Mastermind's Saved Base Layouts Idea (with LOTS of pictures!)
http://i57.tinypic.com/5d2qb.jpg
EDIT: As of Dec. 2014, Supercell added this idea to the game. While I'm sure my thread is not solely the reason it was added, I feel it was a big part of the idea being added to the game. The In-Game Base Builder thread and this one contains multiple posts from SC saying they love this idea/thread(s) and had no plans to add it soon, but that they wanted to (back when these were first posted a year + ago). Although I didn't hear anything from SC, I'm glad you guys really pushed for this idea and kept pestering SC to add it!
Intro
Hello everyone and welcome to my LONG thread that focuses on Saved Base Layouts! With Clan Wars now out, Saved Layouts have been the most highly requested feature on the forums, Facebook, Reddit, and in the game. Clan Wars puts more of an emphasis on Defensive Layouts, which makes switching back and forth from a Farming Layout tedious and time-consuming. Saved Base Layouts will eliminate that mundane monotony and add another great element to the game!
I know this isn't the Ideas subforum. Like my other bigger threads, I'm putting this up on General for hopefully a couple days since General gets by far the most traffic and many people who visit General only visit General. Also, Layouts is a hot topic on General right now and so, while this is an Idea and will ultimately move to that subforum, this does pertain to a lot of what is being talked about here at the moment. Thanks Daddy for allowing it and the other mods for the couple of days, just like the other few threads when I posted them, and for the users for understanding!
Now I know what you might be thinking... "Didn't you already make a thread awhile ago that covered Layouts?" Yes, I did make a thread last September called Mastermind's Base Builder Idea that included Layouts at the end in detail. The thread can be found HERE and describes my opinion on how an In-Game Base Builder and Layouts should be implemented into the game. The thread became very popular back then and a few weeks after it was created, Supercell announced they would be adding Village Edit Mode (the main feature of the thread) into the game! While I didn't create the idea, and SC was secretly working on it before my thread came out, it was neat to see how similar their implementation was to the pictures in my thread and hopefully the overwhelmingly positive response inspired them.
But yes, Layouts were already talked about in-depth in that thread, so why make this one? Two reasons! One: The idea is being requested so much lately, I thought it would be beneficial to update the original thread to focus solely on Layouts with all new pictures, features, and more! Two: When someone mentions Saved Layouts on these forums, I've seen many people link them to my Base-Builder thread. However, since the primary focus of that thread is on Village Edit Mode, people may be confused as to why they are being linked to it, unless they scroll all the way down to the second post. This idea focuses on Layouts only, and I recreated every picture and made a bunch of new ones. There are 20 pictures in this thread, a lot of new features, and answers every possible question that could arise with an idea like this, including why SC would want to add this idea and how it would benefit them monetarily. Hopefully this thread can be linked by you guys to people asking for Saved Layouts instead of my other thread from now on!
I certainly didn't come up with the idea of Layouts; it's a feature that has been requested for a long time. I've just detailed with visual illustrations (in this thread and the original) of how I personally think it should be implemented and how I believe my version would greatly benefit the spirit of the game. I didn't come up with the idea, but my original post was the first to go into detail about Layouts and it seems to still be popular 7 months later!
Also, this thread is not my new idea that I've been working on (for those of you who have been following my other threads). Because of the popularity of the idea, I decided to stop the other one for a couple days to make this one, and then will finish up the other one and post it (them) at a later date!
OK! With all that boring stuff now out of the way, let's get to the thread! Please let me know what you think of this idea (comment), such as what you like, what you don't like, and how we can make it better. This idea is for all of us! I know it's LONG, but when you get the chance, please read it all so you can get a better understanding of the logistics behind the idea. Thanks!
Positives of the Idea
Here are the things that my version of Saved Base Layouts would accomplish and add to the game:
- Switch between base designs in seconds, saving players significant time
- More participation in Clan Wars, primarily by farmers and farming clans
- Save unfinished design and continue it later, preventing lost edits
- Share replays with clan mates, improving social elements of the game
- Supercell can profit (making number of Layouts equal to number of Builder Huts)
The only potential problem I see to this whole idea is the possibly that the server would not be able to handle it. I am not a programmer and do not know if all this would be possible. SuperSteve said in my original thread that Saved Base Layouts would be much tougher to implement than Village Edit Mode, due to the millions of saves needed to be stored and how maintenance breaks would be handled in deletion. However, the team at Supercell is incredible and I have no doubt that they can manage to find a way to make it all work!
