So here's my thoughts. I realized that AP has a big flaw, the same that TL has: You almost always end up using the same units. Partially this is because only certain units are good, and partially because you always progress through the game in the same ethnic order.
We have two game balances that are currently at odds:
1) The fact that islands have different difficulty levels that effects the value of the 'pickups' and oftenly the troops.
2) The fact that you can 'kite' maps to get to the higher difficulty areas.
This means that getting to new islands is very beneficial to the player, due to the freebies of the area, as well as something that you can do via a specific, sorta cheesy strategy.
What I would *really* like to see a mod that shakes up this system in one of the following ways:
1) Removes the requirement for navigational charts entirely. This will be 'easy mode' because you can get free pickups from each island without having to kite. However, since this is already doable it isn't that easy.
2) RANDOMIZES the difficulty of each island, as well as the order of maps. What I'm suggesting is that instead of always going to scarlet wind, then Bola, then Rusty Anchor, then Verona... You would start on Debir, and the maps you would find there could go to any island, and that the order and difficulty would ramp up as normal. That is, if you go straight from Debir to Nameless island, then nameless island would be the same difficulty as scarlet wind.
Ideally this second option would also tone done the loot you would find there. An island covered in black dragon eggs is probably a bit broken. Quests would also have to have their xp tempered by island difficulty. So this is likely just a dream scenario. But wouldn't it be cool if you didn't always play through the game in the same order?
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