Warnament News

Hey rulers!

It’s been an intense month, to say the least, as we have been pushing hard to release Warnament on Android! If you wish to play the game right now, don’t hold yourself back. It’s free to play with an option to support us by buying cosmetic items.

But today, we’ll be telling a different story. Warnament is released in beta mode on Google Play (which means you won’t be seeing user reviews, but we will). Our primary focus is still to hit Early Access on Steam, but the release is a release, so we decided it deserves a proper trailer.

Since at Luden.io, we’re big fans of experimenting, so we ended up having to answer a question: are AI algorithms of today good enough to generate animations for trailers? The answer is… errrr… Well, more on that below.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We cooperated with Lev Koretski, a video maker whose works you might’ve seen on Steam pages of Black Skylands, Graveyard Keeper, Cartel Tycoon, and other renowned games. You should definitely check out his sample reel, especially if you’re an indie game maker!

Since Warnament only has a tiny dev team, we wouldn’t be able to afford fancy animations and visual effects. Therefore, we decided to refer to the silicon wisdom of AI models for animation. Long story short: it was not as easy as we estimated, and only tiny bits of what was generated by the model made their way to the trailer.

A quote from Lev himself and some goofy tryouts is below:

[Working with AI models] became not so much a help but rather a perpetually breaking crutch that we still had to learn to work with.

Along the way, I encountered numerous difficulties. I tried many neural networks available for free (such as Runway, Vidu, Google Veo, Dream Machine by Luma), and all of them operated more or less the same way: you upload 1-2 pictures, and the AI creates animation.

You can write a prompt, but often it doesn't work. Or, you need to go through a bunch of formulations to get the desired result. It feels like the developers of neural networks deliberately limit creators with prompts so that as many attempts are made as possible and the [number of props provided per month in a] subscription runs out.

Here’s a bunch of things we got in response to our prompts. Check out this nightmare fuel (prompt - “finger presses the red button”):

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Animating machines worked fairly ok, unless they had rotating elements, such as wheels or propellers, in which case things tended to turn out… not so well (prompt: “Panoramic camera movement, left to right, planes flies shooting at the houses, fire below“):

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

And how do you like those people morphing into artillery? This takes the concept of giving one’s life for their country to a whole new level:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

And here’s the Eiffel Tower merging with a house (prompt: “slow approach to a nuclear explosion”):

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Can you spot that one soldier who’s running backwards?

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Some more creepy hands to top all that (prompts: “finger presses the red button”, “flags fluttering in the background”):

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

To be fair, just a couple of years back AI models were drawing creepy pictures, but a lot of progress was made in this field since. So chances are good that one day they will become a trustworthy video maker’s helper. This day just has not yet come.

As for the trailer - let us know how you like it! And if you want to discuss anything Warnament-related with us directly (or just exchange some memes), come by our Discord server.

Just a reminder in case you skipped it: Warnament is now available to play for free on Google Play! Next time, we’ll tell a couple of stories about how we were preparing for the release.

Until we meet again!

Hey, rulers!

It's been a while since we reported on Warnament's progress. It's partly because we got carried away with developing the game. Time passed by as we introduced small changes to the game every two weeks. A couple of new political institutions here, a nice vignette for the map there, a bunch of fixes on the server side over here… Little by little, we ended up with quite a different game: more stable, more pretty, and with much deeper gameplay.

In this dev update, we will try to review the most significant additions to Warnament. We still keep to our philosophy of the game being compact and easy to start playing, but more experienced rulers will find themselves with a much bigger toolkit for dominating the world.

Even the gloriest of wars must come to an end at some point (which is a good thing, we might add), and so does Warnament. There's now a limit of 100 turns per session (or 2 hours in multiplayer, by default), after which the countries are rated by their success in controlling territory, the state of economics, and the number of vassal states.



A nice place to try out this new system is our new scenario - World War II - in which history may take some unexpected terms: from the secession of Catalonia to the re-establishment of the Russian Empire. This scenario relies heavily on the new rebellion mechanics: if there's too much discontent among the population, you might end up with some of your provinces declaring independence. It's also how Israel might appear on the map in a quite different way than it did, according to history books.

