Manual added

One thing that always bugged me when playing is that you can't check the rules. Now I have added a manual! There is a question mark symbol in the top bar that opens the manual. It contains all the round phases, possible advance actions and the events. Acquirable advances are better viewed with the tech tree. I also removed some weird steps from the event steps. It should look now more streamlined.

A big update

NOTE! If the page seems broken, press Ctrl+F5 to do clean refresh with your browser.

It has been a while since the latest update. I have been working on some major improvements. I will break them down below. Minor improvements are:

• Scenario 14: The scenario list is now complete! 
• Couple of bug fixes on Scenarios
• Better selected advances when techtree is hidden. Now they are shown all the time. Mouse over shows short description about the advance. 
• Zoomable (mouse wheel or pinch) and pannable (drag) map.
• Removed appcache for images

New movement algorithm

Finally a movement algorithm that should work with all maps. Algorithm calculates possible tribe routes from the starting position. For every users suggestion the cheapest routes are found. For some very complex situations the calculation can take some time. That's why I have added a 'busy' text to the mover.

Game saving

Previously it was possible to save the game to the server. Now every move you make will change the url of the game. The whole game situation is saved to the url. This way you can "save" the game by bookmarking the current situation.

New Tech Map

Inspired by this, I decided to implement some kind of tech map for Pocket Civ Online. It shows the short descriptions and other information about the advances. You can still access the old list view from upper left corner button. The tech map is also pannable and zoomable.

Your own scenario!

Now it is finally possible to roll out your own Pocket Civ map. Under New Game there is Create Your Own. Choose the area number from the left (or use keypad) and click your mouse to create areas. Every area has to contain exactly four hexes! Then from the red area number you can choose what is included in the area. You can also set starting tribes and cities. This map builder is in early stages so except some glitches and bugs. Especially if you don't follow the four hexes per area rule.
After you have built your map just reload the page (press F5). It starts from the populate phase. The built map is saved as you build it to the url. You can also share the url with someone else. Maybe someday I build a random map generator.

Here is one map that I just made: link
Please share your creations to this blog post comments.

Go play: www.pocketciv.com

New move algorithm!

Hi. It has been a while since last update. But here it is!

I finally managed to get my head around the moving algorithm. It is based on possible routes the tribes can make. Maybe I make another blog post about the technology. But finally my implementation can calculate what is the cheapest movement when moving over seas. When moving your tribes you can see a blue "busy"-text in the mover. When the busy text is showing it calculates possible movements. You can still continue to move tribes.

This also enabled me to implement Scenario 13: Watchers of the Sea.

I also made some visual changes (for example deck back pattern).

I also fixed Scenario 1 Tutorial. It was hung in different stages. Now it should work. Thanks to Mr_Tricorder (in BGG) for informing me about the Tutorial issue.

It is really nice to hear that someone is using the site.

New Scenario And a Fast Game option

I grew tired of clicking that OK button all the time so now there is a "fast game" option for us power gamers. Options can be found from the menu. When you are on a "fast game" you don't have to accept all changes. Also cards are drawn automatically unless you want to draw them (tick the obvious box). Also I started implementing some kind of log about what is happening. It is really rough at the moment but gives you some info when you are playing in "fast game" mode. It is below the map. If you encounter bugs in the "fast game" mode please report them at https://github.com/jrutila/pocketciv-js/issues.

New Scenario is 15: The Den of Thieves. You should get rid of the Culture of Thievery. It drains your event cards so the next era is always just around the corner. Where is scenarios 13 and 14? The movement over the sea is in so basic level at the moment I don't want to create that kind of island map (13) and 14 would have required some coding (because of the flood event spreading) and I didn't want to tackle it right now.

And one more improvement about the cards. There is now icons in the event symbols and event descriptions!

New Scenario: 12. To Honor the Fallen

Added a new scenario. In this scenario you have to build couple of wonders. You start with coinage, so your first city does not grant you an advance right away. I have had a problem about how I interpret the ending conditions. For now, the game ends when the end condition is met.

Except this new scenario. When you are targeting certain wonders it would be interesting that you should also try to keep them till the end of the game. Maybe I should add an option so that you can continue the game even though you have met the victory conditions.

This update also brings a new Tech tree button. It now shows you how many advances you have and how many you can have. You can also "pin" advances. They will appear on top of the advance list and you can see their requirements when hovering the Tech tree button.

New Scenario 11: The Great Lake of 1,000 Depths

This new scenario required some code refactoring because now it is possible that the map will change during the game. If a Tsunami hits region 5 or 8 it causes the region to disappear. Also the other regions are neighboring the lake, which is not a sea. So for example tribes can move across the lake (using Navigation or Fishing) and use Fishing to feed the cities but cannot go to expeditions. That is until the Tsunami devours either one of the regions.

I made some assumptions that are not in the original scenario description.

• If either one of the regions 5 or 8 has been removed, a new Tsunami to the other region  does not cause the region to disappear. You can think that the Tsunami gets to the bay and thus does not remove the region. And the scenario is hard enough before.
• You can use Fishing to feed the cities. Scenario only speaks about moving across the sea but I think it is in the spirit of Fishing that you can also fish in lakes.

Couple of events were fixed: Civil war (there was a bug) and Epidemic reducer so that it does not show unnecessary areas.

There is a sneak peek of up and coming feature. Turn on God mode and go to "New Game". There is a button "Create your own!". By now you can only create the regions (select region from keyboard and click the map hexes). Idea is that you could create and play custom games of Pocketciv. The map editor can be also opened from the God mode tab for ongoing game.

Scenarios fixed

I managed to break couple of the scenarios in previous update. They are now fixed.

Also, now you can "Save" the game. Go to menu and click "Save". You are shown a QR code (to transfer to your mobile) or direct link to the game.