-Zoythrus
Lets Talk About Moonrise on Mobile
You might be wondering, Where is the Mobile Moonrise update? We thought itd be a good time to talk a bit about our plans for the near future.
Moonrisebut on your phone!
Even before the success of the recent Moonrise release on Steam, weve been talking about bringing all of the new, spiffy features onto your mobile devices, replacing the game you have now with this newer, shinier version. We are working very hard to complete this, as we want everyone to experience the cool new features, like random matchmaking, the new Creative mode, larger maps, and mirror matches.
Why is it taking so long?
The main challenge lies in figuring out all of the minor details related to getting the game to work well on mobile. Compatibilities, bugs, optimization, stability, migrations, and all other sorts of these nitty-gritty aspects. While they might be small, they are numerous, and working out the multitude of these issues simply takes time - sometimes longer than initial estimates. Our tentative plan is a release during 2020, barring any sort of freak events, like a Gaami invasion or a spontaneous Ai-Mo festival in the office.
And what about the future?
During the times where we all have to wait for an update, were regularly asked Is this game still being updated? Are we getting new content? The answer is simple - yes! Weve got some pretty cool things in store that were excited to show you, such as the new Diplomacy technology after Shields, improvements to multiplayer functionality, reworks, a new tribe, and tons of other stuff we cant talk about yet! While these new features wont be in the Moonrise update, they will follow afterwards, as wed like to make sure that the new update works flawlessly before we start sticking in new stuff. Big patches like this one are all about establishing a new, solid foundation - one that well build a nice, pretty house on top of. We know that waiting is hard, but we can assure you that great things are coming. Moonrise will usher in a new age for Polytopia - one more accessible, fun, and amazing than ever before! The wait will pay off, and before you know it, youll be partying on Massive Dryland maps and navigating the chaos of a 15 player Quetzali match, all from your phone!
Is there a place to get my other Moonrise questions answered?
Well, my friend, Im glad you asked! Our Moonrise FAQ has been updated with common questions relating to the mobile update, so we encourage you to check it out by clicking this link! -Zoythrus
Hello everyone! We've got a new list of patchnotes! By popular demand, we've increased metal and mountain rates across the board, as well as helped out Xin-Xi and Quetzali by providing them more metal. Please tell us what you think of this change in the comments! -Zoythrus Bug Fixes: - Added map type to game summary and tribe picking - Fixed an issue that enabled Navalons to capture unowned villages - Fixed an issue that caused the replay to continue playing behind popups - Fixed an issue with underflowing currency when upgrading a city beyond level 10 - Fixed an issue where players became a bots tribe in multiplayer - Fixed kick/resign related issues - Various UI and crash fixes Balance Changes: General: - Mountain spawn rate increased: .15 -> .2 - Metal spawn rate increased: .5 -> .85 Xin-Xi: - Mountain spawn rate increased: 1.5 -> 2 - Metal spawn rate increased: 1 -> 1.5 Quetzali: - Metal spawn rate increased: .1 -> 1
"The Hoodrick are known throughout the Square for their baked goods. Quissberries can be made into pies, cobblers, tarts, fritters, breads, jams, and a multitude of other delightful confections, and even their enemies have to agree that no one can bake like the Hoodrick."
Hello Polytopians,
In this post, wed like to tell you more about the Hoodrick! The Hoodrick are crafty folk known for their skills with a bow. When theyre not baking cakes and taming Hooxe, theyre sending a rain of arrows upon unsuspecting foes!
They ride the hardworking Hooxe:
And eat the delicious Quissberry:
The Hoodrick begin the game with the Archery technology and start with an Archer instead of a Warrior. The Archery technology provides them with the ability to train more Archers as well as a defensive bonus for all units in forests. Having ranged units and plenty of forests means that the Hoodrick are often very difficult to siege.
With the power to make Archers immediately, the Hoodrick can easily outrange early enemies and use those Archers as support for stronger units later on. Also, due to their terrain having a strong bias for forests, on top of the easily defendable spots, the Hoodrick have some additional versatility if they can manage to research the Forestry technology as well.
If you want a tribe that can snipe their enemies from miles away, or just want a peaceful life munching on sweets under the shade of a tree, then the Hoodrick are the tribe for you!
