By Espark on Thu 11 Mar, 2021.
Ai-Mo Times
“Ai-Mo Times, the tribe with literature deserves the best in information and entertainment.”
Today, our host, 1Chill, packed together all the information gathered by The Reporters,those reporters are:Joxteoz, Hspark, Artemis, CoolNotFoolGuy, ArcticFox, and myself. After gathering the information and finishing writing he put the text into the hands of our editors, Druid, Espark and Peaceful. Once they also finished their work, posted this beautiful newspaper.
The Tribe Moon Calendar
Every month, there is a Tribe Moon. This is a big celebration of one of the regular (non-special)tribes. When we enter a new tribe moon, the admins offer merchandise discounts, contests, and a special tribe-related chat channel. The art contests and in-game challenges vary. In some of the contests, artists can show their work and win prizes. Often there is also an in-game contest where people need to do some specific achievement in the game. Challenges also offer the chance to win a prize. Most often the prize is a Steam Key, but that may change with the release of Moonrise (see the article below). Finally, Zoythrus shares some lore about the tribe being celebrated.
Above is a visual representation of the Tribe Moon calendar. It corresponds to the 12 months of the Gregorian calendar. This limits the number of tribe moons to the twelve regular tribes. There is some controversy over the lack of tribe moons and celebrations for so-called ‘special’ tribes such as Polaris, Aquarion, and Elyrion. Although those special tribes may have special days or celebrations, they do not get their own tribe moon.
Zebasi Tribe Moon
Currently, we are in the month of July, which according to the Tribe Moon Calendar, is the Tribe Moon for Zebasi. The recently revealed lore focused on the Zebasi Scientists. There was also an art contest where people are asked to submit art about Polytopia plants or animals, perhaps even some Zebasi Scientists.
The winners of the #zebasi-art-challenge-2020 were @P.Márk, @Timi07, and @nar, the sand fan!
The #zebasi discussion is still open, and people can go there and talk about Zebasi.
Summer Skirmish Tournament
The Polytopia Summer Skirmish 2020 is the largest Polytopia event in the history of the game. Over 1100 participants signed up to compete, with over 40% finding out about the competition through the app. The tournament brought an increase in the number of new users to the server and to Elo matches. According to Nelluk, both PolyChamps and the Main server have had a rise in users setting up matches using the Poly Elo bot since the skirmisher tournament was announced.
Tournament matches are free for all (FFA) games with three human opponents. Winning a match gets the player a level up. As players advance in levels, they are paired with other players at that level. There is no elimination. Players cannot be kicked out of the tournament. However, losing four matches will drop a player one level. The first nine players to reach level 9 are the semi-finalists. All of the nine semi-finalists will receive a cool role on this server, and pre-release access to Polytopia for desktop. The final winner will also receive a piece of merchandise.
Out of 1100+ initial registrations, the tournament now has over 500 active participants who have reported at least one win or loss. From the most recent tournament announcement from July 20th, here is the top of the leaderboard: sgtsub (Plague)#0321 (7W/0L/2IP) LiNoKami#1234 (7W/0L/2IP) Ninjception#4403 (6W/0L/3IP) Imakesyougoboom#1234 (6W/1L/2IP) Unwise #5539 (6W/1L/2IP) Finite#5208 (6W/2L/1IP) soccawalka5#3631 (6W/2L/1IP) Cereal Killer#4334 (5W/0L/3IP) zorken#9362 (5W/0L/3IP) Poisonshadows#3042 (5W/0L/3IP) Wonder2in 2#9850 (5W/0L/3IP) Players can still enter the tournament until all the semi-final spots are full. You can learn more about the competition and register at https://polytopia.fun/
Polytopia News:
In some highly anticipated news, Zoythrus announced that the Steam Version will be released on 4th of August. The version will be named Moonrise, will have larger maps, and better map generation, mirror matches, and other features. See below for more details about Moonrise.
