Bad idea to start out with but altered so you don't see my noob-ness new idea below spoiler
this should have online play.
Yes I know this might've been suggested but I have an idea..
instead of having everyone on one or two "worlds" we have one world posted up and about 12 people playing on it, each with their own fort.
two ways to tackle this.
either break it up into "turns" where it saves every year or so... then it update the others fortresses.. not their ENTIRE fort for crying out loud but more of a news bullitin.. what have they discovered, how much wleath they have accrued and the like...
or slow down season to take a day rather an hour... either way once your turn is up you can plan out your fortress still but you wont be able to unpause.
and have a market. basically have players send off goods to trade to other playersafter a bit you will be told whats up for grabs. then the wheelin and dealin begins...(i'm not sure how the market would work from there)
maybe you can even send liaison's to other fortresses to trade directly
what do you guys think?
Alright I get it multiplayer is a no-no for now... but I was inspired to think along the lines of this but much simpler:
Tag-team endurance!
take 8 players, gen a world them post it up for download split said 8 players into teams of 2. they decide where to embark and who goes first. from there, it work like a succession game with one player passing to the other every "year" then passing it back. the goal? to out last your opponents.
Rules:
non-playing partners and peanut gallery free to suggest/comment on any fort. the only communication playing partners will have will be via updates and in-game notes.
regular succession rules apply as to turns i.e.: one week = one year = one turn.
have fun!
alternativly we could have teams made up of fortress noobs and vets like a noob-vet teams, call it "play n teach enduro" the noob players who half the time dont know what they are doing guarantee "fun" for all!
how bout that?