Hey guys! I just wanted to do a little devlog to let you know whats happening in the next (major) update (Which will hopefully be out this weekend!) This next update balooned in scope massively! I didn't do the "small updates" this time because the pace was very brisk! But It ended up being the case that this update is similar in scope to the previous Major update (A8B9C0)! Some important standouts:

Tile Effects

I'm adding a new major mechanic in the form of tile effects, which makes building and unit deploy spots actually matter! It is similar mechanically to the advantage/disadvantage system. Where different tiles are color coded to show you what they do! Some of them play out as Major Faction powers, like kingdoms new ability to instantly annex any independant/wildlife/new republic/Tenebris capturables via placing guardhouses adjacent to them kinda similar to the game slay!

Some are more subtle! Like Bandits ability to give their units permanent bonuses based on deploying them on their own buildings! (Kingdoms have some of this too, but they are less direct :P)
(Bandits also have a whole suite of different faction specific tile effects that act as new powers for them that instantly infest all adjacent tiles with crime etc, grant major combat/resource bonuses and encourage them to harass other players.
This should also make them more viable on world ages like Novus Imperium and Grex Tenebris Some are More SImulationist! Like some mountains have "diamonds" or "iron veins" And businesses benefitting from being placed on "scenic" or hard to reach tiles.
And other weirder effects! The goal of these is to have more strategic choice and to make the games pace even brisker as well as reducing frusteration, like having to take forever to capture a city controlled by wildlife on a mountain or something)

New Options!

I have added the ability to change the way "teams" are displayed, which was used for these screenshots, it hides the healthbar and tints the tile so it is more like a conquest of elysium style way of displaying things.

Multithreading!

I have multithreaded many of the more intensive operations the game can perform, which should lead to better performance! (Especially for AI)

AI Improvements!

The AI is now capable of actually using their deploy range and intelligently builds on tiles that benefit them the most in the long run! As well as many new AI personalities and other tweaks, that make them more willing to use the new boats, smarter in general etc.

BOATS!

Yo-ho-ho, I've brought Boats into the game! It's not exactly an 'ocean update', but hey, its gonna spice up your strategy big time, especially on maps with lots of water (Like the pangea ones). Plus, the AI is fully capable of using them too (And spamming them lol). These boats? They've got their own rock-paper-scissors thing going on, countering each other just like other units do with their hard counter bonuses, but with their own twist on the hard counter triangle!
And hey, between you and me, I've been really wanting to sneak in pirates for the longest time. Who knows, maybe they'll sail into Chapter 2... (Yes, yes they will, i need to avoid being vague, there will in fact be at least one major pirate guy) So, yeah, you can see I've been kinda busy! The whole point of dropping this devlog now is 'cause I've been off the radar for a couple weeks, and I didn't want you guys thinking I'd vanished into thin air or something. Just wanted to confirm that, yes, skirmish mode is getting some love with big updates. (And, just between us, all these new cool additions? They're STILL actually part of my master plan to spice up the missions for Chapter 2!) Heh.