The Process of Saving a Base as a Layout
http://i59.tinypic.com/2dqu7ux.jpg
Now here comes the good stuff: the pictures and explanations! In my original thread, I had the button in the same spot (as the big red arrow on the picture above points to) although in my version it will take you to a window that gives you an option of choosing between Village Edit Mode and Saved Layouts.
http://i62.tinypic.com/ml2tuc.jpg
We will get to the Layouts in just a bit, but tapping the Layouts tile will take you directly to the Layouts screen. For the purpose of this run-through, let's tap on the Builder tile first so we can design a new village and then save it!
http://i57.tinypic.com/s6up6r.jpg
As the large caption so "eloquently" alludes to, the picture above is what Village edit mode looks like in it's present state in game. Normally when you tap the Village Edit Mode button, your current base will appear. Let's assume (as the picture indicates) that I tapped the Remove All button (which is a GREAT feature I did not have included in my original thread). The next picture shows what I think it should look like if Saved Layouts becomes a feature.
Updated User Interface
http://i62.tinypic.com/2hmd46t.jpg
As you can see, not much has changed as far as the user interface is concerned! The buttons have switched sides so I could make room for a third button, as adding a third button to the original left side would have been too close to the clan chat button and would have been aesthetically displeasing hehe! For this example, I also added a Town Hall and some decorations to demonstrate a few of the features of my version, largely including the fact that unfinished designs in Village Edit mode can be saved and worked on later in the Layouts section! More on that in a second.
http://i61.tinypic.com/zwcao.png
Instead of the Save Village button as it currently is in the game, I changed it to the greyed out Use Village button. I feel as though this would even be a good change to add in even without the implementation of Layouts, because the current Save Village mantra can be confusing as it is often associated with Saved Layouts.
I think it is still important to keep the Use Village function as people may not want to save a design as a Layout, or might even just want to switch a few things around on their current base. This way, they can still use Village Edit Mode as it is currently designed and implemented. Tapping Use Village in my idea would be the exact same thing as tapping Save Village in the game now. The button is greyed out to signify that the base is unfinished and not able to be used until every piece is placed, just like the current game has it.
The new addition to the UI is the addition of the Save As Layout button! The button is always green, meaning you can save your Village Edit Mode design no matter the completion percentage. If you have 1 item placed you can save it, just as you can save it if every piece is placed. The reason for this (as I mentioned a few paragraphs ago) is so that you can save your design and work on it later. Creating a new base is not a fast task! Many times it can take around an hour to get it exactly as you want it. The problem is, it is difficult for many to be able to devote the needed amount of time to create an entire base from scratch. Not only that, but potential loss of connection can undoubtedly frustrate even the most even-tempered person who has spent a ton of time perfecting their base in Village Edit Mode, only to realize that they have to start all over! Yes, in many instances of lost connection, base designs are remembered but there are occasions when they are not. Saving every so often would help eliminate the possibility of losing your progress.
One of the greatest features of this idea (in my opinion) is the fact that bases can be saved and worked on at a later time. However, although you can save an unfinished base, you will not be able to use that Layout until every piece has been placed, which I will talk about in the next section!
Let's pretend that we were working on our new base design in Village Edit Mode and our boss/mom/girlfriend/husband/dog is yelling at us to do something. Oh dang! Our Town Hall placement was epic and those decorations around it were distributed in an otherworldly fashion! Fortunately for us, we can continue our incredible design later so let's tap on the Save As Layout button, taking us to the Saved Layouts window.
Saved Layouts Window
http://i58.tinypic.com/2e2fhp5.jpg
This window is the core behind my idea for Saved Layouts. When the Save As Layout button is tapped, we are taken to this screen where we are promptly educated to save our village design by either tapping on an Empty Scroll tile, or by tapping on an existing Layout tile to replace the old one with the new one.
http://i61.tinypic.com/312bfax.jpg
As you can see, we already have one Layout saved from before with 3 empty slots. I will talk about it at the very end, but the number of Layout slots available will be equal to the number of Builders Huts you have. It's an idea Supercell stated in my original thread that they really liked and it would allow them to profit from this idea without being too in-your-face-give-me-money-or-else! They are a business after all and I think it would be incredibly wise of them from a business standpoint to use this specific idea.
Before we place the new design, let me talk about the design of this screen (as it is different from the original thread). As you can see, the previously-made Layout has a blue background tile whereas the empty ones have gray tiles. If a Layout is blue, that means it is available to use (except on the off-chance that new obstacles are blocking the Layout from being set, which I will talk about at the end). If a layout is gray, it could mean a few things:
- It could mean that there simply is no design saved there, and that it is empty as three of them are above.
- It could mean that there is an unfinished base saved to the slot, and is unable to be used until all the pieces have been placed.
