Post the announcement on the impeding launch of the Civilians, Shane hopped in the Earth 2 discord to chat with users. Find below the summary and chat transcript.
For context, before proceeding we recommend you check out the announcement article here
Key take-aways:-
Civilian/auto-raid sounds more complex than compared to actual gameplay.
3 civilians for now per plot (more to come with Data Analyst being the 4th).
Civilians don't float in the air!
Civilians will be assigned random factions and some civilians will be rarer to generate.
Aiming to have a short turn-around from S2 to production for deploying civilians.
Sound will be an important element for the Earth 2 experience.
"I wanted to build E2V1 as the foundation, kind of like an internet explorer for the future."
Raid commander is NOT a 'click and forget system'.
Mulling on how to treat the build-out on water tiles without impacting/blocking views for coastline tiles.
RE isn't planned to be an in-game currency (at least yet).
Civilians may have future purpose beyond raiding, but cannot confirm any details yet.
Working on new build designs / placements for structures; plan to allow angles, curves etc., however not high on priority.
When asked about Essence launch - "By anniversary will be cool, although cannot commit any timelines just yet"
Full Chat:-
Users chatting(U):
...New users have just a bit too much to take in...
....Raiding just looks complex because it's new
Shane(S) jumps in.... exactly. And it takes 'words' and 'images' to explain how something works. You can have a whole page from a guidebook explaining one simple feature. Reading it sounds complex but when you use it it's simple. Remember how complex Raiding sounded before it was released? We're just releasing info to give Players a heads up on what to expect and how it should work. Additionally, we always refine / improve, like we did with raiding
People just don’t value raiding atm because there’s no value on the token. When there’s a value people will want to learn
S- exactly. And we are getting to that stage .. I guess it's up to people on whether they want to get more now or try it later with more competition
Shane, how do we feed them red energy weekly? Think it wasn't mentioned on article
S- automatically occurs weekly. I think it's explained in the RE article already
Also, 3 civilians now, right? 4 tile plots able to synthesize every other civs later
S- yes 3 for now
Should have been a Metaverse, It Is a boring 2d OGame - like web 2.0 platform. Well done
S- then you are oblivious to what we are building. But by all means, continue with your mindset
But if we want to take off some civilians, can we?
S- again - I think that was explained in the RE article. They will wander for now but later you will be able to transport them, relocate etc. and sell / trade
What about the people who are not in e2 from the start and only have t2 lots in zones where there are only active users? not only have they had bad luck with raiding, but also simply bad luck that they can't level their civs?
S- Players are free to purchase wherever, we don't place tiles for Players so it's out of our hands. It also makes it more interesting in my opinion - it's Player influenced
Going to be a lot of work getting everything set up, but I think the payoff will be worth all the work. Can't wait to start building, but more than happy to stack the Essence to make that happen. S- I think there's a nice light at the end of the tunnel really. You guys see the end product but a lot of thought and planning goes into these things. A lot of design, meetings, iterations etc
Love the announcement - had been hoping it would be complex and reward active players! Brilliant! Could you comment sometime on the bigger picture and whether or not the 'Phase 3' videos on the E2 YT channel are still indicative of the project's future direction? Thanks!!
S- I would say still indicative. We're just building in steps. We still have the same long term goal, we're just trying to deliver something earlier for Players to get their hands on
Shane got any plans to accelerate development to help with the 20 odd things that are making your head want to explode. Rather you not get sick and be unable to drive the project
S- eh .. those things don't go away. I think it's more or less always been like this and I've learned to live with it .. albeit stressful
I am still reading so sorry if it's covered and I've not got that far yet but is it 1 of each civilian type per property regardless of size? Like can 1 raid commander send out 5 Cydroids and such
S- yes, we will probably cover some final summary details in the official release (i.e once it's been on prod and stable)
The Raid commander way of choosing multiple targets is pretty cool. I can't wait to see some Cydroids wars tbh
S- yes, it was an interesting approach and I think it works well. The other option was the go super static with setting specific properties to raid in a specific order for every property which has its merits, but would take a lot of time and effort to re-order when say a target property became active again
We've been very impressed by raiding. Super slick. If civilians are as good as that we're going to be very happy!
S- we hopefully we can live up to that !
Shane... Do civilians float in the air?
S- oh course not. I actually saw some comments regarding this one of people thinking every civilian would float lol .. where do these things come from. I just thought it would be cool to demo the Egyptian faction Ranger, which does fly / float, because it looked cool. Then suddenly every Civilian is floating and cannot walk on the terrain
The article didn’t say anything about choosing a faction will civs be random or will we be able to choose the same faction for all our props
S- will be random. Might be benefits for matching factions later but not promising right now
We NEED droid slotting for the jewel market as well
S- yes, well aware. It's being worked on just pushing out other updates first
Time to execute? does that mean a level 6 ether civ dispenses in 5 minutes? I am confused
S- time from when the Civilian received the automated order .. these Civs are a bit lazy to start with
Lazy civs will get half rashions
S- please tell me where so I can try and kidnap those wandering
I mean, just buy fresh tier 2 tiles near areas that are good for raiding?
S- exactly - that's what I have done with my small account. Often is better to buy T2 tiles for good raiding locations if T1 tiles + REU cost too much. Buy T1 if you want better long term E-ther spawn rates
Still aiming for that inside the next couple of weeks?