On July 15th, the game had a certificate problem. The multiplayer servers were also down for a few hours. Otherwise, everything is good, People are hyped for the Steam Release and for a potentially new tribe at a later date.
(Footage of the Certificate problem)
Ai-Mo News: This week, in the Ai-Moya server, we got a poll regarding the frequency of the newspaper. The results were clear and the newspaper staff decided to make the newspaper weekly instead of daily. We also got a lot of votes for our Ai-Mo submissions in the Zebasi art contest. Overall, the mission continues -- spreading peace, serenity and knowledge.
MoonRise
Finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for - the release date for the The Battle of Polytopia: Moonrise! What is “Moonrise”? As many of you know, we’ve been spending quite some time rewriting the entire game from scratch in Unity, and now we’re just about finished! This version boasts a whole slew of new features, including larger maps, better map generation, map customization options, random multiplayer matchmaking, player avatars, a Russian translation, the ability for more than one player to play with the same tribe, and a multitude of bug fixes! And now that Moonrise is finished, we can get back to adding new tribes and the features you’ve been asking for! (Zoythrus) Q: What is The Battle of Polytopia: Moonrise? A: The Battle of Polytopia: Moonrise is the Steam port of the award-winning, critically acclaimed mobile strategy game The Battle of Polytopia, which is available right now on Google Play or the Apple App Store.
Q: Why does the name have “Moonrise” in it? A: As many know, we have been rewriting the game in Unity, and this port is known as “Moonrise.” In the past, we’ve referred to it as “the Unity port” or “the Steam version,” but now it has gotten an official name - Moonrise, and will be referred to as such from now on.
Q: What new features does Moonrise have over the current Adobe AIR version? A: In addition to a plethora of bug fixes and stability improvements, Moonrise features larger maps, better map generation, map customization options, random multiplayer matchmaking, player avatars, a Russian translation, the ability for more than one player to play with the same tribe, and gives us room to develop new features much more quickly.
Q: Will the new features in The Battle of Polytopia: Moonrise come to mobile as well? A: Yes, it will, but it will come out after the Steam version is released. It shouldn’t take too long, though!
Q: “Better map generation”? What does that mean? A: We’ve completely redone how the terrain is created, meaning that your starting conditions should be much more fair and fun! No more one-tile islands or unwinnable starts.
Q: Larger maps? How big will they be? A: We’ve added two new map sizes, “Huge” and “Massive”, which are 20x20 (400 tiles) and 30x30 (900 tiles)!
Q: What are “map customization options”? A: In addition to the larger map sizes, we’ve also allowed you to choose the amount of water on the map! With 5 different options to choose from, ranging from “virtually zero water” to “nothing but a handful of islands,” we have “Dryland,” “Lakes,” “Continents,” “Archipelago,” and “Water World.”
Q: What is “random multiplayer matchmaking”? A: Instead of needing to add other Polytopia players as friends before playing a match, we’ve added “random matchmaking”, which will either let you open a match to the public or join a match set up by another player. You will be able to set options like number of players, map type, and etc, and the matchmaker will attempt to set you up with other players who are also looking for a match of that type. You can still add other players as friends if you want to set up more specialized matches.
Q: What do you mean by “the ability to let more than one player play with the same tribe”? A: Duplicate tribes, also known as “mirror matches”, allow multiple people to play with their own copy of the same tribe. So, now it is possible for a match where everyone chooses Imperius, and each player will be given their own differently-colored copy of Imperius to play with.
Q: Will AI be able to choose the same tribe as well? A: Yes. You can now play single player with each AI having their own unique copy of the same tribe, which functions the same as multiplayer.
Q: I’ve heard rumors of a new technology coming after Shields. Will that be in Moonrise? A: The rumors are true, but we’re still working on it! It will not be in Moonrise until later, and will come in a free update.