- It could mean that you have recently acquired more items due to TH upgrade, added more decorations, added more walls, etc. and that Layout is unusable until all the new items are added to the existing Layout.
- Even if one new decoration is purchased, that could mean every Layout would need to be edited until they could be used.
- If you sell a decoration in live mode, the Layout that includes that sold decoration would simply have that specific decoration be eliminated from the Layout automatically and leave an empty space in place of it on the map. If having the system do it automatically would be too difficult to implement, then the Layout would be grayed out, you would need to hit the Edit button, and re-save the village. Again, that is only if the server could not handle automatic Layout updating when decorations were sold.
If items finish upgrading (even the TH) but everything is in the same place and no extra items have been added, then the tile will still be blue and the base is still usable. But if even 1 new item is added to your current arsenal, then the Layout becomes unusable until it is fixed.
With that explained, let's place our new, unfinished design in the top right slot by simply tapping it there.
http://i58.tinypic.com/1r7ntd.jpg
Presto! Our unfinished design is now saved as Layout 2 and once we get back from whatever it is our nagging confidants need us to do, we can finish the design! Since the design is not complete, the Layout tile is gray to visually signify it cannot be used yet.
An hour passes and we are back to finalize our design! Let's tap on the Layout 2 tile.
Editing a Saved Layout
http://i62.tinypic.com/28gtmcm.jpg
As you can see, tapping on a Layout tile gives us 4 options: Use, Edit, Share, and Rename. Tapping the Use button allows us to use that specific Layout and switch our current base to that one. Because our base is unfinished, we are not able to use it and the button is grayed out.
I will go into detail about the Share button later. The Rename button is pretty self-explanatory, as the default names are Layout 1, 2, etc. so by tapping the Rename button you can change them to spell whatever your heart desires, such as Farm 1, Trophy 3, Crab Claws, I<3Tacos, FinlandIsCold, etc.
The Edit button takes you back to Village Edit mode to finish that current design or change up whatever design you would want. Let's tap the Edit button and speed up time by 30 minutes so I can magically complete my finished base. Thankfully Layouts exist (in Mastermind's Dream World) so I don't have to constantly be changing entire bases all the time in Village Edit Mode, especially for Clan Wars!
http://i58.tinypic.com/k4y35i.jpg
Presto! Our base is 100% done and every piece has been placed. Because of this, the Use Village button has become green, meaning we can use this base without saving it as a Layout if we should so chose. But this is a Layouts thread, so of course we are going to save it! Let's tap Save As Layout.
Side note about all the presents on my base to those wondering: they are left over from the Christmas update when we had the Santa's Strike bomb available. I get asked a lot how I still have presents or if I h@cked the game to get them in the order I have it in. All I did was place my items in a certain way as to block the presents from falling anywhere but where they are currently placed, as I moved the bomb around the edge of my base (with my TH to lure) and never collected the presents. It would be about 2 million elixir if I did collect, and yes, I have to be very careful not to accidentally touch them haha!
Replacing an Existing Layout
http://i58.tinypic.com/1r7ntd.jpg
We are now back to the Layouts screen and we just tapped on the message (that we saw in an earlier pic) informing us to save our design by either tapping an empty scroll tile or by tapping an existing Layout to overwrite it. Since last time we tapped an empty slot, this time I'll demonstrate how overwriting an existing Layout will look like.
Let's tap on Layout 2 to overwrite that unfinished design.
http://i57.tinypic.com/2vmagq0.jpg
A warning message will appear whenever you want to save your new design over a pre-existing Layout, informing you that doing so will result in your previous Layout being erased. That way any accidental clicks won't delete a Layout. Let's tap OK.
http://i61.tinypic.com/flk3k3.jpg
And there we go! Our new design is saved as Layout 2! As you can see, a small snapshot is taken of the design so we can see what that Layout would look like. Obstacles are not considered a part of the Layout, even though they are in the pictures however. Obstacles are considered an outside entity that will be taken into account on whether a base can be used or not, depending on if obstacles are in the way of items.
Sharing Layouts
http://i60.tinypic.com/2vumvcj.jpg
So far we have gone over everything that is crucial for Layouts such as saving a design in Village Edit Mode as a Layout, the Layouts screen, replacing existing Layouts, and editing unfinished designs. That is the core of Layouts and what we all want in the game. However in my version, there is an extra bonus feature that I feel would greatly add to the game and help improve clan dynamics and the social game.
Sharing Layouts would be a wonderful addition. The idea behind it is to make a Layout and share it in clan chat, allowing anyone else to save that design as a Layout and use it (if they meet the requirements and do not have obstacles blocking it). Shared Layouts would look a lot like Shared Replays in clan chat.