-Zoythrus
Hello Polytopians! We've gotten some concerns about the game not functioning properly, and so we're releasing a patch that should correct these issues. If you're still having graphical glitches or other errors, please inform us in the Steam discussions. -Zoythrus Changelog: - Fixed an issue that could prevent the game from loading some graphical assets and sprites - Fixed an issue that enabled destroying and rebuilding of monuments - Various replay improvements - Various UI improvements
"The Mausoleum at Ojibake is the final resting place of Mubehasi the Undefeated, the legendary leader of the Oumaji hordes and unifier of the Seven Oumaji Clans. The nearby tower holds the records of their mighty reign, and ensures that the memory of Mubehasi lives on in the hearts of all Oumaji."
Hello Polytopians,
As our last weekly update for a little while, wed like to tell you more about the Oumaji! The Oumaji are desert nomads famous for their Shebron husbandry and skill in the saddle. Known for their penchant for lightning-fast raids and guerilla tactics, the Oumaji are a formidable foe.
They ride the enduring Shebron:
And eat the nutritious Sajaa cactus:
The Oumaji begin the game with the Riding technology, which provides them with a free Rider instead of a Warrior and the ability to train more from the games start. Since Riders have the Escape skill, hit-and-run tactics are the bread-and-butter of early Oumaji strategy.
With the power to make Riders immediately, the Oumaji have an unprecedented ability to scout around the nearby land and capture cities faster than anyone else. Of course, due to how the costs of new technologies will rise with every city, you have to be careful to not back yourself into a corner where you cant purchase any more.
If you want a tribe that lives a fast-paced life in the saddle, or just want a peaceful life resting in the shade of an oasis, then the Oumaji are the tribe for you!
-Zoythrus
Hello Polytopians! We've released a patch that should disable the mandatory "tutorial" Perfection game, as it was causing us problems. It may return later, but in an improved state. This patch doesn't include any other bug fixes, but rest assured that we're working hard to fix the issues you've been reporting. Expect another patch very soon. :) -Zoythrus Change Log: - Removed mandatory singleplayer tutorial
The wait is over!
The award-winning Battle of Polytopia: Moonrise has finally released on Steam! It's playable on Windows, MacOSX, and Linux, and is currently 33% off for an entire week!
Now, head to the store page to pick up a copy!
If you have any questions about Moonrise, we encourage you to check out our FAQ!
https://steamcommunity.com/app/874390/discussions/0/2649756041876569670/
-Zoythrus
"The Yadakk are well known for their interest in both art and education, often building museums and schools in their trade hubs. Of course, most art and education revolve around bartering skills and Khamelk husbandry."
Hello Polytopians,
In a continuation of our weekly updates, wed like to tell you more about the Ydakk! Molded by a harsh existence through a nomadic lifestyle on the Khalee Plains, the Ydakk became merchants famed for their elaborate trade network. These jovial merchants are always ready for a good deal, great stories, and a life full of adventure.
They ride the steadfast Khamelk:
And eat the juicy Khizuz:
The Ydakk begin the game with the Roads technology, allowing a level of flexibility and growth options unavailable to other tribes early on. Since roads double the movement of units that use them, its possible to get a Knight to move 6 tiles in one turn!
In addition to the convenience of a movement bonus, roads will allow you to connect your cities to the capital. Doing so provides 1 population in the capital, and 1 population in the connected city, allowing your capital to grow extensively as long as you keep conquering and connecting cities! On the first turn of the game, its also possible to build a road immediately out of your capital, allowing your initial warrior a chance to get a head start on finding another city or possibly a ruin!
If you want a tribe that uses roads as the backbone of an empire or military force, or just want a tribe that will take you to the ends of the Square on the back of a Khamelk, then the Ydakk are the tribe for you!
-Zoythrus
"The Aquarion empire is vigilantly defended by the mighty behemoths, the Crabs. It was a pact long ago that brought the Crabs and the Aquarion together, and this pact will remain until peace is brought to the Square once again."
Hello Polytopians,
Wed like to tell you more about the Aquarion, Polytopias first Special Tribe! Having risen from the depths of the ocean to fight in Square-wide struggle, the water-breathing, fish-like Aquarion have summoned their aquatic allies to take dominion over their land-dwelling kin.
