The issue
One of the most beloved features of the empires update was the clans’ ability to construct their own bases on islands captured by clans. The execution is relatively decent, though there are a few big issues, one of which being the drachma deduction.
In the current system, when a structure is placed, it is placed immediately and the money is immediately deducted from the player or clan treasury. If the player chooses to delete this structure, they will only gain back 80% of what they spent, and only if the build hasn’t been saved until then.
The cause of this issues can be pinned down on sloppy execution. The players are fined for making a mistake while building or for changing their mind on something, making clan building that much more unappealing, knowing hours of gathering drachma could be lost due to a simple misclick.
Changes
-
Build mode revamp
In the improved version, none of the changes the player makes to the island will apply until they save the build, including changes to clan or their personal balance. This includes all four build modes: Building, Demolishing, Clearing and Regrowing.
Demolishing now pays back full amount of money due to how the build mode is reworked. -
Project price
Project price serves as an overview for the project’s total costs. Any new building constructed will add to it, while any deleted building will deduct from it. It’s possible for construction price to go into positive if the value of deleted buildings is crossed.
If the player or clan can’t pay for the project, the player will get a notification, and the build won’t be saved. Similarly, if the player or clan’s drachma capacity is too high and can’t fit all refunded drachma, the build won’t be saved. -
Building/Regrowing
When the player places a new structure on the island either via building or regrowing, this structure will remain without a hitbox or functionality, and will appear translucent until the player saves the build.
Though they do not have a hitbox, these models still act as solid for any structures placed on them. For instance, if the player builds a piece of ground, while they won’t be able to stand on it, they will be able to build structures on it as if it was solid ground.
By pressing G while holding the build tool, the player can switch between different ways to show the newly placed structure. These can include but are not limited to:- Fully transparent models with only a colored outline
- Models with a glowing effect similar to revealing
- Models marked with a colored marker
-
Deleting/Clearing
When the player deletes an existing structure on the island either via demolishing or clearing, this structure will remain until the player saves the build. It will retain its hitbox and functionality, but will have a colored marker on it.
Unlike with building and regrowing, it’s possible these could not be ignored for building due to technical limitations.
By pressing F while holding the build tool, the player can switch between different ways to mark the demolished structure. These can include but are not limited to:- Models with a glowing effect similar to revealing
- Models with a colored outline
- Translucent models
Note that if the removed structures are set on the same marking setting as constructed structures, one of them will have its settings changed, to avoid overlapping.
- Money refunding
In order to allow money to be properly refunded, each structure placed will get a tag marking whether it was built with player or clan money. If it was a player, it will also note the player’s username.
When structures are deleted, these tags will be tracked to let the game know where goes what amount of money. This will be shown as a part of Project price, letting the player know how much money is being refunded.
One player can’t demolish a structure built by a different player.