Let's tap on the Share button to share Layout 2 with our clan.
http://i61.tinypic.com/125s17p.jpg
Once you tap the Share button, a box will appear that looks exactly like a Share Replay box. Type in the message you want to appear with it in clan chat and hit Send.
http://i58.tinypic.com/2v34i9t.jpg
This screenshot was taken from my clanmate Cealor in our wonderful clan Hyrule Knights (check us out in my signature) to show what it would look like from a clanmate's perspective in clan chat. As you can see, our message displays at the top as well as the name of our layout (Layout 2, or if we renamed it to something it would appear there too) and also what Town Hall we are (TH9). Even a TH4 can save our Layout if they want, even though they won't be able to use it until TH9. They can save it though and share it with their clan. This can also help between feeder clans, clan families, etc. (which you might see me talk about really soon wink wink) as Layouts can be transferred very easily between people switching clans.
Layouts can only be shared with your clan once every 12 hours (or if it is not a big problem, possibly as low as once every 30 minutes like Shared Replays currently are) as this will prevent Layout spam clogging up clan chat.
Also, the Save As Layout button is purple to differentiate itself from the green Donate button and the blue Share Replay button.
The Number of Layouts Available
http://i58.tinypic.com/10curg1.jpg
So how many Layout slots can you get? In the picture examples above, I show 4 as an example but in my version and idea of Saved Layouts, the number of Saved Layout slots would be equal to the number of Builders Huts you have. That means if you have 2 Builders Huts, you would have 2 available Layout slots. 5 Builder Huts would equate to 5 available Layout slots, etc.
The purpose of this is for 2 reasons: you can get access to more slots AND Supercell can make some money. By this fact alone, it would motivate Supercell to add an idea like this more than other non-profitable ideas. Again, they are a business and this idea would make a lot of sense. We talked about this idea throughout the comments section of my original thread and players like Mufasa made good points that players who are on the fence about buying Builder Huts would be given even more reason to spend money and buy them. It also makes Builders an even better investment for players, casual and hardcore alike! This idea would allow SC to profit without it being to blatantly obvious that all they want is your money. It would benefit both the company and players, and still provide Layout slots, while allowing players to gain additional slots by tying it into the already important Builder Huts. Win-Win in my opinion!
In fact, Supercell even commented in my original post and stated that they loved this idea. SuperSteve the Community Manager wrote, "We may add this in future, and we may use the builder hut idea you had" (post #394 on that thread).
Solution to Obstacles in the Way
http://i61.tinypic.com/2zsv2j4.jpg
One big question you might have is, "What happens if I want to switch to a different Saved Layout but new obstacles have spawned recently?" Have no fear! If you try to switch to a different Layout but an obstacle (bush, tree, gembox) is in the way of an item being placed, you will simply receive a message on screen informing you that an obstacle is in the way, and that it/they need to be cleared in order for the Layout to be used.
Supercell could be fancy and actually take us to our current village and highlight the specific obstacles that would need to be removed, but that may be too complicated to add. I'd obviously be in favor of an idea like that though!
Forum User Suggestions
(Please comment with your ideas and suggestions and I will place them here. I think it would be a cool idea to add a Delete and Move option to the Layouts options list, do you agree? Give me your suggestions and I'll place them here and give you credit!)
In Conclusion
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Thanks everyone for spending the long amount of time it took to read through this entire thread (as always when it comes to my threads). You guys rock! Also thanks for understanding that it is on the General boards for hopefully a couple days, even though it will be in the Idea subforum soon.
This is an idea that is constantly being asked for on the forums, so hopefully this thread can be the hub for the comments of the idea. You are more than welcome to link people to this thread, with an easy-to-remember link being: tinyurl.com/savedbaselayouts
Stay tuned for my new HUGE thread (this is small in comparison) that will be out a bit later! Hope this thread inspires Supercell and I'm really intrigued on what they think about this!
This is how I envision Saved Base Layouts in my mind and hopefully you appreciate and enjoy the work I put into making the visualizations for you to more easily understand what I'm trying to convey. Do you like this idea? Do you want this idea in the game? Will it help? If you answered yes to any of these questions, PLEASE invite your friends and clan mates to view this idea and please comment. I really want to hear your opinions on if you want the idea and how we can make it better.
The more you comment here and share this idea with others, the more likely this idea has of being in the game!
Thank you for your time and Clash On!
Mastermind
P.S. If you like this thread and style, check out my other ideas in my signature, and especially my Daily/Weekly/Monthly Quests idea, as it is by far my favorite of the ideas and the most fun. It's also an idea Supercell has stated in various interviews that they would really like to add to the game as a major update. Thanks for your support and comment as often as possible.