They ride the agile Turmelon:
And eat the prickly Tunico:
Unlike the other tribes, the Aquarion have a unique style of gameplay. Instead of getting Riders, Knights, or Giants, the Aquarion are given replacements, the quick Amphibian, ranged Tridention, and hardy Crab, respectively. These units are all amphibious, meaning they can move from land to water tiles, and back, with ease! The Aquarion are also given new replacement technologies to make this new gameplay style possible.
The Aquarion have a unique relationship with the water that other tribes dont have. While they still have access to the standard naval units, the Aquarion have new units that excel in amphibious hit and run tactics. The Amphibian, Tridention, and Crab all have Escape, meaning they are very hard to pin down when near a coast, as they can simply retreat away from enemy attacks. Since Aquarion terrain is full of water, they are able to get out onto the seas very easily!
If you like a tribe that has a unique water-based gameplay, or you simply have a fondness for the sea, then the Aquarion are the perfect tribe for you!
-Zoythrus
Hello Steam Fans!
Finally, the moment youve all been waiting for - the release date for the award-winning, action-packed The Battle of Polytopia: Moonrise on Steam! Soon you can experience the thrills of growing an empire, riding a graceful Xini-Kai through the beautiful cherry blossom forests, hunting the fearsome Baerion deep in the Bardurian forests, flying on the back of a magical dragon over herds of Unicorns, dodging the barrage of one thousand Hoodrick arrows, and crushing your enemies beneath your low-poly boots all from the safety of your home computer on August 4th! Yes, you heard us right, August 4th! Thats in 3 weeks!
The Battle of Polytopia: Moonrise will cost 14.99 with a 33% discount during the first 24 hours, and youll get access to all 12 of the Regular tribes for free in addition to the game itself!
We hope to see you all on the battlefield!
Check out our FAQ for more information on The Battle of Polytopia: Moonrise and all the new features!
https://polytopia.io/support/
-Zoythrus
"M'basana Jerozi, more commonly known as the "Geroffy," was the first of many animals to be cataloged by Zebasi scholars in the Zuzanna Yaya, the Square's largest compendium of flora and fauna. Horticulture, zoology, botany, and biology are all fields of study for the inquisitive inhabitants of Zeboya."
Hello Polytopians,
In a continuation of our weekly updates, wed like to tell you more about the Zebasi! Hailing from the land of Zeboya, the breadbasket of the Square, the Zebasi spend their days working their farms or leisurely watching the sun set on their serene savanna. A jovial and inquisitive folk, the Zebasi are always looking for new ways to understand the world around them.
They ride the tall Geroffy:
And eat the juicy Waongii:
The Zebasi begin the game with the Farming technology and plenty of nearby crops just waiting to be harvested. This technology allows them to grow their cities a lot, oftentimes larger than other tribes.
The more you grow a city, the more opportunities you have to acquire Giants for that next great offensive, or Parks to help raise your score in Perfection or Glory. The Farming technology also provides access to the Construction technology, allowing you to build Windmills which will let you get extra population from the many farms youll build.
If you want a tribe that can grow massive cities, or simply like watching geroffies stroll leisurely among the baocacia trees, then the Zebasi are the right tribe for you!
-Zoythrus
"Carts full of gold, jewels, fabrics, and incense flow out of the temple of Exigeluss, the God of Wealth, blessing even the poorest of Luxidoor with a life of extravagance. Of course, nothing is free, and the Emperor wonders what Exigeluss will ask for in return"
Hello, Polytopians!
In a continuation of our weekly updates, wed like to tell you more about the Luxidoor! These wealthy snobs prefer a life of decadence from the safety of their mighty capital! A people of business, the Luxidoorian streets are lined with markets and a multitude of shopkeepers trying to peddle their wares to anyone with the cash.
They ride the enormous Phantrix:
And eat the succulent Lni Fruit:
Unlike the other tribes, the Luxidoor dont start the game with a technology, but with a larger capital. Their capital begins at level 3 and with a Wall, so they begin with quite the advantage!
