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I’ve been on the fence about some updates but I’ve more or less eventually come around to them; not this one. I’ve stopped playing the game entirely. I hate this. I’m so disappointed that my favorite app is no longer worth opening.
External link →I’ve been on the fence about some updates but I’ve more or less eventually come around to them; not this one. I’ve stopped playing the game entirely. I hate this. I’m so disappointed that my favorite app is no longer worth opening.
External link →I want the thing reverted to the original. Is that easy enough to understand?
Well, what specifically don't you like about it?
We're in the process of adjusting some of the new content and we'd like to hear your feedback.
Well, ik you weren't talking to me but markets are, imo and probably the opinion of many, too weak. 3 tier 3 techs is a lot. Sure, you don't need all t3 techs but since you need all of those t3 techs for windmills,forges and sawmills in order to upgrade the market, you need them all in order to use them at their Best. Most people don't seem to play on super big maps where you might end up taking 1 or 2 of those techs. Imo just get rid of one of the current t3 techs. Allowing it to upgrade without needing different structures would just make them custom house but with extra steps.
We are looking into it and will probably make adjustments
The sea warfare is not appealing. I don’t like that you can injure other units just by moving next to them if your unit is one of those battering rams. It costs a lot to upgrade a unit to shoot a weak shot; I liked that they came the way they did straight out of the dock. The starfish are incredibly irritating; I’d prefer they didn’t exist at all. The low population from docks sucks and the high cost of roads is terrible. Farming on valuable dock spots is also nonsensical. I think brides are interesting but I can’t tell if I like them because I’m so irritated by every other feature I’ve not had enough opportunities to try them out. I disliked literally everything else. The game is ruined for me. I’ve stopped playing it. It’s the only game I play on my phone and if it’s not fixed soon, I’m just going to delete it which sucks because I’ve owned for years.
Let me explain our reasoning a little:
We would like sea warfare to be more varied, as we didn't like "Battleship Spam" and we've always wanted naval to be a component to the gameplay. We will be making adjustments to map generation, though, and may move Perfection/Domination to Lakes or Pangea, so that you don't need naval, but it's always a good idea to have.
Juggernauts are the way they are because they're a "Giant, but in the water". They needed Smash as it's a way to help break stalemates and establish a beachhead. We couldn't just leave them as a simple melee unit or they'd get shredded by the other naval units.
I don't know what you mean by "costs a lot to upgrade to a weak shot".
Starfish replaced Whales, and since we replaced the mechanic entirely, we felt that replacing the graphic was necessary, otherwise people would get confused.
The population was decreased on ports because we made them cheaper to make the barrier to entry easier. Originally, they were 5, but it was nerfed to 7 during development. Aqua-Farms and more fish were added to help compensate, which should increase/even out population on the water.
Since Custom Houses were replaced with Markets (which will probably be getting adjustments soon), Ports aren't as necessary for economy. We think "port spam" is ugly, and wanted things like bridges and Aqua Farms to help take up Coastal space to help vary things a little.
We're going to give Continents and other maps types some patches in the near future, hoping to fix complaints around them.
Anything else I can help explain?
Didn’t want an explanation. I’d like a feature to revert the game back to a previous form. I don’t like any features of the current update. I don’t need it explained; I want the game I’ve enjoyed for years to come back.
Sadly, we have no intention of "putting it back" as the new skins and tribes will be using them, but we are hoping to make changes to the new features to make them more like it was through fan feedback.
So, we encourage you to stick around as we put the new stuff through a few patches which should smooth out much of the stuff you don't like.
Can Elyrion get a starfish monster 🥺
In all seriousness, I agree with the other commenter that markets feel weak. I also wonder if there could be a way to break naval blockades, since starting a navy under pressure is hard when so many of the ships don’t shoot back. Elyrion have dragons, but I wonder how standard tribes handle it.
We're going to make adjustments to the Market.
And we're looking into this while also trying to not make a unit who's whole purpose is to get shot at, y'know?
Hey u/Zoythrus I’d like to provide some feedback if this is an appropriate place for it.
