Hello hello,
Really enjoying what I’ve played thus far - the Steel update has taken this game to a higher level of polish for me, and has moved SS from "occasional enjoyable timefiller" to "outright obsession". The game has sparked ideas in my head - I hope you take my sharing these as evidence of my enthusiasm rather than petulant demands ;)
Something that has struck me that should be (relatively) easy to implement at some point is a journey chronicle. What do I mean by such high-falutin’ phrases?
We’re all familiar with those maps you see of the journeys of Columbus/Raleigh/any explorer ever. They have coloured lines that show where they started, where they went, and their route home. They tell a narrative of increasing exploration.
It’d be fascinating to incorporate this within SS. Every time you return to London, a map is added to your journal of the latest journey you took. These maps can be named ("The Smuggled Souls Run", "In Search Of The Avid Horizon") etc etc, and can be perused over to remind you of your character’s journey. I find myself doing this mentally every time I return to port.
All this is flavour material, obviously, but could have mechanical implications. Maps of journeys could be handed down with your will, imparting some benefit. You could also incorporate numbers along the journey line indicating when a new barrel of fuel is loaded, allowing the seasoned explorer to have an accurate assessment of fuel usage. Doing it in this way would, in my mind, provide the zeesoned zailor with a way of capitalising on their experience without removing the trial and error that is a fundamental part of the early game.
Regardless, I know the development map for features is well plotted by now. I look forwards to seeing what’s coming next, and am incredibly pleased to be a part of this early phase.
Cheers!