Fall of an Empire News

I've pushed a small update that should solve some of the issues in the demo, most specifically around not being able to attack Vituria.

The save issue still remains, I'm in the progress of replacing the entire system with a custom one - currently it's just automated and regardless of whether it's buggy it still won't work in the full game due to being too slow and causing hitches every time that the game is autosaved - very annoying.

The next update is going to have a revamped diplomacy screen (removing the dialogue system and making everything more of a sandbox-type experience where the player makes dynamic choices and actions to defeat the emperor, rather than following a railroaded path), 20-40 more unit types, more buildings and proper spying.

- Joe

Hi all, I've released a pretty big new update which is the culmination of the last few months of work on the game. The two biggest features are a naval system and characters.

Now instead of being a faceless ruler abstractly managing a faction, you're the Duke of Histria, a character with traits and statistics who can be assigned to lead armies and navies and govern settlements. Your faction, and other factions, now also have their own characters who can perform actions. They can also have families and age realistically. Instead of being a purely army-focused game, FOAE now lets you construct ports and navies, move your armies over the oceans and blockade your enemies.

The new update might be a bit buggy due to all the new stuff in it, so please let me know via either the Steam Community or Discord, or any other method because I monitor them all.

Here's a list of the new changes. There are a variety of other little changes as well that I didn't add to the list.


[h2]Gameplay Improvements[/h2]

Added Markets to towns
Added farms as building type
Added soft limit on max gold
Locked battle tactics behind higher commander tactics levels (with tooltips)
Improved battle balance for outnumbered armies
Added "Continue Game" button
Added map modes, like culture and religion

[h2]Character System[/h2]

Added character system
Added regnal names system
Added age progression for character portraits
Added functions for gaining and losing traits
Added characters and character portraits to:

- Diplomacy screen
- Battle screen (commanders)
- Dialogue events


Added special trait to prevent scripted characters from dying

[h2]Military Improvements[/h2]

Added navies and port system
Fixed armies strafing while moving
Made armies face correct direction when moving to target
Added standards for idle armies
Added selection indicator for armies
Fixed double right-click being needed for military movement
Fixed new armies not having correct faction
Added stat bonuses/penalties based on general's tactics
Added naval battles
Added special events for battlefield deaths and ship sinking

[h2]Visual & UI Updates[/h2]

Added new main menu scene
Added new islands to south of the map
Added tutorial for navy selection
Added FPS counter
Added DOF to graphics settings
Improved graphics:

Better lighting
Enhanced vegetation
Fixed wall materials


Replaced building destruction icon
Fixed unit selection display issues
Press ESC to close all panels

[h2]AI & Navigation[/h2]

Made AI build army buildings during wartime
Made AI factions limited by their actual building capabilities
Improved navigation to prevent military units from colliding
Fixed attack functions

[h2]Other Bug Fixes[/h2]

Fixed "Bribe" button in battle not deducting money
Fixed production queue progress not clearing properly
Fixed various military and faction-related bugs

[h2]Dynamic Settlement Generation[/h2]

• Settlements are procedurally generated on the world map
• When you construct new buildings, they appear in real-time on the overworld map
• Settlement walls and fortifications are now visually represented when built

[h2]UI Improvements[/h2]

• Added target indicators when settlements are targeted by armies
• Added expected population increase display to population center glance
• Moved resources widget to prevent production amount from covering icons
• Building income tooltip now displays in green when settlement produces gold from buildings
• Press 'R' to reset camera rotation
• Fixed stutter when mousing over minimap

[h2]Gameplay Features[/h2]

• Disbanded soldiers now move to the nearest settlement
• Building restrictions:
  • Markets can only be built in settlements producing secondary goods
• Military Visualization Updates:
  • Siege towers are now displayed during sieges
  • Catapults in world map are now displayed and now correspond to artillery numbers

[h2]Population & Settlement Features[/h2]

• Added culture system
• Added religion system
• Added health display in population center screen
• Added culture display in population center screen

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed issue where AI armies could spawn outside the game world
• Fixed inability to disband, split, or merge units more than once
• Fixed statue incorrectly increasing training time
• Fixed buildings that reduce garrisoned costs of armies
• Fixed mismatch in population numbers
• Fixed issue preventing clicks on armies after initial selection
• Fixed issue allowing phase advancement by depleting action points
• Fixed issue with region control not updating when game is loaded

[h2]Balance Changes[/h2]

• Slightly rebalanced Vituria's forces

[h2]Known Issues[/h2]

Bridges are too big. I will have to redo the road system anyway, so this will be fixed in an update soon.

I've just pushed a new update with a bunch of new changes, including a new minimap and region borders as well as some bug fixes and new buildings.

[h2]Major Features[/h2]

• Added Paradox-style region boundaries with visible borders in-game
  - More visible when zoomed out
  - Added regions to minimap with tooltips
  
• Redesigned minimap to focus on playable demo area
  

[h2]New Buildings[/h2]

• Amphitheatre
  
• Mine
  
• Coastal Docks
  
• Hippodrome
  
• Statue
  
• New powerful buildings for Rephsis
  
• Barracks now reduce training time instead of increasing it
  
• General building rebalancing
  

[h2]UI Improvements[/h2]

• Reordered and enlarged population centre glance
  
• Converted building layout from horizontal to grid system
  
• Repositioned "Paused" widget
  
• Reorganized pause menu
  
• Extended notification duration
  
• Enhanced repair tooltips
  
• Added build queue progress to settlement list
  

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed unlocked dialogue options not saving
  
• Fixed crash related to monthly tick on invalid factions
  
• Fixed camera movement to new locations
  
• Fixed building upkeep tooltip
  
• Fixed repair tooltips and money refund after cancelling construction
  
• Added highlighting for important dialogue options
  

[h2]Outstanding issues with this update[/h2]

• Minimap doesn't update when loading a save
  
• Minimap stutters when mousing over it - not sure why this is, doesn't occur in development
  

I have just pushed a new patch that should fix some more commonly-reported errors in the demo - mainly crashes and issues related to saving and loading.

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed divide-by-zero crash in battles
• Resolved crashes occurring when battles are lost
• Corrected issue with buildings being removed from build list
• Fixed buildings not being saved properly

[h2]UI Improvements[/h2]

• Replaced coins icon for better visibility

[h2]Save Game Enhancements[/h2]

• Implemented save slot management system
• Ordered saves by date for easier navigation
• Added timestamp to save games for better tracking

[h2]Gameplay Changes[/h2]

• Settlements now grow if the controlling faction has sufficient food