The Luxidoorian bonus might not seem as flashy as the bonus of other tribes, but make no mistake, a larger capital provides you a myriad of early game options. Starting with an income of +4 stars a turn, or slots to support 4 units at once, the Luxidoor get a head start in both economy and in warfare. Their land is also abundant in fruit and trees, and can make getting an early Giant relatively easy in many circumstances. The Luxidoor are a force to be reckoned with!
If you like a tribe that has a fantastic early game and excels at bragging to everyone else about just how rich they are, the Luxidoor are the right tribe for you!
-Zoythrus
Hello! Just another small changelog as we near release. My sources tell me that what you're playing now is an effective Release Candidate, meaning that what you're playing might be what you see at release. As usual, if you find any issues, please report them in the Discussions. Now, onto the notes. Changelog: - Popup clickthrough issue is fixed - Times (minutes, seconds) now account for localization - Games no longer get stuck at waiting for a bot to pick a tribe after kicking a player before the start of the game - Added popup when eliminating an enemy tribe - List of build options is now sorted by price - Fixed names for AI players - Fixed an issue that prevented some ruins from being examined - Fixed an issue that prevented some players from unlocking tribes using the Steam DLCs - Bardur starting resources adjusted -Zoythrus
Looking for a challenge? The POLYTOPIA SUMMER SKIRMISH will test all of your Polytopian skills against the best players in the world and let you compete for glory and prizes! Click this link to find out more! Sign up before July 5th to join!
https://polytopia.fun
Hello Polytopians,
In a continuation of our weekly updates, wed like to tell you more about the Ai-Mo! These isolationist tribespeople are more interested in meditating and living in harmony instead of fighting, but are more than willing to pick up their swords when the need arises!
They ride the diligent Llamo:
And love to eat the spicy L-po Chilis:
Starting the game with the Meditation tech, the Ai-Mo get a head start toward unlocking the powerful and tactically useful Mind Benders. Besides having the magical power to heal all adjacent units, Mind Benders can convert adjacent enemy units to your side!
The Meditation tech primarily allows for Mountain temples to be constructed on mountains in your territory, allowing for an easier time achieving a great score when playing Perfection. More importantly, though, Meditation allows the Ai-Mo to achieve the Altar of Peace from the start of the game, assuming you dedicate the first 5 turns of the match to pacifism. That free monument means an early boost to a city, possibly even a free level up!
If you like a tribe that can focus their inner peace into the destruction of their enemies, then the Ai-Mo are the right tribe for you!
-Zoythrus
"The iconic strips on the foreheads of the Ai-Mo are made from the dye of the Issi flower, which is believed to improve mental clarity. Originally a focus to aid monks in meditation, the strips became a symbol of serenity and community, and are a staple of Ai-Moyan culture to this day."
Hello Polytopians,
In a continuation of our weekly updates, wed like to tell you more about the Xin-Xi! Named after the tallest mountain on the Square, the Xin-Xi are avid climbers with a rich culture and deep traditions! They ride the graceful Xini-Kai and love to eat the delightfully tangy Ixi fruit.
Starting the game with the Climbing tech, the Xin-Xi have the power to climb mountains from the start of the game. Since mountains provide extended sight range, this early scouting advantage can provide them with some very important intel, such as nearby ruins or cities.
The Climbing tech also gets them a head start toward Mind Benders, the Mountain defense bonus, Mines, Forges, and Swordsmen, allowing Xin-Xi players some interesting options that other, more generalized, tribes might not have easy access to. Lastly, their terrain generates more mountains than usual, so the Xin-Xi often have a very defensible section of land, since mountains are difficult for enemies to cross. While not as flashy as other tribes, the Xin-Xi are good and solid, providing a few nifty tricks that can help them get an advantage over their foes.
If you like a tribe that can traverse mountains and play defensively, youll love the Xin-Xi!
-Zoythrus
"While every tribe has their own rituals surrounding the laying of an egg, the Xin-Xi are well known for their elaborate performances. At dawn, recently laid Xin-Xi eggs are painted with bright, vibrant colors and mesmerizing patterns, all while a troupe of village musicians play a song to ward off evil spirits."
Hello Polytopians,
Much like last week, wed like to take a dive into one of the tribes! This week is the Imperius, the Squares most regimented and organized tribe. Imperius citizens are always ready for battle, and rarely take off their helmets, as danger could strike at any moment! They ride the hardy Mado and eat juicy Lumaepeles, and are always ready for a challenge!
