Changes to Carcassonne (July 2020) - the good and the bad

[NineTonBar]

First off, I'm a big fan of Carcassonne, and BoardGameArena's implementation of the game was one of the main reasons I took out a Premium membership. The changes just released (15th July) contain some really good improvements but also some bad points (mainly the new tileset graphics). Ok, first up the good stuff!

Player panels
- Zoom in/out - great that these controls are now more readily accessible
- Centre on home tile - nice to have, again readily accessible
- Fit map to screen - great feature, saves a lot of manual zooming/panning

Gameboard
- Only valid placements for the selected tile are now shown (dark squares) instead of all adjacent empty spots - this is a great feature (as seen on some third-party mobile versions of the game) and should help speed up gameplay
- You can now experiment with placement of your tiles on the board before your next go - another great feature (as trying to mentally map how tiles may place in practice can be challenging)

Expansions
Up until the recent update, the following expansions were supported (see here for a full list of expansions https://carcassonne.fandom.com/wiki/Official_expansions)

- The River (mini expansion 1, now included with most boxed editions of the base game)
- Traders and Builders (large expansion 1)
- Inns and Cathedrals (large expansion 2)

The latest update now includes large expansion 3, Princess & Dragon. I don't own a physical version of this expansion and have never played it but it's great to have another added to the list [sidenote: personally I would've preferred to see the Abbot & Mayor expansion added as I think it introduces more interesting mechanics but that's a subject for another day].

Ok, onto the bad. The new tileset graphics are currently pretty challenging (https://x.boardgamearena.net/data/theme ... dition.jpg). Note that, when viewing this tileset graphic at full size in a browser the issues described below aren't quite as apparent but become worse the more you zoom out.

Ignoring the visual additions/changes related to the tiles from the Princess & Dragon expansion, the overall art style is slightly changed from the previous tileset - but that's also true of different versions/editions of the boxed sets. The main issues with the new tile graphics are colours and contrast. Fields are a much brighter green (rather than the previous softer pastel colour), and cities are rendered in darker browns and reds. The colour contrast can be a real problem, particularly against certain colours of meeples (green/red) and it can be difficult to visually scan the board to assess the state of play.

I believe these visual issues could be resolved by re-treating the exported graphics to better align with the boxed versions and previous BGA tile artwork. As it stands I'm finding the new tileset difficult to play with.

My last point/query is around the inclusion of Gardens within the new tileset (https://carcassonne.fandom.com/wiki/Garden). These were introduced/added to more recent versions of the base game along with the Abbot follower (https://carcassonne.fandom.com/wiki/The_Abbot), which is the only player piece that can occupy Gardens. Has the Abbot piece been added now? If so, which "versions" of the game does it show up for? I played the base game a few times today and couldn't see it.

[Een]

Thanks for your feedback! And for starting by underlining the positive

Ok, onto the bad. The new tileset graphics are currently pretty horrendous (https://x.boardgamearena.net/data/theme ... dition.jpg). Note that, when viewing this tileset graphic at full size in a browser the issues described below aren't quite as apparent but become worse the more you zoom out.

We know that when art is upgraded, some players prefer the old version. You can get it back with a player preference (through the top right menu).
But of course, old style tile art is not available for the latest expansion that has just been added.

My last point/query is around the inclusion of Gardens within the new tileset (https://carcassonne.fandom.com/wiki/Garden). These were introduced/added to more recent versions of the base game along with the Abbot follower (https://carcassonne.fandom.com/wiki/The_Abbot), which is the only player piece that can occupy Gardens. Has the Abbot piece been added now? If so, which "versions" of the game does it show up for? I played the base game a few times today and couldn't see it.

The Abbot is not available at the moment. We have now made an announcement about the changes included in the new version: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=16703

[NineTonBar]

Thanks for the prompt reply, Een!

Hadn't spotted the new control that allows you switch to the old artwork so thanks for pointing that out.

I still think the new artwork graphics would benefit from some colour/contrast re-treatment, particularly as it's the only tileset option for the new expansion.

Shame about the Abbot but thank you for confirming.

[T72on1]

Would indeed be nice to have the Abbott too.

As far as graphics are concerned. I don't like the new ones either. Which is strange when I think about it, since the physical copy I own is the one with the new graphics, not the old ones. So I should be accustomed to them. I guess it's indeed a matter of the contrast, as described above, not one of the actual graphics.

[NineTonBar]

@T72on1 - thanks for the input.

I did a quick image search for the Princess and Dragon expansion to try and get an idea whether the boxed game tiles were rendered in the colours of the new tileset/artwork on BGA.

There are some minor variations but most look more similar to the colours of the "original" artwork (which is to be expected, since expansions tiles should ideally blend in with base game and other expansions).

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=carcassonne+p ... iax=images

I've seen some minor colour variation in regional releases (for example, a German edition of Inns and Cathedrals, where the colours didn't quite match the base tiles) but not quite as dramatic.

[LtSterling]

This may have been said before but the option to completely turn off Farmer scoring (like the old Xbox implementation) would be soooo appreciated! It is the way my family, friends and I have always played the game and it keeps us from playing it on BGA...

Thanks for all the hard work!

Dave

[madlondoner]

Can u please make the tunnel more obvious on the expansion. It is really hard to notice and has a big effect on the game if someone misses that 2 fields are connected. I don't think people should lose because they didnt go in close enough detail to notice it.

[estroncio]

- Only valid placements for the selected tile are now shown (dark squares) instead of all adjacent empty spots - this is a great feature (as seen on some third-party mobile versions of the game) and should help speed up gameplay

I disagree, this is not one of the good things, it is one of the bad ones. I put a ticket about it and is the most upvoted Carcassonne ticket, so I am not the only one thinking it is bad.

Why?

• Part of the game is to realize where you can put the tiles. It is an ability a player should have (and relatively important when time is an issue).
• Makes the board look bad, like broken.
• The screen is changing constantly so it is harder to focus on what is going on. The only part of the screen that should change is the part where me or my opponent placed a tile

[YVRmel]

Hi een,

Please be more specific on how it is possible to use the previous tiles. I have looked at every option under player preferences and can not find anything that even appears to permit me to change the tileset.

[dschingis27]

@YVRimel: You have to check the settings in top-right menu when you are in-game (so not before the game). Probably the reason why so many people don't find it.

Preferences -> Art Edition -> You change "Latest" to "First".