The last Archipelago update focused on goods; their production, loading and transportation. With the development of the goods functionality largely complete, the focus turned to how those goods can be used.  

Trade contracts are one of the key features underlying the game. The Kingdom islands will make periodic requests for goods and players must race to be the first to deliver them. The initial delivery will be the first step in fulfilling a trade contract which must then be maintained over a number of game weeks. The full completion of trade contracts will be the key to winning the game.

The initial development of trade contracts required numerous steps, including: 
* The periodic issue of new trade contract by Kingdom islands;
* A trade contract dashboard to illustrate open and closed contracts; and
 * The verification of goods delivery for a contract.

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In addition this contribution covers:
* Design and implementation of a new Resource tile: coffee plantation
* Placing of restrictions on resource claiming to improve game balance

The game is really starting to come together!

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![Screen Shot 2018-04-25 at 15.40.20.png](https://cdn.utopian.io/posts/aae58b63313e14ae032aa685301cda150280Screen_Shot_2018-04-25_at_15.40.20.png)
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*Phase 2 of Archipelago development (Resources, Goods, Building, and Trade Contracts) is now well underway.*

*For a full view of the current state of the game development see my github-hosted page.*
https://miniature-tiger.github.io/archipelago/

*Please note that the game is not yet complete - you can see current progress and test functionality but you will have to wait a little longer to play!*

*Background details of the project can be found at the end of this contribution post.*

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## New Features covered by this Contribution

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**Design and implementation of coffee plantation**

The coffee plantation is a Resource piece that will produce coffee as a good for delivery. The design is based on a twig of a coffee bush with coffee leaves and berries. As with other game pieces, the implementation uses SVG.

Screenshots of the coffee plantation tile are included below:

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<center>
![Screen Shot 2018-04-25 at 15.50.50.png](https://cdn.utopian.io/posts/2ca480ca642a3c8c4c322b4323d9f567bf68Screen_Shot_2018-04-25_at_15.50.50.png)
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<center><sub>A claimed coffee plantation on the east side of an island</sub></center>

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<center>
![Screen Shot 2018-04-25 at 15.48.40.png](https://cdn.utopian.io/posts/a573b1ead177cfa7512933adecfb295df415Screen_Shot_2018-04-25_at_15.48.40.png)
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<center><sub>An unclaimed coffee plantation on the NE corner of a Kingdom island</sub></center>

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The code changes for this update can be found here:
https://github.com/miniature-tiger/archipelago/pull/41/files

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**Placing of restrictions on resource claiming to improve game balance** 

Resource tiles are now restricted to one per player. 

This change aims to prevent teams stockpiling resources, making the hunt to uncover resources more exciting. It also adds strategy considerations as to whether a team claims a particular resource or not considering its position on the board.

The resources dashboard will also be simpler with only one resource of each type per player.

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<center>
![Screen Shot 2018-04-25 at 16.04.57.png](https://cdn.utopian.io/posts/bb958e5b9bacd7e341b3e5d63d57e6d2ca55Screen_Shot_2018-04-25_at_16.04.57.png)
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<center><sub>Resources dashboard showing one piece of each type</sub></center>

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The code for the design changes is covered here: 
https://github.com/miniature-tiger/archipelago/pull/42/files

The update required: 
* Change to the main.js file: Teams can no longer claim more than one of each resource type 
* Change to the board.js file: The initial allocation of resources to players is restricted to one of each resource type

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**Creation of trade contracts and contract dashboard** 

Now on to the main focus of this contribution:  the development of trade contracts. This took place in two parts. 

The first commit covered the issuance of new trade contracts and the reporting of these contracts on a new contract dashboard positioned on the right sidebar.

Trade contracts will be issued at random, with a 25% chance of a contract arising at the start of each player turn.

The contract dashboard is updated whenever the game status changes.

An example trade contract issuance is shown below with its effect on the contracts dashboard:

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<center>
![Screen Shot 2018-04-25 at 16.11.59.png](https://cdn.utopian.io/posts/4f46dde561b9233a623555de5c1f9986638bScreen_Shot_2018-04-25_at_16.11.59.png)
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<center><sub>Commentary of a trade contract issue</sub></center>

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<center>
![Screen Shot 2018-04-25 at 16.11.46.png](https://cdn.utopian.io/posts/2f25484ad753422ad46987bfd5281afe7f24Screen_Shot_2018-04-25_at_16.11.46.png)
![Screen Shot 2018-04-25 at 16.15.31.png](https://cdn.utopian.io/posts/42b568376992c557df0e8878e196e5b4fdbcScreen_Shot_2018-04-25_at_16.15.31.png)
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<center><sub>The initial contracts dashboard and the effect of the first contract being issued</sub></center>

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The coding included: 
* A new javascript object contracts.js created for all things related to contracts
* A new array contractsArray to include all contracts information including island names (based on compass points)
* A method to populate the initial contractsArray created
* A method to periodically randomly generate new contract if conditions are met
* A method to populate the contracts dashboard created on right hand side bar

The code for the design changes is covered here: 
https://github.com/miniature-tiger/archipelago/pull/43/files

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**Contract delivery and verification**  

The second commit for the implementation of trade contracts covered contract delivery and verification. 

