Minarets are Inconvenient

[Giraffasaur]

Hey there. First off, I'm very much enjoying the game. I think there is something really cool about the Relics, but they are hindered by the Minarets that are required to use them.

In short: The distance forces district-like construction, including for defensive structures, which makes it hard to defend all sides of our Flying Empire. It also feels counter-intuitive to the freedom of "building our Empire the way we want," which seems to be a core pillar of this game.

A simple suggestion: Make the Minaret bonuses global instead of radial. It already takes time to find relics and then it takes resources, construction, and space of a Minaret to use it, so why can't we get the relic benefits across our whole Flying Empire?

Thanks for your consideration.

[KDR_11k]

In the previous game districts were forced by residents hating it when they're near production buildings, I think the devs want districts to be a thing. Definitely not useful when it comes to defense towers though.

[Zachulon]

This is interesting. We will definitely take the feedback into consideration. Originally Relics were designed in a way that they would be installed on a single building, and only that building would get the effect, like adding a gem to a weapon or something. Then the idea came to allow a building to sort of spread their power, which I really like. I think it does encourage you to make districts of the same building type but that's very hard to do with both Defense Towers and Lift buildings. So the idea was more about finding the optimal spot where the Minaret could effect the maximum number of those types of buildings. Also having multiple minarets of the same relic type, and try to stretch that coverage as much as possible. I dunno, I think there is some cool strategic choice there but I totally hear your feedback too. If we did switch to a global bonus I would probably be inclined to tune them down a bit. Let us think on this one a little bit.

[Giraffasaur]

Thanks for your response.

Originally posted by Zachulon:

If we did switch to a global bonus I would probably be inclined to tune them down a bit. Let us think on this one a little bit.

100% agree and would recommend this.

[Afalir]

I do really like the current idea of minarets. Don't think it should be changed to global bonuses. Now it is like a game design feature adding special mechanic with a part of districts management

[Asphe]

Initially, I basically just shrunk the city as much as possible while upgrading the range on the minarets - it's basically 'global' for me ^_^ (yes, some relics DO stack)

[feen76]

Does Size Matter?

Imagine a choice between two distinct approaches to harnessing a relic's power:

A small minaret, which enhances a limited number of buildings but provides the full, undiluted power of the relic.
A large minaret (or perhaps an advanced "weird science" structure), where a rare scientist has managed to extend the relic's influence across the entire flying city. However, this comes at a cost: the effect is significantly weaker, and it requires additional resources to maintain.
For the large minaret, consider introducing a special fuel—such as Quartz—used as a prism to focus and spread the relic’s energy. Over time, these quartz prisms degrade and need to be replaced, adding another layer of resource management.

To distribute the weakened energy effectively, Prism Poles could be placed throughout the city, similar to streetlights, to act as relays. These poles might burn through quartz over time, requiring careful planning for their placement and upkeep.

The trade-off between the concentrated power of the small minaret and the sprawling influence of the large minaret would force players to make strategic decisions about how to utilize relics most effectively.

Sorry, the post resonated with me and I just went nuts.

[Zachulon]

Originally posted by feen76:

Does Size Matter?

Imagine a choice between two distinct approaches to harnessing a relic's power:

A small minaret, which enhances a limited number of buildings but provides the full, undiluted power of the relic.
A large minaret (or perhaps an advanced "weird science" structure), where a rare scientist has managed to extend the relic's influence across the entire flying city. However, this comes at a cost: the effect is significantly weaker, and it requires additional resources to maintain.
For the large minaret, consider introducing a special fuel—such as Quartz—used as a prism to focus and spread the relic’s energy. Over time, these quartz prisms degrade and need to be replaced, adding another layer of resource management.

To distribute the weakened energy effectively, Prism Poles could be placed throughout the city, similar to streetlights, to act as relays. These poles might burn through quartz over time, requiring careful planning for their placement and upkeep.

The trade-off between the concentrated power of the small minaret and the sprawling influence of the large minaret would force players to make strategic decisions about how to utilize relics most effectively.

Sorry, the post resonated with me and I just went nuts.

I like this idea, good way to expand the mechanic. Thanks for chiming in!

[w.f.schepel]

My biggest issue is the space minarets take. Once you got a city going, adding minarets to the layout requires A LOT of rebuilding. The limited space they affect is perfectly fine, but they aren't terribly user friendly. It would be different, I suppose, if minarets were a part of the game from the start.

Alternatively, if they were single square buildings / paths (similar to lamps), that would help, too. Maybe minarets could be lamp upgrades?

[Navarras]

I'm currently ignoring relics because it's too hard to build my city to take advantage of them

[EvilBob]

Minarets should be available as soon as you find a relic, not sold by a vendor. You find a relic, Advisor pipes up, you have a research option. Makes sense you wouldn't have one until you found a relic, then needed to present it for the bonus.

[からぼた]

I found 4 relics but still don't know how to build a minaret...

[Zachulon]

Originally posted by からぼた:

I found 4 relics but still don't know how to build a minaret...

You have to purchase the Minaret blueprint at an Archive of the Ancients, there is one in each biome.

[Maurelle]

maybe make Minarets something able to be places atop pathways like the lights are, so it requires less rebuilding of the whole city.

[ASHGARTD]

I think the concept of minarets is exactly right, anything else would simplify things too much, of course to use the relics effectively you have to build zones or several minarets. Attacks always come from the front as I fly directly towards the pirates.

[Ameret]

How about multiple copies of the relics. They could have different names but do the same thing. Thus you could have them at various places around your city.
Still don't think a minaret should need a worker to make it work.