If (or should we say - when?) it comes to war, rulers of Warnament will have more instruments at their disposal - both military and diplomatic. The former includes garrisons, the size of which depends on the overall economic situation in a province. From now on, one just can't move an army to another country's province and claim it as their own - they would have to completely destroy the garrison.



s for battles, there's now an element of randomness: even if you attack with a bigger army, there's still a chance of losing a battle.

And when the fog of war dissipates and the negotiations for peace are happening, one of the conditions of the treaty may be creating a demilitarized zone in the bordering provinces. No armies can be present in such provinces for a selected amount of turns.

Some peculiar changes were made in domestic politics, especially for those preferring a more… extravagant style of play. Communist countries might treat their population with good old repressions, which may cause paranoia among the authorities, resulting in deteriorated relations with other countries. Which is probably bad news for them, because communist states now have a perk of increased artillery range.



Fascist states have a whole new array of options for going wild, and establishing policies of xenophobia and/or occultism: if you ever considered devoting your life to serving the dark gods - that's your chance (we don't judge). Monarchs in Warnament now have more options, too: if you think that the progress has gone too far, you can always return to feudalism or re-establish serfdom. You are the king, after all!

Regardless of your political regime, the new, more flexible, and deep economic system in Warnament will be at your disposal. You can now allocate a budget for each province individually, which influences its garrison size and the number of slots available for buildings. And on the national level, you can financially stimulate science, infrastructure, or population independently, allowing you to fine-tune the economics to match your style of play.



These are the most prominent changes in the gameplay, but any game is more than just mechanics: other aspects of Warnament were improved as well. We've worked a lot on the server side of the game, and now any player can start hosting a multiplayer session at any time.

We've also made quite a few changes to the game's UI and UX and added pretty borders for countries on the map:



Last but not least, we added sounds and several new music tracks to the game! You can check them out in one of our gameplay videos (which we're posting on our YouTube channel every week):

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

As for our plans for the near future - we've got a surprise for you: we're now preparing Warnament to be released on Android. No date is nailed to the wall yet, but our expectations are to ship the game by the end of September. Warnament will be released as a free-to-play game with an option to buy cosmetic items for money.

On one hand, this is an intermediate stage of the game's development: our main focus is to hit Early Access on Steam. But, on the other hand, we already have an experience of releasing a mobile grand strategy: Cold Path, Warnament's spiritual precessor, was initially released on Android and accumulated a handsome number of 1+ million downloads. So if you enjoy mobile gaming, make sure to join our Discord server to be among the first to know about the upcoming release.

A friendly reminder: if you prefer playing Warnament on your PC, there's a closed beta which costs as little as $0.99 to start playing.

That's it for today, rulers! We'll keep you posted on Warnament's progress. Until we meet again!

You probably saw the "Add to your wishlist" message several times here on Steam. But what are all the developers asking it for, should you click that green (or blue) button, what is it?

You can add the game to the wishlist right here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1201700/Warnament/

Or you can do it on the game's page just under the video trailer, like this:


[h2]For players[/h2]
If you have a game on your wishlist you will:

• Receive an email on the release day
  
• See news about the game published by its' developer here on Steam
  
• Get notified about the discounts by email
  

You can always remove the game from your wishlist.

[h2]For developers[/h2]
The developer will know nothing about players who added the game to the wishlist. No email, no account name, no ability to send you a message - nothing. The only thing visible for the developers is the total number of wishlists
This number is a thing that can help the developers understand how much players are interested in the game, and how many additional features and level of quality they should consider to work on.

• 1,000 wishlists - almost nobody knows about the game, probably players don't want it or never heard about the game
  
• 1,000,000 wishlists - players absolutely crazy about that and expecting something really really good from the developers
  

[h2]Now you know what to do[/h2]
If you are interested - consider adding the game to your wishlist right now, it's like hitting the subscribe button on social media.
If you are not sure yet (or you waiting for the discounts) and want to see how the game is being developed to decide later - adding to the wishlist is the best option to tell Steam algorithms that you want to be aware of news and updates from the developer.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1201700/Warnament/

P.S. If you want to talk to developers directly, suggest some features, and get more involved in the making of the game - Discord and Steam Discussions are great for that. Or let's chat down below if you have anything to discuss!