First, I want to say good job for trying. Game mechanics are hard to dial in to a perfect balance and many of these adjustments are cool: * the new moonies freeze ability makes more sense and make them a more valuable unit. * The bombers/giant stomp are cool (if OP), introduce naval artillery to the mix * recovering stars outside of one’s territory * the welcome return of artifact tech discoveries * ship upgrades in territory only * bridges and changes to geography
I’m open to the other changes (new market/income dynamics, relocating tech components, changing costs of development). Honestly, nothing is precious to me as long as the resulting new game is balanced and fun.
However, making this many adjustments at once has meant Polytopia is now much harder to win. That has advantages—it’s been cool to see the 100k+ mark become rare—but sometimes it feels more likely impossible to win. And because the difficulty sometimes feels insurmountable—like no choices you make will allow you to win a given set of circumstances—it has become less enjoyable to play more often than before.
To borrow a term from Constructivist learning theory, the task goes from being: * things you can do easily (boring) * things you can do by learning (challenging) * things you can’t do even by learning (frustrating)
My bias is for Perfection mode—I play that exclusively, with over 800 completed games in the past few years (and likely thousands begun and abandoned). So don’t get me wrong, I’m okay with abandoning games when they seem lost (my partner has often heard me say “this is toast” before restarting—sometimes even after turn 20).
The difference in decision-making for this Naval update literally reminds me of when I first started playing Polytopia. I find myself discovering old techniques and decision-patterns now regularly fail, so it’s like rewiring my brain.
Almost every assumption I have that allowed for fluid, intuition-based moves in Polytopia doesn’t work, and now requires forethought. And so far, whether it’s the maps, the change in income, the aggressive AI (on Crazy mode), I have only completed 2 games out of tens…only one three-star.
Specifically, it’s been hard to achieve simultaneously:
- Offensive power/territorial advancement
- Tech/development/income
- Allies/geography/defensive strength
It’s like you can make progress on one, but then a weakness in the other kills you. And for as small a thing, the weakened swordsmen really hamper game play. Not having a durable offensive/defensive combo unit means your cities are perpetually vulnerable. And some of the other opponents are vicious now (Cymanti). Maybe the addition of air units for all tribes would balance against these disadvantages? Not sure.
No worries, you’ll get it right in time. But just from an experienced (if not great) player, this is tough stuff. On the one hand I’m enjoying the challenge, but I’m also kind of bummed I can’t just lay back and play the game in flow-state while half-watching an episode of TV.
We can say that a lot of your current frustration is most likely due to some map generation bugs that we hope to fix, like spawns being too close together.
So, yeah, the hope is to iron out the rough spots over time.
Thanks for the really rapid response (So fast I hope you had a chance to read it all).
Yeah, one thing about the map that’s challenging is how crowded it feels. Maybe having one or two rivers per map, and otherwise enough space to use various units, would help. Best of luck, I know you’re working on it.
In the meantime, we'd like to point out that Creative Mode exists, which also has Perfection.
You can try different map types and see which feels better. Perfection has always used the Continents map type....but it sucked as a "Continents map", and that's why we made the change - to make it more "Continenty".
Of course, not the Perfection players are mad because "the map is wrong". The map is now right, but it's different, and we may change Perfection to something like Lakes or Pangea instead.
I’ll explore that. I usually just hit play and work with whatever it generates. And I hear you on changes being a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation.
One of the fun things about a game being difficult is that you find the little tricks and unexpected efficiencies in a previous set of rules and conditions that help you thrive. With the Naval update, I’m still trying to find a pattern of play that allows me to at least survive most of the time with a chance of winning—which is not the case currently.
Good lucking finding the new balance. I am enjoying a new challenge with this really special mobile game.
PS - Have you all ever played Sid Meyers Alpha Centauri? It was my favorite, and put a fun twist on Civilization with ideological factions instead of tribes, monuments granting special abilities, and a unit crafting option.
I did play AC, but found it too "old" to be enjoyable, personally.
Really enjoyed Civ:BE, though