Thank you for all of your support of BSC Days 07/14/14-07/17/14


The BSC (stands for Bat-Shit Crazy) Days were an event with a set of video and text presentations, updates, and reveals held by City State Entertainment on 7/14/-7/17/2014. For Camelot Unchained, BSC is often used by City State Entertainment to refer to the slightly off-the-wall, maybe a little "crazy" ideas of Mark Jacobs and the City State Entertainment team about our own game mechanics. The BSC Days event was a major early content and gameplay reveal for Camelot Unchained.

The Guiding Principles

  • The map of Camelot Unchained is arguably the single most important feature of the game
    • As a RvR-focused game, setting up a great map that the players can build on is critical
  • The map should be unique, as befits our game. If all we offer is a clone of another game’s map, our players will be disappointed
  • We must take into account the needs of our players not only on day one, but day 365 as well
  • The map needs to reflect the chaotic world of the game, but be stable enough that players are willing to build on it

A Chaotic World Map

  • Our map concept contains three safe “zones” which contains each respective Realm’s main city and some support areas
    • These support areas are for new players, and provide an emergency supply of raw materials and necessities for the start of the server
    • This is something to fall back on if one Realm is overwhelmed by its opponents
      • As discussed during the Kickstarter, this is necessary to prevent one or both Realms from driving the weakest Realm to a “quit point”
  • In between these safe zones there are the remains of the “One True City” (Camelot) and the main continent
  • The pieces of the map can be reassembled by the players, who can add stabilizers to the map pieces
  • The world will change over time as the stabilizers work their magic on the world’s geography

What’s in a piece of the pie puzzle?

  • The major puzzle pieces are:
    • Safe zones – Each city has one starting area, which is surrounded by a small bit of landmass. This area cannot be attacked by the other Realms, and serves as a “safety net” for each Realm
    • Landing zone – These are the second-biggest individual pieces on the map. These pieces will serve as anchor pieces by the other Realms
    • Major pieces – These are larger pieces landmarks or Places of Power
    • Minor pieces – Smaller than the other pieces, normally containing fewer resources
  • Each puzzle piece will differ from the other puzzle pieces
    • While the landing zones will need to be balanced with the other Realm’s puzzle pieces, none of them will be the same
    • Puzzle pieces can change over time, due to the influence of the Veilstorms and player actions
  • Puzzle pieces are claimed by the Realms: first capture the land, then place stabilizers on the captured pieces

Your land is my land, my land is my land…

Mechanics for this system are still in design, and are likely to change over the course of development

  • Players can claim unoccupied land easily
    • Players cannot claim unlimited territory in their Realm’s Safe Zone
      • Ownership of land also comes with taxes and other maintenance costs
    • Players can claim additional land in contested territory
    • Claiming land owned by another Realm requires all the stabilizers of that land to be destroyed first
  • Once land is claimed, it will slowly begin to take on the characteristics of your Realm
    • Land that belonged to another Realm will change more slowly than land that is “free” for capture
    • Realms will reward players for claiming, building upon, and controlling land
  • Once enough land within a puzzle piece has been claimed and built upon, players can then move stabilizers into the area
    • Stabilizers speed up the transformation of the land
    • Stabilizers will slowly attract adjacent pieces of the map together, if both pieces have your Realm’s stabilizers
  • Puzzle piece locations will change based on the presence and power of stabilizers. Players can also “feed” the stabilizers with power

Why bother to claim land?

  • Land ownership comes with perks to the player, as well as costs
    • Land and resources can provide a source of materials or cash to the owner
    • Players can build various structures on the land, for defense and utility
    • Increases immersion in the world and sense of player ownership
    • Your Realm benefits by having more land and control of resources
  • As stabilizers pull the pieces together, flights and boat rides take less time between pieces
    • Eventually, players can build bridges between the pieces if they are close enough
    • Travel time is cut down due to shortened distances, roads, etc.

Summary

  • The RvR map mechanics are still at an early stage of development
  • The map is made up of puzzle pieces that can change over time
  • Players need to claim ownership over pieces of the land
  • Players need to place stabilizers on the land to speed up claim
  • Realms benefit from the amount of land claimed by players
  • Land that is stabilized will move closer to other land that is owned by the Realm, and try to reassemble itself