Every time the levels are regenerated, there is a lag of a few days to a week or so before the mobile versions get updated. I get that most of that delay is outside of Fizzer's control and he's at the mercy of Apple & Google so that's that.

I'm sure I'm not the only person who largely plays on the PC and uses the mobile apps mostly to watch ads every four hours for the production bonuses. But when the levels are regenerated we can't do that until whenever Apple & Google decide to release the updated app. This messes up people trying to speedrun through a level for the ore bonus and costs Fizzer money from the missed ad views.

I'd like to suggest that the mobile apps be updated so that players can watch ads from the level select screen, which is accessible from the mobile even after levels are regenerated. This would allow us to continue to watch ads, get the production bonus and put money in Fizzer's pocket while we all wait for the app updates to be published.

A few thoughts:

• don't ask for the source, I don't know anymore where I have that from (perhaps from Fizzer directly?!?), but I remember an information that most idle players play on mobile (which doesn't invalidate your point at all, just to make this clear)
• the ad boost is level specific, if you multi-level, then you can/have to watch an ad for each level you play. That would be difficult for a "outside of level"-solution
• I don't fully understand how these map generations work, especially because you can always play ANY older version within the app (or in browser), so if you wanted to, you could incorporate SOME forward compatibility into the app, such that not every single update causes disrupts
• or you could publish the app releases before the browser version gets updated, if Fizzer would release the app versions a few weeks before the content actually gets live and the app behaves like the previous version until some date, then everyone had the chance to update all their devices/apps before an actual update.

But still, there is nonetheless some truth in your suggestion.

most of that delay is outside of Fizzer's control

True, but still, if you know that you have to cope with these app stores then you have to take measures that your game doesn't break. At least that is my opinion.

Make it so.

you mean like a wheel spin?

Phoenix raises some good points, especially about multi-level. I hadn't really thought about that. I guess my initial thought would be that the bonus would apply to whatever level you were last playing (the same level that autoloads when you start WZI.)

I assume that the reason the level regenerations require app updates is because there are changes to the game logic that need the app update in order for the new levels to work properly. While it would be awesome if the level regenerations didn't require an app update, I'm sure Fizzer has a good reason for it and changing that would probably be a lot of work. I'm just proposing something that is hopefully easy to change, good for players and makes Fizzer some extra money.

Okay, so I want to make clear that I haven't reverse-engineered the WZ app nor do I intend to do so. All that I'm about to say origins from basic programming understanding.

Take the current new game update. There were no new features introduced. The only things that changed were (numerical) factors. So, for example the markets apparently have changed in their profit. That means where previously you would have x% of - say - the base sell value as initial buy price, the new version will apply y% (or so, I'm just making stuff up here). The best solution for such a specification would be that the level data itself at some point contains a property "base buy price factor: x", where now there would be "base buy price factor: y". Similarly the rate at which the buy prices increase would be specified there, too, so if you want to make the market strategy less viable, slightly increase the price rise. There is no reason why an older app version shouldn't be able to interpret this and process newer level versions. (That this is solved in this or a very similar way is evident in the fact that newer app versions can behave just like old versions when fed an older level. If this works backward-compatible, it can - in this scenario - also work forward-compatible.)

In contrast, the last big update brought us mortars. This would clearly break forward-compatibility. An older version will never understand what a mortar is nor will be able to give you the dialogs/windows to interact (load and fire) such a mortar. So, clearly this was a - so called - breaking change. BUT, and here's the catch: Why were mortars only added to the apps the day they were activated in browsers? As soon as the concept for mortars is fixed and the code and interfaces are done, you can push an app update with these components. As long as no-one is actually able to create (start) a level that contains mortars, these new code fragments and interfaces do no harm. But if you time this update right and give the app version some sort of head-start, then all devices COULD have the capacity to interact with the new level data specifications. When the mortars actually launch, it is only a matter of populating the relevant level data properties with the actual numbers. And while the app updates get propagated to the users you can still fine-tune the exact factors because they aren't part of the app, but of the level data.

This ultimately comes down to how the app decides whether it is compatible with a level or not. Currently, so it seems, the level data has a "revision" property and the game knows its revision and if the wrong one is bigger than the other, the game prevents playing the level. What I'm proposing is some sort of API-revision. If Android-developers are designing an app, they specify that this app will run on every Android version from 8.0 to 11.0 or so. Whatever the technical (or economical/political) reasons might be to choose these specific limits. This is done by means of the Android API level. You can look them up, they are public, but basically each Android version is related to one, sometimes two or three, API versions. So, technically the developers could specify the Android version, but Google decided to "encode" them, but there is a clear correlation, so, who cares. Similarly, the introduction of mortars would be such an event where clearly the WZI-API revision would have changed, the current update wouldn't have. Making the new maps compatible with the older app versions. The only difference would be that the devise on which you start a new level would dictate which level settings would apply. But this was always the case. I recently collected my second K-PX ML power by downgrading my mobile app, but after I started the level I almost immediately updated the app back to the (then) current version, because the version on which you play the level doesn't matter.

This is all VERY theoretical, so allow me these closing words: I'm totally aware of the fact that Fizzer is a single man working on this game and given that he did a great job. I don't expect him to apply development strategies that usually aren't that useful unless the dev team is an actual TEAM. Second, I'm aware that previously some individuals must have reverse-engineered the app (at one point, someone published the unlock and upgrade costs for phase 4 advs while no-one was even close to phase 4). I don't promote nor condone this, but releasing features BEFORE they are publicly introduced and announced bares the risk that someone might discover them and use this information in some (bad) way. But that's the risk of publishing anything. If you post on Facebook that you are about to go on vacation, there might be robbers utilizing this information.

PS: Whether mortars that are ready are blinking or not definitely is a new feature, but that isn't game-changing. Sure, newer app versions would have this while older ones don't. But having the mortars NOT blinking won't prevent you from actually playing the game. It would be up to you, whether you need the update right now. Which, to be fair, could be reason why Fizzer doesn't want to give us an option to stay on older versions. By being this strict he can make sure that other technical stuff (fixes to things players might abuse, signing certificates to encrypt the client-server communication, etc.) gets pushed to as many devices as possible as fast as possible.

Edited 10/29/2021 23:26:43

@Purdy

There may be a solution to your predicament. Simply always start a new level on your phone (the device with the oldest WZI version). This, I believe, would solve the problem. Unless, of course, you need the newest stuff right away.

EDIT: Typo.

Edited 10/30/2021 18:17:40

@ SubLunar Unit

That's such a amazingly simple solution, it's no wonder it never occurred to me. Thanks!

people use the bonus for ore? never even considered that ha

@Mr_Perfect

I wasn't clear. I use the ad bonus for armies but was doing a speedrun through a level (Geopolitics) to get the mining bonus for Al. I was worried that I wouldn't make it without the extra 30% army production but it looks like I'll be OK anyway.

The ore bonus is good on Tech Runs (getting all the Techs) or some levels which require smelting of some of the luxury bars in order to get the later key Techs (+50% cache, Merc discounts, Hosp buffs).