Starting the game with the Organization tech, the Imperius get a head start toward Defenders, Windmills, and farms. The Organization tech also allows the Imperius to harvest fruit from the start of the game, helping them grow speedily. Their terrain has no specializations, so youll find a generally equal amount of fruit, animals, forests, mountains, and etc. Because of these simple, yet powerful, bonuses, the Imperius are a good, all-around tribe for any playstyle, and benefit both new and veteran players alike!
If you like a jack-of-all-trades tribe, youll love the Imperius!
-Zoythrus
"The highly efficient society of the Imperius has inspired them to build grand libraries, write breathtaking stage plays, erect mighty monuments, mix delicious drinks, and maintain a multitude of beautiful gardens! You'll never find a more organized or more fun place on the Square!"
Hello, beta testers! We've got a small patch with handful of bug fixes! Play around, and tell us what you think in the comments! -Zoythrus Patch Notes: - Fixed an issue where game progress was lost if the device turned off mid game - Fixed an issue where a won game would be considered as a loss and show the wrong ending screen - Fixed an issue with the start screen on Mac - Fixed an issue with scrolling on Mac track pads - Fixed an issue that froze the map when clicking capture action using middle mouse button - The circle menu for training units now scales with the amount of options to choose from - Improved the animation when capturing cities - OK button is now the default selection in popups again - Minor UI improvements
Hello Polytopians,
With the Steam release right around the corner, wed like to give some of our newer players a chance to meet the tribes ahead of time! So, today, wed like to talk about our favorite sailors, the Kickoo! An adventurous bunch, the Kickoo love the water and everything there is to know about boats and overseas trade. Riding speedy Leeons and harvesting delicious banoos, the Kickoo are a force to be reckoned with.
Beginning with the Fishing tech, the Kickoo are best suited for playstyles that revolve around navies. Since no one else gets a head start into the Fishing branch of techs, Kickoo players are usually uncontested when trying to get out onto the water. Their terrain is designed to maximize water, so youll have plenty of space for ports, and subsequently, Custom Houses for maximum star production.
If you like water or sailing, youll love the Kickoo!
-Zoythrus
"When Kickoo sailors aren't sailing, they prefer to play sports! Footraces, wrestling, and canoeing are common, but the most popular sport is Hak'ilani, which is similar to tennis but played by 4 players on a specially-made floating platform. Don't fall off!"
Hello, beta testers! This is a simple patch with a handful of important bug fixes! Test it out and tell us what you think in the comments! Remember, please report any bugs you find! -Zoythrus Beta Patch 2.0.8 notes: - Improved line break handling, especially when using other languages - Various UI improvements - Various improvements to moving around the map - Added the tribe ratings to the throne room and fixed the sorting - Improved battle animations - Added game settings information to the screen when joining a game - Added a delay between clicking "Next Turn" - News are now updating properly - Fixed an issue with unit sprites showing in wrong position after replay - Fixed an issue where villages were not considered as roads - Fixed an issue with leaving pending games - Fixed an issue locking the game when leaving it while AI is playing - Fixed an issue with the sunrise easter egg - Fixed an issue with action buttons multiplying - Fixed an issue where double clicking on "resume game" froze the app - Fixed an issue with the game crashing on when building an Ice Bank - Fixed an issue where a unit could be moved after landing from a boat - Fixed an issue where unit sprites could be moved in their tile - Fixed an issue where Polytaurs couldn't capture a city - Fixed an issue where the game crashed after starting a random match and leaving before anyone joined - Fixed an issue with capitals in drylands still having water - Fixed the missing popup on Genius Task - Fixed the speed score calculation - Fixed various issues causing game crashes
Hey, fellow Polytopians! Just a simple update in the 2.0.7.2503 patch! Besides bugfixes, there's a new menu screen! Enjoy! -Zoythrus Patch Notes: - Navalons can now capture cities - Polaris can now place monuments on ice - You can now send reminders for other players to play their turn - Added a fullscreen toggle to settings - Added loaders to visualize when the game is waiting for response from the server - Fixed an issue with games getting stuck after replay of opponents' turn - Fixed an issue where one could kick players that didn't time out - Fixed an issue with the harvesting animation - Fixed an issue where units remained highlighted despite no action left after breaking ice - Fixed an issue with Polaris freezing on city capture - Fixed various issues with scaling of some UI elements - Fixed various issues with the matchmaking UX - Fixes various causing the game to crash
