Version 3.0 represents the first major work done on the Conquest! application in over three years. Here is a breakdown of the major changes.
New Graphics
I have contracted with a new artist to update over 130 of the game’s icons. To put this in perspective, Conquest! has over 350 total icons in the game (that total does not include maps, buildings, etc.). The updates included in this version are troops, artifacts, classes, heroes, ships, and the launch icon. Over the next several months I will be working to upgrade the remaining graphics. My priority is removing poor quality or mismatched ones first.
I have also removed some single-use icons and replaced them with a functionally similar one used elsewhere in the game (e.g. removing the “infected” icon in kingdom overview and using the “bad event” one from log events). This not only reduces the overall number of icons I must replace but also the size of the application.
Improved Combat Reports
Combat reports have several enhancements.
- Reduced scrolling. Rather than have one long page, combat reports have been broken into different pages. This allows players to view the pertinent information without scrolling as much. This feature works in tandem with streamlined reports.
- Streamlined reports. The navigation button on the bottom left will dynamically adjust to the report to filter out unnecessary pages. For example, if there are no reinforcements in the battle the page will not be shown.
- Dedicated hero page. If heroes are killed in battle, it will be noted on a dedicated page. New for 3.0, enemy heroes killed in battles will also be listed.
- Dedicated fleet page. Fleet visibility has been improved to list each class of ship with the class name displayed. This page is hidden if no ships are involved in the battle.
- Daily casualties. The casualties for each army and each day is now visible. Buttons allow you to scroll through each day and view the casualties sustained to each army as the battle progressed.
Spy reports have benefited from some of the changes from combat reports (e.g. reduced scrolling, streamlined reports). Alliance crests are now visible in spy reports and lists throughout the game (e.g. rank, kings, titans).
Improved Functionality
Several screens were improved.
- Distant markets and kingdoms. Removed the popup for results and replaced with a full screen page to make it easier to view the information. Buttons for travel and journal are larger and clearly state the action.
- Artifact page. Artifacts have their own dedicated page in the Royal Vault (vs. being listed with magical items).
- Managing and searching for vassals is easier. The new display follows the established method of displaying lists of players.
- Hero and artifact bonuses/penalties. The bonuses and penalties for each hero and artifact are now clearly stated.
Rather than use fixed sizes, several pages were refactored to use percentages instead. This permits the Unity engine to scale the page as needed to fit the resolution of the device. And each page in Conquest! was tested for functionality simulating a variety of phone and tablet devices. This should allow Conquest! to render properly across a wider variety of devices.
Updated Social Links
Facebook and Tumblr were replaced with Discord and a link to the main web site.