When a cargo ship is anchored within range of a Kingdom fort and carrying the appropriate goods for delivery the fort tile will be activated. The initial goods delivery can then be made.

The contract dashboard is updated to show the closed status of the contract:

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<center>
![Screen Shot 2018-04-25 at 16.28.48.png](https://cdn.utopian.io/posts/7b041eb2b560768075c970ad04981ec058e9Screen_Shot_2018-04-25_at_16.28.48.png)
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<center><sub>A cargo ship about to deliver goods to fulfil a contract</sub></center>

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<center>
![Screen Shot 2018-04-25 at 16.25.51.png](https://cdn.utopian.io/posts/1a41ef900ec0cd1205503162af3865543321Screen_Shot_2018-04-25_at_16.25.51.png)
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<center><sub>The trade contracts dashboard with many contracts closed</sub></center>

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The coding included: 
* A method to check whether a ship can deliver goods to fulfil an open contract in the vicinity
* A method to update contracts and boardArray on initial delivery of contract
* The update of contracts dashboard for completed contracts, including tiles coloured by team
* The update of game moves logic in main.js to allow for contract delivery
* The update of unloading method in movement.js to allow for contract goods delivery

The code for the design changes is covered here: 
https://github.com/miniature-tiger/archipelago/pull/44/files

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*That is all for this update. If you have any queries please drop them in the comments or contact me on discord.*

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## Details of the Archipelago Project

### What is the Project About?
Archipelago is a new project that I have been working on. The aim is to develop a seafaring and trading turn-based strategy game. Players will guide their ships around the islands, searching for goods to aid construction of ships and their bases, trading with the central market and each other, and avoiding hazards like pirates and whirlpools.

### Technology Stack
The project is a browser based game:
* Mechanics: Javascript
* Visuals: HTML and CSS initially but now moved across to Canvas and SVG. 

### Roadmap
Phase 1 - the first main goal of getting ships on the board and moving at different speeds under the influence of the compass is complete.

The graphics overhaul is also now complete.

Work is now ongoing on Phase 2 which is resource discovery, goods production, building and the trade contracts that underlie the game.

Work has also begun on adding pirates and conflicts.

##### Phase 1 - Board and ship movement: COMPLETE!!!
* Board set up - COMPLETE
* Basic ship creation: functionality and graphics  - COMPLETE 
* Manual ship movement and board updating  - COMPLETE
* Basic compass creation: functionality and graphics - COMPLETE
* Turn based activity of ship movement - COMPLETE
* Logic of length of longer moves around obstacles - COMPLETE
* Chaining together transitions to allow graphics of longer moves - COMPLETE
* Separation of board layers (Canvas base layer, Canvas activation layer overlay, SVG piece overlays) - COMPLETE

##### Phase 2 - Resources, Goods, Building and Trade Contracts 

*Resources*
* Add Resource tiles (forest, ironworks, flax, gold etc) - in progress: forest, ironworks, quarry, plantation added
* Discovery of resource tiles - COMPLETE
* Claiming of resource tiles - COMPLETE
* Dashboard of player pieces - COMPLETE

*Goods*
* Creation of new goods each turn - COMPLETE
* Loading, unloading and transportation of goods - COMPLETE
* Dashboard of goods pieces - COMPLETE
* Goods icons
* Variable quantity of goods to be loaded / unloaded

*Contracts for delivery:*
* Semi-random (equitable) generation of trade delivery contracts - COMPLETE
* Creation of trade settlements - COMPLETE
* Dashboard for contracts - COMPLETE
* Mechanics for contract sign-up - COMPLETE
* Mechanics for contract delivery - COMPLETE
* Island naming: for describing location of trading settlements - COMPLETE
* Graphics of trade routes

*Building (On hold - decide if necessary once contracts implemented)*
* Recipes, time to implement, graphics etc

*Scoring:*
* Work out scoring mechanism (linked to contracts)
* Add score dashboard

##### Phase 3 - Conflicts 

*Pirates*
* Add pirate ships - COMPLETE
* Automate pirate ship movements (basic movement with wind and search for cargo ships) - COMPLETE
* Telescope range of 4 tiles for stronger search for ships
* Consider separate cargo and war ships for teams

*Forts*
* Add fort icons - COMPLETE
* Create safe harbour from pirate ships

*Conflicts*
* Develop conflict method between ships
* Stealing of cargo
* Limping back to port

##### Phase 4 - Central trading centre  
* Develop central market allowing players without resources to trade and fulfill contracts

##### Phase 5 - Rules, roll-out, documentation, testing etc
* TBDeveloped

### Contact / Contribute
You can get in touch with me on discord if you would like to contribute.

You can find the current state of the game here:
https://miniature-tiger.github.io/archipelago/

The repository for the project is here:
https://github.com/miniature-tiger/archipelago

Have fun!

<br /><hr/><em>Posted on <a href="https://utopian.io/utopian-io/@miniature-tiger/trade-contracts-creation-and-delivery-archipelago">Utopian.io -  Rewarding Open Source Contributors</a></em><hr/>