Sneak Peak & Development Lore

[p]It's been a long time since I've done one of these, but since I'm introducing a major change to the world map, here's a sneak peak at what it looks like today![/p][p]One of the concepts I've had running since development started is "1 tile on the world map = 1 unique map when zoned in". I of course did a huge purge of that concept style to free up numbered maps for future locations, but it held in the final dimensions of places like The Black Forest where the maps as they originally were simply combined to form the new bigger single map. The whole thing of course falls apart when you look at somewhere like Den An'ura which is presented on the world map like a mountain, but in concept in lore is a location that burrows down into the earth as you go in - not existing at flat level throughout. The 'encampment' area should be far underground, with Frostbrood Laid being at the very bottom.[/p][p]One of the more recent additions to the world map is the northeast corner, which you may know as Snowdrift Village Area. It follows the same format as the Black Forest mapping which should give you an idea of how big that location is if you haven't been there yet. Before Snowdrift was placed in 4KA, the snowy forest north of Lvell only ran west in what is now the defunct "Battlefront" area. Travel on the world map itself is not possible north of the Frost Forest / Snowdrift Area entrance line, so this very well may be your first time seeing the world map as it has existed for a while.[/p][p]Aside from the new connecting river and bridges, the four main cities plus Frost Forest, Obscurite, Den An'ura, Scarlet Cavern, Hell's Gate, and Agartha have all been on the world map since the initial 2018 release of the game. The Mwynn Isles were added several years later intended for a scrapped project titled "Honor At Sea", which could not be completed due to engine limitations regarding in the field battles. It was supposed to focus on the pirate Kara, ship warfare, boarding and plundering your enemies, and discovering their pre-scourge selves. Fun fact: Kara is the unnamed girl in the Veil at the very beginning of the game appearing alongside Atropos. This event is intentional and canonical, but the 'how we got here' of it all was lost with the scrapping of Honor At Sea.[/p][p][/p][p]What's New? - The location internally known as "The Great Heap" has been removed from the world map design and this change is now reflected in the Sha'ri Desert map as well. Water now connects from the ocean through to the central lake, above what players know as the Nexus Waterway. Water now also fragments the Four Kingdoms Area into sections, with Sha'ri isolated on the southeast, Castalia on the mid-west, and the unnamed volcano region on the southwest. Most notably, the Mwynn Isles (working name?) are now visible from the easternmost parts of the continent. [/p][p]Perhaps least noticeable is the new location on the world map inside the Shoreline area. This location will allow boat travel between the Four Kingdoms Area and the Mwynn Isles at certain times during the campaign. Boats will not travel during the Orc War, but will both before and after. [/p][p]Final Notes About the World Map - This is not the complete, finalized map of the world. The Dragon Scars west of Castalia are not visible (or even designed yet!) and neither are the Ophelia (east across the sea) or Lumeria (directly south connected by land) continents. These locations are outside the scope of Cross of Auria and will not be added in future updates. One or more of them may appear in the second game depending on where the story takes us. And last but not least - the map still may have a few changes before 9.0 is released. Construction of Mwynn Isles begins today, so as of the writing of this post, I really couldn't tell you about it's intended level range, story elements, or anything else![/p][p]Two new minor zones were already added yesterday - Prison Gate and Auria Lighthouse. Look closely at the terrain directly east of Auria and you can see where these two locations are. I am currently uncommitted to allowing access to the prison in CoA-1, but the lighthouse has a new purchase/craft set of gear using Leather Scraps, Metal Chips, Essence of Life, and Essence of Magick. This new 75 point set should serve as a fair intermediary set between Stalwart and Nexus. Unlike other sets, it does not drop anywhere in the world and is unique to the Gearsmith in the tower. Oh, it also introduces the first orange quality Staff with the new skill Reflect. [/p][p]All of this and more will be available when 9.0 releases. I think I've decided to save the major system changes for CoA2 instead (stat squish, skill removal, plugin removal), but a new game file will probably still be necessary, especially if you have saved where the terrain has changed.[/p]