Thread: Eggsploration map chicken limit

I was feeling that way too. something someone suggested was channels (kinda like an MMO) but I will have to iron out the execution.

Other concepts would be also removing the chicken from the board a day after their last activity (instead of 3 days like it is now)

@circlejourney Actually that'd probably be a good solution instead of a forced limit

another thing I thought about is maybe having a separate "free roam" mode where there's no step limit but no rewards, so people could have a better goof off spot without disrupting the general player base

I wanted to drop a couple of ideas. No idea if they'd work for the game or how they'd be to implement.

What if there was a button to let you pass through or take up the same spot as another chicken? Or an "I'm Stuck" button that'll teleport you to a random spot on the map if you get surrounded by chickens?

Editing to add that I think "free roam" would be really cool.

Yeah a free roam mode could be fun! It could be 2 channels with one that doesn't have rewards/costs (or maybe a much higher refresh), and another which does.

I think if the "I'm stuck" button were added, it would have to be one/limited use per day, but I could see that working!

I think a free roam mode would be adorable and would make for some really interesting roleplay opportunities!!! Maybe it could even be expanded on in the future or even be made into a separate game in the Games tab so that Eggspedition remains as an expedition for eggs and seeds

I'd second the once a day "I'm Stuck" button! It'd allow you do reset position without losing step count.

I think it'd be preferable to free roam mode just based on the current functionality of Eggspedition; the map already tends to get laggy during movement so I could see unlimited steps simultaneous from multiple players causing some problems.

Gonna add my own ideas to the mix, why not! Free roam sounds cute, but I'd be worried about it for the same reasons Waltz mentioned. It kinda gave me a thought!

Not sure how feasible it would be, but what if there was like a... I can't think of another term, "sticker mode"? So you've got the maps (sans collectibles) that already functions with a grid, but instead of moving your chooks across it willy-nilly you could place a static image (sticker!) on a specific spot? It could lead for fun set-up collabs between players without fear of all that lag!

You could select a chicken then select a spot or vice versa. But I figure rapidly changing spots or chickens could lead to lag issues, so maybe there's a cooldown for changing spots?

Although I guess some of the fun probably comes from status messages, so I'm not sure how well that would incorporate into it. I'm just spitballing anyway.

1. I don't plan on implementing free roam with unlimited steps - I was picturing just a much higher step limit like 60 and no 2-step tiles because I think the step limit adds some narrative interest anyway. I guess "free roam" isn't as accurate of a name as "explore mode"?

2. the lag is 100% a combo of the server checking every move's validity before updating the eggspedition status, and the front-end updating all chicken positions in 2-second ticks, so I wouldn't worry about that - that's entirely down to me being lazy/not wanting to spend money on a websocket service, and choosing to focus on input validation over an instantaneous response (rather than anything to do with server load). There are a lot of other things I can do to speed it up e.g. setting up websockets, or locally pre-calculating validity updating your local view immediately, but only updating the global view / your eggspedition status on the server after the move has been verified. Adding an explore mode would come with upgrading this system.

3. I do have a sort of game that might conceptually have a similar vibe to the sticker concept, though not the same! it'll definitely be a down-the-line thing.

Currently, I think the most immediately attractive idea to me for easing eggspedition traffic is that, in addition to adding maps laterally (i.e. more places to explore in the same world), I could add other worlds with different themes. so instead of mountains, villages and rivers, it could be city streets, an office floorplan, Hell, etc. etc.

But for now I'd like to finish releasing all the areas of the current map! Less than half of them are online so far (it will be a 4x4 grid of maps eventually, and some of the unreleased ones are already mapped)