Celestial Empire News

Dear Community!
The work on our game continues. The devs are making bigger and smaller adjustments to the game. We’re preparing it for the upcoming playtests and even more exciting things next year.

All the elements mentioned in previous devblogs are becoming more advanced and new things are coming along nicely. We can’t wait to show them off.

Speaking of showing off. If you have been following our Steam Page, you may have noticed the new button available to you:



This means that the playtest registration is now open! We invite you to request access and join our playtesters group!

Unfortunately, there are at least a couple of things to know before requesting access:

The date of the playtests is still in the air and we are not sure how long from now they are. We want to avoid disappointing you all, so we will wait as long as needed.

We will not let everyone in at once. The playtesters will be let in waves to make sure we have fresh minds looking for imperfections in our game.

The order of playtesters who are let in is RANDOMISED by Steam. As developers, we have no possibility of sending the playtests to specific players. We can only tell Steam how many we need at a time.

The game WILL BE BUGGY. We can’t eliminate all bugs. We are already sorry for that, but that’s what the playtests are for. They will help us eliminate as many bugs as possible.

We will definitely mention all this again when the playtests open.

That’s all for this month. There isn’t too much to update you about, the devs are working but the changes are not spectacular enough to share yet. We will see you with more exciting information about the game and its development in January. If you want to ask us about anything, join our Discord and follow us on social media!


See you next year (hehe)
KarKarola

P.S.
We couldn't help ourselves. Here's a tiny sneak peek of what we're up to.

Dear Community!

We’re coming to you with another portion of the news!

THE SAWMILL
We would like to introduce you to the workflow behind one of the buildings which you can find in our game. This is the sawmill. It will turn raw logs into processed wood, which can be used as a building material or fuel to heat your citizens’ homes in the winter.

1. The choice
We can skip this step as we have already chosen the sawmill.

2. The research
We looked into the reality of sawmill workers’ lives at the time. Among other useful and interesting facts, we learned they used exclusively bronze tools.

3. The initial concept art



4. The blockout



5. The detailed concept art



6. The raw model



7. Texturing



[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

8. Iterations and adjustments



9. Import into the game’s engine



10. Adding NPCs and animations
Now comes the time when we can finally animate our buildings. As you have read in devblog number 3, we have finished a portion of the NPCs who will inhabit your future cities. We placed them in the buildings and prepared their animations. You can see the final result below.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

HOW ARE WE DOING?
We have recently expanded our team, so even more talented people are working on this special title. We started creating environmental elements and the rivers already started flowing on the first map, which will be available in the game. The Steam Page got a major update, and we reorganised the workflow, so we have become more effective than ever. As soon as possible, we are hoping to share with you snippets of the soundtrack.

So many amazing things are in the works right now.

See you all next month,
Krzysztof

Hello everyone!
As the progress is being made, we are updating our Steam Page along with it!

The old, slightly outdated descriptions of features were replaced with new and exciting details about the game. Many elements introduced in previous devblogs are now proudly displayed on the front page.



The screenshots previously visible on the page are now outdated and represent the prototype of the game rather than its current state. The old trailer was also deleted and we will begin work on the new one shortly.



You can see beautiful images of landscapes with a huge variety of buildings. This can definitely give you an idea of what your city can become. Individual buildings have their quirks and details to give them a bit more personality.



While the streets of the city look empty at the moment, you may be able to catch some NPCs hiding around their houses. They are in the early stages of development, so they are quite shy about leaving the comfort of their own front yards. There is still a lot to be done about this predicament, but we are working on populating your city with characters who will go about their day, living their lives to the fullest. Their daily routines will make your city more colourful and animated.



The development team is working on the final version of what the game will eventually become and this means that more and more materials are coming your way!

All the upcoming images and details will be available on our Discord, where you can also talk with developers and other players!

See you there!
KarKarola

Dear Community!

I am coming back with a fresh portion of the information. Let’s begin!

THE PEOPLE
For the past month, we have made tremendous progress with character creation. We have finished over two dozen citizens who will inhabit cities created by you. You can see some examples below.





We have prepared a quick survey in which you can express your opinions on the way the characters look.

https://forms.gle/ApqCVpPJfqME8D7B9

We have also thought about citizens of the rich variety…



TIME
Today I would like to explain one of the first mechanics included in the game: a time system.

During the game, you will have to pay attention to the passage of time, because it will trigger new events. Your citizens will use resources and eat food. We divided time into two basic categories: years and seasons.

Each season will have a distinct set of characteristics. This means that summer will boost food production, which will allow you to collect additional produce. While on the other hand, winter will stifle any food production, which will influence the economic situation of your city. This introduces survival elements into the game and enriches its strategy aspects. You need to create long-term plans, which will allow your city to thrive and your people to not go hungry in the winter.

As seasons pass and spring comes, you will be able to catch a breath of fresh air and welcome a New Year. Each year in the game will have a zodiacal patron in accordance with the Chinese calendar. Be assured that during the lucky Year of the Dragon, you will be rewarded with special bonuses!



LET’S GET IN TOUCH
The entire development team puts a lot of effort into making the game the best version of itself possible. As you could have read in the first devblog, I am responsible for the design, and side by side with my colleagues I work daily on every aspect of the game. I want you to see how much we care, so starting today, I will be joining our community manager in actively participating in the community Discord. This will give you access to the most up to date, accurate information available.



It’s very important to us that we keep in touch with you. This is why I encourage you to join the community Discord, so you can ask the most detailed questions possible, or simply chat with us. :D

See you in October (or on Discord),
Krzysztof

Dear Community!

In the past month’s devblog you could get to know how we construct our buildings. We are really grateful for your interest, likes, and comments. They motivate us to keep up the hard work and improve the game. Whereas today I have a bit smaller update concerning the development (the next one will be bigger, though ;) ).

NEW ARTWORKS
Our 2D Artists created new, good-looking artworks and logos that reflect our game’s atmosphere much better. You could have already seen them, as they are in use on our Steam.







You can take a look at how the artwork was created in the timelapse below:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

THE PRODUCTION ADVANCES
The development process has been really advancing lately. Two talented artists joined our team, so the 3D models are being produced considerably quicker than before. The code and the game’s mechanics are developing at a constant, good pace, and also the UI design process accelerated.
We create lots of different ideas and proposals concerning both placement, and the overall aesthetics of the whole interface, with the desire to make it as comprehensive, functional, and pretty as possible. We are aware of how critical for this game genre (which is, after all, a representative of the broader genre of strategy games) is whether the interface does its job. We pay a lot of attention to User Experience, repeating tests of every component multiple times. We’d also like to enrich it with something unique and very rare in today's games, which makes the challenge facing us all greater.
The gameplay is getting better every day, but unfortunately, we are not satisfied enough with it yet to show you anything of it. We will do it as soon as possible. I promise!

INVITATION
If you haven't done it yet, I encourage you to join our Discord server (English only).

https://discord.gg/X5upJD7eVc

Thanks again for your interest which has a very positive influence on both the dev team and the game itself. I’ll show you something again in just a month.

See you in September,
Krzysztof


P.S. A bonus concept art :)