Hey, just reporting a small update of bugfixes and small features to the beta! The 2.0.6.2301 update includes: - Added in-game notifications when it is your turn in a multiplayer game - High score list now shows only one entry for each player - We'll now inform you when you need to update your game to the newest version - Added more information to the popup when viewing friends - You can now set turn times and skip the player's turn when the timer runs out - Added game info to the tribe picking screen in multiplayer games - Various fixes to improve the AI - Fixed various bugs with attack animations - Fixed various graphics issues - Fixed various bugs with sounds and music in menus - Fixed various bugs with Polaris' freeze ability - Fixed an issue with water routes - Fixed an issue with camera centering - Fixed an issue with removing friends - Fixed an issue with player icons and names in Pass & Play - Fixed an issue with the upgrade bubble getting stuck on a tile - Fixed baby dragon stats - Fixed "tribes destroyed" calculation in end game screens Enjoy, -Zoythrus
Hello!
Every time we update the current beta, we're also going to talk about an upcoming feature in the Steam release! This current feature are known as "Mirror Matches," where multiple people can play as the same tribe. Want to have an 8 player Imperius match? Go right ahead! Want to see who is the better Luxidoor player? Now you can! As you can see on the picture, the mirror tribes are simply given the colors of any tribe not currently playing in this match. The first player will always get the tribe's default color, and everyone else will pick from the unused colors. Also, the bots can do it, too! Now you can find multiples of the same tribe in a single player game! (I once had 3 Oumaji.)
Now, onto the beta patch notes:
- Introduced a new pushing order for units
- Stars are now correctly awarded based on final score
- Long pressing on "next turn" now selects the next unit that has not been moved during this turn
- Zooming in on the map now zooms in at the cursor position
- Baby dragons are now melee units
- Esc no longer closes the upgrade choice pop-up during city upgrade
- Players are now ordered according their scores when owning the same number of capitols in Might mode
- Bots no longer keep playing after capturing the player's last city in a singleplayer game
- We now show double shield icons when defending walled cities
- Fixed issues causing incorrect damage calculation
- Fixed issues with scaling of in-game UI elements
- Fixed an issue where Dash did not work on units uncovered by the attack-move action
- Fixed an issue where promoting a unit during animation allowed double promotion
- Fixed an issue where Elyrion Sanctuary did not show level information for level 0
- Fixed an issue where Dragon Eggs never hatched on the boat
- Fixed an issue where turning sounds on only worked after restarting the game
- Fixed an issue where all score markers popped up at the same time when capturing a city
- Fixed an issue where the game played sounds for every population gained
- Fixed an issue where the friends search input lost focus
- Fixed an issue where units couldn't capture a city
- Fixed an issue where Mooni wasn't able to use the freeze ability
- Fixed an issue where AI was able to pick disabled tribes
- Fixed an issue where bots didn't choose the same tribe in a Mirror Match
- Fixed an issue where the meet popup sometimes showed up below the "your turn" notification
- Introduced new avatars
- Introduced configurable turn time limits
- Automatically skip player turns when time limit runs out
- Choose map type in multiplayer and matchmaking
- Improved map spawns
If you find any bugs with this release, please report them in the Discussions!
-Zoythrus
We have been getting many questions about when we will release the Steam version of The Battle of Polytopia, and some of you have probably even wondered if the Steam release will actually happen. The good news is that Steam will definitely happen, but we have decided to port the game to Unity first. This will give us the opportunity to release the game on even more platforms and plenty of other exciting stuff that we will announce later on.
The porting is currently going on at full speed and we are working hard to make sure that the game will be great on Windows & Mac OS X as well. This move to Unity is an important strategic decision that will enable us to grow The Battle of Polytopia at a much faster pace once the porting is complete. The Steam / Unity version is now scheduled for release during Spring 2020.
