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]

Right-Click Polytopia in Steam

Click Properties on the dropdown

Head to Betas in the new popup that appears

Use the code polytopiabetatesters to get into the beta! [/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

Known issues:

• Kickoo Explorers won't travel on Coasts until you have Sailing, creating weird behavior. We'll fix this later.