Imperiums: Greek Wars News

This part of our Spotlight series was not originally in the schedule. The Spotlights should focus on mechanics and features that significantly affect the game play and contribute to greater immersion, replayability and player engagement. This Spotlight however is about features that we did not intend to implement in Rome vs Carthage, but were added as a sort of after-thought when we got convinced that without them the game will just not be „perfect“ :)



IT projects in general and indie game development perhaps even more so, are notoriously known for being almost never completed on time. Unforeseen delays must be always planned for and discipline must be exercised by the whole team if we are serious about our roadmap and schedules. But every now and then we get an idea that is just SO great that we have to suspend our strict rules and implement it (just this once! … until the next time, of course :)).

They are rarely game-changing mechanics as they would probably need a lot of time for implementation (considering that we have to make sure that it fits the structure of the game core and will correctly and logically interact with all other mechanics and features). Yes, you could say that these additions are the icing on the cake ... nothing major but it will make the game more fun, interesting and definitely more enjoyable.

So, what ideas kept us awake? Let’s hear from Pavel, the master of self-discipline:

Originally posted by Pavel

Every good game designer should have a clear plan what features and mechanics are to be implemented and how they will interact well before he starts coding. The whole construction should be clearly visible in his mind. Based on this, he can make a good estimate of completion time. But in the spirit of Imperiums games, we have to be prepared for the unexpected :)

It is natural that as the game grows under your hands, you suddenly see improvements that would make the game flow smoother, be more fun, more interesting … But any additional work necessarily requires more time to complete the game. I am not only talking about the development itself, but balancing, testing, tweaking and here, you really have to exercise iron discipline to be able to judge what you can afford to include within the current schedule and budget, and what simply has to wait till the next time. We, too, had to learn to be realistic.

The times when we got carried away are gone. We often learnt the hard way that we have to be systematic, otherwise we trap ourselves in a vicious circle of never finishing, constantly fighting the feeling the game is not complete. Saying that though, sometimes you just can’t resist :)
Whenever there is a suggestion for something new to be implemented above the original plan, we weigh carefully how much the implementation will delay our schedule and how big any changes to the game core would be and only when these factors are acceptable, do we start working on it.

This Spotlight is dedicated to those features that we did not include in our plans for Imperiums: Rome vs Carthage, but they did make it in nevertheless.

First came two events that are iconic for the ancient Greek and Roman eras and were already part of the Greek Wars campaign. Again, you will be able to build the famous Colossus that will earn you additional Influence. As before, the construction can only be started by using a dedicated state decision when you meet all the conditions. There can only be one Colossus in the game and the AI factions are capable of building it as well.

The second event is the Olympic Games, by far the most used and liked event in the Imperiums campaigns. Considering that one turn in Rome vs Carthage will last half a year (contrary to Greek Wars where it lasts one quarter), it will be possible to join the Games every 8th turn. In order not to make this mechanic a game-changer but rather an interesting gamble, the fee to join the Games was lowered and so were the potential winnings. You can spin the Wheel of Fortune without jeopardizing the state coffers.

Now the real new additions.

Apart from the Colossus, one more world wonder was added, the Lighthouse of Alexandria that we simply call "the Great Lighthouse" (because it might not be built in Alexandria :)).
The historical lighthouse was not built at the time when our campaign starts which gives room for any faction around the Mediterranean to build this great structure. Similarly to Colossus, the Lighthouse can be built only once in the game, rewarding you with additional Influence and significantly reducing trade loss on all trade routes to 50%. This means that you will save a great deal of resources on overhead costs, the same applies for states trading with you. That naturally increases the interest of other nations in trading with you, giving you a great advantage in international trade.

It would of course be great to have more world wonders in the game, we stuck to these two, simply to stay faithful to history. Only these two were built more or less in the time of our campaign.

Two more historical events are the latest additions to the game. Although we focused on this whole feature in one of the previous Spotlights, these two events have not yet been implemented:)
Both are dedicated to the famous military campaigns of Pyrrhus of Epirus, one to southern Italy and another to Sicily.
Similarly to other historical events, they are semi-scripted, triggered by a set of pre-defined conditions that ensure that the events logically fit the current situation. If the Greek city of Tarento in southern Italy is threatened you can see Pyrrhus aiding them, as well as his landing on Sicily to try to push the Carthaginian oppressors back to Africa.
Our goal was to add to the feeling of historical authenticity, increasing immersion.

