Progress Report
Map Editor
We are working hard on the map editor and as it will be our first publicly available part of the game, we do not want to screw it up and we polish it up a bit before we let it out. Still we cannot say that this map editor will be the same and will offer the same features what you will get in the final release.
The map editor has been planned to release not before the private worlds pack. Private worlds are part of the Single and Traditional Multiplayer experience and isn't part of the MMO scenario. The MMO aspects takes priority in development priorities, so our current build is rather a preview of what we'll deliver once Single- and Tradtional Multiplayer is on the table - both features and design may be enriched.
What shall you expect
For example, in our soon to be released Map Editor build, we are going to leave the game main screen elements on, even if they are not related with map editing. These elements will be currently disabled (but give some clues about the final game and you might be happy to see them on your screen), and may be unlocked in later internal builds, that will be available for our Backers.
On the other hand the functionality will also not be the same. This map editor offers tools to modify the geographical elements - ground, lakes, rivers, mountains, but it does not offer the possibility to change the tile improvements (buildings), feudums, borders or player related settings. In the live version the owner of the private world will have free hands to change anything, including the armies or even add AI players onto the map, make friends or enemies from them. For now, though, these aren't important for map building.
Apart from this, the map editor is a good toy and we already found out the first contest we will announce with the launch of it.
Finally here is a short video about the polished animation handling, it does not re-initialise the animation state during the view change, and gives a smooth appearance.