Hey, rulers,

We’re excited to introduce the highlight of this update, which will transform your Warnament experience! New sounds and music tracks have been added, giving every battle a fresh, immersive feel. Whether zoomed in close or viewed from afar, the dynamic audio adjusts to bring the battlefield to life.

On top of that, the improved cinematic mode lets you create your epic war movie within the game. With smoother, scripted camera movements and the new sounds, you’ll have everything you need to capture truly cinematic moments.

Get ready to dive into the details below and start crafting your own battlefield stories!

Please note: Most of the new features are available in the demo, but you can gain access to unlimited games in Warnament's closed beta for as much as $0.99! It includes a multiplayer mode, a full technology tree, 3 more political institutions, a scenario editor & a standalone map editor app.

Head over to our itch.io page or straight to warnament.com to start playing in a few clicks!

[h3]v0.9.19 Released![/h3]

• The existing sounds in the game have been reworked and new ones have been added
  
• Now the sound volume depends on the camera's proximity and the distance to the object
  
• 3 new music tracks have been added to the game
  
• The game’s translation into different languages has been improved
  
• The /cinema command has been upgraded (now it allows you to save camera positions to a file and share them with others. It will be useful for those who need scripted, smooth camera movements). More information is available by entering the command in the chat
  
• Now the new game options are saved when switching maps in the new game menu
  
• A minor economic rebalance has been made
  
• Minor bugs and errors have been fixed
  

Check out the newly added sounds in a video from Warnament's YouTube channel:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

If you haven't done so already, please add Warnament to your wishlist on Steam! It is a very important metric for us, which brings the release of the game closer:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1201700/Warnament/

This is the best way to show us that you're waiting for the game to come out, and provides us with superior motivation for releasing the game sooner!

Want some more Warnament? We got you! Here's what you can do:

• Join our merry gang on Warnament's Discord Server to chat with devs and fellow players, and send your feedback straight to the devs
  
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and watch weekly videos about the development process
  
• Join our mailing list to get the latest news about the game
  
• Follow Warnament on Twitter

Hey, rulers,

This update doesn't bring much new content: it's summer, after all, and we hope you're reading this by the pool, with a coctail in your hand!

We took a pause from adding new features to do some other beautiful Warnament-related stuff: for example, we're now working on a new trailer for the game!

At the same time, new sounds are about to emerge in the game (and existing ones will be improved, too). That's another thing that's happening behind the scene, and you will see (or, rather, hear) the results in a few weeks.

In the meantime, we've added at least one feature for those of you who want to make their own epic videos in Warnament. More on that below.

Please note: Most of the new features are available in the demo, but you can gain access unlimited game in Warnament's closed beta for as much as $0.99! It includes multiplayer mode, full technology tree, 3 more political institutions, scenario editor & a standalone map editor app.

Head over to our itch.io page or straight to warnament.com to start playing in a few clicks!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]v0.9.18 Released![/h3]

• New console command for video makers: type '/cinema add' in the chat to create a point of interest. You can create as many points as you like. After you're done, type '/cinema play X' (where 'X' is the number of seconds) and watch the camera fly through all the points of interest and camera angles you selected earlier.
  
• Added community translation for the Swedish, Finnish and Dutch languages
  
• Improved interface display for exotic screen resolution settings
  
• Minor bug fixes
  

If you haven't done so already, please add Warnament to your wishlist on Steam! It is a very important metric for us, which brings the release of the game closer:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1201700/Warnament/

This is the best way to show us that you're waiting for the game to come out, and provides us with superior motivation for releasing the game sooner!

Want some more Warnament? We got you! Here's what you can do:

• Join our merry gang on Warnament's Discord Server to chat with devs and fellow players, and send your feedback straight to the devs
  
• Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and watch weekly videos about the development process
  
• Join our mailing list to get the latest news about the game
  
• Follow Warnament on Twitter