Finally, there is a new quest inspired by a historical event to spice up the game. After the death of Alexander the Great, his body was sent to Macedonia, only to be hijacked on the way by Ptolemy and brought to Egypt with great honors.
We have placed the tomb of Alexander with his corpse, in a mausoleum in the city of Memphis in Egypt. Ownership of the sarcophagus generates an extra income of Influence every turn, as it is a matter of great honor to guard the remains of the great strategist. Following Ptolemy’s example, anybody can try to steal the body.
There can be only one Alexander’s Mausoleum on the map and any faction that wants to keep the sarcophagus must send a General to the place where the body currently rests, steal it and bring it to their capital within ten turns. If the mission is successful, a new Mausoleum is built with a significant increase in relations with all the other Diadochi.
The quest can be repeated many times until a General does not manage to get the sarcophagus to the capital in time or is killed on the way, in both cases the body is ruined and lost forever.

What do you think, do you find these additions as great as we do? Do you have any other similarly great suggestions? We won’t be able to implement anything new to Rome vs Carthage anymore but they can inspire future feature(s).

The release date is coming close so wishlist the Imperiums: Rome vs Carthage DLC to get the launch discount and spread the word if you can. We really appreciate your support and are looking forward to hear you comments.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1839160/Imperiums_Rome_vs_Carthage/
Yours,
Kube Games team.

We will visit the Central Mediterranean region in this Faction Highlight.
Italy is on fire and larger empires circle around like birds of prey, just waiting for their chance to benefit from the spoils of the war. The Central Mediterranean will be one of the places where history is made in the upcoming Imperiums: Rome vs Carthage DLC.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The Central Mediterranean has for a long time been the domain of Carthage and the Greeks. Italy has been divided among small Latin tribes, none of which managed to unite them under one leadership or usurp power over them by force. Now, it seems that the events are taking a new unexpected course, that could bring many gains to those who can navigate the situation with boldness.

The recently established Roman Republic has managed to alienate all of the other Latin tribes and it now faces a military pact of Samnites and Etruscans supported by Gauls. This alliance could attack Roman lands from many directions simultaneously, if they can only coordinate their actions and subordinate their own interests to the joint plan for a time.

These new developments are followed closely by the Epirean king Pyrrhus, as well as Carthage, both of whom have their own plans in the region. The island of Sicily and Magna Graecia, the southern part of the Italian peninsula, are contested by both sides. Success would provide a firm foothold and strong base for further expansion to the rest of the peninsula.

Standing aside from this central conflict are the Illyrian tribes on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. They are much more occupied with the wars in Greece and Macedon to become actively involved in Italy.

Italy is rich in resources and fertile lands, whoever controls the region can quickly rise to dominate the whole Mediterranean. The whole situation is waiting in suspense for a leader to set the path of victory.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1839160/Imperiums_Rome_vs_Carthage/

Wishlist the Imperiums: Rome vs Carthage DLC and be the one to start writing new chapters of European history!

Yours,
Kube Games team.

Hello everyone.
Summer months always fly by too quickly and we hope that you made the best of that time with some great vacation memories in store for the colder months:)

We released the last regular update at the end of June and we have kept ourselves busy since then finishing the new Imperiums: Rome vs Carthage DLC.

As always, we keep working on the base game core and there are many interesting improvements in the new update of version 1.2.6. called "Get ready for Rome".
Once again, a big thanks to our players and community for their feedback and reports that inspired many of the aforementioned improvements and bug fixes, so please keep it coming.


Let's get to the details:

• Some of the 3D models such as blacksmith, stable and shipyard have been remade, with fort and defensive wall in the making and new city models further in the pipeline.
  
  
• Trade routes can now go through unowned territories hidden in the fog of war (previously, trade routes were automatically cancelled when parts of their routes through unowned territories were not fully visible).
  
  
• Strategic Overview was extended by "grouped map item types". For now, three groups were added - military, mines, and buildings which allows you to get a better picture of the whole economic and military situation.
  
  
• Strategic Overview in the list view now automatically scrolls to the currently selected map item and highlights it.
  
  
• New keyboard shortcut was added to the Strategic Overview - pressing Tab now instantly switches between map and list views.
  
  
• Brief description per faction was added to the New Game window containing information about the initial setup and how difficult the start will be.
  
  
• "Tooltip delay" game setting was implemented.
  
  
• "Map exchange" treaty importance was increased. It is now one of the most "intimate" treaties (apart from military pacts).
  
  
• Set of positions where particular buildings cannot be built is newly defined for all scenarios (this should prevent exploits such as blocking certain straits by shipyards).
  
  
• Food production of scrubs was slightly increased.
  
  
• Trade loss information was added to the tooltip in the Political Map.
  
  
• The Research progress bar is always visible even when there is nothing being researched. This should make it easier for you to navigate to the Technology Tree and draw your attention to the fact that you are not researching anything.
  
  
• Report panel stops the automatic scrolling when you first click on an item in the list.
  
  
• Tooltip comparing governments (when you want to choose a new government) was improved.
  
  
• Using "Alert" action now also adds dismissed units to the unit loop.
  