Steam
Q: Where can I buy a copy of Polytopia on Steam? A: The link to the Steam store page is here:
Q: How much will Polytopia cost? A: $14.99, and there is a 33% discount during the first 24 hours after launch.
Q: Can I pre-order Polytopia on Steam? A: No, but you can wishlist the game so you will be notified upon launch.
Q: What tribes are included in the Steam version? A: The Steam edition will come with all 12 Regular tribes bundled with it. You will be able to buy the Special Tribes for $2.99 each.
Q: Will the Steam version of Polytopia support crossplay with mobile? A: Not currently. You will only be able to play with other players using the Steam edition (Windows, Mac OS X & Linux) right now.
Q: Will the Steam version of Polytopia use friend codes for finding other players? A: No, we’ve completely removed the need for friend codes! Either you can find players through our new random matchmaking service, or you can find friends by simply searching for their Steam account name!
Q: If I already own the game because I acquired a beta key, will I have to buy it again? A: No, you own a copy, simple as that.
Q: Will the Steam version come with Steam rewards, such as trading cards and emoticons? A: We will introduce these items later on. (Zoythrus)
Interview
From Time to time, our Reporters are keeping interviews with important members of the community, and for this week, we prepared an interview with Voppo. Voppo is one of the curente Polaris Tribe Leaders, he is known for being a very professionist Polytopia Player, he is also part of one of the strongest teams in PolyChamps.
1ChillAnimator: When did you join this community, and why?
Voppo: I originally joined the main server back in November 2017 when single player was still the only mode you could play. This only lasted about a month as I got bored and there were only challenges available to do until multi came out. I left about 3 weeks later and didn't join back until December 2018 as I had learned Multiplayer had been released.
1ChillAnimator: How did you discover the Battle Of Polytopia (The Game)?
Voppo: Through a friend.
1ChillAnimator: What was your first tribe to buy?
Voppo: Vengir. I bought the rest soon after I realized Vengir was garbage.
1ChillAnimator: What free tribe do you recommend to a new player?
Voppo: I believe Zebasi is really kind to newer players, especially those who aren't familiar with developing their economy.
1ChillAnimator: Did you take part in The Tribe Duels?
Voppo: Yes. I initially represented Zebasi, but after they were eliminated, I was recruited to the Aimo team.
1ChillAnimator: What tribe do you think is the best?
Voppo: Luxidoor by far. It's easily the most versatile. A lot of people try to claim that a tribe's value is determined by the player's skill, but there are things that some tribes can do that others simply can't.
1ChillAnimator: What do you think is the worst tribe?
Voppo: Aquarion, also by a long shot. They easily have the worst economic development. They have Kickoo spawns, but they don't exactly have the Fishing to make them work. They don't even get a starting tech. I don't know how Midjiwan expected anyone to do well with them.
1ChillAnimator: What advice would you give to a new player?
Voppo: Don't buy Vengir. I know they look cool. I know the Swordsman looks strong. It's not worth it.
1ChillAnimator: What do you expect for the next update that will come for Battle of Polytopia?
Voppo: It's already been announced. It will be the release of Polytopia on Steam. Now, when will the updates come to mobile? That's another story.
1ChillAnimator: How do you think you play(Battle of Polytopia)?
Voppo: I think I play at a high level. I'm also a member of the Polychampions community where we play in a competitive league and I'm in one of the highest rated teams. I'm also ranked top 20 on global, but elo isn't super relevant in terms of skill. It's more like something you can flex on people with.
1ChillAnimator: Thanks for the interview
- Thanks to everyone who reads this. Thanks to our editors: Druid, Espark and PeacefulPotato. Thanks to our reporters: Joxteoz, Hspark, CoolNotFoolGuy, Artemis and others. Thanks to ArcticFox for letting us use their website to post the Ai-Mo Times. Thanks to Zoy for more Info .Thanks to the mods and admins for letting us post this. Finally, thanks to you! Keep Up Ai-Mo!