S- yes, still aiming to get it live on s2 as soon as possible and hopefully there are not too many bugs so a short turn around before it hits prod
Will it be possible to see in future videos some of the sound of Earth2? I would really like to know how the sound development is going in E2... The sound is as important as the image, I think.
S- sound is super important, very good point. I have actually brought this up numerous times with the team in the past and requested we source people to work on this, however, we've still not found the right devs / studio to continue working with. There are so many weird operators in the game dev world... I am very aware about how important sound is though and am a big fan so yes, you can expect it at some point. Not overlooked!
Dear Shane: Can you say something about the SOUND of Earth2? Do you have a team of sound engineers taking care of that? Do the Mentar emit some kind of hum? Do the ecosim buildings emit some kind of industrial sound? Will we be able to HEAR some of Earth2's sound in future videos?
S- I think I replied to this above already. I would imagine the Mentar hums, yes
If we use civilians to raid and it don't find ether, will it change the properties to raid automatically because it did not find ether? Or it keep raiding the same properties. Or we have to change the favorite properties manually?
S- please read the Raid Commander Auto Raid System carefully in the article. That explains how the system will work.
Apple is revealing its AR headset next month. This should bring some hype back to individuals interested in the metaverse. Maybe have something ready like essence so we can bring new players on board?
S- always interesting tech being released and this will not change. That's why I wanted to build E2V1 as the foundation, kind of like an internet explorer for the future. We will get to a stage where new tech can and will be integrated to work with our software (E2V1 etc), we're planning for the future
Want to be honest ... you did a very good job implementing raiding and how it works (platform remains stable and runs smoothly), great respect from me ... the balancing and the gap (advantage) between 24/7 users and users who don't being able to bum around 24/7 in e2 is absolutely miserable
S- enter civilians...
Let me get this right, the L1 Raid commander can only raid one property and as they level up, each level allows you to raid another property with 6 being the max property you can raid when reaching L6?
S- unlimited when you reach 6
Will the Raid Commander know when a property is "worth" raiding? (== There is ether or will be)
S- no - please read the way the auto raid system works in the article. We're not just creating a 'click and forget' game loop
Will there be some kind of limitation on the properties that are on the water? Do the Mentar that are on the water float? Do they have a column that reaches reaches the seabed?
S- to be honest we are still working out exactly how to handle various situations. For example, all water properties might build under water, especially close to coast lines. There might be cases where they can advance and build on top of the water. It's not as simple as it might sound, there are many things to consider.
Oh the Data Analyst has been cut from initial release. Arrrgh I was counting on him to be able to remove my worst performing targets! Will that one still be getting released later
S- yes, will likely be the 4th - maybe release with some perks to start with
Will civilians use jewels in any way?
S- We haven't released anything official on this yet so would say no for now
RE will be in-game currency ?
S- not planned for
Are those civs ever gonna do something else? is there a NEED to build them now if you think you are better off raiding manually or a disadvantage in the future if you dont have them? will the price increase? i am not sure I am willing to spend that much ether on building for now but scared ill miss out in the future if I don't
S- I can't confirm 100% right now. We plan for them to have future purpose, but that also might not happen the way you expect, so just make a decision based on what you've officially read via announcements etc.
Shane.... A question about the ORTHOGONAL layout of the buildings. In all the videos the ecosim buildings are parallel to the axes. Is it planned to allow non-orthogonal angles, curves and arrangements?
S- You have not seen some of the new build designs / placements and yes, we do plan to allow angles, curves etc Not super high on priority list but it's a target
Not about civilians, but when will we start harvest resources, thought that would been the next thing
S- I am not saying when, but I will reiterate once more, just being transparent, that there was a LOT of work that needed to be redone and in fact created from scratch from what was designed from the previous team lead. It was the main cause of the breakdown with that lead. We're on a good track now and have some cool info to release soon! Though I guess some will say 'it's too complicated' .. remember, it will always sound complicated until you play it. Playing it will always be easier than reading how it will work.
I have been here for years and will stay for decades. The crypto winter seems to be over. Can you comment on Essence being tradable by e2 anniversary? Can we expect a surprise or will it be announced with a lot of time?
S- no committing to dates but that would be cool
Are civilians going to have rarity?
S- I think some are harder to get than others, not sure on the exact % though
I have some E$ should I buy more raiding spot or better to wait for water/sand/wood announcement?
S- will be an announcement on this soon too
Please don't spoil our coastline properties by allowing easy building on water tiles. Expensive, time consuming process please. I want nice views
S- exactly, I have been thinking about this for a very long time and don't want to spoil those coastline views too much if possible
I can only imagine with this statement (plus my obsession with EPLs) that they will be much more coveted than people realise. Anything more to tell us on the subject? Please?
S- well, EPLs will allow Players to instantly teleport to that location .. I think they will be quite important over time
Is civilian synthesis only 15 mins as shown in the images or are those just from testing and if not do you know how long they will take please?
S- 24 hrs each
Love the raiding mechanics ... smart civilians would make life easier esp for larger accounts. Are there any other game loops you have in mind besides raiding for the future..or hands too full rn xD
S- none I can go over now, that's for sure!
Do you have any screenshot of the social app??
S- tonnes, but none I can release publicly yet
Shane drops off the chat