Note: If the picture appears too small just right click and open the image in a new tab. That should enlarge it!
A little background story on this…
Initially, I wanted to just focus on a new favor generating concept for the Māori. But down the road… I decided to do more research on other things. Anyway, figured I would give this obscure pantheon/civilization some love amidst all the excitement and anticipation surrounding the more popular Babylonians and Irish! This is just a rough concept and nothing too technical with numbers and whatnot. Just throwing ideas out there and maybe some devs can consider them?
Fair warning… this is a long read and I’m not sure how it is going to be shown on a computer/phone/tablet.
Here is the favor concept but if you are interested in knowing the other stuff then just click on the picture:
The Maori generate favor by expanding a unique form of crystal clear shallow water that represents the “spread” of their mana across the battlefield. The more “Mana Water” they establish, the more favor they generate (eventually there is a max cap).
Mana Water can be traversed by both land and naval units. This is to allow the Maori to create new routes for movement and attack. Think of the Setonaikai map on how land and naval units can move around. Enemy units may travel across it but receive no benefits, while Maori naval units gain bonuses when moving or fighting within their own Mana Water. This encourages the use of naval forces and versatility even in primarily land battles.
Whenever Mana Water is created next to a dock or building, the surrounding terrain is immediately transforms into a small tropical shoreline with sandy beaches and lush plants. See Figures 1 and 3 (picture). As the Mana Water extends farther away, the shoreline fades. This leaves only the crystal clear water. This gives Maori settlements the appearance of naturally growing island “cities” while keeping the waterways visually clean and distinct (also for aesthetic purposes). Mana Water itself is treated as terrain rather than an object. This means that it cannot be selected, attacked, or targeted. This is to prevent players from accidentally clicking on them.
The Maori can expand Mana Water in two ways. Voyagers (Maori villagers) may manually create waterways, while docks, which can ALSO be built on land, naturally spread Mana Water outward (radius-like) in a similar fashion to Gaia’s Lush mechanic. Players may use either method or both.
For balance, Voyagers must connect any new Mana Water to an existing dock network (though maybe the devs can find a better way to balance this?). If a dock is destroyed, any disconnected sections will gradually recede and disappear. This is to create meaningful counterplay by allowing opponents to push back Maori expansion without permanently preventing it from being rebuilt elsewhere.
Favor generation is capped after a certain amount of Mana Water has been established. But, players may continue expanding it to improve mobility, strengthen naval presence, connect settlements, and reshape the battlefield.
Thoughts?
