This week Bloons Monkey City finally received an update! There's been a lot going on behind the scenes (all terribly boring for you I'm sure) but the BMC update is the most exciting thing to talk about.
But before you run on over and jump into Contested Territory, the new mode in BMC, you should probably read on...
Contested Territory is currently disabled in Bloons Monkey City
Why? Some of the server processes for Contested Territory (CT) were taking too long and causing everything to slow down too much. BMC can handle a bit of load, but it was getting into the unsafe area where saving and data could start to be affected. Because of that BMC has been in maintenance for a good chunk of the day while we worked on the issue.
With work still ongoing, we had no choice but to temporarily turn off CT so everyone can still get into BMC in the mean time.
The fix could potentially be later today, with a switch at the ready in case things take a turn, but it may be early next week before you can start battling over your territories to earn cash and bragging rights.
What exactly is Contested Territory?
On the outskirts of your city, beyond the tiles you normally have access to, your monkey researchers discovered an ancient monument to an even more ancient monkey civilisation. Initial Bloon readings were off the charts; nobody truly knows how deep the Bloons have entrenched themselves.
You can capture this "territory" by playing a game of BTD and getting past the required round. Once captured, the territory will produce a steady supply of City Cash to help fund you city.
The only problem? Other cities are within attacking distance too, and it's not called Contested Territory for nothing!
You will fight against 5 other cities, all vying for control of the territory. As soon as you beat the previous highest round (or original round required) you will be in control and you will start earning cash and a timer will start counting. At the end of each week the city in your particular territory who held it the longest will be the winner, earning Bloonstones and progress towards some brand new achievements. Players need at least 24 hours on the clock before they are eligible to win.
The Bloons are always close though. If nobody beats a previous time for 24 hours the territory will become unclaimed, and every city nearby will be trying to get control once again.
Once CT comes back on-line we'll be working on making sure the experience is fun and not too time consuming for you high level players. There will be changes until we're happy with where CT's balance is, so let us know your thoughts on the forums and comments.
Questions from the Comments
Any news on Clan Challenges, particularly one for SAS4?
There isn't at this point. I couldn't say for sure when the next one will be, but a SAS4 one is very likely.
Will there be additional gun slots in SAS4?
There are no plans to allow more gun space at the moment.
More importantly than Down The Drain being possible on iOS, is it possible without the Monkey Lab, Premiums, or Specialty Buildings?
I would think not, you'll probably have to spend at least a little Monkey Money or a few tokens, but I'd be happy for someone to prove me wrong. Could even be a Lordship prize in it if we get a video.
Is anything being worked on in regards to the Slow-Mo problem in Battles Web?
Not currently. We tried many things when this issue showed up, but all research lead back to it being an issue with Flash itself that the game engine can't get around. All current (as of this week) Battles work, besides theoretical planning to help balance issues, are to do with server side stuff. (That's not to say there won't be more work done to fix it)
Thanks for your eyeballs! Leave questions, suggestions, thoughts, riddles and quips in the comment section below and I'll see you again next week for another riveting episode of What's Up at Ninja Kiwi!
Aaron
Thank you so much NK. Is that your gift to me? :P That was on my birthday.
I like the decrease on the cost of Glaive Ricochet in BMC, thank you very much. However, does Juggernaut have to be THAT expensive? I think we could do with cheaper Juggernauts to get rid of those ceramics. :)
What would you guys think about a cooldown timer on SAS4 abilities?
@chocolatepanda: yeah, while you are playing on a map the soldiers would all look the same anyway, so it would just be a matter of having some extra character art to look at on the weapons/armor/character select menus. Although it could be a girl or a person of any race under all that armor, I dont think "white guy" was ever specified, so we could always just use our imagination. For all we know there could be a blue and purple alien under my heavy's helmet :)
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contesed territory on bmc is awesome 100 present too bad its shut down longest round surived 13
Will there ever be a way of getting a NK hoodie? A contest or or a shop or something would be pretty cool. I get envious when I see staff wearing them in videos. It would a nifty sort of advertising too. In answer to a previous question you stated that allowing people to choose the gender of their SAS soldiers was unlikely because of the demand on the servers. That is understandable but it is still somewhat sad that SAS4 soldiers are entirely white males. Making them customizable would be demanding and difficult but would it be possible to make them all female or all Black or Hispanic for a while as an event? Perhaps it could work something like the Halloween and Holiday changes in BTD5. In game the soldiers are impossible to distinguish anyway. I don't know how much it would matter to other players but it would add an element of respect for diversity that might be cool given that NK is a worldwide site. Perhaps it might not really be worth the extra time and effort though since it makes no difference at all to gameplay. Just an idea and a different way to do it, though probably one you had already thought of.
the daily challenge wheel on the IOS needs to be nerfed by the following: you can get any kind of map on any difficulty, because ive gotten WAY to many expert maps on impopable and WAY too many beginner tracks on easy, making it really hard or really easy. meduim and hard should have all map kinds except extreme
will there be btd6 in the future?
Are you planning to add some sought of nightmare mode to SAS4?