Meanwhile, to make sure you dont miss out on any info about the Steam release, go to steam.midjiwan.com and select Add to Your wishlist.
Hi All!
I just realized that it is already spring 2019 and Polytopia is not yet released. The truth is that I also realized that I am still practically a one man game studio and adding a new platform for me to manage, support and develop might be a really bad idea since it would eat up all the time I want to spend on making new tribes and Polytopia features.
Although, the steam version of Polytopia is quite close to completion and it is being beta tested as we speak. It is also a really great game and deserves to be released to you guys as soon as possible.
Hence I am currently looking into ways to release on Steam while still being able to spend time and love on further development of the current game.
So keep your faith and good things will come your way. Time is just an illusion anyways.
Love you all.
Sincerely
Midjiwan
Bigger, better, customizable & cross-platform.
Midjiwan is announcing that they are closing in on releasing the game on PC & MAC OSX.
Some of the unique desktop features will be the custom game mode that lets You set the size of maps from tiny to massive as well as choose from a range of land configurations such as dryland, archipelago and water world. In addition, The desktop version will feature keyboard controls and shortcuts.
As for the multiplayer fans, they will be able to play online cross-platform with the mobile versions of the game. You will not be required to invest in a new computer to play Polytopia on Your desktop as the hardware requirements are very moderate.
The Steam version will cost $9.99 and include all the 12 human tribes. Additional special Tribes will be available as DLC components. The release is planned during spring 2019. The exact release date is not set yet. Players can now Wishlist the game to make sure they get updated on the release date.
If You are running a popular a site, blog, Youtube or Twitch channel and would like early access to the Steam version of The Battle of Polytopia, contact midjitoo@midjiwan.com
The launch of the PC & Mac OS version of The Battle of Polytopia on Steam is getting closer. Go to our Steam page and add us to Your wishlist so You don't miss out on the early bird discounts & perks.
I recently had the opportunity to show the game for a bunch of highly qualified judges at the PC indie Pitch hosted by Pocket Gamer. I got a lot of great feedback and support that this game will work great as a fully fledged PC title. I also walked away with the gold medal! (it was actually a baseball bat, but 1st prize nevertheless) https://www.pcgamesinsider.biz/news/68002/the-battle-of-polytopia-conquers-the-competition-to-take-the-pc-indie-pitch-crown-at-sweden-game-arena-18/
The Battle of Polytopia
Midjiwan AB
Midjiwan AB
2020-08-04
Strategy Singleplayer Multiplayer
Game News Posts 186
🎹🖱️Keyboard + Mouse
🕹️ Partial Controller Support
Very Positive
(3700 reviews)
https://www.polytopia.io
https://store.steampowered.com/app/874390 
The Battle of Polytopia Depot Linux [363.72 M]
Wander in the dark cold forests of Barduria, explore the steamy Kickoo jungles or claim the lush field of the Imperius empire.
Each match takes around 30 minutes to complete while still providing a deeply strategic and challenging gameplay. It is intended to be a bite sized alternative to other time consuming 4x strategy games.
The Battle of Polytopia is a successful indie title enjoyed by millions of fans on mobile and tablets.
* Turn based civilization strategy game.
* Single & multiplayer.
* Exploration, warfare, farming, building and technology research.
* Pick and choose among a wide range of different tribes with unique nature and culture.
* Auto generated maps make each game a new experience.
* Strategy multiplayer online & Pass & Play.
* Leader board with top scores for the best civilization builders.
* Really Cute low poly graphics.
We a currently revamping it to be even better on your desktop such as:
* Bigger maps with map settings (more/less water etc.).
* Cross-platform multiplayer. (PC, MAC OSX, Android & iOS)
* Keyboard controls & shortcuts.
* Tiny hardware requirements.
If you have suggestions please let us know! steam@midjiwan.com
We will release when the game feels purrfect. Add it to your wish list to keep updated.
- OS: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
- Processor: Dual Core 2.0 GhzMemory: 1 GB RAM
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: 128mb Video Memory
- Storage: 400 MB available spaceAdditional Notes: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
- Processor: Dual Core 3.0 GhzMemory: 2 GB RAM
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: 256mb Video Memory
- Storage: 400 MB available spaceAdditional Notes: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
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