  
• Rewards received for completed Objectives are now better arranged in the information window.
  
  
• When you click on the fake lock when selecting a faction in the New Game window, a window with a warning pops up and once you confirm your selection, this particular faction will be automatically checked (previously you had to check it manually again).

The AI was also improved in a number of aspects:

• AI more adequately reacts to certain events happening to other members of its union as well as events related to its master (such as losing the capital city).
  
  
• When AI considers how and where to attack an enemy, it takes more into consideration its resource situation and its current needs. If AI is in need of a particular resource, it might redirect the attack to a particular mine(s) or certain producer.
  
  
• AI will not build fields/farms anymore on tiles outside of the city range.
  
  
• Improved algorithm in charge of newly built units (and their types).
  
  
• Improved algorithm for keeping all units supplied.
  
  
• Movement of Generals was improved.

Bugs and issues fixed:

• Too loud intros were tuned down (player's game settings).
  
  
• Small issue in "Teach technology" action was fixed (you could not teach a technology to your own confederation members).
  
  
• An issue with building and repairing a temple causing city damages (in particular, when the number of local citizens was low) was fixed.
  
  
• Small fixes in Objectives and Achievements related to your federation members was fixed.
  
  
• An issue with Generals deserting when they were in "containers" (like a city) was fixed.
  
  
• When two factions join in a federation and the member state already has some confederation members, these member states stay as confederation members also in the newly created federation (previously they all turned into federations).
  
  
• The list of unit improvements checkboxes on the right side of the Strategic Overview was not positioned correctly when UI scaling was active.
  
  
• Strange bug which was creating more factions with the same name and banner in custom worlds was fixed.
  
  
• An issue with very weak Hades Warriors was fixed.
  
  
• Several rare CTDs fixed.

How do you like the changes? Are there any which you consider substantial "quality-of-life" improvements? Share your thoughts with us:)

We are less than two weeks away from the release of Imperiums: Rome vs Carthage. Don't forget to wishlist it and get the release discount!

See you in Roma. Or Carthago. Or Alexandria?


Yours,
Kube Games team.

Hello everyone.

The release of Imperiums: Rome vs Carthage is just two weeks away and some of you asked if Pavel will stream the game before the actual release.
Pavel is still in the middle of his conquest of Persia in the Age of Alexander campaign but the temptation to show you the new DLC is too big :)

So let's do it. Pavel will dive into the "Rome vs Carthage" battle on 6th September at 9PM CEST (12PM PDT - 8PM BST).



Important question, which faction should he play?
We set up a poll on our Discord channel with five factions you can choose from. We omitted Carthage and Rome on purpose in order not to spoil the fun for you:)

Here is a short description of the initial historical and geographical setup for each faction and a note on what gameplay you can expect:

• Hellenic League - interesting and diverse start at three different locations. Many potential threats but none of them critical.
  
• Ptolemaic Kingdom - peaceful beginning allowing sufficient time and options to build economy and prepare for military campaigns.
  
• Antigonid Kingdom - dramatic start with enemies all around. It is all about diplomacy and tactics.
  
• Lysimachus - easy start with clear goals. Diplomacy is key.
  
• Samnites - dangerous situation from the start with all-is-at-stake battles right at the beginning. A bad start can turn into defeat in several turns, a very tactical game.

So, leave your vote and join us on Tuesday 6th on our Twitch channel or alternatively on our Youtube channel.
As always, Pavel will be happy to answer your questions during the stream.

Don't miss it!

Yours,
Kube Games team.

P.S. Here is the episode in case you missed it.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Only three more weeks until the long-awaited expansion Imperiums: Rome vs Carthage is released. This DLC does not focus on adding more mechanics to make already a complex game even more difficult, instead we concentrated on improving and building upon existing features to provide you with a truly intense gaming experience. Most of the new features have been covered in the series of Spotlight articles, but for those who want to start planning their strategy, we have some interesting bedtime reading, a comprehensive manual :)



The faction choice will be crucial. Italy is on fire with the prolonged wars between the fledgling Roman Republic, Etruscans and Samnites and at this stage none of them is close to final victory. As if this was not enough, the Hellenic League and Carthage are also both trying to use this conflict to strengthen their position in Italy and Sicily.

Greece and Asia are also a war zone between the successor states of Alexander the Great. The powerful Diadochi mercilessly fight each other which endangers the stability of the whole region. Their wars however could be an opportunity for the lesser kingdoms to gain political and military strength.

Finally, the wild tribes living in obscurity of the further corners of the world are fighting for basic survival, still, even these people have the power to change the course of history.

So, tuck the manual in your sleeve and start the game with a battle cry on your lips. Glory and fame await those who show no fear. Are you the one to rule the ancient Mediterranean?

Yours,
Kube Games team.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1839160/Imperiums_Rome_vs_Carthage/